Tag / Get Out

by admin

Trying To Get It Right This Year

side_oscarAs they finish polishing up the statues for Sunday’s awards ceremony, it’s time to finish up our predictions with the major categories.  In a strange change of pace, I’ve actually seen one or two of these.  So, without further ado, we begin with:

Best Picture

Call Me By Your Name
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Get Out
Lady Bird
Phantom Thread
The Post
The Shape Of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Unlike years past, I’ve actually seen 2 of these films.  Sadly, I’m not picking either to win, but instead am going with The Shape Of Water.

Best Actor

Timothée Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name
Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq.

With talk of his upcoming retirement from acting, my guess is that Daniel Day-Lewis will take home the prize.

Best Actress

Sally Hawkins, The Shape Of Water
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
Meryl Streep, The Post

I’m guessing that Margot Robbie’s turn as disgraced skater Tonya Harding will earn the ultimate recognition.

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by admin

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.

Continue reading →

by admin

2017: The Year In Movies

Movie_Reel_22

2017 saw a slight downturn in movie watching for me, down 5 from the year before.  I managed to watch 83 movies last year, my sixth consecutive year under 100.  Again, many things contributed to this, chiefly the insane amount of TV I’ve been watching, the greater effort made towards going out for walks, and the awful amount of time I spend either at work or getting to and from work.

Here’s a look back at the first 50 movies I did manage to watch last year and what recollection, if any, I have of them. The films are listed in the order I saw them.

Bang Bang Baby (2015)
A strange musical that I only watched due to an appearance by the lovely and talented Jane Levy.

Mike And Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016)
Two ne’er do wells try to get responsible dates for their sister’s wedding.

A Good Old Fashioned Orgy (2011)
A group of friends decide to bid farewell to their summer hangout by holding an orgy.

Bad Moms (2016)
A trio of moms that don’t have their shit together band together to take on the PTA.

Haunter (2013)
A horror flick starring Abigail Breslin that I have no recollection of.

Pay The Ghost (2015)
The latest direct-to-video smash from Nicolas Cage.

Cabin Fever (2016)
A remake of the 2002 “smash” hit.

Into The Forest (2016)
A power outage forces two sisters to learn how to survive alone in the wilderness.

Self/less (2015)
Ryan Reynolds stars as a man who starts to remember his past despite having a old man’s consciousness implanted into his body.

Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016)
A sorority moves in next door to Seth Rogen in this sequel. Continue reading →

by jim

Post Mortem – Girls

Given everything that has been written on the Internet about Girls, I don’t know that I have much to offer.  It is a show that I watched for 6 seasons, despite the fact that I hated every character on the show.  Which, I think, was kind of the point.  These were self absorbed millennials who thought the world owed them something and, over the course of those 6 seasons, found out that not only weren’t they owed anything, but that their lives weren’t all that interesting or special.  By the end, they had all mostly gone their separate ways, leaving behind the friendships of their early twenties as they found, or failed to find, their way in the world.

Out of the remains of the show came Adam Driver, who found additional fame in the Star Wars universe, and Allison Williams, who broke out earlier this year in Get Out.  Will the rest of the cast find their way outside of the confines of the show?  Time will tell.