3: A Star is Born
Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut flew out of the gates this awards season, setting the pace for the rest of the race before rapidly losing steam as the new year rolled around.
While it is not likely to walk away with the big prize at this year’s awards, it is still one of the finer movies in this year’s race.
Cooper has taken to direction like a fish out of water, while his central performance as the damaged rock star battling his demons was one of the finest of last year. Then, of course, there is Lady Gaga, who turns out to be an absolute revelation alongside Cooper in the other lead role.
Cooper has successfully managed to update one of Hollywood’s oldest fables and has done so in style. While it is likely to miss out on any of the big awards on Sunday, it should still take home best original song for ‘Shallow’ if nothing else.
2: BlacKkKlansman
Unlike Green Book, Spike Lee’s latest movie, BlacKkKlansman, offers a detailed and interesting look at racism in America, one that forces us to engage with voices that we perhaps might not agree with and one that also ties nicely into recent racism issues in America.
Not only is this Lee’s finest and most important work in some time, it is also dripping in humour and features some excellent performances, most notably from John David Washington, who was shockingly snubbed from this year’s Best Actor nominees.
1: The Favourite
Could The Favourite sneak home the big prize on Sunday night? It’s difficult to say, the movie has the joint most nominations at this year’s awards, and is likely to take home quite a few of them.
Greek director, Yorgos Lanthimos has given us perhaps his most accessible movie to date, but like his previous works, The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Favourite has not been without its detractors.
I, however, am certainly not one of them. From the opening scenes along, Lanthimos buckles you in for one of the weirdest and most wonderful of this year’s Best Picture nominees, one that also happens to feature some of the finest performances of the year as well.
Everything about this film is excellent. The script is delightfully witty and suitably nasty, while Olivia Coleman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone are marvellous in their roles as the Queen and her lovers respectively.
Liam Hoofe
Originally published February 21, 2019. Updated February 22, 2019.
