2020 Oscar Nomination Predictions: FILM EDITING and CINEMATOGRAPHY (December)

With the ACE Eddie nominations in, Film Editing has become a very tight race. Separated into two categories (Drama and Comedy), we have 10 films and from those lists we’re going to see Oscar’s final five. Or are we?

ACE nominees are Ford v Ferrari, The Irishman, Joker, Marriage Story and Parasite in Drama with Dolemite Is My Name, The Farewell, Jojo Rabbit, Knives Out and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in Comedy. Ford v Ferrari and The Irishman are taking the leads with critics’ wins for film editing so far and both have Critics’ Choice nominations.

Interview: Film editor Lee Smith on making ‘1917’ look seamless

1917 continues to be the big question here. Will the film editing voting branch of the Academy see Lee Smith’s work as worthy of a nomination or will we see a Birdman redux? The film missed a nomination at ACE (something Birdman got) so my bet right now is that it’s just on the outside.

Interview: Cutting it up with ‘Parasite’ film editor Jinmo Yang

Film Editing is still a key category connection to Best Picture, just look at that nomination for Green Book last year (over Roma). Missing out here is almost fatal so if either Marriage Story or Parasite don’t hit, they’re probably out of the running for BP. So who is in the best shape if one of them miss? I think it’s Joker, a film that’s already proven itself a guild monster. I should probably have it in for this month. It’s just tough to say how far the Academy is going to go with the film.

Here are my 2020 Oscar Nomination Predictions in Film Editing and Cinematography for December 16, 2019.

FILM EDITING

Green – moves up Red – moves down Blue – new/re-entry

1. Ford v. Ferrari (Andrew Buckland, Michael McCusker, Dirk Westervelt) – 20th Century Fox
2. The Irishman (Thelma Schoonmaker) – Netflix
3. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Fred Raskin) – Sony/Columbia
4. Marriage Story (Jennifer Lame) – Netflix
5. Parasite (Jinmo Yang) – Neon

NEXT UP (alphabetical by film)

1917 (Lee Smith) – Universal
Jojo Rabbit (Tom Eagles) – Fox Searchlight
Joker (Jeff Groth) – Warner Bros
Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (Maryann Brandon, Stefan Grube) – Disney
The Two Popes (Fernando Stutz) – Netflix

OTHER CONTENDERS (alphabetical by film)

Ad Astra (John Axelrad, Lee Haugen) – 20th Century Fox
The Aeronauts (Mark Eckersley) – Amazon
Apollo 11 (CNN/Neon)
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (Anne McCabe) – Sony/TriStar
Bombshell (John Poll) – Lionsgate
The Farewell (Matthew Friedman, Michael Taylor) – A24
Knives Out (Bob Ducsay) – Lionsgate
Little Women (Nick Houy) – Sony/Columbia
Uncut Gems (Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie) – A24
Us (Nicholas Monsour) – Universal

The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) announce on January 3rd and that will give us another piece to work with in this category. But it’s the damn Joker that keeps popping up and barging in on the party. I’ve dropped A Hidden Life for it this month and Parasite moves up as well.

But then, the entire Next Up section is full of potential spoilers in this category.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Green – moves up Red – moves down Blue – new/re-entry

1. 1917 (Roger Deakins) – Universal
2. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Robert Richardson) – Sony/Columbia
3. The Irishman (Rodrigo Prieto) – Netflix
4. Joker (Lawrence Sher) – Warner Bros
5. The Lighthouse (Jarin Blaschke) – A24

NEXT UP (alphabetical by film)

Ad Astra (Hoyte van Hoytema) – 20th Century Fox
Ford v. Ferrari (Phedon Papamichael) – 20th Century Fox
A Hidden Life (Jörg Widmer) – Fox Searchlight
Parasite (Hong Kyung-pyo) – Neon
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Claire Mathon) – Neon

OTHER CONTENDERS (alphabetical by film)

The Aeronauts (George Steel) – Amazon
The Farewell (Anna Francesa Solano) – A24
Harriet (John Toll) – Focus Features
Jojo Rabbit (Mihai Mălaimare Jr.) – Fox Searchlight
The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Adam Newport-Berra) – A24
Little Women (Yorick Le Saux) – Sony/Columbia
Marriage Story (Robbie Ryan) – Netflix
Star Wars Episode 9: The Rise of Skywalker (Dan Mindel) – Disney
The Two Popes (César Charlone) – Netflix