by Heath Lynch, Contributing Writer
Another month in the books means it’s time for another look into an awards season gone by. As a reminder, with our Oscars: What If… series we look at categories the Academy Awards should be honoring, but, for one reason or another, they aren’t. So, we’re going to imagine what could’ve been regarding past Oscar seasons. Hopefully someday the Academy will do right by these creative talents, but until then we must do the Academy’s job for them. Let’s look back at the year Hong Kong erupted in pro-democracy protests against mainland China, the tragic Christchurch, New Zealand mosque shootings that claimed 51 lives, the Event Horizon Telescope captured the first-ever images of a supermassive black hole and its shadow, the St. Louis Blues went from last place in the NHL to winning the Stanley Cup for the first time in their franchise history, the Notre-Dame de Paris caught fire and nearly burned to the ground, and Donald Trump was impeached… for the first time. It is time to examine the films of 2019, celebrated at the Oscars in 2020. Let’s see what could have been!
Best Stunts and Choreography
Given to the best achievement in dance, stunts, related performances, and overall choreography for film.
And the nominees are… 1917, Avengers: Endgame, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Rocketman
And the winner is… John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum!
Acknowledging that many readers would find this ridiculous – Rocketman was way closer to winning this than many of you would want to believe. Just sayin’…
But, alas, it’s Parabellum. Maybe it’s the whole riding a horse thing or the flintlock pistol in the knife shop full of close-quarters combat. Perhaps it’s the numerous large-scale battles, and incredible small-scale fights between masters of the martial arts craft. Or, you know, it’s probably just the dogs. Using dogs to bite guys in the nuts is never not funny. Always entertaining. But all the while John Wick is always very complex and thorough, well-choreographed combat that leaves your jaw on the floor in awe of the design, practicality, and effort put into the stunt work. John Wick, take a bow. This Oscar is yours. Be sure to congratulate the dogs as well. Give them pets. Let them know they’re good puppers. Thank you.
Best Performance by Voiceover or Motion Capture
Given to the best off-screen voice performance, or on-screen motion captured performance, for film.
And the nominees are… Josh Brolin as Thanos in Avengers: Endgame, Tony Hale as Forky in Toy Story 4, Idina Menzel as Elsa in Frozen II, Jason Schwartzman as Jesper in Klaus, J.K. Simmons as Klaus in Klaus
And the winner is… Jason Schwartzman as Jesper in Klaus!
A solid argument could be made for Brolin getting back-to-back Oscars for his work as Thanos, but Brolin/Thanos aren’t given nearly as much to do in Endgame as they were in Infinity War. J.K. Simmons is also a great option as he can bring you to tears with his work in Klaus, but he doesn’t even show up until halfway through the film and hardly speaks when he’s on screen. Much of the emotion of the character is based on animation. To me, the winner is Schwartzman for giving a wholly complete performance packed with hilarious comedic timing as well as a fully formed emotional arc that resonates with the themes of the film as well as the movie watching audience. The journey Schwartzman goes on as Jesper is heartfelt and moving. The vocal inflection that Schwartzman puts into his performance resonates deeply and elicits so much empathy, particularly in the latter half of the film. Couldn’t be happier to give Max Fischer an Oscar.
Best Performance by an Ensemble Cast
Given to the best overall ensemble cast performance for film.
And the nominees are… The Irishman, Knives Out, Little Women, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Parasite
And the winner is… Knives Out!
Honestly, I can hear some of you clutching your pearls. Arguing against me from behind your screen as to how it should be one of these numerous other legendary ensemble performances from this packed year, with each other film being nominated for Best Picture. But it’s time to be blunt – Knives Out was never not going to win. While all of these films have incredible ensemble performances, I would argue that none of them are as necessary to the overall success of the film as Knives Out. The whodunnit murder mystery genre is entirely based on a close-knit group of characters that an audience can buy every angle and aspect of their relationships and simultaneously find it possible that every single one of these characters could have committed a horrendous crime such as murder. Every other film benefits from a great ensemble performance, but it’s not a requirement. If Knives Out doesn’t have a great ensemble, the entire film crumbles. With the bar being set so high, it’s even more impressive that the Knives Out cast rose to the occasion. Each performance delivers a fully fleshed out character that’s entirely unique, full of quirks and idiosyncrasies, that are so nuanced and thorough that by the end of the film you could seemingly predict how any one of these characters would react to any given situation. Each character’s relationship to another character makes perfect sense and every confrontation, whether it’s a one-on-one duel of words, or a dozen-voice-strong family argument with people drowning each other out, every moment makes sense. Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, LaKeith Stanfield, Katherine Magford, Jaden Martell, Chris Evans, and Christopher Plummer… I mean, come on! Hilarious, infuriating, heartbreaking, intellectual, quirky, political, and above all entertaining, this ensemble is a triumph. Even better still, their performance is like a fine wine that has only grown better with age. Seriously, treat yourself to a rewatch, they’re still great all these years later. This Oscar is totally earned.
Best Directorial Debut
Given to the best achievement in direction by a debut directing talent for film.
And the nominees are… Melina Matsoukas for Queen & Slim, Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz for The Peanut Butter Falcon, Sergios Pablos for Klaus, Joe Talbot for The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Olivia Wilde for Booksmart
And the winner is… Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz for The Peanut Butter Falcon!
There are several solid options on the table here, but it’s the duo of Nilson and Schwartz that take this home. This film is based on a script that these two wrote themselves as a contemporary retelling of the literary classic Huckleberry Finn but written to examine current economic despair and the state of care provided to those with mental disabilities, in particular Down syndrome. It’s a bleak comedy with beautiful cinematography capturing the American south Atlantic coastline that features three great performances from Zack Gottsagen, Dakota Johnson, and Shia LaBeouf. It’s the sheer talent behind Nilson and Schwartz to write this script, and bring it to life, managing all of these individual elements to such a high degree, that allows this film to sing. To get these performances, to capture these shots, and to wring out so much laughter, but more importantly so much heart, from this film is one hell of an accomplishment. This is a beautiful film, and that’s all possible to this duo who are more than worthy of this Oscar gold.
Best Popular Film
Given to the best audience supported motion picture that earned a spot as one of the top 25 box office films of the year.
And the nominees are… Avengers: Endgame, Frozen II, Knives Out, Toy Story 4, Us
And the winner is… Avengers: Endgame!
Honestly? No duh.
Avengers: Endgame isn’t just one of the most popular films of 2019; it’s one of the most popular films ever made. The culmination of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe experiment after more than a decade-long, and 21-film, buildup. It made $858.3 million domestically and $2.799 billion worldwide. Easily the number one film in both categories of 2019. But, to give this some proper perspective, those numbers don’t just earn the number one spot in 2019, it made Endgame the number two domestic earner and number two worldwide earner…ever. All-time. As in the history of theatrical filmmaking exhibition. The only movies that had ever earned more are Star Wars: The Force Awakens domestically and Avatar worldwide. That is, until this week when Spider-Man: Brand New Day passed it domestically dropping Endgame to number three. Regardless, Endgame was, and is, the definition of popular.
But it’s not just that Endgame is more popular than almost any other movie ever made, it was also beloved. It sits with a 94% certified fresh critic score on Rotten Tomatoes with a 90% audience score. It has a 78 on Metacritic, an 8.4/10 on IMDb, and a 4.0/5 on Letterboxd. Across the board, by almost every metric, both critics and audiences alike love this film, and it’s easily considered one of the greatest popcorn blockbusters in modern times. While it didn’t perform well with major awards associations, only garnering one nomination from the Academy, one from the BAFTAs, and three Critics’ Choice Awards, with two wins. Overall, it earned 36 awards against 116 nominations throughout the entire awards season. An argument could be made for films like Knives Out, Frozen II, and Toy Story 4 based on awards accolades; those movies aren’t so far above and beyond Endgame though as to ignore the film’s strong critical reviews or offset the immense difference in box office performance.
Another way of saying this is to just repeat what I said up top – Honestly? No duh. It’s Endgame. It was always going to be Endgame. Nothing was going to stop this from being Endgame. So, obviously, the Best Popular Film of 2019 Oscar has to go to… Avengers: Endgame.
That’s gonna do it! Thanks for joining me on another trip down memory lane to see what could have been! We got to talk about one of the greatest murder mysteries ever made that completely revitalized the genre, an incredibly entertaining and moving animated film about the holiday spirit, and the epic conclusion to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Infinity Saga. Be sure to come back next time when we look at films like Tenet, Promising Young Woman, and Soul as we examine the Oscars of 2021, celebrating the films of 2020!
You can read more from Heath Lynch, and follow him on Letterboxd