(Photo: Google Images)
Tonight is the night. The 91st Annual Academy Awards ceremony is taking place and being broadcast live on ABC. This year’s broadcast will be a little different. There will be no Oscar host and two categories that actually make motion pictures distinctive from other arts — cinematography and editing — won’t be shown live. Not to worry, you can watch the disrespected categories via live stream on ABC.com.
As you know, there are some outstanding folks to watch in spite of the oversight. We’ll be looking to see if seminal filmmaker Spike Lee will finally take home an Oscar in a competitive category. Spike Lee’s longtime costume designer Ruth E. Carter is nominated in the Best Costume Design category for her amazing work on Marvel’s and Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther. Hannah Beachler could also make #BlackGirlMagic if she wins the best set design award, also for Black Panther. Black Panther isn’t the only superhero film nominated. Peter Ramsey may be the first black person to win the Best Animated Feature for Spider-man: Into the Spiderverse. If that doesn’t float your boat, then RaMell Ross could very well win best documentary feature for Hale County: This Morning, This Evening.
In the interest of keeping it short and cute, The Burton Wire has pulled together a crib sheet for you on categories to watch tonight. While we’re impressed by most of the nominations, especially Roma, and unimpressed with others — see The Favourite. Like Issa Rae, we’re rooting for everybody black including Roma‘s Yalitza Aparicia and of course the incomparable Alfonso Cuarón. Barry Jenkins is always a winner to us and we recognize the soundtrack as one of the stars of his character driven films. Sorry to Bother You bothered us by not being nominated, but Hollywood isn’t quite ready to acknowledge that type of film coming from a black person yet.
Check off the list as we go through the categories and find out if we’ll have an #OscarsSoBlack moment in 2019.
BEST PICTURE
- Black Panther
- BlacKkKlansman
- Bohemian Rhapsody
- The Favourite
- Green Book***
- Roma
- A Star Is Born
- Vice
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
- Amy Adams, “Vice”
- Marina de Tavira, “Roma”
- Regina King, “If Beale Street Could Talk”***
- Emma Stone, “The Favourite”
- Rachel Weisz, “The Favourite”
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
- Mahershala Ali, Green Book***
- Adam Driver, BlackKKlansman
- Sam Elliott, A Star Is Born
- Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
- Sam Rockwell, Vice
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
- Capernaum
- Cold War
- Never Look Away
- Roma (Mexico)***
- Shoplifters
DOCUMENTARY (SHORT)
- “Black Sheep”
- “End Game”
- “Lifeboat”
- “A Night at the Garden”
- “Period. End of Sentence.”***
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
- Free Solo***
- Hale County This Morning, This Evening
- Minding the Gap
- Of Fathers and Sons
- RBG”
ORIGINAL SONG
- “All The Stars” – Black Panther
- “I’ll Fight” – RBG
- “Shallow” – A Star Is Born***
- “The Place Where Lost Things Go” – Mary Poppins Returns
- “When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” – The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
- Incredibles 2
- Isle of Dogs
- Mirai
- Ralph Breaks the Internet
- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse*** (Peter Ramsey)
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
- The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
- BlacKkKlansman***
- Can You Ever Forgive Me?
- If Beale Street Could Talk
- A Star Is Born
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
- First Reformed
- Green Book***
- Roma
- The Favourite
- Vice
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
- Christian Bale, Vice
- Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born
- Willem Dafoe, At Eternity’s Gate
- Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody***
- Viggo Mortensen, Green Book
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
- Yalitza Aparicio, Roma
- Glenn Close, The Wife
- Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born
- Olivia Colman, The Favourite
- Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
DIRECTOR
- Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman
- Pawel Pawlikowski, Cold War
- Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite
- Alfonso Cuarón, Roma***
- Adam McKay, Vice
PRODUCTION DESIGN
- Black Panther *** (Hannah Beachler)
- The Favourite
- First Man
- Mary Poppins Returns
- Roma
CINEMATOGRAPHY
- Cold War
- The Favourite
- Never Look Away
- Roma*** Alfonso Cuaron
- A Star Is Born
COSTUME DESIGN
- Mary Queen of Scots
- The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
- Mary Poppins Returns
- Black Panther*** (Ruth E. Carter)
SOUND EDITING
- A Quiet Place
- Black Panther
- Bohemian Rhapsody***
- First Man
- Roma
SOUND MIXING
- Black Panther
- Bohemian Rhapsody***
- First Man
- Roma
- A Star Is Born
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
- Animal Behaviour
- Bao
- Late Afternoon
- One Small Step
- Weekends
LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
- Detainment
- Fauve
- Marguerite
- Mother
- Skin
ORIGINAL SCORE
- Black Panther***
- BlacKkKlansman
- If Beale Street Could Talk
- Isle of Dogs
- Mary Poppins Returns
VISUAL EFFECTS
- Avengers: Infinity War
- Christopher Robin
- First Man***
- Ready Player One
- Solo: A Star Wars Story
FILM EDITING
- BlacKkKlansman
- Bohemian Rhapsody***
- Green Book
- The Favourite
- Vice
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
- Border
- Mary Queen of Scots
- Vice***
Check back later as we will be updating the winners as the ceremony unfolds. *** indicates category winner.
This post was written by Nsenga K Burton, Ph.D., founder & editor-in-chief of The Burton Wire. An expert in intersectionality and media industries, Dr. Burton is also a professor of film and television. Follow her on Twitter @ Ntellectual or @TheBurtonWire.
