Oscars 2020: My Best Score Since 2015

I went back and forth as to whether to pick 1917 or PARASITE for Best Picture and Sam Mendes or Bong Joon Ho for Best Director, and I chose wrong, maybe even cynically as I didn't think that the same voting body that went with GREEN BOOK (does anybody every remember that movie now?) over ROMA last year would make the bold edgy choice this time around.

I loved both PARASITE and 1917, but Bong is well more deserving of the big award than Mendes as his film is a brilliant blast of a black comic thriller and it's really satisfying to see it get such high acclaim. I wish I had gone with my gut.

Otherwise, I did pretty good with my predictions scoring 19 out of 24. The last several years I felt like I was slipping as my scores got worse and worse. Last year I got 13 right and that was my all-time low. But I'm back - with only these being the ones I missed:

BEST PICTURE: My prediction: 1917 / What won: PARASITE

BEST DIRECTOR: My prediction: Sam Mendes /Who won: Bong Joon Ho

ORIGINAL SCORE: My prediction: Thomas Newman (1917) / Who won: Hildur Guðnadóttir (JOKER)

 
LIVE ACTION SHORT: My prediction: BROTHERHOOD / What won: THE NEIGHBORS’ WINDOW

SOUND EDITING: My prediction: 1917 / What won: FORD V. FERRARI

Alright! That's another Oscars done with. Now I need to watch a stupid movie with no stakes to get this prestige shiznit out of my system. Doubt that'll be too difficult to find.

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Hey Kids! Funtime 2020 Oscar® Predictions!

Here we go again - and much earlier this time as the 92nd Academy Awards is taking place the earliest in the year that the ceremony has ever been held. On February 9, a show with no hosts will give out gold statues to mostly white folks, and celebrate 2019’s most profitable, I mean memorable cinematic works. 

So below are my predictions. I went back and forth as to whether PARASITE or 1917 would win the big awards (Best Picture, Best Director), but I went with 1917 as it seems it's right in the Academy voters wheelhouse - according to past years. Now take these guesses with a grain of salt as last year I had my worst score ever (13 out of 24), but I have some good years too (my best was 21 out of 24).

Anyway, here they are:

1.BEST PICTURE: 1917

2. BEST DIRECTOR: Sam Mendes

3. BEST ACTOR: Joaquin Phoenix (JOKER)

4. BEST ACTRESS: Renée Zelleweger (JUDY)

5. BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Brad Pitt (ONCE UPON ATIME IN HOLLYWOOD)

 
6. BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Laura Dern (MARRIAGE STORY)

7. PRODUCTION DESIGN: Barbara Ling, Nancy Haigh (ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD)

8. CINEMATOGRAPHY: Roger Deakins (1917)

9. COSTUME DESIGN: Jacqueline Durran (LITTLE WOMEN)

 
10. DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: AMERICAN FACTORY

11. DOCUMENTARY SHORT:  LEARNING TO SKATEBOARD IN A WARZONE (IF YOU’RE A GIRL)

12. FILM EDITING: FORD V FERRARI

13. MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING: BOMBSHELL 

 
14. VISUAL EFFECTS: 1917

15. ORIGINAL SCORE: Thomas Newman (1917)

16. ORIGINAL SONG: “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” (ROCKETMAN) 

17. ANIMATED SHORT: KITBULL

18. LIVE ACTION SHORT: BROTHERHOOD

19. SOUND EDITING: 1917

20. SOUND MIXING: 1917

 21. ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:  Bong Joon Ho, Han Jin Won (PARASITE)

22. ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Taika Waititi (JOJO RABBIT)

23. ANIMATED FEATURE FILM: TOY STORY 4

24. BEST INTERNATIONAL (No longer FOREIGN) FILM: PARASITE

As I always say, tune in Monday to see how many I got wrong.

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A Smattering Of New Blu Ray & DVD Reviews

THE RUNAWAYS (Dir. Floria Sigismondi, 2010)

"Jail-fuckin'-bait! Jack-fuckin'-pot!!" - Kim Fowley as played by Michael Shannon. Not exactly. When this film came out last spring it cherry bombed at the box office. This absolutely by-the-numbers music biopic only comes alive when Michael Shannon is onscreen. 

As infamous record producer Kim Fowley, Shannon steals the film away from Kristen Stewart who does a convincing Joan Jett and an all angsty Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie. Despite the title Stewart and Fanning are the only members of the legendary '70s all girl punk band that the film chooses to focus on - you can count the lines Scout Taylor-Compton as Lita Ford has on one hand and Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development) as Robin the bassist barely registers. Ditto Stella Maeve as drummer Sandy West. 

West died in 2006, but you wouldn't know that from the film's ending wrap up of only Jett, Currie, and Fowley's fates. Still it's fast paced and filled with a lot of great music. In the mix of the Runaways greatest hits you get David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Sex Pistols, and weirdly Don McLean blaring throughout the movie. It will most likely be remembered for being the movie that Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning made out in, but if that's what your looking for, those scenes are blurry in a manner mistaken for artsy, and there's little emotional conviction to make anyone care. 

Overall THE RUNAWAYS resembles the VH1 produced rock biopics that dramatized Behind The Music episodes and rerun constantly on VH1 Classic. That undoubtedly will be where this ends up.

ENTRE NOS (Dirs. Gloria La Morte & Paola Mendoza, 2009) 

This Spanish drama, produced and distributed by IndiePix Films, was one that didn't visit Triangle area theaters, but is now out on DVD and available for streaming on Netflix Instant. Paola Mendoza plays a Colombian immigrant who in the opening scenes is left by her husband (Andres Munar) to fend for herself and her 2 children in New York City.

All she seems to have going for her is that she can make great empanadas, but she can't seem to sell those on the street corners so she takes up aluminum can recycling. It's a tale of struggle and hardhip loosely based on a true story that has several incredibly moving scenes. The strength of Mendoza's performance creates much empathy for the severe situations she faces. Sebastian Villada Lopez and Laura Montana Cortez as Mendoza's children also register highly. Though some of the suffering may discomfort some folks, this is definitely worth a rental.

MOTHER (Dir. Bong Joon-ho, 2009) This gritty yet crisp looking thriller from South Korean writer/director Joon-ho only came as close as Cary to the Galaxy theater last spring. When she believes that her slow daft son (Won Bin) is innocent of a murder he's accused of, Kim Hye-ja investigates the crime on her own.

The murder is of a school girl (Moon Hee-ra) who as the rumors say was very promiscuous and has a cell phone full of pictures of possible suspects. Hye-ja fiercely fights through the elements and, of course, gets more trouble than she bargained for. “Mother” is immensely entertaining with true feeling for its characters, particularly the admirable lead. It also looks beautiful on Blu ray.

PRODIGAL SONS (Dir. Kimberly Reed, 2010) Another film that didn't play in the Triangle - a documentary about and by transsexual film maker Kimberly Reed (formerly Paul Reed) who returns home to Montana to face family and friends. Adopted brother Marc, who has brain damage from a car accident, is a big obstacle as he's never accepted his sibling's sex change.

"I just wanted us to be able to move on, but before I knew it, we ended up exactly like we used to be." Reed says on her more than abundant narration. For the first 20 minutes or so it feels like a typical fish out of water/culture clash but when Marc finds out that his grand parents are none other than Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth things get considerably more interesting.

The take away amounts to more than that as we see Kimberly deal head on with his/her past rerunning old football footage and facing old photographs. Marc meanwhile has some scary outbursts which results in jail time. Film of Welles, mostly from his last film F FOR FAKE decorates the second half of the film in morbid tribute. A worthwhile yet disconcerting doc - PRODIGAL SONS is available on DVD and streaming from Netflix Instant.

A TOWN CALLED PANIC (Dirs. Stéphane Aubier & Vincent Patar) This French stop motion animation movie only played for a week at the Colony Theater in North Raleigh last spring which is a shame because it’s a fun absurd romp that deserves bigger audiences. Little plastic figurines, simply named for what they are – “Cowboy”, “Indian”, and “Horse” are the protagonists of this beyond silly plot involving 50 million bricks, thieving blue pointy headed fish folks, and a gigantic penguin robot.

As ridiculous animated features go it's way better than DESPICABLE ME.

PANIC has more than enough laughs and ideas in it to be worth and hour and 15 minutes of your time so see what too many people missed last spring theatrically as its now on DVD and also available streaming on Netflix Instant.

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