my picks for tonight’s 92nd Academy Awards (the Oscars for 2019’s films) (winners indicated)

UPDATE: Winners are now indicated. I correctly guessed 10 out of the 24 categories, which is at least a little better than last year.

PREVIOUS 02.09.20:

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — of which I am, alas, not a member — will hand out its awards for the films of 2019 tonight. The full list of Oscar nominees is below. Links here go to my reviews, with reviews to come for most if not all those I haven’t yet reviewed.

I’ve now seen as many of the nominated films as I will be able to before tonight’s ceremony, and here finally are my educated guesses about who will take home each award — projected winners are Xed at the lefthand side. Keep in mind: those Xes don’t represent whom I think should win Oscars but whom I think will win, based on what little I can grasp about how the Academy thinks. I’ve also noted which nominees I think should win. Kindly note that this is not necessarily my take on who turned in the best performance, wrote the best script, produced the best FX, or whatever, of the year, but whom I think is best among the nominees.

Alas, there are a few major nominees that I have yet to catch up with, most vitally The Irishman, Judy, and Pain and Glory. I’ve made guesses in the categories where they appear anyway. It’ll be interesting to see if my guesses are any more or less off the mark than in previous years. I suspect it won’t make much of a difference, given how members of the Academy often admit they don’t see all the films either, and cast their votes for other reasons.

Check out my own still-in-progress ranking of 2019’s films.

(See the Academy’s site at Oscars.org and ABC’s site at Oscars.com for your further Oscar needs.)

Best picture
[    ] Ford v Ferrari (aka Le Mans ’66)
[    ] The Irishman
[    ] Jojo Rabbit should win
[    ] Joker
[    ] Little Women
[    ] Marriage Story
[ X ] 1917
[    ] Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
[    ] Parasite WINNER

Best actor
[ X ] Antonio Banderas – Pain and Glory
[    ] Leonardo DiCaprio – Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
[    ] Adam Driver – Marriage Story should win
[    ] Joaquin Phoenix – Joker WINNER
[    ] Jonathan Pryce – The Two Popes

Best actress
[    ] Cynthia Erivo – Harriet
[    ] Scarlett Johansson – Marriage Story
[    ] Saoirse Ronan – Little Women should win
[    ] Charlize Theron – Bombshell
[ X ] Renee Zellweger – Judy WINNER

Best director
[    ] The Irishman – Martin Scorsese
[    ] Joker – Todd Phillips
[ X ] 1917 – Sam Mendes should win
[    ] Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood – Quentin Tarantino
[    ] Parasite – Bong Joon-ho WINNER

Best supporting actor
[    ] Tom Hanks – A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood should win
[    ] Anthony Hopkins – The Two Popes
[    ] Al Pacino – The Irishman
[    ] Joe Pesci – The Irishman
[ X ] Brad Pitt – Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood WINNER

Best supporting actress
[    ] Kathy Bates – Richard Jewell
[ X ] Laura Dern – Marriage Story WINNER
[    ] Scarlett Johansson – Jojo Rabbit
[    ] Florence Pugh – Little Women should win
[    ] Margot Robbie – Bombshell

Best adapted screenplay
[    ] The Irishman
[    ] Jojo Rabbit WINNER
[    ] Joker
[ X ] Little Women should win
[    ] The Two Popes

Best original screenplay
[    ] Knives Out should win
[ X ] Marriage Story
[    ] 1917
[    ] Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
[    ] Parasite WINNER

Best animated feature
[    ] How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
[    ] I Lost My Body should win
[    ] Klaus
[ X ] Missing Link
[    ] Toy Story 4 WINNER

Best cinematography
[    ] The Irishman
[    ] Joker
[    ] The Lighthouse
[ X ] 1917 should win WINNER
[    ] Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

Best costume design
[    ] The Irishman
[    ] Jojo Rabbit
[    ] Joker
[ X ] Little Women should win WINNER
[    ] Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

Best documentary feature
[ X ] American Factory WINNER
[    ] The Cave
[    ] The Edge of Democracy
[    ] For Sama should win
[    ] Honeyland

Best editing
[    ] Ford v Ferrari (aka Le Mans ’66) WINNER
[ X ] The Irishman should win
[    ] Jojo Rabbit
[    ] Joker
[    ] Parasite

Best international feature film
[    ] Corpus Christi – Poland
[    ] Honeyland – North Macedonia
[    ] Les Miserables – France
[    ] Pain and Glory – Spain
[ X ] Parasite – South Korea should win WINNER

Best make-up and hairstyling
[    ] Bombshell WINNER
[    ] Joker
[    ] Judy
[ X ] Maleficent: Mistress of Evil should win
[    ] 1917

Best original score
[    ] Joker WINNER
[ X ] Little Women should win
[    ] Marriage Story
[    ] 1917
[    ] Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Best original song
[    ] “I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away” – Toy Story 4
[    ] “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” – Rocketman should win WINNER
[    ] “I’m Standing with You” – Breakthrough
[    ] “Into the Unknown” – Frozen II
[ X ] “Stand Up” – Harriet

Best production design
[    ] The Irishman
[    ] Jojo Rabbit should win
[    ] 1917
[ X ] Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood WINNER
[    ] Parasite

Best sound editing
[    ] Ford v Ferrari (aka Le Mans ’66) WINNER
[    ] Joker
[ X ] 1917 should win
[    ] Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
[    ] Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Best sound mixing
[    ] Ad Astra
[    ] Ford v Ferrari (aka Le Mans ’66)
[    ] Joker
[ X ] 1917 should win WINNER
[    ] Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

Best visual effects
[    ] Avengers: Endgame should win
[ X ] The Irishman
[    ] The Lion King
[    ] 1917 WINNER
[    ] Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Best animated short
[ X ] “Dcera (Daughter)”
[    ] “Hair Love” should win WINNER
[    ] “Kitbull”
[    ] “Memorable”
[    ] “Sister”

Best documentary short
[    ] “In the Absence”
[ X ] “Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)” should win WINNER
[    ] “Life Overtakes Me”
[    ] “St. Louis Superman”
[    ] “Walk Run Cha-Cha”

Best live action short
[ X ] “Brotherhood” should win
[    ] “Nefta Football Club”
[    ] “The Neighbors’ Window” WINNER
[    ] “Saria”
[    ] “A Sister”