2020 CGI Fridays Oscars

Every year, the world's biggest names and sexiest people come together for a night of all nights to celebrate the fantastical world of moving pictures. That, and to remind the world just how much more important they are than us.

My mixed feelings about the Academy Awards/Oscars is slightly unfair. Calling celebrities bigheaded and self-righteous is like maybe calling Carley Rae Jepsen. In the words of Celine Dion, that's just the way it is.

But yeah, let's do this Oscars thing again. Friendly reminder about the CGI Fridays Oscars: I'll pick from the Academy's honorable candidates, but also from the entire cinematic field.

The link to the 2019 CGI Fridays Oscars is above and my 2018 picks can be seen below:

Actor

Academy: Joaquin Phoenix, Joker

CGI Fridays: Joaquin Phoenix, Joker

Worth Mentioning: Taron Egerton, Rocketman, Timothée Chalamet, The King & Robert Downey Jr., Avengers: Endgame

Phoenix leads the first billion dollar R-rated movie with reckless abandon and more than deserves the "Best Actor" nod. Egerton, who won a Golden Globe, didn't get an Oscar nomination and Chalamet's portrayal in Netflix's The King earned him an Australian nominéetion but no love stateside. Though the Avengers finale was crowded, Downey Jr. cemented his place alongside the "Infinity Saga" in cinema history.

Actress

Academy: Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story

CGI Fridays: Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story

Worth Mentioning: Jodie Turner-Smith, Queen & Slim & Kaitlyn Dever, Booksmart

It's the 12th time an actor/actress has received a nomination in both the leading and supporting categories and while nobody has ever won both in the same Oscars, ScarJo has a real shot here.

Supporting Actor

Academy: Tom Hanks, A Neighborly Day in the Beautywood

CGI Fridays: Shia LaBeouf, The Peanut Butter Falcon

Worth Mentioning: Zack Gottsagen, The Peanut Butter Falcon, Jamie Foxx, Just Mercy & Chris Evans, Avengers: Endgame

The Mr. Rogers movie that isn't really about Mr. Rogers, hence the "supporting" nomination for Tim Honks. Both LaBeouf and Gottsagen could nab either category in my book and Foxx once again flexes his extremely strong acting muscles. Evans, alongside Downey Jr., rides off into the sunset with a somehow underappreciated performance as Captain Ameica.

Supporting Actress

Academy: Scarlett Johansson, Jojo Rabbit

CGI Fridays: Thomasin McKenzie, Jojo Rabbit

Worth Mentioning: Elizabeth Banks, Brightburn

As it so happens, Johansson's younger counterpart in Jojo Rabbit is worthy herself of awards consideration. McKenzie broke out with 2018's Leave No Trace and the New Zealander is quickly making a name for herself in impressive roles.

Editing

Academy: Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland, Ford V Ferrari

CGI Fridays: Jeffrey Ford, Avengers: Endgame

Worth Mentioning: Elliot Graham and Debbie Berman, Captain Marvel

A filmmaker on a DVD commentary I can't particularly recall once said the most difficult part of filming are the car scenes. In a movie literally about racing cars, a tough task was met in Ford V Ferrari. Elsewhere, if not for a different Ford, frequent MCU editor Jeffrey Ford, we wouldn't have had this scene.

Cinematography

Academy: Roger Deakins, 1917

CGI Fridays: Roger Deakins, 1917

Worth Mentioning: Trent Opaloch, Avengers: Endgame

Films get hyped up all the time (duh) but rarely do they meet expectations (also duh). In the case of 1917, the film's technical achievements were its calling card and it absolutely meets its own high bar.

International Film

Academy: Parasite

CGI Fridays: Parasite

Worth Mentioning: Hotel Mumbai

Parasite is fantastic but I don't quite think its the epic people make it out to be. Hotel Mumbai isn't actually an international film by definition, despite its international story, international cast, international crew and initial foreign release. I don't make the rules.

Visual Effects

Academy: Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Matt Aitken and Dan Sudick, Avengers: Endgame

CGI Fridays: Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Matt Aitken and Dan Sudick, Avengers: Endgame

Worth Mentioning: Dietrich Hasse, Brightburn

My least favorite Oscar category because it's the most transparent. Hollywood hates blockbuster movies and get all high and mighty when popcorn movies happen to contain far superior acting, emotion and story than the latest Oscar darling or indy hit. The field is also getting muddled because of what money can buy nowadays but you can't discount the amount of work by literal thousands that contribute to movies like Avengers,.

Original Score

Academy: Hildur Guðnadóttir, Joker

CGI Fridays: Alan Silvestri, Avengers: Endgame

Worth Mentioning: Michael Giacchino, Spider-Man: Far From Home & Thomas Newman, 1917

Guðnadóttir's simple yet intoxicating cello score is given even more recognition because of Joaquin Phoenix's accompanying bathroom dance. I've said this time and time again, Silvestri's Avengers theme is the John Williams Star Wars of our generation.

Costume Design

Academy: Mayes C. Rubeo, Jojo Rabbit

CGI Fridays: Jane Petrie, The King

Worth Mentioning: Judianna Makovsky, Avengers: Endgame

I remembered which DVD commentary it was. It was John Wick.

Production Design

Academy: Dennis Gassner & Lee Sandales, 1917

CGI Fridays: Dennis Gassner & Lee Sandales, 1917

Worth Mentioning: Charles Wood, Avengers: Endgame

Again, 1917 soared past even its own stylistic expectations.

Sound

Academy: Matthew Wood and David Acord, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

CGI Fridays: David Farmer, Avengers: Endgame

Worth Mentioning: Oliver Tarney & Michael Fentum, 1917

A la visual effects, sound artistry has also gotten to extremely sophisticated levels (as showcased in this year's documentary, Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound). Despite a movie's quality, if some millions were thrown at it, you can expect at least most of it to (look and) sound beautiful.

Documentary

Academy: (none of the above)

CGI Fridays: Screwball

Worth Mentioning: Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound

Adapted Screenplay

Academy: Taika Waititi, Jojo Rabbit

CGI Fridays: Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely, Avengers: Endgame

Worth Mentioning: Nicole Perlman, Meg LeFauve, Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck & Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Captain Marvel

When a movie has more than two writers, it usually never turns out well. Captain Marvel had a slew of credited writers including Guardians of the Galaxy co-writer Perlman. As all comic book films are, it's based on an existing property but the way the five writers on Marvel's first female-led movie transformed the source material was, well, marvelous.

Original Screenplay

Academy: Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood

CGI Fridays: Lee Eisenberg & Gene Stupnitsky, Good Boys

Worth Mentioning: Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz, The Peanut Butter Falcon

While Once Upon a Time... was one of my more disappointing films of the year, there's no doubt in Tarantino's pinpoint writing, even if the film itself drags. As for Good Boys, it's hard to write for kids when they are secondary characters. A movie based on adolescents could have gone very wrong.

Best Director

Academy: Sam Mendes, 1917

CGI Fridays: Anthony & Joe Russo, Avengers: Endgame

Worth Mentioning: Billy Corben, Screwball

1917 is an intense, slow burn and captures war as well as any film ever has. Even if it can literally crawl at times, that's sort of the point. It's every bit the technical masterpiece it set out to be.

Best Picture

Academy: Jojo Rabbit

CGI Fridays: Avengers: Endgame

Worth Mentioning: Good Boys

Taika Waititi's filmography keeps growing in both strength and numbers with every film. From Boy to What We Do in the Shadows to Hunt for the Wilderpeople to Thor: Ragnarok and now Jojo Rabbit, he's more than proved himself as one of Hollywood's finest talents.

And yes, I chose Endgame. We've just come to expect greatness out of the MCU when the reality is tentpole blockbuster films almost always turn out poorly. Just like Infinity War, with so much at stake, Marvel didn't freeze.

Worst Picture

CGI Fridays: Annabelle Comes Home

Worth Mentioning: Ad Astra & Godzilla: Gods of Monsters

Annabelle Comes Home is a prequel to the last Annabelle but a sequel to the Annabelle before that...or something. I never want to accuse a studio for milking a product because movies take a lot of time and effort, but this third installment is beyond pointless. Then again.

Speaking of pointless, Ad Astra. Godzilla is not pointless, it's just stupid. Then again.

Sleeper Hit

CGI Fridays: Freaks

Worth Mentioning: Hotel Mumbai & Murder Mystery

The story has holes but Freaks is right up my alley. It's a little bit X-Men with a lot of inspiration from post-apocalyptic mysteries. Hotel Mumbai is humbling, scary and frighteningly real. Murder Mystery was yet another Adam Sandler Netflix movie that put Sandler and Jennifer Anniston in good spots to rekindle some of that 2000's comedy magic.

Biggest Disappointment

CGI Fridays: It Chapter 2

Worth Mentioning: Reign of the Supermen & John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

After the wild success of the first It movie, Chapter 2 was all over the place in a three hour journey to nowhere. It's a shame in the two-parter that all the heart and story was sucked out of the back half.

Speaking of two-parters, DC's animated movies are more hit than miss and 2018's The Death of Superman was a major hit. The 2019 encore was not. And then the third John Wick movie, for the first time on the mainstream stage and still a damn good movie, pulled its punches in writing for the sake of a part four. That kind of storytelling irks me. Then again.

FULL 2019 CGI Fridays RANKINGS COMING SOON!!!