The Day After the Oscars

Ok, let’s take a look at some of the categories that I predicted incorrectly or where the gongs went where I did not want them to go. Or something. Let’s just take a look.

By far the biggest disappointed for me was Boyhood losing to Birdman. Birdman was a good film but I didn’t like it that much and I think Linklater did something special there. He should have also won the director award. So sorry that he didn’t. I did predict that Iñarritu’s win in directing, so only half wrong. I also hoped that Whiplash would’ve gotten the best picture but I knew it would not. But it’s still the best film of the year and one of the best ones ever.

I was happy with all the acting categories, so no complaints there. I also got all of them correct. I was first disappointed that Whiplash didn’t get the gong for the adapted screenplay but Graham Moore who won for The Imitation Game was so touching and worthy in the end that it’s ok. Birdman got the other and that was expected. As was its win for cinematography. Well deserved.

I predicted The Grand Budapest Hotel for the costume design and the production design and I also wanted it to win, pretty, pastel picture as it is. The makeup and hairstyling I predicted to go to Foxcatcher but there I was wrong as The Grand Budapest Hotel took that too. It’s ok. I also got the best original score correct by predicting it to go to The Grand Budapest Hotel.

The best surprise of the evening was Whiplash winning for editing. So glad of that! I predicted Boyhood but damn, I’m glad I was wrong!

The best song went to Selma, John Legend’s and Common’s Glory as I predicted and after that touching performance thought it went to the best choice of them even though I liked Everything Is Awesome before the gala.

I’m sad that I was right in predicting American Sniper to win the sound editing, that film sucks. And very glad that Whiplash won for the sound mixing, it definitely deserved that. And every other award it has won. Visual effects went to Interstellar, no surprise there.

The animated feature went to Big Hero 6 that I haven’t seen but I thought it would go to How to Train Your Dragon 2. Citizenfour got the award for the best documentary like probably everybody predicted and the foreign language film went to Ida, as anticipated. I also had all the short films correct, they went to Feast (animated), Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 (documentary) and The Phone Call (live action).

Some other thoughts concerning the Oscars. I liked Neil Patrick Harris as a host but Ellen DeGeneres last year was better. The performances were boring and good. On the latter side were Glory, Lady Gaga with her Sound of Music tribute (and the crowning of that was very genuine Julie Andrews thanking her) and of course Everything is Awesome. With Will Arnett. The best speeches were given by J.K. Simmons who urged everyone to call their parents, Common who talked about the inequality that is still present in the world of today and Graham Moore who told “I tried to commit suicide at 16 and now I’m standing here,I would like for this moment to be for that kid out there who feels like she doesn’t fit in anywhere. You do. Stay weird. Stay different, and then when it’s your turn and you are standing on this stage please pass the same message along.”

What did you think this years Oscars? Good, bad? Did the right films win?

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Oscars Predictions – winners 2015

 

I’ve been so badly neglecting this blog but the Oscars are something I just can’t miss, so here are my predictions for winners and under them, the ones that I think are the best ones in each category:

 

BEST PICTURE: Boyhood

(Whiplash)

DIRECTOR: Alejandro Gonzales Iñarritu – Birdman

(Richard Linklater – Boyhood)

ACTOR: Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything

(I don’t know… I guess Michael Keaton – Birdman)

ACTRESS: Julianne Moore – Still Alice

(Moore)

SUPPORTING ACTOR: J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

(Simmons)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Patricia Arquette – Boyhood

(Arquette)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:  Birdman

(Birdman)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Whiplash

(Whiplash)

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Birdman

(Birdman)

COSTUME DESIGN: The Grand Budapest Hotel

(I guess The Grand Budapest Hotel)

EDITING: Boyhood

(Whiplash, even though I can understand the work in Boyhood and it’s extraordinary)

MAKEUP AND HAIR STYLING: Foxcatcher

(Foxcatcher)

PRODUCTION DESIGN: The Grand Budapest Hotel

(The Grand Budapest Hotel)

SCORE: The Grand Budapest Hotel

(I really can’t choose, I like all of them; Desplat; I don’t care from which one)

SONG: Glory – Selma

(Everything Is Awesome – Lego Movie)

SOUND EDITING: American Sniper

(Birdman)

SOUND MIXING: Whiplash

(Whiplash)

VISUAL EFFECTS: Interstellar

(Interstellar)

ANIMATED FEATURE: How to Train Your Dragon 2

(Lego Movie… Yeah, I know BUT it really was robbed)

DOCUMENTARY: Citizenfour

(Citizenfour)

FOREIGN LANGUAGE: Ida

(Wild Tales)

ANIMATED SHORT: Feast

(Feast is the only one I’ve seen…)

DOCUMENTARY SHORT: Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press

(No opinion.)

LIVE ACTION SHORT: The Phone Call

(And again; no opinion)

 

Have a great the Oscars night everyone!

Final Oscar Nominations Predictions 2015

Tomorrow is again the day when The Academy will announce the Oscar nominations. And here are my final predictions that I first made sometime in the spring 2013. Some of the films that I predicted to get some noms, actually are still here on this list. But most of them are not. I had hard time deciding with some of the categories, the leading lady being the toughest. I only right now decided to ditch Marion Cotillard and put Ms. Amy as my fifth choice. They do love to dominate her in Academy and there usually have been at least one different choice between Screen Actors Guild and the Oscars.

Another that I struggled were directors. I really wanted to put first timer Damien Chazelle there as he is young and apparently very talented (haven’t seen Whiplash yet, so I can’t really say my own opinion) but he is total newcomer, so I don’t think it’s his time yet. In adapted screenplay category I left Inherent Voice out but it can be also easily in. In editing, I so much wanted to put Interstellar there but as Editing is “the magic category” where you need to have your film to be if you want it to have a chance to win the best picture, it is unfortunately out. (Btw, like there’s any question which film will the best this year… And its editing has been such a job!)

In original score I was tempted to put Under the Skin there but as there will be a new name in Icelandic Jóhann Jóhannsson of The Theory of Everything (my choice for win, I love that soundtrack!), I doubt there’s room for more new ones, they like to support the old, familiar composers in this category. But I’m not complaining, Desplat is way due after six nominations and this year, I predict he’ll get to for The Imitation Game and Unbroken (one of those films that I picked to be in this pack already back in 2013). In Song category I chose Patti Smith instead of Lorde. And in sound editing I left out The Hobbit 3. It was such a bad film, I kind of hope it won’t get any nominations. And in mixing I left out Fury. I’m still a bit bad with those two categories as I don’t properly understand them.

As you can see right below, I left my two extra choices to be seen in Best Picture as they can be in too. I have only seen Gone Girl, Boyhood and Nightcrawler of the bunch so far but this weekend I will see Birdman as it comes out here  in Finland and so will all the others one by one during the next five weeks. Happy Oscar time, folks! At the Oscars site you can watch live the nominations announcements: http://www.oscars.org/oscars/live (that’s 3.30pm in Finnish time.)

BEST PICTURE

The Imitation Game

The Theory of Everything

Whiplash

Selma

Gone Girl

Birdman 

Boyhood 

The Grand Budapest Hotel 

——————————————–

Foxcatcher

Nightcrawler

 

DIRECTING

Alejandro González Iñárritu – Birdman

Richard Linklater – Boyhood

David Fincher – Gone Girl

Ava DuVernay – Selma

Wes Andersson – The Grand Budapest Hotel

 

ACTOR

Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game

Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything

Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler

Michael Keaton – Birdman

David Oyelowo – Selma

 

ACTRESS

Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl

Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything

Julianne Moore – Still Alice

Reese Witherspoon – Wild

Amy Adams – Big Eyes

 

SUPPORTING ACTOR

J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

Edward Norton – Birdman

Ethan Hawke – Boyhood

Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher

Robert Duvall – The Judge

 

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Emma Stone – Birdman

Jessica Chastain – A Most Violent Year

Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game

Patricia Arquette – Boyhood

Meryl Streep – Into the Woods

 

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Imitation Game

The Theory of Everything

Wild

Gone Girl

Whiplash

 

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Selma

Birdman

Boyhood

Nightcrawler

The Grand Budapest Hotel

  

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Interstellar

Mr. Turner

Birdman

Unbroken

The Grand Budapest Hotel

 

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Birdman

Interstellar

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

Into the Woods

 

COSTUME DESIGN

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Into the Woods

Maleficent

The Imitation Game

Mr. Turner

 

MAKE-UP & HAIRSTYLING

Maleficent

Guardians of the Galaxy

Foxcatcher

 

EDITING

Boyhood

Birdman

Gone Girl

The Imitation Game

Whiplash

 

ANIMATED FEATURE

Big Hero 6

The Boxtrolls

The Lego Movie

The Book of Life

How to Train Your Dragon 2

 

DOCUMENTARY

Life Itself

CitizenFour

Finding Vivian Maier

Keep On Keepin’ On

Virunga

 

FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Poland – Ida

Sweden – Force Majeure

Russia – Leviathan

Argentina – Wild Tales

Estonia – Tangerines

 

SCORE

The Imitation Game

Interstellar

Gone Girl

Unbroken

The Theory of Everything

 

SONG

“Everything is Awesome”- The Lego Movie

“Lost Stars” – Begin Again

 “Mercy Is” – Noah (Patti Smith)

 “Glory” – Selma (John Legend)

“Big Eyes” – Big Eyes (Lana Del Ray)

 

SOUND EDITING

Interstellar

Unbroken

Fury

American Sniper

Whiplash

  

SOUND MIXING

Whiplash

Into the Woods

Unbroken

American Sniper

Interstellar

 

VISUAL EFFECTS

Guardians of the Galaxy

Interstellar

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

The Hobbit: Battle of Five Armies

Godzilla

 

DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1

Joanna

The Lion’s Mouth Opens

One Child

Our Curse

 

ANIMATED SHORT

The Bigger Picture

Coda

Duet

Feast

Symphony No. 42

 

LIVE ACTION SHORT

Aya

Baghdad Messi

Carry On

My Father’s Truck

The Phone Call

The Oscars 2015 – predictions updated

Finally I had time to go through all the categories except live action short as there isn’t yet short list and it is quite an achievement to go on without it. HERE you can find my new page where I will be keeping my up to date predictions:

The Oscars 2015

 

As the awards season has finally officially started with New York Film Critics Circle announcing its winners, let’s take a tiny look at my at the moment predictions.

The Best Picture for me has now 10 nominees but I have my doubts if there is going to be that many. Boyhood, Birdman, The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything are all locks. The last one being the one that I’m actually waiting for the most because I adore this trailer of its:

The other possible nominees are Whiplash and Selma that I think are quite strong contenders. And the rest are Unbroken, that hasn’t gotten that solid reviews (currently it’s rotten at Rotten Tomatoes which is not a good sign) but I need to give it a little bit more time to see how it will change, then Gone Girl which was again solid performance from always talented Mr. Fincher and his crew, Into the Woods that has been seen by the press in LA but no reviews published yet but I liked the trailer a lot and I have high hopes for it. And the last but not least, Interstellar that I doubt will get the best pic nom. I have no idea why people didn’t like it that much, I absolutely did as you can read from my review. The ones bubbling under but still have possibility are Foxcatcher, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Mr Turner and Love Is Strange that is getting some boost from independent awards. I guess there is a long shots for Inherent Vice and American Sniper but I really doubt it.

When it comes to lead role acting categories, it looks like Eddie Redmayne from The Theory of Everything and Julianne Moore from Still Alice are in the lead but I wouldn’t say it’s done deals yet. I don’t really get all the love that Moore is getting because I find her a bit annoying (in everything she does) but I guess she is due. Main ladies are quite much locks already as it seems that only the last slot is slightly open. Pike, Jones and Witherspoon are there but the fifth slot could be someone else’s too. I’m betting on Amy, as she’s due also already but the nominee also can be Marion Cotillard (two films competing; The Immigrant and Two Days, One Night), Hilary Swank for The Homesman or Emily Blunt for Into the Woods but apparently her screen time is quite small.

Redmayne portraits Stephen Hawkings and has gotten only raves for his role. But then again, Michael Keaton of Birdman just won Gotham Award for acting. Cumberbatch and David Oyelowo should both be locks too but there are other possibilities too. Based on NYFCC and Cannes pick of Timothy Spall, I’m at the moment leaving Steve Carrell (Foxcatcher) out of the competition but that is just a hunch and I’m willing to change that if the precursor awards show their love for him. Plus I haven’t seen any of the male leads performances yet, so I don’t have opinions either. Possible spoilers include Jake Gyllenhaal of Nightcrawler and Oscar Isaacs of A Most Violent Year.

Supporting. Those are Patricia Arquette’s and J.K. Simmons’ to lose. They are the front-runners. Arquette will compete against Emma Stone (Birdman), Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game) and Meryl Streep (Into the Woods) plus one more that could be either Jessica Chastain (A Most Violent Year), Laura Dern (Wild) or Carmen Ejogo (Selma). Simmons is racing with Norton, Hawke, Ruffalo (see my full predictions if you are not aware which films are those roles from) and again one wild card that could be: Tom Wilkinson (Selma), Robert Duvall (The Judge), Miyavi (Unbroken) or Channing Tatum (Foxcatcher).

The directing gong should go to Richard Linklater. I don’t see any other option. He shot Boyhood for 12 years. That is just insane. Nominations for Alejandro González Iñárritu,  Ava DuVernay and Morten Tyldum. And according to me the last place is either for Angelina Jolie (Unbroken) or David Fincher (Gone Girl) and because of the bad reviews of the former one, I choose the latter. I guess, I would choose him anyway. I think Damien Chazelle, the helmer of Whiplash also has a change.

In writing categories, Boyhood should have the advantage again. But original screenplay is quite competitive again and apart from those that I’m predicting at the moment (Selma, Birdman, Boyhood, Whiplash, The Grand Budapest Hotel) there are other strong candidates like Nightcrawler, Foxcatcher, Mr Turner, Wild Tales, A Most Violent Year, Love Is Strange and The Lego Movie. Adapting one is not that competitive but there are some good choices outside the ones that I picked (The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything, Unbroken, Gone Girl, Wild) like Inherent Vice, American Sniper and Still Alice.

I will go through other categories when we get nearer to the actual nominations announcements. But meanwhile I will be updating the page and will, for sure, write reviews of those contenders that I haven’t seen yet. And I should probably write one that has Boyhood and Gone Girl reviewed. I gave both 4,5 stars out of 5. They’re great but not spectacular like Interstellar.

Early Oscars Predictions 2015

I wasn’t actually planning to write this one yet but because there are already “experts” (they usually get less correct than the users of the site) predictions for some categories in Gold Derby, I got to have a look how it looks at the moment. And about time, the big festival season (Venice-Telluride-Toronto) are about to start in no time.

So, it seems that there are four to seven films this year that the most of the people are predicting to get nominations in several categories. Some of those we (by that I mean some people) have already seen, like The Grand Budapest Hotel by Wes Anderson. The film have gotten raves all around and is at the moment at number 162 on IMDb’s top-250, so it must be goooood. I haven’t seen it yet as I’m not a big fan of Mr. W. Anderson but I did like his previous film, Moonrise Kingdom, quite a lot. He certainly is unique. So it seem this one is the lock for the Best Picture nomination already. And probably some other nominations too, like writing at least, maybe some acting and so on.

The other one out already is the much talked about Boyhood by Richard Linklater. A film made in 12 years of time, filming a growing of a young boy. Can’t wait to see this one! Hopefully I’ll catch it at Helsinki International Film Festival. Another lock. And assumingly nominations for Linklater as well as Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette for supporting roles. At least.

Then the ones that we have not seen yet. The one that has been on my list for ages: Unbroken. A film directed by Angelina Jolie and written by Coen brothers. Oh, and it’s a true story including WWII. And the man, who story this is, just died this summer. Another much talked about is, of course, new film from Christopher Nolan, Interstellar, starring Oscar winners Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway. Multiple nominations, I bet.

Damn, that looks good. The first time I saw the latest trailer. Can’t wait! Jessica Chastain is also in that one. As well as she is in The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby and The Most Violent Year, possible contenders both. Maybe not in the Best Picture race but in others I think. The other actress who is arguably going to have a great year, is Reese Witherspoon. She will probably gain a nomination as a Best Actress for Wild, a film directed by Dallas Buyers Club helmer, Jean-Marc Vallée and scripted by Nick Hornby. I don’t have it in my top-10 best pictures yet but I probably should… Witherspoon is also going to be in The Good Lie and Inherent Vice directed by always good Paul Thomas Anderson. Also starring Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Jena Malone and Benicio del Toro. Multiple nominations, I bet. Again.

Birdman by Alejandro González Iñárritu has also been an early favourite. Trailer looks amazing! Though it might be a bit too weird. But Iñárritu is a genius and if everything goes as hoped, Michael Keaton will also get a nomination and possibly also Emma Stone and Edward Norton for supporting roles. We’ll see but it does look promising, doesn’t it?

Bennett Miller won in Cannes for directing Foxcatcher. And it seems that this is also a film that is going to be a lock for the Best Picture. A nom should also go for Steve Carell who apparently plays against the role. It is also said that always reliable Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum are making solid acting jobs in the film. The other one that is quite popular is David Ayer’s Fury. And for some reason, I really hope it delivers. I don’t even like war movies and nobody likes Shia LaBeouf but I still hope it will be as good as I hope. We’ll see.

And then there’s Gone Girl. By David Fincher who also directed The Social Network, Se7en and Fight Club and who also happens to be one of my favourite directors of all time. I like all of his films and some of them I absolutely love. So, it is only natural, that my hopes are high and I also fear the worst. It will be good because it’s Fincher’s but will it be great? I don’t know. Many of those so-called experts think it will deliver. Oh, I so hope so.

The last one in my top-10 at the moment is Into the Woods that surely has a cast that usually nail it: Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Anna Kendrick, Emily Blunt and Chris Pine and a director that has already been nominated for an Oscar, Rob Marshall. But it’s a family musical that combines different fairytales… And it’s not animated. So… I’m not so sure.

Right out of my top-10 there’s The Imitation Game, where the-it-man, Benedict Cumberbatch, is playing Alan Turing trying to solve the enigma during the WWII. Good s*it, if you ask me but we don’t actually know yet. The Theory of Everything might be the star vehicle for Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones and I do hope it is good. Men, Women & Children is directed by Jason Reitman and he hasn’t yet done a bad film. The others bubbling under are Exodus: Gods & Kings, Big Eyes (Amy Adams will hopefully finally get her Oscar for this one!), Mr. Turner, Selma, Whiplash, The Homesman, Love Is Strange and American Sniper.

My top-10 for the moment is:

1. Boyhood

2. Unbroken

3.The Grand Budapest Hotel

4. Foxcatcher

5. Birdman

6. Gone Girl

7. Interstellar

8. Into the Woods

9. Fury

10. Inherent Vice