Quick thoughts:
Ensemble is great. Even if I'm not big on
Widows, the ensemble is what makes the film.
Sound is perfect. Glad
Suspiria made it. I only really do a singular "Sound Design" category personally, but it wins it cleanly (in a year with
First Man, A Quiet Place, and
Mission: Impossible all doing next-level work too).
Production Design is strong. Surprised by
Annihilation's inclusion as I felt I was the only one who took notice to that aspect of it, but I suppose I was wrong (I didn't even vote for it too).
Isle of Dogs is the clear winner for me though.
Hell of a year for costumes, and yet my winner (
Beale Street) didn't even make the cut.
Makeup is nothing to write home about. Those are pretty much the best ones this year (IMO). Wasn't a particularly strong year.
Choreography is good, not even heard of
Shadow before so will have to check that out before voting. But surprised
Night Comes for Us didn't make the cut - would have put money that more users here were fans of that
Raid-style fight choreography (it's personally my #2, and my #1
Suspiria made it so happy about that).
VFX was also a bit of a weak category this year, and agreed that
Solo was robbed, but other than that can't complain. Even if I think it's still a bit messy,
RPO is my winner for the year, so glad it made the cut.
Editing is great. Loved the inclusion of
YWNRH, though
First Man should easily take this. GREAT call on
MI:6 making the cut (heh heh) too. Best editing of the franchise IMO.
Soundtrack... probably the weakest category here IMO.
El Royale &
Suspiria are okay, but
ASIB especially when five others (my top 5 rather) could have snuck in had more people seen (some of) them perhaps (
Hearts Beat Loud, Anna and the Apocalypse, Sorry to Bother You, Mid90s, &
BlacKkKlansman).
Yikes to Song too. As you can tell, reaaaally not a fan of
ASIB, though I will say at least "I'll Never Love Again" is the one song I actually enjoyed from that film so I'm glad of all the songs that one made the cut, but unfortunately the other two are there as well. Again, wish more had seen
Hearts Beat Loud as I feel at least one of those songs would have made the cut, and SHOCKED "All the Stars" missed. Of course, the song from
Mandy as well which is my winner, though I guess a lot of people don't realize that was an original song. Yeah, great year for song, but sadly
ASIB continues to dominate.
As a contrast, that Score line-up is sexy as hell. Shame that this is
Beale Street's first nomination too, but hopefully it'll be a win as that score is next-level.
Debut is only surprising because
StBY is there, so love it. Only wish
Blindspotting had gotten in over one of the ones that wasn't
Hereditary.
Doc isn't surprising, solid picks. Pulling for
Minding the Gap.
Foreign is great because
THE GUILTY IS THERE!!!11!!1 Love it. Plus
Shoplifters and
Burning which are top 20 films on the year for me.
Cinematography is beautiful, both as a line-up and as films. So glad
Scruggs and
Beale made the list as I was worried they might miss.
Original Screenplay is AMAZING. Soooo glad
Blindspotting and
Hereditary made the cut. I had a near mini-panic attack when I was
Bohemian there though holy hell. Adapted is solid too, love
Burning making the cut even if the script isn't what I love about it.
Spider-Man has been uniformly robbed all throughout here, but Screenplay is where it deserved a slot. Easily my winner for the year (both screenplay categories combined). Such a shame.
Performer of the Year is strong, but it's all about Brian Tyree Henry for me. Please let him win.
Supporting Actor is FANTASTIC. Seriously, I think almost all of these nominees are in my personal top ten (Hoult and Grant aren't, but both make my expanded Top 25 for the category). It's a shame that Michael B. Jordan, Josh Hamilton, Linus Roache, Bill Heck, Jesse Plemons, and Rafael Casal couldn't make the cut, but the line-up is still incredibly good. Steven Yeun FTW!
Supporting Actress is a winner for me if ONLY because Sakura Ando made it. She better win, that's for sure. SOOOO good. But so many choices that missed out IMO. For all the
Burning love, shocked that Jun Jong-seo missed. Also I guess all the
Favourite girls were considered lead as Weisz didn't make the cut. Would have added Andrea Riseborough (
Mandy), Molly Parker, the
Support the Girls girls, and Ann Dowd to the mix. Also prefer Debicki in
The Tale, but she's the MVP of
Widows IMO so ain't mad about that.
Actor isn't too bad, though I wish Cooper could be substituted for just about anyone. Joe Cole, Daveed Diggs, Jim Cummings, John Cho, or even Tom Hardy (
Venom is garbage, but he OWNS that movie). Glad Gosling made it though.
Actress is back to strong. Pretty predictable for the most part, but Regina Hall making the cut is a bit of a surprise and a deserving one at that. Wonder which of the
Favourite ladies will be winning this though. Maybe they can cancel out and Collette win it
Director - Spike Lee was robbed (as was the film in most categories generally), but this is where it deserved a slot the most. Other than that, pretty solid line-up. Picture is about the same, though very glad
Hereditary made the cut in both.
Overall, not too shabby, but it's clear a majority of voters here didn't really bother seeking out too much beyond what dominated the awards season last year (my fear with doing this most years), but can't be too upset when a lot of foreign performances and films got nominated in the big eight which is pretty rare. Some big snubs personally for me, but could have been a lot worse (and hey no Gaga at least!). So I'll take it.