Monday, February 29, 2016

Oscar WrapUp 2016








So I got the same score as last year with 17 predicted right. Those short films did me in, I didn’t get one of them right. Chris Rock was pretty good as host. I thought the girl guide cookies fell flat but I loved his comment on what males wear and the clips of black people having a hard time in white movies. The music was weird this time around. The Ride of the Valkyries as play off music sounded awkward as was the music played for Brie Larson’s win for the emotionally draining Room. Oh well. I did enjoy the nomination packages again this year. I know I’m a nerd. Let’s see who won:

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
STUTTERER
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
BEAR STORY
DOCUMENTARY SHORT
A GIRL IN THE RIVER
SOUND EDITING
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (predicted)
SOUND MIXING
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (predicted)  
ORIGINAL SCORE
THE HATEFUL EIGHT (predicted)
ORIGINAL SONG
WRITING’S ON THE WALL
VISUAL EFFECTS
EX MACHINA
MAKE-UP
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (predicted)  
COSTUME DESIGN
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
PRODUCTION DESIGN
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (predicted)  
FILM EDITING
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (predicted)   
CINEMATOGRAPHY
THE REVENANT (predicted)
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
AMY (predicted)
ANIMATED FEATURE
INSIDE OUT (predicted)
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
SON OF SAUL (predicted)
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
THE BIG SHORT (predicted)
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
SPOTLIGHT (predicted)
BEST DIRECTOR
ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ INARRITU [THE REVENANT] (predicted)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
ALICIA VIKANDER [THE DANISH GIRL] (predicted)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
MARK RYLANCE [BRIDGE OF SPIES]
BEST ACTRESS
BRIE LARSON [ROOM] (predicted)
BEST ACTOR
LEONARDO DICAPRIO [THE REVENANT] (predicted)
BEST PICTURE
SPOTLIGHT (predicted)

How did you do?

Friday, February 26, 2016

Oscar Predictions 2016








It’s that time of year again for my fearless Oscar predictions. This is probably the hardest Best Picture winner to predict. My gut, my head and my heart are still fighting to choose. Just as a reminder, I’m not predicting who I want to win but who I think the Academy will vote for. From smaller to bigger, here we go:

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
AVE MARIA
(It’s a heartfelt comedy with nuns)

ANIMATED SHORT FILM
SANJAY’S SUPER TEAM
(It’s Pixar. World of Tomorrow is close second)

DOCUMENTARY SHORT
BODY TEAM 12       
(Red Cross deals with Ebola outbreak. Relevant)

SOUND EDITING
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
(Let the tech award haul begin)

SOUND MIXING
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
(For the flaming guitar guy alone!)

ORIGINAL SCORE
THE HATEFUL EIGHT
(Ennio Morricone is the man)

ORIGINAL SONG
TIL IT HAPPENS TO YOU [THE HUNTING GROUND]
(Lady Gaga on her way to her EGOT)

VISUAL EFFECTS
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
(Wish Star Wars would get it but the car fights are awesome)

MAKE-UP & HAIRSTYLING
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
(Even with the shaved heads)

COSTUME DESIGN
CINDERELLA
(Oscar loves period stuff and ball gowns)

PRODUCTION DESIGN
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
(I’ll say the cars win this one)

FILM EDITING
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
(Great action. Hoping Big Short doesn’t get it)

CINEMATOGRAPHY
THE REVENANT
(Beautiful landscapes and bear attacks)

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
AMY
(Amy Winehouse is all the rage right now)

ANIMATED FEATURE
INSIDE OUT
(They better get this one.)

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
SON OF SAUL
(Everyone is predicting this one)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
THE BIG SHORT
(Clever writing with its celebrity explanations)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
SPOTLIGHT
(A powerful film praising journalistic efforts)

BEST DIRECTOR
ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ INARRITU [THE REVENANT]
(He knows how to make an interesting film)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
ALICIA VIKANDER [DANISH GIRL]
(She is everywhere and deserves some recognition)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
SYLVESTER STALLONE [CREED]
(It’s the Rocky award he should have one for the first Rocky)

BEST ACTRESS
BRIE LARSON [ROOM]
(She is mesmerizing as broken mother putting on a brave face)

BEST ACTOR
LEONARDO DICAPRIO [THE REVENANT]
(He practically killed himself for this award)

BEST PICTURE
SPOTLIGHT
(I feel like the Academy wants the winner to be a movie that means something years from now. The Big Short seems to crazy and The Revenant is just too raw. Spotlight is my heart choice.)

I only got 17 right last year. 21 right the year before.  Let’s see how I do on Oscar night this Sunday.

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Film: Deadpool








GENRE: Action, Comedy
RATING: R for strong violence and language with some nudity
RUNTIME: 1 hours and 48 minutes
STARRING: Ryan Reynolds (Van Wilder, Green Lantern)
Morena Baccarin (Homeland, Firefly); TJ Miller (Silicon Valley)
DIRECTOR: Tim Miller (newcomer)
WRITERS: Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick (Zombieland)
PLOT: A ‘hero’ with quick healing powers seeks revenge on the man who experimented on him. And he likes to swear.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I only vaguely remember him from Origins: Wolverine.

STORY STUFF: The beginning and ending of the story is well paced and full of humour. The experiment that makes Deadpool into the guy he is was pretty boring. Maybe it was because the bad guy didn’t have much gravitas. I enjoy how the film tells the story in a non-linear fashion. I did not like the X-Men connection. Could care less about Colossus and who the hell is Negasonic Teenage Warhead?

ACTING STUFF: Reynolds finally has an action hero worth watching. You can tell that he is having so much fun playing this role, it makes you want to root for him even more. Miller and Baccarin do well to support Reynolds. The rest of the cast is blah.

ARTISTIC STUFF: Fantastic opening titles, fun slo-mo images mixed with sarcastically perfect credits. Just like the story, the beginning and ending are full of violent fun, the middle is snooze-ville. Deadpool loves to break the fourth wall and talk to the audience. His comments on X-Men are hysterical. Great meta fun. This film also has a kickin’ soundtrack from pulsing DMX to cheesy Wham!

VERDICT: Three and a half stars
SEE IT IF: You aren’t offended easily by gratuitous language & violence

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Zoolander 2, Zootopia

Monday, February 08, 2016

Superbowl Commercials 2016

Maybe watching Superbowl ads all at once following the big game is not as fun as watching them during the game. I wasn’t too impressed with the commercials this year. I hope they improve for next year, when we, in Canada, are finally able to see the American spots. In any case, here are some of my favourites but aso the ones that made me go ‘huh?’

FUNNIEST COMMERCIALS
Avacados from Mexico – Aliens
Strange but at least mocks Scott Baio.

Doritos – Ultrasound
Need to get past why these two are married.

FUN USE OF CELEBRITIES
Bud Light – The Bud Light Party
Seth Rogen & Amy Schumer go over the line, but still fun.

TurboTax – Actoring
Nice to see Anthony Hopkins getting work

BEST USE OF A SONG
Marmot – Love the Outside
The use of Flight of the Conchords made this work for me.

INSPIRING COMMERICAL
Pantene – Dad-Do: Strong is Beautiful
Very cute watching football players try do their daughter’s hair

GREAT PSA COMMERCIALS
Colgate – #EveryDropCounts
A great reminder.

Budweiser – #GiveADamn
Helen Mirren is so ‘polite’ calling out the drunk drivers of the world

NOT SURE ABOUT  COMMERCIALS
Heinz Ketchup – Weiner Stampede
The dogs are cute but the family of ketchups kind of deflates it

NFL – Superbowl Babies
Funny but weird to sing about your parents. It was hard to understand all the lyrics in the beginning. This ad also went on way too long.

BIZARRE HEALTH  COMMERCIALS
OIC is Different – Envy
Have constipation? Talk to a doctor. What? No pill or remedy being promoted?

Xifixan – IBS
Who came up with this mascot?

Jublia – Toenail Fungus
It was odd last year, and now they have NFL celebrities helping out. Huh?

TERRIBLE MESSAGE COMMERCIAL
QuickenLoans – What We Were Thinking
Are they trying to create another financial crisis?

MISGUIDED USE OF CELEBRITY COMMERCIALS
Skittles – The Portrait
Steven Tyler is not relevant anymore. Also tired of Dream On.

T-Mobile – Drop the Balls
Very timely with Steve Harvey but just not funny at all.
Also thought the Apartments.com ad was pretty cheesy with Weezy.

“WHAT?”  COMMERCIALS
PayPal – New Money in Town
Glad they showed Canadian bills but how new is PayPal?

Mountain Dew – Kickstart
Puppymonkeybaby. What am I watching?

Anyway, that’s my assessment of the ads this year. Here’s hoping for better next year.

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Deadpool; Zoolander 2