Tim joined Paul Douglas and Jordana Green Monday to review the 92nd Annual Academy Awards telecast on WCCO-AM. Click to listen to the segment below:
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for “The KQ92 Morning Show” on KQRS-FM, “Paul and Jordana” on WCCO Radio, “It Matters with Kelly Cordes on WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere, and reviews streaming programming on WCCO Radio’s “Paul and Jordana” as well. On TV, Tim has made hundreds of guest appearances on “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC).
The nominations for the 92nd annual Academy Awards were revealed Monday, and Tim Lammers broke down the noms for Tom Barnard and “The KQ92 Morning Show” on KQRS-FM, and Paul Douglas and Jordana Green on the “Paul and Jordana” show on WCCO-AM. Listen to the audio for each segment below:
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for “The KQ92 Morning Show” on KQRS-FM, “Paul and Jordana” on WCCO Radio, “It Matters with Kelly Cordes on WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere, and reviews streaming programming on WCCO Radio’s “Paul and Jordana” as well. On TV, Tim has made hundreds of guest appearances on “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC).
After controversies including failed attempts at a Best Popular Film pitch and finding a host, to relegating four categories commercials in a desperate strive by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to bring in the Oscars telecast under three hours, the already-embattled 91st annual Academy Awards celebration is almost here.
Like previous years, all the build up to the big night Sunday should yield few surprises, as critic and industry awards have once again established trends and given prognosticators fairly clear pictures of who and what films will be awarded with Oscars. And like previous years, the picks of the eventual winners by Academy members is sure to stir debate among movie fans and industry personnel, who will either gloat over who wins the top prizes or leave them declaring, “They were robbed!”
VIDEO: Watch Tim’s Oscar picks with Diana Pierce above on her web series “What’s Next? With Diana Pierce.”
AUDIO: Listen to Tim’s Oscar picks and a review of “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” with Paul Douglas and Jordana Green on WCCO-AM.
Here are my picks in the top categories for the 91st annual Academy Awards based on those trends, followed by who I think should win each prize.
Best Supporting Actor
Will win: Mahershala Ali, “Green Book”
Should win: Sam Elliott, “A Star is Born”
The clincher: Ali’s wins at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Critics Choice Awards and the Golden Globes gives the actor as much momentum as he needs to win the top prize.
Best Supporting Actress
Will win: Regina King, “If Beale Street Could Talk”
Should win: Amy Adams, “Vice”
The clincher: King’s wins at the Critics’ Choice Awards and the Golden Globes give her the leg up over her competitors, but Emily Blunt won the SAG Award in the category for “A Quiet Place” and wasn’t nominated. Because of that, Adams has a chance to sneak in a win with her sixth overall Oscar nomination.
Best Actor
Will win: Rami Malek, “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Shouldwin: Malek
The clincher: Malek won Best Actor at the SAG Awards and Golden Globes (drama), but Christian Bale (“Vice”) took the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Actor in both the actor and comedy actor categories. Since he won an Oscar already for “The Fighter,” it’s unlikely the Academy will award him again so soon, unlike Ali.
Best Actress
Will win: Glenn Close, “The Wife”
Should win: Close
The clincher: Awards from SAG, the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice (a tie with Lady Gaga), nothing will stop Close from winning, A) Because she’s a force of nature in the film, and B) This is her seventh nomination with no previous wins. It would be cruel to deny her the statuette this time. Don’t cry for Gaga, though; she’s a shoo-in as one of the writers of “Shallow” from “A Star is Born,” which is a shoo-in for Best Original Song.
AUDIO: Listen to Tim’s Oscar picks and a review of “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” with Tom Barnard on “The KQ Morning Show.”
Best Director
Will win: Alfonso Cuaron, “Roma”
Should win: Spike Lee, “BlacKkKlansman”
The clincher: Cuaron won the Directors Guild of America Award, perhaps the most accurate indicator of who will go on to win the Best Director Oscar. Since Lee has already been awarded with an honorary Oscar for his body of work, though, voters won’t feel sentimental here, even though “BlacKkKlansman” is a brilliant film.
Best Picture
Will win: “Roma”
Should win: “Green Book” or “A Star is Born” or “Bohemian Rhapsody” or “BlackKklansman” or “Black Panther” or “Vice”
The clincher: None, other than the fact that Cuaron is a cinch for taking home Oscars for Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Editing and (possibly) Best Original Screenplay (and the Best Picture Oscar signals the sum total of its winning parts). For some mystifying reason, Hollywood is obsessed with this cinematic equivalent of watching paint dry, making “Roma” one of the most overrated films of the year along with “The Favourite” (both of which, by the way, are nominated for a leading 10 nominations).
“Green Book,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “BlacKkKlansman,” “Black Panther,” “Vice” and early favorite “A Star is Born” are far more deserving, because, well, they’re all engaging and compelling (isn’t that what movies are supposed to be about?). “Roma,” on the flip side, feels too self-important. Another thing working against “Roma” is that despite efforts to showcase in theaters is a Netflix production that’s been streaming for weeks, and there could be a voting backlash from film purists.
If any film stands a chance of upsetting “Roma” it would be “Green Book,” based on the film’s win at the Producers Guild Awards. Don’t count out on it, though, thanks to disputes about “Green Book’s” historical accuracy (something people gave a pass to with “The Favourite”) and director Peter Farrelly’s bizarre penchant for allegedly flashing his colleagues on his previous films.
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.
The 90th annual Academy Awards ceremony is Sunday, and you can bet some people will be solely tuning in to see if there will be a screw-up as monumental as last year’s Best Picture envelope fiasco. That’s unlikely, but with any luck, host Jimmy Kimmel will have fun with the faux pas all night long. The show simply needs something out of the ordinary, because with the predictability of this year’s nominations, the show, barring a couple of potential upsets, is shaping up to be another 3 1/2-hour Academy borefest.
Despite the formulas pundits put into play to make their picks, predicting the winners of the Oscars doesn’t take much homework. Basically, ignore the awards handed out by the critics and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (the members of which hand out the Global Globes), because journalists don’t vote on the Oscars. Instead, the trends lie with industry awards – the Producers Guild of America, the Director’s Guild of America, the Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television Awards – because some, but not all, are voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.
With that, making this year’s picks quickly fell into place. Here are my predictions and some potential upsets.
Best Supporting Actor nominees: Willem Dafoe, “The Florida Project”; Woody Harrelson, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”; Richard Jenkins, “The Shape of Water”; Christopher Plummer, “All the Money in the World”; Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Will win: Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Possible upset: Willem Dafoe, “The Florida Project”
Best Supporting Actress nominees: Mary J. Blige, “Mudbound”; Allison Janney, “I, Tonya”; Lesley Manville, “Phantom Thread”; Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird”; Octavia Spencer, “The Shape of Water”
Will win: Allison Janney
Possible upset: Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird”
Best Actor nominees: Timothée Chalamet, “Call Me by Your Name”; Daniel Day-Lewis, “Phantom Thread”; Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out”; Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour”; Denzel Washington, “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”
Will win: Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour”
Possible upset: Not a chance. Oldman is due for what is easily the best performance of the year.
Best Actress nominees: Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water”; Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”; Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya”; Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird”; Meryl Streep, “The Post”
Will win: Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Possible upset: Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water”
Best Picture nominees:
“Call Me by Your Name”; “Darkest Hour”; “Dunkirk”; “Get Out”; “Lady Bird”; “Phantom Thread”; “The Post”; “The Shape of Water”; “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Will win: “The Shape of Water”
Possible upset: “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” The recent claims that writer-director Guillermo del Toro lifting the story from the 1969 play “Let Me Hear You Whisper” (just in time for voting!) may come back to bite “The Shape of Water.” A harbinger of that will be if Christopher Nolan upsets del Toro for Best Director. Nolan winning wouldn’t be a huge shame. Nolan is way, way overdue and deserves the honor for the expert direction on “Dunkirk.”
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.
