OSCARS PREVIEW: THE BEST MOVIE IS…

The 2019 Oscars are almost upon us, and this year’s nominations have just been released.

So who will win America’s largest popularity contest at the 91st Academy Awards event?

That answer may not be as straightforward as one may think, as the way Best Picture (arguably the most important category to win) is chosen is actually incredibly vague and very much based upon which studio is willing to spend the most money campaigning for its nomination, rather than the real artistic merits of that film. But that is neither here nor there.

So, who are the nominees anyway?

Currently the eight films listed for best picture are “Black Panther,” “A Star Is Born,” “Roma,” “BlacKkKlansman,” “The Favourite,” “Vice,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and “Green Book.”

If you know anything about the nominees listed, the first thing you’ll likely notice is the surprising prevalence of films centered around African American stories and casts.

Hollywood, clearly trying its hardest to distance itself from the #OscarsSoWhite controversy of years past, has put a massive emphasis on Afrocentric films in this year’s nominations.

Unfortunately, this has made the 2019 Best Picture contenders feel somewhat manufactured and pandering, even more so than usual.

That’s not to say, however, that the films chosen are not deserving of their nomination, as almost every film on the list has its own merits that would uniquely qualify it to be elected as this year’s best movie.

Black Panther, for example, is widely considered to be the most culturally relevant film to hit theaters in the last decade, and would be the first comic book, superhero movie to ever win Best Picture, if it’s selected.

As a general rule, the Oscars desperately avoid awarding the nomination to sci-fi/fantasy and/or horror films for this category. In fact, only three sci-fi and horror films have ever won Best Picture: “Lord of The Rings: Return of The King;” “Silence of The Lambs;” and “The Shape of Water.”

Another big first for this year’s Oscars is Roma, a Netflix-produced drama by director Alfonso Cuarón, which saw a simultaneous streaming and limited theatrical release, potentially making it the first streaming exclusive to receive an award for best picture if all goes to plan for Netflix.

As for the other films on the list, they’re all the typical Oscar fodder for the most part, sporting amazing performances and/or excellent storytelling. They are, overall, exemplars of true cinematic achievement. Except for Bohemian Rhapsody and Green Book, however, which were generally critically panned and really stand out as more audience pandering picks than genuine best-picture nominations.

A.O. Scott of the New York Times writes of the latter, “There is virtually no milestone in Green Book that you won’t see coming from a long way off, including scenes that seem too corny or misguided for any movie in its right mind to contemplate.”

While Rami Malek’s performance as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody is certainly worthy of praise, the film as a whole is rather generic in its execution and has an unfortunately mediocre script.

Who, then, will actually end up winning Best Picture for the 2019 Oscars?

It’s honestly hard to say, and obviously if you’re truly invested, you’ll just have to wait and tune in to find out for yourself, but seeing as this particular award is typically just a race to find the least-disliked movie, my bets would be on Black Panther.

Not only was it one of Marvel’s biggest box office hits, but it also resonated with the general public in a way that has not been seen for quite some time, and that in and of itself is worthy of recognition.

But is that enough to sway the vote in its favor?

If you’re interested to find out who gets the nomination, then tune into ABC-TV at 5 p.m. Pacific Time on Sunday, Feb. 24 to view the Oscars for yourself.