Tag / Peter J. Devlin

by admin

The Envelope Please

side_oscarThe 91st Academy Awards are going down 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

Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, The Favourite
Paul Schrader, First Reformed
Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, and Peter Farrelly, Green Book
Alfonso Cuarón, Roma
Adam McKay, Vice

I’ve seen none of these films, so this is a total shot in the dark, but I’m going The Favourite, hoping it is the favorite.  (See what I did there?)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott, and Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman
Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Barry Jenkins, If Beale Street Could Talk
Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper, and Will Fetters, A Star Is Born

Again, I haven’t seen any of these, but my guess is that Barry Jenkins will take home the award, based on word of mouth.

Best Animated Feature

Incredibles 2
Isle Of Dogs
Mirai
Ralph Breaks The Internet
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse

Hey, I finally saw one of the nominated films, but not the one I’m picking to win.  By all accounts, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is a sensational film, one which I need to see sooner or later, and it should take home this prize.

Best Cinematography

Lukasz Zal, Cold War
Robbie Ryan, The Favourite
Caleb Deschanel, Never Look Away
Alfonso Cuarón, Roma
Matthew Libatique, A Star Is Born

Well, again I’ve seen none of these, so I will go with the latest remake of A Star Is Born.

Best Costume Design

Mary Zophres, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Ruth E. Carter, Black Panther
Sandy Powell, The Favourite
Sandy Powell, Mary Poppins Returns
Alexandra Byrne, Mary Queen of Scots

Typically, I would go for one of the historical films to take home this prize, but I’m hoping that Black Panther breaks through and scores a well-deserved win.

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by admin

And The Oscar Went To

A few thoughts on the Oscar telecast before we get into my predictions from yesterday.

  • In the same week an ESPN writer is fired for using a headline that could be considered insensitive to Jeremy Lin, Billy Crystal dons black face for the Oscars.
  • There’s enough time for a special Cirque de Soleil performance, but not for the 2 nominees for Best Song?  Who says Hollywood is out of touch?
  • Emma Stone truly is lovely, isn’t she?
  • The Marty Scorsese drinking game would certainly get one drunk tonight.
  • Wait, Whitney Houston died?  Why wasn’t that in the news or something?

So, how did my predictions fare?  Out of 24 categories, I managed to get 9 correct.  Here are my predicted winners along with the actual winners. Continue reading →

by jim

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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