This article was originally published on February 7, 2020 in BU Today. By John O'Rourke
Sunday night is Hollywood’s biggest night of the year—the 92nd Academy Awards ceremony. About 30 million people are expected to tune in to see who takes home the coveted Oscars. Once again, this year’s telecast will have no host. Among the big questions leading up to the ceremony: will Sam Mendes’ World War I epic 1917 win best picture, as widely anticipated, or could Bong Joon Ho’s horror mash-up Parasite be the first foreign film to capture the top prize? Will Brad Pitt beat out four veteran Hollywood heavyweights, and former Oscar winners (Tom Hanks, Anthony Hopkins, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci), for best supporting actor for his critically lauded performance as a middle-aged stuntman in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood? And will Renée Zellweger take home her second Oscar for her performance as Hollywood legend Judy Garland?
We reached out to three BU experts and asked them to weigh in with their predictions: Harvey Young, dean of the College of Fine Arts, Leland Monk, a College of Arts & Sciences associate professor of English and director of the Cinema and Media Studies Program, and Lindsey Decker, a College of Communication master lecturer in film and television studies. Their responses have been edited for length and clarity.
BU Today: Let’s begin by asking each of you what your favorite film of the year is, and why?
Harvey Young: My favorite film of the year was Parasite. I thought it was just brilliant. It was one of those films that just caught you by surprise every 15 minutes or so. It was truly captivating.
Leland Monk: Parasite. It kept going to surprising places you didn’t expect.
Lindsey Decker: I love horror, so my favorite film was Jordan Peele’s Us. But my favorite non–horror film was Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite. Both are very much about class, are beautifully shot, and have stellar performances.
What surprised you most about this year’s nominations? (Find a complete list here.)
Young: The biggest surprise was the lack of diversity among the acting categories. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Golden Globes Awards did a better job of capturing and reflecting racial diversity. The Oscars totally missed it, at least in the acting categories. I assumed that Greta Gerwig, the director of Little Women, would have been nominated, and that seems to me to be a massive oversight.
Monk: There were lots of good movies, but no real standout champion.
Decker: After so many years of the Oscars failing to recognize work by women directors and directors of color, I can’t say I was surprised by this year’s nominations—more disappointed….I think that there is is a significant part of the Academy membership that still largely sees men directors as having the potential to be great artists and women as telling small stories—women’s stories—which can be well done, but not ‘great art.’ It’s ridiculous though, because they nominated Gerwig’s film for so many other awards. The film didn’t direct itself.
Were there other snubs?
Young: Alfre Woodard (CFA’74, Hon.’04) should have been nominated for Best Actress for playing the role of the warden in Clemency. The standout performance in Parasite, among a very strong cast, was Park So-dam. She was just brilliant. I think she should have been recognized as well.
Monk: I thought Greta Gerwig deserved a nomination as best director and maybe Marielle Keller, the director of A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.
Decker: It’s almost criminal that Lulu Wang’s The Farewell, didn’t garner a single nomination. It’s a beautiful and moving film, and it tells the kind of story, with the sort of cinematic beauty, that awards shows normally drool over.