Several Oscar voters over the past few days have been eager to share their top choices and reasons why for the top eight categories at the 2019 Academy Awards. Now that voting is over and the accountants have the ballots, we can start exposing these secret votes. The comments below for Voter #4 in each category are part of the thought process in choosing these potential winners.
And click here to see our winner picks for Voter #1, Voter #2 and Voter #3. More articles will be published this week.
BEST PICTURE: “Roma”
“Roma” has so much to say in a very simple way. A lot of people have overlooked the poeticism of the movie. When I watched it, it brought back a lot of memories of my childhood and the people who took care of me when I was a kid. And of the times I was in trouble and was comforted and having key milestones happen in life. I thought the film captured that in a very elegant way. Second place is “BlacKkKlansman.” Third place is “Green Book.”
BEST DIRECTOR: Alfonso Cuaron (“Roma”)
He’s such an auteur, and it’s a very personal vision. I really appreciated the understated simplicity of the film, but at the same time when you look at it, you see how much is in the frame for what he’s doing there from total scratch. That was a brilliant accomplishment.
BEST ACTRESS: Glenn Close (“The Wife”)
Actress is easy for me, and it’s Glenn Close. It’s a combination of this performance and the body of work plus her stature as an actress. This is the right time for her to get the Oscar. It’s also the understatement because this is someone who doesn’t need dialogue to express emotion.
BEST ACTOR: Bradley Cooper (“A Star Is Born”)
This was an agonizing decision, and when I went through the ballot I left that one open for a while because I was so undecided. In the end I went with Bradley Cooper and this is a surprise. I tend to be a spread-the-love type of voter, and I want to acknowledge him this year.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Amy Adams (“Vice”)
I’m going for a long shot there but a personal favorite in Amy Adams because she is just so good. Even though she had limited screen time, she established how much of a force behind the man that she was.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Mahershala Ali (“Green Book”)
This is also easier, and it’s Mahershala. In this case, you see the range in his performance compared to his other work. He really steps into this role and has the effectiveness and at the same time an emotional arc, especially when he connects with Viggo at the end.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Spike Lee, David Rabinowitz, Charlie Wachtel, Kevin Willmott (“BlacKkKlansman”)
He was taking a lot of story and compressing into a movie. He did a very effective job of really drawing you in and covering a lot of ground.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Paul Schrader (“First Reformed”)
As a work of art, I thought it was very powerful and the film has kind of been lost in the mill. Ethan Hawke should have been nominated for Best Actor. That film was a real artistic achievement.
PREDICT the Oscar winners now; change them until February 24
Be sure to check out how our experts rank this year’s Oscar contenders. Then take a look at the most up-to-date combined odds before you make your own Oscar predictions. Don’t be afraid to jump in now since you can keep changing your predictions until just before winners are announced on February 24.
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