The Road to Oscars Ends Here
Well, awards season is well and truly over and it is was one for the record books for being one of the most contentious awards season filled with nasty whisper campaigns, revealed misdeeds, missteps by the Academy and a hostless Oscars...which surprisingly worked IMO.
What I loved most about this season is that it zigged when you thought it would zag. In October when “A Star is Born” was released, the film was the front runner, but as months went by it was assured that the film would get Best Song and that's it. Then came “The Favourite” and it seemed like the Oscar was Olivia Colman's to lose, but then Glenn Close began winning film critics awards and with that came the feeling that she would be getting an Oscar as a Lifetime Achievement proxy since she had been nominated 7 times with zero wins. Close winning the Golden Globes in Drama and the SAG Awards made people feel that she had the Oscar on lock; especially since some people felt that Olivia Colman should have been placed in Supporting while her “The Favourite” costars Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone should battle it out in Lead since that was their rightful spot. But alas, despite not campaigning due to her work on “The Crown” (she even missed the Oscar Nominee luncheon), the gold statue went to Colman.
Ethan Hawke was nominated for over 50 critics and indie awards, but shockingly lost out on an Oscar nod. With Hawke out the way and a few wins under his belt it seemed the Oscar was Christian Bale's for his role as Dick Cheney in “Vice”, but I think Bale's over-the-top acceptance speech at the SAG Awards turned voters off ---it was his Howard Dean “Yee-haw!!” moment. Suddenly, Bale lost momentum and Rami Malek jumped to the front. With that jump he began going on the defensive as people began questioning why he would work with Bryan Singer. To head it off, Malek spoke of how difficult a time he had working with Singer and that he didn't know of the allegations surrounding Singer prior to being cast.
Some more conspiracy minded people felt that Bryan Singer was trying to sabotage Malek's and “Bohemian Rhapsody”s chances by posting pictures from the set on his Instagram. People felt he was trying to remind people that it was his film as the cast and producers carefully avoiding mentioning Singer or even Dexter Fletcher who took over the last two weeks of filming after Singer was canned by Fox.
Then there was “Green BooK. WHEW. I salute Mahershala Ali and the film's executive producer Octavia Spencer for being able to weather the sh*t storm that came with the film. There was already criticism from the start that the film was a White Savior trope, a reverse of the Magical Negro. A “Driving Miss Daisy” but backwards. Then Viggo Mortenson who was winning praise for the role dropped the N-word during a SAG-AFTRA panel. He made a public apology (and a public and private one to Ali). Then came the news that the family of Dr. Don Shirley (portrayed by Ali in the film) rebuked the film saying that Dr. Don never wanted a film made about him, that he had refused overtures from Nick Vallelongo (co-writer and son of the man Mortenson plays) about writing the story and the family says Nick's father and Dr. Don weren't really friends. This made even more people condemn the film and put Ali in an awkward position of having to contact the family to apologize. The film's director/producer Peter Farrelly claimed he didn't know Dr. Don had any surviving family as his estate was left to friends. To change the narrative, in the final weeks of their awards push, Farrelly invited Dr. Don's friends to sit on panels and they spoke of their love for the film, how Dr. Don would have loved it and that in reality Dr. Don didn't have a relationship with his family despite their claims.
Looking like “Green Book” was going to snatch an Oscar from the jaws of defeat, it got murkier with old tweets from Vallelongo who retweeted 9/11 anti-Muslim articles. He killed his Twitter account, and apologized to Ali - a Muslim. Then it came out that Peter Farrelly had whipped out his dick in front of Cameron Diaz as a “joke” as she auditioned for “There's Something About Mary”. He apologized and said how much he has grown since then. Then when the film and Ali won at the SAG Awards, Bill Murray poured champagne over Ali, a Muslim man who doesn't drink. Unsurprisingly, Murray didn't apologize.
So with all of the tsuris swirling around “Green Book” people had a lot of feelings when it won “Best Picture” . Like Spike Lee who allegedly tried to leave the Dolby Theatre when the win was announced. He later said backstage that he felt “the ref made a bad call.”
While I didn't think “Green Book” or “Bohemian Rhapsody” was the best of the bunch (most of the films I loved in 2018 wasn't nominated anyway) I can appreciate their wins. I think people have this aspirational view of how these awards should go down but forget that this is a career for people and a lot of things that people got in an uproar over like “Bohemian Rhapsody” not focusing on Freddie Mercury's bisexuality or Malek being a straight man playing a bisexual means they feel that want to narrow roles for actors. Some actors are fine with it like after his win for playing Andrew Cunanen Darren Criss said he will no longer play a gay role, instead leaving it for gay actors. But gay actors like Ben Whishaw feels that actors act and that there is no role they shouldn't be able to do. So it's not surprising that the acting community didn't think, “Maybe we shouldn't vote for this straight man playing a bisexual.” They focused on the acting. And the fact that Rami campaigned his butt off. One voter remarked that she saw him more than she saw her own dog.
Hopefully, next year will be smoother.
Nah, bump that. I want it to be a dumpster fire like this year!!
Actor in a Supporting Role
Adam Driver (BlacKkKlansman
Sam Elliott (A Star Is Born)
Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me? )
Sam Rockwell (Vice)
Mahershala Ali (Green Book) **WINNER
Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams (Vice)
Marina de Tavira (Roma)
Emma Stone (The Favourite)
Rachel Weisz (The Favourite)
Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk) **WINNER
Actress in a Leading Role
Yalitza Aparici (Roma)
Glenn Close (The Wife)
Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born)
Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)
Olivia Colman (The Favourite)**WINNER
Actor in a Leading Role
Christian Bale (Vice)
Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born)
Viggo Mortensen (Green Book)
Willem Dafoe (At Eternity’s Gate)
Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) **WINNER
**Rami fell off the stage after winning.
Directing
Spike Lee (BlackkKlansman)
Paweł Pawlikowski (Cold War)
Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite)
Adam McKay (Vice)
Alfonso Cuarón (Roma) **WINNER
**While Cuarón, winner of virtually every award he was up for this season, was an assured win and "Roma" was beloved, there was criticism from voters. Some felt that he should not have been in contention since "Roma" was a non-union production, that he should not have been up for cinematography because he didn't do it in the standard way; one theater chain echoes the sentiment of many (like me) that Netflix films are essentially made-for-TV so "Roma" and other Netflix films have no right to be in contention for Oscars. On the more disgusting side, some actors in Mexico's film community have disparaged "Roma" star Yalitza Aparicio for not being a real actress and that she did nothing but say, "yes, ma'am, no, ma'am". If this was just on the level of her skill I would let the actors have their say; I mean, I didn't think Sam Rockwell warranted a nomination. But their complaints about Aparacio stems from her being an Indigenous woman and their complaints are rooted in classism.
Best Picture
Black Panther
BlacKkKlansman
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite
Roma
A Star Is Born
Vice
Green Book **WINNER
Adapted Screenplay
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen)
Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Screenplay by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty)
If Beale Street Could Talk (Written for the screen by Barry Jenkins)
A Star Is Born (Screenplay by Eric Roth and Bradley Cooper & Will Fetters)
BlacKkKlansman (Written by Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee) **WINNER
Original Screenplay
The Favourite (Written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara)
First Reformed (Written by Paul Schrader)
Roma (Written by Alfonso Cuarón)
Vice (Written by Adam McKay)
Green Book (Written by Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly) **WINNER
Cinematography
Łukasz Żal (Cold War)
Robbie Ryan (The Favourite)
Caleb Deschanel (Never Look Away)
**He brought his daughters Emily and Zoey to watch himself lose.
Matthew Libatique (A Star is Born)
Alfonso Cuarón (Roma) **WINNER
Production Design
The Favourite (Production Design: Fiona Crombie; Set Decoration: Alice Felton)
First Man (Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Kathy Lucas)
Mary Poppins Returns (Production Design: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim)
Roma (Production Design: Eugenio Caballero; Set Decoration: Bárbara Enríquez)
Black Panther (Production Design: Hannah Beachler; Set Decoration: Jay Hart) **WINNERS
Costume Design
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Mary Zophres)
The Favourite (Sandy Powell)
Mary Poppins Returns (Sandy Powell)
Mary Queen of Scots (Alexandra Byrne)
Black Panther (Ruth Carter) **WINNER
Film Editing
BlacKkKlansman (Barry Alexander Brown)
The Favourite (Yorgos Mavropsaridis)
Green Book (Patrick J. Don Vito)
Vice (Hank Corwin)
Bohemian Rhapsody (John Ottman) **WINNER
Foreign Language Film
Capernaum (Lebanon)
Cold War (Poland)
Never Look Away (Germany)
Shoplifters (Japan)
Roma (Mexico) **WINNER
Documentary Feature
Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Minding the Gap
Of Fathers and Sons
RBG
Free Solo **WINNER
Documentary Short Subject
Black Sheep
End Game
Lifeboat
A Night at the Garden (Field of Vision)
Period. End Of Sentence
Animated Feature Film
Incredibles 2
Isle of Dogs
Mirai
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse **WINNER
Animated Short Film
Animal Behaviour
Bao**WINNER
Late Afternoon
One Small Step
Weekends
Live Action Short Film
Detainment
Fauve
Marguerite
Mother
Skin **WINNER
Original Score
Black Panther (Ludwig Goransson)**WINNER
BlacKkKlansman (Terence Blanchard)
If Beale Street Could Talk (Nicholas Britell)
Isle of Dogs (Alexandre Desplat)
Mary Poppins Returns (Marc Shaiman)
Original Song
“All The Stars” from Black Panther (Music by Mark Spears, Kendrick Lamar Duckworth and Anthony Tiffith; Lyric by Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, Anthony Tiffith and Solana Rowe)
“I’ll Fight” from RBG (Music and Lyric by Diane Warren)
“The Place Where Lost Things Go” from Mary Poppins Returns (Music by Marc Shaiman; Lyric by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman)
“When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs ( Music and Lyric by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch)
“Shallow” from A Star Is Born (Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt) **WINNER
-It was with 1000% surety I knew this song would win. I loved “All the Stars” and hate that Kendrick Lamar couldn't attend due to touring but I knew “Shallow” was their get. I loved the staging of it. And of course Stefani and Bradley can sell being in love.
Visual Effects
Avengers: Infinity War
Christopher Robin
Ready Player One
Solo: A Star Wars Story
First Man **WINNER
Makeup and Hairstyling
Border (Göran Lundström and Pamela Goldammer)
Mary Queen of Scots (Jenny Shircore, Marc Pilcher and Jessica Brooks)
Vice (Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia DeHaney) **WINNER
Sound Editing
Black Panther
First Man
A Quiet Place
Roma
Bohemian Rhapsody **WINNER
Sound Mixing
Black Panther
First Man
Roma
A Star Is Born
Bohemian Rhapsody **WINNER
-While I loved that there were bold colors - lots of pink. I wasn't too impressed by the fashion. Billy Porter was the winner by far with his homage to the late house father Hector Xtravaganza.
Billy Porter in Cristian Sirano
-I loved that there were women in suits to Amy Poehler, Elsie Fisher, Awkwafina and Sarah Silverman gets a thumbs up from me. I also loved the dance pants/skirt combo so I loved Zoe Kazan and Shailene Woodley's outfit. Absolutely adored Nicholas Hoult's Dior jacket. He seems so boring but that was a fire fashion choice.
Laura Harrier in Louis Vuitton
Newly engaged Orlando Bloom
**Rumor is that he gave Katy Perry the same engagement ring he gave Miranda Kerr. That is the kind of supreme f*ck boy move I expect from Orli.
Emilia Clarke in Balmain
Amandla Stenberg in Mui Mui
Constance Wu in Versace
Danielle MacDonald in Cristian Siriano
Elsie Fisher in Thom Browne
**Very sleek and chic. Too casual for the Oscars. I nice suit would have sufficed.
Michelle Yeoh in Elie Saab
Linda Cardenelli in Schiaparelli
She downsized for Vanity Fair
Adam Lambert in Tom Ford
**Other than the sleeves, I love this look.
Afterparty look
--Lambert opening with Queen isn't the only connection to "Bohemian Rhapsody". Lambert has a cameo in the film as a trucker Freddie is on the make for.
Stephan James in Etro (with Shamier Anderson, his "Race" costar)
**Love the color but I don't like the vest and I can't abide the white boots. Is he a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader?
Awkafina in Dsquared
Marina de Tavira in J. Mendel
Regina King in Oscar de la Renta
Yalitiza Aparicio in Rodarte
Brian Tyree Henry
The men of Bohemian Rhapsody
*Gwillym Lee, Allen Leech, Joe Mazello, Ben Hardy
Guiliana Rancic
Diego Luna
Diane Warren
Jenifer Lewis
Octavia Spencer
Ashley Graham
Ruth Carter
Mark Ronson
Shamier Anderson
Meagan Good
**I don't think those are her natural eyebrow coloring. It's a bit thick.
Spike Lee
Trudie Styler
Melissa McCarthy
She and her husband Ben Falcone made a wardrobe switch to the VF party
Sarah Silverman
Richard E. Grant
Team Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse
Shamiek Moore (Miles Morales) and Jake Johnson (Peter Parker)
Gemma Chan in Valentino
Nicholas Hoult and Joey Alwyn
**Nicky wearing a gorgeous Dior jacket/sash combo.
Kacey Musgraves in Giambattista Valli
Amy Poehler in Alberta Ferretti
Angela Bassett in Reem Acra
Jennifer Hudson in Elie Saab
Glenn Close in Caroline Herrera
Much better than her foil looking suit from the Spirit Awards
Rowan Blachard
Emily Ratakowski actually looking demure (for her)
David Oyelowo in Etro
The Divine Miss N. Naomi Campbell
**Rumor is that she's sexing down one of the former One Directioners. Not the one who was hot and not the one who was Harry Styles. So maybe it's the one who looks like he had too many chippies or the one who was sleeping with Cheryl Lloyd. I think it's that one.
Heidi Klum who vacated Elton John's viewing party for VF. To be fair, so did Elton and his husband.
Gerard Butler
Maybe Halsey can go home with Gerry
Helen Mirren in Schiaparelli
Jordan Peele and Chelsea Peretti
Charlize Theron in Dior
Emma Stone in Louis Vuitton
Rachel Weisz in Givenchy
For someone with a banging body, Christina Hendricks doesn't use it to its full power
Tiffany Haddish
Steven Yeun
Jennifer Lopez in Tom Ford
Afterparty look
Lindsay Vonn looking like the Chicken Lady from "The Kids in the Hall"
Allison Janney in Pamela Rolland
Tessa Thompson in Chanel
It's lovely but I performed her outfit from the Spirit Awards
Sarah Paulson in Brandon Maxwell (with Holland Taylor. Still.)
My precious Paris Jackson
Joey King
Kate Beckinsale
Rita Ora just loves being the joke of events
Lady Gaga in Alexander McQueen
Black Panther cast: Michael B. Jordan, Danai Gurira in Brock Collection, Leticia Wright in Dior, Winston Duke, Ryan Coogler and wife.
Michael Bae and his mom
Danai at VF Party
Jenna Malone
Lily Collins
Chrissy Teigen and John Legend
*If it didn't have the feathers I would like it more.
Christian Bale and wife Sibi
Tina Fey in Vera Wang
After the party is the afterparty- outfits
Kaylie Carter, I don't know who you are, but I love this dress.
Amy Adams in Versace
I feel she has worn the same variation of this dress 7 times
Jason Momoa and Lisa Bonet in Fendi
Lucy Boynton in Rodarte. Rami Malek in Yves S. Laurent
Chris Evans in Ferragamo
**Not keen on the cornsilk. A darker blue would have worked better.
Olivia Colman in Prada
Maya Rudolph in Giambattista Valli
Kate Mara and Jamie Belll. They're expecting her 1st child, Jamie's 2nd
Queen Latifah in Mike Costello
**Latifah's girlfriend is allegedly pregnant but like other rumored preggers woman Alicia Vikander there are no pics
Mindy Kaling and BJ Novak (at the Vanity Fair party)
Rumer Willis (at the Elton John viewing party)
Viggo Mortenson with son Henry and girlfriend
Nina Dobrev and Julianne Hough (at the Vanity Fair party)
Sandy Powell
KiKi Layne
**KiKi did not come to play but to slay.
At the Spirit Awards
James McAvoy
**James came up with an idea to have celebrities sign his shirt which he will auction off for charity.
McAvoy has been a very busy lad. “Glass”, the final part of the “Unbreakable” trilogy came out to middling reviews, but the film has made over $100 million. He still has “Dark Phoenix” which is yet another Dark Phoenix saga story about X-Men's Jean Grey. He will also be seen in the BBC mini-series “His Dark Materials”. McAvoy also hosted SNL to raves. During his very busy push for “Glass” he revealed that he had been hospitalized for over a month after coming down with an infection after a lung biopsy. But Macca is in fine form now.
Kerry Washington
Gabrielle Union
**I love like Kerry Washington she went short and fun. Love the burnt sienna gown and the shape of it. And you can't go wrong with pockets!
Go on, Aunt Mae! Marissa Tomei looks great.
Serena Williams in Armani
No comment on Jeff Goldblum
Okay, one comment. If he really has this energy, he can get it
Jason Statham in a terribly boxy jacket with fetching wifey Rosie Huntley
Ed Begley Jr.
I hope Kelly Lynch never cuts her long, stringy , heroin chic hair. It's her trademark and it works
Cicily Tyson
Sam Rockwell and Leslie Bibb
Chadwick Boseman
Laura Dern in Rodarte
Henry Golding
Javier Bardem
Brie Larson
Ava DuVernay
New mom Zoe Kazan, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Shailene Woodley
Bradley Cooper with Irina Shanyk and his tiny mum
Tyler Perry
Regina Hall
Pharrell Williams
Sam Elliott and Katherine Ross
The couple in 1978 on the set of the film “The Legacy”
Cynthia Erivo
Selma Blair
**Photographed by Mark Selinger at the Vanity Fair Party. Selma is sporting a cane after her 2018 admission that she has MS.
The New York Times was disinvited from the Vanity Fair party after writing a piece saying that competition from a wide array of parties have made VF mundane. Ava DuVurnay defended Vanity Fair saying that under their new leadership they have championed diversity and gave opportunity to artists of color. Some journalists boycotted the party in protest and in solidarity of NYT. Then there was John Mayer who wasn't invited so he made a replica of the Vanity Fair party at his home.
Dave Chappelle at the mock Vanity Fair-yer party
What I loved most about this season is that it zigged when you thought it would zag. In October when “A Star is Born” was released, the film was the front runner, but as months went by it was assured that the film would get Best Song and that's it. Then came “The Favourite” and it seemed like the Oscar was Olivia Colman's to lose, but then Glenn Close began winning film critics awards and with that came the feeling that she would be getting an Oscar as a Lifetime Achievement proxy since she had been nominated 7 times with zero wins. Close winning the Golden Globes in Drama and the SAG Awards made people feel that she had the Oscar on lock; especially since some people felt that Olivia Colman should have been placed in Supporting while her “The Favourite” costars Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone should battle it out in Lead since that was their rightful spot. But alas, despite not campaigning due to her work on “The Crown” (she even missed the Oscar Nominee luncheon), the gold statue went to Colman.
Ethan Hawke was nominated for over 50 critics and indie awards, but shockingly lost out on an Oscar nod. With Hawke out the way and a few wins under his belt it seemed the Oscar was Christian Bale's for his role as Dick Cheney in “Vice”, but I think Bale's over-the-top acceptance speech at the SAG Awards turned voters off ---it was his Howard Dean “Yee-haw!!” moment. Suddenly, Bale lost momentum and Rami Malek jumped to the front. With that jump he began going on the defensive as people began questioning why he would work with Bryan Singer. To head it off, Malek spoke of how difficult a time he had working with Singer and that he didn't know of the allegations surrounding Singer prior to being cast.
Some more conspiracy minded people felt that Bryan Singer was trying to sabotage Malek's and “Bohemian Rhapsody”s chances by posting pictures from the set on his Instagram. People felt he was trying to remind people that it was his film as the cast and producers carefully avoiding mentioning Singer or even Dexter Fletcher who took over the last two weeks of filming after Singer was canned by Fox.
Then there was “Green BooK. WHEW. I salute Mahershala Ali and the film's executive producer Octavia Spencer for being able to weather the sh*t storm that came with the film. There was already criticism from the start that the film was a White Savior trope, a reverse of the Magical Negro. A “Driving Miss Daisy” but backwards. Then Viggo Mortenson who was winning praise for the role dropped the N-word during a SAG-AFTRA panel. He made a public apology (and a public and private one to Ali). Then came the news that the family of Dr. Don Shirley (portrayed by Ali in the film) rebuked the film saying that Dr. Don never wanted a film made about him, that he had refused overtures from Nick Vallelongo (co-writer and son of the man Mortenson plays) about writing the story and the family says Nick's father and Dr. Don weren't really friends. This made even more people condemn the film and put Ali in an awkward position of having to contact the family to apologize. The film's director/producer Peter Farrelly claimed he didn't know Dr. Don had any surviving family as his estate was left to friends. To change the narrative, in the final weeks of their awards push, Farrelly invited Dr. Don's friends to sit on panels and they spoke of their love for the film, how Dr. Don would have loved it and that in reality Dr. Don didn't have a relationship with his family despite their claims.
Looking like “Green Book” was going to snatch an Oscar from the jaws of defeat, it got murkier with old tweets from Vallelongo who retweeted 9/11 anti-Muslim articles. He killed his Twitter account, and apologized to Ali - a Muslim. Then it came out that Peter Farrelly had whipped out his dick in front of Cameron Diaz as a “joke” as she auditioned for “There's Something About Mary”. He apologized and said how much he has grown since then. Then when the film and Ali won at the SAG Awards, Bill Murray poured champagne over Ali, a Muslim man who doesn't drink. Unsurprisingly, Murray didn't apologize.
So with all of the tsuris swirling around “Green Book” people had a lot of feelings when it won “Best Picture” . Like Spike Lee who allegedly tried to leave the Dolby Theatre when the win was announced. He later said backstage that he felt “the ref made a bad call.”
While I didn't think “Green Book” or “Bohemian Rhapsody” was the best of the bunch (most of the films I loved in 2018 wasn't nominated anyway) I can appreciate their wins. I think people have this aspirational view of how these awards should go down but forget that this is a career for people and a lot of things that people got in an uproar over like “Bohemian Rhapsody” not focusing on Freddie Mercury's bisexuality or Malek being a straight man playing a bisexual means they feel that want to narrow roles for actors. Some actors are fine with it like after his win for playing Andrew Cunanen Darren Criss said he will no longer play a gay role, instead leaving it for gay actors. But gay actors like Ben Whishaw feels that actors act and that there is no role they shouldn't be able to do. So it's not surprising that the acting community didn't think, “Maybe we shouldn't vote for this straight man playing a bisexual.” They focused on the acting. And the fact that Rami campaigned his butt off. One voter remarked that she saw him more than she saw her own dog.
Hopefully, next year will be smoother.
Nah, bump that. I want it to be a dumpster fire like this year!!
Actor in a Supporting Role
Adam Driver (BlacKkKlansman
Sam Elliott (A Star Is Born)
Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me? )
Sam Rockwell (Vice)
Mahershala Ali (Green Book) **WINNER
Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams (Vice)
Marina de Tavira (Roma)
Emma Stone (The Favourite)
Rachel Weisz (The Favourite)
Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk) **WINNER
Actress in a Leading Role
Yalitza Aparici (Roma)
Glenn Close (The Wife)
Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born)
Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)
Olivia Colman (The Favourite)**WINNER
Actor in a Leading Role
Christian Bale (Vice)
Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born)
Viggo Mortensen (Green Book)
Willem Dafoe (At Eternity’s Gate)
Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) **WINNER
**Rami fell off the stage after winning.
Directing
Spike Lee (BlackkKlansman)
Paweł Pawlikowski (Cold War)
Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite)
Adam McKay (Vice)
Alfonso Cuarón (Roma) **WINNER
**While Cuarón, winner of virtually every award he was up for this season, was an assured win and "Roma" was beloved, there was criticism from voters. Some felt that he should not have been in contention since "Roma" was a non-union production, that he should not have been up for cinematography because he didn't do it in the standard way; one theater chain echoes the sentiment of many (like me) that Netflix films are essentially made-for-TV so "Roma" and other Netflix films have no right to be in contention for Oscars. On the more disgusting side, some actors in Mexico's film community have disparaged "Roma" star Yalitza Aparicio for not being a real actress and that she did nothing but say, "yes, ma'am, no, ma'am". If this was just on the level of her skill I would let the actors have their say; I mean, I didn't think Sam Rockwell warranted a nomination. But their complaints about Aparacio stems from her being an Indigenous woman and their complaints are rooted in classism.
Best Picture
Black Panther
BlacKkKlansman
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite
Roma
A Star Is Born
Vice
Green Book **WINNER
Adapted Screenplay
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen)
Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Screenplay by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty)
If Beale Street Could Talk (Written for the screen by Barry Jenkins)
A Star Is Born (Screenplay by Eric Roth and Bradley Cooper & Will Fetters)
BlacKkKlansman (Written by Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee) **WINNER
Original Screenplay
The Favourite (Written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara)
First Reformed (Written by Paul Schrader)
Roma (Written by Alfonso Cuarón)
Vice (Written by Adam McKay)
Green Book (Written by Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly) **WINNER
Cinematography
Łukasz Żal (Cold War)
Robbie Ryan (The Favourite)
Caleb Deschanel (Never Look Away)
**He brought his daughters Emily and Zoey to watch himself lose.
Matthew Libatique (A Star is Born)
Alfonso Cuarón (Roma) **WINNER
Production Design
The Favourite (Production Design: Fiona Crombie; Set Decoration: Alice Felton)
First Man (Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Kathy Lucas)
Mary Poppins Returns (Production Design: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim)
Roma (Production Design: Eugenio Caballero; Set Decoration: Bárbara Enríquez)
Black Panther (Production Design: Hannah Beachler; Set Decoration: Jay Hart) **WINNERS
Costume Design
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Mary Zophres)
The Favourite (Sandy Powell)
Mary Poppins Returns (Sandy Powell)
Mary Queen of Scots (Alexandra Byrne)
Black Panther (Ruth Carter) **WINNER
Film Editing
BlacKkKlansman (Barry Alexander Brown)
The Favourite (Yorgos Mavropsaridis)
Green Book (Patrick J. Don Vito)
Vice (Hank Corwin)
Bohemian Rhapsody (John Ottman) **WINNER
Foreign Language Film
Capernaum (Lebanon)
Cold War (Poland)
Never Look Away (Germany)
Shoplifters (Japan)
Roma (Mexico) **WINNER
Documentary Feature
Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Minding the Gap
Of Fathers and Sons
RBG
Free Solo **WINNER
Documentary Short Subject
Black Sheep
End Game
Lifeboat
A Night at the Garden (Field of Vision)
Period. End Of Sentence
Animated Feature Film
Incredibles 2
Isle of Dogs
Mirai
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse **WINNER
Animated Short Film
Animal Behaviour
Bao**WINNER
Late Afternoon
One Small Step
Weekends
Live Action Short Film
Detainment
Fauve
Marguerite
Mother
Skin **WINNER
Original Score
Black Panther (Ludwig Goransson)**WINNER
BlacKkKlansman (Terence Blanchard)
If Beale Street Could Talk (Nicholas Britell)
Isle of Dogs (Alexandre Desplat)
Mary Poppins Returns (Marc Shaiman)
Original Song
“All The Stars” from Black Panther (Music by Mark Spears, Kendrick Lamar Duckworth and Anthony Tiffith; Lyric by Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, Anthony Tiffith and Solana Rowe)
“I’ll Fight” from RBG (Music and Lyric by Diane Warren)
“The Place Where Lost Things Go” from Mary Poppins Returns (Music by Marc Shaiman; Lyric by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman)
“When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs ( Music and Lyric by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch)
“Shallow” from A Star Is Born (Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt) **WINNER
-It was with 1000% surety I knew this song would win. I loved “All the Stars” and hate that Kendrick Lamar couldn't attend due to touring but I knew “Shallow” was their get. I loved the staging of it. And of course Stefani and Bradley can sell being in love.
Visual Effects
Avengers: Infinity War
Christopher Robin
Ready Player One
Solo: A Star Wars Story
First Man **WINNER
Makeup and Hairstyling
Border (Göran Lundström and Pamela Goldammer)
Mary Queen of Scots (Jenny Shircore, Marc Pilcher and Jessica Brooks)
Vice (Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia DeHaney) **WINNER
Sound Editing
Black Panther
First Man
A Quiet Place
Roma
Bohemian Rhapsody **WINNER
Sound Mixing
Black Panther
First Man
Roma
A Star Is Born
Bohemian Rhapsody **WINNER
-While I loved that there were bold colors - lots of pink. I wasn't too impressed by the fashion. Billy Porter was the winner by far with his homage to the late house father Hector Xtravaganza.
Billy Porter in Cristian Sirano
-I loved that there were women in suits to Amy Poehler, Elsie Fisher, Awkwafina and Sarah Silverman gets a thumbs up from me. I also loved the dance pants/skirt combo so I loved Zoe Kazan and Shailene Woodley's outfit. Absolutely adored Nicholas Hoult's Dior jacket. He seems so boring but that was a fire fashion choice.
Laura Harrier in Louis Vuitton
Newly engaged Orlando Bloom
**Rumor is that he gave Katy Perry the same engagement ring he gave Miranda Kerr. That is the kind of supreme f*ck boy move I expect from Orli.
Emilia Clarke in Balmain
Amandla Stenberg in Mui Mui
Constance Wu in Versace
Danielle MacDonald in Cristian Siriano
Elsie Fisher in Thom Browne
**Very sleek and chic. Too casual for the Oscars. I nice suit would have sufficed.
Michelle Yeoh in Elie Saab
Linda Cardenelli in Schiaparelli
She downsized for Vanity Fair
Adam Lambert in Tom Ford
**Other than the sleeves, I love this look.
Afterparty look
--Lambert opening with Queen isn't the only connection to "Bohemian Rhapsody". Lambert has a cameo in the film as a trucker Freddie is on the make for.
Stephan James in Etro (with Shamier Anderson, his "Race" costar)
**Love the color but I don't like the vest and I can't abide the white boots. Is he a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader?
Awkafina in Dsquared
Marina de Tavira in J. Mendel
Regina King in Oscar de la Renta
Yalitiza Aparicio in Rodarte
Brian Tyree Henry
The men of Bohemian Rhapsody
*Gwillym Lee, Allen Leech, Joe Mazello, Ben Hardy
Guiliana Rancic
Diego Luna
Diane Warren
Jenifer Lewis
Octavia Spencer
Ashley Graham
Ruth Carter
Mark Ronson
Shamier Anderson
Meagan Good
**I don't think those are her natural eyebrow coloring. It's a bit thick.
Spike Lee
Trudie Styler
Melissa McCarthy
She and her husband Ben Falcone made a wardrobe switch to the VF party
Sarah Silverman
Richard E. Grant
Team Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse
Shamiek Moore (Miles Morales) and Jake Johnson (Peter Parker)
Gemma Chan in Valentino
Nicholas Hoult and Joey Alwyn
**Nicky wearing a gorgeous Dior jacket/sash combo.
Kacey Musgraves in Giambattista Valli
Amy Poehler in Alberta Ferretti
Angela Bassett in Reem Acra
Jennifer Hudson in Elie Saab
Glenn Close in Caroline Herrera
Much better than her foil looking suit from the Spirit Awards
Rowan Blachard
Emily Ratakowski actually looking demure (for her)
David Oyelowo in Etro
The Divine Miss N. Naomi Campbell
**Rumor is that she's sexing down one of the former One Directioners. Not the one who was hot and not the one who was Harry Styles. So maybe it's the one who looks like he had too many chippies or the one who was sleeping with Cheryl Lloyd. I think it's that one.
Heidi Klum who vacated Elton John's viewing party for VF. To be fair, so did Elton and his husband.
Gerard Butler
Maybe Halsey can go home with Gerry
Helen Mirren in Schiaparelli
Jordan Peele and Chelsea Peretti
Charlize Theron in Dior
Emma Stone in Louis Vuitton
Rachel Weisz in Givenchy
For someone with a banging body, Christina Hendricks doesn't use it to its full power
Tiffany Haddish
Steven Yeun
Jennifer Lopez in Tom Ford
Afterparty look
Lindsay Vonn looking like the Chicken Lady from "The Kids in the Hall"
Allison Janney in Pamela Rolland
Tessa Thompson in Chanel
It's lovely but I performed her outfit from the Spirit Awards
Sarah Paulson in Brandon Maxwell (with Holland Taylor. Still.)
My precious Paris Jackson
Joey King
Kate Beckinsale
Rita Ora just loves being the joke of events
Lady Gaga in Alexander McQueen
Black Panther cast: Michael B. Jordan, Danai Gurira in Brock Collection, Leticia Wright in Dior, Winston Duke, Ryan Coogler and wife.
Michael Bae and his mom
Danai at VF Party
Jenna Malone
Lily Collins
Chrissy Teigen and John Legend
*If it didn't have the feathers I would like it more.
Christian Bale and wife Sibi
Tina Fey in Vera Wang
After the party is the afterparty- outfits
Kaylie Carter, I don't know who you are, but I love this dress.
Amy Adams in Versace
I feel she has worn the same variation of this dress 7 times
Jason Momoa and Lisa Bonet in Fendi
Lucy Boynton in Rodarte. Rami Malek in Yves S. Laurent
Chris Evans in Ferragamo
**Not keen on the cornsilk. A darker blue would have worked better.
Olivia Colman in Prada
Maya Rudolph in Giambattista Valli
Kate Mara and Jamie Belll. They're expecting her 1st child, Jamie's 2nd
Queen Latifah in Mike Costello
**Latifah's girlfriend is allegedly pregnant but like other rumored preggers woman Alicia Vikander there are no pics
Mindy Kaling and BJ Novak (at the Vanity Fair party)
Rumer Willis (at the Elton John viewing party)
Viggo Mortenson with son Henry and girlfriend
Nina Dobrev and Julianne Hough (at the Vanity Fair party)
Sandy Powell
KiKi Layne
**KiKi did not come to play but to slay.
At the Spirit Awards
James McAvoy
**James came up with an idea to have celebrities sign his shirt which he will auction off for charity.
McAvoy has been a very busy lad. “Glass”, the final part of the “Unbreakable” trilogy came out to middling reviews, but the film has made over $100 million. He still has “Dark Phoenix” which is yet another Dark Phoenix saga story about X-Men's Jean Grey. He will also be seen in the BBC mini-series “His Dark Materials”. McAvoy also hosted SNL to raves. During his very busy push for “Glass” he revealed that he had been hospitalized for over a month after coming down with an infection after a lung biopsy. But Macca is in fine form now.
Kerry Washington
Gabrielle Union
**I love like Kerry Washington she went short and fun. Love the burnt sienna gown and the shape of it. And you can't go wrong with pockets!
Go on, Aunt Mae! Marissa Tomei looks great.
Serena Williams in Armani
No comment on Jeff Goldblum
Okay, one comment. If he really has this energy, he can get it
Jason Statham in a terribly boxy jacket with fetching wifey Rosie Huntley
Ed Begley Jr.
I hope Kelly Lynch never cuts her long, stringy , heroin chic hair. It's her trademark and it works
Cicily Tyson
Sam Rockwell and Leslie Bibb
Chadwick Boseman
Laura Dern in Rodarte
Henry Golding
Javier Bardem
Brie Larson
Ava DuVernay
New mom Zoe Kazan, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Shailene Woodley
Bradley Cooper with Irina Shanyk and his tiny mum
Tyler Perry
Regina Hall
Pharrell Williams
Sam Elliott and Katherine Ross
The couple in 1978 on the set of the film “The Legacy”
Cynthia Erivo
Selma Blair
**Photographed by Mark Selinger at the Vanity Fair Party. Selma is sporting a cane after her 2018 admission that she has MS.
The New York Times was disinvited from the Vanity Fair party after writing a piece saying that competition from a wide array of parties have made VF mundane. Ava DuVurnay defended Vanity Fair saying that under their new leadership they have championed diversity and gave opportunity to artists of color. Some journalists boycotted the party in protest and in solidarity of NYT. Then there was John Mayer who wasn't invited so he made a replica of the Vanity Fair party at his home.
Dave Chappelle at the mock Vanity Fair-yer party