The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) had their annual awards ceremony was held this past Sunday, and Garth Davis’ Lion surprised by winning the feature film award. The film beat out awards season heavy-hitter La La Land, as well as the other fantastically shot films Arrival, Silence, and Moonlight.
In an awards season made boring by La La Land sweeping up wins wherever and whenever possible, this might be the first Continue reading Can Lion Win the Oscar for Best Cinematography?
Alas, the Academy-nominated short films have not made their way to screens in my area yet. I have had the privilege of seeing and reviewing two of these Oscar short films, but of course this is not enough to give a full-fledged summary of the field as a whole.
Keep this in my mind as I do my best to traverse this category half-blind.
Update: I saw them…let’s do this.
Continue reading Academy Awards Predictions 2017 – Best Live Action Short Film
After watching the nearly eight hour ESPN documentary O.J.: Made in America, I decided not to give it a review. Perhaps it was due to the shear exhaustion. Now that the Oscar nominations are out and O.J. is in there, I feel this analysis can act as a de facto review.
It may seem jarring that a television documentary miniseries is being considered for Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards. The series qualified for these awards season film categories by having Continue reading Why O.J.: Made in America Will Win the Oscar for Best Documentary
Nine films received honors at the 2017 Academy Awards for Best Picture. That means the Academy deems these films to be the best of the year. Hands down. Are they right about this distinction? An argument can be made to the opposite. But that is a conversation for a different day.
For now, let’s look at what they did pick as the best of 2016. More importantly, let’s rank the nine from worst to best. Continue reading Ranking the Academy Awards Best Picture Nominees
Oscar season is the best time of year for movies. The nominations and winners at the various award shows help guide viewers toward the quality prestige movies of the year.
The Oscars also mean competitive office pools, which means it is time to discuss some of the best ways of going about your predictions. In this article, we will take a look at the next scheduled award show: The Producers Guild Awards.
The Producers Guild Awards sounds incredibly boring, I know. What moviegoer cares which deep-pocketed individuals win for producing the best film of the year?
If you are participating in an Oscar pool and are looking for an edge, then you do. Continue reading Oscar Talk: Why You Should Care About the Producers Guild Awards
At the 2017 Golden Globes ceremony, smash hit La La Land earned a record-breaking seven wins. The film won in every category it was nominated for, and it really was no surprise to anyone.
But does La La Land deserve the gold statue attention that it is getting?
Frankly, no.
Here’s the truth about La La Land. It is not Continue reading Does La La Land Deserve All The Praise?
The visual effects category at the Academy Awards can be a tough category to call some years. Ex Machina winning last year was a big surprise to me, especially given Mad Max being in contention. The year before that you have Interstellar winning over Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, where either of those films could have taken the prize.
This year’s shortlist has a number of quality effects work on it. So…let’s get to it.
Continue reading 2017 Academy Awards Nomination Predictions – Best Visual Effects
The shortlist for the Academy Awards Foreign Language Film category surprised me for one particular reason, and that was the omission of Paul Verhoeven’s Elle. Incidentally, it is also the only film in the running that I had the opportunity to see before writing this article. So….we’re just gonna do the best we can.
Continue reading 2017 Academy Awards Nomination Predictions – Best Foreign Film
On the morning of January 24, the 2017 Academy Award nominations will be announced. Now that 2017 is finally upon us and Oscar season is in full swing, it is as good a time as any to discuss the potential nominees in all 24 categories.
Yes, I do have no life.
Click the links below for predictions.
The sound design Academy Awards. Oft overlooked and conflated, the sound editing and mixing are pivotal aspects of a film. A good soundtrack mix is seamless and unnoticeable, which is why the Academy likes to reward films with many sound elements that must be mixed. A good sound edit may also involve many sound effects on the soundtrack, or it may be something more subtle.
Here are my picks for Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing.
Continue reading 2017 Academy Awards Nomination Predictions – Best Sound Editing/Sound Mixing
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