KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Sunday night marks the 91st edition of the Academy Awards.
41 Action News Today anchor Taylor Hemness, reporter Jordan Betts and Screened on the Spot podcast hosts Chris Allen, Sarah Unruh and Justin Nosler recently met to offer their predictions on who will take home the hardware.
Plus, listen to the Screened on the Spot podcast's latest episode offered a more detailed set of predictions.
Before we get to the predictions, let's check with each movie watcher on their thoughts of this year's movies:
Unruh: 2018 felt like a down year for movies, but there were many winners in my book. Sadly, the Best Picture nominees don't necessarily encompass the best of the year, because, for me, none of the eight nominated were utter standouts.
Blackkklansman and The Favourite are the best of the group in my opinion. I liked both films and thought they were solid in terms of script and acting. I thoroughly enjoyed Bohemian Rhapsody and Star is Born, but neither were jaw-dropping feats of film-making. They were good, surface level movies that could have and should have dug a little deeper to truly be outstanding. Black Panther was fun. Vice was interesting. Green Book had two heavy hitting performances from Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen, but failed to truly show the complexity of this odd friendship or the danger they were in traveling where they were when they were.
And Roma? Well, Roma probably isn't worth your time if you aren't going to appreciate the small details in filmmaking that often go unnoticed and sit and enjoy the slow and silent parts that could be considered boring. Movies not nominated for Best Picture you should see? If Beale Street Could Talk, Into the Spiderverse, Can You Ever Forgive Me, You Were Never Really Here, Capernaum, Mission Impossible Fallout, and Juliet Naked.
Hemness: For the most part, I thought it was not an especially strong year for movies, either of the "blockbuster," or "awards-caliber" variety. Of the nominees for Best Picture at both the Oscars and the Golden Globes, there were only a couple that I would care to own.
And when I looked back at the top-grossing movies of the year, I found that I wasn't a big fan of many of those either. That includes BIG movies like Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Solo: A Star Wars Story (I'm a HUGE Star Wars fan). To me, there just weren't that many movies I got excited about this year. Hoping that changes in 2019.
Betts: I love the fact two of this year's movies had heavy musical influences. I grew up loving musicals and theater in general, so, I was happy these movies were recognized. Here's the thing. I honestly can't say who will win best picture. Usually you can tell a clear-cut winner, but that's not the case this year.
Every single movie has its own power to it and why people love it. I think it will come down to these three movies: Roma, Bohemian Rhapsody and Green Book. I can't tell which way the academy will go for. Don't forget there always seems to be an upset or two.
I think an upset could happen in the best director category and go to Spike Lee. I also see Sam Elliott possibly winning supporting actor in A Star is Born. Overall, I liked this year's picks.
Nosler: It’s an interesting year for movies at the Oscars. There isn’t a clear front runner in many of the categories, or even two clear possibilities. Best picture could go any number of directions and as a whole isn't as strong of a category as past years. Green Book won at the Producer’s Guild, which has accurately predicted eight of the last 10 winners. Bohemian Rhapsody won the Golden Globe, but while it may be one of the most fun movies on the list, it certainly isn’t the best. And Black Panther was quite the achievement.
Personally, BlacKkKlansman was the standout. It has re-watchability and is a surprisingly fun ride despite carrying such a heavy message. And how has Spike Lee NEVER won an Academy Award? I am also alone in the podcast trio for having a lot of love for Roma. I expect it to go home with at least four trophies this weekend. But as we know, there's always at least one good surprise.
Allen: My favorite film of 2018 is A Star is Born. I’m predicting it to shock at the end of the night winning the award for best picture. Even though Roma has all the momentum leading into Sunday night, I don’t see this as a complete sweep. There will also be several surprises at this year’s Academy Awards, including Richard E. Grant winning the Oscar for best supporting actor. I wouldn’t be surprised if Spike Lee gets his hands on his first award for best director, beating out Alfonso Cuaron.
Give it up to University of Kansas Professor and Kansas native Kevin Willmott who should land the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay for BlacKkKlansman. Overall, Sunday night is going to be a fun night. Surprises. They will happen.
Here are the predictions:
Best Picture:
Allen - Will win: A Star is Born; Should win: A Star is Born
Betts - Will win: Roma; Should win: Bohemian Rhapsody
Hemness - Will win: Roma; Should win: Bohemian Rhapsody
Nosler - Will win: Roma; Should win: Blackkklansman
Unruh - Will win: Roma; Should win: Blackkklansman
Best Actor:
Allen - Will win: Rami Malek; Should win: Bradley Cooper
Betts - Will win: Rami Malek; Should win: Rami Malek
Hemness - Will win: Rami Malek; Should win: Rami Malek
Nosler - Will win: Rami Malek; Should win: Rami Malek
Unruh - Will win: Rami Malek; Should win: Rami Malek
Best Actress:
Allen - Will win: Glenn Close; Should win: Melissa McCarthy
Betts - Will win: Glenn Close; Should win: Glenn Close
Hemness - Will win: Glenn Close; Should win: Glenn Close
Nosler - Will win: Glenn Close; Should win: Olivia Coleman
Unruh - Will win: Glenn Close; Should win: Olivia Coleman
Best Supporting Actor:
Allen - Will win: Richard E Grant; Should win: Richard E. Grant
Betts - Will win: Mahershala Ali; Should win: Mahershala Ali
Hemness - Will win: Sam Elliott; Should win: Mahershala Ali
Nosler - Will win: Mahershala Ali; Should win: Mahershala Ali
Unruh - Will win: Mahershala Ali; Should win: Mahershala Ali
Best Supporting Actress:
Allen - Will win: Rachel Weisz; Should win: Rachel Weisz
Betts - Will win: Regina King: Should win: Regina King
Hemness - Will win: Regina King; Should win: Rachel Weisz
Nosler - Will win: Regina King; Should win: Rachel Weisz
Unruh - Will win: Regina King; Should win: Rachel Weisz
Best Director:
Allen - Will win: Alfonso Cuaron; Should win: Spike Lee
Betts - Will win: Alfonso Cuaron; Should win: Spike Lee
Hemness - Will win: Alfonso Cuaron; Should win: Yorgos Lanthimos
Nosler - Will win: Alfonso Cuaron; Should win: Spike Lee
Unruh - Will win: Alfonso Cuaron; Should win: Alfonso Cuaron
Best Original Song:
Allen - Will win: Shallow from A Star is Born; Should win: Shallow from A Star is Born
Betts - Will win: Shallow from A Star is Born; Should win: Shallow from A Star is Born
Hemness - Will win: Shallow from A Star is Born; Should win: Shallow from A Star is Born
Nosler - Will win: Shallow from A Star is Born; Should win: Shallow from A Star is Born
Unruh - Will win: Shallow from A Star is Born; Should win: All the Stars from Black Panther
