91st Academy Awards Preview

By Peyton Schultze

The 91st Academy Awards air live on Sunday from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California.

On Sunday, the 91st installment of the Academy Awards will be held live from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California (ABC, 8 ET/5 PT). It has been quite the year for movies around the world this year, and the Oscars look to recognize some of the best in the industry for their work in 2018.

Speaking of 2018, the year in film took us to some magical areas with some spectacular storylines and beloved characters. We saw another stunning adaption of A Star is Born, this time with jaw-dropping performances from Bradley Cooper and the wonderful Lady Gaga. We saw Freddie Mercury and Queen once again take the stage, led by Rami Malek’s great performance in Bohemian Rhapsody. We even saw Spike Lee dish out another cinematic classic in 2018’s BlacKkKlansman, following the heroic tale of an African American man’s quest to infiltrate a branch of the Ku Klux Klan. And yes, of course, we even witnessed a mad supervillain wipe away half of the universe’s population in a heartbreaking and shocking way in Avengers: Infinity War.

2018 was a great year for films that captured our attention, and Oscar Sunday looks to recognize the year’s best in another edition of the annual awards show. Once again, this year is full of intriguing races for Oscar glory in several categories, including the most wide-open race in recent memory for Best Picture that is sure to end with a close finish. With that being said, here’s our preview for the 91st Academy Awards.

Best Picture (click right on each picture)

In a Best Picture race with eight nominations, there is no clear favorite among the bunch. Heading into awards season, A Star Is Born, with Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, was the clear favorite before fizzling out heading into Sunday. Now, the most likely winner could very well be Roma, Alfonso Cuarón’s emotional picture that would be the first Best Picture ever distributed from Netflix.

With that being said, dark-horse candidates such as Black Panther, BlacKkKlansman, and The Favourite could rise to the top with some momentum heading into Sunday. Meanwhile, films like Bohemian Rhapsody and Vice are not favored to win, but have a particular fanbase that could miraculously propel it to a win.

But with so much uncertainty about who will win, the safe choice seems to be Peter Farrelly’s Green Book, a film about a traveling African-American musician being escorted by an Italian-American driver in the 1960s n the controversial Southern region of the United States. Many are comparing Green Book to 1989’s Driving Miss Daisy, another Best Picture winner, which could be a glimpse of how Academy voters are voting this year.

Even with the voting now closed, the Best Picture race looks like it is going to be one of the interesting categories to watch on Sunday night’s Academy Awards.

Prediction: Green Book

Dark-Horses: Black Panther, BlacKkKlansman

Best Director (click right on each picture)

Whereas Best Picture is extremely wide open, Best Director is Alfonso Cuarón’s race to lose. After his Netflix masterpiece, Roma, Cuarón is highly favored to take home his second Academy Award after his stunning 2014 film, Gravity.

Yet it is not a stretch to see an upcoming director or a seasoned veteran director take home the award. Yorgos Lanthimos directed an outstanding film in The Favourite, while Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman was another addition to the director’s outstanding repertoire. Meanwhile, Adam McKay of Vice and Pawel Pawlikowski of Cold War are also up in the category and have a chance to walk home with their first Oscar statuette.

While Lee could wind up gaining a lot of Academy momentum as a lifetime achievement of filmmaking without an Oscar, Cuarón is the clear favorite and should cap off the night with his second win for Best Director of his great career. But also watch out for Lanthimos; there has been a lot of recent chatter about him and he seems like he is starting to gain momentum heading into Sunday’s show.

Prediction: Alfonso Cuarón

Dark-Horse: Spike Lee

Best Actor (click right on each picture)

Another race that seems to be getting closer by the day is for Best Actor. Although Rami Malek’s polarizing role as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody captured the country’s attention and heads into Sunday as the clear favorite, others seems to be gaining some momentum. After completely changing his body for his role in Vice, Christian Bale could be the true foil to Malek in this year’s race. In addition, Bradley Cooper is starting to garner some headlines for his great performance, notably from Sean Penn, and could receive some recognition for his role in A Star Is Born.

With that being said, Viggo Mortensen (Green Book) and Willem Dafoe (At Eternity’s Gate) could also steal a win for their superb performances in their respective films. But can anyone really stop Rhapsody’s Malek after plowing through awards season, despite his film’s poor reviews?

Our answer is yes, and Bale seems to be the only one that could truly challenge Malek. After another great performance in his illustrious career, Bale will shock the world and take home his second all-time Oscar.

Prediction: Christian Bale

Dark-Horse: Bradley Cooper

Best Actress (click right on each picture)

It was another great year for acting performances, and this year’s crop of nominees for Best Actress is another special group. There were many deserving this year, but the field is down to just five worthy candidates in the pursuit for Oscar glory. The group includes actresses such as Yalitza Aparicio for her role in Roma, and Melissa McCarthy, who showed a new side in her role as the character, Israel, in Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Yet in the end, it is most likely going to be a tight three horse race to the finish. The marvelous Glenn Close is the favorite of the bunch, with an outstanding performance in the film, The Wife. Yet Olivia Colman is not too far behind Close after her magnificent performance in the Best Picture nominee, The Favourite. Newcomer Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born) could also pull off a stunning upset that would establish herself as a big-time name in the film industry.

This is one of the tighter races of the night and could go in several different directions. Yet in the end, Close will be able to overcome several challengers and once again add to her great acting career with an Oscar win for her performance in The Wife.

Prediction: Glenn Close

Dark-Horse: Lady Gaga

Predictions- The Best of the Rest

Best Supporting Actor

Best Supporting Actress

Best Animated Feature Film

Best Adapted Screenplay

Best Original Screenplay

Best Costume Design

Best Visual Effects

Best Sound Editing

Best Original Score

Best Original Song

The 91st edition of the Academy Awards ought to be as exciting as any in recent memory with a surplus of interesting races and with so many stars on hand searching to grab ahold of one of the infamous gold statuettes.

On Sunday night, we will get to witness the next batch of actors, actresses and filmmakers who enter the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences’ group of phenomenal figures who have helped advance the motion picture industry due to their excellence in the field. Some will be recognized for another time in their careers, while others will be recognized for their first, and mostly only, time. So who will win and capture Oscar gold? We’ll have to wait and see on Sunday night, as the 91st Academy Awards are broadcast live on ABC from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California.