Oscar Preferences & Predictions 2017

I get teased quite often by family, friends, colleagues about my efforts each year to see as many of the Oscar nominees that I can (not always easy considering sometimes some aren't even out in Spain when the Oscars roll round), but this year's batch has reminded me again why I do it. 

In part it's because I love the movies and the Oscars and want to "try and guess the winners", but also because once the big night comes and goes I might not feel so much "pressure" to go and see the non-winners (I honestly don't think you can call a nominated film a "loser") and I might miss out on a gem. After all, when over 6000 film professionals come up with a list of movies to reward, you can be pretty damn sure those are going to be excellent films with something to say!

This year, if it weren't for the Oscars, I probably wouldn't have gone to see Manchester by the Sea or Moonlight or Fences or Jackie or Lion (or Hell or High Water which I still haven't seen but fully intend to on dvd - or an airplane, was only out for a week in English just after New Years, and the family chose another movie to see). And I would have missed out BIG TIME! All of them surprised me and moved me deeply. The depths of the human experience they allow us to witness, the huge talent of the actors bringing those characters to life, it just blew me away! I just came back from seeing Fences and I'm still in awe. Someone give Denzel Washington and Viola Davis their Oscars already, sorry for any competition (was sure Casey Affleck would win, until just now).

Rambling Oscar thoughts

Oscar, Oscar! What is it with this particular awards ceremony that so enthrals us each year? Makes even less sense for me to be obsessed with it, considering I'm a continent and an ocean away, haven't been able to see the ceremony live in years, and until a few years ago it was impossible for me to see all the candidates before the actual ceremony! I don't know... perhaps it's a residual from my childhood/adolescence when I did live in that hemisphere and enjoyed the show a few times with my family... Perhaps it's just another aspect of my obsession with the movies in general! Anyhow, it's always a lot of fun to try and guess who will take home the little gold man, and then to complain and grumble about how someone else was "robbed" each year! :p

I'm not equipped to really judge some categories (or don't have time this year to look into them in detail), and I haven't seen all the films... and so can only "judge" some. I managed to see all the BP nominees except Amour, couldn't find time to make it to the cinema this weekend! *sigh* I'd rather catch it later in French anyway (for some reason dubbing annoys me even more when the original language was French! :p ). In any case, based on those I have seen, 2012 was a really good year for the movies! Lots of really great stuff to choose from, and I'm glad the decision doesn't rest on my shoulders, in most of these categories I truly wouldn't know how to decide!!!

Drop a line in the comments and tell me how your predictions compare to mine (mine have an asterisk), or stop by again "the day after" to rejoice or bemoan the winners/losers! ;o)

Now, without further ado here are my thoughts on some of the contestants for this year's Oscars!  

Random Ramblings

• I've gotten quite a few new visitors to the blog (WELCOME!!!)... all coming over for a visit from Snug Harbor Bay because my friend Kim wrote a lovely post about me yesterday!!! Fabulous surprise! (I thought you were just going to show off the hat and scarf Kim!) One of the things I like best about blogging is all the fabulous people I've been able to "meet" through our respective blog posts and comments. It's opened the world up for me and allowed me to make new friends in a fun way! I liken it to having pen pals back in the day (I tried once or twice, never stuck), except 100 times better! I hope some day to get to meet some of my "virtual" friends in the "real" world soon (Kim -> Spain + Italy for when???), but in the meantime it's wonderful hanging out with you guys online! :o)

• For the past 36h the news has been all abuzz about the Pope's "retirement" (15' section in the news today at lunch!!!). I don't have an opinion either way, but I do seem to remember about 10 years ago people asking why Pope John Paul II didn't retire and hearing it said that popes couldn't retire! Guess they got it wrong... just 'cause no one's done it in 800 years doesn't mean it can't be done! Still, it's weird to think of a Pope retiring! But he sure looks feeble in the news images... can't be an easy "job".

• Speaking of random news items, it turns out the Brits like to bury their Kings in car parks! lol! That was all over the news last week, did you guys hear about it? Talk about an archaeological treasure hunt... and find! Richard III remains "Crookback Dick" in my mind, not thanks to Shakespeare, but because of Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Black Arrow"! That was my first intro to the King (and the War of the Roses). Fascinating (and bloody!) period of British history... Now I'm wondering: what kind of State Funeral will the British Crown give its newly found monarch? An Anglican service doesn't seem right considering he was Catholic... but I have trouble imagining the head of the Church of England presiding over a Catholic funeral service... Anyhow there's a really interesting post about the dig itself over on The History Girls, very good read!

• I've tallied up quite a few movies these past couple of weeks (damn Oscar season!), have to prep a post on them... I'm only missing Amour to wrap up the Oscar nominees for Best Picture, will try to catch that this weekend. But I'm wondering whether or not to give The Master and Flight a go to get a look at their Oscar-nominated performances... neither movie really caught my attention, but I like to see as many of the major contenders as possible before the big night... Speaking of the Oscars, how ridiculous is it that Ben Affleck wasn't even nominated for Best Director considering he's winning just about every other "best director" award out there this season? He just got the BAFTA on Sunday! (bravo!)

• *sigh* I was really hoping I'd be able to make a grand announcement about spending 6 months this summer working in Iceland... but I didn't get the job. Major bummer! Sticking with the English classes for a while longer (and every week hoping none of my students cancels on me). When is this stupid global crisis going to end and there be more opportunities for people with a biology/environmental background? Anybody know of a decent environmental education or conservation position out there? I love my students but I'm tired of teaching English!

Movie Madness: time for the OSCARS!!!

So tonight is another one of those random nights in which I kind of wish I was living across the pond again, just so I could participate in and enjoy the madness that is the Academy Awards (a.k.a. the Oscars). I used to enjoy the show (and rooting for my favourite films) quite a bit, but since moving to Europe I've rarely had the chance to indulge in the craziness... 9h time difference with L.A. and the fact that it's on Canal+ (pay extra) definitely put a damper on any celebrations... So in Spain people don't really pay much attention to the Oscars. Hell, most people don't really pay any attention to the Goyas either (Spain's equivalent). I've only done anything Oscar-related here my first year in Uni when we organised an Oscar pool at the dorms and stayed up to watch it! (but of course, any excuse is a good excuse to stay up and party, so lol!) I've managed to stay up and watch it on a few other occasions, including once in Belgium... but this is the first time in like forever that I'm participating in an Oscar pool, albeit long-distance! My aunt's sister's family in the US apparently do this every year and since we've been communicating a lot via Facebook lately (we met last year in Paris, big coincidence our both being there at the same time) and discovered we have similar tastes (books, movies) and she invited me to join in! It gives the proceedings a bit of an added thrill for me. Fun! :o)

Unfortunately I'm not as well prepared for the Oscars as I have been other years (too many movies I haven't seen yet: Tree of Life, Midnight in Paris, Albert Nobbs, Hugo, Beginners...), the Academy's upping the number of films in Best Picture category complicates things, and later release dates in Spain don't help (Hugo just came out this weekend)! So I kind of figuratively flipped a coin in some categories while filling out my ballot, but here are a few I did give a bit more thought to... I have no way to honestly judge who "should" win, so I'm just saying who I would vote for if I had the chance, plus who I think might actually win it (if different).

Movie Magic: Slumdog Millionaire

A few weeks ago I was wondering what Slumdog Millionaire had on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, how could it be poised as a favourite to win the Oscar, and then why did it go on to do so above Benjamin Button.

Well, now I understand.

I just got home from seeing it and... WOW! "Feel-good movie of the decade" indeed! And tense. What tension! My legs felt like noodles when I got up to walk out of the theatre, I hadn't realised how tense I was during the film. Where Benjamin Button was visual poetry, had the feel of a ballet, Slumdog felt like a jolt of electricity. So vibrant. So ALIVE! For those who are "scared" it might be too much of a "Bollywood" movie, nope, not at all. It's a story of love, and ambition, and survival, and love. And it's wonderful! I already look forward to seeing it again in VO... as I could have sworn the movie was supposed to be bilingual (Hindi and English?) but that got lost in the Spanish dubbing (sigh!).

If you haven't already seen this, what are you waiting for?! Go! Git! Scat!!! NOW!!! ;o)
To entice you I leave you below with the trailer of this 8 Oscar-winning movie and

Slumdog Millionaire, 8 Oscars (10 noms):
Best Motion Picture of the Year
Best Director - Danny Boyle (same guy who did Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, Sunshine...)
Best Soundtrack and Best Song (Jai Ho) - A.R. Rahman
Best Adapted Screenplay - Simon Beaufoy
Best Achievement in Sound - Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty
Best Achievment in Cinematography - Anthony Dod Mantle
Best Achievment in Editing - Chris Dickens



And here's the Oscar-winning song as it's in the film (musical number over the credits), enjoy!

Movie Madness: the Oscars!

So, apparently the Oscars were last night! Oops, so much for my getting my "Oscar" post written before the big event! :p

As a major movie fanatic, and having been raised within the sphere of western culture (and mostly US cinema, although my tastes have diversified/globalized in the past decade), the Oscars are usually a big deal for me. But this year, it's just "bof"... dunno, perhaps Oscar-fatigue from having followed the race so closely (read: obsessively) the past several years? Or is it because I haven't seen almost any of the movies involved? (this is the first time in a long time that I haven't seen most of the films up for awards! of the biggies have only seen The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button) Or is it realising I wasn't going to be able to watch the show (what with not having the right cable channel and it being on here from 3am onwards...)? Or is it just this damn head cold I seem to have been incubating over the weekend? Methinks it might be general fatigue, and busy, busy schedule. Plus seems like I overdosed on all the info available. My favourite Oscar-related blog - the fabulously funny NYTimes Carpetbagger - added a couple of writers to his staff and all of the sudden there was just too much to read, it felt like "work" keeping abreast of it all! And add to that the other 4 sites I used to frequent regularly (Awards Daily, In Contention, The Film Experience, Movie City News)... and I think I might have blown a fuse this year. Oh well. Ni modo as we used to say in Mexico. Perhaps next year! :p

I was really looking forward to some aspects of these awards though... such as seeing Hugh Jackman hosting it, finding out if Kate Winslett and Heath Ledger would finally be recognised for stellar work (I'm basing my appraisal of Kate on previous work, I haven't seen The Reader yet), hoping the magical Benjamin Button would be rewarded (although I had read enough around the net to realise all bets were on Slumdog Millionaire) and with fingers crossed to see a Spanish actress (Pe!) get an Oscar for the first time. It's nice to see a year with such great movies and performances that it really would have been hard to be disappointed by any particular win (unless Heath hadn't gotten his for his amazing turn as the Joker). I'm just upset the movies hit the screens in my neck of the woods so late in the game, and so close together! Other than Doubt and Revolutionary Road which have been out almost a month, all the others came out in the last couple of weeks! When you can only go on the weekend (and not always) it makes it hard to get to them!!! Damn! I had it easier living in Belgium... sigh!

So instead of a cheerful post before the ceremony, there's my Oscar-rant just after! Now I'll have to wait for the highlights to appear online so I can hopefully catch some funny moments. And take my sweet time getting around to and enjoying these excellent films! No need to hurry anymore, typically we get a couple of months with lame films after the awards season is over and before the summer blockbusters comme out en masse.

If any of you reading this saw the ceremony, what did you think?

Oscar 2009 winners (main categories I'm interested in, brown means I've seen it):
Best Picture - Slumdog Millionaire
Best Director - Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
Best Leading Actor - Sean Penn (Milk)
Best Leading Actress - Kate Winslett (The Reader, FINALLY!!!)
Best Supporting Actor - Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight, YES!!!)
Best Supporting Actress - Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona, BRAVO!!!)
Best Soundtrack - A.R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire, had better be damn good, I was rooting for Button!)
Best Foreign Language Film - Departures (Japan)
Best Documentary Film - Man on Wire (damn! I was hoping for Herzog's Antartic romp Encounters at the End of the World!)
Best Animated Feature - Wall*E (no surprise there!)

Full list of awards at the Oscar official website.

Movie Madness!

Let me say it here and now, out loud: I'm a MOVIE ADDICT!!!

Even more: I'm an OSCAR NUT!!!

There. I said it! :o)

Just in case it wasn't clear based on the fact that 2 out of 3 previous entries were about movies... and with the "awards season" shifting into a higher gear, it's only going to get worse! :p

Stories are in my blood (both on paper and screen). I have a very easy capacity for losing myself in a moment, in a character. I'm really good at suspending my disbelief - as long as it's not too fake! I'll watch almost anything at least once. If it's good and I liked it I'm more than willing to see it again; if it's excellent and I loved it you can be pretty sure I'll be getting the dvd (I'm an avid consumer of bonus material) and watching it again and again and again! If it's just bof I'll probably forget about it and then end up watching again if it shows up on TV. I can be pretty forgiving when judging a film, often taking into account what I think the filmmakers wanted to accomplish and placing it in the appropriate context (after all, you can't compare apples and oranges like a commercial feel-good movie or an Oscar-hopeful thought-provoking film). But I can also be pretty hard on bad or even mediocre films, have little patience for "low-brow" comedy (I just don't get the popularity of an excess of stupidity on the screen), can't stand gore for the sake of a bloodbath and am not too fond of horror films.

Friends have a tendency to come to me to ask about info on what's playing and are often surprised by my spouting out random trivia related to the films or future projects by the directors, actors etc. They often ask me how I know about it all... well here goes! Basically I spend waaaaaaay too much time reading movie-related websites. Here are my favourites for any curious enough to delve into them. They're getting a lot more traffic now that the Awards Season has started:

The Carpetbagger - my favourite! for me the season really starts when this Oscar-related N.Y.Times blog reopens its doors at the beginning of December. The Bagger has a unique sense of humor, pretty good movie taste and presents an outsider's view of the whole awards circus. Add in his crazy videos (he's moved out of Times Square and into his basement this year, nuts!)

In Contention - with several bloggers on-board it's good for reviews and movie insights, but particularly interesting for its "Tech Support" section which dissects various aspects of films we tend to take for granted and helps you gain a greater appreciation for all the hard work that goes into our favourite movies.

The Film Experience - a one-man show (I don't know how he keeps up that volume of posting!) with some interesting reviews, lists, quirky ideas, discussions, blog-a-thons... you name it, Nathaniel's probably done it!

Movie City News - a news aggregator, best place for links to news from a wide variety of sources as well as some interesting pieces (state of the industry, awards discussions, reviews) by their own columnists.

SyFy Portal - excellent for news and reviews for Science Fiction fans (me!!!)

dig in! and be prepared for more movie-madness in the future! ;o)