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So ... I completely missed the Globes nominations. Very sad face inserted here. Where's Dr. Strange when I need a time rewind? My friend, Griz, did his due diligence and made the predictions. I have to post them here, it's only right. And since the nominations are actually out, even though I did not have a good look at them, it would be cheating for me to 'predict' something that's already out. Instead, I'll comment on the ones I would've guessed, as applicable for each category.
BEST MOTION PICTURE (DRAMA)
Fences
Hacksaw Ridge
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
Silence
Alt: Arrival
Editor comment: My alternate would've been Hell or High Water. I remember people liking that film quite a bit. I would've taken out Fences from this list; I know nothing about Fences. In its place, I would have guessed Arrival to have its presence announced here, having seen the film. And I would have added Lion in place of Silence, thinking the Foreign Press would've liked a feely Nicole Kidman film. I would've kept Manchester, Moonlight and Hacksaw.
BEST MOTION PICTURE (COMEDY/MUSICAL)
20th Century Women
Deadpool
Florence Foster Jenkins
Hail, Caesar!
La La Land
Alt: The Nice Guys
Editor comment: Wow I would've sucked at this category. Let's see, I would've kept Hail Caesar and La La Land, and put The Nice Guys as an official third option, with Florence thrown in there because it's a Meryl Streep movie. The last spot would've probably gone to 20th Century Women. I would've not guessed Deadpool, because it was really raunchy. My alternate would've been Rules Don't Apply, for the Beatty factor. I would've wished The Lobster would've gotten in here. I love that movie.
BEST DIRECTOR
Damien Chazelle - La La Land
Barry Jenkins - Moonlight
Kenneth Lonergan - Manchester by the Sea
Martin Scorsese - Silence
Denzel Washington - Fences
Alt: Mel Gibson - Hacksaw Ridge
Editor comment: Okay, I'm getting sleepy ... heh. Pablo Larrain instead of Denzel Washington, and the alternate would've been Clint Eastwood.
BEST ACTRESS (DRAMA)
Amy Adams - Arrival
Isabelle Huppert - Elle
Ruth Negga - Loving
Natalie Portman - Jackie
Jessica Chastain - Miss Sloane
Alt: Taraji P. Henson - Hidden Fences
Editor comment: I would've concurred.
BEST ACTOR (DRAMA)
Casey Affleck - Manchester by the Sea
Joel Edgerton - Loving
Andrew Garfield - Hacksaw Ridge
Tom Hanks - Sully
Denzel Washington - Fences
Alt: Andrew Garfield - Silence
Editor comment: Jake Gyllenhaal in place of Joel Edgerton. Alternate: Joel Edgerton.
BEST ACTRESS (COMEDY/MUSICAL)
Emma Stone - La La Land
Annette Bening - 20th Century Women
Meryl Streep - Florence Foster Jenkins
Sally Field - Hello, My Name Is Doris
Kate Beckinsale - Love and Friendship
Alt: Hailee Steinfeld - The Edge of Seventeen
Editor comment: I would've put Hailee there in place of Kate Beckinsale. And I probably would've gone for The Lobster's Rachel Weisz in place of Sally Field, for bias reason. Alt. Sally Field.
BEST ACTOR (COMEDY/MUSICAL)
Warren Beatty - Rules Don’t Apply
Colin Farrell - The Lobster
Ryan Gosling - La La Land
Hugh Grant - Florence Foster Jenkins
Ryan Reynolds - Deadpool
Alt: Viggo Mortensen - Captain Fantastic
Editor comment: My friend said Captain Fantastic made her cry so ... probably Viggo trading place with Ryan Reynolds. I can't believe Ryan Reynolds got nominated - not that it was not a good comedic performance; it just didn't seem like an awards type of film/performance.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Viola Davis - Fences
Greta Gerwig - 20th Century Women
Naomi Harris - Moonlight
Nicole Kidman - Lion
Michelle Williams - Manchester by the Sea
Alt: Felicity Jones - A Monster Calls
Editor comment: Lupita Nyong'o in place of Greta Gerwig. I've not seen either performance, but 'who's more famous here' would've been my reasoning.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Mahershala Ali - Moonlight
Jeff Bridges - Hell or High Water
Lucas Hedges - Manchester by the Sea
Liam Neeson - Silence
Dev Patel - Lion
Alt: Michael Shannon - Nocturnal Animals
Editor comment: I just wanna say, of the actors involved in Moonlight, the ones who deserve the most credit are the main character's actors. They should've been counted as 'supporting' or all three fore one role. Ali was okay, but it looked like he was picking up noms so I would've kept him in this group anyway. I would've put Ben Foster in there rather than Liam Neeson, as I did not hear anything about Liam but Ben was very showy in Hell or High Water. If anyone had seen Nocturnal Animals, which seemed to be picking up fewer awards than I would've thought, they would know that Michael Shannon's performance > Jeff Bridge's. But I would've put Jeff in because I would've been of little faith.
BEST SCREENPLAY
Fences
La La Land
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
Silence
Alt: Loving
Editor comment: La La Land, Manchester, Moonlight, agreed. Then, Nocturnal Animals and Lion. Alternate: Arrival.
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
La La Land
La La Land
Moana
Sing
Trolls
Alt: Hidden Figures
Editor comment: I would have probably taken out Trolls and added Miss Sharon Jones. I don't know why.
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Arrival
Florence Foster Jenkins
Jackie
La La Land
Moonlight
Alt: The BFG
Editor comment: I would've put in Rogue One in place of Jackie, just because it's going to be massive if the premiere reactions hold up!
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Finding Dory
Kubo and the Two Strings
Moana
The Red Turtle
Zootopia
Alt: Trolls
Editor comment: I would've added Sing as the alternate.
BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
Elle (France)
The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki (Finland)
Julieta (Spain)
Neruda (Chile)
Toni Erdmann (Germany)
Alt: The Salesman (Iran)
Editor comment: I would not have guessed Neruda, based on the fact that I've seen it and I would not have thought it was Globes material. I would've gone for Sieranevada instead, based on the same fact.
Golden Globes Nominations Predictions
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TIFF 2106: a look back
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A summary of my ten days at TIFF'16.
But first, a few gripes:
- It's getting harder to be a TIFF patron, especially when they've not only raised the price to more than twice your regular ticket ($34/single ticket), but they've also increased it further when the tickets are in demand. My eyes felt a little gouged out this time around.
- Late comers expecting others to move to accommodate their wish to sit the whole family together, when perfectly available rows (albeit not as good) are theirs to move together to.
- Having to up my game to close to 2 hours line up time. People, you be killin' me.
All things considered, it was a pretty good TIFF, given that it only rained on my last day, and I only hated one of my 17 films (see below). And I got to be close to Werner Herzog! Except for my getting sick part, vacation well spent.
Films
ranked based on a mix of favouritism and superiority
01. Fuocoammare (Fire at Sea; Rosi)
02. Nocturama (Bonello)
03. Sieranevada (Puiu)
04. La Tortue rouge (The red turtle; de Wit)
05. Moonlight (Jenkins)
06. Umi yori mo Mada Fukaku (After the storm; Koreeda)
07. Hymyilevä mies (The happiest day in the life of Olli Mäki; Kuosmanen)
08. Toni Erdmann (Ade)
09. Divines (Benyamina)
10. Neruda (Larraín)
11. Forushande (The Salesman; Farhadi)
12. Nocturnal Animals (Ford)
13. Frantz (Ozon)
14. Into the Inferno (Herzog)
15. Bacalaureat (Graduation; Mungiu)
16. Smrt u Sarajevu (Death in Sarajevo; Tanovic)
17. Fuchi ni tatsu (Harmonium; Fukada)
Directors (and their winning bit)
01. Gianfranco Rosi / Fire at sea: he refuses to play within the documentary feature parameters, and makes a compelling story as seamless as that of a fictional narrative auteur. Winning bit: sound weaving in and out of the boat rescue, accompanying the slow, restrained camera work that's never exploitative or hurried. 02. Bertrand Bonello / Nocturama: Bonello gives Tom Ford a run for his money in the art of making things look cool and stylish, while staying bold and relevant with social discourse. Winning bit: making co-ordinated attacks (both from the teenagers, and later their hunters) feel exceedingly intense, complicated and disconcerting.
03. Cristi Puiu / Sieranevada: he makes me believe life goes on off camera. Winning bit: the camera pans away from a scene in a room, seemingly heading to another room when, unexpectedly, it pans back to the same scene in the room, giving the impression that we've been called back for further exploration.
04. Pablo Larraín / Neruda: fittingly, he peruses a poetic film structure to bring to life an unknown part of a poet. Winning bit: stringing emotional connections between scenes and characters by literally reframing these characters so that all other contextual elements disappear from the screen.
05. Maren Ade / Toni Erdmann: she brings a uniquely apt take on the challenging dramedy genre. Winning bit: Ines celebrates her birthday. Brilliant, hysterical bit of comedy mixed with shock and sadness.
Performances
01. Sandra Hüller - Toni Erdmann
02. Alex Hibbert / Ashton Sanders / Trevante Rhodes - Moonlight
03. Michael Shannon - Nocturnal Animals
04. Oulaya Amamra - Divines
05. Kirin Kiki - After the storm
Comments (to be written in future posts...)
The State of the World - Fire at Sea and Nocturama
Why Characters Matter - Harmonium and Death in Sarajevo
The Camera's Presence - Sieranevada, Neruda and Divines
Unexpected Stories - Toni Erdmann, The happiest day in the life of Olli Maki, Moonlight
R.I.P. Abbas Kiarostami - the Wind carries you now
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My heart is heavy in mourning of Abbas Kiarostami's passing, seemingly out of the blue (and from human errors?). I can't believe this news. What is with 2016?
His name lives in the pantheon of cinematic greats, and on the very modest list of personally beloved directors of mine.
Holding space for more coherent thoughts forthcoming.
Oscars 2016: In the name of diversity, here are some cookies
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It is often the case that the loudest kid(s) in the class gets the most attention. It is not to say that the kid doesn't need or warrant the help that (hopefully) comes with the attention. But too often those who also need help and attention but are quiet get ignored. On Oscars night, that's exactly what happened. In the name of diversity, African Americans (and those not from Africa but identified as Blacks) were pulled into the spotlight as the token ones. Why, yes, they did also bring out those couple of Asian kids and, uh, oh-my-gawd Lee Byung Hun! And, the lady from Quantico (Priyanka Chopra, but does anyone watch that show? why else is she there?). But they were sideshows to the token Blacks, which made the whole attempt rang of empty politics and ultimately really silly.
Nevertheless, I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the show. I'm glad they addressed it - a little is better than none (though not sure if it should've taken up the whole show). I question though, how could they have known all these controversies to happen and hired Chris Rock, of all people, to MC? Could there have been a more apt host? Well, actually, maybe Margaret Cho would've been even better. Then the ratings would've been even worse, but they would've corrected everything! Oscars, you missed your chance!
Before I write of what I enjoyed, I want to mention first what I'm peeved about. As usual, I didn't read too much about the ceremony going into the broadcast Sunday night. I didn't read up on the boycotts either, other than the headlines about Will Smith. During the show, I was actually too busy to notice, but Griz pointed out later that there was indeed something more troubling (and telling) to me about the entire affair. The story was only told half in what the Oscars presented; what it omitted told an even better story.
While the producers did an admirable and excellent job in taking the time to bring us expertly stitched together and narrated clips of some of the talents (especially the sound, directing, and writing categories), they insulted the lesser known song nominees by completely cutting them out of the equation. Both Anohni and Sumi Jo, nominated for Racing Extinction and Youth respectively, did not get to perform, while Lady Gaga, the Weeknd, Sam Smith, and Dave Grohl (!) did. I don't understand this decision, given that year after year, the Oscars give space and time to the shorts that almost nobody watches! And I sit through these every year, including this one, amused by their dedication to highlight film crafts in spite of ratings. What's even more puzzling is that, given the banner of diversity hanging around the show and the Academy this year (not to mention the popularity of Transparent!), they cut out a transgender performer, and a South Korean soprano! It makes Sam Smith's win the worst of the night, even worst than the fact that it was not deserving of the win.
I guess what the Academy was trying to say is: "Sorry gals, there's no room for actual diversity, only room for political diversity. May the loudest voice wins!" The Token issue sucked up all the air time. They didn't even celebrate what a year it was for women!
Now that we've established the hypocrisy, here are a few things I was nevertheless happy about:
- Mad Max going gangbusters on all those tech awards! It really should've gotten more, but how fabulous is it that an action film takes home the most Oscars, including a film EDITING prize (the only "important" category it won in, traditional-Oscars-wise)! Years to come, we may appreciate what an achievement this film is in garnering as much love as it did in spite of its genre - nominations in Picture and Director!
- The sound categories clips were magnificent!
- Chris Rock skewered many people, including people I didn't think he'd be able to. Good on him. I liked the sorority racist distinction. I enjoyed the silly girls scout cookies skit, though it is a bit too similar to Ellen's pizza stunt.
- Louis C.K. telling what the award's attention is like for the nominees of less popular forms.
- Chris Rock interviewing moviegoers in Compton.
- The useful labels for presenters!
- Ali G!? Yes, he was utterly offensive, and on point. Was he necessary? Eh. What's one more in a whole show?
- The great dresses and the ladies who wore them beautifully! Olivia Wilde, Rachel McAdams, Saoirse Ronan, Margot Robbie, Isla Fisher, Olivia Munn, Priyanka Chopra, and, uh, Whoopi! And from the pictures that came out online: Amy Adams, Emilia Clarke, Elizabeth Banks, Jessica Biel. Lady Gaga's outfit looked like something that came out of a Georgia O'Keeffe paiting, minus the colours.
- Jacob Tremblay, Abraham Attah, Alicia Vikander, Brie Larson, Mark Rylance, Ennio Morricone and Margaret Sixels were such cutie pies.
- The shocker that is Ex-Machina winning visual effects against the effects-heavy blockbuster Star Wars! I had Ex-Machina as my alternate choice! How could you not vote for it though? Alicia looked like she was made of robot parts!
- The shocker that is Spotlight winning Best Picture despite only having one other award to its name. That's more of an amusing surprise rather than a wanted surprise, but it's good for the show anyhow.
There were wins I did not like (e.g. Amy over The Look of Silence), some cringe-worthy speeches (but fewer than other years?), and snubs I felt bad about (e.g. Charlize Theron and Emily Blunt not present in the actress race) but I expect and accept them by now. The Oscars is a popularity contest, albeit amongst industry people so it tends to favour at least "decent" choices if you can relate to their paradigm / taste. This 2016 show, though, despite its missteps, is one to remember, for good or for ill.
Oscars 2016 Winners: Mad Max wins the most, Spotlight wins the most important, Leo wins the internet
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PICTURE
Spotlight
DIRECTOR
Alejandro G, Iñárritu - The Revenant
ACTRESS
Brie Larson - Room
ACTOR
Leonardo di Caprio - The Revenant
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Alicia Vikander - The Danish Girl
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Mark Rylance - Bridge of Spies !!
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Spotlight
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Big Short
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Son of Saul
ANIMATED
Inside Out
DOCUMENTARY
Amy
EDITING
Mad Max: Fury Road
CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Revenant
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Mad Max: Fury Road
VISUAL EFFECTS
Ex-Machina !!!
SOUND MIXING
Mad Max: Fury Road
SOUND EDITING
Mad Max: Fury Road
MAKE UP & HAIRSTYLING
Mad Max: Fury Road
COSTUME
Mad Max: Fury Road
SCORE
The Hateful Eight
SONG
Spectre !!!
