Countdown to Oscar Night Grand Finale: Best Picture

Best Picture

The Big Short

Bridge of Spies

Brooklyn

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Room

Spotlight

As pictured above this is a three horse race between Spotlight, The Revenant, and The Big Short. The Revenant seems to be the favorite with the most nominations, but Spotlight has been my gut feeling and the experts pick for a few months now. The dark-horse here is The Big Short which would be the most politically and socially relevant choice of the three, but voters haven't really been motivated by those causes of late. As for my personal choices, this is probably the strongest Best Picture field in years. Four of them (Room, Brooklyn, The Big Short, and The Martian) are in my top ten favorite films of the year. Three of them (Bridge of Spies, Mad Max, and The Revenant) would find a spot in my top twenty. Spotlight was the only film I was disappointed with. It was solid, but a wholly underwhelming experience.... which is why it will most likely be hoisting the big prize tonight.... of course.

My Ballot:

Room

Brooklyn

The Big Short

The Martian

Bridge of Spies

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant

Spotlight

My Pick to Win:

Spotlight

Shoulda Been Here:

When Marnie Was There

Its been fun!  Here is my final summary of all of my picks for tonight. Like last year, I expect surprises galore:
Best Picture: Spotlight
Best Director: George Miller - Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant
Best Actress: Brie Larson - Room
Best Supporting Actor: Sylvester Stallone - Creed
Best Supporting Actress: Alica Vikander - The Danish Girl
Best Documentary: Amy
Best Animated Film: Inside Out
Best Cinematography: The Revenant
Best Production Design: Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Costume Design: Cinderella
Best Editing: The Big Short
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Big Short
Best Original Screenplay: Spotlight
Best Makeup & Hairstyling: Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Sound Editing: Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Sound Mixing: Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Visual Effects: Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Score: The Hateful Eight
Best Song: "When it Happens to You" - The Hunting Ground
Best Foreign Language Film: Son of Saul
Best Documentary Short: Last Day of Freedom
Best Animated Short: Sanjay's Super Team
Best Live Action Short: Day One

See ya tonight on the red carpet!!!!!!!!!!!

Countdown to Oscar Night: #OscarSoWhite Acting Categories Spectacular

Let me at first be clear, I think the #OscarSoWhite movement is a bit overblown. Since the '70s, the percentage of acting Oscars being awarded to African-Americans winning acting Oscars is nearly equivalent to the percentage of African-Americans living in America. That being said there were two 2015 movies that got unjustly ignored: Tangerine and Beasts of No Nation. I will highlight each of these categories with a beautiful photo of who should have been nominated from those films in each of the categories.




Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Jason Leigh - The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara - Carol
Rachel McAdams - Spotlight
Alicia Vikander - The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet - Steve Jobs

My Ballot
Kate Winslet - Steve Jobs
Alicia Vikander - The Danish Girl
Jennifer Jason Leigh - The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara - Carol
Rachel McAdams - Spotlight

My Pick to Win:
Alicia Vikander - The Danish Girl

Shoulda Been Here:
Mya Taylor - Tangerine



Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale - The Big Short
Tom Hardy - The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo - Spotlight
Mark Rylance - Bridge of Spies
Sylvester Stallone - Creed

My Ballot
Christian Bale - The Big Short
Mark Rylance - Bridge of Spies
Tom Hardy - The Revenant
Sylvester Stallone - Creed
Mark Ruffalo - Spotlight

Shoulda Been Here (and WON!!!)
Idris Elba - Beasts of No Nation



Best Actress
Cate Blanchett - Carol
Brie Larson - Room
Jennifer Lawrence - Joy
Charlotte Rampling - 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan - Brooklyn

My Ballot:
Brie Larson - Room
Saoirse Ronan - Brooklyn
Cate Blanchett - Carol
Charlotte Rampling - 45 Years
Jennifer Lawrence - Joy

My Pick to Win:
Brie Larson - Room

Shoulda Been Here:
Kitana Kiki Rodriguez - Tangerine



Best Actor
Bryan Cranston - Trumbo
Matt Damon - The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant
Michael Fassbender - Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne - The Danish Girl

My Ballot:
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant
Eddie Redmayne - The Danish Girl
Michael Fassbender - Steve Jobs
Bryan Cranston - Trumbo
Matt Damon - The Martian

My Pick to Win:
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant (obviously...)

Shoulda Been Here:
Abraham Attah - Beasts of No Nation

Countdown to Oscar Night: Best Director

Best Director
Lenny Abrahamson - Room
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu - The Revenant
Tom McCarthy - Spotlight
Adam McKay - The Big Short
George Miller - Mad Max: Fury Road

Such a shame that Ridley Scott isn't here to pick up his much deserved first Oscar. This is a toss up between George Miller and a repeat from Alejandro Inarritu. I don't think the Academy is quite ready to put Inarritu on John Ford-level so my money is on Miller.

My Ballot:
Lenny Abrahamson - Room
Adam McKay - The Big Short
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu - The Revenant
George Miller - Mad Max: Fury Road
Tom McCarthy - Spotlight

My Pick to Win:
George Miller - Mad Max: Fury Road

Shoulda Been Here:
Ridley Scott - The Martian

Countdown to Oscar Night: My Failed Categories (Documentary & Animation)

So I accomplished something I've never done before this year. I have seen every film nominated for an Oscar in the traditional categories. Unfortunately I have to add that "traditional" stipulation because I haven't been able to track down all the documentaries, animated films, shorts, and I'm not convinced the films in the foreign language category actually exist at all.  So here is my abbreviated take on the big two of these categories:





Best Documentary
Amy
Cartel Land
The Look of Silence
What Happened Miss Simone?
Winter on Fire

I was a fan of Amy Winehouse. Her story was tragic. I just felt this documentary didn't quite do her justice. Yes, she was a flawed artist, but this film was so much more about "flawed" than it was about "artist". I challenge you to watch Amy back to back with the masterful Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck. You will come away thinking one of them deserves an Oscar. Spoiler alert: it won't be Amy. Anyway.... It'll win best doc this year... Ho hum.

My Ballot:
What Happened Miss Simone?
Amy

My Pick to Win:
Amy

Shoulda Been Here:
I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story



Best Animated Film
Anomalisa
Boy & the World
Inside Out
Shaun the Sheep
When Marnie Was There

I was excited about the prospects of seeing all films in this category until Anomalisa's studio felt the need to turn its movie release schedule into a glacier pace (I'm pretty sure this movie hasn't even opened in North Carolina yet). And then, just the Academy being their pretentious selves, they go and nominate a movie that NO ONE has heard of (Boy & the World). Oh well, I'll see those two eventually I guess. Even with all that quirky variety, the big-box-office critical darling Inside Out will win this easily. Which is a bit dissapointing because Studio Ghibli's Marnie (pictured above) was one of the very best movies of the year, and the best movie I have seen out of Japan since the best of Miyazaki's work. It's also a little disheartening because Inside Out wasn't even Pixar's best 2015 movie, that would be The Good Dinosaur...

My Ballot:
When Marnie Was There
Inside Out
Shaun the Sheep

My Pick to Win:
Inside Out

Shoulda Been Here:
The Good Dinosaur

Countdown to Oscar Night: Best Cinematography

Best Cinematography
Carol
The Hateful Eight
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Sicario

Reading my past few Countdown specials, you may get the idea that I wasn't a huge fan of The Revenant. You would be wrong. The problem is that the majority of the my love for the movie comes from the sole fact that it is the most beautifully shot movie of the year. The others look nice, but just look at that shot above...  Take a second... I'll wait....  Emmanuel Lubezki has outdone himself once again and will win an unprecedented third consecutive cinematography Oscar (He also won for Gravity and Birdman). Considering the fact that he DIDN'T win for The Tree of Life (which IS the prettiest movie of the 21st century), we are certainly witnessing the greatest works of a man who will certainly go down as one of the greatest cinematographers in history. That is saying a lot since he's also nominated alongside Roger Deakins who is enjoying his 13th nomination and will go yet another year without a win. Can we please help Mr. Deakins pick better movies????  Sicario was okay, but it is a far cry from his masterpieces (Shawshank, No Country For Old Men, O Brother Where Art Thou?).

My Ballot:
The Revenant
The Hateful Eight
Mad Max: Fury Road
Carol
Sicario

My Pick to Win:
The Revenant

Shoulda Been Here:
Tangerine

Countdown to Oscar Night: Best Production Design

Best Production Design
Bridge of Spies
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant

Not much excitement here other than an abundance of well-made, easy on the eyes movies. I fully expect Mad Max to nearly sweep these technical categories as the Academy strives to point out that they aren't stuffy old white farts. Still, that's a shame because The Danish Girl is just as artfully crafted as the artists it portrays and deserves much more love than it is getting.

My Ballot:
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
The Martian
Bridge of Spies

My Pick to Win:
Mad Max: Fury Road

Shoulda Been Here:
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Countdown to Oscar Night: Best Costume Design

Best Costume Design
Carol
Cinderella
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant

I am sure the costume designers for The Revenant and Mad Max are hard-working, talented folks, but let's be honest, nobody wants to see slovenly-functional or steampunk-functional win this category. That leaves three flawlessly dressed movies. Carol captures the '50s chic aesthetic, and The Danish Girl dresses both its men and its women in artful and unique ways, but nothing will come close to Cinderella for the voters in this category. Just look at the picture above, those are the UGLY stepsisters!

My Ballot:
The Danish Girl
Cinderella
Carol
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant

My Pick to Win:
Cinderella

Shoulda Been Here:
Star Wars: The Force Awakens