Last week, on the Goggler Presents podcast, Iain, Bahir, and Uma made their predictions on who could and should take home gold at this year’s Academy Awards. So, how did they fare?
Actor in a Supporting Role
Iain: As I mentioned on the podcast I would have liked to see Pacino win for a (relatively) restrained performance , like how Neptune is relatively close to the Sun compared to Alpha Centauri, but I guess there was no stopping Brad!
Umapagan: Nope. There was no stopping Brad. Cliff Booth is such a great character though. He is this utterly flawed has-been who is loyal to a fault. He’s the kind of friend you wish you had, both in good times and in bad. I fell in love with Cliff Booth. Which is a testament to Pitt’s tremendous performance.
I: well why don’t you marry him then!
U: Oh, if only he’d have me.
Actress in a Supporting Role
Bahir: I’m a huge fan of Laura Dern so I guess this gives me slightly more reason to watch Marriage Story. Although Iain didnt really make a great case for it.
I: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
U: I still think Laura Dern should have won for Little Women and not Marriage Story. I think Gerwig gave her far better material than Baumbach,
I: Not to denigrate her performance, but I think Laura Dern won for Big Little Lies more than anything else!
Animated Feature
B: I really wanted Klaus to win it only because it was so surprising. So much heart and such great animated storytelling.
I: HARD SAME! Although I second guess myself when I think of the exquisite lighting and composition in some of those scenes in Toy Story 4. Some of them looked totally real.
U: Klaus really was a breath of fresh air. But I can’t get over how Pixar keeps exceeding expectations with this particular franchise. Every sequel has been as good or better than the last. Every movie has a reason for being.
Adapted Screenplay
I: While it’s great to see Jojo and Taika take away an award, once he won this I got the sinking feeling that it was all over as far as the Best Picture Oscar goes. Jojo taking this award also effectively shut out Greta Gerwig for the great work she did with Little Women, which is disappointing.
B: Having seen Little Women AFTER we recorded our podcast, I would like to change my vote. Lady Bird really wasn’t for me, but I really enjoyed what Greta Gerwig did with Little Women. Thoroughly enjoyable movie.
U: Greta was robbed I tell you. That was a literary adaptation unlike any I’ve ever seen. Don’t get me wrong, Jojo Rabbit is fantastic. But Taika pretty much wrote his own thing. As far as taking a great literary work and translating it to screen, Greta Gerwig did something altogether unique.
I: You leave Jojo alone!
Original Screenplay
B: This really was a shot in the dark, but I’m glad Knives Out lost out to Parasite. Truly deserving.
U: When this happened, I honestly thought that was it for Parasite. They give Bong Joon-ho the writing award. They’d give Almodovar the prize for International Feature Film. Everyone wins something. Everyone goes home happy. As for Knives Out, I think it may have suffered from being too much of a lark. It didn’t quite have the heft of Parasite.
I: I thought the exact same, that this would be a consolation prize for Parasite, when in fact it was only the beginning!
Original Song
I: I couldn’t remember this song from the Rocketman soundtrack when we recorded our Oscar prediction podcast, but during the cermony I realised this was the only way the Academy could reward Elton John’s music as all the bangers from the soundtrack were pre-existing songs and thus ineligible for any Oscar categories! Rocketman may have been my most played album of 2019, so well done to Elton et al. That said Frozen was ROBBED! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, “Into the Unknown” SLAPS!
U: Total guess on my part here. I never know who the Academy will vote for in this category. When they’re trying to be hip and down with the cool kids they give it to Eminem and Common and John Legend. Otherwise, it’s always Disney or Diane Warren. We should have known that “Into the Unknown” didn’t have a chance given the Academy’s snubbing of Frozen 2 in the Animated Feature category.
Actor in a Leading Role
B: Meh. Joaquin’s performance was great but I wasnt so hot on Joker. But sure.
U: I mean, this really was a given. Phoenix has walked away with every acting award this season. And whether or not you liked Joker as a movie, Phoenix was a revelation. I didn’t think anyone could match Heath Ledger, but Phoenix does one better by bringing a completely different take to the character. Suck it Leto!
I: I think his acceptance speeches have been the weirder, more interesting,”performances”.
U: God, this speech was so rambly and emotionally incoherent. That said, vegans the world over must have been in conniptions.
Actress in A Leading Role
B: I REAALLLLY want to watch Judy.
U: You really should Bahir. I mean, it’s a good film, not a great one. I found it at times to be a little heavy-handed. But whatever criticisms I might have really are pointless in the face of Zellweger’s tremendous performance. It’s really well deserved.
I: Having missed Bombshell, and with Little Women only out in Malaysia the week after the Oscars, I felt we were cruelly underserved here for this category. I now need to seek out Judy along with the unreleased Harriet.
Directing
I: WOW. Fantastic. Turns out the Acadamy voters aren’t as xenophobic as we’d assumed AND it seems the majority were able to get over the “one-inch tall barrier of subtitles”.
U: This blew me away. I was not expecting this at all. I was pretty much where Bong Joon-ho was at this point (Parasite had already bagged Adapted Screenplay and International Feature Film) and getting ready to drink myself silly. This has been a long time coming. And I have to give credit to my friend Caroline for introducing me to the wonderful world of Korean cinema. She recognised and appreciated the incredible sophistication of the Korean film industry long before I did. She also put up with my incessant teasing about her love of Korean boys in makeup.
Best Picture
B: Again, I’m glad I was proven wrong. Listening back to this recording, I realized that my cynicism really got the better of me. But all hail Bong Joon-ho. I cant wait for the HBO version of Parasite so he can win some Emmys and Golden Globes next.
I: Hurray!!! Optimism (and Bong Joon-ho) wins! Now why did I write an article about Jojo Rabbit winning again?
U: I think my mum said it best: “I’m just so happy for the world!”
