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It’s two months after the normal time of year where everybody who writes about movies locks in their predictions for the upcoming awards ceremony. I won’t break down all of them, you don’t really need me pontificating on Best Costume Design (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom). But I’ll hit the big ones, and really break down why Mank needs to be shut the fuck out.
Continue reading “93rd Oscar Predictions: Mank Should Lose and Lose Bad”
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced the Academy Award nominations this morning. I won’t bore you with yet another list/rundown of the nominees. You don’t need me to do that for you. Here’s the link to the Oscars site and you can see them for yourself. Keep that open in a separate tab, because I’m not gonna But as a lifetime movie fan, longtime Oscars follower, and one-time Oscar attendee, I have thoughts on the nominations. And because I write about movies, here they are. Thanks for reading them.
Continue reading “Thoughts on the 93rd Oscar Nominations”
Will Win is my official pick. Should Win is what I would vote for were I a voting member.
Will Win: Green Book
Should Win: BlacKkKlansman
Also Nominated: A Star Is Born; Black Panther; Bohemian Rhapsody; Roma; The Favourite; Vice
Will Win is my official pick. Should Win is what I would vote for were I a voting member.
Will Win: The Shape of Water
Should Win: The Shape of Water
Also Nominated: Call Me By Your Name; Darkest Hour; Dunkirk; Get Out; Lady Bird; Phantom Thread; The Post; Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Hey everybody! Thanks for joining me again for a live blog-o-thon of the Oscar ceremony! I’ll keep updating with winners, losers, upsets and performances. You can also follow me on twitter – @Brodiemann, and that will just be my general reaction to things. There’s also the feed you can see directly to your right, so you don’t really even have to leave this page. Just hit refresh every so often.
Time stamps are in Central Time.
23:05– Now the moment we’ve all been waiting for… the Academy Award for the Best Picture of 2014 goes to BIRDMAN! YES!
22:56– Julianne Moore finally picks up an Oscar for Best Actress for her work in Still Alice.
22:50– And the Oscar for Best Actor goes to Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything!
22:42– Alejandro G. Inarritu wins the Academy Award for Best Director for Birdman!
22:34– Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar goes to The Imitation Game!
22:30- The Oscar for best Original Screenplay goes to Birdman! I thought for sure it would go to boyhood.
22:22– Alexandre Desplat picks up the Best Original Score Oscar for his work on The Grand Budapest Hotel
22:10- Yay… a tribute to The Sound of Music.
22:05- The Oscar goes to John Stephens (John Legend) & Lonnie Lynn (Common) for Glory for Best Original Song. Great song. Brilliant performance!
21:58- John Legend and Common perform their Oscar nominated song Glory from Selma.
21:50- The Best Documentary Feature Oscar goes to Citizenfour.
21:43- The Oscar for Best Film Editing goes to Whiplash! Surprise! I thought for sure it would go to Boyhood! Good job, Tom Cross!
21:33- Now to remember those we’ve lost over the past year. Fare thee well, Mike Nichols.
21:26– The Academy Award for Best Cinematography goes to Birdman!
21:22– Best Production Design goes to The Grand Budapest Hotel
21:11– Big Hero 6 takes home the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film!
21:07– Best Animated Short Film goes to Feast!
21:04– The Oscar for Best Visual Effects goes to Interstellar!
21:00– Rita Ora performs “Grateful” from Beyond The Lights, nominated for Best Song tonight.
20:54- And the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress goes to Patricia Arquette for Boyhood!
20:50- Now for Best Sound Editing, the Oscar goes to American Sniper
20:47- And the award for Best Sound Mixing goes to Whiplash!
20:34- Tim McGraw sings the Academy Award Nominated “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from “Glen Campbell… I’ll Be Me”
20:30– Best Documentary Short Subject goes to Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1!
20:26- Best Live Action Short Film goes to The Phone Call!
20:16– Tegan & Sara and The Lonely Island performing the Oscar Nominated “Everything Is Awesome!”
20:11– Best Foreign Language Film goes to Ida!
20:02– Best Make-up/Hair goes to The Grand Budapest Hotel. My first incorrect pick of the night. I’m 2 for 3.
19:59– Best Costume Design goes to The Grand Budapest Hotel
19:47– Introducing the first two Best Picture Nominees is the great Liam Neeson.
19:41– First award of the night, Best Supporting Actor goes to J.K. Simmons for Whiplash!
19:36– Great opening number, Neil. Loved Ana Kendrick.
19:30– CURTAIN’S UP!
19:20– The countdown is on! 10 minutes till we find out what song NPH sings for his opening number.
19:05– I feel bad for Ethan Hawke. If it wasn’t for J.K. Simmons… well, he’d still be up against Edward Norton, but he’d have slightly better odds tonight.
18:54- I am enjoying the #AskHerMore. The whole “Who are you wearing!?!” really turned me off on the red carpet, but it’s nice hearing everyone talk about their projects instead of their dresses.
18:36– It’s Red Carpet time! I remember sitting in the bleachers back in 2006. Got to chat with Joel Stein, shook George Clooney’s hand, almost got Will Smith’s autograph. It really was a lot of fun. Would love to go again someday.
Over the years, I’ve gone as low as 9 for 24, up to a career best last year of picking 17 of 24 (71%). The Oscars are a cruel mistress. Just when you think, “Yeah! I got this,” Crash comes along and wins Best Picture over Brokeback Mountain, Good Night and Good Luck, Munich and Capote everyone else, Sandra Bullock beats out Carey Mulligan for Best Actress, or Million Dollar Baby dominates over all contenders. So here’s my attempt to tell the Academy I know who should or will win.
Best Picture: Birdman
Best Director: Richard Linklater for Boyhood
Best Actor: Michael Keaton for Birdman
Best Actress: Julianne Moore for Still Alice
Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons for Whiplash
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette for Boyhood
Best Adapted Screenplay: Damien Chazelle for Whiplash
Best Original Screenplay: Richard Linklater for Boyhood
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki for Birdman
Best Animated Feature: How to Train Your Dragon 2
Best Foreign Film: Ida
Best Documentary Feature: Citizenfour
Best Documentary Short Subject: Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Best Short Film – Animated: Feast
Best Short Film – Live Action: The Phone Call
Best Production Design: Adam Stockhausen & Anna Pinnock for The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Costume Design: Milena Canonero for The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Make-up/Hair: Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou & David White for Guardians of the Galaxy
Best Film Editing: Sandra Adair for Boyhood
Best Visual Effects: Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett & Erik Winquist for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Best Sound Editing: Richard King for Interstellar
Best Sound Mixing: Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins & Thomas Curley for Whiplash
*this is the end scene, sooooo Spoiler Alert!*
Best Original Score: Jóhann Jóhannsson for The Theory of Everything
Best Original Song: “Glory” from Selma; Music & Lyrics by John Legend & Common
I will post the categories as they are announced. The winner will appear in green. If it matches my pick, that will be all that appears. If I guessed wrong, I’ll post what was my pick in red. I’ve picked The Artist to be the big winner tonight, picking up seven awards; Best Picture, Director, Actor, Original Screenplay, Original Score, Costume Design, Cinematography & Film Editing.
Well… I went 12 for 24 tonight, finishing at 50%, which is worse than last year. I’m getting progressively worse, as I had my best year 2 years ago at 15 of 24. Maybe next year…. Good show!
8:36 – Best Picture – The Artist; FUCK YES! I knew it! I knew it! So glad this one won, it definitely deserved it. Good job! 12 for 24
8:29 – Best Lead Actress – Michelle Williams for My Week With Marilyn; Winner – Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady; One of their “Make Good” wins… Though, pretty soon they’ll have to do it for Michelle Williams. It’s a vicious cycle 11 for 23
8:18 – Best Lead Actor – Jean Dujardin for The Artist; KNEW IT! It’s too bad he had to upset Gary Oldman who is long, LONG overdue, but Dujardin deserved it. 11 for 22.
8:03 – Time for the In Memorium… I never cry at this. And really? “What A Wonderful World?” How basic is that? Are you gonna switch to “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” too?
7:59 – I’m kinda glad they do all the special awards at a separate ceremony… It keeps the main show tight.
7:53 – Best Director – Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist; I’m really glad he won and not Hugo… this is saving my picks for the night. I may miss out on Best Actress though… 10 for 21
7:45 – Best Animated Short – The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore; I really liked the animation on this one, it’s fascinating… you can catch the full film on YouTube here! 9 for 20
7:42 – Best Documentary Short – Saving Face; I had heard very good things about this one, and it seemed like a no brainer. Good job. 8 for 19
7:39 – Best Live Action Short – Time Freak; Winner – The Shore; I took a stab in the dark on this one. I went with Time Freak because I like time travel. 7 for 18
7:30 – Best Original Screenplay – Woody Allen for Midnight In Paris; Hooray! Now that we’re out of the technical awards, I’m doing well. Suck it Hugo! 7 for 17
7:27 – Best Adapted Screenplay – Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash for The Descendants; Happy for all three of them. Especially Jim Rash, he’s got something to head back to the set of Community with! 6 for 16
7:24 – Billy Crystal really knows how to pull out of a flub. Respect, Mr. Crystal.
7:18 – Best Original Song – Bret McKenzie for “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets; I knew it! I’m glad I now get to say Oscar Winner Bret McKenzie! 5 for 15
7:13 – Best Original Score – Ludovic Bource for The Artist; Good! I really loved this score. Brilliant, and it definitely was the best of the year. 6 for 14.
7:09 – This is a fun little bit. Havin’ a bit o’ fun at the stars! Good times. Get on to the next award.
7:01 – Best Supporting Actress – Christopher Plummer for Beginners; I just want to say that I am really happy for Jonah Hill getting the nomination. It was unexpected, but deserving. And I’m glad Plummer finally won. He deserves it, too. 5 for 13
6:56 – Best Visual Effects – Rise of the Planet of the Apes; Winner – Hugo; Goddamnit Hugo! Rise of the Planet of the Apes had really good effects… and you’re ruining my picks. 4 for 12
6:47 – Best Animated Feature – Rango; I’m glad this film won… such gorgeous animation on this one. Amazing. Definitely deserved it. 4 for 11
6:46 – I wonder if Chris Rock will ever get work on an Animated film again?
6:43 – Best Documentary Feature – Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory; Winner – Undefeated; WOW! Another upset. Everything I heard was that Paradise Lost had this locked up… wow. 3 for 10
6:35 – I’ve always wondered what an at the movies interpretive dance would look like… Wait, no I haven’t. Still kinda cool though.
6:34 – YAY! Muppets! But if they’re gonna be in the balcony, why couldn’t they get Statler & Waldorf?
6: 29 – Best Sound Mixing – The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo; Winner – Hugo; Hugo’s been the spoiler so far tonight. I only had it for like 1 award. 3 for 9.
6:26 – Best Sound Editing – Drive; Winner – Hugo; And now Drive is shut out… which is too bad, that movie got no love. The biggest snub of the night. 3 for 8.
6:25 – Best Film Editing – The Artist; Winner – The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo; WOW! Did not expect that! Good job! 3 for 7
6:23 – Bradley Cooper needs to lose the mustache.
6:22 – Such a hilarious and great Christopher Guest cut scene… just so funny. Good to see those guys together.
6:13 – Best Supporting Actress – Octavia Spencer for The Help; I haven’t seen this film, I’m sure I will eventually, but it seems like such an easy film to say is good, so I just had no desire to. Good for Octavia. 3 for 6
6:07 – Best Foreign Language Film – Bullhead (Belgium); Winner – A Separation (Iran). I knew I should have changed my pick… I don’t know why I stuck with Bullhead. 2 for 5
6:01 – I like this “My First Movie” montage. It’s a really fun insight into these actors, actresses and Hilary Swanks.
5:58 – Best Make-Up – Albert Nobbs; Winner – The Iron Lady. Don’t know why I was rooting against The Iron Lady… I just felt the Albert Nobbs make-up was so fantastic. 2 for 4
5:56 – Best Costume Design – The Artist; I was really pulling for this one tonight. 2 for 3
5:53 – Really? The only pre-1970 film in that montage was Midnight Cowboy. Way to be, Oscars… Way to be.
5:45 – Best Art Direction – Hugo; First correct prediction tonight… Hooray! 1 for 2 so far.
5:44 – Best Cinematography – The Artist; winner – Hugo; I was really pulling for The Artist. So far off to a bad start.
5:41 – I’m pretty sure the first Oscars ceremony I ever watched was hosted by Billy Crystal… he’s got a special place in my heart when it comes to the big show
5:39 – I never thought I’d see Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill hanging out, and nominated for performances in the same film… Good on ya, Jonah.
5:35 – Throwing Tin Tin a nod in the opening sequence is literally the least they could do, since they couldn’t nominate it for some stupid gorram reason!
5:33 – What the hell?! Why is Justin Bieber tainting the Oscars? Come on… you’re better than this, Billy…
5:30 – And here we go… with Morgan Freeman kicking things off! Can’t wait to see the opening number!
5:23 – I’m a big fan of Brian Grazer, so I’m excited to see how his show gets pulled off. Sure it’s gonna be great. Significantly better than anything Brett Ratner could have done.
5:18 – Normally no one ever says “I watch the Oscars for the commercials.” But that Muppets, Google+ commercial set to Under Pressure was awesome!
5:15 – Who is this British chick doing interviews? She’s fucking terrible.
5:12 – George Clooney’s looking sharp. Looking better than yesterday when I watched him die in Return to Horror High. Stacey looks like the Oscar statue.
5:03 – Bradly Cooper doesn’t do a terrible Christopher Walken. Can’t wait for Wet Hot American Summer 2.
5:00 – Aaaaaaand we’re off! I don’t really get into the Red Carpet, because I don’t really care who’s wearing whom. Sometimes the interviews are fun, though. So we’ve got the blog going… settle in for a fun night!
Hooray! It’s Oscar week! I’m excited as always, and there’s big things on the horizon for Brodie Mann Films, so stay tuned for all that. But since we’re a week away, it’s time to make my picks. Last year I went 13 for 24, for a 54% success rate, and my personal best came in 2010 when I went 15 for 24, for a 63% success rate. Can I beat my best? Or even last year’s score? We’ll see, here are my picks.
Best Picture
The Artist
Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Jean Dujardin for The Artist
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Michelle Williams for My Week With Marilyn
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Christopher Plummer for Beginners
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Octavia Spencer for The Help
Best Original Screenplay
Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
Best Adapted Screenplay
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash for The Descendants
Best Animated Feature
Rango
Best Foreign Language Film
Bullhead
Best Documentary Feature
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Best Original Score
Ludovic Bource for The Artist
Best Original Song
Bret McKenzie for “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets
Best Cinematography-
Guillaume Schiffman for The Artist
Best Film Editing-
Anne-Sophie Bion & Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Best Art Direction-
Dante Ferretti & Francesca Lo Schiavo for Hugo
Best Costume Design-
Mark Bridges for The Artist
Best Make-Up –
Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnson & Matthew W. Mungle for Albert Nobbs
Best Sound Editing-
Lon Bender & Victor Ray Ennis for Drive
Best Sound Mixing
David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce & Bo Persson for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Best Visual Effects-
Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White & Daniel Barrett for Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Best Documentary: Short Subject-
Saving Face
Best Short Film: Animated-
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Best Short Film: Live Action-
Time Freak
Join me all night as I live blog the Oscars. Tune in for winners, losers, speeches and tributes. See how I did in my picks. Last year I went 15 for 24, a 63% success rate, and I’m hoping I do better than that. I’ve picked The Social Network for five awards; Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Original Score & Film Editing. Fingers crossed that this’ll be a big year for me.
I will post the categories as they are announced. The winner will appear in green. If it matches my pick, that will be all that appears. If I guessed wrong, I’ll post what was my pick in red.
11:41 – Another Oscars in the books. It was OK… I can tell it’ll be a few years before they break away from going with “Standard Oscar Fair.” The Social Network was robbed in best Picture and Director. Oh well. I went 13 for 24, culminating in a 54% success rate. Not as good as my 63% from last year. I’ll try better next year.
11:37 – Best Picture – The Social Network; winner – The King’s Speech; I liked The King’s Speech, don’t get me wrong, but The Social Network was a much better film. Social Network got robbed 13 for 24. 54%
11:31 – Great entrance music for Spielberg. Should have been accompanied by a T-Rex.
11:25 – Best Actor – Colin Firth for The King’s Speech; That was a gimme. I knew they would go for him. I wanted Jesse Eisenberg to win (and still think he should have) but knew he wouldn’t. I went for the safe bet. 13 for 23.
11:20 – And this is the last we’ll see of Sandra Bullock at the Oscars. Ever.
11:16 – Best Actress – Natalie Portman in Black Swan; WOOOO! Called it. Then again, who didn’t? Great job Natalie. 12 for 22
11:12 – That clip just exhibited why Julianne Moore should’ve been nominated instead of Annette Benning.
11:11 – I wonder who’s more stoned, James Franco or Jeff Bridges?
11:03 – Best Director – David Fincher for The Social Network; winner – Tom Hooper for The King’s Speech; WHOA! WHOA! Upset of the night! Wow…. Fincher got robbed. I now can’t beat last year’s picks. 11 for 21
10:55 – Touching and classy ‘In Memoriam” tribute. We lost a lot of great ones over the past year. But was Celine Dion being there completely necessary?
10:49 – Best Original Song – “I See a Light” from Tangled; winner – “We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3; Seriously?! I now need to pick the rest accurately just to match last year. 11 for 20.
10:35 – Best Film Editing – The Social Network; They deserved it. Such a brilliantly put together film. 11 for 19
10:33 – Best Visual Effects – Inception; Note how Inception was the only one that didn’t have a computer graphic for it’s clip. Way to be! 10 for 18.
10:21 – Best Documentary Feature – Exit Through The Gift Shop; winner – Inside Job; I now have to get the rest of my picks right to beat last year. 9 for 17.
10:15 – Best Live Action Short Film – The Crush; winner – God of Love; this could totally throw my whole picks off, now I’m just hoping to break even with last year. 9 for 16.
10:13 – Best Documentary Short Subject – The Warriors of Quigang; winner – Strangers No More. Next year, I’m taking Jake Gyllenhaal’s advice. 9 for 15.
10:07 – My boy Zach Levi, steppin’ up! Great job! That kid’s going places. Also: Watch Chuck, good show.
9:58 – Best Costume Design – The King’s Speech; winner – Alice In Wonderland; I really don’t know where to begin in choosing this category, so I call it a wash. 9 for 14.
9:56 – Best Make-Up – The Wolfman; Chose it cause I love Rick Baker’s work. Good call Academy! 9 for 13.
9:49 – Best Sound Editing – Inception; Always bet on the event films for technical flicks. It got looked over in other categories, but it was THE undeniable technical achievement of the year. 8 for 12
9:47 – Best Sound Mixing – Inception; Sweet, picking Inception for the technical awards is paying off. 7 for 11.
9:43 – Best Original Score – Trent Reznor & Atticuss Ross for The Social Network; YES! I was so hoping to be able to say Academy Award Winner Trent Reznor 6 for 10!
9:34 – That’s OK Christian Bale, I’m sure everyone forgets their wife’s name on international television. That’s a totally normal thing to do.
9:31 – Best Supporting Actor – Christian Bale in The Fighter; Alright, that’s better. And bout damn time he got an Oscar. What was the hold up?! 5 for 9
9:27 – Best Foreign Languange Film – Biutiful from Mexico; winner – In A Better World from Denmark; Damn it. I went with the only film I had heard of. 4 for 8.
9:24 – I’m liking Anne Hathaway (I usually do) hosting. And now here’s James Franco in a dress. Good times
9:18 – Best Original Screenplay– David Seidler for The King’s Speech; Alright! Swept the writing categories! 4 for 7.
9:14- Best Adapted Screenplay– Aaron Sorkin for The Social Network; Outstanding choice, he definitely deserved it. He’s one of my favourite writers. 3 for 6
9:06 – Best Animated Feature – How To Train Your Dragon; winner – Toy Story 3; Both were great films, but I bet on the wrong horse. 2 for 5
9:03 – Best Animated Short – Day & Night; winner – The Lost Thing; 2 for 4
8:59– Melissa Leo seems like such a sweet, classy lady. Too bad about the 7 second delay. So glad she won.
8:56- Best Supporting Actress – Melissa Leo in The Fighter; 2 for 3 GO ME!
8:52 – Kirk Douglass making an entrance. That man has more talent and class than the entire room, combined.
8:48 – Best Cinematography – Inception; 1 for 2.
8:45 – Best Art Direction – Inception; Winner – Alice in Wonderland I’m now 0 for 1.
8:43 – Tom Hanks presenting 2 awards, Best Cinematography & Best Art Direction, 2 awards he hasn’t won… what a loser.
8:37 – Loved the opening sequence. Can’t go wrong with Morgan Freeman narration and Tron references. AND A BACK TO THE FUTURE SEQUENCE! Officially the best opening sequence ever!
8:27– Time to start the show! How will they top last year’s show opener with Neil Patrick Harris? The first award they handed out was Best Supporting Actor. I wonder what will be the first this year? Supporting Actor again? Will we see Christian Bale up there? Let’s watch!
7:14 – Red carpet entrances. I don’t particularly care. Full on live blogging to start at 8:30pm.
The Empty Theatre 
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