JWM’s BEST OF 2019 (and Oscar picks)

Well, for a number of reasons I fell terribly short of watching all of the Oscar-nominated and/or otherwise-hyped films of 2019, but I still wanted to do one of these posts. I watched 15 out of the 34 non-documentary feature films nominated for an Oscar (8 out of 9 Best Picture nominees at least) and 29 2019 films overall. What follows are my rankings of the Oscar nominees in most of the major categories and picks for who will win, plus a definitive ranking of who I would’ve nominated and ultimately given the award to if I had the chance.

BEST PICTURE
Ranking the nominees:
1. Little Women (9.5/10)
2. Gisaengchung [Parasite] (9.5/10) (predicted winner)
3. 1917 (9/10)
4. Marriage Story (9/10)
5. Jojo Rabbit (8/10)
6. The Irishman (8/10)
7. Ford v Ferrari (7/10)
8. Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (7/10)
(Not watched: Joker)
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My nominees:
1. LITTLE WOMEN
2. Gisaengchung [Parasite]
3. 1917
4. Marriage Story
5. The Lighthouse (8.5/10)
6. Avengers: Endgame (8.5/10)

BEST ACTOR
Ranking the nominees:
1. Adam Driver – Marriage Story
2. Leonardo DiCaprio – Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
3. Jonathan Pryce – The Two Popes
(Not watched: Antonio Banderas – Dolor y gloria [Pain and Glory]; Joaquin Phoenix – Joker [predicted winner])
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My nominees:
1. ADAM DRIVER
2. Ray Romano – Paddleton
3. Robert Pattinson – The Lighthouse
4. Leonardo DiCaprio
5. Christian Bale – Ford v Ferrari

BEST ACTRESS
Ranking the nominees:
1. Saoirse Ronan – Little Women
2. Scarlett Johansson – Marriage Story
(Not watched: Charlize Theron – Bombshell; Cynthia Erivo – Harriet; Renée Zellweger – Judy [predicted winner])
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My nominees:
1. SAOIRSE RONAN
2. Scarlett Johansson
3. Florence Pugh – Midsommar
4. Lupita Nyong’o – Us
5. Awkwafina – The Farewell

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ranking the nominees:
1. Anthony Hopkins – The Two Popes
2. Al Pacino – The Irishman
3. Joe Pesci – The Irishman
4. Brad Pitt – Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (predicted winner)
(Not watched: Tom Hanks – A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood)
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My nominees:
1. WILLEM DAFOE – The Lighthouse
2. Timothée Chalamet – Little Women
3. Kang-ho Song – Gisaengchung [Parasite]
4. Anthony Hopkins
5. Al Pacino

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Ranking the nominees:
1. Florence Pugh – Little Women
2. Scarlett Johansson – Jojo Rabbit
3. Laura Dern – Marriage Story (predicted winner)
(Not watched: Margot Robbie – Bombshell; Kathy Bates – Richard Jewell)
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My nominees:
1. FLORENCE PUGH
2. Scarlett Johansson
3. Laura Dern
4. Yeo-jeong Jo – Gisaengchung [Parasite]
5. Beanie Feldstein – Booksmart

BEST DIRECTOR
Ranking the nominees:
1. Bong Joon Ho – Gisaengchung [Parasite] (predicted winner)
2. Sam Mendes – 1917
3. Martin Scorcese – The Irishman
4. Quentin Tarantino – Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
(Not watched: Todd Phillips – Joker)
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My nominees:
1. GRETA GERWIG – Little Women
2. Bong Joon Ho
3. Sam Mendes
4. Anthony Russo, Joe Russo – Avengers: Endgame
5. Lulu Wang – The Farewell

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Ranking the nominees:
1. Gisaengchung [Parasite] – Bong Joon Ho, Jin Won Han (predicted winner)
2. Marriage Story – Noah Baumbach
3. Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood – Quentin Tarantino
4. 1917 – Sam Mendes, Krysty Wilson-Cairns
(Not watched: Knives Out – Rian Johnson)
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My nominees:
1. GISAENGCHUNG [PARASITE]
2. Marriage Story
3. The Farewell – Lulu Wang
4. Paddleton – Mark Duplass, Alex Lehmann
5. Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Ranking the nominees:
1. Little Women – Greta Gerwig (predicted winner)
2. The Two Popes – Anthony McCarten
3. Jojo Rabbit – Taika Waititi
4. The Irishman – Steven Zaillian
(Not watched: Joker – Todd Phillips, Scott Silver)
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My nominees:
1. LITTLE WOMEN
2. The Two Popes
3. Jojo Rabbit
4. The Irishman
5. Captain Marvel – Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, Geneva Robertson-Dworet

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Ranking the nominees:
1. The Lighthouse – Jarin Blaschke
2. 1917 – Roger Deakins (predicted winner)
3. Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood – Robert Richardson
4. The Irishman – Rodrigo Prieto
(Not watched: Joker – Lawrence Sher)
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My nominees:
1. THE LIGHTHOUSE
2. 1917
3. Midsommar – Pawel Pogorzelski
4. Gisaengchung [Parasite] – Hong Gyeong-Pyo
5. Ford v Ferrari – Phedon Papamichael

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:
Ranking the nominees:
1. Marriage Story – Randy Newman
2. Little Women – Alexandre Desplat
3. 1917 – Thomas Newman
4. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – John Williams
(Not watched: Joker – Hildur Guðnadóttir [predicted winner])
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My nominees:
1. THE FAREWELL – Alex Weston
2. Marriage Story
3. Midsommar – Bobby Krlic
4. Ford v Ferrari – Marco Beltrami, Buck Sanders
5. Little Women