Happy New Year and welcome to the first box office predictions for 2019. It should be a weekend led by holiday holdovers with the only newcomer being horror pic EscapeRoom. You can find my detailed prediction post on it here:
My low teens projection puts the newbie in the #3 slot, behind returning champions Aquaman and MaryPoppinsReturns, with Bumblebee and Spider–Man: IntotheSpider–Verse filling out the rest of the top five.
Let’s see how I have the high-five playing out:
1. Aquaman
Predicted Gross: $27.9 million
2. MaryPoppinsReturns
Predicted Gross: $18.7 million
3. EscapeRoom
Predicted Gross: $13.8 million
4. Bumblebee
Predicted Gross: $12.2 million
5. Spider–Man: IntotheSpider–Verse
Predicted Gross: $10.9 million
BoxOfficeResults (December28–30)
2018 was a record year at multiplexes and it closed out with Aquaman repeating in first place with $52.1 million, in range with my $53.8 million forecast. The DC superhero tale has amassed $189 million total.
MaryPoppinsReturns was in the runner-up position yet again with $28.3 million compared to my $26.5 million estimate. The Disney sequel stands at $99 million.
Bumblebee was third with $20.9 million (I said $21.4 million) for $67 million overall.
Spider–Man: IntotheSpider–Verse was fourth with $18.8 million, a touch higher than my $17.3 million take. The acclaimed animated feature crossed the century mark at $104 million.
TheMule rounded out the top five with $12.1 million, in line with my $11.5 million prediction. The Clint Eastwood thriller has made $61 million.
Vice was sixth and made the most of the two Christmas openers with $7.7 million over the traditional frame and $17.6 million since its Tuesday debut. The Dick Cheney biopic managed to top my respective estimates of $7.2 million and $14.8 million.
The critically lambasted Holmes&Watson had an underwhelming start in seventh with $7.4 million from Friday to Sunday and $19.8 million since Christmas Day. It came in under my projections of $11.3 million and $23 million.
SecondAct was eighth in its sophomore frame at $7.3 million (I said $7.9 million) for a tally of $21 million.
RalphBreakstheInternet was ninth at $6.7 million, ahead of my $5.2 million prediction. It’s up to $175 million.
TheGrinch had a hefty drop-off in 10th at $4.1 million, well under my $7.3 million forecast. The total gross is $265 million.
As one year turns to the next in short order, it got me thinking. What are some examples of actors and directors who had remarkable calendar frames over the past few decades? The guidelines are pretty simple – the individual must have had two (and in a couple of cases, three or more) pictures that made an impact during 19(fill in the blank) or 20(fill in the blank).
And wouldn’t you know it? My ruminations quickly turned into a lengthy list that I’ve paired down to a top 25. Let’s call this Best Year’s Ever and count down from #25 to #1!
25. Channing Tatum (2012)
It was a busy year for the performer to say the least. Tatum was in Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire, but three major roles made him the star he is today. There was the hit romance TheVow, hit comedy 21JumpStreet, and his signature and semi-autobiographical title role in the summer sleeper MagicMike (also from Mr. Soderbergh).
24. John Travolta (1996)
Two years following his major comeback in PulpFiction and a year following his Golden Globe nominated lead in GetShorty, Travolta’s hot streak continued with three hits: John Woo’s action thriller BrokenArrow and fantasy dramas Phenomenon and Michael.
23. Clint Eastwood (1971)
The last two months of 1971 were fruitful for the legend. In November, he made his directorial debut with the well-reviewed psychological thriller PlayMistyforMe. This began a career of dozens of behind the camera works, including Best Picture winners Unforgiven and MillionDollarBaby. In December, Eastwood starred as DirtyHarry which spawned his lucky cop franchise.
22. Sigourney Weaver (1988)
Weaver won two Golden Globes 30 years ago – Best Actress (Drama) for GorillasintheMist and Supporting Actress for WorkingGirl. She would be nominated for two Oscars as well, but come up short. All part of a remarkable decade that included Ghostbusters and Aliens.
21. Joe Pesci (1990)
Pesci won an Oscar for his unforgettable supporting work in Martin Scorsese’s GoodFellas. That same fall, he was a burglar terrorizing Macaulay Culkin in the holiday classic HomeAlone.
20. Kevin Spacey (1995)
Current scandals aside, there’s no denying Spacey was the movie villain of 1995. He won an Academy Award as (spoiler alert!) Keyser Soze in TheUsualSuspects and as a demented serial killer in Seven. Earlier in the year, he costarred with Dustin Hoffman and Morgan Freeman in Outbreak and headlined the critically approved indie comedy SwimmingwithSharks.
19. Nicolas Cage (1997)
LeavingLasVegas awarded Cage his Oscar two years prior. By the summer of 1997, he was a full-fledged action hero with two blockbusters in the same month: ConAir and Face/Off.
18. Will Ferrell (2003)
Ferrell’s transformation from SNL favorite to movie star happened here with the spring’s OldSchool as Frank the Tank and in the winter as Buddy in Elf.
17. Morgan Freeman (1989)
The nation’s Narrator-in-Chief had a trio of significant roles nearly three decades ago – his Oscar nominated chauffeur in the Best Picture winner DrivingMissDaisy, a dedicated and stern principal in LeanonMe, and a Civil War officer in Glory.
16. Steven Soderbergh (2000)
The prolific filmmaker made two Best Picture nominees with ErinBrockovich and Traffic (he would win Best Director for the latter). Both surpassed the century mark at the box office and Julia Roberts won Best Actress for Brockovich and Benicio del Toro took Supporting Actor in Traffic.
15. Halle Berry (2001)
Ms. Berry had a revealing role in the summer action fest Swordfish. She then became the first (and thus far only) African-American to win Best Actress for Monster’sBall. This was all sandwiched between X–Men hits.
14. Hugh Jackman (2017)
Berry’s X–Men cast mate Jackman retired his Wolverine character to critical and audience admiration with Logan in the spring. At the end of the year, his musical TheGreatestShowman was an unexpected smash.
13. Leonardo DiCaprio (2002)
Five years after Titanic, the jury was still out as to whether DiCaprio’s leading man status would hold up. His roles in Martin Scorsese’s GangsofNewYork and Steven Spielberg’s CatchMeIfYouCan left little doubt. He’s been one of Hollywood’s most dependable stars since.
12. Francis Ford Coppola (1974)
In 1972, Coppola made perhaps the greatest American film of all time with TheGodfather. Two years later, its sequel came with enormous expectations and exceeded them. Like part one, it won Best Picture. As if that weren’t enough, he made another Picture nominee in ‘74 with the Gene Hackman surveillance thriller TheConversation.
11. Michael Douglas (1987)
His signature role as greedy tycoon Gordon Gekko in Oliver Stone’s WallStreet won him an Oscar and gave him one of the most famous cinematic speeches ever. He also lit up the screen in the blockbuster thriller FatalAttraction, which was the year’s second largest grosser.
10. Julia Roberts (1999)
She started the decade with a smash star making turn in PrettyWoman. Julia Roberts ended it with two romantic comedy summer $100 million plus earners: NottingHill with Hugh Grant and RunawayBride (which reunited her with Pretty costar Richard Gere). She’d win her Oscar the next year for ErinBrockovich.
9. Tom Cruise (1996)
1986 wasn’t too shabby either with TopGun and TheColorofMoney. Yet it’s a decade later that serves as Cruise’s year with the franchise starter Mission: Impossible in the summer and Cameron Crowe’s JerryMaguire, which earned Cruise a Golden Globe award and an Oscar nod. They were the third and fourth biggest hits of the year, respectively.
8. Sandra Bullock (2013)
Nearly two decades after her breakout role in Speed, Bullock had a banner 2013 alongside Melissa McCarthy in the summer comedy TheHeat and her Oscar nominated turn as a stranded astronaut in the fall’s Gravity.
7. Sylvester Stallone (1985)
Sly was the undisputed champion of the box office (not to mention sequels and Roman numerals) in 1985, notching the second and third top hits of the year behind BacktotheFuture. They were for his two signature characters with Rambo: FirstBloodPartII and RockyIV.
6. Robert Downey Jr. (2008)
A decade after all the wrong kind of headlines for his drug addiction, Downey Jr. pulled off perhaps the most impressive comeback in movie history. 2008 saw him as Tony Stark in IronMan, the film that kicked off the MCU in grand fashion. Later that summer came Ben Stiller’s TropicThunder, which earned Downey a rare Oscar nod for a comedic performance.
5. Tom Hanks (1993)
There’s more than one year to consider for Hanks… 1995 (Apollo13, ToyStory) comes to mind. Yet 1993 saw him with Meg Ryan in the now classic SleeplessinSeattle and winning an Oscar in Philadelphia as a lawyer diagnosed with AIDS. His status as a romantic and dramatic lead was solidified in a matter of months. A consecutive Academy Award followed in 1994 for ForrestGump.
4. Mel Brooks (1974)
The director managed to make two of the most beloved comedies of all time in one year… BlazingSaddles and YoungFrankenstein. The two features combined contain some of the funniest scenes ever filmed.
3. Jennifer Lawrence (2012)
Already an Oscar nominee two years prior for Winter’sBone, Lawrence’s road to superstardom was paved in 2012. In March came TheHungerGames, the year’s third top earner that spawned three sequels. In December came SilverLiningsPlaybook, where she won Best Actress.
2. Jim Carrey (1994)
In 1993, Carrey was known as a great cast member of Fox’s groundbreaking sketch show “In Living Color”. By the end of 1994, he was the most bankable comedic star in America as AceVentura: PetDetective, TheMask, and DumbandDumber all hit screens.
1. Steven Spielberg (1993)
In a list filled with lots of choices, the #1 selection was rather easy. The highest grossing filmmaker of all time’s 1993 was astonishing. Dino tale JurassicPark in the summer was a marvel technical achievement that began a franchise. At the time of its release, it became the largest grosser in history with the top opening weekend yet seen. Six months later, Holocaust epic Schindler’sList won seven Academy Awards (including Picture and for Spielberg’s direction).
I hope your New Year is your best yet, readers! Have a happy one…
Susanne Bier’s BirdBox, based on a 2014 novel by Josh Malerman, imagines a post apocalyptic world where we all must develop a blind side. How fitting, I suppose, that Sandra Bullock is the headliner. It is she and some of her cast mates that holds this concoction together, at least for a while.
We first meet Bullock’s Malorie as she instructs two young children that they are about to embark on a dangerous trip with her. She is soon rowing and rowing and rowing a boat not so gently down a choppy stream to an unknown destination. They’re all blindfolded.
A flashback to five years earlier finds the pregnant Malorie getting a checkup with her sister (Sarah Paulson). She seems none too excited about her impending delivery. Different complications arise as people start committing suicide suddenly all over the globe. It’s soon discovered opening your eyes and looking at some never seen creatures brings on the self violence.
Our soon to be parent manages to hole up with a group of strangers that includes the home’s boozy owner (John Malkovich), another expectant mom (Danielle Macdonald), and a war vet (Trevante Rhodes) who connects with Malorie. It’s in these initial scenes where BirdBox is at its most engrossing. There’s nothing terribly fresh here as the group figures out how to survive, but there’s some interesting characters and actors playing them to make it worthwhile. Jacki Weaver, Lil Rel Howery, and rapper Machine Gun Kelly are part of the eclectic mix as well.
This gets about an hour’s worth of mileage from its premise and the wrinkle of the sighted having to go blind is a newish twist once they venture out (thank goodness for GPS). Eric Heisserer’s screenplay never concerns itself with what the heck really happened to cause this anyway. We do know birds can sense the monsters. The unexplained phenomena of what did happen isn’t all that important, but total ignorance is a tad surprising. Heisserer did significantly superior work with his adapted script for Arrival.
The picture is as much an allegory about motherhood than it is a science fiction horror thriller. There’s also elements of M. Night Shyamalan’s unfortunate TheHappening. It had more unintentional laughs than this, but it also found cooler ways for spellbound victims to off themselves.
Bullock’s performance is committed and she certainly makes this watchable. The Oscar winner has played maternal instinct impressively before (the already mentioned TheBlindSide, Gravity) and we see it here. Yet the true gravity of this whole situation never feels as suspenseful as it quite should. Maybe it’s the details left unseen or maybe it’s the familiar themes we’ve seen plenty of times already.
He’s been an Oscar nominee for Milk, the star of Best Picture winner NoCountryforOldMen, a Man in Black for the third entry of that franchise, and (of course) the big brother in TheGoonies. And in 2018, Josh Brolin was unquestionably the king of the summer sequel, setting up roles that will continue for some time.
It all started with the summer season’s biggest blockbuster – Avengers: InfinityWar. As villainous Thanos, Brolin pretty much stole the show against the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. A few weeks later, the actor starred alongside Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool2, which stands as the year’s fifth top earner. Sicario: DayoftheSoldado followed shortly after that with Brolin reprising his role as a CIA agent barking orders to Benicio del Toro. That follow-up managed to top the gross of its 2015 predecessor.
We can expect to see him in all three of these parts again. In summer 2019, Thanos will be back in Avengers: Endgame. He’s signed a four picture deal to be Cable in that cinematic universe. A third Sicario feature is planned.
In a career that kicked off over three decades ago alongside One-Eyed Willy and Sloth, Brolin established a trio of characters that we’ll likely see onscreen for the foreseeable future.
Emily Blunt has had a decade filled with acclaimed performances in high-profile features including Looper, EdgeofTomorrow, Sicario (she sat out its sequel this summer), and TheGirlontheTrain. In 2018, this rose to an even greater level with a pair of very different titles.
In April, Blunt headlined the horror pic of the year with AQuietPlace directed by her husband John Krasinski. Her role as an expectant mother trying to protect her unborn baby and other children from monsters drew critical raves. The film debuted to a stunning $50 million and took in $188 million domestically.
This month, she took on the iconic role made famous over 50 years ago by Julie Andrews in the Disney sequel MaryPoppinsReturns. Reviews were mostly strong for it as well, especially for Blunt’s take on the British nanny. It, too, should leg out to a stateside gross approaching $200 million.
2019 is expected to be a quiet one for the actress while she’ll star alongside Dwayne Johnson in the summer of 2020 with the Mouse Factory’s JungleCruise. As for this year, it was anything but quiet for Ms. Blunt.
Over 16 years ago, MyBigFatGreekWedding unexpectedly became the highest grossing romantic comedy of all time with its focus on culture and love. That chord was struck once again in the summer of 2018 with CrazyRichAsians. Based on the bestseller by Kevin Kwan and directed by Jon M. Chu, Asians received rave reviews and audiences turned out to the tune of a $174 million domestic haul.
The film made a little history along the way by becoming the first major Hollywood studio production to feature a predominantly Asian-American cast since 1993’s TheJoyLuckClub. This allowed for star making roles for leads Henry Golding and Constance Wu, as well as actress/rapper Awkwafina. For veteran Michelle Yeoh, best known to stateside moviegoers for TomorrowNeverDies and CrouchingTiger, HiddenDragon, her potential mother-in-law role garnered awards chatter.
Asians certainly achieved its status as the summer’s giant sleeper and is the largest earning rom com since 2005’s Hitch. It also changed the faces we normally see in the genre (like GreekWedding) and that earns it a place atop the year’s major cinematic stories.
Six strangers attempt to survive a deadly series of the title here in the horror pic EscapeRoom, out next Friday. It’s my first box office prediction for a 2019 feature and it comes from Adam Robitel, best known for directing 2018’s sequel Insidious: TheLastKey (which was my first projection for this current year). Cast members include Logan Miller, Deborah Ann Woll, Taylor Russell, Tyler Labine, Jay Ellis, and Nik Dodani.
The market could certainly be ready for a fright fest, but whether EscapeRoom hits that spot for genre fans is questionable (especially with Glass coming two weeks later). The aforementioned Insidious entry had the benefit of being part of a successful franchise. It opened to just over $29 million almost one year ago.
I’ll estimate that this achieves less than half of that number with the caveat that horror flicks can manage to outdo expectations in January.
EscapeRoom opening weekend prediction: $13.8 million
There are moments in ThePredator where it feels like the franchise went the route of 80s slasher series when Freddy, Jason, and Michael ruled the day. With the alien creatures roaming the suburbs for a brief stretch and with some deliriously gory bits and extreme profanity, I could imagine this is as the fifth installment when the well is running dry. This could maybe be PredatorV following PredatorInHarlem or something. It’s a time in the series when ridiculous and probably offensive characters like an autistic kid who’s actually deemed an enhancement in human evolution is introduced. The main protagonist would be dull and boring, not close to matching Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1987 original or even Danny Glover’s overburdened LAPD officer in the 1990 sequel. And the one-liners would harken back to the rock solid first one but generally be lamer.
Strangely enough, it’s some of that which makes the 2018 edition mindless fun in the first half. This isn’t anything of quality, but it serves as an occasional guilty pleasure VHS throwback that would have filled the shelves of those defunct rental institutions. I think director Shane Black and co-writer Fred Dekker know that. Black has turned into a fine filmmaker with action comedies like Kiss KissBang Bang and TheNiceGuys. He’s known mostly for his behind the scenes work, but he memorably played the role of Hawkins in Predator’s big screen debut 31 years ago.
The screenplay makes some downright bizarre choices. Jacob Tremblay’s aforementioned autistic kid is one of them. His Special Forces dad Quinn (Boyd Holbrook) is that forgettable head alien battler. Holbrook discovers a title character on a mission and ships some evidence of its existence to his boy. That leads the extraterrestrial to the ‘burbs to retrieve his property. Quinn finds himself detained by the government led by shady Sterling K. Brown and in the company of a motley crew of PTSD soldiers. They include Trevante Rhodes (whose primary character trait is that he smokes), Thomas Jane (he has Tourette’s), and Keegan-Michael Key (yo mama jokes). They’re the guys, along with Olivia Munn’s biologist, who fight not only two Predators, but the space dogs that accompany them. That’s another odd visual choice.
I couldn’t help but be fascinated by Black and Dekker’s outright nuttiness with their take on ThePredator. However, it doesn’t last. By the third act, the pic moves to a jungle looking setting with some dodgy effects. We’re hammered with familiarity. That’s what made famous predators like Freddy and Jason and Michael grow stale, but their countless sequels were punctuated with an inspired sequence here and there. We see that early in this reboot and then not really again.
It’s my final Oscar predictions of 2018 as the nominations draw closer (with the Golden Globes airing next Sunday)! And, yes, we’re seeing some changes:
First Man is back in my predicted nine with Mary Poppins Returns out. Bohemian Rhapsody continues to rise and is inching closer to possible inclusion.
In Best Director, Ryan Coogler (Black Panther) is in with Barry Jenkins (If Beale Street Could Talk) out.
In Best Actress, Yalitza Aparicio returns to my top 5 with Emily Blunt’s title role in Mary Poppins Returns falling.
Let’s get to it!
Best Picture
1. A Star Is Born (Previous Ranking: 1)
2. Roma (PR: 2)
3. The Favourite (PR: 3)
4. Green Book (PR: 5)
5. BlacKkKlansman (PR: 4)
6. Black Panther (PR: 6)
7. If Beale Street Could Talk (PR: 7)
8. Vice (PR: 8)
9. First Man (PR: 10)
Other Possibilities:
10. Bohemian Rhapsody (PR: 11)
11. Mary Poppins Returns (PR: 9)
12. Can You Ever Forgive Me? (PR: 12)
13. A Quiet Place (PR: 14)
14. Eighth Grade (PR: 13)
15. First Reformed (PR: 15)
Best Director
1. Alfonso Cuaron, Roma (PR: 1)
2. Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born (PR: 2)
3. Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman (PR: 3)
4. Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite (PR: 4)
5. Ryan Coogler, Black Panther (PR: 6)
Other Possibilities:
6. Peter Farrelly, Green Book (PR: 7)
7. Barry Jenkins, If Beale Street Could Talk (PR: 5)
8. Adam McKay, Vice (PR: 8)
9. Damien Chazelle, First Man (PR: 9)
10. Marielle Heller, Can You Ever Forgive Me? (PR: Not Ranked)
Dropped Out:
Rob Marshall, Mary Poppins Returns
Best Actor
1. Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born (PR: 1)
2. Christian Bale, Vice (PR: 2)
3. Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody (PR: 3)
4. Viggo Mortensen, Green Book (PR: 4)
5. Ethan Hawke, First Reformed (PR: 5)
Other Possibilities:
6. John David Washington, BlacKkKlansman (PR: 6)
7. Ryan Gosling, First Man (PR: 9)
8. Willem Dafoe, At Eternity’s Gate (PR: 7)
9. Robert Redford, The Old Man & The Gun (PR: 8)
10. Lucas Hedges, Boy Erased (PR: Not Ranked)
Dropped Out:
Ben Foster, Leave No Trace
Best Actress
1. Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born (PR: 1)
2. Olivia Colman, The Favourite (PR: 2)
3. Glenn Close, The Wife (PR: 3)
4. Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me? (PR: 4)
5. Yalitza Aparicio, Roma (PR: 6)
Other Possibilities:
6. Emily Blunt, Mary Poppins Returns (PR: 5)
7. Toni Collette, Hereditary (PR: 8)
8. Nicole Kidman, Destroyer (PR: 7)
9. Viola Davis, Widows (PR: 10)
10. Julia Roberts, Ben Is Back (PR: 9)
Best Supporting Actor
1. Mahershala Ali, Green Book (PR: 1)
2. Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me? (PR: 2)
3. Sam Elliot, A Star Is Born (PR: 3)
4. Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman (PR: 4)
5. Timothee Chalamet, Beautiful Boy (PR: 5)
Other Possibilities:
6. Michael B. Jordan, Black Panther (PR: 6)
7. Sam Rockwell, Vice (PR: 7)
8. Nicholas Hoult, The Favourite (PR: 9)
9. Russell Hornsby, The Hate U Give (PR: 8)
10. Brian Tyree Henry, If Beale Street Could Talk (PR: Not Ranked)
Dropped Out:
Daniel Kaluuya, Widows
Best Supporting Actress
1. Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk (PR: 1)
2. Amy Adams, Vice (PR: 2)
3. Emma Stone, The Favourite (PR: 3)
4. Rachel Weisz, The Favourite (PR: 4)
5. Claire Foy, First Man (PR: 5)
Other Possibilities:
6. Margot Robbie, Mary Queen of Scots (PR: 6)
7. Emily Blunt, A Quiet Place (PR: 7)
8. Nicole Kidman, Boy Erased (PR: 8)
9. Thomasin McKenzie, Leave No Trace (PR: 9)
10. Marina De Tavira, Roma (PR: 10)
Best Adapted Screenplay
1. BlacKkKlansman (PR: 1)
2. A Star Is Born (PR: 2)
3. If Beale Street Could Talk (PR: 3)
4. Can You Ever Forgive Me? (PR: 4)
5. Black Panther (PR: 5)
Other Possibilities:
6. Leave No Trace (PR: 8)
7. First Man (PR: 6)
8. Crazy Rich Asians (PR: 7)
9. The Hate U Give (PR: 9)
10. Widows (PR: 10)
Best Original Screenplay
1. The Favourite (PR: 1)
2. Roma (PR: 2)
3. Green Book (PR: 3)
4. Eighth Grade (PR: 5)
5. First Reformed (PR: 4)
Other Possibilities:
6. Vice (PR: 6)
7. A Quiet Place (PR: 7)
8. Bohemian Rhapsody (PR: Not Ranked)
9. Private Life (PR: 8)
10. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (PR: 9)
Dropped Out:
Sorry to Bother You
Best Foreign Language Film
1. Roma (PR: 1)
2. Cold War (PR: 2)
3. Shoplifters (PR: 3)
4. Burning (PR: 5)
5. Capernaum (PR: 4)
Other Possibilities:
6. The Guilty (PR: 8)
7. Never Look Away (PR: 6)
8. Birds of Passage (PR: 7)
9. Ayka (PR: 9)
Best Animated Feature
1. Incredibles 2 (PR: 1)
2. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (PR: 2)
3. Ralph Breaks the Internet (PR: 4)
4. Isle of Dogs (PR: 3)
5. Mirai (PR: 5)
Other Possibilities:
6. Early Man (PR: 6)
7. Smallfoot (PR: 7)
8. Lu Over the Wall (PR: 10)
9. Ruben Brandt, Collector (PR: 9)
10. Teen Titans Go! To the Movies (PR: 8)
Best Documentary Feature
1. Won’t You Be My Neighbor (PR: 1)
2. Free Solo (PR: 2)
3. Three Identical Strangers (PR: 3)
4. Minding the Gap (PR: 5)
5. RBG (PR: 4)
Other Possibilities:
6. Hale County This Morning, This Evening (PR: 7)
7. Shirkers (PR: 8)
8. Crime + Punishment (PR: 6)
9. Of Fathers and Sons (PR: 10)
10. Dark Money (PR: 9)
Best Film Editing
1. A Star Is Born (PR: 2)
2. Roma (PR: 1)
3. First Man (PR: 3)
4. The Favourite (PR: 4)
5. BlacKkKlansman (PR: 5)
Other Possibilities:
6. Vice (PR: 6)
7. Black Panther (PR: 7)
8. Green Book (PR: 10)
9. A Quiet Place (PR: 8)
10. Widows (PR: Not Ranked)
Dropped Out:
Mary Poppins Returns
Best Cinematography
1. Roma (PR: 1)
2. First Man (PR: 2)
3. A Star Is Born (PR: 3)
4. The Favourite (PR: 4)
5. If Beale Street Could Talk (PR: 7)
Other Possibilities:
6. Cold War (PR: 5)
7. Black Panther (PR: 6)
8. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (PR: 9)
9. BlacKkKlansman (PR: 8)
10. Mary Poppins Returns (PR: Not Ranked)
Dropped Out:
Green Book
Best Production Design
1. The Favourite (PR: 1)
2. Black Panther (PR: 2)
3. Mary Poppins Returns (PR: 3)
4. First Man (PR: 5)
5. Roma (PR: 6)
Other Possibilities:
6. A Star Is Born (PR: 9)
7. Mary Queen of Scots (PR: 4)
8. Crazy Rich Asians (PR: 7)
9. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (PR: 8)
10. BlacKkKlansman (PR: 10)
Dropped Out:
If Beale Street Could Talk
Best Costume Design
1. The Favourite (PR: 1)
2. Black Panther (PR: 2)
3. Mary Poppins Returns (PR: 4)
4. Mary Queen of Scots (PR: 3)
5. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (PR: 5)
Other Possibilities:
6. Crazy Rich Asians (PR: 9)
7. Bohemian Rhapsody (PR: 6)
8. If Beale Street Could Talk (PR: Not Ranked)
9. A Star Is Born (PR: 7)
10. Colette (PR: 8)
Dropped Out:
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
1. Black Panther (PR: 1)
2. Vice (PR: 2)
3. Mary Queen of Scots (PR: 3)
Other Possibilities:
4. Border (PR: 5)
5. Stan & Ollie (PR: 6)
6. Bohemian Rhapsody (PR: 4)
7. Suspiria (PR: 7)
Best Sound Editing
1. First Man (PR: 1)
2. A Quiet Place (PR: 3)
3. Black Panther (PR: 2)
4. Roma (PR: 4)
5. A Star Is Born (PR: 6)
Other Possibilities:
6. Mission: Impossible – Fallout (PR: 8)
7. Ready Player One (PR: 5)
8. Mary Poppins Returns (PR: 9)
9. Bohemian Rhapsody (PR: Not Ranked)
10. Incredibles 2 (PR: 7)
Dropped Out:
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Best Sound Mixing
1. A Star Is Born (PR: 1)
2. First Man (PR: 2)
3. A Quiet Place (PR: 5)
4. Mary Poppins Returns (PR: 4)
5. Black Panther (PR: 3)
Other Possibilities:
6. Roma (PR: 7)
7. Bohemian Rhapsody (PR: 6)
8. Incredibles 2 (PR: 9)
9. Ready Player One (PR: 8)
10. Mission: Impossible – Fallout (PR: Not Ranked)
Dropped Out:
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Best Visual Effects
1. Avengers: Infinity War (PR: 1)
2. Black Panther (PR: 4)
3. Ready Player One (PR: 3)
4. First Man (PR: 2)
5. Mary Poppins Returns (PR: 5)
Other Possibilities:
6. Solo: A Star Wars Story (PR: 6)
7. Welcome to Marwen (PR: 8)
8. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (PR: 9)
9. Ant-Man and the Wasp (PR: 7)
10. Christopher Robin (PR: 10)
Best Original Score
1. If Beale Street Could Talk (PR: 2)
2. First Man (PR: 1)
3. Black Panther (PR: 6)
4. BlacKkKlansman (PR: 4)
5. Mary Poppins Returns (PR: 3)
Other Possibilities:
6. Isle of Dogs (PR: 5)
7. A Quiet Place (PR: 7)
8. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (PR: 8)
9. Vice (PR: 10)
10. Ready Player One (PR: Not Ranked)
Dropped Out:
Annihilation
Best Original Song
1. “Shallow” from A Star Is Born (PR: 1)
2. “All the Stars” from Black Panther (PR: 2)
3. “I’ll Fight” from RBG (PR: 4)
4. “Trip a Little Light Fantastic” from Mary Poppins Returns (PR: 3)
5. “Girl in the Movies” from Dumplin (PR: 5)
Other Possibilities:
6. “The Place Where Lost Things Go” from Mary Poppins Returns (PR: 6)
7. “Revelation” from Boy Erased (PR: 7)
8. “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings” from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (PR: 10)
9. “We Won’t Move” from The Hate U Give (PR: 8)
10. “OYAHTT” from Sorry to Bother You (PR: Not Ranked)
Dropped Out:
“A Place Called Slaughter Race” from Ralph Breaks the Internet
And that adds up to these pictures getting the following number of nominations:
11 Nominations
A Star Is Born, Black Panther
10 Nominations
The Favourite
9 Nominations
First Man, Roma
6 Nominations
BlacKkKlansman, Mary Poppins Returns
5 Nominations
If Beale Street Could Talk
4 Nominations
Green Book, Vice
3 Nominations
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
2 Nominations
A Quiet Place, First Reformed, Mary Queen of Scots, RBG
1 Nomination
Avengers: Infinity War, Beautiful Boy, Bohemian Rhapsody, Burning, Capernaum, Cold War, Eighth Grade, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Free Solo, Incredibles 2, Isle of Dogs, Minding the Gap, Mirai, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Ready Player One, Shoplifters, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Three Identical Strangers, The Wife, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
The buzz got loud in late summer when AStarIsBorn held its first screenings across the ocean at the Venice Film Festival. The third remake of the rags to riches Hollywood story that began in 1937, the musical drama marked the directorial debut of Bradley Cooper and the first headlining acting role for pop superstar Lady Gaga (after a smaller part in MacheteKills). It soon became clear that audiences and critics found the tragic romance between the pair as anything but shallow.
Star now shines with a domestic gross of $200 million and the status as a front-runner for Best Picture at the Oscars. If Mr. Cooper’s inaugural behind the camera effort manages to do that, he would follow in the footsteps of well-known actors like Robert Redford (1980’s OrdinaryPeople) and Kevin Costner (1990’s DanceswithWolves) whose debuts won the Academy’s biggest prize. Theoretically Cooper coukd win as many as four gold statues – Picture for producing, directing, lead Actor, and Adapted Screenplay. And while he technically wouldn’t be nominated for his duet “Shallow” with Gaga since he doesn’t share writing credit, the tune will probably emerge victorious in that race. To add even more to Cooper’s dynamic year, he costars with his American Sniper director Clint Eastwood in TheMule, which is performing well.
As for Gaga, her splashy foray on the silver screen certainly rivals others such as Prince and Whitney Houston to name a couple. She stands a real shot at winning Best Actress in a competitive category. Cooper likely has an even stronger chance for his performance.
In 2018, Cooper and Gaga are responsible for creating perhaps the year’s most memorable couple. They could be generously rewarded for it.
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