As a writer, this is my favorite award. As an overall fan of film, it can be the most infuriating. This is mostly because a) original ideas are hard to come by in Hollywood these days, and b) more often than not, the award becomes the consolation prize for a Best Picture also-ran. Since 2000, … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2018 – Original Screenplay
I've been a fan of Clint Eastwood my entire life. I used to watch the Dirty Harry movies as a kid, I love High Plains Drifter, and I've really come to enjoy his work as a director. Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River, the man's hardly had a misfire. But over the last decade or so, there's been a noticeable … Continue reading Three American Heroes Save a Train… After 80 Minutes of Hokey Preaching – The 15:17 to Paris
Ah, Visual Effects, the category where the big budget blockbusters have the best chance to bring home some gold. Everything from CGI to animatronics to practical gore effects to explosions can be honored. It's probably the only reason for Michael Bay's existence at this point. Well, that and ruining everything I loved about my childhood; … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2018 – Visual Effects
I'll warn you in advance. This is gonna be a long one. This is one of the few categories that normally can't be completed before nominations are announced. This is in part because access to documentaries can be extremely limited, especially if you're trying to see them in theatres. You need an indie or arthouse … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2018 – Documentary Feature
How does your film look? That's the basic question of the Production Design category, known as Art Direction until 2012. It seems like a simple question, and the broad scope of the category seems equally cut and dry. This award recognizes the "interior look" of a film, specifically the artistic atmosphere of a film, as … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2018 – Production Design
The Oscar for Original Song offers some of the most memorable moments in the history of the ceremony. Sometimes we get brilliant performances, like Robin Williams leading a whole stage chorus for South Park's "Blame Canada." Sometimes you get moments of delicious irony, like the face Barbra Streisand made when she had to announce that Eminem … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2018 – Original Song
It's arguably the most glamorous award of the entire ceremony. It's the be all, end all of the "Who are you wearing" red carpet shtick. It brings us the most emotional of acceptance speeches, from Halle Berry name-dropping every black actress ever, to Julia Roberts telling the band to fuck off, to Gwyneth Paltrow nearly … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2018 – Best Actress
Dear readers, I regret to inform you all that the beloved Helen Mirren has become the latest victim of the studio-dump-horror-film-for-a-quick-paycheck abyss, starring in the newly-released Winchester, which, I shit you not, revolves around the ghosts of gunshot victims being "saved" by being shot... again. Strap yourselves in. The Aussie-American project features Mirren as Sarah Winchester, … Continue reading Busting Ghosts by Shooting them in the Goddamned Face – Winchester
First things first, a lesson in category distinctions. Today we're focusing on Sound Editing, which previously had the more clear name of Sound Effects (Editing). What this means is that this category awards the artificial sounds, particularly the sound effects done in post-production, recorded by a foley artist. This is different from the other sound category, … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2018 – Sound Editing
The screenwriting categories are among my favorites, y'know, being a writer and all. And there's an interesting dichotomy in results between the Original and Adapted Screenplay awards. Since 2000, half of the Adapted Screenplay winners have gone on to win Best Picture. Conversely, only five Original Screenplay winners have won the top prize in that … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2018 – Adapted Screenplay
I Actually Paid To See This 