Academy Awards 2019 nominees predictions: Visual categories (Editing, Cinematography, Production Design, Costume Design, Makeup & Hair and Visual Effects) (1st ROUND)

• BEST EDITING

Oscar voters darlings get nominated in this category very often. Of course there are times when editing craft suprasses overall movie love, but this category has a special impact in predicting the Oscar race, because the future Best Picture winner usually gets one of the 5 spots on the Best Editing nominees shortlist - since 2000 only Birdman was able to take Best Picture home without being nominated in this category. First Man is a clear frontrunner here because of the amazing editing work, in spite of not being able to see it winning Best Picture... but Roma and A Star Is Born might have enough "pedigree" for Best Picture. So, you can count on 3 big Oscar players... and maybe a respected movie (Widows, which seems to craft great editing work) and a "blockbuster" movie with some exceptional editing work - and between A Quiet Place, Widows and Mission Impossible: Fallout, I believe A Quiet Place might be elevated by the buzz in other categories (but I have to wait for Widows, I admit). If Widows misses, I would count BlacKkKlansman in, easily!

1. First Man, Jay Cassidy

2. Roma, Alfonso Cuarón and Adam Gough

3. A Star Is Born, Barry Alexander Brown

4. Widows, Joe Walker

5. A Quiet Place, Christopher Tellefsen

6. BlacKkKlansman, Tom Cross
7. Mission Impossible: Fallout, Eddie Hamilton

8. Black Panther, Debbie Berman & Michael Shawver 

9. The Favourite, Sam Sneade

10. Eight Grade, Jennifer Lilly

• BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Well, First Man is the most beautifully shot movie I've seen this year and A Star Is Born will seduce Oscar voters for Best Cinematography thanks to the concerts' electric colorful lights. If Beale Street Could Talk seems to be a very solid contender since critics say Paxton does another amazing job just like he did in Moonlight. Foreign picture often have a nice shot in this field, so there's no way to deny Roma and Cold War have nice chances of being nominated given how beautiful their cinematography works are... But will the AMPAS be willing to nominate 2 black&white foreign movies? Maybe they feel some nostalgia about it - Roma is said to be a masterpiece and Cold War is said to be even superior to Ida! No matter what I won't exclude The Rider's exceptional cinematography work from my equations and A Quiet Place will have a strong award campaign so... they can happen!

1. First Man, Linus Sandgren

2. If Beale Street Could Talk, James Paxton

3. A Star Is Born, Matthew Libatique

4. Roma, Alfonso Cuarón

5. Cold War, Lukasz Zal

6. The Rider, Joshua James Richards
7. A Quiet Place, Charlotte Bruus Christensen

8. At Eternity's Gate, Benoit Delhomme

9. The Favourite, Robbie Ryan

10. Black Panther, Rachel Morrison

• BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

The AMPAS loves period pieces in this categories, whether they are historical movies (with some kind of historic recreations or extravaganza royalty sets) or fantasy pieces, but sci-fi movies with some kind of extraordinary production design works are also conquering the Oscar voters' tastes. That said, Black Panther seems like a solid contender (and it is the kind of category the movie might conquer a nom easily if the award campaign is smart enough). The Favourite is an obvious contender and the same can be said about First Man and all those NASA sets. Mary Poppins Returns has to be seen yet, but judging by the trailer it will be a combination of period piece + fantasy sets and they look great, so... My last predicted nominee is Isle of Dogs: not an obvious contender, but since it is a stop-motion picture, the sets are real and they are full of beautiful details and colors, which might just catch the AMPAS members' eye unexpectedly. Judging by Oscar voters' love for Harry Potter movies and Fantastic Beasts in this category, I've also Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald under serious consideration (these muggles just love Hogwarts!), but The Sisters Brothers, If Beale Street Could Talk and Roma also benefit from their visual explendor which always elevates production design values, so... And Hereditary: love those creepy miniature houses! So full of detail!

1. Black Panther, Hannah Beachler
2. The Favourite, Fiona Crombie
3. First Man, Nathan Crowley
4. Mary Poppins Returns, John Mhyre
5. Isle of Dogs, Paul Harrod & Adam Stockhausen 

6. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Stuart Craig
7. The Sisters Brothers, Michel Barthelemy
8. If Beale Street Could Talk, Mark Friedberg
9. Roma, Eugenio Caballero
10. Hereditary, Grace Yun

• BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Another category in which period pieces benefit from a clear advantage when compared to contemporany or sci-fi/futuristic movies. That said, The Favourite is likely to score a nomination in this one and the same can be said about Mary Poppins Returns (both by Sandy Powell, an AMPAS darling in this department). Black Panther benefits from all those royalty clothes (and those clothes benefit from Angela Bassett, who wears the most showy pieces) and since the movie reached the cultural phenomenon, it's a category the AMPAS won't mind to nominate the movie. After a surprising win in this category for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, there's no way to not predict Colleen Atwood to get (at least) another nod for her work in the movie sequel. And then there are Crazy Rich Asians and Ocean's 8, both great contemporany costume design showcases (Asians for the wedding and Ocean's 8 for the MET Gala) and I really think the AMPAS will go for one of these - and my money is on Crazy Rich Asians, simply because it was such a huge (and unexpected) box-office hit.

1. The Favourite, Sandy Powell
2. Mary Poppins Returns, Sandy Powell
3. Black Panther, Ruth E. Carter
4. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Colleen Atwood
5. Crazy Rich Asians, Mary E. Vogt

6. Ocean's 8, Sarah Edwards
7. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, Jenny Beavan
8. If Beale Street Could Talk, Caroline Eselin
9. Mary Queen of Scots, Alexandra Byrne
10. Bohemian Rhapsody, Julian Day

• BEST MAKEUP & HAIR

Well, maybe the toughest category to predict this early in the Oscar race, since there are AMPAS semi-finalists then a kind of a TOP 10 finalists and then you pick 3! I'm going for the more obvious: Vice, because of the Christian Bale's transformation; and Destroyer because the makeup team was able to turn the bright Nicole Kidman in some kind of a living corpse / drug addict (which I thought it would be impossible)!; and Avengers: Infinity War because it has the Guardians of the Galaxy and a big ton of visually strong characters and it is a big box-office sensation (and the AMPAS recognize the makeup works of the two Guardians of the Galaxy movies), but I know Oscar voters don't have a big crush on The Avengers movies outside Best Visual Effects. Mary Queen of Scots and The Nutcracker seem to have also strong makeup & hair works (judging by the trailers) and Black Panther has Killmonger's body, tribal makeup and hairs and some royalty, but not as showy as the other MCU contender.

1. Vice
2. Destroyer
3. Avengers: Infinity War

4. Mary Queen of Scots
5. Black Panther
6. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

• BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Just like Best Makeup & Hair, Best Visual Effects contenders will have to pass a dozen of steps in order to become a semi-finalist and then the finalists that will be under consideration for one of the 5 spots in the nominees shortlist. It's a category that offer a big couple of surprise nominees and shocking snubs, so, no one is safe here. Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War seem safe given the international critical and box-office success and the extravaganza visual effects (CGI level: EPIC), First Man benefits from the Best Picture buzz and visual splendor in general, which also gives me confidence... Then Mission Impossible: Fallout can score a nomination here if the AMPAS goes for more pratical visual effects and if Oscar voters are really generous with Fantastic Beasts sequel, it might nab a nod in this field. But then, A Quiet Place benefits from "charismatic" monster figures, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has dinossaurs and a volcano destroying an entire island, Solo has history on its side (no Star Wars movie missed a Best Visual Effects nod), Annihilation is great but it's a small movie and, finally, Ready Player One is fun, but it's forgettable.

1. Black Panther
2. Avengers: Infinity War
3. First Man
4. Mission Impossible: Fallout
5. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

6. A Quiet Place
7. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
8. Solo: A Star Wars Story
9. Annihilation
10. Ready Player One