Reactions to the Oscar Nominations: 2016

Surprises, once again, were rampant in the nominations announcement this morning. It is a bit frustrating that I spend the whole year predicting these and still know nothing, but it is also refreshing that it is never so predictable that a fan with a blog cannot make the announcements a mere formality. It is my favorite time of the year. Here are my annual reactions to all of the categories and how I did with my final predictions. For the first time, I did last minute predictions, which seemed to make me do worse than I did a couple weeks ago, but they were published, so I will go with what I did yesterday. Without further ado, here are your nominations for the 88^th Annual Academy Awards…

BEST PICTURE
The Big Short

Bridge of Spies

Brooklyn

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Room

Spotlight

Predicted: 7 for 8

Reactions: The only one I missed was Brooklyn, which I had replaced by Carol. How exactly do they leave it off? I have no idea. It performed so well in all of the other categories. One of the other major surprises is that Straight Outta Compton, which received an Original Screenplay nomination, was left off this list. Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the biggest movie of all time, was also left off. It is a strange category. I can’t remember the last time I honestly had no idea what the frontrunner was. It appears to be The Revenant, but no director has ever had back-to-back Best Pictures.

Preliminary prediction: Spotlight

BEST DIRECTOR

Adam McKay – The Big Short

George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road

Alejandro G. Inarritu – The Revenant

Lenny Abrahamson – Room

Thomas McCarthy – Spotlight

Predicted: 4 for 5

Reactions: After being snubbed by BAFTA, McCarthy makes an appearance here, reaffirming his film’s frontrunner status. The only one I missed out on was Abrahamason, which I had in my first final predictions, but he ended up taking the place of one of the frontrunners Ridley Scott for The Martian. That snub really surprises me, but then again, it was a “comedy”. This is one of those classic times where the winner of this category is not necessarily going to be the director of the Best Picture. Spotlight’s direction was a bit scattered, so this is going to either Inarritu or Miller, unless they really take to The Big Short and it is in for a sweep. I find that hard to believe. No one has won back to back since 1940-1941 until…

Preliminary prediction: Alejandro G. Inarritu

BEST ACTOR

Bryan Cranston – Trumbo

Matt Damon – The Martian

Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant

Michael Fassbender – Steve Jobs

Eddie Redmayne – The Danish Girl

Predicted: 5 for 5

Reactions: In the end, this was the easiest category to predict. Will Smith and Johnny Depp had movies that underperformed all awards season, so getting left off is not a surprise. No actor has won back to back since Tom Hanks in 1993-1994, plus Redmayne’s movie sucks, so he can’t win. Oh, who am I kidding? This is over. Leo!

Preliminary prediction: Leonardo DiCaprio

BEST ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett – Carol

Brie Larson – Room

Jennifer Lawrence – Joy

Charlotte Rampling – 45 Years

Saoirse Ronan – Brooklyn

Predicted: 4 for 5

Reactions: The only one I missed here was Rampling because I had Alicia Vikander as lead for The Danish Girl. It is an absolute joke that she and Rooney Mara are supporting, but that’s how it goes sometimes. Rampling will likely have a lot of support from the Academy, but Brie Larson seems to have this wrapped up. Jennifer Lawrence…wow. She is the new Streep.

Preliminary prediction: Brie Larson

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Christian Bale – The Big Short

Tom Hardy – The Revenant

Mark Ruffalo – Spotlight

Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies

Sylvester Stallone – Creed

Predicted: 4 for 5

Reactions: The only one I missed was Tom Hardy, which I had replaced with Idris Elba for Beasts of No Nation (shut out). Stallone’s nomination establishes him as the frontrunner. It was going to be a climb to get nominated by his peers, but Academy-wide, he should absolutely dominate this race. He got the biggest applause of any nomination during the announcements.

Preliminary prediction: Sylvester Stallone

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight

Rooney Mara – Carol

Rachel McAdams – Spotlight

Alicia Vikander – The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet – Steve Jobs

Predicted: 5 for 5

Reactions: I am going to call this 5-5, even though I had Vikander’s other movie. That is about as close as you get. She and Mara are going to make this category extremely interesting. With the other televised shows coming up, we will see which of the two is going to be the frontrunner for the Oscar. They don’t always compete in the same category, though. This seems wide open. Kate Winslet can’t win like she did at the Globes, right? Right…

Preliminary prediction: Rooney Mara

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Bridge of Spies

Ex Machina

Inside Out

Spotlight

Straight Outta Compton

Predicted: 3 for 5

Reactions: No Tarantino? Seriously? Yikes. I missed Straight Outta Compton and Ex Machina. I had in The Hateful Eight, obviously, and Sicario. Both of those snubs are surprising and seriously off-putting, but it is what it is. Spotlight has this sewn up. There is no chance it loses, unless they want to give the Coens another Oscar.

Preliminary prediction: Spotlight

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Big Short

Brooklyn

Carol

The Martian

Room

Predicted: 4 for 5

Reactions: I missed The Martian in favor of Steve Jobs, you know, the Golden Globe winner. Aaron Sorkin. Academy favorite. Whatever. That snub makes ZERO sense. But Drew Goddard getting the nom is insanely cool. This category seems pretty wide open. The Big Short would be the traditional winner, but is the guy behind Ron Burgundy really going to be an Oscar winner? Carol should win, but won’t. Carol and Room could be the first solo female winners in this category since 1995. Brooklyn getting in is a nice touch…beautiful screenplay.

Preliminary prediction: The Big Short

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Carol

The Hateful Eight

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant

Sicario

Predicted: 4 for 5

Reactions: I had Bridge of Spies in for Carol. This is actually what the category should look like. There are some big name guys in this group. This one should go right down to the wire.

Preliminary prediction: Sicario

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Bridge of Spies

The Danish Girl

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Predicted: 3 for 5

Reactions: I had Carol and Star Wars in for The Martian and The Revenant. This is an interesting group. It is somewhat reminiscent of 2007. The Revenant is a non-traditional contender like There Will Be Blood was, but it is probably the frontrunner. But…

Preliminary prediction: Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Carol

Cinderella

The Danish Girl

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant

Predicted: 3 for 5

Reactions: I had Crimson Peak in for a surprise and Brooklyn as well in place of Mad Max and The Revenant. The latter is a strange nominee, but a cool one at the same time.

Preliminary prediction: The Danish Girl

BEST SOUND MIXING

Bridge of Spies

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Predicted: 4 for 5

Reactions: I had Jurassic World in for Bridge of Spies. That movie performed a lot better than I expected. This category usually goes to action movies, and we have 3 of them here. If Star Wars wins anything, it is this, but I don’t think that is too high on the Academy’s priority list.

Preliminary prediction: The Revenant

BEST FILM EDITING

The Big Short

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant

Spotlight

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Predicted: 4 for 5

Reactions: I missed Star Wars in favor of The Martian. This is the category of contenders, minus that snub, of course. I think it can only really go one way, though…

Preliminary prediction: The Revenant

BEST SOUND EFFECTS EDITING

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Sicario

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Predicted: 4 for 5

Reactions: I had Everest in for Sicario. That is a cool surprise nomination, there. Typically, this category goes hand in hand with Sound Mixing, but this year could be different. It is usually all about more traditional action movies.

Preliminary prediction: Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Ex Machina

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Predicted: 4 for 5

Reactions: I had The Walk getting that sort of Hereafter nomination over Ex Machina, which is well-deserved. This category is absolutely stacked. There are not usually this many Best Picture contenders in this category.

Preliminary prediction: Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Mad Max: Fury Road

The 100-Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared

The Revenant

Predicted: 2 for 3

Reactions: I had Black Mass in over that long title. Is that going to be our winner? That would have to be the longest title to ever win an Oscar. Can I get some fact checking on that?

Preliminary prediction: The Revenant

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“Earned It” – Fifty Shades of Grey

“Manta Ray” – Racing Extinction

“Simple Song No. 3” – Youth

“Til It Happens To You” – The Hunting Ground

“Writing’s on the Wall” – Spectre

Predicted: 4 for 5

Reactions: I missed Racing Extinction, whatever the hell that is, in favor of Furious 7. It is refreshing to know that they don’t just go with the popular artists…oh wait. Spectre. Sam Smith. Wow. That song sucked. And Lady Gaga, fresh off her Golden Globe, gets a likely Oscar. Nice. I totally called the alternate Fifty Shades song getting in though!

Preliminary prediction: The Hunting Ground

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Bridge of Spies

Carol

The Hateful Eight

Sicario

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Predicted: 3 for 5

Reactions: I had The Danish Girl and Spotlight in for Sicario and Bridge of Spies. This is a good group. John Williams is back in it. This has to go to Ennio Morricone, though, right? We all want to see Quentin back up on that stage accepting on his behalf.

Preliminary prediction: The Hateful Eight

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Amy

Cartel Land

The Look of Silence

What Happened, Miss Simone?

Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom

Predicted: 3 for 5

Reactions: I missed the bottom 2 in favor of Going Clear and 3 ½ Minutes, Ten Bullets. I don’t really know what to comment on here. Amy is clearly the frontrunner, but this category doesn’t always go that way. The Look of Silence is a nice touch. I am getting a strange feeling we are in for an upset.

Preliminary prediction: What Happened, Miss Simone?

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Embrace the Serpant

Mustang

Son of Saul

Theeb

A War

Predicted: 3 for 5

Reactions: I missed Embrace the Serpant and Theeb in favor of Labyrinth of Lies and Viva. This one is over. There is almost no chance that Son of Saul loses this.

Preliminary prediction: Son of Saul

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Anomalisa

Boy and the World

Inside Out

Shaun the Sheep Movie

When Marnie Was There

Predicted: 3 for 5

Reactions: I missed Marnie and whatever Boy and the World is in favor of slam dunk nominees The Good Dinosaur and The Peanuts Movie. This is what I love about this category. They do not just go with the traditional picks. If Pixar makes a mediocre movie, they won’t nominate it. They dig deep for movies like Boy and the World. I’m sure it is terrific. Adding it to my Netflix queue.

Preliminary prediction: Inside Out

Overall predictions: 80/106; 75.47% (68.81% in 2015)

Without the last 5 categories: 64/81; 79.01% (70.37% in 2015)

On the Big 8 categories: 36/43; 83.72% (75.00% in 2015)

Damn! I owned that! Those are my highest numbers since 2009. I am totally doing last minute predictions from now on!

10 COOLEST FIRST TIME NOMINEES

1. Jennifer Jason Leigh

2. Bryan Cranston

3. Tom Hardy

4. The Weeknd

5. Adam McKay

6. Rachel McAdams

7. Lady Gaga

8. Alicia Vikander

9. Brie Larson

10. Drew Goddard

10 WORST SNUBS

1. Carol for Best Picture

2. Ridley Scott for Best Director

3. Steve Jobs for Best Adapted Screenplay

4. Black Mass for Best Makeup

5. The Hateful Eight for Best Original Screenplay

6. The Walk for Best Visual Effects

7. Idris Elba for Best Supporting Actor

8. Inside Out for Best Original Score

9. Trainwreck for Best Original Screenplay

10. Spotlight for Best Original Score

That’s all I got! How did you do predicting? Let me know in the comments and stay tuned for our 8^th Annual Oscar Challenge!

Top 10 Summer Movies-2015

September has finally cracked our calendars.  That means two things, football season is here, and that the summer movie season is finished.  

This summer, we witnessed a battle of blockbusters.  A director coming full circle, with his fourth film in the franchise he started.  We have seen some remakes, disaster films, biopics, and tearful animation.   

Now I haven't seen every film that came out this summer.  So there might be a few that could of made my Top 10.  

Here's that list: Trainwreck, Mission Impossible Rogue Nation, The Gift, Dope, Me Earl and the Dying Girl, Amy, Mr. Holmes, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Terminator Genisys, and Cop Car

Movies that just miss my list:
Maggie, Spy, Insidious: Chapter 3, No Escape, Slow West, Pitch Perfect 2, Vacation, and Shaun the Sheep

10.

San Andreas

 

I original thought this movie was going to be awful.  To my surprise, I rather enjoyed seeing Dwayne Johnson battle nature.  It was a fun time to see some disaster.

9.

The Avengers: Age of Ultron

The first blockbuster of the summer, truly flexed it's muscles.  Though there was some disappointment with fans, I was one of them.  That doesn't mean, I didn't have fun.  I still enjoy my heroes!

8.

5 Flights Up

What is this film you ask?  Well, it's a simple story about a couple trying to find a new apartment.  I loved the chemistry between Freeman and Keaton.  Just a sweet film.

7.

Ted 2

I wasn't a huge fan of the first film.  So I was pleasantly surprised by how much I laughed, this time around.  The cameo in the grocery story lol!

6.

Ant-Man

A movie that proves Marvel can't do any wrong.  The first 15 minutes or so, I didn't enjoy but it got better.  It was really funny.  I loved what Paul Rudd can bring to this Universe.

5.

Southpaw

This movie has my favorite performance of the year.  Gyllenhaal is just simply amazing.  He is quickly becoming my favorite actor.  

4.

Straight Outta Compton

This was my most anticipated of the summer, and it didn't disappoint me at all.  I had so much fun and enjoyed every minute of it.

3.

Jurassic World

This was the only film this summer that I went to see twice.  This may not be the best film, but I enjoyed going back to the island.  Chris Pratt, is Mr. Summer movie.

2.

Inside Out

Pixar is in the business to make grown men cry.  They succeeded again with this film.  What an emotional journey, that will tug at the heart strings and make you laugh out load!

1.

Mad Max: Fury Road

What a nonstop thrill ride.  This movie grabs ahold of you and never lets go!  Charlize Theron is totally a bad ass.  Tom Hardy continues doing amazing films.  This should get some oscar buzz.  The makeup and special effects should be remembered for a long time!

Well that's my list!  What did I get wrong?  What's your list?

Comment Below

Thank You

Adam

The Drop (2014) Review

Directed by 

Michael R. Roskam

 

           When the money changes hands among the Chechen mob in New York, the bosses choose to designate a particular bar the site of “the drop,” where the money can be exchanged without surveillance or the threat of violence or retaliation.  Michael R. Roskam’s The Drop is about one of these bars, called Cousin Marv’s.  Drenched in the gritty atmosphere of Brooklyn, Cousin Marv’s is the favored hangout for the blue-collar workers from the shipyard.  To be sure, the bar isn’t entirely untarnished, but like many hangouts and shady characters from Dennis Lehane screenplays, the more that is left unsaid, the better.

            Ironically, The Drop isn’t really about the drop.  Over the course of the film, only two drops take place at Cousin Marv’s and perhaps not surprisingly, both end up going bad.  The first drop takes place in the film’s opening scene, when Cousin Marv (James Gadolfini, in his final performance) and his bartender, Bob Sacamano Saginowski (Tom Hardy) are closing up the bar late one night and encounter two masked bandits who hold up the bar for $5,000.  Problem is, of course, that the money Marv and Bob hand over from the till doesn’t belong to the bar – it is the money that has exchanged hands during the drop that technically belongs to the Chechen mob.  So the next day, the mobsters pay a visit to Cousin Marv and politely inform him that if he cannot come up with the money, he may end up paying more than he ever bargained for.

            Although Gandolfini’s character is at the center of the events in The Drop, the film’s main character is actually Bob, who appears to be a bizarre mixture of Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront and 1990s Adam Sandler.  You see, Bob is a cousin of Marv’s and serves as his right-hand man of sorts because he’s, well, kind of stupid and naïve (two qualities good for right-hand men but not traditionally associated with Tom Hardy characters – hold that thought).  Maybe that’s a little harsh, but consider an early scene where Bob finds an abandoned pit bull puppy beat up and left in a dumpster.  He is immediately attached to the dog, but is completely unaware of how to care for a pet – something most five-year-olds could do.  So he enlists the help of Nadia, the woman whose house the dog was left at (Noomi Rapace).  It apparently never occurred to Bob that this mysterious girl could have had anything to do with the dog’s bad shape since, you know, it was abandoned at her house and all, but no matter.

            So you see, Bob is sort of naïve and stupid.  And like most Dennis Lehane protagonists, his background and morality are shady (what a surprise).  He goes to Mass every day where he runs into the local police investigator (John Ortiz) who coincidentally has been assigned to keep a close eye on the robbery at Cousin Marv’s (this is apparently a really small neighborhood).  Of course, we soon see that the robbery wasn’t a random act of theft, but a calculated series of events designed to thwart the Chechen mobster’s hold over Cousin Marv and his bar (MILD SPOILERS AHEAD).  It turns out to no one’s great surprise that Cousin Marv isn’t that friendly of a guy and resents the fact that the mob controls his bar due to past debts he has been unable to pay.  By orchestrating the robbery after the drop, Cousin Marv is only taking the money that is (in his mind) rightfully his.  

            But wait a second.  You’re telling me that Cousin Marv risks his life, Bob’s life and the lives of his two masked lackeys for (wait for it)… only $5,000???  Who decided on that amount of money to steal – Dr. Evil?  Are they in the market for a used Oldsmobile?  I realize this is nitpicking, but it underscores a larger problem with the screenplay’s dramatic conflict between Cousin Marv and the mob: Why would the mob continue to coordinate drops with Cousin Marv if they know he is resentful and shady?  As the opening scene informs us, there are numerous bars the mob could contract with.  There doesn’t seem to be easy discernable reason why the mob has continued to hold on to Marv – a loose cannon at best – unless the Chechens are even more naïve and more stupid than Bob Saginowski.

            Meanwhile, Bob tries his best to be a good adoptive pet owner with the help of Nadia, but one day out of nowhere, the dog’s original owner, Eric Deeds (Matthias Schoenaerts) comes back into the picture and demands Bob give him $10,000 or he’ll go to the police to reclaim the dog (forget for a second that any reasonable police force would likely find Eric Deeds neglectful and abusive and keep the dog in Bob’s care).  Eric Deeds’ backstory is murky too; he apparently once killed a guy and dated Nadia (the exact order is a little unclear).  So Bob, straddled with the pressures of the mob, Nadia, poor intelligence, and his upcoming bartending shift on Super Bowl Sunday, has the additional pressure of coming up with the money or else. 

            Perhaps one of the worst things about The Drop is the way in which Lehane’s screenplay abides by the banal logic of Screenwriting 101 and uses the Eric Deeds subplot as nothing more than a diversion away from the main events of the story until . . . bam!  The two stories collide in a Completely Unexpected Moment No One Saw Coming.  Another annoying thing about the screenplay is the ways in which it tries to build intrigue and mystery around Bob’s character and motives: is he a good guy or is he hiding something?  Unfortunately, these questions are answered in exposition by Bob late in the movie – exposition which clarifies events in the film greatly, but at the expense of deflating the audience’s sincere interest in the story.  Put another way: We eventually see that Bob is only an ambiguous and mysterious character because the screenplay deliberately withheld crucial information about him and his past.  It was the screenplay’s manipulative structure that obscured him – not so much that his character was ambiguous and interesting to begin with.  I felt moderately cheated.

            I don’t like to harp on performances too much, but it also must be said that Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace feel miscast here.  It’s not just that neither can carry an authentic-sounding Brooklyn accent.  I said earlier that Hardy feels like an unlikely mix of Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront (which The Drop unmistakably recalls) and 1990s Adam Sandler – but Bob really shouldn’t be a torn bystander with Catholic guilt or a psychopathic moron with a puppy.  He should be a weak-minded individual with the desire to escape the domineering nature of his cousin, and Hardy instead comes off as too assured and poised for that.  As for Rapace, she feels distant and inconsequential (although her role is admittedly never really fleshed out beyond Obligatory Love Interest.) 

            Throughout this review, I’ve alluded to the fact that Dennis Lehane’s screenplays tend to contain surprising gaps in basic logic and rarely move beyond the most foundational structures of crime narratives (fortunately this film lacks the annoyingly colorful urban side characters of Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone).  The Drop is at least partially redeemed for director Roskam’s austere visual strategy and the fact that the movie wisely steers clear of explosive violence in favor of more gradual character development (I also like that this is one of the only mainstream pro-Pit Bull movies I've ever encountered). But there are too many loose ends and underdeveloped components, left intentionally vague by the screenplay in order to artificially and unfairly inflate viewer interest.  And as for Gandolfini, who gives the best performance in the film and is underutilized, let it be known that probably no one in film history could more perfectly play the role of a shady bar owner named Cousin Marv. 

Rating: 2.5 stars