6 Great 2019 Films That Should’ve Been Nominated for Oscars
Welcome friends! 2019 was a stacked year for cinema. We’re talking about films like Jojo Rabbit, Parasite, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Marriage Story, Little Women, Avengers: Endgame and so many others. Those films were just some of the popular nominations throughout the most recent Oscars showcase, but there were quite a few films that we think got snubbed in a big way. We’re sharing 6 great films from 2019 that should’ve been nominated for Oscars at the 92nd Academy Awards.
The Farewell (Best Picture, Director, Actress Screenplay)
One of our all time favorites from 2019, The Farewell is a cinematic masterpiece that captures all the love and warmth you feel visiting a loved who lives far away. We’ve heard it described as “a home cooked meal at your grandmothers house in cinematic form” and we’d have to agree. Based on an outrageous, but true premise, Director Lulu Wang brings her own family story to life in her charming film.
The Farewell is about Billi and her chinese family that learns their grandmother has terminal cancer and only has a short while left to live. Instead of telling her, they decide to lie about her illness and plan a fake wedding in order to visit her one last time in China before she dies. In our opinion, Wang deserves a nomination for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. The direction is top notch and the writing is charming and captivating allowing for a film that is incredibly moving, powerful, and has a unique voice and tone. On top of that, Awkwafina who portrays Billi deserves some significant recognition for her performance as Best Actress. Dare we says it’s also deserving of a nomination for Best Picture.
Would it have won if it was nominated? Probably not, but having recognition and being nominated means it gains interest to a larger market and this is a film that we believe everyone should see in their lifetime.
Listen to our spoiler filled podcast on The Farewell by clicking here.
2. A Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Director, International Film, Original Screenplay, Cinematography)
I think it’s easy to say that international film had some really stand out pieces this year. Films like Parasite (Korea), Pain & Glory (Spain), The Farewell (American/Chinese) which teeters on the edge of International film, and to one of our favorites, A Portrait of a Lady on Fire (France). This film is a truly wonderfully heartbreaking.
The film follows Marianne who is commissioned to paint a wedding portrait of Héloïse, a reluctant bride to be, without her knowing. To do so, she observes her day by day to paint her secretly. Director Céline Sciamma has brought to life a rich, intimate relationship on screen that had us as an audience crossing our fingers and hoping for a happy ending. Sciamma’s vision in shot choices, blocking, and careful direction is prominent and her writing that is so clearly about truly being seen by one another is so beautiful.
The film is littered with depth, and rich symbolism and meaning that it requires multiple viewings. The beauty of this film lays within the long takes and the wonderful performances. We are allowed to breathe with our characters and experience their glances, stares and desires as they’re feeling them. The tension that builds between Marianne and Heloise is tangible and it makes you want to yell at them to just kiss already!
The cinematography feels like you’re watching a series of paintings framed perfectly and exposed by the most flattering and soft light. But great cinematography should move beyond just pretty images and bring us deeper into the characters. We so feel that in the long takes, the quick and often long gazing of our characters. Our hearts connect to them because of how the lighting, composition, colors, and blocking draw us to them but also because we’re allowed to gaze with them.
It’s because of that we think it should be nominated for Best Original Screenplay, Director, International feature, and Cinematography.
Listen to our spoiler filled podcast on Portrait of a Lady on Fire by clicking here.
3. Midsommar (Production Design, Cinematography)
This movie scared the bejesus out of me (again, Josiah). Ari Aster’s follow up to Hereditary is masterful and utterly horrific. I mean this guy knows how to freak us out and I we don’t think he’ll stop doing that anytime soon. This time his story focuses around a couple travels to Sweden to visit a rural hometown's fabled mid-summer festival. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult (IMDb).
Midsommar is loaded with incredible production design. From hidden paintings to overtly present artwork that foreshadow the plot of the film, to a full on village created for this story, the production design really shines. The color palette and design is emphasized and made even more beautiful through the cinematography. The fact this nauseatingly terrifying film is hidden within the most beautifully lit and framed shots, props, locations and colors makes the movie even more terrifying. The perfectly composed imagery and pastel color palette create a false sense of safety in a place that couldn’t be more dangerous. For that reason, we think it absolutely deserves nominations for production design and cinematography.
Listen to our spoiler filled podcast on Midsommar by clicking here.
4. Uncut Gems (Best Actor, Directing, Screenplay)
Next to Midsommar (at least for Josiah), Uncut Gems scores as one of the least enjoyable films of the year and that’s kind of the point. What we’ve experienced as a 2 hour panic attack as we’re forced to follow Howard (Adam Sandler) around as he only makes bad life choices makes this film terribly difficult to watch. However, this is one of the years best films and it’s a travesty that it didn’t get any nominations.
A charismatic New York City jeweler always on the lookout for the next big score makes a series of high-stakes bets that could lead to the windfall of a lifetime. Howard must perform a precarious high-wire act, balancing business, family, and encroaching adversaries on all sides in his relentless pursuit of the ultimate win (IMDb). The Safdie Brothers wrote and directed a film that is full of suspense and wonderful performances. If you can make us root for an awful dude like Howard and have us squirming in our seats for 2 hours then you’ve really created something incredible. Sandler deserves some serious recognition for his performance. Watching him made us feel like a deer in headlights waiting for a tractor trailer to demolish us and there was nothing we could do about it. It was gripping, honest, viscous and heartbreaking all at once.
Did he get snubbed? Yeah, we definitely think so.
Listen to our spoiler filled podcast on Uncut Gems by clicking here.
5. Apollo 11 (Best Doc Feature)
In a nation consumed by political game play, this documentary which blends together the high stakes majesty of an American national dream. This film boldly lets the footage tell the story. Without narration or new interviews as a storytelling crutch, the astounding 70mm footage mixed with additional historic film create a rich understanding of the first manned mission to the moon. This is pure documentary, letting images and recordings from the subject of the doc tell the story without manipulation of nostalgia or opinion. A breathtaking accomplishment. Apollo 11 is a must see and deserved its place at the Oscars as an example of what America, and in fact humanity, can do and and example of clean documentary film making.
6. Us (Best Actress)
Get Out made Jordan Peele a household name. Us takes his thrill-horror vibes to the next level while sticking to political commentary. You might’ve seen previews, but Us is about a family's serene beach vacation turns to chaos when their doppelgängers appear and begin to terrorize them.
Peele’s original script and direction has his fingerprints all over it. His voice is clear and his directing style is becoming more and more clear with each film he releases. What really makes Us shine though is the incredible performance by Lupita Nyong’o. She is tasked with playing two different roles: Adelaide, the mother, wife and seemingly normal version, and Red, the doppelgänger who is leading the charge to terrorize her family. Between her vocal performance, her body language, and unpredictable nature, she completely terrified us. More than that, she had to perform each scene that Adelaide and Red share with each other twice. We’d say that her performance and dedication is cause for at least a best actress nomination.
Well, what do you think? Do you agree with our list? Is there a movie we missed that you think should’ve been nominated? Let us know in the comments.