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91st Oscars. Oscar Contenders of 2018 (for the 2019 Ceremony) - For prediction, discussion, entertainment purposes only
AND THE WINNERS ARE...
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ANIMATED FEATURE |
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Incredibles 2 US Elastigirl returns to heroics while Mr Incredible becomes the homemaker. But then Screenslaver attacks
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Isle of Dogs (US) Dogs are outlawed and shipped to trash island in Japan. One brave boy attempts a rescue. |
Mirai (Japan) A little boy, jealous of the attention his baby sister is getting, is visited by that sister from the future for a time travelling adventure |
Ralph Breaks the Internet (US) When Vanellope's game malfunctions, she and Ralph leave the arcade for a wild wi-fi adventure in search of a fix. |
★ Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (US) Teenager Miles Morales becomes the Spider-Man of his reality, but realizes there's a Spider-Man for each alternate dimension |
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POLL
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WHO WILL WIN? |
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| Into the Spider-Verse has the clear lead after it turned out better than anyone could have hoped. Critics went wild and audiences loved it too. That said, Pixar wins this category 50% of the time and Incredibles 2 is the year's 3rd biggest hit. That campaign might still have more steam than you'd expect. | ||||
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WHO SHOULD WIN? |
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| We're partial to either Isle of Dogs or Spider-Verse both of them blasts of fresh air in the often samey-samey world of American animation. | ||||
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WHAT WAS LEFT OUT? |
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[Links go to reviews] 25 films in total were eligible this year. The most high profile shut outs were the blockbuster hit Dr Seuss the Grinch (US), and Aardman's prehistoric comedy Early Man (UK) which is the first Aardman feature to miss a nomination in this category since their troubled joint venture with Dreamworks Animation Flushed Away (2006). The list also included Ana Y Bruno (Mexico), Fireworks (Japan), Have a Nice Day (China), Hotel Transylvania (US), The Laws of the Universe Pt 1 (Japan), Liz and the Blue Bird (Japan), Lu Over the Wall (Japan) Lu Over the Wall (Japan), Maquia (Japan),MFKZ (France/Japan),The Night is Short, Walk on Girl (Japan), On Happiness Road (Taiwan), Ruben Brandt Collector (Hungary), Sherlock Gnomes (US), Sgt Stubby an American Hero (US), Smallfoot (US), Tall Tales (France/Luxembourg), Teen Titans Go! To the Movies (US), and Tito and the Birds (Brazil) |
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ANIMATED SHORT FILM |
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ANIMAL BEHAVIOR Alison Snowden (3rd nom, 1 previous win), David Fine (2nd nom, 1 previous win) Canada, 14 minutes Animals in a therapy session together. This director/producer pair previously won the Oscar in this category for a short called Bob's Birthday (1994) |
★ BAO US, 8 minutes This is the Pixar short about a woman with empty nest syndrome and the dumpling that comes to life becoming her defacto new son. |
LATE AFTERNOON Ireland, 10 minutes An old woman drifts off into her memories. Bagnall previously worked on Cartoon Saloon's Best Animated Feature nominees Song of the Sea and Breadwinner |
ONE SMALL STEP US, 8 minutes A Chinese American girl dreams of being an astronaut |
WEEKENDS US, 16 minutes A young boy shuffles between his divorced parents. Jimenez won the Annie Award for this short last week. It's his second short. The first was Key Lime Pie (2007) |
| WHO WILL WIN? | ||||
| We think Weekends has the edge. Usually if a film wins the Annie and loses the Oscar, the Oscar winning film was also an Annie nominee. That isn't the case this time. | ||||
| WHO SHOULD WIN? | ||||
| Still in process of screening of them. | ||||
| WHAT WAS LEFT OUT? | ||||
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From the 81 eligible shorts, 10 finalist were chosen. Those that didn't make it to the nomination were: Age of Sail (US), Bilby (US), Bird Karma (US), Lost & Found (Australia), and Pepe Le Morse (France) |
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| TRIVIA ABOUT THIS CATEGORY | ||||
| This is the first time three Asians have competed in this category with Domee Shi (Bao), Bobby Pontillas (One Small Step) and Trevor Jimenez (Weekends) all up for the prize. There are also three Canadians represented which has only happened once before (just two years ago) in this category. Canada has often turned out strong animators over the years. | ||||
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DOCUMENTARY FEATURE |
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HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING THIS EVENING |
MINDING THE GAP |
OF FATHERS & SONS |
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POLL
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| WHAT WILL WIN? | ||||
| RBG and Free Solo both have the 'everyone has seen it' advantage. Though Minding the Gap's fans are noisy. In the end though we think RBG takes it for zeitgeisty reasons. | ||||
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WHAT SHOULD WIN? |
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| WHAT WAS LEFT OUT? | ||||
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There were initially 166 eligible documentary features from which 15 finalists were selected. The highest profile titles that missed the nomination were two HUGE hits, the triplet adoption mystery Three Identical Strangers, and the Mr Rogers biography Won't You Be My Neighbor?, the latter of which was considered the frontrunner for the win. The eight other finalists that got cut in this final pass were: Crime + Punishment, Charm City, Communion, Dark Money, The Distant Barking of Dogs, On Her Shoulders, Shirkers, and The Silence of Others. |
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DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM |
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BLACK SHEEP 26 minutes A documentary about a family who moves out of London following a killing but realizes their new town is run by racists. Watch on Prime |
END GAME 40 minutes A medical doc about visionary practitioners trying to change our thinking about life and death. Watch on Netflix |
LIFEBOAT 40 minutes On the refugee crisis. A German non-profit group risks the waters of the Mediterranean |
A NIGHT AT THE GARDEN 7 minutes A short on a huge American Nazi rally in 1939, shortly before WW II began (with archival footage) |
★ PERIOD. END OF SENTENCE. 26 minutes Watch on Netflix |
| WHAT WILL WIN? | ||||
| Period. End of Sentence. feels like the potential winner. Less heavy than the others, and Netflix is backing it. Of course Netflix also has End Game (from one of our personal favourite documentarians) so who knows? | ||||
| WHAT SHOULD WIN? | ||||
| Glenn, who has seen all five, says Lifeboat. We haven't yet finished watching all five. | ||||
| WHAT WAS LEFT OUT? | ||||
| From the 104 eligible shorts in this category 10 finalists were selected. The five finalist that didn't make it to nominations were: '63 Boycott, Los Comandos, My Dead Dad's Porno Tapes, Women of the Gulag, and Zion. | ||||
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LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM |
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DETAINMENT Ireland, 30 minutes A true story about two 10 year old boys detained my police arounding the murder of a toddler. |
FAUVE Canada, 17 minutes Two boys in a power game with nature as their only observer |
MARGUERITE Canada, 19 minutes The friendship between an old woman and her nurse. This short has won over 15 prizes at cinemas, particularly at Queer festivals |
MOTHER Spain, 19 minutes A mother receives a phone call from her young son, on holiday with his father. This short won the Goya (Spain's Oscar) last year. |
★ SKIN US, 20 minutes An smile at a supermarket sends two gangs into ruthless war. Nattiv also made a feature called Skin (also about racism) starring Jamie Bell which will be distributed by A24 sometime this year. |
| WHAT WILL WIN? | ||||
| Given that Marguerite is a stand-out subject wise (in the other films terrible things are happening to little boys) it might have an advantage but Skin and Detainment are also threats to win. | ||||
| WHAT SHOULD WIN | ||||
| Eric, who has seen all five, says Detainment. We haven't yet finished watching all five but we're partial to Marguerite thus far. | ||||
| WHAT WAS LEFT OUT? | ||||
| There were 140 eligible shorts originally which were whittled down to 10 finalist. Those finalists that didn't receive nominations were: Caroline (US), Chuchotage (Hungary), Icarus (Belgium), May Day (Belgium), and Wale (UK), the last of which was a BAFTA nominee in their parallel category. | ||||