Oscars 2020 – predictions // who will win, who should win

Performance by an actor in a leading role nominees:

Antonio Banderas in PAIN AND GLORY – should win

Leonardo DiCaprio in ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD

Adam Driver in MARRIAGE STORY

Joaquin Phoenix in JOKER – will win

Jonathan Pryce in THE TWO POPES

Performance by an actor in a supporting role nominees:

Tom Hanks in A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

Anthony Hopkins in THE TWO POPES

Al Pacino in THE IRISHMAN

Joe Pesci in THE IRISHMAN – should win

Brad Pitt in ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD – will win

Performance by an actress in a leading role nominees:

Cynthia Erivo in HARRIET

Scarlett Johansson in MARRIAGE STORY

Saoirse Ronan in LITTLE WOMEN – should win

Charlize Theron in BOMBSHELL

Renée Zellweger in JUDY – will win

Performance by an actress in a supporting role nominees:

Kathy Bates in RICHARD JEWELL

Laura Dern in MARRIAGE STORY – will win/should win

Scarlett Johansson in JOJO RABBIT

Florence Pugh in LITTLE WOMEN

Margot Robbie in BOMBSHELL

Best animated feature film of the year nominees:

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD

I LOST MY BODY – should win

KLAUS – will win

MISSING LINK

TOY STORY 4

Achievement in cinematography nominees:

THE IRISHMAN

JOKER

THE LIGHTHOUSE – should win

1917 – will win

ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD

Achievement in costume design nominees:

THE IRISHMAN – should win

JOJO RABBIT

JOKER

LITTLE WOMEN – will win

ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD

Achievement in directing nominees:

THE IRISHMAN – should win

JOKER

1917 – will win

ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD

PARASITE

Best documentary feature nominees:

AMERICAN FACTORY

THE CAVE

THE EDGE OF DEMOCRACY

FOR SAMA – will win/should win

HONEYLAND

Achievement in film editing nominees:

FORD V FERRARI – will win

THE IRISHMAN – should win

JOJO RABBIT

JOKER

PARASITE

Best international feature film of the year nominees:

CORPUS CHRISTI

HONEYLAND

LES MISÉRABLES

PAIN AND GLORY

PARASITE – will win/should win

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score) nominees:

JOKER – will win/should win

LITTLE WOMEN

MARRIAGE STORY

1917

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

Best motion picture of the year nominees:

FORD V FERRARI

THE IRISHMAN – should win

JOJO RABBIT

JOKER

LITTLE WOMEN

MARRIAGE STORY

1917 – will win

ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD

PARASITE

Achievement in production design nominees:

THE IRISHMAN

JOJO RABBIT

1917 – will win

ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD

PARASITE – should win

Adapted screenplay nominees:

THE IRISHMAN

JOJO RABBIT – will win

JOKER

LITTLE WOMEN – should win

THE TWO POPES

Original screenplay nominees:

KNIVES OUT

MARRIAGE STORY – should win

1917

ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD – will win

PARASITE

Portrait of a Lady on Fire – review | one of the most beautiful films you will see this year

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (dir. Céline Sciamma, 2019)

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“Openings and closings, beginnings and endings. Everything in between passes as quickly as the blink of an eye,” offers Philip Glass, writing in his memoir Words Without Music. Taking place over a week and a half, the love story of Marianne (Noémie Merlant) and Héloïse (Adèle Haenel) is collected and lost with similar, auroral impermanence. Céline Sciamma’s latest picture, Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), is one of a small number of films released over the past decade to convince me of their cinematic influence, of their emotive and intellectual tour de force. Undeniably, one of the most beautiful and evocative films you will see this year.

Looking back on the past, Marianne recalls prior employment on an island in Brittany, where – to the ignorance of her subject, Héloïse – she is commissioned to paint a portrait for the woman’s future husband, a Milanese gentleman. Formerly resident in a Benedictine convent, Héloïse has returned home after the suicide of her sister, quietly resisting the arranged marriage by refraining from sitting for a portrait (“she wore out one painter before you”). In an early scene of the film, Marianne uncovers the incomplete painting of the former artist in her studio – Héloïse’s face disturbingly smudged beyond recognition. 

To better look at her subject, Héloïse’s mother, The Countess (Valeria Golino), persuades Marianne to accompany her daughter on various coastal walks, the occasional, stolen glances later translated into the sketches on her canvas. As subtle as they may be to her, it is all too unsubtle for the knowing audience. One day, Marianne confesses her secret employment, so beginning their unspoken and careful desire for one another.

Filmed in soft, romantic pastels, Sciamma and cinematographer Claire Mathon frame the central duet at eye-level angles, the two women a central focus at all times. These visual landscapes are intimate with those of New Zealand director Jane Campion, in particular, The Piano (1993), whose memorable shot of a sinking piano is obliquely echoed in Marianne’s rescue of a painting that has fallen overboard. Campion’s 1996 adaptation of Henry James’ The Portrait of a Lady is also significant here (Sciamma appending ‘on Fire’ to her title), each filmmaker looking over the shoulder of the literary titan whilst crafting their own work.

Painting is not only an offering from Marianne to Héloïse but also an act of unspoken love. Over the space of a few days their love is given room to grow, but its lasting imprint, of their first contact and maturity, is expressed most vividly in the portrait itself – whether in the folds of her dress, the tilt of her neck. Marianne later stumbles upon another portrait of Héloïse, older now, and the difference between the two could not be more evident.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a story of the experience of falling in love for the first time, at least for Héloïse, whose rush of unknowing passions are perfectly captured by Sciamma’s uncompromised vision. Everyone should watch this film.

Underwater – review | Kristen Stewart battles Zoidbergs in an uninspired eco-thriller

Underwater (dir. William Eubank, 2020) 

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Underwater continues in the tradition of H. P. Lovecraft-inspired science fiction, with notable predecessors including Jack Arnold’s Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), James Cameron’s The Abyss (1989), and Barry Levinson’s much-understated Sphere (1998). It is exciting and blood-curdling terrain, whose B-movie possibilities have inspired a generation of filmmakers.

It should be a winning combination, with a January release date and starring, amongst others, indie-movie heavyweights Kirsten Stewart and Vincent Cassel. Unfortunately for 20^th Century Fox – ironically, the last picture to be released under that banner, soon dropping ‘Fox’ for ‘Studios’ – the spongey formula has been used too many times before, now waterlogged and unable to carry any real substance.

Set entirely in the Mariana Trench, (ironically, a filming location for James Cameron’s belated Avatar sequels,) Norah Price (Kirsten Stewart) is employed as a mechanical engineer for Tian Industries – an offshore drilling company – whose underwater Kepler station is severely damaged by a crippling earthquake. Assembling with other survivors, including their stalwart captain, Lucien (Vincent Cassel), the crew voyage into the depths of the ocean in hope of survival … only to discover they are not alone. 

As each group member falls prey to an unknown species of creature – imagine Zoidberg  from Futurama given The Lion King’s (2019) ‘photo-realism’ treatment – Kirsten Stewart battles her way forward, comfortably playing into the ‘final girl’ trope with every new challenge. Underwater marks Stewart’s second recent misfire with the blockbuster genre, including Elizabeth Banks’ Charlie’s Angels (2019), her versatility replaced by un-emotive, stock responses. I suspect, as a talented star in her own right, Underwater is simply there to pay the bills.

William Eubank’s blockbuster feels more-or-less outdated – as if it should have been released several years earlier. Filmed from Brian Duffield’s blacklisted script, and sat on a shelf for nearly three years during post-production, the signs of its age are implicit. Its well-exhausted story is told confidently, but, nearing the half-way mark, is clearly fatigued by its plodding narrative. Naaman Marshall’s sleek and evocative production design, however impressive it may be, is unable to boost a lazy, wisecracking script: “On a scale from one to ten, how bad is my rig?” “Ten.”

Underwater is entertaining and certainly unsettling, though in a single-use, expendable sort of way. Undoubtedly, this works perfectly as a Friday-night movie, or, maybe, as a first-person video game – provided you don’t expect to get anything else out of it.