Yesterday afternoon, I took a peek at some of my favorite entertainment sites, mostly out of boredom, somewhat out of hope. Hollywood Reporter, Indiewire...most everything was still bleak on the Oscar front.
Then I read that a select group of cinematographers including Rachel Morrison, Chivo, and Hoyt van Hoytema had met with Academy CEO Dawn Hudson and Academy President John Bailey on the eve of the14th.
When I saw that report I breathed my first hopeful Oscar breath in quite some time.
I knew. I just knew it.
A few hours later, it was over. All 24 categories will be awarded live on Oscar night.
The show may be hostless, and it was quite a mess to get here, but we will indeed have our awards. All of them.
I can certainly relate to what the ABC is going through when it comes to ratings, to some extent. I wish I didn't care about site stats here at Awards Wiz, but I couldn't help but notice that once I started writing about the Oscars, my readership went down. Who knew that a Summer series about my favorite films of all time would be my biggest traffic spike since the "Black Swan," "The Social Network" days. And this week, heading into the show, when I generally see my readership go up...things have been bleak.
It appears that I'm not the only one with Oscar burnout.
As we head into the final 8 days of this year's Oscar season, I do have a couple of discoveries left to write about. But first...I thought we would take a look at the categories the Academy was considering to relegate to commercial breaks and put this whole thing to bed.
Editing
I grew up with the Oscars in the 90s...and started covering them 10 years ago. It's been a bit of a challenge to rewire my brain to understand that the Editing award (along with Directing) no longer telegraphs Best Picture. It can sometimes point toward something, as it did in 2005 when "Crash" won.
"Brokeback Mountain" wasn't even nominated for Best Editing, which said something as well. On the surface, "Brokeback Mountain's" deliberate pacing might seem like an "easy" editing job compared to the showy cutting together of "Crash" and its cast of thousands, but the fact that "Brokeback's" pacing was considered deliberate and not slow should have given editors Geraldine Peroni and Dylan Tichenor nominations. Either way, the lack of nomination and the Editing win on Oscar night should have telegraphed the biggest Best Picture mistake since "Citizen Kane" lost Best Picture.
"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" really blew the Editing/Picture combo up in 2011, although "Argo" took both prizes the following year...but since "Argo" no film has won both Editing and Best Picture.
So, does "Roma's" editing snub matter?
"BlacKkKlansman," Barry Alexander Brown
"Bohemian Rhapsody," John Ottman
"The Favourite," Yorgos Mavropsaridis
"Green Book," Patrick J. Don Vito
"Vice," Hank Corwin
Most people are predicting "Vice" to win. Something tells me "Green Book" could take it...but that's probably because of this group it has the best chance to win Best Picture, and I can't move out of the 90s! I would LOVE for Barry Alexander Brown to win for "BlaKkKlansman," but I think that is wishful thinking.
The ACE Eddie's went to "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "The Favourite," so WHO KNOWS!?
I hate going with the flow on these things, and since literally no one is going for "Green Book" I would love to be the sole predictor if it won. But, it probably will go to "Vice."
Cinematography
This one is a bit simpler to predict, I think. I love Matthew Libatique's work in "A Star is Born," even if it took a second viewing to really fall for it, but "A Star is Born" seems to be dead in the water. At this point I even wonder if "Shallow" will win for Best Song. Could the Diane Warren story of 10 noms, no wins prevail?
I digress...
Looking at the last winners for this, very deserving films have won, but level of difficulty and grand scope seem to play a part.
"Cold War," Łukasz Żal
"The Favourite," Robbie Ryan
"Never Look Away," Caleb Deschanel
"Roma," Alfonso Cuarón
"A Star Is Born," Matthew Libatique
There is a chance that "Cold War" could win this. But...here's the thing with the theory that "Cold War" could prevail over "Roma" here and in Foreign Film. That would leave Picture and Director...which could certainly repeat like last year. Right now, I'm feeling "Cold War" for FF and "Roma" for Picture, Director and Cinematography.
Makeup and Hairstyling
Last year, "Darkest Hour" won this. It was the lesser of three evils, to be honest. I would have given it to "Wonder" mostly because of my Gary Oldman resentment. This year, I think the same thing will happen with "Vice."
"Border," Göran Lundström and Pamela Goldammer
"Mary Queen of Scots," Jenny Shircore, Marc Pilcher, and Jessica Brooks
"Vice," Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe, and Patricia Dehaney
"Border" deserves this wholeheartedly. And I believe that if the Academy actually watched it, it would have a chance, but they will probably go for "Vice" (but hopefully not Bale!).
Live Action Short
First off, let me say that the Academy members who nominated this year's batch clearly had some sort of Freudian parent/child fear thing going on in their psyche.
"Detainment" is an interesting beast. One of my first roles as an actor in New York was in a play called, "Boy A, Boy B" based on this very same story. In 1993, teen boys, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables kidnapped and murdered 2 year old James Bulger in Liverpool England.
My best friend Brett and I were cast as the two teen murderers. The director chose to cast adults in the role, for various reasons. It is still one of the best, most challenging, but disturbing acting experiences of my life.
Was it a story that needed to be told? To attempt to understand why two teenagers would murder a child in such a horrific way? I think so. Does "Detainment" serve this or any purpose? The family of James Bulger, the murdered child, doesn't think so. The lead performances are a bit contrived at times, but Ely Solan comes across the strongest although I can't help but worry whether or not the raw emotion he portrays came to be the right way. The film itself...although taken directly from recordings from police interviews...somehow doesn't manage to say much at all. Perhaps because there are no answers for such a crime.
Detainment is written and directed by Vincent Lambe
"Fauve" begins with a Sundance laurel, which in and of itself attaches baggage, good or bad. For me, it comes with a bit of an eye roll, honestly. Watching immediately after "Detainment" I couldn't help but wonder if the former would have been better with a touch of the realism we immediately see with "Fauve" and its two teens. Things begin innocently enough with Tyler (Félix Grenier) and Benjamin (Alexandre Perreault) goofing off, until their escapades take them to a surface mine (whatever that is) and real danger.
Think "127 Hours," teen edition. Somehow, in a short amount of time, the film manages to earn it's very upsetting middle. And the ending is brilliant. This is definitely my favorite of the bunch.
Fauve is written and directed by Jeremy Comte
"Marguerite" is the film to beat, so says Gold Derby. Many people say, that when it comes to predicting the shorts, you go with emotion. The title character, Marguerite has been injured and is being cared for by Rachel. The relationship between the two brings up for Marguerite a past buried in boxes and memories. It's a sweet story, but it's also a bit slight. Of all the short films, this is the one I can see everyone liking. That being said, this isn't a weighted category. The most number 1s win.
Marguerite is written and directed by Marianne Farley
"Madre" brings us back to children in danger with a Mom (Marta Nieto) getting a call from her 6 year old son on holiday with his Dad, only to discover that Dad has taken said son to an empty beach only to disappear, leaving the kid alone but with his phone!? The film is shot in natural light, but the screenplay is anything but. It all seems a bit ridiculous, and the "stranger danger" ending was a bit off putting to me.
Madre is written and directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen
"Skin" opens with actors we recognize -Jonathan Tucker and Danielle Macdonald, and yet another kid. The way things were going I thought Dad was going to slice his poor child's head open with the razor when he was (on the nose much?!) buzzing his head with. That doesn't happen, but things still end quite bleak.
Taken from imdb:
A small supermarket in a blue collar town, a black man smiles at a 10 year old white boy across the checkout aisle. This innocuous moment sends two gangs into a ruthless war that ends with a shocking backlash.It's one hell of a twist ending, that's for sure. By choosing the white family as the focal point, writer/director Guy Nattiv makes them the protagonists...giving us no backstory for the black family or the gang that kidnaps the Dad. It's quite a choice, that's for sure. Is it a good one? Not really.
Written by Sharon Maymon and Guy Nattiv; Directed by Guy Nattif
So...what wins? I've read "Skins" (maybe?!) and "Marguerite" (which makes more sense).
When it comes to shorts I always pick my favorite, which far and away was "Fauve."
The Oscar Nominated Shorts 2019 opened in New York on February 6th and Los Angeles and nationwide on February 8th. The Animated and Live-action Shorts open in Los Angeles at Landmark’s Nuart theatre. The Documentary shorts open in Los Angeles at Laemmle Glendale on February 8th.
For all other theatrical openings click here: https://shorts.tv/theoscarshorts/theatrical-release/
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