Year in and year out, this is the hardest category to track down. That's because of the eligibility cycle and rules that govern this category, which differ from the rest of the field. Right off the bat, there's no requirement that the films be publicly screened in the United States. Eligible films must be in … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2018 – Foreign Language
As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, there's a distinct difference between Sound Editing and Sound Mixing. Editing has to do with special sound effects, while Mixing is a focus on the overall audio balance, bet it live on the set or in post-production. I'm certainly no expert in the matter, but that's always been … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2018 – Sound Mixing
Tonight we enter the home stretch of this year's Oscar coverage. There are seven categories left to dig into, plus one more omnibus post on Friday, March 2, where I'll actually predict the results, whether they concur with my analysis and preferences or not. We have two more technical categories and two more specialty film … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2018 – Live Action Short
There's a lot of interesting history associated with this award. Most famously, Hattie McDaniel's win for her role inĀ Gone with the Wind made her the first black performer to take home an Oscar. We've also seen youth get rewarded, as both Tatum O'Neal and Anna Paquin won as children. And of course, we'll always have … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2018 – Best Supporting Actress
Tonight we continue our coverage of the short subject categories, with Documentary Short, typically the longest of the set. I've seen the groupings four years in a row now, and twice there was a case where enough of the films pushed up against the 40-minute time limit that an intermission was necessary after watching three … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2018 – Documentary Short
This is, technically, another category where you don't need to actually see the movies to get the nominees. You can literally go to YouTube right now and hear the soundtracks to all five nominated films and get the gist of it. Hell, I did that myself before I wrote this just so I'd have a … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2018 – Original Score
I've spent close to a decade as a video editor over the years, particularly in sports television. I learned how to edit reel-to-reel in high school, and non-linear editing began in college when I first was trained on Final Cut. I've used that system, as well as AVID, Quantel, and Edius over the course of … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2018 – Film Editing
This is, by far, my favorite part of Oscar season, when I get to watch the nominated short films. For the longest time this was also the hardest part of the season, due to a lack of accessibility. Until recently, the short film nominees in all three categories were voted on by Academy members who … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2018 – Animated Short
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
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 Actually Paid To See This 