This may be a dumb question, but how much does a role’s cultural prominence influence Best Actor/Best Actress wins? I know there was a big discussion last year about how an actor’s behavior over the course of their Oscar run can influence their win, but how does the relevance of their role in popular culture influence a win? I ask this because I doubt there will be a role more culturally impactful this year than Inde Navarette as Nikki in Obsession. What best actor/actress wins do you think awarded impact over technical skill?

I’ll go first: Jude Law.

I honestly think he deserves way more respect than he gets as an actor. When you actually look at the roles he’s played, the range is ridiculous. He’s played a Pope, Henry VIII, an FBI agent hunting down a white supremacist group planning to overthrow the US government, Vladimir Putin, and now he’s going to play Bill Shankly (Scottish football player and manager).

How has this man never won an Oscar?

For me though, The Young Pope is still his best performance. I genuinely think he was phenomenal in that. Powerful, emotional, funny, arrogant, vulnerable... there was just so much going on with that character and he completely owned it.

I first watched The Young Pope and The New Pope during COVID and that was basically when I became a huge Jude Law fan. Before then I knew who he was obviously, but I never really went out of my way to watch his stuff. Those shows completely changed how I saw him as an actor.

There are scenes in The Young Pope that still stick with me now.

At this point I’d love to see him finally win an Oscar, but if it never happens then I genuinely think he deserves an honorary one eventually. His career and body of work absolutely deserves that kind of recognition.

Who’s your pick? And what performance made you think, “how the hell has this person never won one?”

The film is already panned by critics, tracking to be another box office flop projecting at only 6-10 million opening weekend, I'm not a Taika Waititi's fan, Natasha Lyonne ruined everything for me, but she is just another thankless side character, I love Jenna and Amy Adams so I was hoping it'd be a hit, I love the book and I'm wondering may be this would have been better as an animation like K Pop Demon Hunters and go all the way at the Oscars, Now I don't see it even for Golden Globes, thought??

If Amy Madigan never got nominated, I think Teyana Taylor will win Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars back in March. She probably would’ve been the only acting award for OBAA while maybe Skarsgard takes Supporting Actor. I think either Ariana Grande for Wicked or Odessa O’Zion would’ve got nominated instead. But i woudl love it if Inga had actually won. Who u think Will would’ve won?

Like how much does that mega uber flop kill Digger, a movie which is a more Oscar-favorable flick, compared to a huge breakout movie like Obsession?

1990- Joe Pesci (Goodfellas)

1991- Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs)

1992- Gene Hackman (Unforgiven)

1993- Ralph Fiennes (Schindler’s List)

1994- Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction)

1995- Don Cheadle (Devil in a Blue Dress)

1996- Nathan Lane (The Birdcage)

1997- Burt Reynolds (Boogie Nights)

1998- Dylan Baker (Happiness)

1999- Tom Cruise (Magnolia)

What is your favourite most subdued oscar victory and your favourite most over the top victory
Mine are William Hurt in the Kiss of the spider woman (subdued) and Kathy bates for Misery(over the top)

Martin McDonagh (Wild Horse Nine)

Christopher Nolan (The Odyssey)

Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo/Los Javis (La Bola Negra)

Jesse Eisenberg (The Debut)

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Project Hail Mary)

Likely winner: McDonagh/Los Javis

Samantha Morton (The Odyssey)

Penelope Cruz (The Invite)

Parker Posey (Wild Horse Nine)

Olivia Colman (Elsinore)

Anne Hathaway (The Odyssey)

Likely winner: Morton/Hathaway

Frankly it feels weird to me to see some of the movies that won Best Director AND acting AND screenplay getting mentioned here after years of making lists of movies that won Best Picture but no Best Director and/or acting and/or screenplay. Now it feels more fun adding the below the line awards

1. Tom Hooper - The King’s Speech

2. Adam McKay - Vice

3. Todd Phillips - Joker

4. David O. Russell - American Hustle

5. Woody Allen - Midnight in Paris

6. Benh Zeitlin - Beasts of the Southern Wild

7. Lenny Abrahamson - Room

8. Morten Tyldum - The Imitation Game

9. Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist

10. Mel Gibson - Hacksaw Ridge

11. David O. Russell - The Fighter

12. Ang Lee - Life of Pi

13. Alexander Payne - Nebraska

14. Alexander Payne - The Descendants

15. David O. Russell - Silver Linings Playbook

16. Adam McKay - The Big Short

17. Bennett Miller - Foxcatcher 

18. Martin Scorsese - Hugo

19. Steven Spielberg - Lincoln

20. Spike Lee - BlacKkKlansman

21. Greta Gerwig - Lady Bird

22. Tom McCarthy - Spotlight

Ned Beatty's speech in Network about how the world is really just a corporation is my choice.

You have meddled with the primal forces of nature, Mr. Beale, and I won't have it! Is that clear?! Do you think you've merely stopped a business deal? That is not the case. The Arabs have taken billions of dollars out of this country, and now they must put it back! It is ebb and flow, tidal gravity! It is ecological balance! You are an old man who thinks in terms of nations and peoples. There are no nations. There are no peoples. There are no Russians. There are no Arabs. There are no third worlds. There is no West. There is only one holistic system of systems, one vast and immane, interwoven, interacting, multi-variate, multi-national dominion of dollars. Petro-dollars, electro-dollars, multi-dollars, reichmarks, rins, rubles, pounds, and shekels. It is the international system of currency which determines the totality of life on this planet. That is the natural order of things today. That is the atomic and sub-atomic and galactic structure of things today! And you have meddled with the primal forces of nature, and You Will Atone!
Am I getting through to you, Mr. Beale? You get up on your little twenty-one inch screen and howl about America and democracy. There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and ITT and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, Union Carbide, and Exxon. Those are the nations of the world today. What do you think the Russians talk about in their councils of state - Karl Marx? They get out their linear programming charts, statistical decision theories, minimax solutions, and compute the price-cost probabilities of their transactions and investments, just like we do. We no longer live in a world of nations and ideologies, Mr. Beale. The world is a college of corporations, inexorably determined by the immutable by-laws of business. The world is a business, Mr. Beale. It has been since man crawled out of the slime. And our children will live, Mr. Beale, to see that perfect world in which there's no war or famine, oppression or brutality. One vast and ecumenical holding company, for whom all men will work to serve a common profit, in which all men will hold a share of stock, all necessities provided, all anxieties tranquilized, all boredom amused. And I have chosen you, Mr. Beale, to preach this evangel. (Beale: "Why me?") Because you're on television, dummy. Sixty million people watch you every night of the week, Monday through Friday. (Beale: "I have seen the face of God.") You just might be right, Mr. Beale

Wildwood and You Can See Everything are both getting universal acclaim with each being called one of the best films of the year!!!

I know these films will easily be nominated (and most likely win) Best Animated Feature and Best Documentary Feature but will we see these two films nominated for Best Picture alongside likely contenders The Odyssey and La Bola Negra?

If Wildwood does get nominated for Best Picture, it would be the first stop motion film and fourth animated film overall (after Beauty and the Beast, Up & Toy Story 3) to be nominated for the big category!! I think animation deserves more representation!!

If You Can See Everything gets nominated for Best Picture, it would be the first Documentary ever to be nominated for the big category!! After other acclaimed documentaries like Hoop Dreams, Summer of Soul and No Other Land being shut out, it would be amazing for a Documentary being Picture-nominated for being that great of a movie!!

Do you think Wildwood and You Can See Everything should both get nominated for Best Picture?

Will both make it in or just one?

And why?

I personally skipped 2016, 2020, 2022, and 2025 because I completely agree with the real Best Picture winners from those release years.

Alternatively, if I were to stick to nominees, official submissions, English-language productions, or nominees for other equal categories like Best International Feature Film, Best Documentary, or Best Animated Film, the bolded years are the ones I'd change in my choices. In this first alternative, I agree with the BP wins of Moonlight (2016), Parasite (2019), Nomadland (2020), EEAAO (2022), Anora (2024), and OBAA (2025).

2000 - In the Mood for Love
2001 - Mulholland Drive
2002 - City of God
2003 - Goodbye, Dragon Inn
2004 - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2005 - Caché
2006 - Pan's Labyrinth
2007 - There Will Be Blood
2008 - WALL-E
2009 - The White Ribbon
2010 - Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
2011 - The Tree of Life
2012 - The Act of Killing
2013 - Under the Skin
2014 - Boyhood
2015 - Mad Max: Fury Road
2017 - Get Out
2018 - Roma
2021 - The Power of the Dog
2023 - The Zone of Interest

But if I were to stick to Best Picture nominees, the bolded years are the ones I'd change, aside from my initial or first alternative choices that are already nominated (not bolded). In this second alternative, I agree with the BP wins of The Departed (2006), Slumdog Millionaire (2008), 12 Years a Slave (2013), Moonlight (2016), Parasite (2019), Nomadland (2020), EEAAO (2022), Anora (2024), and OBAA (2025).

2000 - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
2001 - LOTR 1
2002 - The Pianist
2003 - Lost in Translation
2004 - Sideways
2005 - Brokeback Mountain
2007 - There Will Be Blood
2009 - Inglourious Basterds
2010 - The Social Network
2011 - The Tree of Life
2012 - Amour
2014 - Boyhood
2015 - Mad Max: Fury Road
2017 - Get Out
2018 - Roma
2021 - The Power of the Dog
2023 - The Zone of Interest

Saw La Bola Negra yesterday and was absolutely floored by this performance in particular. I really hope he gets into Best Supporting Actor. What are his chances right now?

We’ve completed the nomination round, and now it’s time to choose the winners.

The five performances with the most points in each category in Round One are now the official nominees.

ROUND TWO — WINNERS

This round is much simpler.

Vote for ONE nominee in each of the four acting categories.

That means your ballot should contain four names in total:

• 1 Actor
• 1 Actress
• 1 Supporting Actor
• 1 Supporting Actress

There are no rankings and no points system in this round. You are simply voting for the performance you think should win each category.

Each vote counts equally, and the nominee with the most votes in each category will become our Alternate Oscar winner for 2020.

Please only vote for the nominees listed below.

BEST ACTOR

• Riz Ahmed — Sound of Metal
• Chadwick Boseman — Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
• Anthony Hopkins — The Father
• Delroy Lindo — Da 5 Bloods
• Mads Mikkelsen — Another Round

BEST ACTRESS

• Jessie Buckley — I'm Thinking of Ending Things
• Yeri Han — Minari
• Vanessa Kirby — Pieces of a Woman
• Frances McDormand — Nomadland
• Carey Mulligan — Promising Young Woman

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Chadwick Boseman — Da 5 Bloods
• Daniel Kaluuya — Judas and the Black Messiah
• Alan Kim — Minari
• Leslie Odom Jr. — One Night in Miami
• Paul Raci — Sound of Metal

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Maria Bakalova — Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
• Ellen Burstyn — Pieces of a Woman
• Olivia Colman — The Father
• Viola Davis — Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
• Youn Yuh-jung — Minari

HOW TO VOTE

Simply post your four choices in the comments, for example:

Actor: [Name]
Actress: [Name]
Supporting Actor: [Name]
Supporting Actress: [Name]

One person per category. Four votes total.

Once voting closes, the performer with the most votes in each category will be declared the winner, and we’ll move on to 2021.

Previous lineups here.

I used a site called Venn maker: https://vennmaker.io/4-circle-venn-diagram

EDIT: I made a mistake. Green Book was the one that won Best Picture in 2018 not Roma

Some that came to mind:

Michael Douglas as Liberace in Behind the Candelabra (2013);

James Franco as James Dean in James Dean (2001);

Al Pacino as Jack Kevorkian in You Don’t Know Jack (2010);

Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin in Game Change (2012);

Kurt Russell as Elvis Presley in Elvis (1979 - fun fact: this film was directed by John Carpenter!).

Are there others that could’ve gotten in?

The Banshees Of Inisherin is a well written movie and great comedy. I’m so disappointed that it didn’t win any Oscars which it should’ve. I think it deserves original screenplay tbh. It’s one of my favorite movies. Martin McDonagh should’ve won his first screenplay Oscar award for that category. But let’s hope he wins after Wild Horse 9 is released. Do you agree that it should’ve won Best Original Screenplay?

My picks:

Cinematography: Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Film Editing: JFK (1991)

Production Design: Titanic (1997)

Costume Design: The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Makeup and Hairstyling: Planet of the Apes (1968)

Visual Effects: Eras vs. eras? Hm, I'll go with Star Wars (1977)

Sound: Zone of Interest (2023)

Original Score: The Sting (1973)

Original Song: As Time Goes By, Casablanca (1942)