Tag Archives: Oscars

2016 Oscars Recap

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The 88th Academy Awards are officially in the books! Last night’s ceremony, in which Spotlight took home the coveted Best Picture trophy, was both fun and thoughtful thanks to Chris Rock’s excellent hosting abilities, and saw the Oscars distributed among a variety of films. I broke my multi-year streak of correctly predicting 16 awards, but unfortunately my prognosticating talent failed me as I went in the wrong direction, calling only 15 this year. In a year where the nominees generated a lot of controversy throughout the industry, the evening itself was relatively uncontroversial despite its sharp criticism of Hollywood, perhaps because the criticism was so obviously warranted. But even the ultimate winners, surprises and all, made generally few waves and were instead greeted mostly with nods of acceptance. But there’s still plenty to talk about, so read on for my thoughts on the winners, the host, and the show itself.

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Oscar Snub – Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

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This post is a part of the “Oscars Snubs Blogathon” hosted by Silver Scenes and The Midnite Drive-In. 

If you were going to vent about the Oscar snub that bothers you the most, there are plenty of popular options from which to choose. You might still get riled up thinking about how Shakespeare in Love beat Saving Private Ryan for best picture, that Forrest Gump won out over Pulp Fiction, or that Brokeback Mountain lost to Crash. Perhaps you’re indignant that Peter O’Toole never won an Oscar, or that Leonardo DiCaprio is still waiting for his. You could have a particular category that always manages to disappoint you, like Best Original Song does for me. Or maybe you’re just baffled that films like Around the World in 80 Days or Oliver! could have been marked among the best films of all time while something as influential as Star Wars was passed over. But given 88 years of Academy Awards history, you probably would not choose to object to the victory of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, arguably the most popular film to ever with the Oscar for Best Picture. But to me, the best film of 2003 was a different long-titled film adaptation of a popular book series about men at war: Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.

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88th Academy Awards Picks and Predictions (2016)

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Once again, it’s time for Oscar predictions.  I did pretty well last year, getting 16 correct once again (that seems to be what I always get [seriously, I didn’t even have to edit this sentence]). There are some tight races this year, but also a few sure things, so it’s bound to be an interesting evening. I can’t wait to see how Chris Rock tackles the shocking lack of diversity among the nominees. And while awards shows always seem fairly out of touch with popular opinion, I’ll always be a fan of the Oscars. So read on for my (dicey) predictions, as well as my picks if I could hand out the statues as I see fit. And then let me know who you think will be a big winner Sunday night!

Best Short Film, Live Action:
Prediction: Ave Maria
My Pick: N/A

Best Short Film, Animated:
Prediction: Sanjay’s Super Team
My Pick: Sanjay’s Super Team

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87th Academy Awards Picks and Predictions (2015)

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Once again, it’s time for Oscar predictions.  I did pretty well last year, getting 16 correct once again (that seems to be what I always get), but there are some tight races this year, and I didn’t make it to nearly as many of the nominees as I would have liked.  I make no promises that any of these will be correct, with the exception of a few seemingly done deals, but read on for all of my predictions and personal picks for this year’s Oscars. Tomorrow night should be lots of fun with Neil Patrick Harris as the host!

(I realize this is very late, getting it just a day before the Oscars, and that I haven’t updated the blog as much recently as I would have liked.  I hope that will change going forward, and I thank you for your patience.)

Best Short Film, Live Action:
Prediction: Aya
My Pick: N/A

Best Short Film, Animated:
Prediction: Feast
My Pick: Feast

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What I’d like to see from tomorrow’s Academy Award nominations

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With the Academy Award nominations due to be announced tomorrow morning, most movie blogs and websites are busy trying to predict what names will be called before dawn. I don’t have the expertise to join them, nor have I seen enough films to really get a sense of how things will shake out. However, despite my feeling that 2014 was a bit of a dud at the movies, I still have some nominations I’d like to see in the morning. I’ve broken them down below into three general categories based on their likelihood, with some seemingly locks for a nomination, others possible but less likely, and others that will never happen no matter how much I want them to.

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2014 Oscars Recap

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Last night’s Academy Awards ceremony was a big step up from last year’s.  Of course, everyone knew Ellen Degeneres would do a better job than Seth MacFarlane, but she really knocked it out of the park last night.  While I wouldn’t want her to host every year (because it would get stale), I would fully support bring her back every other year to host, until she doesn’t want to do it anymore.  As for the winners, the very deserving 12 Years A Slave won best picture, as the major categories went to the frontrunners.  As for my predictions, I only went 16/24 (the same as last year), as most of my predicted upsets never panned out.  I feel sorry for the person who was linked to my blog yesterday searching for “86th academy awards expert picks,” because they probably lost their Oscar pool if they used me as a guide.

Ellen started things off in her usual style, making some killer jokes while also keeping things light and fun.  Continue reading →

86th Academy Awards Picks and Predictions (2014)

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Once again, it’s time for Oscar predictions.  I did pretty well last year, getting 16 correct, but this year will be more of a challenge.  Not only is this year one of the most up in the air group of nominees in recent memory, but I’ve seen very few of the major nominees. (There are a variety of reasons for that.) So this year’s predictions might be way off.

Best Short Film, Live Action:
Prediction: Aquel no era yo (That Wasn’t Me)
My Pick: N/A

Best Short Film, Animated:
Prediction: Get a Horse!
My Pick: Get a Horse!
Get a Horse! may not have been the most beautiful or deep or meaningful or profound animated short in recent years, but it was fun, clever and creative, and being attached to Frozen probably doesn’t hurt.

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86th Academy Award Nominations (2014)

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The Academy Award nominations for 2014 were announced this morning.  Read on for my thoughts and for the full list. Continue reading →

What I want to see from tomorrow’s Oscar nominations

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The Oscar nominations will be announced tomorrow morning, and while I try every year to predict the winners I won’t even attempt to try to guess the nominees.  However, I do have some things I would like to see when the nominations are announced tomorrow.  I’ve divided these into two categories: actual, genuine “Possibilities” and “Not a Chance”.  I may be hopeful, but I try to keep things at least moderately realistic.  I’ve left out some of the more obvious ones, like Gravity for Best Picture, Director, Actress and all of the technical categories, simply because I think that they’re foregone conclusions and I’m not really sweating them.  Come back later tomorrow after the nominations have been announced (and I’ve gotten home and can actually write about them) for some quick thoughts on who made the cut and who was left out.  In the meantime, read on for the names and films I would like to hear Chris Hemsworth read outtomorrow. Continue reading →

Ellen Degeneres returning to host Oscars!

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Ellen hosting the 79th Academy Awards

So the news today is that Ellen Degeneres will be hosting the 86th Oscars in March.  I’m extremely pleased by this, especially after the bizarre sexism from Seth MacFarlane last year.  Ellen last hosted in 2007 when The Departed (ugh) won best picture.  I remember enjoying her hosting job, though I don’t recall any particular gags or jokes*, but that’s never been Ellen’s style.  If you’ve ever watched her stand-up, her gift is telling funny stories instead of jokes.  I’ve always been a huge fan of hers, and she has a gift for being warm while also bitingly hilarious, all as she maintains a constant level of entertainment.  She may not hit the highs that some other hosts, but she rarely has the lows either. Continue reading →