Thoughts on the Oscars

[Tom McAndrew]

I didn't have time this year to post my annual analyses of the major Oscar nominations. I had the pleasure of watching every film nominated in the best picture, and every film except one which featured a nominee for the best actor, best actress, best supporting actor, best supporting actress, and best director

On my Oscar prediction sheet, I got best supporting actress (Regina King), best supporting actor (Mahershala Ali), best actor (Rami Malek), and best director (Alfonso Cuaron) correct. I missed on best actress, as I thought Glen Close would win, but Olivia Coleman took the prize. I also missed on best picture, though I didn't have a strong feeling that any particular film stood head and shoulders about the others. Most of the late predictions were pointing to Roma, which was a nice film, but would not have gotten my vote. My prediction was that BlacKkKlansman would get the award, but as I said, I really wasn't confident of that pick. The Green Book was an excellent movie, and it's not a bad selection by the Academy.

I had seen most of the documentary feature nominees, except for Free Solo -- the film that won. Of the ones I had seen, I thought RBG was the best. I look forward to seeing Free Solo.

I had seen all of the live-action shorts, and wasn't crazy about any of them. None of them were a feel-good story; they were the opposite. Skin, which won, was a pretty shocking film.

Another good year of movies in the book.

 

[razpsu]

I’m good with green book and rami winning and lady Gaga as well. Thank god they cut out most of the political garbage that takes down the show. Freddie Mercury is one of my favorite singers and the movie was great. Green book was a good story and I was surprised and happy that it won. Bradley Cooper has to break through soon.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

I didn't have time this year to post my annual analyses of the major Oscar nominations. I had the pleasure of watching every film nominated in the best picture, and every film except one which featured a nominee for the best actor, best actress, best supporting actor, best supporting actress, and best director

On my Oscar prediction sheet, I got best supporting actress (Regina King), best supporting actor (Mahershala Ali), best actor (Rami Malek), and best director (Alfonso Cuaron) correct. I missed on best actress, as I thought Glen Close would win, but Olivia Coleman took the prize. I also missed on best picture, though I didn't have a strong feeling that any particular film stood head and shoulders about the others. Most of the late predictions were pointing to Roma, which was a nice film, but would not have gotten my vote. My prediction was that BlacKkKlansman would get the award, but as I said, I really wasn't confident of that pick. The Green Book was an excellent movie, and it's not a bad selection by the Academy.

I had seen most of the documentary feature nominees, except for Free Solo -- the film that won. Of the ones I had seen, I thought RBG was the best. I look forward to seeing Free Solo.

I had seen all of the live-action shorts, and wasn't crazy about any of them. None of them were a feel-good story; they were the opposite. Skin, which won, was a pretty shocking film.

Another good year of movies in the book.

Sadly, I haven't had much time to keep up with as much movie watching as I would like. Of the nominated Best Picture films, I think the only one I saw was Black Panther. I tuned in for a good bit of the show tonight and am happy for a lot of the first time winners - Regina King and Malik, but especially the costume designers, sound editors, etc., who do a lot of heavy lifting without much of the glory. I will say it's funny how Hollywood is really gaslighting Bryan Singer's involvement with Bohemian Rhapsody, and we all know why - but folks, the movie didn't direct itself. I will say none of the winners surprised me but I did think Spike Lee had a good shot at Director and I'm stunned Gaga didn't win Best Actress. That aside, I hope folks who tuned in enjoyed celebrating another year of cinemea - working on my poll for tomorrow now...

 

[Relayer]

Free Solo will air on the National Geographic Channel next Sunday night at 9.

 

[Pocono Lion]

Regarding the show itself, anybody else not miss the show having a “host”? Thought the production was crisp and moved at a nice pace without having to spend time giving the host air time. I just read that this year they gave out the first award 8 minutes into the show while last year, Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue itself took 18 minutes.

 

[fairfaxlion2]

People actually watch that?

 

[PS4814]

Regarding the show itself, anybody else not miss the show having a “host”? Thought the production was crisp and moved at a nice pace without having to spend time giving the host air time. I just read that this year they gave out the first award 8 minutes into the show while last year, Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue itself took 18 minutes.

I tuned in out of curiosity and did agree that things were moving at a good pace w/no host. I tuned out when the groove was interrupted by a musical performance of some song from some movie I never heard of being performed by someone I don't care about nor will likely hear from again.

Nominees > Award > Speech > Nominees > Award > Speech. Repeat until complete and call it a night.

 

[wbcincy]

Other than picks you had right Tom, it was a pretty big night for upsets taking home the prize. Off the top of my head, Coleman was a huge upset, followed by Green Book over Roma, but also losing were big favorites in Costume design, prductuon design, original screenplay, sound editing, original score, and visual effects. That’s a lot that Vegas had at -200 or more losing, especially with how relatively predictable the past couple years had been (save Moonlight).

 

[Alphalion75]

I didn't have time this year to post my annual analyses of the major Oscar nominations. I had the pleasure of watching every film nominated in the best picture, and every film except one which featured a nominee for the best actor, best actress, best supporting actor, best supporting actress, and best director

On my Oscar prediction sheet, I got best supporting actress (Regina King), best supporting actor (Mahershala Ali), best actor (Rami Malek), and best director (Alfonso Cuaron) correct. I missed on best actress, as I thought Glen Close would win, but Olivia Coleman took the prize. I also missed on best picture, though I didn't have a strong feeling that any particular film stood head and shoulders about the others. Most of the late predictions were pointing to Roma, which was a nice film, but would not have gotten my vote. My prediction was that BlacKkKlansman would get the award, but as I said, I really wasn't confident of that pick. The Green Book was an excellent movie, and it's not a bad selection by the Academy.

I had seen most of the documentary feature nominees, except for Free Solo -- the film that won. Of the ones I had seen, I thought RBG was the best. I look forward to seeing Free Solo.

I had seen all of the live-action shorts, and wasn't crazy about any of them. None of them were a feel-good story; they were the opposite. Skin, which won, was a pretty shocking film.

Another good year of movies in the book.

Thanks for the summary Tom. As a fellow movie buff, I always look forward to your Oscar predictions. Forget about predictions, which of the movies did you like the most?

 

[razpsu]

I was surprised that first man won visual effects. I thought that ready player one had it locked down. What they did in that’s movie was amazing.

 

[wbcincy]

I was surprised that first man won visual effects. I thought that ready player one had it locked down. What they did in that’s movie was amazing.

Avengers Infinity War was actually the big -300 favorite to win for Visual Effects.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Other than picks you had right Tom, it was a pretty big night for upsets taking home the prize. Off the top of my head, Coleman was a huge upset, followed by Green Book over Roma, but also losing were big favorites in Costume design, prductuon design, original screenplay, sound editing, original score, and visual effects. That’s a lot that Vegas had at -200 or more losing, especially with how relatively predictable the past couple years had been (save Moonlight).

There are always surprises. Olivia Coleman was a pleasant surprise. In the Best Actress category, the nominees were:

- Yalitza Aparicio, for Roma
- Glenn Close, for The Wife
- Olivia Colman, for The Favourite
- Lady Gaga, for A Star Is Born
- Melissa McCarthy, for Can You Ever Forgive Me

Aparicio's nomination was, to me, a surprise. Roma was interesting, but I didn't think Aparicio's role was all that challenging. Lady Gaga did a surprisingly nice job in A Star Is Born, but I've seen the prior versions of that story (granted, this script wasn't a carbon copy, but the basic outline was the same), and as such didn't see her as a serious contender. When I saw Can You Ever Forgive Me, I thought that McCarthy would be a strong contender for the award. In some years, I think she would have won. I thought Colman was very compelling in The Favourite, though I didn't think the role was all that challenging. Lastly, I thought Close did a great job in The Wife. In making my picks, I went with Close, in part because she had been nominated, but not won, so many previous times, and also because most of the predictions were trending her way. When Colman was announced, I shouted out "Wow," and my wife also called out something in surprise.

In Best Picture, as I indicated above, I really did not have a strong feeling for any particular film. There's a group of folks with whom my wife and I attend movies, and in texting with them in recent days, I found that most were in the same boat -- they really didn't have a clear-cut favorite. I went with BlacKkKlansman as my pick, but had very little confidence in that pick. (As you referenced, over the past several years, the Best Picture category has been pretty easy to pick.)

Costume design seemed to be a 2-person race between Sandy Powell (The Favourite) and Ruth E. Carter (Black Panther). I actually went with Carter (who won the Oscar) in my picks, on a combo of Black Panther's costumes being pretty amazing, and Carter being overdue to win.

Production Design also seemed to be a contest between The Favourite and Black Panther. The Art Directors Guild (ADG) had given their Production Design for a Period Feature Film award to The Favourite, and their Production Design for Fantasy Feature Film award to Black Panther, and the ADG awards often are good indicators of who will win the Oscar. I thought this race was a toss-up, and went with Black Panther on my pool.

Original Screenplay was one I didn't have a good feel for, in part because I did not get to see First Reformed. I had Green Book in my pool, but had a tough time picking between that film, The Favourite, and Vice for this award, and feel as though I got lucky in picking the winner.

Visual Effects I didn't even make a pick for, as I did not see Christopher Robin, Ready Player One, and Avengers: Infinity War, and it's tough to pick when you haven't seen 3 of the 5 nominees.

Sound Editing seemed like a wide-open race. Bohemian Rhapsody won, but I felt that each of the nominees were good candidates.

Original Score did surprise me. I saw Black Panther @ 11 months ago, and didn't remember the music from it all that well. I felt If Beale Street Could Talk would win, but I wasn't all that confident in that pick.

 

[Obliviax]

I was happy for Malik and recall posting about Bohemian Rhapsody and that Malik would be great in that role.

I didn't see the winner but of the movies I saw a star is Born was the best and most moving. No way they'd give it to a repeat. Bradley Cooper is just Unreal and so is Gaga

I thought spike Lee, per usual, acted the fool but he is an icon of the industry. Other than that, a C for the show. I actually enjoyed the red carpet lead in better than the show itself.

Prediction, Cooper will leave his wife for Gaga within six months. She dumped her fiance two weeks ago.

 

[Lionguy32]

Visual Effects I didn't even make a pick for, as I did not see Christopher Robin, Ready Player One, and Avengers: Infinity War, and it's tough to pick when you haven't seen 3 of the 5 nominees.

I have to say I enjoyed Ready Player One much more than Roma. Then again, if Roma was able to somehow work in The Shining like Ready Player One, maybe I would have a different opinion.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Thanks for the summary Tom. As a fellow movie buff, I always look forward to your Oscar predictions. Forget about predictions, which of the movies did you like the most?

Of the movies that were up for Best Picture, my favorites were:

BlacKkKlansman, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Favourite, Green Book, and Vice. Beyond that, it's kind of splitting hairs. BlacKkKlansman, Green Book, and Vice each shined a light on a past area of US history that is somewhat troubling. Of those three, I probably liked BlacKkKlansman the best, with Green Book a close second. Bohemian Rhapsody was probably the most entertaining of my favorites. The Favourite was well done, and very interesting, though I walked away not knowing what I had seen. Plus, it took a lot of liberties with history, and that always bothers me.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

I have to say I enjoyed Ready Player One much more than Roma. Then again, if Roma was able to somehow work in The Shining like Ready Player One, maybe I would have a different opinion.

Interesting. I hope to watch that.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

I was happy for Malik and recall posting about Bohemian Rhapsody and that Malik would be great in that role.

I didn't see the winner but of the movies I saw a star is Born was the best and most moving. No way they'd give it to a repeat. Bradley Cooper is just Unreal and so is Gaga

I thought spike Lee, per usual, acted the fool but he is an icon of the industry. Other than that, a C for the show. I actually enjoyed the red carpet lead in better than the show itself.

Prediction, Cooper will leave his wife for Gaga within six months. She dumped her fiance two weeks ago.

THAT IS BOLD.

Cooper's wife, Irina Shayk....

 

[harbest]

Took the grandkids to see Incredible s 2 last summer and saw Bao which ran before it. I thought it was cute and touching and I for one am glad it won.

 

[razpsu]

I thought bohemian rhapsody was very good. Black panther, Cannot beleive it was even nominated but I’m sure there were political reasons. Green book was good as well and It was definitely a feel good movie. A star is born was fine and all 3 actors were very good. Has Sam Elliot won before? I thought he could for his role.

Favorite and Roma and black klansmans.Three typical Oscar films that do not play anywhere and you wonder how they are even nominated but it is the artsy and some times political movies that make a point so they are in contention. I was thinking before they announced that there were 8 films and the votes may favor a movie like green book or rhapsody.

 

[razpsu]

We went to see dragon 3 yesterday and my daughter said that will win best picture this year. It was very good. Lol.

 

[wbcincy]

As far as format of the show, I missed the opening monologue quite a bit, but after that, I enjoyed the show much more. I was never into the pizza ordering, lets take a selfie to go viral, or invite folks from the street to walk through the front row stuff. Just interfered with the show IMO. So for me an ideal situation would be a comic doing the opening 20 minutes as the "host" (and as many have noted, Rudolph, Pohler, and Fey would've been perfect for just such a thing), but then no host or bits the rest of the way.

As an aside, I did not realize that the real life guy who was the driver in Green Book went on to play Carmine in the Sopranos.

 

[cool1099]

The best movies I saw this year were documentaries:
Free Solo: Movie of the year.
Won't You Be My Neighbor: The uplifting story of Mr. Rogers, a modern day saint.
We Will Not Grow Old: A historical masterpiece.
RBG: Not as good as those above but still pretty good.

Usually I see most of the "top movies" but not this year. Not interested.
A Star is Born: A musical with bad music, featuring one star who can't sing and one who over-emotes. Probably worse than LaLa Land, which I hated.
Green Book: A shallow feel-good movie for white people who think not beating up black people proves they are not racist. Driving Miss Daisy redux.
Bohemian Rhapsody: I can watch the real thing on youtube, why bother with a bad imitation?
The Favourite: I can watch this kind of stuff anytime on PBS.
Black Panther: May be OK, but I really don't like superhero movies much.
KKK: Might be good, though I think Spike Lee is overrated and a bad loser to boot.
Roma: Might be good, probably the best of the lot.
Best pix I saw were First Man and Can You Ever Forgive Me, both of which were very good and probably much better than the nominees.

 

[Woodpecker]

We went to see dragon 3 yesterday and my daughter said that will win best picture this year. It was very good. Lol.

Dragon critics are underrepresented

 

[Nitt1300]

THAT IS BOLD.

Cooper's wife, Irina Shayk....

dumping her for "Lady gaga" would be a move down- why would anyone do that?

 

[PSUTENN1]

If anyone had actually seen “Can you ever forgive me” they would have voted for McCarthy. Good picture, not great, but she was brilliant, should have won.

 

[cool1099]

dumping her for "Lady gaga" would be a move down- why would anyone do that?

Exactly. He can get millions of women prettier and with less baggage than GaGa. Plus, isn't she lesbian? The twitter moron-universe is claiming there is something going on. It's called "acting".

 

[Obliviax]

dumping her for "Lady gaga" would be a move down- why would anyone do that?

Really? If you only value looks, I guess. Gaga is incredibly accomplished, at this point

 

[cool1099]

Really? If you only value looks, I guess. Gaga is incredibly accomplished, at this point

With lots of baggage.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

Really? If you only value looks, I guess. Gaga is incredibly accomplished, at this point

She's a massive talent for sure, but why would Cooper dump his wife (who is the mother of his one year old daughter) for Lady Gaga? Cooper is, if anything, a relatively under the radar guy. He's well educated and cultured and I do think Gaga's talent would be a huge attraction for anyone (and she's not unattractive physically by any means). I think they have great chemistry though can't see him bailing. Additionally, Shayk is at his side NONSTOP.

 

[Obliviax]

She's a massive talent for sure, but why would Cooper dump his wife (who is the mother of his one year old daughter) for Lady Gaga? Cooper is, if anything, a relatively under the radar guy. He's well educated and cultured and I do think Gaga's talent would be a huge attraction for anyone (and she's not unattractive physically by any means). I think they have great chemistry though can't see him bailing. Additionally, Shayk is at his side NONSTOP.

why would Bezos send photos of his stuff to his friend's wife?

Gaga is very accomplished and takes him to exciting new places he hasn't been before. She challenges and titelates him. People like him get board quickly. He isn't looking for a girl that is hot or good looking; those are a dime a dozen for him.

Just speculating....I have no idea.

BTW, I was the guy who told you that that movie would be good and that Malik would rock it.

 

[Nitt1300]

Really? If you only value looks, I guess. Gaga is incredibly accomplished, at this point

opinions vary

 

[LafayetteBear]

I generally loathe the acceptance speeches in these awards shows, but Olivia Colman's speech was a profound departure. I thought it was a highlight of the show. A remarkably refreshing combination of self effacement, humor ("This [while holding up her Oscar statue] will never happen again."), and graciousness. I now look forward to seeing The Favourite.

 

[schoolie]

I used to really like watching the Oscars. Now . . . everybody has to give a personal message and thank their seventh cousins twice removed. No thanks. Sleep is more important that watching overinflated egos.

 

[Obliviax]

opinions vary

Well, lets see. She's won nine grammys, an oscar and hosted a super bowl halftime. She needs an Emmy and a Tony. These are easily attainable for her....that would make her only the 22nd, I think, to win an EGOT. She'd be the seventh woman.

I think she is doing OK.

 

[LionJim]

I used to really like watching the Oscars. Now . . . everybody has to give a personal message and thank their seventh cousins twice removed. No thanks. Sleep is more important that watching overinflated egos.

Greer Garson went on for nearly six minutes in 1942. There’s a 45-second limit nowadays.

 

[Nitt1300]

Well, lets see. She's won nine grammys, an oscar and hosted a super bowl halftime. She needs an Emmy and a Tony. These are easily attainable for her....that would make her only the 22nd, I think, to win an EGOT. She'd be the seventh woman.

I think she is doing OK.

And The Monkees sold more records than B.B. King- so what?

 

[Norm Petersin]

Spike Lee got the shaft. He’s one of my favorites. Nfm

 

[razpsu]

Spike lee is a sore loser. I heard he tried to walk out when green book was announced.

 

[schoolie]

Greer Garson went on for nearly six minutes in 1942. There’s a 45-second limit nowadays.

I wasn't alive in 1942, so I wouldn't know, but thanks for pointing that out. I still think there's too much jibber. Next comment.

 

[DingerzForDaze]

THAT IS BOLD.

Cooper's wife, Irina Shayk....

There's the old saying that "behind every beautiful woman, there's a guy who's tired of shtupping her."

There could be any number of issues at play here that could lead Cooper away from his baby momma and toward Gaga.

Not saying it's going to happen ... just saying I wouldn't be shocked if it did happen.