Awards Nominations:
* Independent Spirit Award Nominee
+ National Board of Review Winner
+ New York Film Critics Circle Winner
+ Los Angeles Film Critics Association Winner
+ Broadcast Film Critics Association Winner
+ Golden Globe Nominee
* BAFTA Nominee
* DGA Nominee
The Low Down:
The Academy matched the DGA 4/5, with Taika Waititi being swapped out for Todd Phillips. Alas, the late surge for Little Women was not enough to result in a historic second nomination for Greta Gerwig.
This race, once thought to be Quentin Tarantino’s coronation after being an also-ran/strictly a Screenplay winner for years, has boiled down to Sam Mendes vs. Bong Joon-Ho. Oscar logic would tell you 1917 has the heat right now, and you can’t divorce the love for 1917 from Mendes; the directing is the film. That said, Mendes has won before (American Beauty) and Parasite is not just one of last year’s most popular (commercially and critically) movies, but everyone loves Bong Joon-Ho; he’s a legend and deserves his flowers for giving us the best movie of last year. If 1917 is indeed our Best Picture winner, they may want to find a way to award Mr. Bong outside of that Best International Film award that has had Parasite‘s name on it for months. He could also be one of the only non-white winners of the night, which after all of the negative press the Academy got for these truly terrible nominations could only help at this point.
The Nominees:
- Bong Joon-Ho, Parasite**++
- Sam Mendes, 1917**++
- Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon A Time In… Hollywood**+
- Martin Scorsese, The Irishman**
- Todd Phillips, Joker**
Jon On Film 