I'm so glad that I took last week to fully focus on my job (I'm sure my bosses were as well!) and some of my service duties because I feel fully charged and ready to take on the next 2+ months. So many Oscar-y things were happening last week, but I listened to that inner voice in my head and took the time. I've watched Oscar bloggers come and go, and despite pressure in my own head to stay relevant and produce content, I somehow manage every year. Although I try not to focus on the stats, I have noticed that when I keep the focus on the films and not the awards/prognosticating I have more views and engagement.
For my loyal readers you know that there are two series coming up. First we have the 12 Days of Christmas Catch Up. No Lords a leaping...but I do get the gift of watching one film a day, the 12 days leading up to Christmas. This year, there are many more than 12 films that I need to watch, and I'm hoping beyond hope to be able to revisit some of the year's earlier faves as well as the 4/5 films vying for my top spots in my end of the year best list.
Technically that series would need to begin on either Thursday the 13th or Friday the 14th. I think I will go ahead and go for the 13th. That doesn't mean that I stop watching movies until then though. There really is no time to wait!
The 2nd series is the 27 Days of Oscar, which will begin...duh, duh, DUH...27 days before the Oscars. This year I have a feeling that I'm much more ahead of the game than in previous years....I usually use that time to catch up on the nominated films I have yet to see while looking at each Oscar category in the process. We'll see how that goes. The time in between Christmas Catch up and 27 Days of Oscar will focus on the Dorian Awards as well as the Indie Spirits.
Dorian Awards and Top 10 Films of the Year
Heading into the beginning of 2019 I will be watching movies for my personal Top 10 list as well as my nominations for the Dorian Awards. Over the last few years I have pulled away from Television. I pulled the cable plug and mostly watch content on Netflix and Hulu. If it isn't there, I don't really watch it. I even skipped season 2 of "Atlanta" and never finished the 2nd seasons of either "Dirk Gently" or "Better Things." But with the Dorian Awards there are a few TV categories, and I take my voting seriously. In addition to the movies that will be in the 12 Days of Christmas Catch Up, I would like to look at a few series as well, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," "The Assassination of Gianni Versace," "Sharp Objects" and "Pose" to name a few. I honestly can't watch them all, but I'm going to do my best.
Most of the films I will watch will cross both Dorian and Top 10 duties. This year I will make sure to focus more heavily on LGBTQ films ("A Kid Like Jake," "Happy as Lazzaro," "Night Comes On," "We the Animals") than I might have done in the past.
I think I will be able to publish my Top 10 before the end of the year. The four year end releases I hope to see in time are "Ben is Back," "The Mule," "Marry Poppins Returns" and "Vice." They should all work out, but you never know. The folks at Roadside Pictures are pulling an Amazon and not returning my emails.
On the 3rd, we announce our Dorian nominees and I will have 5 days to catch up on anything I might have missed in the major categories to vote properly on the 8th.
Indie Spirits
Once I have my Top 10 I will focus on the Indie Spirit nominations. Last year I didn't even come close to watching everything that was nominated and chose not to vote in the categories (ok...with the exception of anything "Call Me By Your Name" was up for) I hadn't seen all the nominees but this year I should be able to do better.
The Oscars
And then you have the Oscars. Last week we had the Golden Globe nominations and yesterday with had Super Sunday, with LA, Toronto, and NY (online) Film Critics announcing. It was a lot to take in on Twitter.
First and foremost - neither the Globes nor the critics are the Academy. And the Academy of 2018 is not the Academy of 2015 when we had #oscarssowhite. I can't even begin to predict what the Academy might do, and those who are, more power to them. But I can look at some broad stroke things.
Toni Collette and Melissa McCarthy
As much as I hate to say it, the critics are doing for her what I hoped they wouldn't. They are pushing her through in the conversation. Far superior performances such as Rosmand Pike in "A Private War" and Carey Mulligan in "Wildlife" are being pushed aside for Collette.
On a more positive note, NYFCO gave their win to McCarthy, who DOES deserve a nomination.
Ethan Hawke and First Reformed
He's in, he's out. He's in, he's out.
Last year some people were saying that "Get Out" was only in for Screenplay. Marshall Flores and I were early champions of "Get Out" in major categories (although people seem to forget that I am included there) and no one thought "Phantom Thread" was going to get in. "First Reformed" kind of leans toward that style of genre filmmaking which is sometimes discounted to "Screenplay," which I find kind of insulting. I think that "First Reformed" is in for Picture and Hake is in for Actor. I think the iffy spot is Director. Paul Schrader could on the other hand win Screenplay, but who knows.
Debra Granik
Debra Granik won Best Director at NYFCO. I feel like this is more of a statement than anything, but I could be wrong because I found "Leave No Trace" less than enjoyable. Honestly, it was like watching child torture for me. I put the majority of the blame on Granik and Ben Foster for making the dad completely unrelatable. OK...yes...I don't HAVE to relate to a character, but from the very beginning I was hoping that someone would take that kid away from him and lock him up in jail for child abuse. I doubt I will have time to revisit this one, unless we get to a place in January/February where I have some free time.
Roma and Regina King
Both Roma and Regina King won the day yesterday. Roma took all 3 Best Film prizes ad Regina King won all 3 Supporting Actress awards. Right now I can see King taking it all the way. I'm still not sure about "Roma." As I said, the Academy has changed. I wonder if the days of "The Social Network" winning all the early stuff followed by the Academy doing their "King's Speech" thing are done. "Roma" might take it all the way. But they could still go for "A Star is Born" or "Black Panther" (and idea, I'm warming up to.)
Black Panter, BlacKkKlansman and Vice
Finally, we have good news for some questions. "Black Panther" was never a sure thing for me. I watched people say "The Dark Knight" was in. "Wonder Woman" was DEFINITELY in...and then they were out. This is a big deal for "Black Panther" to get recognized by the Golden Globes. It's also nice to see Spike Lee get in for Director as well as the film.
My big question mark is "Vice." I would like to have seen the headline that "A Star is Born" had the most Golden Globe nominations but for some reason they decided to nominate Sam Rockwell instead of Sam Elliot. Having not seen "Vice," I can't say if this was worthy or not.
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