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February 22, 2019

'And the Oscar goes to ...': Peter Travers predicts who will win at the 2019 Academy Awards

WATCH: Oscars 2019: Film critic Peter Travers offers his top picks on who will win

It’s Hollywood’s biggest night, the 91st Academy Awards is finally upon us. Rolling Stone film critic Peter Travers, who is also host of ABC’s “Popcorn with Peter Travers,” has spent the last year watching all of the movies, big and small. Here, he offers his predictions for who will win and who could be the spoiler.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

MAHERSHALA ALI, Green Book

ADAM DRIVER, BlacKkKlansman

SAM ELLIOTT, A Star is Born

RICHARD E. GRANT, Can You Ever Forgive Me

FAVORITE: MAHERSHALA ALI

“Mahershala Ali’s performance puts him in line to win his second Oscar,” Travers said in a special edition of "Popcorn." “Remember how he won a few years back for “Moonlight”? It’s a great subtle performance."

PHOTO: Mahershala Ali as Dr. Donald Shirley in "Green Book," 2018.
Universal Pictures
Mahershala Ali as Dr. Donald Shirley in "Green Book," 2018.

SPOILER: RICHARD E. GRANT

“If there’s going to be a spoiler, I would say that spoiler is Richard E. Grant in 'Can You Ever Forgive Me.' This is the kind of performance that seemed to come out of nowhere,” Travers said. “His co-star Melissa McCarthy is also nominated. But Richard E. Grant, as her friend who helps her in these forgeries, is both funny and heartbreaking at the same time. He’s never been nominated for an Academy Award. There’s just something about that performance that stays with you.”

PHOTO: Richard E. Grant in "Can You Ever Forgive Me."
Twentieth Century Fox
Richard E. Grant in "Can You Ever Forgive Me."

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

AMY ADAMS, Vice

REGINA KING, If Beale Street Could Talk

MARINA DE TAVIRA, Roma

EMMA STONE, The Favourite

RACHEL WEISZ, The Favourite

FAVORITE: REGINA KING

Travers said, “If anybody deserves to win an Oscar this year, it’s Regina King. In 'If Beale Street Could Talk,' she’s playing a mother basically fighting for her future son-in-law’s life. But it’s what she does in a scene, I think cements her chances to win this. [She] goes to Puerto Rico to find the woman who falsely accused her son-in-law-to-be and confronts her mother to mother. This scene is so heartbreaking that it belongs in an Academy time capsule.”

PHOTO: Regina King stars as Sharon in "If Beale Street Could talk."
Tatum Mangus/Annapurna Pictures
Regina King stars as Sharon in "If Beale Street Could talk."

SPOILER: RACHEL WEISZ

“I think the surprise here [could be] Rachel Weisz in 'The Favourite.' She’s already won an Oscar for 'The Constant Gardener.' But there’s something about that performance in 'The Favourite,' which is nominated for 10 Academy Awards, that stays with you for a long time afterward. It’s strong. It’s funny. It’s also malicious at times and maliciously funny," he said.
PHOTO: Rachel Weisz in the 2018 film, "The Favourite."
Yorgos Lanthimos/Twentieth Century Fox
Rachel Weisz in the 2018 film, "The Favourite."

BEST ACTOR:

CHRISTIAN BALE, Vice

BRADLEY COOPER, A Star is Born

WILLEM DAFOE, At Eternity’s Gate

RAMI MALEK, Bohemian Rhapsody

VIGGO MORTENSEN, Green Book

FAVORITE: RAMI MALEK

Travers said of "Bohemian Rhapsody": “This one that wasn’t supposed to make any money at all because its director was fired during production has now made close to a billion dollars at the worldwide box office. And why? It’s the performance of Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury. It just explodes off the screen. It’s put him as the guy who maybe would get nominated to the guy that’s probably going to win.”

PHOTO: Rami Malek stars as Freddie Mercury in "Bohemian Rhapsody."
Twentieth Century Fox
Rami Malek stars as Freddie Mercury in "Bohemian Rhapsody."

SPOILER: CHRISTIAN BALE

“Here he is playing Dick Cheney,” Travers said. “It’s a clever performance, a funny performance but a deeply felt performance.”

PHOTO: Christian Bale as Dick Cheney in "Vice."
Greig Fraser/Annapurna Pictures
Christian Bale as Dick Cheney in "Vice."

BEST ACTRESS:

YALITZA APARICIO, Roma

GLENN CLOSE, The Wife

OLIVIA COLMAN, The Favourite

LADY GAGA, A Star is Born

MELISSA MCCARTHY, Can You Ever Forgive Me

FAVORITE: GLENN CLOSE

“I have to say that Glenn Close is the favorite. She’s been nominated seven times. She’s never won. And she’s giving her career-best kind of performance in this movie,” Travers said.

PHOTO: A scene from the movie, "The Wife" with Jonathan Pryce as Joe and Glenn Close as Joan.
Sony Pictures Classics
A scene from the movie, "The Wife" with Jonathan Pryce as Joe and Glenn Close as Joan.

SPOILER: LADY GAGA

“You don’t see this movie and not fall in love with what Lady Gaga does in her first starring role on screen. It’s a terrific performance in every way, not just the singing, but the acting. This is the closest race of the night.”

PHOTO: Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga in a scene from the movie, "A Star is Born."
Warner Bros. Pictures
Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga in a scene from the movie, "A Star is Born."

BEST PICTURE:

BLACK PANTHER

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

THE FAVOURITE

GREEN BOOK

ROMA

A STAR IS BORN

VICE

FAVORITE: ???

Travers said that, usually, in the race for the Oscar, there is a clear favorite and a spoiler. But this year he thinks anything could happen in the Best Picture category.

“In this ‘anything can happen’ world, the favorite would have to be 'Roma.' But Alfonso Cuaron’s movie is a Netflix movie and that caused a lot of controversy out there, where people were saying isn’t Netflix for TV,” said Travers.“ “Also a foreign language movie has never won the Best Picture prize. So it’s got that going against it.”

PHOTO: "Roma," "Green Book," "BlacKkKlansman," "Black Panther"
Netflix/Universal/Focus Features/Marvel
"Roma," "Green Book," "BlacKkKlansman," "Black Panther"

SPOILER: GREEN BOOK, BLACKKKLANSMAN or BLACK PANTHER

Travers said these three films could shake things up, and that any of the them could walk away with the Best Picture award.

Watch Peter Travers’s full Oscars predictions breakdown in the video above.