And The (Socially Distanced) Nominees Are

side_oscarAfter a year like no other, the 93rd Academy Awards are going down Sunday night.  Given that movie theaters were closed for the majority of 2020 thanks to the corona virus, I don’t know that I’ve heard of many of these movies let alone seen them.  So, with less basis in fact than most years, here’s my uneducated predictions for the non-acting awards.

Best Original Screenplay

Will Berson and Shaka King, Judas and the Black Messiah
Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
Darius Marder and Abraham Marder, Sound of Metal
Aaron Sorkin, The Trial of the Chicago 7

I’ve seen none of these films, so this is a total shot in the dark, but I’ve at least heard of The Trial of the Chicago 7.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Mazer, Jena Friedman, Lee Kern, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller, The Father
Chloe Zhao, Nomadland
Kemp Powers, One Night In Miami…
Ramin Bahrani, The White Tiger

I don’t want to live in a world where a Borat movie wins a writing Oscar, so I’ll go with Nomadland.

Best Animated Feature

Onward
Over The Moon
A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
Soul
Wolfwalkers

Soul is the only one I’ve heard of.

Best Cinematography

Sean Bobbitt, Judas and the Black Messiah
Erik Messerschmidt, Mank
Dariusz Wolski, News of the World
Joshua James Richards, Nomadland
Phedon Papamichael, The Trial of the Chicago 7

I’ve got no clue.

Best Costume Design

Alexandra Byrne, Emma
Ann Roth, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Trish Sumemrville, Mank
Bina Daigeler, Mulan
Massimo Cantini Parrini, Pinocchio

A tale of Hollywood’s past is my choice to win this particular prize.

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Those Non-Acting Oscars

side_oscarThe 90th Academy Awards are going down next Sunday night, so here’s my uneducated predictions for the non-acting awards. I have seen a couple of these movies, so I will still mostly be going on gut feel and word of mouth with just a little bit of personal experience.

Best Original Screenplay

Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani, The Big Sick
Jordan Peele, Get Out
Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor, The Shape Of Water
Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

I’ve actually seen three of these films, and, while I would love for Emily and Kumail to win, my money is going on Jordan Peele for Get Out.

Best Adapted Screenplay

James Ivory, Call Me By Your Name
Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, The Disaster Artist
Scott Frank, James Mangold, and Michael Green, Logan
Aaron Sorkin, Molly’s Game
Virgil Williams and Dee Rees, Mudbound

I’ve only seen one of these, but my guess is that the legend behind the story of The Disaster Artist will earn it the nod.

Best Animated Feature

The Boss Baby
The Breadwinner
Coco
Ferdinand
Loving Vincent

I’ve only heard of two of these, one of which is from the good folks at Pixar, so I’ll go with that.

Best Cinematography

Roger A. Deakins, Blade Runner 2049
Bruno Delbonnel, Darkest Hour
Hoyte van Hoytema, Dunkirk
Rachel Morrison, Mudbound
Dan Laustsen, The Shape Of Water

Well, again I’ve seen none of these, so I will go with the war epic Dunkirk.

Best Costume Design

Jacqueline Durran, Beauty And The Beast
Jacqueline Durran, Darkest Hour
Mark Bridges, Phantom Thread
Luis Sequeira, The Shape Of Water
Consolata Boyle, Victoria & Abdul

Another category where I’m at a loss, so I’ll go with the live action Disney hit.

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Post Mortem – The Newsroom

the-newsroom-bannerAfter 3 seasons, Aaron Sorkin’s take on the inner workings of a cable news network called it quits last fall.  While most reviewers found issues with the show, which plumbed the recent past for storylines for the fake show within the show, I enjoyed it.

The Newroom took us inside the ACN news network as its flagship show, News Night, attempts to seriously handle hard news instead of the infotainment news that has taken over cable news.  Behind the hindsight-backed stances on the news stories of the recent past, the show certainly had a message about how what constitutes “news” has degraded over the years.

Midseason Review – Sundays

old-tv-set1With the advent of winter premieres, the start of the premium cable network shows, and with February sweeps around the corner, it’s time to revisit my thoughts from the beginning of the season and look ahead at what’s to come for Sunday nights.

7:00

Once Upon A Time – The fairy tale show is back for season 4, after an uptick in quality during the past season.  With little else in competition, I see no reason not to continue turning in.

The first half of the season was a shameless attempt at cashing in on the Frozen phenomenon.  We shall see what the producers have up their sleeve for the spring.

7:30

Brooklyn Nine-Nine – FOX has moved its breakout comedy hit from Tuesday nights, where it was ill-matched with New Girl and The Mindy Project.  Now it will compete along side more like minded, if animated, comedies.

The show still has a tendency to treat Andy Samberg’s character as too much of a simpleton to be taken seriously as a successful detective, but, beyond that, it is still bringing the funny.

8:00

Resurrection – ABC’s tale of what happens when the dead start to return, as though nothing had happened, became the surprise hit of the spring.  The mystery of why seems to be a big part of the show, so I imagine they will need to tackle that sooner rather than later, and I can’t imagine how they can come up with something reasonable.

The show is burning through its cast of characters, and hasn’t really addressed much of the mythology behind the how and why the dead have returned.  I still think they will need to do so soon.

The Good Wife – More like the Great Wife, if you catch my drift.  Rarely do you see a show hit a creative high point in season 5, but that is exactly what The Good Wife did last season.  The status quo was upset once again in the season finale, so it will be interesting to see things play out once again.

Interesting point about the show: Julianna Margulies and Archie Panjabi have not shared a scene together since episode 14 of season 4, which aired on February 17, 2013.

The Newsroom – HBO’s and Aaron Sorkin’s take on 24 hour cable news returns for a third and final season, dealing with the fallout of last season’s faked story storyline.

The show, and possibly Aaron Sorkin’s television career, wrapped up in December after a final season dealing with a fake Edward Snowden and the real Edward Snowden.

Homeland – The fourth season gives the show a fresh start, with Brody finally dead.  Time will tell if they are able to pull out of the talespin that overextending the Brody story put them in to.

When dealing with CIA spy stuff in Islamabad, the show was as good as its ever been.  When dealing with Carrie’s personal life, opinions diverged.

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2014 New Fall Season – Sundays

old-tv-set1It is time once again to dive in to the new fall lineups for the television season that kicks into gear tonight. We start, once again, with the Sunday night offerings, which features some returning favorites, but nothing new to watch, except on cable.

7:00

Once Upon A Time – The fairy tale show is back for season 4, after an uptick in quality during the past season.  With little else in competition, I see no reason not to continue turning in.

7:30

Brooklyn Nine-Nine – FOX has moved its breakout comedy hit from Tuesday nights, where it was ill-matched with New Girl and The Mindy Project.  Now it will compete along side more like minded, if animated, comedies.

8:00

Resurrection – ABC’s tale of what happens when the dead start to return, as though nothing had happened, became the surprise hit of the spring.  The mystery of why seems to be a big part of the show, so I imagine they will need to tackle that sooner rather than later, and I can’t imagine how they can come up with something reasonable.

The Good Wife – More like the Great Wife, if you catch my drift.  Rarely do you see a show hit a creative high point in season 5, but that is exactly what The Good Wife did last season.  The status quo was upset once again in the season finale, so it will be interesting to see things play out once again.

The Newsroom – HBO’s and Aaron Sorkin’s take on 24 hour cable news returns for a third and final season, dealing with the fallout of last season’s faked story storyline.

Homeland – The fourth season gives the show a fresh start, with Brody finally dead.  Time will tell if they are able to pull out of the talespin that overextending the Brody story put them in to. Continue reading →

Post Mortem – 30 Rock

30 RockOur look back at the shows that called it a day this year concludes with 30 Rock, the ratings challenged sitcom that somehow managed to survive for 7 seasons.  Way back in 2006, NBC’s fall schedule included 2 shows set behind the scenes at a network sketch comedy show.  Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip starred a post-Friends Matthew Perry and was created by wunderkind Aaron Sorkin.  30 Rock had a post-SNL Tina Fey and Tracey Morgan plus former movie star Alec Baldwin.  If you had to guess which show would last 7 years and which would last 1, you probably would have gotten it wrong.

While never a ratings powerhouse, 30 Rock was a critical darling and continued to be strong in to its final season.  Thursday nights will be less funny without 30 Rock going forward.

And The Oscar Goes To

Tonight is the 84th annual Academy Awards.  Here are my predictions:

Best Motion Picture of the Year

The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Of the nominated films, Moneyball is the only one I’ve seen.  I think The Artist takes home the award.  It is definitely the type of film the Academy likes to reward.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Demián Bichir for A Better Life
George Clooney for The Descendants
Jean Dujardin for The Artist
Gary Oldman for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt for Moneyball

Again, Brad Pitt’s performance in Moneyball is the only one I’ve seen.  Clooney seems to have some momentum on his side.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

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