Every year I strive to see all nominees in all categories. This year, that lofty goal was long in doubt, due to the one category that does not require films to be screened locally at all, the newly renamed International Feature. Most films submitted to the Academy have a fairly standard keystone eligibility rule, and … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2020 – International Feature
The internet is a double-edged sword in many respects. For my purposes here, it is both essential, because it provides me a platform for talking about my favorite thing in the world (movies), and annoying, because part of the fun of Oscar season is seeing all the films and rating/prognosticating about the awards themselves. The … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2020 – Best Supporting Actor
In many a year at the Oscars, the Screenplay categories tend to act as consolation prizes to films that will be left in the cold when it comes to Best Director or Best Picture. But sometimes, the Academy doesn't even get the chance to apologize that far. This was the case two years ago. Both … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2020 – Adapted Screenplay
One of the guiding principles of the Academy process for movie music is a bit of a double-edged sword. For both Original Score and Original Song, the Music Branch never actually has to watch the movies for which the music has been submitted. Strictly speaking, they only have to hear snippets of the score and … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2020 – Original Song
Costume Design has been for the longest time a category all but reserved for period pieces. No matter the quality of whatever movie is put forward, for the better part of the last 70 years, if there's a movie that's set at least 50 years in the past, odds are it's going to get nominated … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2020 – Costume Design
It's appearing that the acting categories are going to be well sewn up long before Oscar Night arrives. The results from the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild are identical, which means really, only the BAFTAs can create any real intrigue. That's what happened last year with Best Actress, as Olivia Colman's upset of … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2020 – Best Actor
Of all the technical categories, this might be my favorite, mostly because it's the one I could basically never do. I mean, my days of high school A/V class and eventually college taught me a thing or two about how to operate a camera. Hell, I even worked for my school's video department taping classes … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2020 – Cinematography
When I did my very first Blitz on this blog two years ago, I started with this category as the simplest way to explain my thought process, as at the time it was the only Oscar field that defaulted to three nominees, with four or two on rare occasions. But no more. This year, the … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2020 – Makeup & Hairstyling
Just over a week ago, I completed my annual quest to see all of the shortlisted entries up for the Oscar for Documentary Feature. I recapped the journey here on the blog, and gave my alphabetical top five, i.e. the films I would nominate were I a member of the Academy's Documentary Branch. But the … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2020 – Documentary Feature
The orchestral score of a film is one of the subtlest, yet most essential elements. Sometimes, if the composer is doing his or her job right, you don't even notice it's there, as it simply complements the action on the screen. At times, the perfect scene gets the perfect little bit of punctuation with a … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2020 – Original Score
I Actually Paid To See This 