Ahead of tonight’s 91st Academy Awards, Associated Press film writers Lindsey Bahr and Jake Coyle share their predictions for a ceremony that has few sure things.
Best Picture
The Nominees: “Black Panther,” “BlacKkKlansman,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “The Favourite,” “Green Book,” “Roma,” “A Star Is Born,” “Vice”
BAHR:
Will Win: “Roma”
Should Win: “A Star Is Born”
Not to go all Sean Penn here, but “A Star Is Born” really should win best picture, even though it probably won’t. “Roma” is wonderful, but I fear it’s one of those films that won’t be re-watched or even talked about much 5 or 10 years from now, whereas “A Star Is Born” is not only great, but feels like a classic already. And that’s something special.
COYLE:
Will Win: “Roma”
Should Win: “Black Panther”
The guild wins, which usually point the way, have been all over the map making this a hard one to call. The momentum is with “Roma” thanks, in part, to an all-out blitz of a campaign from Netflix (which has eyes for an Oscar the way Jackson Maine wants another look at Ally) and because of, well, it’s a fairly astonishing movie. But “Black Panther” and the response it provoked epitomized the cultural height of movies, something some doubted was still possible. Wakanda for Feb. 24.