2020 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

2020 Oscar Predictions — Best Original Song

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Listen, I know we could talk about Oscar snubs all day and it wouldn’t make any difference. To an extent, expressing any amount of emotion for the Academy and their decisions is a waste of energy. It is all futile and arbitrary, and it’s better not to get caught up in it.

But, I mean, there’s no love for “Glasgow” in the Best Original Song category? It is a great song inside a lovely little film called Wild Rose. It deserved some recognition here. Seriously, what the f–

The Nominees:

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2020 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

2020 Oscar Predictions — Best Live Action Short Film

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The batch of Best Live Action Short Film nominees this year is strong. It will be difficult to narrow this down to a single frontrunner, no less so because the Academy sometimes makes odd choices in this category.

The Nominees:

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2020 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

2020 Oscar Predictions — Best Animated Short Film

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The short film categories can be somewhat frustrating in terms of availability. ShortsTV generally puts out a limited theatrical run the week before the Oscars, but even then it can be difficult to find depending on your area. As such, I must do my annual obligatory apology for not seeing every film. Daughter is the missing link this year, but it is not favored to win. So I will talk around the issue.

As for the others: Hair Love is on YouTube, Kitbull is on Disney+ and YouTube, Sister is on director Siki Song’s website, and Memorable is on Vimeo.

The Nominees:

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Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

The Gentlemen (2020) Movie Review

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In 2019, Guy Ritchie’s live action Disney adaptation of Aladdin was released. It is a film with no discernible trace of Ritchie’s authorial stamp. He follows Aladdin up with The Gentlemen, a film that is so readily a return to Ritchie’s crime film origins that it almost appears as a parody.

The film is framed by a somewhat fidgety, gift of gab private eye named Fletcher (Hugh Grant), who has Continue reading The Gentlemen (2020) Movie Review →

2020 Academy Awards, All Movie Reviews, Like It, Quickie Reviews (<400 Words), Short Films

2020 Oscar Nominated Short Film Reviews — Nefta Football Club and Brotherhood

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With the 2020 Oscar ceremony just around the corner, now is as good a time as any to get into the nitty gritty of what are perhaps the least talked about Oscar categories. The three short film categories get a bit of a short shrift from Academy Awards viewers, but some true talent can and have come out of these categories.

Below are reviews for two of the Best Live Action Short Film nominees: Nefta Football Club and Brotherhood.

 

Nefta Football Club

Yves Piat’s Nefta Football Club follows Continue reading 2020 Oscar Nominated Short Film Reviews — Nefta Football Club and Brotherhood →

2020 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

2020 Oscar Predictions — Best Production Design

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In some years, I have trouble determining who will win in the Best Production Design category. There are so many different ways to design a film’s story-world, that I can get bogged down in the minutiae and get confused as to what the voters will actually like.

But this year I am much more confident. Who knows, maybe I’m getting better at this unnecessary skill of Oscar predictions.

The Nominees:

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2020 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

2020 Oscar Predictions — Best Makeup and Hairstyling

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Generally speaking, when it comes to Best Makeup and Hairstyling the Academy likes excess. The more present the makeup and hairstyling is, the better. My go-to recent example is always Darkest Hour, because, well, that prosthetic and makeup design is a lot.

The Nominees:

Continue reading 2020 Oscar Predictions — Best Makeup and Hairstyling →

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