Academy Awards 2019
It’s time for this year’s Oscars, but who’ll be taking home the big gongs this time around? Michael Doherty sets the scene for Hollywood’s biggest party
This year’s Oscar ceremony is all about talking points. Where’s the host? Can this year’s telecast reverse the recently declining viewing gures? Will the producers achieve their goal of a show with a running time of less than three hours? Is it right not to show four awards being presented? And whose big idea was it to showcase only two of the Oscar nominated songs on the night (a decision quickly reversed)? Of course, the nominations themselves o er plenty of debating points, from the Net ix origins of Roma, to the whi of white saviour surrounding Green Book, to the fallout from recent allegations against original director Bryan Singer that hangs over Bohemian Rhapsody.
When it comes to this year’s race for Oscar, e Favourite and Roma lead the way with ten nominations each, followed by eight apiece for A Star is Born and Vice; and seven for Ryan Cogler’s Black Panther. From an Irish point of view, ngers will be crossed for e Favourite, produced by Ed Guiney at Element Pictures in Dublin, for which cinematographer Robbie Ryan is among those ten nominees. ere’s also Irish interest in the Animated Short category, where Cartoon Saloon’s Louise Bagnall is pitted against mighty Pixar’s o ering Bao, for her moving and charming tale, Late A ernoon. Meanwhile, Vincent Lambe’s muchtalked-about drama, Detainment, has been selected in the Best Live Action Short category, for which Marianne Farley’s festival-wooing drama, Marguerite, is the bookies’ favourite.