Countdown to Oscar Night: Music

Original Song
"Mighty River" - Mudbound
"Mystery of Love" - Call Me By Your Name
"Remember Me" - Coco
"Stand Up for Something" - Marshall
"This is Me" - The Greatest Showman

Please, please Academy don't screw up this opportunity like you guys did last year (having John Legend sing the songs from La La Land... still upsets me). Let me direct the segment for you: Open with a circus themed, Broadway-esque production of "This is Me". At the close, the performers part leaving only Andra Day and Common to belt out the sweltering "Stand Up for Something". Ms. Mary J. Blige comes on stage to join them in the final chorus which melds perfectly into her "Mighty River". Throughout her performance subtle dancers perform choreography that recalls the muddy, 1940s Mississippi sharecropped fields. At the conclusion, the camera pans to Sufjan Stevens who is standing holding his guitar and flanked by Anthony Gonzalez and Luis Angel Gomez Jaramillo (the English and Spanish voice actors for Miguel from Coco). Mr. Stevens will slowly wind the audience down with his "Mystery of Love" and then he can play while the little Miguel's each get a verse of "Remember Me" (one in English and one in Spanish of course). All three sing the final bars together as the whole crowd stands up and claps for 3 minutes straight as tears stream down their faces!!! 

I'd like my Oscar producers check to be mailed to Amnesty International because this actually happening would be all the payment I need.  Also, all of these songs are stellar. Go to youtube now!

My Ballot
"Remember Me" - Coco
"Mystery of Love" - Call Me By Your Name
"Mighty River" - Mudbound
"This is Me" - The Greatest Showman
"Stand Up for Something" - Marshall

My Pick to Win
"Remember Me" - Coco

Shamefully Snubbed
"PBNJ" - Patti Cake$  (seriously!)


Original Score
Dunkirk
Phantom Thread
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Eventually I think the Academy will grant John Williams with another Oscar as an exclamation point and to solidify his position as the greatest cinematic musician of all time. I just don't think it will be this year. I honestly don't remember the score in Three Billboards, and Dunkirk was just ticking..... endless ticking.... That makes this a two horse race between Alexandre Desplat's The Shape of Water and Jonny Greenwood's (of Radiohead!) Phantom Thread. I think Desplat will receive his second Oscar because del Toro's monster movie is a Best Picture frontrunner, and Daniel Day-Lewis' swan song just isn't getting the buzz. This is a shame though because the score of Phantom Thread is like an extra character (and is really the only score of the year I felt worthy of mentioning for an award). Here's hoping for an upset!

My Ballot
Phantom Thread
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Dunkirk
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

My Pick to Win
The Shape of Water

Shamefully Snubbed
Wonder Woman

Countdown to Oscar Night: Documentaries and the Impossible categories

Documentary Feature
Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
Faces Places
Icarus
Last Men in Aleppo
Strong Island

So I've seen 3 out of 5 of these. Faces is the frontrunner, but doesn't come out on DVD/streaming until next Tuesday. Abacus is available, but I just can't seem to bring myself to watch it. The other three are certainly worth your time and have very diverse stories ranging from Syrian rescue workers, to the Russian doping scandal, to racial profiling in murder investigations.

My Ballot
Last Men in Aleppo
Icarus
Strong Island

My Pick to Win
Faces Places

Shoulda Been Here
Obey Giant

Documentary Short
Edith + Eddie
Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405
Heroin(e)
Knife Skills
Traffic Stop

Once again, thanks to the internet, I have seen more of this category than ever before! Only one film (Traffic Stop) remains and it is on HBO so hopefully I'll check it out before Sunday. The other four are another eclectic mix: Nonagenarian love story, a profile of an artist victorious over mental illness, victories in the West Virginia opiod war, and a special restaurant in Cleveland that is training ex-cons as sous chefs.

My Ballot
Edith + Eddie
Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405
Knife Skills
Heroin(e)

My Pick to Win
Edith + Eddie

Live Action Short
DeKalb Elementary
The Eleven O'Clock
My Nephew Emmett
The Silent Child
Watu Wote/All of Us

Man oh man do these films sound interesting... too bad they are all impossible to view...

My Pick to Win
DeKalb Elementary

Foreign Language
A Fantastic Woman
The Insult
Loveless
On Body and Soul
The Square

I really don't like this category. Not because I don't like foreign films, but because the Academy insists on using their strange country submission method of choosing eligibility. AND only one of the films is remotely view-able to someone outside of NY or LA....

My Pick to Win
A Fantastic Woman

That's it for the movies I haven't seen!!!  From here on this week I've seen them all!!!  Woohoo!

Countdown to Oscar Night: Animation

Animated Feature
The Boss Baby
The Breadwinner
 Coco
Ferdinand
Loving Vincent

This category has the distinction of having two of my favorite films of 2017 and two of my lest favorite nominated films of this season. The Boss Baby and Ferdinand are inoffensive and bland. They both have their moments, but they do nothing to escape the notion that animated films should be dumbed-down fairy-tales made for children. This is a stigma that animation has been trying (and succeeding for the most part) to escape ever since Pixar made grown men cry about toys and Miyazaki made it okay for anyone to wish they could find Totoro bouncing about in the forest. Loving Vincent is a technical marvel with every frame being a painted masterpiece inspired by Van Gogh himself. The story lacks a bit, but it's worth a view just for the visual treat.

Which brings us to my second and third favorite movies of 2017. Coco proves that Pixar isn't quite done telling perfect stories in the best looking ways possible. I was a little worried when 20th Century Fox beat Pixar to the theaters with a very similar story in The Book of Life. Those worries were compounded when The Book of Life turned out to be an excellent film that still hasn't gotten the credit it deserves. Pixar had never done a musical before, or a movie centered around humans... and they seemed like they were content churning out Cars sequels... could this be the end???  Nope. Coco is fantastic. Original, hauntingly beautiful, perfect casting, songs that stick with you for months, and a heart as big as the love between Ellie and Carl.

And then there's The Breadwinner. I was worried that I was going to miss this one because it didn't get a theatrical release in NC, and wasn't scheduled for DVD until sometime in March. Thank you Netflix!!! In a surprise release last week, Abby and I were able to check out the newest offering from Oscar favorites Cartoon Saloon (Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea). The Breadwinner is the story of Parvana, a young girl in Afghanistan struggling against poverty, oppression from the Taliban, and the impending US invasion following 9/11. It is beautiful, heartbreaking, and inspirational as the story is told parallel to the story Parvana is telling her little brother to distract him from his morose surroundings. This film is a masterpiece, and hungers to be seen.  Go.  Now.  It is on Netflix.

My Ballot
Coco
The Breadwinner
Loving Vincent
Ferdinand
The Boss Baby

My Pick to Win
Coco

Shamefully Snubbed
Mary and the Witch's Flower


Animated Short
Dear Basketball
Garden Party
Lou
Negative Space
Revolting Rhymes

For the first time in my 25 year (or so) history of obsessing over Oscars I have watched all 5 nominated animated shorts prior to the awards! Thank you internet! This is probably the most eclectic category in the entire 2017 Academy slate. In the order listed above you have Kobe Bryant, frolicking frogs, an anthropomorphic pile of lost items, a father and son bonding by packing suitcases, and Roald Dahl fairy tale mashup. Conventional wisdom would be to pick the Pixar offering (Lou), but something tells me the voters won't be able to resist a Kobe's heartwarming love letter to basketball. The animation is beautiful and the score was written by Mr. Movie Score himself, John Williams. Only 3 more steps for Kobe's EGOT!

My Ballot
Dear Basketball
Lou
Garden Party
Revolting Rhymes
Negative Space

My Pick to Win
Dear Basketball

Shamefully Snubbed
In a Heartbeat <--- click="" here="" p="" to="" watch="">

Countdown to Oscar Night: Technical Categories

I'm a bit behind this year, but I will try to deliver on my countdown in one rapid fire week. I have seen every film nominated in the major categories and I'm only missing 2 documentaries and 4 documentary shorts. I probably won't be able to find the foreign films (as normal) or the live action shorts, but I'll be able to give you my take and my predictions for everything else! Let's get this show on the road!

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

Not a bad film in the bunch, which is rare for this category as we usually get the latest Michael Bay schlockfest. Unfortunately, there also isn't an original film in the bunch either with 3 sequels, a re-imagining, and a conclusion to a trilogy. I personally think that The Last Jedi is the best looking Star Wars film of all time, but I think that may be seen as more cinematography (where it didn't receive a nomination) than visual effects. It wouldn't surprise me to see Blade Runner sweep every category it's nominated in, but I think the Academy gives a 3 film achievement award for the motion capture marvel that is the neo-Apes series.

My Ballot
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Blade Runner 2049
War for the Planet of the Apes
Kong: Skull Island
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol.2

My Pick to Win
War for the Planet of the Apes

Shamefully Snubbed
Baby Driver


Costume Design
Beauty and the Beast
Darkest Hour
Phantom Thread
The Shape of Water
Victoria & Abdul

This is always one of the toughest categories to predict because the voters can go in many different ways: They could choose the most period accurate (Darkest Hour), most original (The Shape of Water), most decadent (Victoria & Abdul), most nostalgic (Beauty & the Beast), or the only film actually driven by its costuming because the main character is a fashion designer (The Phantom Thread). Who knows? I'm going to go with the latter, but I'd be surprised by none of the choices.

My Ballot
Victoria & Abdul
The Shape of Water
Phantom Thread
Darkest Hour
Beauty and the Beast

My Pick to Win
Phantom Thread

Shamefully Snubbed
Wonder Woman


Makeup and Hair
Darkest Hour
Victoria & Abdul
Wonder

One of the easiest to predict of the night. I mean, come on, look at that picture posted above. That's Gary stinkin' Oldman. For reals. Victoria & Abdul was nice, but Darkest Hour exists based on the job that the makeup team did on Mr. Oldman. I will not speak of the third abomination nominated...

My Ballot
Darkest Hour
Victoria & Abdul
Wonder

My Pick to Win
Darkest Hour

Shamefully Snubbed
Star Wars: The Last Jedi


Production Design
Beauty and the Beast
Blade Runner 2049
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water

This category is similar to Costume Design in that it is hard to predict what they are actually looking for. That being said I'll go with the one with the most Best Picture chances.

My Ballot
The Shape of Water
Blade Runner 2049
Darkest Hour
Beauty and the Beast
Dunkirk

My Pick to Win
The Shape of Water

Shamefully Snubbed
Call Me By Your Name


Sound Editing & Mixing
Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi

The difference between these two categories matters some years and gets ignored in other years. Editing is making entirely new sounds (R2-D2's voice). Mixing is ensuring the existing sounds mesh well with the background noises or soundtrack (think musicals).  With this in mind, the voters still decided to give us the same group of 5 movies for these two categories that should be very different. Ugh...

My Editing Ballot
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Blade Runner 2049
The Shape of Water
Dunkirk
Baby Driver

My Editing Pick to Win
Dunkirk

Shamefully Snubbed for Editing
Wind River

My Mixing Ballot
Baby Driver
The Shape of Water
Blade Runner 2049
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Dunkirk

My Mixing Pick to Win
Baby Driver

Shamefully Snubbed for Mixing
Wonder Woman