Will Win, Should Win: Lifestyle Asia’s Final Oscar Predictions 2019 (for All Categories!)

One final list of predictions for the upcoming 91^st Academy Awards (happening this February 25, 2019). Do you think “Roma” will become the first foreign language film ever to win the Best Picture Oscar? Do you think Glenn Close will finally prevail after seven nominations? Do you think Rami Malek will be “the champion of the world” come Oscar night? We think so! Scroll down to see our predictions for every single Oscar category…

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Best Picture

1. “Roma”
2. “Green Book”
3. “The Favourite”
4. “Bohemian Rhapsody”
5. “A Star is Born”
6. “Black Panther”
7. “BlacKkKlansman”
8. “Vice”

WILL WIN: “Roma” seems to be unbeatable at this point of the game. It’s also leading the pack with the most nominations of the year (including two surprising acting nominations), which shows widespread support for the film.

SHOULD WIN: “The Favourite” is definitely the most unique picture of the year. It is our “favourite” (no-pun intended) film of 2018.

Best Actor

1. Rami Malek, “Bohemian Rhapsody”
2. Christian Bale, “Vice”
3. Bradley Cooper, “A Star is Born”
4. Viggo Mortensen, “Green Book”
5. Willem Dafoe, “At Eternity’s Gate”

WILL WIN: Rami Malek is unstoppable, winning all the big precursor awards including the Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and BAFTA.

SHOULD WIN: Haters gonna hate, but Rami totally deserves this Oscar for his transformative performance as Freddie Mercury.

Best Actress

1. Glenn Close, “The Wife”
2. Olivia Colman, “The Favourite”
3. Lady Gaga, “A Star is Born”
4. Yalitza Aparicio, “Roma”
5. Melissa McCarthy, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”

WILL WIN: Glenn Close’s narrative is undeniable. She has seven acting nominations without any wins, and is one of Hollywood’s true living legends. She’ll walk away with this easily. It’s “her time”.

SHOULD WIN: Although we’re happy for Glenn, we’re not fans of “career wins” at the Oscars. We would love an Olivia Colman upset for her turn as Queen Anne in “The Favourite!”

Best Supporting Actor

1. Mahershala Ali, “Green Book”
2. Richard E. Grant, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
3. Sam Elliott, “A Star is Born”
4. Adam Driver, “BlacKkKlansman”
5. Sam Rockwell, “Vice”

WILL WIN: Mahershala Ali is a lock for “Green Book”. He’s been steamrolling the entire awards season.

SHOULD WIN: Ali’s role is actually a leading role, so we find it unfair he is nominated in supporting. Plus, he already won an Oscar for a better performance (2016’s “Moonlight”). Our vote would go to Richard E. Grant for his charming, TRUE supporting work in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”.

Best Supporting Actress

1. Regina King, “If Beale Street Could Talk”
2. Rachel Weisz, “The Favourite”
3. Amy Adams, “Vice”
4. Marina de Tavira, “Roma”
5. Emma Stone, “The Favourite”

WILL WIN: Regina King for “If Beale Street Could Talk” seems inevitable, but she missed a few big awards. Rachel Weisz (who won the BAFTA) could be a fun spoiler come Oscar night.

SHOULD WIN: We loved “The Favourite”, but Stone and Weisz should have been campaigned for lead. Having said that, we’d love to see Marina de Tavira win for her heartbreaking portrayal in “Roma”.

Best Director

1. Alfonso Cuarón, “Roma”
2. Spike Lee, “BlacKkKlansman”
3. Adam McKay, “Vice”
4. Yorgos Lanthimos, “The Favourite”
5. Pawel Pawlikowski, “Cold War”

WILL WIN: Cuarón’s reputation in Hollywood is extremely solid at this point in his career. He is often considered as a true auteur and one of cinema’s modern greats. They would want to honor him for his most personal film “Roma”, where he also served as cinematographer, screenwriter, film editor and producer.

SHOULD WIN: Cuarón hands down.

Best Original Screenplay

1. “Green Book”
2. “First Reformed”
3. “The Favourite”
4. “Roma”
5. “Vice”

WILL WIN: We think the Academy will give the Oscar to “Green Book”.

SHOULD WIN: “The Favourite” is so well written and the most original from the crop of nominees.

Best Adapted Screenplay 

1. “BlacKkKlansman”
2. “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
3. “If Beale Street Could Talk”
4. “A Star is Born”
5. “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”

WILL WIN: They will honor Spike Lee by giving him a competitive Oscar win for his late-career triumph in “BlacKkKlansman”.

SHOULD WIN: We love Spike Lee, but “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” had a stellar screenplay. It also recently won the WGA (Writer’s Guild of America), so expect a possible spoiler come Oscar night.

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Best Animated Feature

1. “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”
2. “Isle of Dogs”
3. “Incredibles 2”
4. “Mirai”
5. “Ralph Breaks the Internet”

WILL WIN: “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” was a surprise hit and is truly the best animated picture of the year. It will win.

SHOULD WIN: “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”

Best Foreign Language Film 

1. “Roma”
2. “Cold War”
3. “Shoplifters”
4. “Capernaum”
5. “Never Look Away”

WILL WIN: “Roma” will take this trophy home for Mexico. However, if the Academy wants to spread the wealth (since “Roma” is probably winning Best Picture), they will give it  to critical darling “Cold War”.

SHOULD WIN: “Roma”

Best Original Score

1. “If Beale Street Could Talk”
2. “Isle of Dogs”
3. “Black Panther”
4. “BlacKkKlansman”
5. “Mary Poppins Returns”

WILL WIN: “If Beale Street Could Talk”

SHOULD WIN: “First Man”—whoops it was unfortunately snubbed (what a travesty!). We’ll agree with the Academy if “Beale Street” takes this.

Best Original Song 

1. “Shallow” from “A Star is Born”
2. “I’ll Flight” from “RBG”
3. “All the Stars” from “Black Panther”
4. “The Place Where Lost Things Go” from “Mary Poppins Returns”
5. “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings” from “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”

WILL WIN: Lady Gaga may not win Best Actress, but she will still bring an Oscar home for her song “Shallow”, which was written for “A Star is Born”.

SHOULD WIN: “Shallow” from “A Star is Born”

Best Sound Editing

1. “Black Panther”
2. “A Quiet Place”
3. “Bohemian Rhapsody”
4. “First Man”
5. “Roma”

WILL WIN: They’ll want to award “Black Panther” somewhere. The sound awards are usually given to very noisy films like war pictures, musicals and superhero movies.

SHOULD WIN: “A Quiet Place”. The film is all about sound, and it is done exquisitely. We hope Academy members know that Best Sound doesn’t necessarily have to translate to Most Sound.

Best Sound Mixing 

1. “Bohemian Rhapsody”
2. “Black Panther”
3. “First Man”
4. “A Star is Born”
5. “Roma”

WILL WIN: They’ve gone gaga for the Freddie Mercury biopic, and we think that the clever sound design (mixing Mercury and Malek’s voices together) will get them the win.

SHOULD WIN: “Bohemian Rhapsody”

Best Production Design

1. “The Favourite”
2. “Black Panther”
3. “Roma”
4. “First Man”
5. “Mary Poppins Returns”

WILL WIN: “The Favourite” is the safest bet, but “Black Panther” might spoil for it’s gorgeous sets of Wakanda.

SHOULD WIN: “Black Panther”

Best Cinematography

1. “Roma”
2. “Cold War”
3. “The Favourite”
4. “Never Look Away”
5. “A Star is Born”

WILL WIN: It’s a close call between “Roma” and “Cold War”, two foreign language films shot in gorgeous black-and-white, but we’ll give the edge out to the former because of the Best Picture heat.

SHOULD WIN: “Cold War”

Best Makeup & Hairstyling

1. “Vice”
2. “Border”
3. “Mary Queen of Scots”

WILL WIN: “Vice” is the most popular film of the three, and the Academy will want to award it somewhere. Also, the Academy loves it when big stars transform into real, historical figures.

SHOULD WIN: “Border” has some truly outstanding work.

Best Costume Design

1. “The Favourite”
2. “Black Panther”
3. “Mary Poppins Returns”
4. “Mary Queen of Scots”
5. “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”

WILL WIN: “The Favourite” will be hard to beat here, but like the Production Design category, “Black Panther” can very much spoil its chances.

SHOULD WIN: “The Favourite”

Best Film Editing

1. “Bohemian Rhapsody”
2. “Vice”
3. “The Favourite”
4. “BlacKkKlansman”
5. “Green Book”

WILL WIN: Many consider this to be the weakest crop of Film Editing nominees ever. We’ll go for “Bohemian Rhapsody” because of its popularity in Hollywood.

SHOULD WIN: The clever, fast cuts (and general Yorgos Lanthimos weirdness) of “The Favourite”

Best Visual Effects

1. “Avengers: Infinity War”
2. “Solo: A Star Wars Story”
3. “Ready Player One”
4. “First Man”
5. “Christopher Robin”

WILL WIN: “Avengers: Infinity War” really did have the most impressive visual effects of the year.

SHOULD WIN: “Avengers: Infinity War”

OTHER CATEGORIES: Unfortunately, we haven’t seen any of the nominees for the Documentary and Short Film categories. Most of these movies are only screened for awards season in Hollywood. However, we’re still giving it a shot by predicting the following…

Best Documentary – Feature: “RBG”

Best Documentary – Short Subject: “Period, End of Sentence”

Best Live Action Short Film: “Detainment”

Best Animated Short Film: “Weekends”

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