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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at St. John's chapter.

The Academy Awards is the most anticipated award show of the season for every single year. With many watching in parties, or by themselves, everyone makes predictions, and some, even bet on who is going to win the awards. This year, the award show is approaching its 92nd year, and there are many issues and controversies surrounding this year’s nominees.

Since its start, , women have been known to be underappreciated in some of the most significant categories. The category of Best Director barely has any women nominated, ever. This year was one of the most shocking. With many films, this year with women directors, like Little Women, Hustlers, and The Farewell, were not nominated in this category and were nominated for a few awards or none. This has caused many debates in Hollywood as actors and actresses have been protesting the award show by not attending or wearing all black for the Me-Too movement.

Even with this  controversy, the big question is still who is likely to win in 2020? Since the nominations were released, we know the movies that are genuine contenders to win.

Below, I have taken a poll from some of the people who live in my dorm hall, and we all agree on who we think is going to win. Since the Golden Globes happened, we have used those wins to connect to who will win the Oscars in the categories. But many questions have arisen over the past week. Will the Irishman give Netflix a sweep? Will Once Upon a Time in Hollywood give Quentin Tarantino his first-ever Best Picture win? Will Joker be the first comic book movie to win Best Picture?  

 

Best Picture Nominees

Ford V. Ferrari

The Irishman

Jojo Rabbit

Joker

Little Women

Marriage Story

1917

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Parasite

It is truly a shame Bombshell did not make it in, while Ford v. Ferrari shocked many people, including myself, that it was nominated for Best Picture. Since this category is filled with prestigious movies this year, there is a low chance Joker will win this category, but it has the best chance of winning some of the acting categories.

Who do I think will win? Given that the breakthrough 3-hour Netflix movie, The Irishman has important and iconic actors in it, you cannot look past that film. Between the chemistry of Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro alone, the Irishman has a massive chance of winning this category. But, 1917, the beautiful one-shot film won the Golden Globe in the equivalent category and swept all of the other movies in other nominations.

Who do I want to win? Though it would be exciting to see the breakthrough Parasite win this category, I feel that Marriage Story, a deeply emotional film, deserves this win.

 

Best Director Nominees

Martin Scorsese (The Irishman)

Todd Philips (Joker)

Sam Mendes (1917)

Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)

Bong Joon-ho (Parasite)

Unfortunately, the Academy stole Greta Gerwig’s well-deserved nomination and kept this category all male. This specific category is going to be stiff, and most likely not predictable. Martin Scorsese and Sam Mendes both deserve this award for their work on the two films, but Quentin Tarantino is hungry for his first Best Director Oscar, and Bong Joon-ho should not be counted out of this spotlight.

Who do I think will win? Since Scorsese is the person to beat, regardless of the anti-Netflix backlash the Academy has shown over the past few years, Tarantino seems to be on the steady increase of being able to win this award since he did win the Golden Globe this year for his work.

Who do I want to win? Since the female powerhouse is out of the running, it would be amazing to see Bong Joon-ho win outside of the foreign film category, but a Mendes win would be remarkable.

 

Best Actor Nominees

Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory)

Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)

Adam Driver (Marriage Story)

Joaquin Phoneix (Joker)

Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes)

After Joker pushed the boundaries of what a comic-book movie can do, in the drama aspect, it would be a brave person who bets against Joaquin Phoenix following up his 2005 shocking victory for Walk the Line. 

Who do I think will win? It’s a toss-up between Adam Driver – equally charismatic, whether he’s ruling the galaxy or dealing with divorce in Marriage Story – or Joaquin Phoenix’s chillingly unhinged performance in Joker. Phoenix won the Golden Globe, though, which makes him feel like the more likely winner.  

Who do I want to win? Adam Driver. His sensitive performance in Marriage Story shows what a superstar he is, and continues to be in every film he’s in. 

 

Best Actress Nominees

Cynthia Erivo (Harriet)

Scarlett Johansson (Marriage Story)

Saorise Ronan (Little Women)

Charlize Theron (Bombshell)

Renée Zellweger (Judy)

This category is stacked with talented women who all genuinely deserve this nomination; it has many of my favorites over the past few years. 

Who do I think will win? Renee Zellweger, as Judy Garland, was very accurate, but I feel that the Oscar could go to someone else. 

Who do I want to win? I would love to see Cynthia Erivo win for her role as Harriet Tubman, Scarlett Johansson in Marriage Story was terrific, or Saorise Ronan as she has only been nominated and never won; though Ronan has many years to go since she is still young, it would be amazing to see one of these talented women win. 

 

Just a reminder for those who would like to watch the award show, it is on February 9th at 8 pm EST on ABC. 

Ivy Bourke

St. John's '23

St John’s Student who is studying Sports Management with a minor in journalism. I plan to change the sports world for the better and have women be represented in all aspects of the world.
Chanelle Norman

St. John's '20

Chanelle is a graduate of St. John's University '20 and former Editor-in-Chief for the chapter. When she's not sleeping for ungodly hours at a time she spends her time reading, writing and watching movies. She's pursuing her dreams of working in the book industry.