2024 Oscar Predictions

Every year after the nominees are announced, do my best to watch all the Best Picture noms, and some of the Actor/Actress nominees’ movies, some of the shorts since they’re a quick watch and usually pretty good. With our recent move and the related chaos, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to watch as many as I usually do but I’m happy to report that I actually did pretty good:

Oppenheimer: We saw it in the theater and I’m glad we did; it’s going to win a ton of categories tomorrow night. This is one of those movies that was just OK (in my opinion), but because of what it’s about, it’ll sweep.

The Holdovers: I really liked this movie. Great story, great cast, great setting. Up until a couple of days ago, I had Paul Giamatti winning best actor but ended up flipping to Cillian Murphy just because of all the buzz. I’d rather Paul win but the Academy is the Academy. Really good performances from everyone in this movie.

American Fiction: WOW, what a hoot! I really enjoy Jeffrey Wright in everything he does(Westworld, Hunger Games) and he did great in this. Another great story, poking fun at the woke world we live in. I laughed out loud a few times watching this last night.

Past Lives: Nice story. Sad ending. Surprised it was nominated though. Didn’t mind in the least that a lot of it was in Korean.

I’m planning on watching Anatomy of a Fall today. I want to watch Poor Things and Killers of the Flower Moon and will as soon as I’m able. I tried watching Maestro twice but couldn’t get into it both times so I gave up. I have not seen Barbie but will watch it once it’s free on one of the streaming services. I want to see The Zone of Interest; it’s a very different take on a historical time that we’re all familiar with.

I watched 2 noms for Live Action short:

The After: Really enjoyed this, albeit a sad story.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar: This was so different, just in terms of style and dialog – that’s what made it great, plus the stellar cast.

Below are my picks (in bold)for this year:

BEST PICTURE

American Fiction
Anatomy of a Fall
Barbie
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Past Lives
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest

BEST DIRECTOR

Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest
Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon
Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall

BEST ACTRESS

Annette Bening, Nyad
Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall
Carey Mulligan, Maestro
Emma Stone, Poor Things

BEST ACTOR 

Bradley Cooper, Maestro
Colman Domingo, Rustin
Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
America Ferrera, Barbie
Jodie Foster, Nyad
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction
Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon
Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, Anatomy of a Fall
David Hemingson, The Holdovers
Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer, Maestro
Samy Burch, May December
Celine Song, Past Lives

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Cord Jefferson, American Fiction
Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, Barbie
Tony McNamara, Poor Things
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

Io Capitano, Italy
Perfect Days, Japan
Society of the Snow, Spain
The Teacher’s Lounge, Germany
The Zone of Interest, United Kingdom

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

The Boy and the Heron
Elemental
Nimona
Robot Dreams
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Bobi Wine: The People’s President
The Eternal Memory
Four Daughters
To Kill a Tiger
20 Days in Mariupol

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

El Conde
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

BEST EDITING

Anatomy of a Fall
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP 

Golda
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Society of the Snow

BEST SOUND

The Creator
Maestro
Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One
Oppenheimer
The Zone of Interest

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

The Creator
Godzilla Minus One
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One
Napoleon

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“What Was I Made For?”, Billie Eilish and Finneas, Barbie
“I’m Just Ken,” Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, Barbie
“The Fire Inside,” Diane Warren, Flamin’ Hot
“It Never Went Away,” Jon Batiste, American Symphony
“Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People),” Osage Tribal Singers, Killers of the Flower Moon

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

American Fiction
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT

The After
Invincible
Knight of Fortune
Red, White and Blue
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

Letter to a Pig
Ninety-Five Senses
Our Uniform
Pachyderme
War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

The ABCs of Book Banning
The Barber of Little Rock
Island in Between
The Last Repair Shop
Nai Nai & Wai Po

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Oscar Predictions 2023

It’s that time again! See below for my predictions for this year’s Oscars, airing on Sunday. We’re springing forward this weekend too so it’s gonna be a late night! My picks in red.

Best Picture

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Malte Grunert, Producer

“Avatar: The Way of Water,” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers

“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh, Producers

“Elvis,” Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick and Schuyler Weiss, Producers

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert and Jonathan Wang, Producers

“The Fabelmans,” Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner, Producers

“Tár,” Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert, Producers

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison and Jerry Bruckheimer, Producers

“Triangle of Sadness,” Erik Hemmendorff and Philippe Bober, Producers

“Women Talking,” Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Frances McDormand, Producers

Best Director 

Martin McDonagh (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 

Steven Spielberg (“The Fabelmans”) 

Todd Field (“Tár”) 

Ruben Östlund (“Triangle of Sadness”)

Best Lead Actor

Austin Butler (“Elvis”) 

Colin Farrell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”) 

Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”) 

Bill Nighy (“Living”) 

Best Lead Actress

Cate Blanchett (“Tár”) 

Ana de Armas (“Blonde”) 

Andrea Riseborough (“To Leslie”)

Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”) 

Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)

Best Supporting Actor

Brendan Gleeson (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Brian Tyree Henry (“Causeway”) 

Judd Hirsch (“The Fabelmans”)

Barry Keoghan (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Ke Huy Quan (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 

Best Supporting Actress

Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”) 

Hong Chau (“The Whale”) 

Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Jamie Lee Curtis (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 

Stephanie Hsu (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)

Best Adapted Screenplay

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Screenplay by Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson & Ian Stokell

“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” Written by Rian Johnson

“Living,” Written by Kazuo Ishiguro

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie; Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks

“Women Talking,” Screenplay by Sarah Polley

Best Original Screenplay

“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Written by Martin McDonagh

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Written by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert

“The Fabelmans,” Written by Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner

“Tár,” Written by Todd Field

“Triangle of Sadness,” Written by Ruben Östlund

Best Cinematography 

“All Quiet on the Western Front”, James Friend

“Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths,” Darius Khondji

“Elvis,” Mandy Walker

“Empire of Light,” Roger Deakins

“Tár,” Florian Hoffmeister

Best Documentary Feature Film 

“All That Breathes,” Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann and Teddy Leifer

“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin and Yoni Golijov

“Fire of Love,” Sara Dosa, Shane Boris and Ina Fichman

“A House Made of Splinters,” Simon Lereng Wilmont and Monica Hellström

“Navalny,” Daniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris

Best Documentary Short Film 

“The Elephant Whisperers,” Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga

“Haulout,” Evgenia Arbugaeva and Maxim Arbugaev

“How Do You Measure a Year?” Jay Rosenblatt

“The Martha Mitchell Effect,” Anne Alvergue and Beth Levison

“Stranger at the Gate,” Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones

Best Film Editing

“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Mikkel E.G. Nielsen

“Elvis,” Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Paul Rogers

“Tár,” Monika Willi

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Eddie Hamilton

Best International Feature Film 

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Germany) 

“Argentina, 1985” (Argentina) 

“Close” (Belgium)

“EO” (Poland) 

“The Quiet Girl” (Ireland) 

Best Original Song 

“Applause” from “Tell It Like a Woman,” Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

“Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick,” Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop

“Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; Lyric by Tems and Ryan Coogler

“Naatu Naatu” from “RRR,” Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose  

“This Is a Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; Lyric by Ryan Lott and David Byrne 

Best Production Design 

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Production Design: Christian M. Goldbeck; Set Decoration: Ernestine Hipper

“Avatar: The Way of Water,” Production Design: Dylan Cole and Ben Procter; Set Decoration: Vanessa Cole

“Babylon,” Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino

“Elvis,” Production Design: Catherine Martin and Karen Murphy; Set Decoration: Bev Dunn

“The Fabelmans,” Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara

Best Visual Effects

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Frank Petzold, Viktor Müller, Markus Frank and Kamil Jafar

“Avatar: The Way of Water,” Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett

“The Batman,” Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands and Dominic Tuohy

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, R. Christopher White and Dan Sudick

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson and Scott R. Fisher

Best Animated Feature Film 

“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar and Alex Bulkley

“Marcel the Shell With Shoes On,” Dean Fleischer Camp, Elisabeth Holm, Andrew Goldman, Caroline Kaplan and Paul Mezey

“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” Joel Crawford and Mark Swift

“The Sea Beast,” Chris Williams and Jed Schlanger

“Turning Red,” Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins

Best Animated Short Film

“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,” Charlie Mackesy and Matthew Freud

“The Flying Sailor,” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

“Ice Merchants,” João Gonzalez and Bruno Caetano

“My Year of Dicks,” Sara Gunnarsdóttir and Pamela Ribon

“An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It,” Lachlan Pendragon

Best Costume Design 

“Babylon,” Mary Zophres

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Ruth Carter

“Elvis,” Catherine Martin

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Shirley Kurata

“Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,” Jenny Beavan

Best Live Action Short

“An Irish Goodbye,” Tom Berkeley and Ross White

“Ivalu,” Anders Walter and Rebecca Pruzan

“Le Pupille,” Alice Rohrwacher and Alfonso Cuarón

“Night Ride,” Eirik Tveiten and Gaute Lid Larssen

“The Red Suitcase,” Cyrus Neshvad

Best Makeup and Hairstyling 

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Heike Merker and Linda Eisenhamerová

“The Batman,” Naomi Donne, Mike Marino and Mike Fontaine

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Camille Friend and Joel Harlow

“Elvis,” Mark Coulier, Jason Baird and Aldo Signoretti

“The Whale,” Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Anne Marie Bradley

Best Original Score 

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Volker Bertelmann

“Babylon,” Justin Hurwitz

“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Carter Burwell

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Son Lux

“The Fabelmans,” John Williams

Best Sound

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Viktor Prášil, Frank Kruse, Markus Stemler, Lars Ginzel and Stefan Korte

“Avatar: The Way of Water,” Julian Howarth, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Dick Bernstein, Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers and Michael Hedges

“The Batman,” Stuart Wilson, William Files, Douglas Murray and Andy Nelson

“Elvis,” David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson and Michael Keller

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor

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Oscar Predictions 2020

It’s that time again – the Oscars are tomorrow night. Below are my predictions. I’ve seen 5 of the 9 films nominated for Best Picture. I’m not sure if 1917 (which I’ve seen) will win over Parasite (which I haven’t) so I’m going with 1917. Besides, a foreign film has never won Best Picture so the odds are tipped in 1917’s favor.

The four acting categories are shoe-ins, in my mind so those were easy picks. I’m never sure in the short film category so I’m going with popular opinion.

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

• ANTONIO BANDERAS, Pain and Glory
• LEONARDO DICAPRIO, Once upon a Time…in Hollywood
• ADAM DRIVER. Marriage Story
• JOAQUIN PHOENIX. Joker
• JONATHAN PRYCE, The Two Popes

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• TOM HANKS, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
• ANTHONY HOPKINS, The Two Popes
• AL PACINO, The Irishman
• JOE PESCI, The Irishman
• BRAD PITT, Once upon a Time…in Hollywood

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

• CYNTHIA ERIVO, Harriet
• SCARLETT JOHANSSON, Marriage Story
• SAOIRSE RONAN, Little Women
• CHARLIZE THERON, Bombshell
• RENÉE ZELLWEGER, Judy

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• KATHY BATES, Richard Jewell
• LAURA DERN, Marriage Story
• SCARLETT JOHANSSON, Jojo Rabbit
• FLORENCE PUGH, Little Women
• MARGOT ROBBIE, Bombshell

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

• HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD, Dean DeBlois, Bradford Lewis and Bonnie Arnold
• I LOST MY BODY, Jérémy Clapin and Marc du Pontavice
• KLAUS, Sergio Pablos, Jinko Gotoh and Marisa Román
• MISSING LINK, Chris Butler, Arianne Sutner and Travis Knight
• TOY STORY 4, Josh Cooley, Mark Nielsen and Jonas Rivera

CINEMATOGRAPHY

• THE IRISHMAN, Rodrigo Prieto
• JOKER, Lawrence Sher
• THE LIGHTHOUSE, Jarin Blaschke
• 1917, Roger Deakins
• ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD, Robert Richardson

COSTUME DESIGN

• THE IRISHMAN, Sandy Powell and Christopher Peterson
• JOJO RABBIT, Mayes C. Rubeo
• JOKER, Mark Bridges
• LITTLE WOMEN, Jacqueline Durran
• ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD, Arianne Phillips

DIRECTING

• THE IRISHMAN, Martin Scorsese
• JOKER, Todd Phillips
• 1917, Sam Mendes
• ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD, Quentin Tarantino
• PARASITE, Bong Joon Ho

DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)

• AMERICAN FACTORY. Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert and Jeff Reichert
• THE CAVE, Feras Fayyad, Kirstine Barfod and Sigrid Dyekjær
• THE EDGE OF DEMOCRACY, Petra Costa, Joanna Natasegara, Shane Boris and Tiago Pavan
• FOR SAMA, Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts
• HONEYLAND, Ljubo Stefanov, Tamara Kotevska and Atanas Georgiev

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)

• IN THE ABSENCE, Yi Seung-Jun and Gary Byung-Seok Kam
• LEARNING TO SKATEBOARD IN A WARZONE (IF YOU’RE A GIRL), Carol Dysinger and Elena Andreicheva
• LIFE OVERTAKES ME, John Haptas and Kristine Samuelson
• ST. LOUIS SUPERMAN, Smriti Mundhra and Sami Khan
• WALK RUN CHA-CHA, Laura Nix and Colette Sandstedt

FILM EDITING

• FORD V FERRARI, Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland
• THE IRISHMAN, Thelma Schoonmaker
• JOJO RABBIT, Tom Eagles
• JOKER, Jeff Groth
• PARASITE, Yang Jinmo

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

• CORPUS CHRISTI, Poland
• HONEYLAND, North Macedonia
• LES MISÉRABLES, France
• PAIN AND GLORY, Spain
• PARASITE, South Korea

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

• BOMBSHELL, Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan and Vivian Baker
• JOKER, Nicki Ledermann and Kay Georgiou
• JUDY, Jeremy Woodhead
• MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL, Paul Gooch, Arjen Tuiten and David White
• 1917, Naomi Donne, Tristan Versluis and Rebecca Cole

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

• JOKER, Hildur Guðnadóttir
• LITTLE WOMEN, Alexandre Desplat
• MARRIAGE STORY, Randy Newman
• 1917, Thomas Newman
• STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER, John Williams

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

• I CAN’T LET YOU THROW YOURSELF AWAY, from Toy Story 4; Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• (I’M GONNA) LOVE ME AGAIN, from Rocketman; Music by Elton John; Lyric by Bernie Taupin
• I’M STANDING WITH YOU, from Breakthrough; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
• INTO THE UNKNOWN, from Frozen II; Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
• STAND UP, from Harriet; Music and Lyric by Joshuah Brian Campbell and Cynthia Erivo

BEST PICTURE

• FORD V FERRARI, Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping and James Mangold, Producers
• THE IRISHMAN, Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Producers
• JOJO RABBIT, Carthew Neal, Taika Waititi and Chelsea Winstanley, Producers
• JOKER, Todd Phillips, Bradley Cooper and Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Producers
• LITTLE WOMEN, Amy Pascal, Producer
• MARRIAGE STORY, Noah Baumbach and David Heyman, Producers
• 1917, Sam Mendes, Pippa Harris, Jayne-Ann Tenggren and Callum McDougall, Producers
• ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD, David Heyman, Shannon McIntosh and Quentin Tarantino, Producers
• PARASITE, Kwak Sin Ae and Bong Joon Ho, Producers

PRODUCTION DESIGN

• THE IRISHMAN, Production Design: Bob Shaw; Set Decoration: Regina Graves
• JOJO RABBIT, Production Design: Ra Vincent; Set Decoration: Nora Sopková
• 1917, Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales
• ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD, Production Design: Barbara Ling; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
• PARASITE, Production Design: Lee Ha Jun; Set Decoration: Cho Won Woo

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

• DCERA (DAUGHTER), Daria Kashcheeva
• HAIR LOVE, Matthew A. Cherry and Karen Rupert Toliver
• KITBULL, Rosana Sullivan and Kathryn Hendrickson
• MEMORABLE, Bruno Collet and Jean-François Le Corre
• SISTER, Siqi Song

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)

• BROTHERHOOD, Meryam Joobeur and Maria Gracia Turgeon
• NEFTA FOOTBALL CLUB, Yves Piat and Damien Megherbi
• THE NEIGHBORS’ WINDOW, Marshall Curry
• SARIA, Bryan Buckley and Matt Lefebvre
• A SISTER, Delphine Girard

SOUND EDITING

• FORD V FERRARI, Donald Sylvester
• JOKER, Alan Robert Murray
• 1917, Oliver Tarney and Rachael Tate
• ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD, Wylie Stateman
• STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER, Matthew Wood and David Acord

SOUND MIXING

• AD ASTRA, Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson and Mark Ulano
• FORD V FERRARI, Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Steven A. Morrow
• JOKER, Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic and Tod Maitland
• 1917, Mark Taylor and Stuart Wilson
• ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD, Michael Minkler, Christian P. Minkler and Mark Ulano

VISUAL EFFECTS

• AVENGERS: ENDGAME, Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Matt Aitken and Dan Sudick
• THE IRISHMAN, Pablo Helman, Leandro Estebecorena, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser and Stephane Grabli
• THE LION KING, Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Elliot Newman
• 1917, Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler and Dominic Tuohy
• STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER, Roger Guyett, Neal Scanlan, Patrick Tubach and Dominic Tuohy

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

• THE IRISHMAN, Screenplay by Steven Zaillian
• JOJO RABBIT, Screenplay by Taika Waititi
• JOKER, Written by Todd Phillips & Scott Silver
• LITTLE WOMEN, Written for the screen by Greta Gerwig
• THE TWO POPES, Written by Anthony McCarten

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

• KNIVES OUT, Written by Rian Johnson
• MARRIAGE STORY, Written by Noah Baumbach
• 1917, Written by Sam Mendes & Krysty Wilson-Cairns
• ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD, Written by Quentin Tarantino
• PARASITE, Screenplay by Bong Joon Ho, Han Jin Won; Story by Bong Joon Ho

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2019 Oscar Predictions

I know, I know. I’m really late with this one this year. Mainly because I have no idea who’s going to win the Best Picture or Best Actor categories…so up in the air. But here goes nonetheless! My predictions are in green. I’ve only seen 5 of the Best Picture nominees so my first-hand knowledge is biased. Here we go!!

Best Picture:

“Black Panther”
“BlacKkKlansman”
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“The Favourite”
“Green Book”
“Roma”
“A Star Is Born”
“Vice”

Lead Actor:

Christian Bale, “Vice”
Bradley Cooper, “A Star Is Born”
Willem Dafoe, “At Eternity’s Gate”
Rami Malek, “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Viggo Mortensen, “Green Book”

Lead 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?”

Supporting Actor:

Mahershala Ali, “Green Book”
Adam Driver, “BlacKkKlansman”
Sam Elliott, “A Star Is Born”
Richard E. Grant, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Sam Rockwell, “Vice”

Supporting Actress:
Amy Adams, “Vice”
Marina de Tavira, “Roma”
Regina King, “If Beale Street Could Talk”
Emma Stone, “The Favourite”
Rachel Weisz, “The Favourite”

Director:

Spike Lee, “BlacKkKlansman”
Pawel Pawlikowski, “Cold War”
Yorgos Lanthimos, “The Favourite”
Alfonso Cuarón, “Roma”
Adam McKay, “Vice”

Animated Feature:

“Incredibles 2,” Brad Bird
“Isle of Dogs,” Wes Anderson
“Mirai,” Mamoru Hosoda
“Ralph Breaks the Internet,” Rich Moore, Phil Johnston
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman

Animated Short:

“Animal Behaviour,” Alison Snowden, David Fine
“Bao,” Domee Shi
“Late Afternoon,” Louise Bagnall
“One Small Step,” Andrew Chesworth, Bobby Pontillas
“Weekends,” Trevor Jimenez

Adapted Screenplay:

“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” Joel Coen , Ethan Coen
“BlacKkKlansman,” Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott, Spike Lee
“Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty
“If Beale Street Could Talk,” Barry Jenkins
“A Star Is Born,” Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper, Will Fetters

Original Screenplay:

“The Favourite,” Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara
“First Reformed,” Paul Schrader
“Green Book,” Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly
“Roma,” Alfonso Cuarón
“Vice,” Adam McKay

Cinematography:

“Cold War,” Lukasz Zal
“The Favourite,” Robbie Ryan
“Never Look Away,” Caleb Deschanel
“Roma,” Alfonso Cuarón
“A Star Is Born,” Matthew Libatique

Best Documentary Feature:

“Free Solo,” Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
“Hale County This Morning, This Evening,” RaMell Ross
“Minding the Gap,” Bing Liu
“Of Fathers and Sons,” Talal Derki
“RBG,” Betsy West, Julie Cohen

Best Documentary Short Subject:

“Black Sheep,” Ed Perkins
“End Game,” Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman
“Lifeboat,” Skye Fitzgerald
“A Night at the Garden,” Marshall Curry
“Period. End of Sentence.,” Rayka Zehtabchi

Best Live Action Short Film: 
“Detainment,” Vincent Lambe
“Fauve,” Jeremy Comte
“Marguerite,” Marianne Farley
“Mother,” Rodrigo Sorogoyen
“Skin,” Guy Nattiv

Best Foreign Language Film:

“Capernaum” (Lebanon)
“Cold War” (Poland)
“Never Look Away” (Germany)
“Roma” (Mexico)
“Shoplifters” (Japan)

Film Editing:

“BlacKkKlansman,” Barry Alexander Brown
“Bohemian Rhapsody,” John Ottman
“Green Book,” Patrick J. Don Vito
“The Favourite,” Yorgos Mavropsaridis
“Vice,” Hank Corwin

Sound Editing:

“Black Panther,” Benjamin A. Burtt, Steve Boeddeker
“Bohemian Rhapsody,” John Warhurst
“First Man,” Ai-Ling Lee, Mildred Iatrou Morgan
“A Quiet Place,” Ethan Van der Ryn, Erik Aadahl
“Roma,” Sergio Diaz, Skip Lievsay

Sound Mixing:

“Black Panther”
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“First Man”
“Roma”
“A Star Is Born”

Production Design:

“Black Panther,” Hannah Beachler
“First Man,” Nathan Crowley, Kathy Lucas
“The Favourite,” Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton
“Mary Poppins Returns,” John Myhre, Gordon Sim
“Roma,” Eugenio Caballero, Bárbara Enrı́quez

Original Score:

“BlacKkKlansman,” Terence Blanchard
“Black Panther,” Ludwig Goransson
“If Beale Street Could Talk,” Nicholas Britell
“Isle of Dogs,” Alexandre Desplat
“Mary Poppins Returns,” Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman

Original Song:

“All The Stars” from “Black Panther” by Kendrick Lamar, SZA
“I’ll Fight” from “RBG” by Diane Warren, Jennifer Hudson
“The Place Where Lost Things Go” from “Mary Poppins Returns” by Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman
“Shallow” from “A Star Is Born” by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, Andrew Wyatt and Benjamin Rice
“When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” from “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch

Makeup and Hair:

“Border”
“Mary Queen of Scots”
“Vice”

Costume Design:

“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” Mary Zophres
“Black Panther,” Ruth E. Carter
“The Favourite,” Sandy Powell
“Mary Poppins Returns,” Sandy Powell
“Mary Queen of Scots,” Alexandra Byrne

Visual Effects:

“Avengers: Infinity War”
“Christopher Robin”
“First Man”
“Ready Player One”
“Solo: A Star Wars Story”

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2018 Europe Trip Recap – Part 7 – Dubrovnik (Croatia)

Day 8: The highlight of this stop was the Game of Thrones tour. We’re big fans of the books and the show and to see some of the locations where some scenes were filmed was pretty awesome. 🙂 For those of you who don’t know, the old town of Dubrovnik was the setting for King’s Landing as well as Qarth. Scenes filmed there include the scenes in Blackwater Bay, Cersei’s Walk of Shame and the steps of the Sept of Baelor, the House of the Undying, many market scenes in Kings’s Landing as well as various other scenes (Myrcella departing for Dorne, Cersei and the return of her daughter (who she doesn’t know was dead at the time).

But before we got off the cruise ship, the fun started in the theater on-board where the passengers gathered to be called for the tours. As the Game of Thrones folks exited the theater, we were greeted by cruise ship staff ringing a bell over our heads as we headed to Deck 4 crying out “Shame!” Super fun. 🙂

We met our guide and she led us to what is known as the “Red Keep”. The fortress itself is a nice building, but seeing the spots where King Joffrey spoke and the views familiar from the show made it even more memorable.

After exploring the Keep, we headed into the Old Town which turned out to be a very cool walled medieval town. We made several stops in the town, our guide showing photos of the scenes in the show so we can see what was original and what was CGI. It was really interesting. She added in some history of the town including the recent war they endured and that the town still shows marks of. We got to see the staircase where Cersei did her walk of shame – which, it turns out, was filmed in 3 separate areas of the town!

When we climbed the city walls, we saw amazing views of the town plus the House of the Undying where Daenerys was looking for her dragons. Super cool.

We climbed the city walls (a lot of stairs both up and down) and got to see amazing views of the town. It’s very beautiful.

We swung by the GOT store and picked up a couple of t-shirts (I’m not a Princess, I’m a Khaleesi :)) and had a photo op on the Iron Throne. (See below). We strolled around the town a bit more, then returned to our meeting point.

I would return to see some more of the town. Lots to see here.

The Red Keep

Sansa and Little Finger spoke here

Cersei waited for the return of her daughter here

Joffrey spoke from up there

Entering the old town

Passing through Pile Gate

Walk of Shame staircase – part 1

Chris, not looking the least bit ashamed

Inside here is the staircase where Daenerys meets the Spice King

Walk of shame – Part 2

Walk of shame – Part 3

Protest speech filmed here

Walking along the city walls

Red Keep from afar

Where Daenerys looked for her dragons in the House of the Undying

My rightful place 🙂 Inform the Realm.

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2018 Oscar Predictions

Ok. Here they are people – after a ton of movie-watching and flip-flopping back and forth, I finally put my picks together for the Oscars tonight (in red below). And I’m still not 100% on the Best Picture (torn between Three Billboard and Shape of Water), but time has run out so here we are.

BEST PICTURE
Call Me by Your Name
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Get Out
Lady Bird
Phantom Thread
The Post
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson (“Phantom Thread”)
Guillermo del Toro (“The Shape of Water”)
Greta Gerwig (“Lady Bird”)
Christopher Nolan (“Dunkirk”)
Jordan Peele (“Get Out”)

BEST ACTOR
Timothée Chalamet (“Call Me by Your Name”)
Daniel Day-Lewis(“Phantom Thread”)
Daniel Kaluuya (“Get Out”)
Gary Oldman (“Darkest Hour”)
Denzel Washington (“Roman J. Israel, Esq.)

BEST ACTRESS
Sally Hawkins (“The Shape of Water”)
Frances McDormand (“Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri”)
Margot Robbie (“I, Tonya”)
Saoirse Ronan (“Lady Bird”)
Meryl Streep (“The Post”)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Willem Dafoe (“The Florida Project”)
Woody Harrelson (“Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri”)
Richard Jenkins (“The Shape of Water”)
Christopher Plummer (“All the Money in the World”)
Sam Rockwell (“Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri”)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Mary J. Blige (“Mudbound”)
Allison Janney (“I, Tonya”)
Lesley Manville (“Phantom Thread”)
Laurie Metcalf (“Lady Bird”)
Octavia Spencer (“The Shape of Water”)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Big Sick
Get Out
Lady Bird
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Call Me By Your Name
The Disaster Artist
Logan
Molly’s Game
Mudbound

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Boss Baby
The Breadwinner
Coco
Ferdinand
Loving Vincent

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Beauty and the Beast
Blade Runner 2049
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Blade Runner 2049
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Mubdound
The Shape of Water

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Beauty and the Beast
Darkest Hour
Phantom Thread
The Shape of Water
Victoria and Abdul

BEST FILM EDITING
Baby Driver
Dunkirk
I, Tonya
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Darkest Hour
Victoria and Abdul
Wonder

BEST SOUND MIXING
Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi

BEST SOUND EDITING
Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Blade Runner 2049
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Kong: Skull Island
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
War for the Planet of the Apes

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Dunkirk
Phantom Thread
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Call Me by Your Name (“The Mystery of Love”)
Coco (“Remember Me”)
The Greatest Showman (“This Is Me”)
Marshall (“Stand Up for Something”)
Mudbound (“Mighty River”)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
Faces Places
Icarus
Last Men in Aleppo
Strong Island

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“A Fantastic Woman” (CHILE)
“The Insult” (LEBANON)
“Loveless” (RUSSIA)
“On Body and Soul” (HUNGARY)
“The Square” (SWEDEN)

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
Dear Basketball
Garden City
Lou
Negative Space
Revolting Rhymes

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Edith+Eddie
Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405
Herion(e)
Knife Skills
Traffic Stop

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
Deklab Elementary
The Eleven O’Clock
My Nephew Emmett
The Silent Child
Watu Wote/All of Us

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2018 Oscar Nominees – Initial Impressions

Like every year, as soon as the Golden Globe nominees are announced, I start watching the potential Oscar Best Picture nominees (since they often align with the Globes). I’ve managed to watch all but one but since I’m not sure if I’ll be able to watch the last straggler (Phantom Thread), I figured I’d share my impressions for the big categories.

Best Picture – Nominees

• Call Me By Your Name
• Darkest Hour
• Dunkirk
• Get Out
• Lady Bird
• Phantom Thread
• The Post
• The Shape of Water
• Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Summary: You know how a movie can stay with you for weeks after you’ve watched it? Those are usually the ones that grab my attention and make my top picks. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is staying with me. I love Frances McDormand – she often plays a badass and this movie is no different.  The story was engrossing and the cast was great. Sam Rockwell’s transformation in the movie was very compelling. Woody Harrelson was also very good (he is everywhere there days – good for him!) It was an all around solid movie.

My second pick, believe it or not, is The Shape of Water. I know many people found it weird. And it was. But there was something really beautiful about it from Sally Hawkins’ powerful performance as a mute to the relationship between her and the critter, to the friendship between her and Richard Jenkins’ character, to Octavia Spencer. Another, all around solid movie.

I’m still torn about who I’d vote for between the two. I have a feeling the two lead acting categories will go to Three Billboards, and Best Picture will go to The Shape of Water for the ensemble to avoid a sweep of the top three.

The others were OK but in my opinion not Oscar worthy, although there were some stand out performances. There were many “middling” movies that seemed to make the cut because they ran out of great ones to choose from. It’s been like this ever since they increased the number of nominated films up from 5 so I guess it’s to be expected.

Actor in a Leading Role – Nominees

• Timothee Chalamet
• Daniel Day-Lewis
• Daniel Kaluuya
• Gary Oldman
• Denzel Washington

Summary: Gary Oldman who played Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour is a shoe in for this category. Enough said.

Actress in a Leading Role – Nominees

• Sally Hawkins
• Frances McDormand
• Margot Robbie
• Saorise Ronan
• Meryl Streep

Summary: I’m torn here too between Frances McDormand and Sally Hawkins. So tough. I think I’m leaning slightly towards Frances because of the emotion of the role. But Sally, as a mute, was able to convey so much power and emotion too, which could be considered a greater achievement than a speaking role. Very tough.

Actor in a Supporting Role:

• Willem Dafoe
• Woody Harrelson
• Richard Jenkins
• Christopher Plummer
• Sam Rockwell

Summary: I think Sam Rockwell has it. Although – it would be a hoot for Christopher Plummer to win, especially after stepping to replace Kevin Spacey and reshooting all his scenes.

Actress in a Supporting Role:

• Mary J. Blige
• Allison Janney
• Lesley Manville
• Laurie Metcalf
• Octavia Spencer

Summary: Allison Janney hands down as Tonya Harding’s mom.

I’ll post my full ballot closer to the Oscars – which is on March 4th this year. Set your PVRs. 🙂

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Oscar Predictions 2017

It’s that time of year! Once again, I went on a mission to watch all the nominated pictures so I feel pretty good about my picks. In summary, for the big categories: I felt that due to the lack of really AMAZING movies, the results will be skewed, primarily towards La La Land. It was good – different, good story, nice imagery/cinematography, nice music, likable actors – BUT – put it in another year against really great films and I don’t think it would do as well.

That said, there were some standout performances this year. Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea gave a somewhat subdued performance and his character was so tightly wound throughout the movie that I physically felt it build up and snap at the end. Not many performances can do that. In my mind, the only other contender is Andrew Garfield for Hacksaw Ridge but that’s not the typical Academy fare for Best Actor. But again, if you pair either against Russel Crowe in A Beautiful Mind, Sean Penn in I Am Sam or Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything, they would lose.

I feel like Denzel keeps playing the same character over and over again. I’m over it. Best Supporting Actor will likely go to Mahershala Ali for Moonlight, due to lack of competition and to reward the film for something. It was very similar to Boyhood. Been there done that, but this time with 3 different actors.

For Best Actress, Emma Stone was good in La La Land but again, I think she’ll win mainly due to lack of competition.  Regardless, I’m a big fan and I’m happy that she was in the right place at the right time this year to win it. Best Supporting Actress is clearly Viola Davis for Fences – without question. Just give it to her already.

And animated short HAS to go to Piper – what’s not to like? Adorbs. Watch it here – just 4 minutes and you’ll be smiling at the end.

Below are all the nominees with my official picks in red:

Best Picture

• Arrival
• Fences
• Hacksaw Ridge
• Hell or High Water
• Hidden Figures
• La La Land
• Lion
• Manchester by the Sea
• Moonlight

Directing

• Denis Villeneuve, Arrival
• Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge
• Damien Chazelle, La La Land
• Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea
• Barry Jenkins, Moonlight

Actor in a Leading Role

• Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
• Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge
• Ryan Gosling, La La Land
• Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic
• Denzel Washington, Fences

Actress in a Leading Role

• Isabelle Huppert, Elle
• Ruth Negga, Loving
• Natalie Portman, Jackie
• Emma Stone, La La Land
• Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Viola Davis, Fences
• Naomie Harris, Moonlight
• Nicole Kidman, Lion
• Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures
• Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
• Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water
• Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea
• Dev Patel, Lion
• Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals

Adapted Screenplay

• Arrival, Eric Heisserer
• Fences, August Wilson
• Hidden Figures, Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi
• Lion, Luke Davies
• Moonlight, Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney

Original Screenplay

• Hell or High Water, Taylor Sheridan
• La La Land, Damien Chazelle
• The Lobster, Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou
• Manchester by the Sea, Kenneth Lonergan
• 20th Century Women, Mike Mills

Animated Feature Film

• Kubo and the Two Strings
• Moana
• My Life as a Zucchini
• The Red Turtle
• Zootopia

Foreign Language Film

• Land of Mine (Denmark)
• A Man Called Ove (Sweden)
• The Salesman (Iran)
• Tanna (Australia)
• Toni Erdmann (Germany)

Documentary Feature

• Fire at Sea
• I Am Not Your Negro
• Life, Animated
• O.J.: Made in America
• 13th

Cinematography

• Arrival, Bradford Young
• La La Land, Linus Sandgren
• Lion, Greig Fraser
• Moonlight, James Laxton
• Silence, Rodrigo Prieto

Film Editing

• Arrival, Joe Walker
• Hacksaw Ridge, John Gilbert
• Hell or High Water, Jake Roberts
• La La Land, Tom Cross
• Moonlight, Nat Sanders and Joi McMillon

Production Design

• Arrival, Patrice Vermette and Paul Hotte
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Stuart Craig and Anna Pinnock
• Hail, Caesar! , Jess Gonchor and Nancy Haigh
• La La Land, Davis Wasco and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco
• Passengers, Guy Hendrix Dyas and Gene Serdena

Costume Design

• Allied, Joanna Johnston
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Colleen Atwood
• Florence Foster Jenkins, Consolata Boyle
• Jackie, Madeline Fontaine
• La La Land, Mary Zophres

Makeup and Hairstyling

• A Man Called Ove, Eva von Bahr and Love Larson
• Star Trek Beyond, Joel Harlow and Richard Alonzo
• Suicide Squad, Alessandro Bertolazzi, Giorgio Gregorini, and Christopher Nelson

Original Score

• Jackie, Mica Levi
• La La Land, Justin Hurwitz
• Lion, Dustin O’Halloran and Hauschka
• Moonlight, Nicholas Britell
• Passengers, Thomas Newman

Original Song

• “Audition (The Fools who Dream),” La La Land, music by Justin Hurwitz, lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
• “Can’t Stop the Feeling,” Trolls, music and lyric by Justin Timberlake, Max Martin, and Karl Johan Schuster
• “City of Stars,” La La Land, music by Justin Hurwitz, lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
• “The Empty Chair,” Jim: The James Foley Story, music and lyric by J. Ralph and Sting
• “How Far I’ll Go,” Moana, music and lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda

Sound Editing

• Arrival, Sylvain Bellemare
• Deepwater Horizon, Wylie Stateman and Renée Tondelli
• Hacksaw Ridge, Robert Mackenzie and Andy Wright
• La La Land, Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan
• Sully, Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman

Sound Mixing

• Arrival, Bernard Gariépy Strobl and Claude La Haye
• Hacksaw Ridge, Kevin O’Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie, and Peter Grace
• La La Land, Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee, and Steve A. Morrow
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio, and Stuart Wilson
• 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush, and Mac Ruth

Visual Effects

• Deepwater Horizon, Craig Hammack, Jason Snell, Justin Billington, and Burt Dalton
• Doctor Strange, Stephane Ceretti, Richard Bluff, Vincent Cirelli, and Paul Corbould
• The Jungle Book, Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones, and Dan Lemmon
• Kubo and the Two Strings, Steve Emerson, Oliver Jones, Brian McLean, and Brad Schiff
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, John Knoll, Mohen Leo, Hal Hickel, and Neil Corbould

Animated Short Film

• Blind Vaysha
• Borrowed Time
• Pear Cider and Cigarettes
• Pearl
• Piper

Live Action Short Film

• Ennemis Intérieurs
• La Femme et le TGV
• Silent Nights
• Sing
• Timecode

Documentary Short Subject

• Extremis
• 4.1 Miles
• Joe’s Violin
• Watani: My Homeland
• The White Helmets

Good luck!

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Oscar 2016 Predictions

It’s Oscar day! As in the past, I’ve tried my best to watch all the nominated films and performances (at least in the major categories) and I’ve listed my picks below in bold. There were some great films this year and some really memorable performances. The Revenant, The Big Short and Spotlight were my favorite films of those nominated. There were things done in Mad Max: Fury Road that should have been impossible – I think it’ll pick up several of the technical awards. The one category I’m not sure about is supporting actor – I picked Stallone for the nostalgia factor but both Tom Hardy and Mark Ruffalo gave great performances – it could go either way.

Good luck!

BEST PICTURE

The Big Short

Bridge of Spies

Brooklyn

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Room

Spotlight

=============================

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Bryan Cranston, Trumbo

Matt Damon, The Martian

Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant

Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs

Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

=============================

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Cate Blanchett, Carol

Brie Larson, Room

Jennifer Lawrence, Joy

Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years

Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

=============================

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Christian Bale, The Big Short

Tom Hardy, The Revenant

Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight

Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies

Sylvester Stallone, Creed

=============================

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight

Rooney Mara, Carol

Rachel McAdams, Spotlight

Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

=============================

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Anomalisa

Boy and the World

Inside Out

Shaun the Sheep Movie

When Marnie Was There

=============================

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Carol

The Hateful Eight

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant

Sicario

=============================

COSTUME DESIGN

Carol

Cinderella

The Danish Girl

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant

=============================

DIRECTING

The Big Short

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant

Room

Spotlight

=============================

DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)

Amy

Cartel Land

The Look of Silence

What Happened, Miss Simone?

Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom

=============================

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)

Body Team 12

Chau, beyond the Lines

Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah

A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness

Last Day of Freedom

=============================

FILM EDITING

The Big Short

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant

Spotlight

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

=============================

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Embrace of the Serpent

Mustang

Son of Saul

Theeb

A War

=============================

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Mad Max: Fury Road

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared

The Revenant

=============================

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

Bridge of Spies

Carol

The Hateful Eight

Sicario

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

=============================

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

“Earned It,” Fifty Shades of Grey

“Manta Ray,” Racing Extinction

“Simple Song #3,” Youth

“Til It Happens To You,” The Hunting Ground

“Writing’s On The Wall,” Spectre

=============================

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Bridge of Spies

The Danish Girl

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

=============================

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

Bear Story

Prologue

Sanjay’s Super Team

We Can’t Live without Cosmos

World of Tomorrow

=============================

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)

Ave Maria

Day One

Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut)

Shok

Stutterer

=============================

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

=============================

VISUAL EFFECTS

Ex Machina

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

=============================

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

The Big Short

Brooklyn

Carol

The Martian

Room

=============================

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

Bridge of Spies

Ex Machina

Inside Out

Spotlight

Straight Outta Compton

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Oscars 2015 – Update

Here are the results – I didn’t do very well this year. I correctly predicted 16 out of 24. For some, I went with my heart instead of my head and that’s never a good strategy (Animated feature, Visual Effects, Makeup). 🙂 So happy Eddie Redmayne won for Best Actor – so deserving. I was surprised Boyhood lost the Editing race but happy that Whiplash won it. I thought NPH did OK as the host – it’s a tough gig.

Some of my favorite moments from the show (yes, I DID watch the whole thing) were: J.K. Simmons’ speech to Call Your Mom, Eddie Redmayne’s unrestrained glee, Lady Gaga’s tribute to the Sound of Music, the performance of Glory (song from Selma) and the exchange between Idina Menzel and John Travolta.

Here’s the list containing my predictions (bold) and the winners:

Best Picture

• “American Sniper”
• “Birdman”   winner
• “Boyhood”
• “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
• “The Imitation Game”
• “Selma”
• “The Theory of Everything”
• “Whiplash”

Best Actor

• Steve Carell, “Foxcatcher”
• Bradley Cooper, “American Sniper”
• Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Imitation Game”
• Michael Keaton, “Birdman”
• Eddie Redmayne, “The Theory of Everything”   winner

Best Actress

• Marion Cotillard, “Two Days, One Night”
• Felicity Jones, “The Theory of Everything”
• Julianne Moore, “Still Alice”   winner
• Rosamund Pike, “Gone Girl”
• Reese Witherspoon, “Wild”

Best Supporting Actor

• Robert Duvall, “The Judge”
• Ethan Hawke, “Boyhood”
• Edward Norton, “Birdman”
• Mark Ruffalo, “Foxcatcher”
• J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”   winner

Best Supporting Actress

• Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”   winner
• Laura Dern, “Wild”
• Keira Knightley, “The Imitation Game”
• Emma Stone, “Birdman”
• Meryl Streep, “Into the Woods”

Animated Feature Film

• “Big Hero 6”   winner
• “The Boxtrolls”
• “How to Train Your Dragon 2”
• “Song of the Sea”
• “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya”

Cinematography

• “Birdman”   winner
• “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
• “Ida”
• “Mr. Turner”
• “Unbroken”

Costume Design

• “The Grand Budapest Hotel”   winner
• “Inherent Vice”
• “Into the Woods”
• “Maleficent”
• “Mr. Turner”

Directing

• Alejandro González Iñárritu, “Birdman”   winner
• Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
• Bennett Miller, “Foxcatcher”
• Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
• Morten Tyldum, “The Imitation Game”

Documentary Feature

• “Citizenfour”   winner
• “Finding Vivian Maier”
• “Last Days in Vietnam”
• “The Salt of the Earth”
• “Virunga”

Documentary Short Subject

• “Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1”   winner
• “Joanna”
• “Our Curse”
• “The Reaper (La Parka)”
• “White Earth”

Film Editing

• “American Sniper”
• “Boyhood”
• “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
• “The Imitation Game”
• “Whiplash”   winner

Foreign Language Film

• “Ida,” Poland   winner
• “Leviathan,” Russia
• “Tangerines,” Estonia
• “Timbuktu,” Mauritania
• “Wild Tales,” Argentina

Makeup and Hairstyling

• “Foxcatcher”
• “The Grand Budapest Hotel”   winner
• “Guardians of the Galaxy”

Original Score

• “The Grand Budapest Hotel”   winner
• “The Imitation Game”
• “Interstellar”
• “Mr. Turner”
• “The Theory of Everything”

Original Song

• “Everything Is Awesome,” “The Lego Movie”
• “Glory,” “Selma”   winner
• “Grateful, “Beyond the Lights”
• “I”m Not Gonna Miss You,” “Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me”
• “Lost Stars,” “Begin Again”

Production Design

• “The Grand Budapest Hotel”   winner
• “The Imitation Game”
• “Interstellar”
• “Into the Woods”
• “Mr. Turner”

Animated Short Film

• “The Bigger Picture”
• “The Dam Keeper”
• “Feast”   winner
• “Me and My Moulton”
• “A Single Life”

Live Action Short Film

• “Aya”
• “Boogaloo and Graham”
• “Butter Lamp”
• “Parvaneh”
• “The Phone Call”  winner

Sound Editing

• “American Sniper”   winner
• “Birdman”
• “The Hobbitt: The Battle of the Five Armies”
• “Interstellar”
• “Unbroken”

Sound Mixing

• “American Sniper”
• “Birdman”
• “Interstellar”
• “Unbroken”
• “Whiplash”   winner

Visual Effects

• “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”
• “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”
• “Guardians of the Galaxy”
• “Interstellar”  winner
• “X-Men: Days of Future Past”

Adapted Screenplay

• “American Sniper”
• “The Imitation Game”  winner
• “Inherent Vice”
• “The Theory of Everything”
• “Whiplash”

Original Screenplay

• “Birdman”
• “Boyhood”
• “Foxcatcher”
• “The Grand Budapest Hotel”   winner
• “Nightcrawler”

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