Critics’ Oscar Wishes

Critics’ Oscar Wishes

Posted on February 25, 2017 at 8:00 am

Copyright A24 2016

Many thanks to my friends at Rogerebert.com for including me in their round-up of tributes to the people we’re rooting tomorrow night at the Oscars. I was thrilled to get a chance to write about Mahershala Ali’s performance in “Moonlight,” and I hope the Academy will recognize his superb performance. The all-star line-up writing about all-star filmmakers includes:

Best Documentary: “I Am Not Your Negro” — Essay by Omer Mozaffar
Best Foreign Language Film: “Toni Erdmann” — Essay by Matt Fagerholm
Best Adapted Screenplay: “Moonlight” — Essay by Peter Sobczynski
Best Original Screenplay: “Manchester by the Sea” — Essay by Scout Tafoya
Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali for “Moonlight” — Essay by Nell Minow
Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis for “Fences” — Essay by Christy Lemire
Best Actor: Casey Affleck in “Manchester by the Sea” — Essay by Patrick McGavin
Best Actress: Isabelle Huppert in “Elle”— Essay by Susan Wloszczyna
Best Director: Barry Jenkins for “Moonlight” — Essay by Brian Tallerico
Best Picture: “Moonlight” — Essay by Matt Zoller Seitz

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Oscar Nominees 2017

Posted on January 24, 2017 at 10:59 am

The Oscar nominees were announced this morning! Not many surprises — Meryl Streep got her 20th nomination, and other previous nominees and winners like Nicole Kidman and Octavia Spencer appeared on the list as well. Annette Bening and Amy Adams were overlooked, a disappointment. But after two years (let’s face it, 89 years) of #oscarssowhite, it was good to see some people of color recognized, especially those behind the camera. “La La Land” tied the record for the most nominations — it is a valentine from Hollywood to itself — but small-budget newcomer “Moonlight” made an impressive showing with eight nominations. I’ll be talking about the nominations with Mack Bates and Betty Jo Tucker on the Movie Addict Headquarters podcast today and will post a link to the show.

Best Picture

“Arrival”
”Fences”
”Hacksaw Ridge”
”Hell or High Water”
”Hidden Figures”
”La La Land”
”Lion”
”Manchester by the Sea”
”Moonlight”

Best Director

Denis Villeneuve, “Arrival”
Mel Gibson, “Hacksaw Ridge”
Damien Chazelle, “La La Land”
Kenneth Lonergan, “Manchester by the Sea”
Barry Jenkins, “Moonlight”

Best Actress

Emma Stone, “La La Land”
Natalie Portman, “Jackie”
Ruth Negga, “Loving”
Meryl Streep, “Florence Foster Jenkins”
Isabelle Huppert, “Elle”

Best Actor

Casey Affleck, “Manchester by the Sea”
Andrew Garfield, “Hacksaw Ridge”
Ryan Gosling, “La La Land”
Viggo Mortensen, “Captain Fantastic”
Denzel Washington, “Fences”

Best Supporting Actress

Viola Davis, “Fences”
Naomie Harris, “Moonlight”
Nicole Kidman, “Lion”
Octavia Spencer, “Hidden Figures”
Michelle Williams, “Manchester by the Sea”

Best Supporting Actor

Mahershala Ali, “Moonlight”
Jeff Bridges,”Hell or High Water”
Lucas Hedges, “Manchester by the Sea”
Dev Patel, “Lion”
Michael Shannon, “Nocturnal Animals”

Best Adapted Screenplay

“Arrival”
”Fences”
”Hidden Figures”
”Lion”
”Moonlight”

Best Original Screenplay

“Hell or High Water”
”La La Land”
”The Lobster”
”Manchester by the Sea”
”20th Century Women”

Best Foreign Language Film

“Land of Mine,” Martin Zandvliet, Denmark
”A Man Called Ove,” Hannes Holm, Sweden
”The Salesman,” Asghar Farhadi, Iran
”Tanna,” Bentley Dean, Martin Butler, Australia,
”Toni Erdmann,” Maren Ade, Germany

Best Documentary Feature

“Fire at Sea”
“I Am Not Your Negro”
“Life, Animated”
”13th”
“O.J.: Made in America”

Best Animated Feature

“Kubo and the Two Strings”
”Moana”
”My Life as a Zucchini”
”The Red Turtle”
”Zootopia”

Best Film Editing

“Arrival”
”Hacksaw Ridge”
”Hell or High Water”
”La La Land”
”Moonlight”

Best Original Song

“Audition (The Fools Who Dream),” “La La Land”
“Can’t Stop the Feeling,” “Trolls”
“City of Stars,” “La La Land”
“The Empty Chair,” “Jim: The James Foley Story”
“How Far I’ll Go,” “Moana”

Best Original Score

“Jackie”
”La La Land”
”Lion”
”Moonlight”
”Passengers”

Best Cinematography

“Arrival,” Bradford Young
”La La Land,” Linus Sandgren
”Silence,” Rodrigo Prieto
”Lion,” Grieg Fraser
”Moonlight,” James Laxton

Best Costume Design

“Allied”
”Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”
”Florence Foster Jenkins”
”Jackie”
”La La Land”

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

“A Man Called Ove”
”Star Trek Beyond”
”Suicide Squad”

Best Production Design

“Arrival”
”Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”
”Hail, Caesar!”
”La La Land”
”Passengers”

Best Sound Editing

“Arrival”
”Deepwater Horizon”
”Hacksaw Ridge”
”La La Land”
”Sully”

Best Sound Mixing

“Arrival”
”Hacksaw Ridge”
”La La Land”
”Rogue One”
”13 Hours”

Best Visual Effects

“Rogue One”
”The Jungle Book”
”Doctor Strange”
”Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them”
”Arrival”
”The BFG”
”Kubo and the Two Strings”
”A Monster Calls”

Best Short Film, Live Action

“Ennemis Intérieurs”
”La Femme et le TGV”
”Silent Nights”
”Sing”
”Timecode”

Best Short Film, Animated

“Blind Vaysha”
”Borrowed Time”
”Pear Cider and Cigarettes”
”Pearl”
”Piper”

Best Documentary, Short Subject

“Extremis”
”4.1 Miles”
”Joe’s Violin”
”Watani: My Homeland”
”The White Helmets”

The 89th Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, will air live on ABC at 8:30 p.m. ET on Feb. 26.

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#OSCARSlesswhite — New Additions to the Academy Bring Some Diversity

Posted on July 2, 2016 at 4:31 pm

Some good news from the Motion Picture Academy — the acceptance of a younger, more diverse group of highly qualified members, which should help with the embarrassingly narrow focus that led to the #oscarsowhite problem last year, not a single person of color nominated for an acting award. New members include actors Idris Elba, Brie Larson, John Boyega, America Ferrera, Michael B. Jordan, Emma Watson, Tina Fey, Oscar Isaac, Tom Hiddleston, Ice Cube, and directors Ryan Coogler, Julie Dash, Adam McKay and Patty Jenkins. and Chadwick Boseman. It is the Academy’s largest and most diverse new group of members, more than double the 322 invited last year. 41% of the new invitees are people of color. There are 283 new international members from 59 countries. Academy president Cheryl Boone has made good on her promise for prompt action. Here’s hoping we see this kind of improvement every year.

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Commentary Gender and Diversity Race and Diversity
Oscar Quiz Answers

Oscar Quiz Answers

Posted on March 3, 2016 at 8:00 am

Copyright 1934 Columbia Pictures
Copyright 1934 Columbia Pictures

1. What Oscar-winning director is the son and father of Oscar-winning performers and what was his connection to their award-winning films?

Director John Huston won an Oscar for “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre,” and directed both his father, Walter Huston and his daughter, Anjelica Huston, in the films that won them Oscars as well.

2. What was the first film to win all five top awards: Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Director, and Screenplay? (Extra credit if you can name the only other two films to sweep these categories.)

“It Happened One Night” followed by “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “Silence of the Lambs”

3. Who tied for Best Actress in 1969?

Barbra Streisand and Katharine Hepburn

4. Who was speaking when a streaker interrupted the Oscar broadcast in 1974?

David Niven

5. Who mangled the name of singer/actress Idina Menzel in 2014?

John Travolta

6. Which Best Actor winner swept presenter Halle Berry off her feet with a passionate kiss?

Adrian Brody

7. Who is the only person named Oscar to actually win an Oscar?

Lyricist/writer Oscar Hammerstein (but I’m betting Oscar Isaac will win one soon)

8. What was special about the special Oscar awarded to Walt Disney for “Snow White?”

Here it is!

Copyright AMPAS 1939
Copyright AMPAS 1939

9. Who was the first (and so far, only) woman to win the Best Director Oscar?

Kathryn Bigelow for “The Hurt Locker”

10. What is unusual about two-time Best Editing Oscar nominee Roderick Jaynes?

He doesn’t exist. It’s a pseudonym for the Coen brothers.

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Awards Quiz
Oscars 2016: Winners

Oscars 2016: Winners

Posted on February 29, 2016 at 12:10 am

Best Picture: “Spotlight”

Direction: “The Revenant,” Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Revenant”

Actress: Brie Larson, “Room”

Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance, “Bridge of Spies”

Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander, “The Danish Girl”

Adapted Screenplay: “The Big Short,” Charles Randolph and Adam McKay

Original Screenplay: “Spotlight,” Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy

Cinematography: “The Revenant,” Emmanuel Lubezki

Production Design: “Mad Max: Fury Road,” Colin Gibson and Lisa Thompson (set decoration)

Film Editing: “Mad Max: Fury Road,” Margaret Sixel

Visual Effects: “Ex Machina,” Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris, Mark Ardington and Sara Bennett

Costume Design: “Mad Max: Fury Road,” Jenny Beavan

Makeup: “Mad Max: Fury Road,” Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin

Sound Editing: “Mad Max: Fury Road,” Mark Mangini and David White

Sound Mixing: “Mad Max: Fury Road,” Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff and Ben Osmo

Score: “The Hateful Eight,” Ennio Morricone

Song: “Writing’s on the Wall,” from “Spectre,” Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith

Foreign Language Film: “Son of Saul” (Hungary)

Animated Feature: “Inside Out”

Documentary Feature: “Amy”

Animated Short: “Bear Story”

Documentary Short: “A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness”

Live Action Short: “Stutterer”

Copyright Open Road Films 2015
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