The Log

2020 was rough. Many films that were supposed to headline this awards season such as West Side Story and Dune were promptly postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and blockbuster films that included Black Widow and No Time to Die were pushed back to unknown release dates. However, many films shocked me and evoked something in me through multiple watches in preparation for the writing of this article. So without any further interruption, here is what you came for. These are my latest predictions for this year’s Academy Awards.

Best Picture

   Judas and the Black Messiah, Warner Bros. Pictures: MY Winner

Judas and the Black Messiah is unlike any film I have seen in the past few years. It is a picture-perfect portrayal of one of the most ambitious political activists and the chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party. Daniel Kaluuya continues to top himself with impressive monologues all throughout this wonderful feature. This film isn’t just telling the story of Fred Hampton, because it documents the events leading up to his assassination at the hands of law enforcement, and the story of William O’Neal, an FBI informant that infiltrated the Black Panther Party and gave the police the information they needed to take Hampton down. This is such a well-told story, with a masterful script and acting from both Lakeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya.

 Promising Young Woman, Focus Features

Minari, A24

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Netflix

Mank, Netflix

Sound of Metal, Amazon Studios

The Trial of the Chicago 7, Netflix

Nomadland, Searchlight Pictures: THE Winner

                                                  

Best Director

 Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman: MY Winner

The look of this film just pops out at the viewer. The direction is magnificent. Fennell uses her debut feature to instill a lasting impression on the viewer with her masterful use of the elements of suspense and thrill. The way each scene is set up has the viewer on the edge of their seat waiting for an exciting reveal or an insane plot twist. Next to Chloe Zhao, Emerald Fennell is easily this year’s best director, and it shows with her style of play and the way she uses the camera to illustrate different emotions.

Chloe Zhao, Nomadland: THE Winner

Spike Lee, Da 5 Bloods

Aaron Sorkin, The Trial of the Chicago 7

Regina King, One Night in Miami

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal: MY Winner

Imagine hardship. Hardship hinders our ability to do what we love on a consistent basis, and has the unwavering power to shatter relationships while also helping to create new ones. The character of Ruben is a portrait of the men and women suffering from loss, and Ahmed plays the role ever so genuinely that one could definitely get lost in his desert yellow hair, as he struggles to get his life together. The chemistry between Ahmed and Olivia Cooke and Paul Raci is excellent, and it feels like a real story rather than a staged depiction of loss and redemption.

Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom: THE Winner

Anthony Hopkins, The Father

Delroy Lindo, Da 5 Bloods

Steven Yeun, Minari

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman: MY Winner

Three words: Amy. Dunne. Reincarnated. This is Carey Mulligan’s finest performance, where she plays a woman haunted by a traumatic event that affected her best friend in the past. The film follows her as she seeks revenge for those that wronged her and those around her. Mulligan vastly expands her range as an actress in this film, going from docile to freaky in any split second. So like I said, this is Gone Girl’s Amy Dunne, reincarnated. But better….

Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom: THE Winner

Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman

Andra Day, The United States v. Billie Holiday

Frances McDormand, Nomadland

Best Supporting Actor 

Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah: THE Winner and MY Winner

There comes a time in film where once every few years, you forget that you’re watching somebody act out their lines, and you get lost in the beauty of it all, throwing away the key to escape. You want to stay, you want to relish in the glory of this performance. Well, Daniel Kaluuya is just plain unrecognizable as Fred Hampton in this film. I felt like I was watching real life events as they originally occurred happen right in front of me, and that made me both frightened and impressed. If you could do that to me, a certified critic who has been at this for five years now professionally, you have yourself a performance that wins.

Paul Raci, Sound of Metal

Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7

Jared Leto, The Little Things

Leslie Odom Jr., One Night in Miami

Best Supporting Actress

Olivia Colman, The Father: THE Winner

Ellen Burstyn, Pieces of a Woman

Amanda Seyfried, Mank

Yuh-jung Youn, Minari

 Dominique Fishback, Judas and the Black Messiah: MY Winner

Best Adapted Screenplay

Chloe Zhao, Nomadland: THE Winner

Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Kemp Powers, One Night in Miami: MY Winner

Luke Davies and Paul Greengrass, News of the World

Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller, The Father

Best Original Screenplay

Aaron Sorkin, The Trial of the Chicago 7: MY Winner and THE Winner

Lee Isaac Chung, Minari

Will Berson and Shaka King, Judas and the Black Messiah

Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman

Abraham Marder, Darius Marder, and Derek Cianfrance, Sound of Metal

Best Animated Feature Film

Soul, Disney+: MY Winner and THE Winner

Wolfwalkers, Apple TV+

Onward, Pixar

Over the Moon, Netflix

The Croods: A New Age, Dreamworks Animation

 

Best International Feature Film 

Another Round (Druk), Denmark: MY Winner

Two of Us, France

Quo Vadis, Aida?, Bosnia

The Life Ahead, Italy

Minari, South Korea: THE Winner

 

Best Documentary Feature

Time, Amazon Studios: MY Winner and THE Winner

Boys State, Apple TV+

The Truffle Hunters, Sony Pictures Classics

I am Greta, Hulu

Welcome to Chechnya, HBO

Best Original Score

Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor, and Atticus Ross, Soul: MY Winner

Ludwig Göransson, Tenet: THE Winner

Alexandre Desplat, The Midnight Sky

James Newton Howard, News of the World

Emile Mosseri, Minari

Best Sound

Sound of Metal: MY Winner

Tenet: THE Winner

The Midnight Sky

The Prom

The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Production Design

Mank: THE Winner and MY Winner

The Prom

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Tenet

The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Cinematography

Sean Bobbitt, Judas and the Black Messiah: MY Winner

Hoyte Van Hoytema, Tenet: THE Winner

Martin Ruhe, The Midnight Sky

Łukasz Żal, I’m Thinking of Ending Things

Dariusz Wolski, News of the World

Best Makeup and Hairstyling 

The United States Vs. Billie Holiday: THE Winner

 

The Prom

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Birds of Prey: Harley Quinn

Hillbilly Elegy: MY Winner

Best Costume Design

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom:  MY Winner

Emma: THE Winner

 The United States Vs. Billie Holiday

Judas and the Black Messiah

News of the World

 

 

 Best Film Editing

Judas and the Black Messiah: MY Winner

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

The Trial of the Chicago 7: THE Winner

 Minari

Nomadland

Best Visual Effects

Tenet: MY Winner and THE Winner

The Invisible Man

Mulan

Sonic the Hedgehog 

Wonder Woman 1984