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| ‘Black Panther’ cast. The movie bagged six Oscar nominations. PHOTO | COURTESY |
The Oscar 2019 nominations list just came out, and there’s a lot to celebrate.
Unlike in the previous lists, you’re bound to recognise many of the movies looking for wins at the Oscars because they are movies that have been doing well at the Box Office.
Late last year, The Academy had announced their interest in introducing a new category at this year’s awards – Outstanding achievement in popular film.
Many had viewed this as a category that was meant to leave movies such as Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War out of the main (serious) categories, although the thought of the former only getting a token award would seem to be an affront to the cultural significance as well the diversity the movie represents.
Fortunately, that idea hasn’t seen the light of day, at least not yet.
With that said, Black Panther received six nominations in the categories of best costume design, music (original score), music (original song), production design, sound editing and sound mixing. It also became the first ever super hero movie to be nominated for Best Picture. It was one of, if not the biggest movie of 2018 and with a predominantly black cast.
Avengers: Infinity War got a nod for Best Visual Effects alongside Ready Player One, another movie that was also a cinema favourite locally.
Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born received seven nominations including Actor In A Leading Role for Bradley Cooper, Actress In A Leading Role for Lady Gaga, Actor In A Supporting Role for Sam Elliot, and Cinematography for Matthew Libatique.
BlackkKlansman, the movie starring Denzel Washington’s (and Pauletta Washington’s, lest we get checked by him) son, John David Washington, got six Oscar nods. Mind boggling, is the fact that John didn’t get on the nominees list of Actor In A Leading Role. His performance as the first Black police officer in Colorado Springs Police Department (who then went on to infiltrate the Klu Klux Klan) had gotten a lot of acclaim as well as nominations in Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild awards. It is very surprising that he is not in the list, although Adam Driver, his co-star in the movie, got a nomination for Actor In A Supporting Role. Spike Lee is also in the running for Best Director.
Other movies that you might recognise that also received nods include Bohemian Rhapsody, Green Book, Spider-Man: Into Spider Verse, The Incredibles 2, Vice, Ralph Breaks The Internet, Isle of Dogs, Mary Poppins Returns, and A Quiet Place.
The Oscars award ceremony will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, on February 24, 2019.
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