The Password is Swordfish

It’s time for me to dust off the ol’ blog and post some Oscar-related #content! Been too long, strangers!

Once again, if you’re reading this, and you don’t follow me on Twitter or on Letterboxd… um, well, please do so. It’d be cool. Instagram, too. Why not.

If I recall correctly, I did really poorly with Oscar Nomination predictions last year– I’ve never topped 75% (it’s those damned sound categories– every year with those things). Here’s hoping it’s this year!

Also, keep an eye out as I’ll likely also be posting shortly what the nominees would be in an ideal world– a fun exercise in futility for us to contemplate!

Here we go!

BEST PICTURE:

• Arrival
• Fences
• Hacksaw Ridge
• Hell or High Water
• Hidden Figures
• La La Land
• Lion
• Manchester By The Sea
• Moonlight
• DARK HORSE: Silence

BEST DIRECTOR:

• Damien Chazelle, La La Land
• Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge
• Barry Jenkins, Moonlight
• Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester By The Sea
• Denis Villeneuve, Arrival
• DARK HORSE: Garth Davis, Lion

BEST ACTOR:

• Casey Affleck, Manchester By The Sea
• Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge
• Ryan Gosling, La La Land
• Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic
• Denzel Washington, Fences
• DARK HORSE: Tom Hanks, Sully

BEST ACTRESS:

• Amy Adams, Arrival
• Isabelle Huppert, Elle
• Natalie Portman, Jackie
• Emma Stone, La La Land
• Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins
• DARK HORSE: Annette Bening, 20th Century Women

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

• Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
• Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water
• Hugh Grant, Florence Foster Jenkins
• Lucas Hedges, Manchester By The Sea
• Dev Patel, Lion
• DARK HORSE: Ben Foster, Hell or High Water

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

• Viola Davis, Fences
• Naomie Harris, Moonlight
• Nicole Kidman, Lion
• Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures
• Michelle Williams, Manchester By The Sea
• DARK HORSE: Greta Gerwig, 20th Century Women

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

• Arrival
• Fences
• Hidden Figures
• Lion
• Moonlight
• DARK HORSE: Hacksaw Ridge

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

• Hell or High Water
• Jackie
• La La Land
• The Lobster
• Manchester By The Sea
• DARK HORSE: Captain Fantastic

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:

• Finding Dory
• Kubo and the Two Strings
• Moana
• The Red Turtle
• Zootopia
• DARK HORSE: My Life As A Zucchini

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:

• Cameraperson
• I Am Not Your Negro
• OJ: Made In America
• The 13th
• Weiner
• DARK HORSE: Fire at Sea

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

• Land of Mine
• A Man Called Ove
• My Life As A Zucchini
• The Salesman
• Toni Erdmann
• DARK HORSE: Paradise

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:

• Arrival
• La La Land
• Lion
• Moonlight
• Silence
• DARK HORSE: Jackie

BEST COSTUME DESIGN:

• Allied
• Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them
• Florence Foster Jenkins
• Jackie
• La La Land
• DARK HORSE: Silence

BEST FILM EDITING:

• Arrival
• Hacksaw Ridge
• La La Land
• Manchester By The Sea
• Moonlight
• DARK HORSE: Hell or High Water

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING:

• Deadpool
• Florence Foster Jenkins
• Suicide Squad
• DARK HORSE: Hail Caesar!

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:

• Jackie
• La La Land
• Lion
• Moonlight
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
• DARK HORSE: Hidden Figures

BEST ORIGINAL SONG:

• “Audition,” La La Land
• “Can’t Stop The Feeling,” Trolls
• “City of Stars,” La La Land
• “How Far I’ll Go,” Moana
• “Runnin’,” Hidden Figures
• DARK HORSE: “Try Everything,” Zootopia

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:

• Arrival
• Doctor Strange
• Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them
• Hail Caesar!
• La La Land
• DARK HORSE: Nocturnal Animals

BEST SOUND EDITING:

• Arrival
• Deepwater Horizon
• Hacksaw Ridge
• La La Land
• Rogue One
• DARK HORSE: Sully

BEST SOUND DESIGN:

• Arrival
• Deepwater Horizon
• Hacksaw Ridge
• La La Land
• Rogue One
• DARK HORSE: Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:

• Arrival
• Doctor Strange
• Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them
• The Jungle Book
• Rogue One
• DARK HORSE: Captain America: Civil War

BEST ANIMATED SHORT:

• Borrowed Time
• The Head Vanishes
• Inner Workings
• Pearl
• Piper

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT:

• Extremis
• 4.1 Miles
• Joe’s Violin
• The Mute’s House
• The White Helmets

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT:

• Nocturne In Black
• The Rifle, The Jackal, the Wolf, and the Boy
• Sing
• Timecode
• The Way of Tea

Posted in Film Reviews

People usually ask me for advice on how to fill out their Oscar ballots. For them, I have crafted this cheat sheet. I will pick the person/film I believe is the favorite to win, along with a dark horse selection– that way, if you want to roll the dice on a few categories, you can do so.

My picks:

BEST PICTURE:

The Revenant

Dark horse: The Big Short

BEST DIRECTOR:

Alejandro Inarritu

Dark horse: George Miller

BEST ACTOR:

Leonardo DiCaprio

Dark horse*: Bryan Cranston

*- this is a super super dark horse, Leo is basically a lock, but if you’re in Vegas, I’d drop 10 bucks on Cranston’s 80:1 odds. 

BEST ACTRESS:

Brie Larson

Dark horse: None

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Sylvester Stallone

Dark horse: Mark Rylance

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Alicia Vikander

Dark horse: Kate Winslet

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Spotlight

Dark horse: None

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

The Big Short

Dark horse: None

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:

The Revenant

Dark horse: none

BEST COSTUME DESIGN:

Carol

Dark horse: Cinderella

BEST EDITING:

Mad Max: Fury Road

Dark horse: The Big Short

BEST MAKEUP/HAIR:

Mad Max: Fury Road

Dark horse: The Revenant

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:

Mad Max: Fury Road

Dark horse: The Revenant

BEST SCORE:

The Hateful Eight

Dark horse: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

BEST SONG:

“Til It Happens To You,” The Hunting Ground

Dark horse: “Earned It,” Fifty Shades of Grey

BEST SOUND EDITING:

The Revenant

Dark horse: Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST SOUND MIXING:

The Revenant

Dark horse: Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Dark horse: Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:

Inside Out

Dark horse: Anomalisa

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:

Amy

Dark horse: What Happened, Miss Simone?

BEST FOREIGN FILM:

Son of Saul

Dark horse: Mustang

BEST ANIMATED SHORT:

World of Tomorrow

Dark horse: Sanjay’s Super Team

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT:

Claude Lanzman: Spectres of the Shoah

Dark horse: Body Team 12

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT:

Ave Maria

Dark horse: Shok

Posted in Film Reviews

Greetings, world! It has been a very long time since I posted– since last year’s Oscars, as a matter a fact. For those of you who don’t know me, I stopped maintaining this blog when I moved to Los Angeles, because writing all day long for work and simultaneously keeping this blog up-to-date would be impossible (if you check the dates on some of the older reviews, it was becoming quite difficult for me even before I began writing full-time).

However, as I’m an apt consumer of the joy and pain of awards season, I figured I would continue to dispense my predictions for the Academy Awards, both for the nominations and then later for the awards themselves. (Maybe I’ll also do what I did last year and post my ideal-world Oscar nominations tomorrow.)

If you’re interested in my very brief thoughts on the 110+ movies I saw in 2015, I strongly encourage you to follow my film-going diary, or at bare minimum to follow my Twitter, where I frequently post my insta-thoughts about films and/or anything else under the sun.

Without further ado, my picks for tomorrow’s Oscar nominations (with a dark horse that could sneak in for each category). Last year, I got 72.6% of my picks right (the sound categories always kill me). Here’s hoping I top that mark this time!

BEST PICTURE:

• The Big Short
• Bridge of Spies
• Brooklyn
• Carol
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Martian
• The Revenant
• Room
• Spotlight
• DARK HORSE: Straight Outta Compton

BEST DIRECTOR:

• Todd Haynes, Carol
• Alejandro Inarritu, The Revenant
• Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
• Adam McKay, The Big Short
• Ridley Scott, The Martian
• DARK HORSE: George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST ACTOR:

• Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
• Matt Damon, The Martian
• Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
• Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
• Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
• DARK HORSE: Johnny Depp, Black Mass

BEST ACTRESS:

• Cate Blanchett, Carol
• Brie Larson, Room
• Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
• Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
• Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
• DARK HORSE: Lily Tomlin, Grandma

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

• Christian Bale, The Big Short
• Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation
• Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
• Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
• Sylvester Stallone, Creed
• DARK HORSE: Michael Shannon, 99 Homes

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

• Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
• Rooney Mara, Carol
• Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
• Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
• Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
• DARK HORSE: Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

• The Big Short
• Brooklyn
• Carol
• Room
• Steve Jobs
• DARK HORSE: The Martian

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

• Bridge of Spies
• Ex Machina
• The Hateful Eight
• Inside Out
• Spotlight
• DARK HORSE: Straight Outta Compton

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:

• Anomalisa
• The Good Dinosaur
• Inside Out
• The Peanuts Movie
• Shaun the Sheep Movie
• DARK HORSE: The Prophet

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:

• Amy
• Cartel Land
• The Hunting Ground
• Listen to Me Marlon
• The Look of Silence
• DARK HORSE: The Best of Enemies

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FEATURE:

• The Brand New Testament
• Labyrinth of Lies
• Mustang
• Son of Saul
• Theeb
• DARK HORSE: A War

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:

• Carol
• The Hateful Eight
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Revenant
• Sicario
• DARK HORSE: Bridge of Spies

BEST COSTUME DESIGN:

• Brooklyn
• Carol
• Cinderella
• Crimson Peak
• The Danish Girl
• DARK HORSE: Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST EDITING:

• The Big Short
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Martian
• The Revenant
• Spotlight
• DARK HORSE: Bridge of Spies

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIR:

• Mad Max: Fury Road
• Mr. Holmes
• The Revenant
• DARK HORSE: Black Mass

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:

• Bridge of Spies
• Carol
• Crimson Peak
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens
• DARK HORSE: The Danish Girl

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:

• Bridge of Spies
• Carol
• The Hateful Eight
• Inside Out
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens
• DARK HORSE: The Danish Girl

BEST ORIGINAL SONG:

• “Love Me Like You Do,” Fifty Shades of Gray
• “See You Again,” Furious 7
• “Simple Song 3,” Youth
• “Til It Happens To You,” The Hunting Ground
• “Writing’s On The Wall,” Spectre
• DARK HORSE: “Earned It,” Fifty Shades of Gray

BEST SOUND EDITING:

• Mad Max: Fury: Road
• The Martian
• The Revenant
• Sicario
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens
• DARK HORSE: The Hateful Eight

BEST SOUND MIXING:

• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Martian
• The Revenant
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens
• Straight Outta Compton
• DARK HORSE: The Hateful Eight

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:

• Jurassic World
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Martian
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens
• The Walk
• DARK HORSE: The Revenant

Posted in Film Reviews

People usually ask me for advice on how to fill out their Oscar ballots. For them, I have crafted this cheat sheet. I will pick the person/film I believe is the favorite to win, along with a dark horse selection– that way, if you want to roll the dice on a few categories, you can do so.

My picks:

BEST PICTURE:

Birdman

Dark horse: Boyhood

BEST DIRECTOR:

Richard Linklater

Dark horse*: Alejandro Inarritu

*- I think Pic/Director will split. If you feel so inclined, flip-flop the two, and pick Boyhood and Inarritu.

BEST ACTOR:

Michael Keaton

Dark horse*: Eddie Redmayne

*- this is a total coin flip.

BEST ACTRESS:

Julianne Moore

Dark horse: none

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

J.K. Simmons

Dark horse: none

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Patricia Arquette

Dark horse: none

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Dark horse: Birdman

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

Whiplash

Dark horse*: The Imitation Game

*- another coin flip, really. I’m hopeful for Whiplash.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Birdman

Dark horse: none

BEST COSTUME DESIGN:

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Dark horse: Into the Woods

BEST EDITING:

Boyhood

Dark horse: Whiplash

BEST MAKEUP/HAIR:

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Dark horse: Foxcatcher

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Dark horse: none

BEST SCORE:

The Theory of Everything

Dark horse: The Grand Budapest Hotel

BEST SONG:

“Glory,” Selma

Dark horse: “I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me

BEST SOUND EDITING:

American Sniper

Dark horse: Interstellar

BEST SOUND MIXING:

American Sniper

Dark horse: Whiplash

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:

Interstellar

Dark horse: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:

How to Train Your Dragon 2

Dark horse: Big Hero 6

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:

Citizenfour

Dark horse: none

BEST FOREIGN FILM:

Ida

Dark horse: Wild Tales

BEST ANIMATED SHORT:

Feast

Dark horse: The Dam Keeper

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT:

Joanna

Dark horse: Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT:

The Phone Call

Dark horse: Parvaneh

Posted in Film Reviews