93rd Oscar Predictions: Mank Should Lose and Lose Bad

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”

Nine Categories The Academy Needs to Add to the Oscars Ceremony

I know exactly what you’re thinking. “Why do you want to make the Oscars longer by adding categories? And also the Oscars are pointless and award shows are bullshit.” I mean… yes, you’re not wrong on the second thought, but more importantly, on the first point, because I want to recognize the great work that goes into filmmaking. And even though awards are outdated, they still serve a purpose. Also everyone likes to be recognized for a job well done. And shut up.

Continue reading “Nine Categories The Academy Needs to Add to the Oscars Ceremony”

Thoughts on the 93rd Oscar Nominations

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”

2015 Oscar Predictions

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

Live Oscars Blog-o-Thon 2012!

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.

84th Annual Academy Awards
The 84th Annual Academy Awards, Hosted by Billy Crystal

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!

2012 Oscar Predictions

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.

84th Annual Academy Awards
The 84th Annual Academy Awards, Hosted by Billy Crystal

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

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