The costume design in the 2019 race is, all around, very good. And the nominees run the gamut of generic representation. Fantastical period piece musical. Western pastiche. Semi-futurist science fiction. 18th century British period piece. A 16th century British/Scottish period piece, as well.
It is a varied field with a lot of talent.
Continue reading 2019 Oscar Predictions – Best Costume Design
The Oscar short categories are never easy to predict. For one, they are often hard to see. Most of the time, they are from lesser-known companies and animators. And the Academy likes the lesser-knowns in these categories, so when Pixar pops up in the Best Animated Short category they aren’t a guaranteed win.
But this year…
Continue reading 2019 Oscar Predictions – Best Animated Short Film
With the notable absence of presumed front-runner Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Best Documentary is suddenly up in the air. What film will rise to take its place as the “Best Documentary” of 2018?
Continue reading 2019 Oscar Predictions – Best Documentary Feature
I may not have been as high on the film as the general film-lover audience, but Annihilation deserved an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects. Or at least sound editing, for that bear-monster foley…
Instead we have Ready Player One getting a nomination for Most CGI Effects.
Continue reading 2019 Oscar Predictions – Best Visual Effects
“Velvet Buzzsaw” refers to the former punk band of art manager Rhodora Haze (Rene Russo), a music group that became outmoded and slipped into what former street artist Damrish (Daveed Diggs) calls “self-parody.”
Velvet Buzzsaw, the latest from Dan Gilroy, has similar punk rock ambitions that bleed easily into self-parody. Or maybe it’s just parody.
In its opening gambit, Buzzsaw sees a swirl of well-to-do art types at a Miami gallery exhibition. Manager Jon Dondon (Tom Sturridge) is trying to poach veteran artist Piers (John Malkovich) from Rhodora, while Rhodora courts Damrish. Critic Morf Vanderwalt (Jake Gyllenhaal) pauses from making passing critiques at pieces to stare agog at Continue reading Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) Movie Review
Miss Bala is a story of an innocent bystander caught between two sides of a war. Unwittingly working for both the drug kingpin (Ismael Cruz Cordova) and the DEA, Gloria (Gina Rodriguez), must take her fate into her own hands to save herself and her friend.
And it’s a fairly bland experience.
Gloria travels to Tijuana to see her friend, Suzu (Cristina Rodlo), who is about to compete in the Miss Baja California pageant. After a night club shooting, Suzu disappears and Gloria is Continue reading Miss Bala (2019) Movie Review
Joe Cornish’s follow-up to his 2011 critical darling Attack the Block is something completely different. Both Block and The Kid Who Would Be King focus on the plight of British youth, but Block is a hoodie horror deconstruction mixed with a shlock homage to B-movie creature features. The Kid Who Would Be King, on the other hand, is a family friendly action adventure in the style of Arthurian legend.
That is, rather, that Arthurian legend drops itself into the life of a modern day boy named Alex (Louis Ashbourne Serkis). After fleeing from a pair of schoolyard bullies (Tom Taylor and Rhianna Dorris), Alex finds himself Continue reading The Kid Who Would Be King (2019) Movie Review
Poor Shoplifters. Such a great film, yet such a slim chance of winning an Oscar. Even in a year without Roma, I don’t know if the Academy would give Kore-eda’s film its due.
Also, Burning.
But no use crying over spilled milk. The nominees are what they are. And it is clear where the conversation goes from here.
Continue reading 2019 Oscar Predictions – Best Foreign Language Film
The Best Animated Feature Film category can sometimes be tricky. You can almost always be sure of a Pixar nominee. Usually a Disney picture is present. One or two foreign films sneak into the race. But sometimes a front-runner is hard to pin down. Putting your money on Pixar is not always a sure-thing.
And this year, in particular, the crop of films is particularly strong.
Continue reading 2019 Oscar Predictions – Best Animated Feature
Across the two 2019 writing categories, I think there are seven high quality scripts. There are two-to-three that are damn near brilliant. But that holds no bearing on the task at hand, which is to suss out exactly which scripts have a chance at taking home the trophy.
Continue reading 2019 Oscar Predictions – Best Original Screenplay & Best Adapted Screenplay
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