2017 Awards Season

[kiddo82]

On January 30, 2017 at 11:25 AM, vibeology said:

And who do you think was happier to see Denzel win, Denzel himself or Brie Larson? What a difference an award show makes.

Has Brie Larson been the only "reigning" presenter at the shows this year?  I noticed she was the only one at SAG (out of herself, Vikander, Elba, and DiCaprio) and I don't remember who else presented at the Globes.  Was Stallone there also?  I don't think it particularly means anything.  I'm sure it's nothing more than scheduling conflicts.  Just something I noticed.

I'm hoping Hidden Figures' win is more of an example of it peaking at the right time than merely a blip on the radar.  I still expect La La Land to win the big one but I'd be thrilled to see Hidden Figures upset it.

[Dejana]

4 hours ago, kiddo82 said:

Has Brie Larson been the only "reigning" presenter at the shows this year?  I noticed she was the only one at SAG (out of herself, Vikander, Elba, and DiCaprio) and I don't remember who else presented at the Globes.  Was Stallone there also?  I don't think it particularly means anything.  I'm sure it's nothing more than scheduling conflicts.  Just something I noticed.

I'm hoping Hidden Figures' win is more of an example of it peaking at the right time than merely a blip on the radar.  I still expect La La Land to win the big one but I'd be thrilled to see Hidden Figures upset it.

Sly didn't win the SAG last year; it was Idris Elba, despite his Oscar snub. Stallone's daughters were collectively Miss Golden Globes so he was there, and Leo presented Best Actress-Drama to Isabelle Huppert.

I really liked Hidden Figures but my feeling is that the "Can it upset for Best Picture?" articles are more about Oscar bloggers trying to get clicks in a season with a runaway frontrunner, than any real buzz of an upset. It's like how all those anonymous ballot articles pick the most outrageous/risible accounts instead of the ones where people just voted for all the favorites.

Best Actor actually is up in the air, though. Now watch Andrew Garfield win the BAFTA and Viggo Mortensen the Indie Spirit, so everyone in the category has won something, going into Oscar night! 

Edited February 1, 2017 by Dejana

[sweetcookieface]

I just saw La La Land, which brings the total number of Oscar Best Picture nominees I've seen to 8 (still haven't seen Lion). For what it's worth, here's how I'd rank the ones I've seen:

Faves

1. Moonlight: Just a beautiful, heartbreaking film - and the one that's stayed with me the longest (saw it a few months ago). Both the story and the directing choices felt very fresh - it's incredible how much was conveyed with so few words. I was on the edge of my seat during the diner reunion in Act 3.

2. La La Land: I just saw this, so I was prepared to be a little underwhelmed (both because it's received so much hype and I've heard some people say it was just so-so). But... I loved it. It's not just a pastel-colored frothy film; I thought it was visually stunning and surprisingly poignant/emotionally resonant (that last scene in particular got to me - I'm now totally on board with Emma Stone getting an Oscar). I'd rank La La Land a little below Moonlight, but those two movies are, for me, far and away the best things I've seen this year. 

Second Tier:

3. Manchester by the Sea: Great, naturalistic writing and acting, and packed an emotional wallop.

4. Fences: I haven't heard much Oscar buzz about Fences, except for the very well deserved buzz for Viola, but I thought this was really well done. I guess you could quibble about the directing in that the movie never quite transcended the original source material (i.e., it felt very much like a play on screen) , but I enjoyed the more intimate, character-driven feel. Denzel and (especially) Viola were both fantastic.

5. Arrival: Great twist on what I thought it would be your standard alien movie. I love how the aliens were depicted and the direction more generally.

Third Tier

6. Hidden Figures: Really enjoyable feel-good movie with a great story (I want to read the book now). That said, it was a pretty conventional, old-fashioned type of movie.

7. Hacksaw Ridge: First half was cheesy as hell. Second half (once they go to battle) is pretty exhilarating. But again, it didn't feel especially fresh or modern. Just good classic Hollywood fare.

8. Hell or High Water: This may be an unfair comparison because I watched this on TV and was multi-tasking quite a bit, but I just thought it was underwhelming. 

[scarynikki12]

Variety says that La La Land won at DGA. This basically locks up Picture come Oscar night. 

Does anyone have a list of the various guilds and their winners? I think WGA is the only one left to award anything, but I'm not sure. 

[starri]

4 hours ago, scarynikki12 said:

I think WGA is the only one left to award anything, but I'm not sure. 

WGA is on the 19th.
 

If that doesn't go to Moonlight, I'm going to be very surprised.

[SeanC]

The DGA beyond Chazelle ratified the presumed frontrunners for Documentary (it went to Ezra Edelman for O.J.: Made in America) and Animated Feature (Zootopia's Rich Moore and Byron Howard).

Speaking of Zootopia, it also cleaned up at the Annie Awards, though Kubo and Moana managed a few nods on the margins (I was happy that Auli'i Cravalho tied Jason Bateman for the voice acting award).

And Lion had a good Saturday, as Garth Davis won the DGA award for best first feature, and the American Society of Cinematographers gave it the feature film prize.

[Trini]

VFX Oscar Contenders Share Their Toughest Shots

Quote

It’s shaping up to be one of the most competitive years yet at the 89th Academy Awards in the race for the best visual effects Oscar.

The nominated films – Deepwater Horizon, Doctor Strange, The Jungle Book, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – represent a wide mix of effects work, from invisible compositing to fully cg environments and characters.

But with all that incredible work on show, what were some of the hardest scenes to pull off? Cartoon Brew asked the overall vfx supervisor for each nominated film what they thought was the toughest visual effects shot to accomplish. Here’s their answers – and they’re not all what you might think.

[SeanC]

Roundup of latest precursors:

The NAACP Image Awards (great website, incidentally) were handed out, with Hidden Figures taking Best Picture (Moonlight won the award for independent production).  In general, you can tell this was a strong year for black cinema in that three of the four acting winners are not only nominated in their category at the Oscars but are also either plausible or guaranteed winners.

The Art Directors Guild handed out their awards, divided into three categories:

Quote

Contemporary Feature Film -- La La Land
Period Feature Film -- Hidden Figures
Fantasy Feature Film -- Passengers

Rather unusually, the period film ADG winner isn't even up for the Oscar this year, when period films usually are favoured to win.  La La Land and Passengers are both nominated; I'd say the former will walk away with it, unless the bias against contemporary nominees is just that strong (but La La Land is so stylized it doesn't feel especially contemporary).

[SeanC]

BAFTA:

Quote

Picture:  La La Land

Director:  Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Actor:  Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)

Actress:  Emma Stone (La La Land)

Supporting Actor:  Dev Patel (Lion)

Supporting Actress:  Viola Davis (Fences)

Original Screenplay:  Manchester by the Sea

Adapted Screenplay:  Lion

Editing:  Hacksaw Ridge

Cinematography:  La La Land

Production Design:  Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Costume Design:  Jackie

Sound:  Arrival

Original Score:  La La Land

Makeup and Hair:  Florence Foster Jenkins

Visual Effects:  The Jungle Book

Animated Film:  Kubo and the Two Strings

Documentary Film:  13th

British Film:  I, Daniel Blake

British Debut:  Under the Shadow

Foreign-Language Film:  Son of Saul

A few of these categories have limited predictive value either because they weren't nominated for the Oscar (Florence Foster Jenkins in Best Makeup), they were nominated the previous year (Son of Saul in Foreign Language Film), or the absence of key competition (13th for Best Documentary, where O.J. was MIA).  Denzel's not being nominated in Best Actor also means this doesn't shed any light on whether he's got a successful insurgent campaign underway in Hollywood.

Emma Stone has got all her ducks in a row now, with a clean sweep of the key precursor awards.

There are any number of ways to assess Dev Patel's win, what with him being the hometown hero and an obviously reduced interest in Moonlight on BAFTA's part compared to Hollywood (it didn't win screenplay either, also losing to Lion), but after earlier saying I was satisfied after SAG that Ali was safe for the win, I've increasingly wondered whether a Patel upset is possible.  Lion seems to be having a bit of a late boomlet, and Patel is probably the most obvious place for that love to go.

Edited February 12, 2017 by SeanC

[Notwisconsin]

The winner for best animated short is going to be a thing called Pearl, which is a 3D Virtual Reality experience meant to be viewed with VR goggles and earphones. The 2D version playing with the other nominees in theaters doesn't do it justice. The latter version is nice, but those who have seen the nominees in the theater may be wondering why it had been been nominated and may be shocked when it wins.

[thuganomics85]

Yeah, I'm wondering if Lion's impressive BAFTA performance is simply because that organization simply loved it more then the rest, or if it is getting a second surge in general.  I'm curious to see how adapted screenplay will play out with Lion, Moonlight, and Hidden Figures in that category.  I still think Mahershala Ali is the frontrunner, but I do wonder if Dev Patel has become a potential spoiler or not.

I know there is a push for Hidden Figures as a spoiler, but now that it won the the BAFTA, I will be stunned if anything can beat La La Land. Think Damien Chazelle is a lock too (for director.  Screenplay could still go to Manchester by the Sea) and Emma Stone is close to it, baring Isabella Huppert pulling off the upset to end all upsets.

[scarynikki12]

I spent the day watching the three categories of shorts. I came away thinking all the noms are worthy of a win so I'm making my selections based on my favorites. 

Piper is my favorite of the animated shorts. I'm a Pixar lover and little Piper was sooooooo cute. I remember seeing this over the summer when Finding Dory came out and it holds up.

Sing was my favorite of the live action shorts. It was sweet and funny and I loved the two girls and their friendship. 

Documentary short is the hardest for me as I have two favorites. Watani: My Homeland and The White Helmets were both outstanding and I couldn't choose so I'm hoping for a tie. In terms of my actual ballot, I'm putting down Watani because of little Sara the scene stealer. 

Overall I think this was a great year for shorts. 

[Silver Raven]

Entertainment Weekly put out their list of their projected Oscar winners:

Best Actor: Denzel Washington

Best Actress: Emma Stone

Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali

Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis

Best Picture: La La Land

Best Director: Damien Chazelle (will he be the youngest Best Director ever?)

Original Screenplay: Manchester By the Sea

Adapted Screenplay: Moonlight

Editing: Tom Cross, La La Land

Cinematography: Linus Sandgren, La La Land

Production Design: La La Land

Costume Design: Mary Zophres, La La Land

Makeup and Hairstyling: Star Trek Beyond

Visual Effect: The Jungle Book

Sound Editing: Hacksaw Ridge

Sound Mixing: La La Land (no comment)

Original Score: La La Land

Original Song: "City of Stars"

Foreign Language Film: The Salesman

Animated Feature: Zootopia

Animated Short: Piper

Documentary Feature: OJ: Made in America

Documentary Short: Joe's Violin

Live Action Short: Ennemis Interieurs

[SeanC]

1 hour ago, Silver Raven said:

Best Director: Damien Chazelle (will he be the youngest Best Director ever?)

Yes, by 229 days.  The current record holder is Norman Taurog, who won in 1931 for a comedy called Skippy.

Quote

Sound Mixing: La La Land (no comment)

I found the sound mix problematic in the theatre, but a while ago the opening scene was posted on YouTube briefly (since taken down) and was totally fine, so I'm wondering if some of the theatrical setups are wonky or something, rather than reflecting on the core product (Andy Nelson is an old pro with two prior wins in this category, so I have a hard time believing he'd flub things like that).

Quote

Animated Short: Piper

This I'd say is unlikely, though I don't know what will win.  People always pick the Pixar/Disney shorts because they're the ones large numbers actually watch, but they seldom win.

[vb68]

Quote

Entertainment Weekly put out their list of their projected Oscar winners:

Best Actor: Denzel Washington

That's my guess, too.

I didn't buy the argument that he only won at SAG because he had never won that one previously. I don't see enough voters being cognizant of that for it to be the reason. For an Oscar? Certainly, but for a SAG Award I don't think so. He seems like he has real momentum.

[starri]

That would also tie him with Meryl Streep with two Best Actors and a Best Supporting.  They can't resist a story like that.

[vibeology]

13 hours ago, SeanC said:

I found the sound mix problematic in the theatre, but a while ago the opening scene was posted on YouTube briefly (since taken down) and was totally fine, so I'm wondering if some of the theatrical setups are wonky or something, rather than reflecting on the core product (Andy Nelson is an old pro with two prior wins in this category, so I have a hard time believing he'd flub things like that).

I don't get the sound for this movie. It was awful when I saw it. Near impossible to hear the words in both the opening song and the roommate song. The rest weren't quite as bad but seeing as I'm seeing similar complaints from many people online, I can't believe it's a theatre issue. What are the odds so many different theatres from different chains/independents in different cities have the exact same problem, yet other people report nothing and the film gets a nomination for it? Something somewhere went wrong and on a big enough scale that it's been mentioned over and over. The only think I can think is that the sound in the theatres are wonky but the DVD screeners sound fine and since Academy members mostly use screeners (and I didn't see the YouTube thing, but was that a cam or screener rip?) the wonky sound isn't going to hold this back.

[SeanC]

41 minutes ago, vibeology said:

The only think I can think is that the sound in the theatres are wonky but the DVD screeners sound fine and since Academy members mostly use screeners (and I didn't see the YouTube thing, but was that a cam or screener rip?) the wonky sound isn't going to hold this back.

It was a screener, I imagine; way too good to be a camera, in any event.

None of the reviews or film festival screenings ever complained about the sound, as far as I know, and that's the sort of thing critics would notice if it was a problem there.

Edited February 17, 2017 by SeanC

[Shannon L.]

56 minutes ago, vibeology said:

The only think I can think is that the sound in the theatres are wonky but the DVD screeners sound fine and since Academy members mostly use

I watched it on a DVD Academy screener and it sucked.  I could barely hear the opening number, so I have no idea how they even got nominated for sound mixing.  I have a friend who works in sound mixing and is very picky about which theaters he goes to when it comes to certain movies because he knows which ones have the really good sound systems.  I'll have to ask him what he thought about the sound.

[PepSinger]

I would be thrilled if the acting awards matched EW's predictions. I've definitely gotten on board with Emma winning, and I love that Denzel is stealing Casey's thunder. Denzel was a revelation in Fences.

[aradia22]

Quote

 I've definitely gotten on board with Emma winning

I feel the same way about her performance I did a page back in the thread. But looking over the other nominees, Streep and Portman don't need another Oscar. I have no feelings about Huppert and Negga has no momentum so... sure, Emma. Maybe it would be a race if someone considered for Supporting had been bumped up but the way it is now, I can't really argue with her winning even though it's not really a Best Actress caliber performance.

I'm OK with La La Land getting Best Picture. Best Actor would be annoying because Ryan Gosling was basically directed to be flat and emotionless through most of it. Costumes would be a little annoying since nothing special was happening there but I can see them just sweeping because they have the momentum. Directing would be slightly annoying because I think things were a little messy and self-indulgent at times but like my argument with Emma... I guess I'm fine with it unless they wanted to give it to Moonlight. Original Screenplay is going to piss me the fuck off. I'm sorry, but La La Land has a terrible script. TERRIBLE.

Is that all they could come up with for Makeup and Hairstyling this year? I guess I'm glad they didn't nominate La La Land again.

Interesting that La La Land went with two songs. I'll be interested to see if Lin-Manuel Miranda can make it happen with possible vote splitting. I would have just gone with City of Stars since it's so hammered into your brain. I thought Audition exemplified the movie's weak argument for itself and for artists and Emma really didn't bring the vocals or performance she needed to in that moment.

I still need to watch Zootopia and Hidden Figures at some point. I feel like Fences and Moonlight are movies I should watch but probably won't. I'll probably catch Florence Foster Jenkins and Jackie on a slow night on Netflix. I think I'll check out the documentaries if they're on Netflix too. I've heard nothing about the foreign language films. Just... not a lot of excitement this year. They had more of an indie feel (compared to The King's Speech, Les Miserables, etc.) but that didn't make me want to see them any more. More interesting stories. Not just diversity or different genres but good writing that's telling a compelling story. How do we make that happen?

[SeanC]

On the debate around LLL's sound mixing, it just won the top prize from the Cinema Audio Society.

[SeanC]

WGA Awards:  Moonlight wins Original Screenplay (not the category it will be competing in at the Oscars), while, in Moonlight's absence, Arrival takes Adapted Screenplay.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I don't understand the idea that past Oscars should negate someone's deserving of an Oscar in future.  I thought Natalie did a better job than Emma but it seems like nobody really cares about that performance anymore.  For those that have seen Ruth Negga in Loving I am curious how it stacks up against Amy Adams in Arrival, for instance.  

Edited February 20, 2017 by Ms Blue Jay

[Shannon L.]

5 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

For those that have seen Ruth Negga in Loving I am curious how it stacks up against Amy Adams in Arrival, for instance.  

Ruth was fine, but I preferred Amy Adams in Arrival.  However, I didn't like Loving and thought Amy was given much better material to work with. 

Previously, I mentioned a friend who works in sound mixing and is picky about the theaters he goes to because of the sound systems.  He went to his favorite theater in that regard to watch La La Land and thought the sound in the first number terrible.  He's not impressed with all of it's nominations and think it's just another case of Hollywood loving movies of itself. 

[vibeology]

19 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

 For those that have seen Ruth Negga in Loving I am curious how it stacks up against Amy Adams in Arrival, for instance.  

I preferred Amy because hers was a more open performance and I think she is just given more to do. Ruth's Mildred is the more emotional of the Lovings but even still, she is very guarded and holds back a great deal. I do think she was pretty great too and I don't think it needs to be an either/or for these ladies.

I'd nominate both of them before Meryl or Emma. Meryl's Florence felt so very over the top and I know that might be true to the historical figure, but it lacked depth and really did rely on the personality and the laughs to carry the performance. And I don't think Emma Stone did anything special in LLL. She was likeable, which is more than I can say for Ryan's character, but it was a fairly flat performance. She wasn't really challenged because barely anything happens in the movie and I think the visuals did a great deal in her big audition scene to sell that moment. She's not really a gifted enough singer to play that moment for all the emotion it deserved and when you just listen to the vocals, there isn't much going on.

For me, it would be Portman, Huppert, Adams, Negga and Henson/Stone (or if I could personally put an end to category fraud, Davis instead or Henson or Stone.)

[SeanC]

Costume Designers Guild

Quote

Contemporary Film:  Mary Zophres, La La Land

Period Film:  Renee Ehrlich Kalfus, Hidden Figures

Fantasy Film:  Alexandra Byrne, Doctor Strange

Edited February 22, 2017 by SeanC

[Silver Raven]

2 hours ago, SeanC said:

Costume Designers Guild

Well, that didn't decide anything, did it?  Those would probably be the top three contenders for the Oscar, anyway.

[SeanC]

50 minutes ago, Silver Raven said:

Well, that didn't decide anything, did it?  Those would probably be the top three contenders for the Oscar, anyway.

Actually, of those three, La La Land is the only one up for the Oscar.  It's likely down to that and Jackie.

[kiddo82]

Assuming La La Land wins big on Sunday, and at this point there's no reason to think otherwise, it'll be interesting to see where its place in history is viewed 10, 15, 20 years from now.  On an individual level, those who enjoy it now will still probably enjoy it then but I'm talking more about society as a whole.  All About Eve is still thought of today as one of the greatest movies of all time and deservedly so, IMO.  And if nothing else, that image of Bette Davis in the off the shoulder dress has been burned into everyone's psyche since 1950.  Also, Titanic, while it has its critical detractors, is just as part of our cultural awareness now as it was 20 (!) years ago.  It's impossible to know now, and I'm admittedly biased because I just didn't think La La Land was that strong a movie, but I don't know if it has that type of endurance.  Other than production design, which even I admit was lovely (some of those stills will live on forever but if the best thing you can say about a film is that you liked the poster, well...), I didn't find anything overtly memorable about it.  Emma Stone was fine but wasn't required to do anything special, Gosling suffered because his character was such a drip, the screenplay was weak, and the musical numbers were fine but lacking.  I'm sorry but the relative lack of musical talent from the leads does detract from the film.  I just kept wanting this gut punch of theatricality and it just kept falling short.  Nothing was particularly bad about it, but I also didn't find anything particularly great about it. 

Edited February 23, 2017 by kiddo82

[aradia22]

Personally, I think La La Land should fall somewhere between Shakespeare in Love and Titanic. But it's hard to predict these things, especially since the movie is helped by the embrace of Chazelle as an auteur. Not to detract from the individual films themselves but a kind of Great Man theory has helped a lot of movies gain initial critical praise and stopped them from ever falling too far from those lauded positions. I'm thinking of movies from people like Christopher Nolan, Quentin Tarantino, the Coen brothers, Martin Scorsese, etc. Again, it's not like the individual movies are terrible but they get shielded from a lot of valid criticisms and as part of that director's canon they'll never quite lose that position of prominence. 

[thuganomics85]

Entertainment Weekly does their annual secret Oscar ballet look, with six anonymous voters.  No real surprises as La La Land and Moonlight seem to be dominating, although it is kind of interesting how the acting votes are a bit more spread out.  Like in the Best Actor category, two are voting for Ryan Gosling, and two others for Viggo Mortensen.  And at least two of them admitted that they can't bring themselves to vote for Casey Affleck due to his behavior.

Again, it is only six voters, so this doesn't mean too much, but it is always interesting reading the thought process of some of the voters.

[vibeology]

I love and hate the secret ballots. I do enjoy getting the insight but at the same time there is always someone who just seems so burdened by the whole process of getting screeners mailed to your house with cute gifts attached, being invited to parties where there are more gift bags and then having to vote. Someone in the extended ones got a DVD that didn't work and because they never got a replacement, won't vote for the movie even though they were leaning that way before the DVD issue. Another person feels that the political situation is too important to spend time watching Animated films or the shorts. 

I'm just saying, if I were an Oscar voter, I would be the most grateful and excited person about the process. I'd watch everything and take the whole voting process very seriously. I've spent several hundred dollars seeing these many of these movies and I'm happy to spend it because movies are pure magic to me and it's not just about the Oscars but about being transported into a visual story, but it would be nice if I could do it for free.

I do find I've been seeing a trend to split between LLL/Jenkins for Picture and Director and while I think LLL isn't the Best Picture of the year, I can live with that if that's how it goes Sunday night. I just want to see Moonlight recognized for its achievements in storytelling, both the dialogue and the visuals.

And I have to say, I don't actually feel confident in the Best Actor category. I know Casey won most of the early awards but with Denzel getting the SAG (which is always an important precursor for the Oscar) and now seeing several secret ballots voting for Viggo and Ryan I genuinely don't know what's going to happen there. I want anyone but Casey so with my luck, it'll be Casey. The other acting awards seem pretty locked down. Secret ballots aren't anything but Ali, Davis and Stone do seem to be favourites in their categories based on the precursors.

With the Oscars only a few days away can I just say the thing I am looking forward to the most is Auli'i Cravalho's performance of How Far I'll Go. I just want all the good things for her so I want to see this go well. I'm also curious to see the LLL songs in John Legend's hands. Maybe I'll like them more when someone with some musical skill and awareness of phrasing sings them. I've resigned myself that City of Stars is the likely winner but I really want to see Lin MacPEGOT so come on upset!

[Shannon L.]

4 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Entertainment Weekly does their annual secret Oscar ballet look, with six anonymous voters.

I've been wondering if we were going to get an article like this this year.  Thanks!

I'm going to be watching Manchester by the Sea either tonight or tomorrow, which will be the 8th of the 9 films nominated that I'll see.  Unfortunately, I can't get to Moonlight before the show.  Which probably means that it will win, since the last time I saw all of them except one was the year 12 Years a Slave won and that's the one I didn't see that year. 

Of all the movies that I have seen so far, my favorite was Hidden Figures (but I really liked most of them), but Lion is the one that haunts me. I can't stop thinking about it.  Sadly, I doubt it will win anything, being up against Moonlight in Adapted Screenplay,  that and La La Land for Best Picture, and Mahershala Ali in the Supporting Actor category.

Edited February 24, 2017 by Shannon L.

[scarynikki12]

13 minutes ago, Shannon L. said:

Unfortunately, I can't get to Moonlight before the show.  Which probably means that it will win, since the last time I saw all of them except one was the year 12 Years a Slave won and that's the one I didn't see that year.

If that's what needs to happen to get Moonlight to defeat La La Land, then please wait! 

As far as Best Actor, I do think Casey Affleck was pitch perfect in Manchester.  BUT so was Denzel in Fences and, I assume, Viggo in Captain Fantastic (I thought Ryan was fine but the role was lacking and I care even less about Hacksaw Ridge (though I do like Andrew) so I'm leaving them out).  Some years there are run away winners in the acting categories (Viola and Mahershala this year) and some years it's harder.  For Actor, this year is the latter.  At the start of awards season it looked like Casey was going to run with it.  Then the story broke, Denzel won at SAG, and now it's a race.  If I'm Paramount then I'm campaigning for Denzel as hard as possible.  The chance for him to get Oscar #3, he's a living legend, they like him personally, and there's no recent story about criminal activity casting a shadow on the brilliance of the performance or the movie as a whole.  I use the word recent because the Academy is happy to award Oscars if the story about the criminal activity broke long ago (see: Polanski, Roman).  That doesn't mean Casey won't win, because he's no doubt got Matt and Ben campaigning for him hard as well and it was a legitimately great performance so I can see voters deciding to honor that and feigning ignorance about the harassment. 

This year I filled out two ballots.  The one I'm submitting to Oscar pools and contests has LLL winning almost everything but I also made one of who I'd like to see win and I would be delighted to be wrong come Sunday.  Won't hold my breath but, right now, I can pretend.

[Silver Raven]

Khaleb Khatid, the cinematographer for White Helmets, has been banned from entering the country.

Edited February 26, 2017 by Silver Raven

[Silver Raven]

Razzie Awards winners.  Er, recipients.

Worst Picture: Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party

Worst Actor: Dinesh D'Souza [as himself]- Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Part

Becky Turner [as Hillary Clinton] - Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party

Worst Supporting Actress - Kristen Wiig - Zoolander No. 2

Jesse Eisenberg - Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Worst Screen Combo - Ben Affleck & His BFF (Baddest Foe Forever) Henry Cavill - Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Worst Director - Dinesh D'Souza and Bruce Schooley - Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party

Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off, or Sequel - Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: Dawn of Justice

Worst Screenplay - Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

 

Razzie Redeemer Award (given to a previous Razzie winner who has redeemed him/herself - Mel Gibson

[Silver Raven]

The sound mixer for the documentary 13 Hours has had his nomination rescinded for campaigning.

[thuganomics85]

Independent Spirit Awards this year was apparently the Moonlight Awards, as the film pretty much dominated the awards ceremony and won everything it was nominated for.  Interestingly, neither Mahershala Ali or Naomie Harris qualified for individual awards (still can't figure out why), so the supporting categories went to Ben Foster for Hell or High Water and Molly Shannon for Other People.

Meanwhile, both Isabella Huppert and Casey Affleck won the man acting ones, so they still seem to have supporters.  Question is will the former have enough to make any kind of dent on Emma Stone's reign and does the latter still have enough fans to look past his creepy behavior?  I guess we'll find out tomorrow!

Edited February 26, 2017 by thuganomics85

[vb68]

Quote

Worst Picture: Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party

I'm pretty sure the Razzies have never made me smile as big as they did here.

Molly Shannon winning was the surprise highlight of the Independent Spirit Awards for me. Really wasn't expecting her to win anything, and I thought her speech was joyous and very gracious.

Edited February 26, 2017 by vb68

[starri]

7 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Molly Shannon for Other People.

Very well deserved.

[Ohwell]

I was happy for Ben Foster winning last night at the Independent Spirit Awards for Hell or High Water.

Loved Molly Shannon's joyous speech last night and her Supahstar! farewell.  

I also loved the totally casual atmosphere, with people choosing to dress up or dress down, as they saw fit.

[Artsda]

Casey's speech was good, I laughed at him bringing up Ocean's 11.

[starri]

I'm going to end up with egg on my face, but I'm going out on a limb and saying there's going to be an upset in Best Picture. 

I know that Moonlight and Hidden Figures haven't won many of the big precursors, but neither did Spotlight. 

[Dejana]

It's been 19 years since all of Oscar's acting winners played fictional characters.  This year, the actors with the best odds to keep the "real person" streak alive are Dev Patel in the based-on-real-life Lion, then Natalie Portman.

Edited February 26, 2017 by Dejana

[aradia22]

It satisfied something in my soul that La La Land didn't get the Oscar for Best Screenplay. Losing Best Picture was a complete surprise. I left the room when Warren Beatty announced their win so I didn't see the aftermath.

[thuganomics85]

That was freaking nuts!  Thrilled that Moonlight pulled out the upset, but the mix up made me feel bad for everyone on stage.  For the La La Land gang, who basically having the rug yanked out from under their feet and the Moonlight crew, for not being able to fully celebrate, due to all the confusion and craziness.  Still, I'm ecstatic Moonlight pulled it out!

Interesting how it ended up being spread out amongst the "frontrunners."  Moonlight got Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, and Supporting Actor.  La La Land got Director, Actress, Score/Song, and Cinematography.  Manchester by the Sea got Original Screenplay and Actor (I guess Denzel's SAG win was a fluke.  And not enough voters were that upset about Casey creepy behavior.)  Meanwhile, Hacksaw Ridge got Editing, which was a bit surprising, and won one of the Sound awards, along with Arrival.  Leaving poor Hell or High Water, Lion, and Hidden Figures as the shutouts of the Best Picture nominees.

I do hope when all the craziness dies down, more people check out Moonlight.  A really deserving win, and I hope this screw-up doesn't take anything away from it, in viewers' minds.  

Edited February 27, 2017 by thuganomics85

[Dejana]

Welp, Chazelle's upcoming Neil Armstrong movie just got a hell of a Best Picture narrative!

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Nobody will ever remember that Warren Beatty never once said, "La La Land."  Faye Dunaway did.

[SeanC]

Weirdly, the two films by black directors to win Best Picture have remarkably similar awards profiles:

- Both had Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner as producers (among others).

- Both won three Oscars total (Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and a supporting acting award).

- Both films lost Best Director to the director of a film that won more Oscars overall (and whose surname starts with a 'C').

- Both films' director nevertheless won an Oscar in some other category (as a producer, in McQueen's case; as the screenwriter, in Jenkins').

Also, speaking of Dede Gardner, what a producing run she's having.  Two Best Picture Oscars, and five Best Picture nominations in the last six years (every year from 2011 except 2012).

Edited February 27, 2017 by SeanC