An Oscar Star is Born
Grace Wagner
…or is it?
The 91st Academy Awards air this Sunday, February 24th, on ABC. Even though the awards are currently host-less, I am hopeful that A Star Is Born will be a big winner. The film has had huge success with nominations this awards season including noms for the Golden Globe Awards and SAG Awards, but has not come out a big winner so far. A Star is Born is nominated for 8 Oscars, including best picture, best actor, and best actress.
If A Star Is Born has been nominated for so many awards this season, why are film experts predicting a losing outcome for the film at the Oscars? The biggest reason is that the 2018 version of A Star Is Born is a remake of the original film made in 1937. Sometimes, Academy voters look down on remakes. Only The Departed, Martin Scorsese’s 2006 redo of 2002’s Infernal Affairs, has ever won best picture. Losing at the Academy Awards is familiar for past versions of A Star Is Born as well. The 1937 film had 7 nominations including best picture, but only won 1 award for screenwriting. The 1954 remake had 6 noms and no wins. Finally, the 1976 remake had 4 nominations and won 1 for best song.
The film may not win all the awards it is nominated for, but I’m confident Lady Gaga will win in the Best Original Song category for her hit song, Shallow, from A Star is Born. The song already won big at the Golden Globes and Grammys. Gaga is the second person to receive acting and song nominations at the Oscars for the same film. The first person being Mary J. Blige, with dual nominations for Mudbound last year.
If it were up to me, Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, and A Star Is Born would sweep the Oscars. But unfortunately, it’s not up to me. So tune in Sunday to see what happens!
