Have you all been enjoying your post-Oscars breather? Now that this year’s Best Picture winner The Shape of Water has been engraved at the Dolby Theatre, it’s time to look forward to next season and see what could possibly take home Oscar gold next year.
So, let’s see what lies ahead and do some Oscar speculating for 2019 even though most of the films will premiere months from now. We invite you to comment below with your thoughts.
Best Picture
First Man – Damien Chazelle returns to helm the story of Neil Armstrong. Ryan Gosling stars.
Black Panther – This we have seen. The Marvel film has broken box-office records, but this isn’t just another superhero movie, it is a cultural phenomenon. Critics loved it, the public loved it, it touched everyone who saw it. We know Dark Knight and Wonder Woman both missed out on Best Picture nominations, but maybe Academy voters who weren’t yet ready to nominate a superhero film are getting more accustomed to making a break with tradition.
If Beale Street Could Talk – Barry Jenkins’ adaptation of the James Baldwin novel is Jenkins’ first feature since Moonlight. Set in 1970s Harlem, tThe story follows Tish, a newly engaged woman racing against the clock to prove her fiance’s innocence, falsely accused of rape. Annapurna will distribute and it also stars Dave Franco, Finn Wittrock, Regina King and Ed Skrein.
A Star Is Born – Bradley Cooper steps behind the camera for the latest remake of this durable premise. Stefani Germanotta better known as Lady Gaga follows in the footsteps of Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand to play the leading lady. At last month’s Paleyfest, Streisand commented after having seen clips of the remake, “It’s very very good.”
Mary, Queen of Scots – Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie play royal rivals in this Beau Willimon penned film. Robbie plays Elizabeth I and Ronan plays Mary Stuart. It’s a famous quarter-century long rivalry for the royal throne. Their communication is documented in letters which serves as an insight to historians — and to us, if you want to know what happens. Acting nominations are expected.
Boy Erased – Joel Edgerton’s next film stars Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Lucas Hedges and Edgerton. Based on Garrard Conley’s memoirs, Hedges plays Jared, the son of a Baptist preacher forced to participate in a church-supported gay conversion program.
Widows – Steve McQueen’s next film features Viola Davis, Elizabeth Debicki, Daniel Kaluuya, Jon Bernthal, Liam Neeson, Cynthia Ervio and Michelle Rodriguez. Set in Chicago, the heist movie takes a twist as the women set out to finish a bank robbery their husbands couldn’t.
UNTITLED CHENEY MOVIE – A Big Short’s Adam Mackay directs Christian Bale as former VP, Dick Cheney. Sam Rockwell plays George W. Bush and Amy Adams stars as Lynne Cheney. Expect a holiday release on December 14.
The Irishman – Now that filming has wrapped, we await the lengthy post-production process — something Scorsese never rushes. If the digital effects can be completed in time for release this year instead of next, expect Netflix to push this hard come Awards season. Scorsese’s film stars Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci and is based on Charles Brandt’s book, the official book synopsis reads:
The first words Jimmy Hoffa ever spoke to Frank “the Irishman” Sheeran were, “I heard you paint houses.” To paint a house is to kill a man. The paint is the blood that splatters on the walls and floors. In the course of nearly five years of recorded interviews Frank Sheeran confessed to Charles Brandt that he handled more than twenty-five hits for the mob, and for his friend Hoffa.
Sheeran learned to kill in the U.S. Army, where he saw an astonishing 411 days of active combat duty in Italy during World War II. After returning home he became a hustler and hit man, working for legendary crime boss Russell Bufalino. Eventually he would rise to a position of such prominence that in a RICO suit then-U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani would name him as one of only two non-Italians on a list of 26 top mob figures.
When Bufalino ordered Sheeran to kill Hoffa, he did the deed, knowing that if he had refused he would have been killed himself.
Sheeran’s important and fascinating story includes new information on other famous murders including those of Joey Gallo and JFK, and provides rare insight to a chapter in American history. Charles Brandt has written a page-turner that has become a true crime classic.
Dive in below with your predictions.
