With the fears and cautions of COVID-19 keeping many of us at home and our favorite fun spots closed, we're probably looking for activities to keep us occupied. There are a number of things we can choose to do in this time: plan crafts, balance the checkbook, read those Bible books to get that 100% completion, be like Shakespeare and write the next King Lear, or crawl up and play Animal Crossing: New Horizons until everything's okay again. This being a film blog, I can't help but recommend to you some of last year's greats.
Every year, I post the Adam's Final Cut Awards, usually during awards season. However, awards season ended a lot earlier than usual and I wanted to catch up on some of the ones I missed (Reader, he didn't.), so I held off until now. All of these films are worth your time in one way or another, so I want to give them their time in the sun before naming the winners tomorrow. Hopefully, too, you'll see more in-depth essays on some of these films down the line.
BEST PICTURE
1917
A Hidden Life
Doctor Sleep
The Farewell
The Irishman
Just Mercy
Little Women
Marriage Story
Midsommar
Parasite
BEST DIRECTOR
Noah Baumbach, Marriage Story
Greta Gerwig, Little Women
Bong Joon-Ho, Parasite
Sam Mendes, 1917
Martin Scorsese, The Irishman
Lulu Wang, The Farewell
BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Awkwafina, The Farewell
Sofia Boutella, Climax
Jessie Buckley, Wild Rose
Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story
Lupita Nyong'o, Us
Florence Pugh, Midsommar
BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Robert De Niro, The Irishman
Robert Downey, Jr., Avengers: Endgame
Adam Driver, Marriage Story
Taron Egerton, Rocketman
Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Park Chan-Wook, Parasite
BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Scarlett Johannson, Jojo Rabbit
Billie Lourd, Booksmart
Zhao Shuzhen, The Farewell
Julie Walters, Wild Rose
Cho Yeo-jeong, Parasite
BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Timothee Chalamet, Little Women
Jamie Foxx, Just Mercy
Jake Gyllenhaal, John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch
Al Pacino, The Irishman
Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
Sam Rockwell, Jojo Rabbit
BEST YOUNG ACTOR
Ashley Boettcher, Weathering with You [English Dub]
Julia Butters, Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
Kyleigh Curran, Doctor Sleep
Lucy Gallina, The Irishman
Jack Dylan Grazer, Shazam!
Diana Silvers, Ma
BEST PERFORMANCE OF AN ANIMATED CHARACTER, TRADITIONAL
Kristen Bell, Frozen II
Ashley Boettcher, Weathering with You [English Dub]
Tom Hanks, Toy Story 4
Lee Pace, Weathering with You [English Dub]
BEST PERFORMANCE OF AN ANIMATED CHARACTER, PERFORMANCE/MOTION CAPTURE
Josh Brolin, Avengers: Endgame
Sean Gunn/Bradley Cooper, Avengers: Endgame
Ryan Reynolds, Pokemon Detective Pikachu
Rosa Salazar, Alita: Battle Angel
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Doctor Sleep, Mike Flanagan
Fighting with My Family, Stephen Merchant
The Farewell, Lulu Wang
The Irishman, Steven Zaillian
Just Mercy, Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Lanham
Little Women, Greta Gerwig
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
1917, Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns
Marriage Story, Noah Baumbach
Midsommar, Ari Aster
Parasite, Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won
Us, Jordan Peele
Wild Rose, Nicole Taylor
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
1917, Thomas Newman
Avengers: Endgame, Alan Silvestri
Joker, Hildur Guonadottir
Little Women, Alexandre Desplay
Marriage Story, Randy Newman
Parasite, Jung Jae-il
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"The Dead Don't Die" The Dead Don't Die
"Glasgow (No Place Like Home)" Wild Rose
"Into the Unknown" Frozen II
"Is There Still Anything Love Can Do?" Weathering with You
"Show Yourself" Frozen II
BEST HORROR MOVIE
Climax
The Dead Don't Die
Doctor Sleep
Midsommar
Us
BEST SUPERHERO MOVIE
Avengers: Endgame
Captain Marvel
Glass
Joker
Shazam!
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Frozen II
Klaus
Toy Story 4
Weathering with You
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
1917
Alita: Battle Angel
The Architect
Pokemon Detective Pikachu
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
1917, Roger Deakins
A Hidden Life, Jorg Widmer
Climax, Benoit Debie
Marriage Story, Robbie Ryan
Midsommar, Pawel Pogorzelski
Parasite, Hong Kyung-pyo
BEST EDITING
1917, Lee Smith
Climax, Denis Bedlow & Gaspar Noe
Little Women, Nick Houy
Marriage Story, Jennifer Lame
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, Fred Baskin
Parasite, Yang Jin-mo
MOST UNEXPECTED DELIGHT
Alita: Battle Angel
The Dead Don't Die
Fighting with My Family
Parasite
Wild Rose
THE SUSPIRIA AWARD FOR SINGULAR CINEMA
Cats
Climax
John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch
Midsommar
Pokemon Detective Pikachu
Also tomorrow, I'll award two special awards: STUDIO OF THE YEAR and SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN INDEPENDENT FILMMAKING, which go to the studio that had a positive, definitive year in 2019 - not just financially but for the good of the art as well - and to the independent film that was not only inspiring to see for prospective filmmakers but that also excelled in art and craft.
I look forward to sharing these winners with you! In the meantime, add these films to your watchlist, let me know who you'd award, and stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, vetting information you read and paying attention to updates and information from the Center for Disease Control and World Health Organization.