Thursday, February 25, 2016

I Choose

It's time to choose. If you dare, that is. You're all still invited, you know.

I'm picking who I think will win - as it is a contest after all - not who I think should win. That's a different ball of wax, altogether {come on.......someone do it.......}

I have to say, Magic Mike XXS, might be receiving a batch full of cookies in the not to distant future. I have never felt less confident in my choices.

In theory, I should be all over this - seeing as many movies as we did - but might have made it tougher to actually choose. And it doesn't help that the big nominees (Max Max, Revenant) we not actually seen by me.

On the other hand, Mr XXS, hasn't seen any of them. Again, so. he. claims. That false sense of confidence has gotten him to coax more than one person into his ice cream van, I suppose.

I could write more, but I'd only being putting off the inevitable. So, with a blindfold and a dart, here we go.........

Best Picture
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Mad Max Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight
Because it was the best movie of last year. Or at least of the ones that were nominated......that I actually saw. 

Best Actor
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Matt Damon, The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
No one saw Trumbo or Jobs (and probably for good reason). Redmayne won last year. That leaves two. g-d I hope it ain't DiCaprio, but it will be. 
Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years

This should totally go to Rampling as her performance was stellar, but she made some off-the-cuff comments about race and the Oscars. Hollywood will over-correct itself and give the award to Larson, but I'd still vote for Rampling. 

Supporting Actor
Christian Bale – The Big Short
Tom Hady – The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo – Spolight
Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies
Sylvester Stallone – Creed
Besides it being time - Ruffalo did an excellent job!
Supporting Actress
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara, Carol
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

Mara was ok, McAdams was fine, but nothing defining. I thought Vikander did a great job, though she was better in Ex Machina.
Best Director
Adam McKay, The Big Short
George Miller, Mad Max Fury Road
Alejandro González Iñárritu, The Revenant
Lenny Abrahamsson, Room
Tom McCarthy, Spotlight

Iñárritu won last year. Ultimately, the visuals, lighting etc might have been too great not to give him a repeat, even though the movie hasn't gotten the best reviews. 

Best Original Screenplay
Matt Charman, Joel & Ethan Coen, Bridge of Spies
Alex Garland, Ex Machina
Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley, Inside Out
Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer, Spotlight
Jonathan Herman, Andrea Berloff, Straight Outta Compton

There area few good monologues in Spotlight that should send it to the top. Of course, that racial over-correction could tip it towards Straight Outta Compton, but the joke would be on the voters as the writers are white. 
Best Adapted Screenplay
Adam McKay and Charles Randolph, The Big Short
Nick Hornby, Brooklyn
Phyllis Nagy, Carol
Drew Goddard, The Martian
Emma Donoghue, Room

The Big Short is getting short-changed (see what I did there....on a few levels?) this award season. The screenwriting was clever and unique enough to let a lay person understand and still be outraged by the 2008 economic collapse. 
Cinematography
Ed Lachman, Carol 
Robert Richardson, The Hateful 8
John Seale, Mad Max Fury Road
Emmanuel Lubezki, The Revenant
Roger Deakins, Sicario

Alll bets are on Mad Max (well, I assume). I thought Carol was so nicely done visually. And you'd hate to bet against Lubezki who has won the last TWO years for his films with Iñárritu . I mean, he rocked with Gravity and Birdman. I'll have to go for a three-peat. 
Best Original Score
Thomas Newman, Bridge of Spies
Carter Burwell, Carol
Ennio Morricone, Hateful Eight
Jóhann Jóhannsson, Sicario
John Williams, Star Wars the Force Awakens

First off, Spielberg made a movie where John Williams didn't do the score? Has life ended as we know it? For Williams though, how many times can he rehash so many of this themes, so it won't be the Force Awakens. I'll go with Ennio Morricone.....because I can. I haven't heard it, and I don't remember the music to Carol or Sicario
Costume Design
Sandy Powell, Carol
Sandy Powell, Cinderella
Paco Delgado, The Danish Girl
Jenny Beavan, Mad Max Fury Road
Jacqueline West, The Revenant

Deep down, I know it will go to Mad Max for the post-apocalyptic look, but I was enthralled with the Carol era. I know I'm going against my should / will win rules, but I just am taking a chance with this one. 
Best Foreign Language Film
Embrace of the Serpent
Mustang
Son of Saul
Theeb
A War

Because I've seen the previews for this movie for the last six months. It looks D-pressing as fuck. So of course it will win. 
Best Makeup
Mad Max Fury Road
The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
The Revenant

Never heard of the middle movie - and it's too long to fit in an envelope. 
Film Editing
The Big Short
Mad Max
The Revenant
Spotlight
Star Wars The Force Awakens

Because......... ???
Original Song
Earned It from Fifty Shades of Grey (The Weeknd)
Simple Song #3 from Youth (David Lang)
Writing On The Wall from Spectre (Sam Smith)
Til It Happens To You from The Hunting Ground (Diane Warren and Lady Gaga) Manta Ray from Racing Extinction

Ok, this is a total crapshoot. I saw Spectre, but it had to be the most uneventful Bond theme since a-ha or Rita Coolidge had their turn. Simple Song #3 is modern opera, so that ain't happening. And I haven't (nor has anyone) heard the other songs. Since lately you can't swing a dead cat without hitting Mr. Gaga (no, that wasn't a typo), I guess the award will go to shim. 
Animated Feature Film
Anomalisa
Boy and the World
Inside Out
Shaun the Sheep
When Marnie Was There

A. It's Pixar. B. I heard it was wonderful. 
Animated Short Film
Bear Story
Prologue
Sanjay’s Super Team
We Can’t Live without Cosmos
World of Tomorrow

One of them is Pixar, but I could only really view part of Prologue. So, that's why I'm picking it. It is flawed logic, but it's all I got. 
Live Action Short Film
Ave Maria
Day One
Everything Will Be Ok
Shock
Stutter

I got nothing. 
Documentary
Amy
Cartel Land
The Look of Silence
What Happened Miss Simone?
Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom

Drug abuse. Music. Tragedy. "Celebrity" Death. a Beehilve. How can it not win? 
Best Documentary Short
A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness
Body Team 12
Chau, Beyond The Lines
Claude Lanzmann: Spectres Of The Shoah
Last Day Of Freedom

I picked it because it was the first listed. Seems to make sense to me. 
Visual Effects
Ex Machina
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars the Force Awakens

I'd like it to be Ex Machina, but I don't think enough people saw it, and some film folks I know LOVED Mad Max. 
Production Design
Bridge of Spies
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant

I'd like to give it to Carol, but it's not nominated. I'd like to give it to the Danish Girl, but it's going to Mad Max. 
Sound Editing
Mad Max Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Sicario
Star Wars The Force Awakens
Sound Mixing
Bridge of Spies
Mad Max Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars The Force Awakens

I so want to pick Star Wars for the last two, but it won't happen. 

So it's a Mad Max heavy selection. Oddly one of the movies I haven't seen, though it is on HBO now. I guess I should have watched it on demand. 

Like I said, I don't feel good about most of these. Maybe half. But I made sure I didn't make the same mistake Mike made last year of missing one category. Not that it will matter. 

Let's just say: I've been looking at cookie recipes as I'm assuming he's about to have USPS Express Mail knock on his door with a box of goodies. 




Song by: the Offspring

5 comments:

Raybeard said...

Hmmmm Interesting.
I've seen all the 'Best Picture' nominations bar one - 'Room' I see next Monday.
It's a hard year to pick the absolute winner but I think my nod would eventually go to 'Bridge of Spies', though it would be a very close call between that and 'Spotlight'.

Bob said...

I haven't see Hateful Eight, and won't because, one word: Tarantino, but I heard bits of the score and I thought it incredible.
So, yeah, Ennio Morricone for the win?

Fearsome Beard said...

I'm not this advanced in my movie viewing experiences so I will leave this to you more qualified bloggers. My the academy sure has a long list of categories doesn't it?

Anonymous said...

Not sure about Best Actress. Would like to see Rachel M win as she has been nominated so many times before and never got it.
JP

Mike said...

OK -- the moment you've been waiting for....

Remembering the humiliation of last year's loss, i have done extensive research (not) and binge-watched all of the nominated films (not). We actually did see SPOTLIGHT, which was excellent and hit home as it all happened right here in Boston. And over Thanksgiving while visiting family in Delaware, we went to see BROOKLYN, which was sweet and sentimental. But i think that was about it. Just so i can best Blobby, i'm putting on TWO blindfolds...here goes:

BEST PICTURE: The Big Short.
BEST ACTOR: Leonardo CiCaprio (didn't see it and doubt his acting trumps the other nominees, but "they" say it's his turn.
BEST ACTRESS: Brie Larson (because I love brie, the cheese)
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Sylvester Stallone (because he's old)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Alicia Vikander
BEST DIRECTOR: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (or how ever you spell that)
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Spotlight
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: The Big Short
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Revenant
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: The Hateful Eight
COSTUME DESIGN: Mad Max
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE: Son of Saul
BEST MAKEUP: Mad Max
FILM EDITING: Mad Max
ORIGINAL SONG: Til It Happens to You (oh how i really don't want Gaga to win -- she was so obnoxious when she won a Golden Globe for her "acting" in American Horror Story
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM: Inside Out
ANIMATED SHORT FILM: World of Tomorrow
LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM: Shok
DOCUMENTARY: Amy
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT: Specters of the Shoah
VISUAL EFFECTS: Mad Max
PRODUCTION DESIGN: Mad Max
SOUND EDITING: Mad Max
SOUND MIXING: The Revenant

If i'm doing my math correctly, which is doubtful, we differ on only six categories. Oh folks -- do put on your helmets - it's going to be a bumpy night!