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The Oscars just ended and I am happy to report that the correct film was awarded! The Shape of Water won Best Picture and scored a total of 4 Oscars, including Best Direction, Production Design and Original Score. Dunkirk followed with 3 Oscars but what felt more surprising/exciting was Get Out winning Best Original Screenplay!   Other than this the ceremony ran smoothly with a vintage black & white opening and following Jimmy Kimmel’s opening monologue tackling equality, uncle Oscar turning 90, Black Panther and other Box Office hits that did or did not make it to the Oscars and he introduced the “Oscar selfie stand” of this year: the shortest acceptance speech would win a jet ski! Which was indeed awarded at the end of the night to Mark Bridges, who had won the Costume Design Oscar for Phantom Thread (and a jet ski)  The Best Leading Role awards went to Frances McDormand for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri who gave a passionate speech about equality and Gary Oldmam for Darkest Hour   And here’s the complete list of this year’s winners:
Best Picture: “The Shape of Water” Best Actor in a Leading Role: Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour” Best Actress in a Leading Role: Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Allison Janney, “I, Tonya” Best Direction: “The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro Best Animated Feature: “Coco,” Lee Unkrich, Darla K. Anderson Best Animated Short: “Dear Basketball,” Glen Keane, Kobe Bryant Best Adapted Screenplay: “Call Me by Your Name,” James Ivory Best Original Screenplay: “Get Out,” Jordan Peele Best Cinematography: “Blade Runner 2049,” Roger Deakins Best Documentary Feature: “Icarus,” Bryan Fogel, Dan Cogan Best Documentary Short Subject: “Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405,” Frank Stiefel Best Live Action Short Film: “The Silent Child,” Chris Overton, Rachel Shenton Best Foreign Language Film: “A Fantastic Woman” (Chile) Best Achievement in Film Editing: “Dunkirk,” Lee Smith Best Achievement in Sound Editing: “Dunkirk,” Alex Gibson, Richard King Best Achievement in Sound Mixing: “Dunkirk,” Mark Weingarten, Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo Best Achievement in Production Design: “The Shape of Water,” Paul D. Austerberry, Jeffrey A. Melvin, Shane Vieau Best Original Score: “The Shape of Water,” Alexandre Desplat Best Original Song: “Remember Me” from “Coco,” Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez Best Makeup and Hair: “Darkest Hour,” Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski, Lucy Sibbick Best Costume Design: “Phantom Thread,” Mark Bridges Best Visual Effects: “Blade Runner 2049,” John Nelson, Paul Lambert, Richard R. Hoover, Gerd Nefzer
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 It's that magical time of the year again: a film buff's Christmas, the Academy Awards a.k.a. the Oscars! And this year, it's the 90th anniversary! Having watched almost 20 ceremonies, I can say that I am still excited to watch, as the Oscars are never dull! Especially after last year's Envelope Gate, I am sure that everyone will tune in to see if anyone will match last year's mess up! This year's producers will surely try to beat 2017 telecast viewership, which was 32,9 million, which was the second lowest rating since 1974. With blockbuster hits competing for Best Picture such as Dunkirk and Get Out, the viewers will surely tune in and it's no harm including in the presenters list Black Panther stars Chadwick Boseman and Lupita Nyong’o, or mega stars Sandra Bullock, Matthew McConaughey and Emma Stone and nerd king, Mark Hammil. Talking about the nominees though, however "certain" as the winners seem after the Golden Globes, the SAG awards and the BAFTA, there will always be surprises. Right now, the categories that seem more uncertain to me, are Best Picture & Best Directing. There is a big possibility that Guillermo del Torro will win both Directing and Best Picture for The Shape Of Water, but what if the Academy wants to send a message and award Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird in Best Directing? Or what if Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri not only win the Best Actress in A Leading Role award, Best Original Screenplay and potentially Best Actor in a Supporting Role (if the Academy chooses to ignore Willem Dafoe's amazing performance in The Florida Project) but also Best Picture? Less suprising things have happened (2005's winner Crash!). In regards to the other major categories, as I said I believe that Frances McDormand will be awarded Best Actress in a Leading Role, the Best Actor award will either go to Gary Oldman for Darkest Hour or to Daniel Day-Lewis for Phantom Thread, the Best Actor in a Suppoting Role will go either to Sam Rockwell or Woody Harrelson for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri or to Willem Dafoe for The Florida Project. The Best Actress in a Supporting Role award surely go to Allison Janney for I, Tonya, as much as I would like to see the queen Mary J. Blige make a surprising win. But this year there are also some interesting numbers and statistics for the ceremony and the nominees:
Talking about nominations records, there are some "special" records that some hold, for more times having lost. Everyone remembers the memes and the 2014 hashtag #PoorLeo for Leonardo DiCaprio losing his fifth Oscar from Matthew McConaughey. Luckily he stack at 5 nominations without an award as in 2016 he won his first Oscar for The Revenant. A big Oscar loser is also the queen of nominations Meryl Streep, who has 21 nominations (including this year's) and has lost 17 times. The biggest loser of them all though, is Academy Award veteran composer John Williams, who has been nominated for the astonishing number of 51 Oscars and has lost 46 Oscars! If you think of the fact that he has been nominated more than half of the years that the Oscars have been given, I would say that it's not too shabby! And he holds the record for more nominations for a single living person! Only Walt Disney who died in 1966, earned more nominations than Williams - 59 to Williams' 51. Apart from those who get nominated constantly and win a lot, there are some other artists that have been contantly snubbed by the Academy. Orson Welles, the greatest director ever (to my humble opinion) never received an Academy Award for Direction - he only got for Screenplay for Citizen Kane. Sir Alfred Hitchcock also never received a Best Direction Academy award - he was only awarded with a special lifetime achievement award when the Academy tried to redeem themselves. Some other artists who have shockinlgy never won yet are:
That's it for Oscars history lesson for today, happy Oscars Sunday!! Sources: NY Post, Time   The Globes wrapped up a few hours ago, in what can be described as a historical night. Or at least we all hope that it will be. Seth Meyers kicked off with the phrase "Good evening ladies and -remaining- gentlemen" which pretty much summarizes the tone of the night. The monologue was non-apologetic and to the bone, in a way that only Meyers can deliver, with references about Weinstein, Spacey, Allen and of course Trump and he did deliver a prophecy that Oprah will be running for President with Tom Hanks as Vice President. Well... Winfrey-Hanks 2020? Too soon? Well, now we wait and see.... The evening was dominant with the support of the whole room towards the Time's Up and the #MeToo initiative, with almost all winners and presenters making a reference towards the issue. Either in a funny way, with Amy Poehler reclamining her wine, or in a badass way, like Natalie Portman who straight up called out the HFPA when introducing the Best Director category with the phrase "And here are the all-male nominees". Of course Oprah's speech when receiving the Cecil B. de Mille award, was the best summary of the issues being faced in all industries, not only Hollywood and once again she gave us hope on what the future may bring. Other highlights of the night were Aziz Ansari being the first man of Asian descent to win Best Actor in a TV comedy, Sterling K. Brown becoming the first African-American Actor to win in the Best Actor-TV Drama category and Oprah being the first African-American woman to win the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri being the ultimate winner with 4 out of 6 awards and Lady Bird got the recognition that the HFPA failed to give to Greta Gerwig for her directorial work by winning Best Comedy. One of the funniest moments came from none other than Tommy Wiseau, who hillariously tried to snatch the mic off James Franco during his acceptance speech for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy in The Disaster Artist! To be honest I was waiting for a "You're tearing me apart Lisa" moment, but I will settle for this.  James Franco accepting the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy And here is the complete list of this year's winners:
Best Picture — Drama Call Me by Your Name Dunkirk The Post The Shape of Water Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Best Picture — Comedy or Musical The Disaster Artist Get Out The Greatest Showman I, Tonya Lady Bird Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name Daniel Day Lewis, Phantom Thread Tom Hanks, The Post Gary Oldman, The Darkest Hour Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq. Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Drama Jessica Chastain, Molly’s Game Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Meryl Streep, The Post Michelle Williams, All the Money in the World Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy Steve Carrell, Battle of the Sexes Ansel Elgort, Baby Driver James Franco, The Disaster Artist Hugh Jackman, The Greatest Showman Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy Judi Dench, Victoria & Abdul Margot Robbie, I, Tonya Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird Emma Stone, Battle of the Sexes Helen Mirren, The Leisure Seeker Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture Willem DaFoe, The Florida Project Armie Hammer, Call Me by Your Name Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water Christopher Plummer, All The Money in the World Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture Mary J. Blige, Mudbound Hong Chau, Downsizing Alison Janney, I, Tonya Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water Best Director — Motion Picture Guillermo Del Toro, The Shape of Water Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk Ridley Scott, All the Money in the World Steven Spielberg, The Post Best Screenplay — Motion Picture Guillermo Del Toro and Vanessa Taylor, The Shape of Water Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird Liz Hannah and Josh Singer, The Post Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Aaron Sorkin, Molly’s Game Best Motion Picture — Animated The Boss Baby The Breadwinner Coco Ferdinand Loving Vincent Best Picture — Foreign Language A Fantastic Woman (Chile) First They Killed My Father (Cambodia) In the Fade (Germany/France) Loveless (Russia) The Square (Sweden, Germany, France) Best Original Score — Motion Picture Carter Burwell, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri Alexandre Desplat, The Shape of Water Jonny Greenwood, Phantom Thread John Williams, The Post Hans Zimmer, Dunkirk Best Original Song — Motion Picture “Home,” Ferdinand “Mighty River,” Mudbound “Remember Me,” Coco “The Star,” The Star “This Is Me,” The Greatest Showman Best Television Series — Drama The Crown, Netflix Game of Thrones, HBO The Handmaid’s Tale, Hulu Stranger Things, Netflix This Is Us, NBC Best Television Series — Comedy Black-ish, ABC The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Amazon Master of None, Netflix SMILF, Showtime Will & Grace, NBC Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television Big Little Lies, HBO Fargo, FX Feud: Bette and Joan, FX The Sinner, USA Top of the Lake: China Girl, Sundance TV Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Drama Jason Bateman, Ozark Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us Freddie Highmore, The Good Doctor Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Drama Caitriona Balfe, Outlander Claire Foy, The Crown Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Deuce Katherine Langford, 13 Reasons Why Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Comedy Anthony Anderson, Black-ish Aziz Ansari, Master of None Kevin Bacon, I Love Dick William H. Macy, Shameless Eric McCormack, Will & Grace Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Comedy Pamela Adlon, Better Things Alison Brie, GLOW Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Issa Rae, Insecure Frankie Shaw, SMILF Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television Jessica Biel, The Sinner Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies Jessica Lange, Feud: Bette and Joan Susan Sarandon, Feud: Bette and Joan Reese Witherspoon, Big Little Lies Best Performance By an Actor in a Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television Robert De Niro, The Wizard of Lies Jude Law, The Young Pope Kyle MacLachlan, Twin Peaks Ewan McGregor, Fargo Geoffrey Rush, Genius Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television David Harbour, Stranger Things Alfred Molina, Feud: Bette and Joan Christian Slater, Mr. Robot Alexander Skarsgaard, Big Little Lies David Thewlis, Fargo Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television Laura Dern, Big Little Lies Ann Dowd, The Handmaid’s Tale Chrissy Metz, This Is Us Michelle Pfeiffer, The Wizard of Lies Shailene Woodley, Big Little Lies There you have it! This year's Golden Globe winners can certainly give us a sense of what to expect on January 23rd when the Academy Awards nominations will be announced. So, stay tuned, because awards season is just starting... Happy new year everyone! And we all know what this means? The award season begins! Starting off with the Golden Globes on Sunday, January 7th and fisnishing off with the Oscars on March 4th, it's going to be two busy months for Hollywood! Here are the key dates to have in mind: Jan. 4 – Writers Guild of America nominations announcement Jan. 5 – Oscar nomination ballots sent to voters Jan. 5 – Producers Guild of America voting begins Jan. 7 – Golden Globes Jan. 11 – Critics Choice Awards Jan. 11 – Directors Guild of America nominations announcement Jan. 12 – Oscar nomination ballots due Jan. 20 – Producers Guild of America Awards Jan. 21 – Screen Actors Guild Awards Jan. 23 – Oscar nominations announcement Jan. 26 – ACE Eddie Awards Jan. 27 – Art Directors Guild Awards Feb. 3 – Directors Guild of America Awards Feb. 11 – Writers Guild of America Awards Feb. 18 – BAFTA Awards March 3 – Film Independent Spirit Awards March 4 – Oscars  So, the first awards that will certainly set the tone for the rest of the race, are the Golden Globes. The 75th ceremony that will be hosted by Seth Meyers that guarantees good comedy, however difficult that might be now for Hollywood facing so many serious issues. The nominations announced on December, certainly raised some eyebrows for Hollywood Foreign Press Association's specific focus on some films and dismissal of others. Now that the dust has settled and we are closer to Sunday, some nominees clearly seem to be in the front of the race and some others are neck to neck. There will surely be some surprises though, as it always happens. So, let's have a look at these front-runners and outsiders and see if we can guess Sunday's winners right! Starting off with the main Film Nominations: Best Motion Picture - Drama Dunkirk The Post The Shape of Water Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Call Me By Your Name The Shape of Water and The Post seem like very likely to win, with a total of 7 and 6 nominations each, but Call Me By Your Name might surprise us and take home the award. As the film was snubbed from the Screenplay and Director categories, the HFPA might want to balance the scale here. Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy The Disaster Artist Get Out The Greatest Showman I, Tonya Lady Bird On this category, Lady Bird seems to be a front-runner, with Get Out closely following, again two films with no Best Director represantation, so perhaps a way for the HFPA to redeem themselves would be to award one of the two flms. However, I woulnd't be surprised if they will choose to go "bold" and award I, Tonya, although they might try to do that with Margot Robbie on the Best Actress category. Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama Jessica Chastain - Molly's Game Sally Hawkins - The Shape of Water Frances McDormand - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Meryl Streep - The Post Michelle Williams - All The Money In The World Here we have once again Meryl Streep being a serious threat to the rest of the ladies, however it is almost certain that Sally Hawkins will take home the award. Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama Timothée Chalamet - Call Me By Your Name Daniel Day-Lewis - Phantom Thread Tom Hanks - The Post Gary Oldman - Darkest Hour Denzel Washington - Roman J. Israel, Esq. Here we have Timothée Chalamet leading the race with his amazing performance in Call Me By Your Name, HOWEVER despite what everyone thinks, I am not sure that he will manage to win. I think that Armie Hammer will get the recognition for this film. In this category, I believe that Gary Oldman has a pretty good shot, as he is playing a historical figure and well... he is Gary Oldman. If he loses this, at least he will probably be recognised at the BAFTAs. There is also Daniel Day-Lewis' last role ever, so there might be some recognition there? And of course there is Denzel who always has great chances in winning because he is Denzel - the male Meryl Streep! Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy Judi Dench - Victoria & Abdul Helen Mirren - The Leisure Seeker Margot Robbie - I, Tonya Saoirse Ronan - Lady Bird Emma Stone - Battle of the Sexes Well, this one is between Margot Robbie and Saoirse Ronan, with Ronan leading the race. My gutt says it's going to be Margot, but who knows? At this point it's anyone's game. Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy Steve Carell - Battle of the Sexes Ansel Elgort - Baby Driver James Franco - The Disaster Artist Hugh Jackman - The Greatest Showman Daniel Kaluuya - Get Out In this category, I believe that James Franco has a certain win, although new-commers Ansel Elgort and Daniel Kaluuya might make a surprising win! Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture Hong Chau - Downsizing Allison Janney - I, Tonya Laurie Metcalf - Lady Bird Octavia Spencer - The Shape of Water Mary J. Blige - Mudbound This category has some supporting actress veterans with front-runners being Allison Janney and Laurie Metcalf, with the latter having slightly better chance in winning. Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture Willem Dafoe - The Florida Project Armie Hammer - Call Me By Your Name Richard Jenkins - The Shape of Water Christopher Plummer - All The Money In The World Sam Rockwell - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri This is a tough category. The front-runner seems to be Jenkins, but Hammer is strongly praised for his performance in Call Me By Your Name, making him a strong competitor. And then there is one of the most talked about roles this year. Christopher Plummer in All The Money In The World. Replacing Spacey weeks before the film's release, Plummer is a very strong contentant and might be a way for the HFPA to send a message by awarding him? It might seem risky but what is agreed by all is Plummer's impeccable performance in the film. Best Director - Motion Picture Guillermo del Toro - The Shape of Water Martin McDonagh - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Christopher Nolan - Dunkirk Ridley Scott - All The Money In The World Steven Spielberg - The Post With the exception of McDonagh, this is a clasical Hollywood directors list that is -surprise- all men, all white; that said, the category doesn't seem to have a clear front-runner. We might say that del Toro and Spielberg have a lead due to their films multiple nominations, but nothing is certain. It might be Nolan who did an amazing directorial job in Dunkirk, a film based on its direction and cinematography, or Scott, that managed to re-shoot his film to avoid being associated with a scandal, or finally McDonagh who managed to find his way back after the amazing 2008 In Bruges. Who knows? It is open season for everyone. Best Screenplay - Motion Picture Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor - The Shape of Water Greta Gerwig - Lady Bird Liz Hannah, Josh Singer - The Post Martin McDonagh - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Aaron Sorkin - Molly’s Game Here I think that Lady Bird has a big shot at winning, being the "it" indie film in this race, but also Molly's Game or Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri might have a shot at winning. Let us not forget though, that the Golden Globes are a double treat, as not only Motion Pictures are awarded but also Television Series! And it has been a vet busy year in Television. Here are the main categories: Best Television Series – Drama The Crown Game of Thrones The Handmaid’s Tale Stranger Things This is Us A very tough category that could fit even more titles; although The Crown is a big front-runner, the fact that it won again last year, might mean that it's Stranger Things time? I am not so sure as the second season was no welcomed as warmly by critics as the first one. Then, we have Game of Thrones that had their best season to date and will not be present next year due to the fact that the next season is due to arrive in 2019 - could they be the winners? This Is Us is a critic and fan favorite but can all these compare to The Handmaid's Tale? Especially after the EMMY triumph? I think that this year it is Hulu's turn and The Handmaid's Tale will snatch many awards including this one.... Best Television Series – Comedy Black-ish The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Master of None SMILF Will & Grace Could Black-ish make it this year? It has been constantly praised for the performances but has yet to win for the show itself. Master Of None was a bit hit at the EMMY, mainly due to its writting and Ansari's perfomance, but can it make it for the big win? Also, what is Will & Grace doing here? Do not get me wrong, I really loved that show, but a revival? Seriously? Aren't fresher shows to be included in this category? What about GLOW? Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt? Grace & Frankie? It seems that the most original, fresh shows in this category are The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and SMILF. My money is on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - it is written by Amy Sherman-Palladino (Glmore Girls) after all... Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama Jason Bateman - Ozark Sterling K. Brown - This is Us Freddie Highmore - The Good Doctor Bob Odenkirk - Better Call Saul Liev Schreiber - Ray Donovan Strong category, with Sterling K. Brown being a front-runner, and Freddie Highmire or Jason Baterman potential surprise winners. Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama Caitriona Balfe - Outlander Claire Foy - The Crown Maggie Gyllenhaal - The Deuce Katherine Langford - 13 Reasons Why Elisabeth Moss - The Handmaid’s Tale A very strong category, with Claire Foy having a serious chance to win second year in a row with The Crown's phenomenal second season performance, who goes head to head with Elisabeth Moss who already has won an EMMY for her performance. However, these two can be overshadowed by Katherine Langford, the break-out star of 13 Reasons Why who could make the surpise win! Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy Anthony Anderson - Black-ish Aziz Ansari - Master of None Kevin Bacon - I Love Dick William H. Macy - Shameless Eric McCormack - Will and Grace Aziz Ansari is a front-runner for this category, but we might see William H. Macy snatch the award, as a veteran and Golden Globe favorite. Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy Pamela Adlon - Better Things Alison Brie - Glow Rachel Brosnahan - The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Issa Rae - Insecure Frankie Shaw - SMILF In this category, I believe that Alison Brie is a front-runner, however if HFPA goes for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in the comedy category, there is serious chance that Rachel Brosnahan wins this one. Another nominee with chance at winning is Issa Rae, with Insecure, however I think that Brie overshadows this category. Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television Big Little Lies Fargo Feud: Bette and Joan The Sinner Top of the Lake: China Girl Here we have an almost certain winner - Big Little Lies was the EMMY sensation and it seems that it will continue this course in the Golden Globes as well. Potential threats could be Top Of The Lake: China Girl or The Sinner. Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television Robert De Niro - The Wizard of Lies Jude Law - The Young Pope Kyle MacLachlan - Twin Peaks Ewan McGregor - Fargo Geoffrey Rush - Genius Here, everyone is betting on Jude Law as a sure win, however I do believe that Ewan McGregor's dual part at Fargo might get him the Golden Globe. Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television Jessica Biel - The Sinner Nicole Kidman - Big Little Lies Jessica Lange - Feud: Bette and Joan Susan Sarandon - Feud: Bette and Joan Reese Witherspoon - Big Little Lies I believe this category is favored towards Nicole Kidman however, Jessica Biel might be a strong competitor. Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television David Harbour - Stranger Things Alfred Molina - Feud Christian Slater - Mr. Robot Alexander Skarsgard - Big Little Lies David Thewlis - Fargo In this category, I believe that Skarsgard is a big front-runner, given the EMMY history, but how cool would it be if David Harbour would win?? Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television Laura Dern - Big Little Lies Ann Dowd - The Handmaid’s Tale Chrissy Metz - This is Us Michelle Pfeiffer - The Wizard of Lies Shailene Woodley - Big Little Lies Yet another strong category, where Laura Dern and Ann Dowd are front-runners, however there might be a surprise coming from the Big Three's number 2 a.k.a. This is Us Chrissy Metz, who gave an amazing performance in This Is Us second season. There you have it! This year's potential winners and outsiders. Six days left till the award season begins and it will be an intense season!
 The moment when Warren Beatty explains the Best Picture mix-up Unless you were sleeping for the past 15 hours or so, by now you all know what went down during the 89th Academy Awards. What a night…. Let me start reminiscing the events of last night, by saying that this year’s ceremony was extra special to me, as it marked 20 years since I first started actively watching the Oscars live. Also, this year was the first time that I watched the ceremony at a special screening and not on my couch and it turned out to be great, as it is far better to scream at a screen collectively and sharing the excitement with other fellow cinema lovers.  Souvenirs from last night So, the night was rather exciting, with many memorable moments: The Best Picture screw up It was the last award of the night and while La La land was announced as the Best Picture winner and the cast and producers were on stage accepting the award, a guy on headphones was going frantic looking and/or holding an envelope… Once you saw that guy you knew that something was up. And then came the most WTF moment in awards history: “There was a mistake. Moonlight, you guys won Best Picture”. At that time, people were screaming, looking at each other speechless and Meryl was giving us the best reaction face that will sure become a great meme.  Jaws dropping everywhere Yes, someone screwed up big time. Many were quick to blame the Academy, Warren Beatty who was the presenter opening the envelope or in an ultimate conspiracy theory, Leonardo who had just announced Emma Stone as the winner on the Best Actress category, but only one had the responsibility of the envelopes and the winners’ cards: PriceWaterhouseCooper, the global accounting firm responsible for the Oscars balloting process. What has been said so far is that Beatty was not given the envelope containing the winner of Best Picture, but that of Best Actress, previously awarded to Emma Stone. So, not knowing what to do, he showed the card to Faye Dunaway who just read the film title, thus causing the mix-up. But how did the Best Actress card end up at Beatty’s hands? Emma Stone was very firm few moments after the incident that she was actually holding the Best Actress card at her hands when the whole mess happened. So, what the hell was a duplicate card doing at Beatty’s hands? All we know is that someone at PwC messed up BIG time. Steve Harvey is going to sleep well tonight knowing that he is not the only one that awards the wrong people…  The moment of truth  Moonlight producers simply can't believe their luck  Ryan Gosling found the whole mix-up rather entertaining  The (correct) winners receiving their award The Salesman winning speech This year’s show had a very clear Anti-Trump vibe and The Salesman, the Iranian film awarded for Best Foreign Film, set the tone well for the whole night. Due to the travel restrictions set by the Trump administration, the Iranian director AsgharFarhadi could not attend the ceremony and accept the award. He did send a representative though who read out his powerful statement: It's a great honor to be receiving this valuable award for the second time. I would like to thank the members of the Academy, my crew in Iran, my producer, Amazon, and my fellow nominees. I'm sorry I'm not with you tonight. My absence is out of respect for the people of my country and those of other six nations whom have been disrespected by the inhuman law that bans entry of immigrants to the U.S. Dividing the world into the 'us' and 'our enemies' categories creates fear, a deceitful justification for aggression and war. These wars prevent democracy and human rights in countries which have themselves been victims of aggression. Filmmakers can turn their cameras to capture shared human qualities and break stereotypes of various nationalities and religions. They create empathy between us and others. An empathy which we need today more than ever. Thank you on behalf of Mr. Farhadi. Thank you  History being made In times when America is becoming more and more narrow minded, this year’s Oscars, on the contrary to last year, proved that they can see beyond race, color, religion and sexual orientation. Barry Jenkins was the first African-American to direct an Oscar film and who also shared the Best Adapted Screenplay Award, Mahershala Ali was the first Muslim who wins an Oscar and Viola Davis managed to become the first African-American to have won an Oscar, a Tony and an Emmy. Also, at the darkest times for the LGBTQI community, it is very encouraging that Moonlight was given the most important award of the night.  Mahershala Ali  Viola Davis Kimmel tweeting Donald Trump While the night was progressing and many Anti-Trump references were mentioned by either host Jimmy Kimmel, presenters or winners, Kimmel took it one step further: being worried about Trump as he had not tweeted anything about the Oscars, we tweeted at Trump “Hey @realDonaldTrump u up?”, followed by @realDonaldTrump #Merylsayshi”. Unfortunately Trump did not tweet back…    La La land losing Best Writing (Original Screenplay) To be honest that was not such a jaw dropping, it was more of an Oh-my-god-La La land-might-lose-Best-Picture moment. This, along with La La land losing the costume design, sound editing and sound mixing, meant that the awards that would be collected would be far less than the ones the film was nominated for Justin Timberlake opening the show Justin Timberlake and a group of dancers opened the show entering not from the stage, but through the theatre doors, giving us an SNL feeling and a flawless performance of his Oscar nominated song “Can’t Stop the feeling”, making him a perfect presenter candidate for next year  The Academy “enriching” the “In Memoriam” list with a living person And just when we thought we had seen it all, after the ceremony news broke that the Academy used a photo of a living woman during the “In Memoriam” segment. Don’t worry people, Australian Producer Jan Chapman is alive and kicking, it was just another mix-up…  Overall, a very exciting show I must say!   Here are the winners of the night: Best Picture: Moonlight (in the end) Directing: Damien Chazelle for La La land *Becoming the youngest director that has ever been awarded Actor in a Leading Role: Casey Affleck for Manchester by The Sea Actress in a Leading Role: Emma Stone for La La land Actor in a Supporting Role: Mahershala Ali for Moonlight Actress in a Supporting Role: Viola Davis for Fences Writing (Adapted Screenplay): Moonlightby Barry Jenkins; Story by Tarell Alvin McCraney Writing (Original Screenplay): Manchester by the Sea by Kenneth Lonergan Foreign Language Film: The Salesman (Iran) You may see the full list of winners here: https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2017 Untill, next year!   Well, it’s that time of the year again… The carpet is laid, the speeches are prepared, the gowns are on. It’s time for the 89th Academy Awards a.k.a. Oscars 2017. And all bets are on. How many awards out of the 14 nominations will La La land grab? How many times will Trump be mentioned or implied on an acceptance speech (that will be a cool drinking game)? Will Casey Affleck’s win be jeopardized by his very controversial past? How will Jimmy Kimmel do on his first time presenting? How many kids from Stranger Things will make a “surprise” appearance? All these questions will be answered tomorrow night.Until then, here are my traditional Oscar Projections: Best Picture La La land #SorryNotSorry but this film really captured mine and everybody’s hearts. Sure, the characters don’t have to deal with loss, growing up with an addict parent, racism, poverty, war;it’s a cheesy film about life and love, but is portrayed in a such a beautiful, old-Hollywood-way, that it makes it simply a small masterpiece. Directing Damien Chazelle for La La land The film’s charm is not only the amazing chemistry between Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, but the effortless, yet crafty direction of Damien Chazelle. Hands down best director this year and did I mention he is only 32? Actor in a Leading Role Well, I am between Casey Affleck for Manchester by The Sea and Denzel Washington for Fences… This will be a tough one, as I am sure that if it wasn’t for the Affleck’s reputation, this will be a sure win, but now… all bets are on. I have a feeling that Denzel’s going to win this one though… Although I would like the Academy to be more creative and award Viggo Mortensen for Captain Fantastic! Actress in a Leading Role Emma Stone for La La land I know that Isabelle Huppert and Meryl Streep are more established actresses, but Emma Stone’s performance in La La land, was so intimate and touching that makes her worthy of this award. Actor in a Supporting Role Mahershala Ali for Moonlight If it weren’t any other year, Moonlight would be a far stronger competitor, but this year’s competition makes this perhaps the one certain award for Moonlight Actress in a Supporting Role Viola Davis for Fences Although we might see a surprise or two (Naomie Harris or Michelle Williams), Davis sure is the more likely to win. Anyone who can stand next to Denzel Washington and manage not only not to get overshadowed but to steal the show, deserves this award. Writing (Adapted Screenplay) Moonlightby Barry Jenkins; Story by Tarell Alvin McCraney Moonlight seems to be the frontrunner here, especially since Best Picture is out of the question… Writing (Original Screenplay) La La landby Damien Chazelle La La land seems a sure winner, but if you ask me my heart is with The Lobster by Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou. Honestly, you don’t get more original screenplay than that! For the full list of the nominations, visit https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2017 Happy 2017 Oscars!   Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice premiered last Thursday and now it’s time for a verdict… I have to admit, when the film ended I was rather excited; the whole experience was intense, the film was well directed and Affleck didn’t suck! But as the dust settled and I thought more of the film and how the new DC cinematic universe was set, the verdict came: Not. Good.. I will try to go though the BvS experience without giving out any major spoilers, but let’s state the obvious: if you have not watched the film yet and want to avoid any spoiler whatsoever, that’s your exit queue.  So, let’s break it down and let me explain why I did not love one of the most expected films in the nerd universe. Let’s start with the cast: if you remember, when it was first announced that Affleck would take on the icon role of Batman and become the next Dark Knight, as most of you, I did not approve the casting choice. At that point, when we did not know what exactly the direction of the project would be, Affleck felt like a poor choice compared to Christian Bale. Let’s not forget the mess that the (cinematic) Daredevil was… However, as I mentioned before, the new Batman was a pleasant surprise! At this point I need to point out for those that have not heard much of the film and have just heard the title and seen the trailer that this is NOT a Batman movie; it is a –sort of- sequel to The Man of Steel (at least it was supposed to be) and an intro to the Justice League of America and the new DC (cinematic) universe. Therefore it is rather a Superman movie. Surprisingly though, the feeling that I got after actually watching the film, was that it was more of a… Batman film. The reason is that we see more of Batman/Bruce Wayne’s take of the events taking place in The Man of Steel and how it affected his future choices as to how he would deal with Superman and exactly because this is NOT a Batman film, we got all the Batman back-story (at least the early years) in order to help understand more the reasoning behind the choices that he makes; overall, Affleck was a very good version of Batman. As regards Superman (Henry Cavill), well, I have to admit that Superman is not my favorite superhero; nevertheless, Cavill gives a very good performance, but I fell is overshadowed by Affleck and because of the script, he tends to be a bit irritating. This brings us to the most irritating character (to my opinion): Lois Lane… As in the Man of Steel, also in BvS, Lane seems to be placed in scenes according to the plot wholes that need to be corrected; she does not seem to have any part in the plot of the story, yet she appears at the places that fit the writers in order to serve the outcome of the scene. Amy Adams gives a very decent performance but I don’t think that the part helps her much. Jesse Eisenberg aka Lex Luthor (who only Affleck pronounces correctly – Kudos for that Ben) , as it was obvious from the trailers, was a very good casting choice; he gives a very deep, psychotic performance, but at some he seems to be exaggerating and the whole thing seems as an audition for the part of Joker!    As regards the rest of the cast, as we mentioned before this is an intro to the Justice League, so we were expecting to see what we were promised; Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman and potentially Cyborg and Green Lantern. We got four out of five: we saw Wonder Woman in action, we saw a small scene with The Flash and I have a feeling that Ezra Miller is a good choice for one of my favorite heroes, we got a glimpse of Aquaman and we saw what -I realized after leaving the theatre- the birth of Cyborg. This introduction though, was done in such a brief way, that you needed to be extra careful and extra nerdy to get all references (I am sure that I also have missed some), despite the fact that Justice League was what we were all waiting for and was part of the title! Unfortunately, we only got to see Wonder Woman in more detail. Gal Gabot proved to be a very good choice for the part, being graceful and dynamic, but it seemed as a mistake to have released BvS before the Wonder Woman film; we got to see a glimpse of her back story, but not enough. We saw her fighting style, the shield, the sword, the whip, but without seeing her history, I feel that we missed some of her glory. Cool fact: for that small part of hers in the film, she got her own music score! Girl power!  Overall, BvS was a tough story to deliver: they needed to tell the story of the battle between the two heroes, the way that the world turned on Superman, the rise of Doomsday, the role of Lex Luthor in that and in tracking the JL members and introduce four new heroes that would eventually form the Justice League. That’s a lot of things to fit in one film and in the end it felt as if we were watching 4-5 films in one…
I blame DC’s (and Marvel’s) TV universe for that. These people have spoiled the audience by delivering masterpieces on the small screen, where there is room to develop the characters and deliver a climax in the story and when it comes to the cinematic universe and all the stories that they need to develop to drive the next films, it seems tough to succeed in doing so in 2,5 hours. A better editing might have made a difference. Or not. We might see BvS different after watching the next films related to the League. Or not. One thing is for sure though: Batman v Superman, was worse than we expected and hoped. Also, something that puzzled me and I am still not sure how I feel about, was the ending… I am not sure how to get around this, without giving out the biggest spoiler of the film, but let’s simply say this: I know that it also happened in the comic; it took balls to do it on film; but I am not sure how they will set up the next film after that… In the end, let’s hope that we don’t say the same things in a month or so, with Civil War…. Although as I read from a fan, “The difference in Marvel and DC is Marvel cares about story just as much as character and costume”…  That’s a wrap! The 88th Academy Awards are history, with Spotlight shockingly winning Best Film, but at least Leonardo DiCaprio finally getting his first Oscar!
And here’s how it went down: Chris Rock opened with a monologue focused on the #OscarSoWhite controversy, avoiding the traditional mentions to the films nominated. Killer lines like “This year, the In Memoriam package is just going to be black people who were shot by the cops on their way to the movies”, made the audience numb but supportive and the occasional Kevin Hart joke here and there was always a hit. In the end, all agreed that as Rock said, it’s not about boycott – it’s about opportunity given to black artists. The ceremony started in a different award raw, starting with the screenplay awards with winners Spotlight for Original Screenplay and The Big Short for Adopted Screenplay. The show continued with a black actor video featuring Woopy Goldberg was funny but rather awkward following with a more awkward appearance by Stacey Dash to recreate her controversial comment on Black History month Shocker in the Actress in a Supporting Role category with Alicia Vikander winning for The Danish Girl , beating Kate Winslet. Following the commercial break Chris Rock announces that we’re black (instead of we’re back) which shows us that he’s far from done from the #OscarSoWhite jokes and the awards continue with Costume Design, going to Mad Max: Fury Road And I still can’t get over of the thank you names strolling down the screen; it’s like watching CNN breaking news… Production Design Oscar goes to Mad Max: Fury Road again as well as for Make Up & Hair Style, who is give by non other that Harley Quinn and The Joker themselves, aka Margot Robbie and Jared Leto. Next award is for Cinematography and the Oscar goes to The Revenant. The Film Editing Oscar goes to Mad Max: Fury Road again! That’s 4 till now! And again an awkward video about Black History Month that seems to be targeted to Will Smith, only to reveal that it’s Jack Black who’s honored… Two more Oscars for Mad Max: Fury Road, this time for Sound Editing and Sound Mixing! Visual Effects went surprisingly to Ex Machina (how did Mad Max: Fury Road lose that?) Chris Rock pulls an Ellen by inviting the audience to buy Girl Scout cookies to help his daughters sell more cookies than their fellow Girl Scouts In a full animated moment, with special appearance by Woody and Buz from Toy Story, Inside Out wins best Animated Feature And it’s time for the Oscar for Actor in a Supporting Role: the winner is Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies! That’s a surprise! These supporting actors are really ruining my predictions… The Oscar for Documentary Feature goes to Amy, about the life of Amy Winehouse The In Memoriam section could not be more moving without Dave Grohl performing Black Bird Best Foreign Language Film goes to Hungary for Son of Saul In the music category, Original Score goes to the legend Ennio Morricone for The Hateful Eight, who of course gives a speech in Italian and Original Song goes to Writing’s On the Wall for Spectre – ok, can I say it? Just cause it’s a song from a Bond film, it doesn’t mean it’s a good one…. Damn good speech from Sam Smith though… So, we reached the final (big) awards: Directing goes to Alejandro G. Iñárritu for The Revenant (no shocker there), Actress in a Leading Role Brie Larson for Room, Actor in a Leading Role: Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant (FINALLY) and at a jaw dropping moment, Spotlight winning Best Picture! So, that’s it for this year. Let’s hope for less controversy next year and less air time – at least less than 3,5 hours….  Well, it’s that time of the year again: it’s Oscar time! And what a year! The #OscarsSoWhite controversy, the boycott, the will-he-won’t-he-win-the-Oscar Leo controversy and here we are again, guessing who will win and who will lose, when we all know how it’s going to go down…. Face it guys: these awards are more or less pre-decided... It would be nice to see a variety of nominations, an open-mindedness on the winner selection, but unfortunately this is not how the Film industry works. The issue is not the Academy; it’s Hollywood and how it imposes certain selected artists (Jennifer Lawrence ringing any bells?), without giving chances to the rest to shine. Not to bring you down now, the Oscars are a spectacle, a fun show to watch, so once again, let’s see what are my predictions for this year, along with my wish list:  Best Picture:
Who will win: The Revenant Who I would want to see winning: Well, for sure I loved The Revenant and I will be more than happy to see Iñárritu win the Oscar, but come on: how awesome would it be to to see Mad Max win Best Picture? Actor in a Leading Role Who will win: Leonardo DiCaprio for the Revenant Who I would want to see winning: Leonardo DiCaprio for the Revenant (You’ve seen my post on The Revenant – do I need to say more?) Actress in a Leading Role: Who will win: Brie Larson for Room Who I would want to see winning: Brie Larson for Room (I have a soft spot for her after Scott Pilgrim; plus she was amazing in the Room) Actor in a Supporting Role Who will win: Sylvester Stallone for Creed Who I would want to see winning: Tom Hardy for The Revenant (Anyone but Stallone and why not Hardy? He was such a great villain in The Revenant!) Actress in a Supporting Role Who will win: I am 90% sure that Kate Winslet for Steve Jobs will win, but I leave a 10% for Jennifer Jason Leigh for The Hateful Eight, in case the Academy want to redeem themselves for this year by awarding a more controversial role Who I would want to see winning: To be honest I don’t have a particular favorite here, so I would go with the craziest out of the 5, Jennifer Jason Leigh for The Hateful Eight Directing: Who will win: Alejandro G. Iñárritu for the Revenant Who I would want to see winning: Alejandro G. Iñárritu for the Revenant Writing (Adapted Screenplay) Who will win: The Big Short Who I would want to see winning: Room Writing (Original Screenplay) Who will win: Spotlight Who I would want to see winning: Straight Outta Compton You may see here the full list of the nominees http://oscar.go.com/nominees Regarless of whether Leo wins, the Academy will overcome the controversy issues, the actors will boycott the awards, be sure to enjoy the ceremony and have fun! After all, it's only an award show!  Talking about The Revenant, one cannot help but to realize that it is by far one of the most important films of our time. Iñárritu’s takes on a true, remarkable story and delivers a masterpiece, showing the mental and physical journey of a huntsman who is attacked by a bear during a fur trading expedition, barely survives and after witnessing his son being murdered, is left behind for dead by his companions.  The director’s commitment to the craft is remarkable and this time he delivers a visual piece of art, in rather hard filming circumstances and difficult locations. The cast is of course overshadowed by DiCaprio’s performance, which simply cannot be questioned, once again proving that he is a true artist. It is a film that is very much centered on the leading character and the difficulties that he must overcome to survive and seek revenge and it is obvious that without this performance, the film would not be the same. The secondary characters and especially the villain, who is portrayed by Tom Hardy, deliver equally great, emotional performances, with Hardy following closely DiCaprio’s footsteps in becoming one the best actors of his generation.  The Revenant is a tough film, that not all audiences going to like. It takes on issues like genocide, racism, humanity and survival and despite the brutality of the character’s actions, the result is a cinematic diamond that will sure be remembered and treasured by future generations. Needless to say that it is a “must see” film and an Academy Award frontrunner, having already won 3 Golden Globes, 5 BAFTA Awards and 43 more awards. |
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