Countdown to Oscar Night (the sad conclusion)

 So for the first time in a decade I am not going to be able to finish my “Countdown” Oscar blog in the normal way. I am refereeing a tennis tournament in Durham for the weekend and I clumsily forgot my laptop. I am typing this on my phone and I’ll finish my picks, but it won’t be nearly as pretty as I’d like it to be. Sorry.  Here goes:

Best Original Screenplay

My Ballot:

The Trial of the Chicago 7

Promising Young Woman

Sound of Metal

Judas and the Black Messiah

Minari 

My pick to win:

Promising Young Woman

Shamefully Snubbed:

Palm Springs

Best Adapted Screenplay

My Ballot:

One Night in Miami...

The Father

White Tiger

Nomadland

Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm

My Pick to Win:

Nomadland 

Shamefully Snubbed:

Palm Springs

Best Visual Effects

My ballot:

Love and Monsters

Midnight Sky

My Pick to Win:

Tenet

Shamefully Snubbed:

Birds of Prey

Best Sound

My ballot:

Sound of Metal

Soul

Mank

My Pick to Win:

Sound of Metal

Shamefully Snubbed:

Da 5 Bloods

Best Production Design

My Ballot:

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

The Father

Mank

My Pick to Win:

Mank

Shamefully Snubbed:

Birds of Prey

Best Original Song

My Ballot:

“Husavik” - Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

“Speak Now” - One Night in Miami...

“Fight for You” - Judas and the Black Messiah

“Hear My Voice” - The Trial of the Chicago 7

My Pick to Win:

“Speak Now” - One Night in Miami...

Shamefully Snubbed:

“Turntables” - All In: The Fight for Democracy

Best Original Score

My Ballot:

Soul

Da 5 Bloods

Mank

Minari

My Pick to Win:

Soul

Shamefully Snubbed:

Nomadland

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

My Ballot:

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Mank

Hillbilly Elegy

My Pick to Win:

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Shamefully Snubbed:

Birds of Prey

Best Editing

My Ballot:

The Trial of the Chicago 7

Promising Young Woman

Nomadland

The Father

Sound of Metal

My Pick to Win:

The Trial of the Chicago 7

Shamefully Snubbed:

Palm Springs

Best Director

My Ballot:

Chloe Zhao - Nomadland

Emerald Fennell - Promising Young Woman

Lee Isaac Chung - Minari

David Fincher - Mank

Thomas Vinterberg - Another Round

My Pick to Win:

Chloe Zhao - Nomadland

Shamefully Snubbed:

Spike Lee - Da 5 Bloods

Best Costume Design

My ballot:

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Mank

My Pick to Win:

Emma

Shamefully Snubbed:

Promising Young Woman

Best Cinematography 

My Ballot:

Nomadland

Mank

The Trial of the Chicago 7

Judas and the Black Messiah

My Pick to Win:

Nomadland

Shamefully Snubbed:

Palm Springs

Best Picture

My Ballot:

The Trial of the Chicago 7

Nomadland

Promising Young Woman

Minari

Sound of Metal

Judas and the Black Messiah

The Father

Mank

My Pick to Win:

Nomadland

Shamefully Snubbed:

Da 5 Bloods

Countdown to Oscar Night (abbreviated) Part 2: Shorts, Docs, & Cartoons

 Best Animated Feature Film

Onward

Over the Moon

A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon

Soul

Wolfwalkers

This one is pretty easy. Soul has it wrapped up and it isn't really close. I saw all of these except for Farmageddon. I wish Aardman would make new stuff like Chicken Run rather than more of the sheep stuff.

My Ballot

Soul

Onward

Wolfwalkers

Over the Moon 

My Pick to Win
Soul

Shamefully Snubbed
I am ashamed to say the only other animated movie I saw from 2020 was The Croods sequel, and that isn't worth a snub mention.

Best Documentary Feature

Collective

Crip Camp

The Mole Agent

My Octopus Teacher

Time

I only saw three of these, and, luckily, they are the three that I believe have a chance. Crip Camp is the most conventional and tells the untold story of the origins of the Americans with Disabilities Act. My Octopus Teacher is easily the prettiest and highlights the friendship between a depressed photojournalist and an octopus that he dives with daily (seriously). My favorite though was Time. It is the most stylistic mixing new footage with VHS recordings and weaving timelines together as the viewer journeys along with a broken family fighting to be reunited. 

This one will be close, but I think the voters will lean towards the fluff (Octopus) rather than the historic (Crip Camp) or the challenging (Time).

My Ballot

Time

Crip Camp

My Octopus Teacher 

My Pick to Win
My Octopus Teacher

Shamefully Snubbed

Becoming

Best Documentary Short

Colette

A Concerto is a Conversation

Do Not Split

Hunger Ward

A Love Song for Latasha

This is a very interesting mix of shorts. Other than Hunger Ward and Collette (which both felt pretty exploitative in quite different ways), I would urge folks to seek out these films and educate themselves about some of the horror and beauty of the real world.

My Ballot

A Concerto is a Conversation

A Love Song for Latasha

Do Not Split

Colette

Hunger Ward

My Pick to Win
A Love Song for Latasha

Shamefully Snubbed

The Speed Cubers

Best Animated Short

Burrow

Genius Loci

If Anything Happens I Love You

Opera

Yes-People

In what is usually a pretty strange category, this may be the strangest bunch I've ever seen. My favorite is the one with no dialogue that uses a single image to tell the story of all of human history.

My Ballot

Opera

If Anything Happens I Love You

Burrow

Genius Loci

Yes-People

My Pick to Win
Burrow

Best Live ActionShort

Feeling Through

The Letter Room

The Present

Two Distant Strangers

White Eye

Let's be honest. You haven't seen these. I have seen all but The Present because the copy I found didn't have subtitles. You can probably skip all of these.

My Ballot

Two Distant Strangers

The Letter Room

White Eye

Feeling Through

My Pick to Win
The Letter Room

Countdown to Oscar Night (abbreviated) Part 1: Acting

Best Supporting Actor

Sacha Baron Cohen - The Trial of the Chicago 7
Daniel Kaluuya - Judas and the Black Messiah
Leslie Odom Jr. - One Night in Miami...
Paul Raci - Sound of Metal
Lakeith Stanfield - Judas and the Black Messiah

What a great field of actors. I would not be upset to see any of these men take home the award. As much as I love Lakeith Stanfield, he was the lead actor from Judas. Some experts are guessing that his nomination may split the vote away from Daniel Kaluuya's master portrayal of Chairman Fred Hampton, but I just don't see that happening. Pretty sure he will take this one. 

Side note: I think this is where Chadwick Boseman should've gotten his well-deserved posthumous praise because the best performance of the year was completely snubbed (see Best Actor below).

My Ballot
Leslie Odom Jr. - One Night in Miami...
Daniel Kaluuya - Judas and the Black Messiah
Paul Raci - Sound of Metal

Sacha Baron Cohen - The Trial of the Chicago 7
Lakeith Stanfield - Judas and the Black Messiah (only because it is a lead performance)

My Pick to Win
Daniel Kaluuya - Judas and the Black Messiah

Shamefully Snubbed
Chadwick Boseman - Da 5 Bloods

Best Supporting Actress

Maria Bakalova - Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Glenn Close - Hillbilly Elegy
Olivia Colman - The Father
Amanda Seyfried - Mank
Yuh-Jung Youn - Minari

This category will be a pretty good early measure of what kind of night we will be having next Sunday. Mank was the most nominated film this year, but I don't know a single person who actually likes it. It does, however, serve the tried and true Oscar trope of Hollywood celebrating movies about Hollywood. Seyfried had all of the early buzz in this category but has since lost most of her lead to Minari's lovable grandma portrayed by Yuh-Jung Youn. If Seyfried wins despite the opposing momentum, I wouldn't be surprised to see Mank swipe more awards (including Best Picture) which would make for a very disappointing night. The Academy could also choose to give Glenn Close a lifetime achievement award for a pretty pedestrian performance in one of the worst movies to ever be able to claim an Oscar nod.

My favorite supporting performance of the year isn't nominated here because Viola Davis is nominated as a lead actress for about 20 minutes of screentime in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. So I guess I can't really say that she was snubbed, but she would've definitely been my pick here.

My Ballot

Yuh-Jung Youn - Minari
Olivia Colman - The Father
Amanda Seyfried - Mank

Maria Bakalova - Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Glenn Close - Hillbilly Elegy

My Pick to Win
Yuh-Jung Youn - Minari

Shamefully Snubbed
Talia Ryder - Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Best Actor

Riz Ahmed - Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins - The Father
Gary Oldman - Mank
Steven Yuen - Minari

This is pretty easy. Rest-in-Peace Chadwick Boseman. His performance was maybe his best of his career. The tightrope that he had to walk to bring the young trumpeter Lovey to life was so delicate that I honestly can't imagine anyone else pulling it off without making the character despised. 

I know it's near sacrilege though, but Boseman's performance was not the year's best. Delroy Lindo in Da 5 Bloods cemented his name amongst the acting greats with one of the greatest performances of the new century. I cannot stress enough how much you should seek out Spike Lee's film if for his performance alone.

My Ballot

Chadwick Boseman - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Riz Ahmed - Sound of Metal
Anthony Hopkins - The Father

Steven Yuen - Minari

Gary Oldman - Mank

My Pick to Win
Chadwick Boseman - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Shamefully Snubbed
Delroy Lindo - Da 5 Bloods

Best Actress

Viola Davis - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Andra Day - The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Vanessa Kirby - Pieces of a Woman
Frances McDormand - Nomadland
Carey Mulligan - Promising Young Woman

Where Best Actor is easy, Best Actress is nearly impossible to predict. I could make a good argument for 4 of the 5 nominees (and Vanessa Kirby still gave one of the best performances of the year, but, be honest, you haven't even heard of her or her movie). Neither Day nor McDormand would surprise me at all because they truly owned two of the best female-led movies of the year, but I guess I have to narrow it down to Davis and Mulligan. So.... do voters feel like dealing #OscarSoWhite a final blow by celebrating Davis? or.... do voters feel like adding an exclamation point to #MeToo by celebrating Mulligan's performance as the embodiment of female vengeance? I'm leaning towards the latter... Her's is my least favorite/impressive performance of the bunch but I think voters will be siding with her character rather than her performance.

My Ballot

Andra Day - The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Vanessa Kirby - Pieces of a Woman
Viola Davis - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (as before... points deducted because this is a supporting role)

Frances McDormand - Nomadland

Carey Mulligan - Promising Young Woman

My Pick to Win
Carey Mulligan - Promising Young Woman

Shamefully Snubbed
Sidney Flanigan - Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Oscar Nominations!

 Oscars are super late this year, but voting for nominations begins today. Just in case any voters would like to copy my nominees, here's how my ballot looks as of today:

Best Picture: The Trial of the Chicago 7
Best Actor: Delroy Lindo, Da Five Bloods
Best Actress: Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Best Supporting Actor: Leslie Odom Jr., One Night in Miami
Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (I realize they are pushing for Lead Actress for her, but it is totally a supporting role)
Best Animated Feature: Soul
Best Cinematography: Nomadland
Best Costume Design: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Best Director: Spike Lee, Da Five Bloods
Best Documentary Feature: Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution
Best Film Editing: Da Five Bloods
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Best Original Score: Soul
Best Original Song: "Turntables", All-In: A Fight for Democracy
Best Production Design: The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Best Sound Editing: Soul
Best Sound Mixing: Da Five Bloods
Best Visual Effects: Birds of Prey
Best Adapted Screenplay: One Night in Miami
Best Original Screenplay: The Trial of the Chicago 7
Best Animated Short: Out

Best of the Year: 1947 - Out of the Past

 

I didn't love Robert Mitchum as a leading man, but I could definitely see why men would be willing to do anything for Jane Greer. The screenplay is the main character as every line is dripping with aloof noir coolness. Just check out this gem:

 I never saw her in the daytime. We seemed to live by night. What was left of the day went away like a pack of cigarettes you smoked. I didn't know where she lived. I never followed her. All I ever had to go on was a place and time to see her again. I don't know what we were waiting for. Maybe we thought the world would end.

Also, this movie makes me yearn for the alternate universe where Kirk Douglas was typecast as a ruthless villain and cast as the Joker in a 1960s serious Batman television series.

The Year in Movies: 1947

  1947

Number of Movies I've Seen: 3

Number of Movies from my original top 365:  0

Oscar Winner:
Gentleman's Agreement - (PICTURED ABOVE) meh... It's anti-anti-Semitism! Let's give it an Oscar! Not even Gregory Peck's chiseled jaw could lift this one out of obscurity.  

Box Office Winner:
Welcome Stranger - man did people love some Bing Crosby in the 1940s. He's alright I reckon. His movies have just aged like milk though, and I have very little desire to seek this one out.

My Top Ten:
1. NEXT POST

2. Black Narcissus - This movie is beautiful, but I just felt like I was missing something. I definitely need to watch more from 1947, and I look forward to them if they are this pretty or as cool as my #1 pick!

3. Gentleman's Agreement 

The Year in Movies: 1937

 

 1937

Number of Movies I've Seen: 2

Number of Movies from my original top 365:  0

Oscar Winner:
The Life of Emile Zola -  Another one that I fully intend on watching when it is on TCM.

Box Office Winner:
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - (PICTURED ABOVE) It's the first animated feature. Every frame is a work of art (both literally and figuratively). It gave birth to an entire industry and one of the most dominant corporate entities in modern society. It's pretty hard to say something that hasn't already been said about Walt Disney's brilliant leap of faith. That being said......

My Top Ten:
1. A Day at the Races - I simply couldn't bring myself to put another Marx brother's masterpiece in 2nd place. For every reason Snow White is the groundbreaking masterpiece that it is, I can think of three reasons I'd rather watch a Marx brothers movie. This one doesn't get as much love as Duck Soup or A Night at the Opera, but I really think it shows the brother's "maturity" (in filmmaking at least). This movie is so much fun, and, as I've said before, represents a peak of comedic cinema that has never been matched.

2. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 

Best of the Year: 1927 - Metropolis

 

This was the only silent film that made the cut for my original 365. Since I wrote that list chronologically it was also my first ever blog post. I admit that this post took me a while, because I wanted to revisit the epic. Since my 2010 blog, it has been remastered and missing scenes have been added that make the film as close as it has ever been to Fritz Lang's vision from nearly 100 years ago. You too can watch it for free on youtube, and I strongly urge you to do so. I know we have lost many movies of this generation, but of the ones I have seen, Metropolis is simply head and shoulders above the rest. It is beautiful, well-acted, ground-breaking, and includes a timely moral that still hits hard today. I can't imagine how it must have felt to see this movie in a crowded pre-depression theater. Metropolis isn't great because it was the prototype science fiction epic (which it was), it isn't great because the filmmakers soared beyond their technological limitations (which they did), and it isn't great because Lang used the medium to try to warn the world of the coming dangers of fascism (which he did). Metropolis is great because it is a masterpiece. Full stop. It holds up against movies from every generation and deserves to be in the conversation for greatest movie of all time.

The Year in Movies: 1927

  1927

Number of Movies I've Seen: 3

Number of Movies from my original top 365:  1

Oscar Winner:
Wings -  I really intend on watching this, and I patiently await my notification that it has been added to the TCM app.

Box Office Winner:
The Jazz Singer - This is another I'm gonna have to skip. I know it's important (the first movie with synced audio and, arguably, the first movie musical), but I've seen enough blackface to realize the detriment that it did to culture for decades to come.

My Top Ten:
1. NEXT POST!

2. Sunrise - This is one of the most underseen, brilliant movies of all time. It's also a very good one to start with if you have never been able to "get into" silent movies or your experience ends with Chaplin and Keaton. The imdb description says it better than I can: An allegorical tale about a man fighting the good and evil within him. Both sides are made flesh - one a sophisticated woman he is attracted to and the other his wife.

3. College - Buster Keaton lite. Fun set pieces but pretty short on story.

Best of the Year: 2016 - La La Land

 

Soooo.... Damien Chazelle made a little movie called Whiplash. It was pretty cool, featured an Oscar-winning performance from J.K. Simmons and a gave a unique take on the journey to make art. It was so well received that studio execs gave then 29-year-old Chazelle the golden ticket of making whatever movie he liked. Somehow he crawled into my brain and decided to make the perfect movie for Will. From the time I saw the opening shot of the trailer (Emma Stone pondering her reflection in a bathroom mirror while the audio track beckons: "Here's to the ones who dreeeaaaammmm..."), I was hooked. My favorite movie genre is romance with a sprinkle of fantasy and this is the model film. 

My first viewing was at a late showing in an Atlanta shopping mall theater with only one other person in attendance. I had to fight back the urge to skip down the steps and dance with that stranger during the end credits. This movie is pure magic. I would go on to see it two more times in the theater and have listened to the soundtrack on a loop for the past four years. I know it has its detractors, but La La Land is a movie made for me and it is probably well in the conversation for my top ten of all time, let alone 2016.

The Year in Movies: 2016

  2016

Number of Movies I've Seen: 78

Number of Movies from my original top 365:  ended in 2011

Oscar Winner:
Moonlight -  I dig this movie.... but... it will forever be the movie that broke my heart on Oscar night. More on that with the next post.

Box Office Winner:
Finding Dory - I am actually surprised how forgettable this Pixar entry has been. I was pretty neutral with it until the emotional bombshell (Dory's parents' rocks).

My Top Ten:
1. NEXT POST!

2. Hacksaw Ridge - I know... I know... Mel Gibson isn't the greatest human, but if you've learned anything on my blog, you've seen that I am pretty adept at separating the art from the artist. This movie was made for me. A war film about pacifism. I adore this movie.

3. Lion - (PICTURED ABOVE) A moving true-story for the modern age. Go see this movie!

4. Fences - Having just watched Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, I can pretty confidently say I think I want all of August Wilson's plays adapted for the screen. 

5. Captain Fantastic - Sometimes I have an urge to simply run away and live in the woods. The family in this film follows that fantasy to its conclusions both beautiful and terrifying.

6. Your Name - Makoto Shinkai draws pretty. He also understands the pure magic that is falling in love in a unique way. It doesn't get much more unique than this mystery romance. This is the highest grossing anime movie of all time. I can pretty much guarantee you will see why if you give it a shot.

7.  Kubo and the Two Strings  - Probably my favorite movie from Laika studios (the sadists who are still doing frame by frame miniature motion capture animation). A must see for anyone who loves the hero's journey, Japanese culture, and gorgeous imagery.

8. Sing Street - Grossly underseen movie about music and young love. Original songs and heartfelt performances make this one pure magic.

9. Everybody Wants Some!! - Richard Linklater attempts a "spiritual sequel" to Dazed and Confused. Its good but doesn't quite compare to his best work.

10. Midnight Special - Jeff Nichols is a very interesting director. He also holds the distinction of employing my fellow Grifton Bulldog Neil Moore. Each of his movies are unique and enthralling. This is his strangest and possibly my favorite.