ReasonForOurHope

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Sunday Best : Reaction to Golden Globes 2016 and Oscar Game

Last Sunday's Golden Globes were… long.  Here are some of my thoughts:

THE GOOD:
-I think I enjoyed Ricky Gervais' monologue a little too much.  Perhaps it was a bit too mean.  But there is also something funny about the Hollywood elite getting roasted as they laugh along.  I remember at the 2000 Oscars when Steve Martin made a joke about Russell Crowe and the camera caught Crowe's scowl.  None of that at the Globes.  I was worried that when he started talking about Spotlight that he was going to take a cheap shot at the Catholic Church, but it veered into a Polanski joke.
-Inside Out won best Animated Film, as it should
-Sylvester Stallone was recognized for his body of work by getting the award for Creed.  I haven't seen the film, but I felt happy for him.
-Ennio Morriconne's score, the best thing about The Hateful Eight, won.
-Rachel Bloom's win for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.  The best part about some of these awards is to bring a spotlight to something good that may be overlooked.  The show is not great, but Bloom is fantastic and I'm glad she got recognition.
-Poe Dameron won an award.

THE BAD
-with the exception of Gervais, none of the other presenters made me laugh
-Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens wasn't nominated.
-The anti-Catholic depiction of St. Thomas More, Wolf Hall, won.
-How is The Martian a comedy?
-Tarantion's smug and factually inaccurate speech on behalf of Morriconne.


Overall, it was a show with few surprises, but few people to root for.

As I wrote last year, the Golden Globes are less and less of a predictor of Oscars than they used to be.

YEAR
GOLDEN GLOBE
BEST DRAMA
GOLDEN GLOBE BEST COMEDYOSCAR BEST PICTURE
2001A Beautiful MindMoulin Rouge!A Beautiful Mind
2002The HoursChicagoChicago
2003The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingLost in TranslationThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2004The AviatorSidewaysMillion Dollar Baby
2005Brokeback MountainWalk the LineCrash
2006BabelDreamgirlsThe Departed
2007AtonementSweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet StreetNo Country for Old Men
2008Slumdog MillionaireVicky Cristina BarcelonaSlumdog Millionaire
2009AvatarThe HangoverThe Hurt Locker
2010The Social NetworkThe Kids Are All RightThe King's Speech
2011The DescendantsThe ArtistThe Artist
2012ArgoLes MiserablesArgo
201312 Years a SlaveAmerican Hustle12 Years a Slave
2014BoyhoodThe Grand Budapest Hotel
Birdman


Now, let's move on to the Oscars:

As I wrote earlier this week, here are my initial thoughts on the nominations.

-Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens should have been nominated.
-Of the Best Picture nominees that I have seen, only Mad Max and The Martian should be there.
-Adam McKay, my choice for worst director of the year, got an Oscar nomination.
-Johnny Depp got snubbed for Black Mass
-Alicia Vikander should have been nominated for Ex Machina
-Here are the top 10 money-makers of 2015:  Star Wars, Jurassic World, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Inside Out, Furious 7, Minions, The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 2, The Martian, Cinderella, Spectre.  Only 2 of them are nominated for Best Picture.  This means that this will be a low-rated Oscars because there are very few films to root for.

This is important, otherwise, the show would be even more boring.

I would like to invite any of you readers to participate in my annual Oscar Game.

For those who have played before, I have made important changes.
-I have re-adjusted the point values
-I have divided the awards into different categories
     -MAJOR AWARDS (the awards that the casual viewer cares about)
     -TECHNICAL AWARDS (awards for technical achievements)
     -MINOR AWARDS  (the awards that most people don't care and haven't seen the movies)

Just click this link.

The game goes like this:

OBJECT: Get the most points!

HOW TO PLAY:  Fill out a score sheet for each category with your choice (who you want to win) and your prediction (who you think WILL win).


CATEGORIES

1.  MAJOR AWARDS
-Best Picture
-Best Director
-Best Actor
-Best Actress
-Best Supporting Actor
-Best Supporting Actress
-Best Original Screenplay
-Best Adapted Screenplay
-Best Original Score
-Best Original Song
-Best Animate Feature


On the night of the Oscars, give yourself 1 point for each correct guess in MY PREDICTIONS.  If you get a prediction wrong, subtract 1 point.  Give yourself 1 point for each correct guess in MY CHOICE.  There is no penalty for incorrect guesses for MY CHOICE.

For example:

Category
BEST DIRECTOR
-MY CHOICE = • "Mad Max: Fury Road," George Miller
-MY PREDICTION = • "The Revenant," Alejandro G. Iñárritu

BEST ACTOR
-MY CHOICE = Matt Damon in "The Martian"
-MY PREDICTION = Leonardo DiCaprio in "The Revenant"

BEST ACTRESS
-MY CHOICE = • Jennifer Lawrence in "Joy"
-MY PREDICTION = • Jennifer Lawrence in "Joy"


If Alejandro G. Iñárritu wins Best Director, gain 1 point for a correct guess in MY PREDICTIONS, but no points for an incorrect MY CHOICE  (total points = 1)

If Matt Damon wins Best Actor, gain 1 point, for a correct MY CHOICE, but subtract 1 point for an incorrect MY PREDICTION (total points = 0)

If Jennifer Lawrence wins Best Actress, gain 1 points for correct MY CHOICE and 1 correct MY PREDICTION.  (total points =2)

You may NOT make a guess for a MY CHOICE in a category if you have not seen any of the films in the category.  You may, however, make a blind guess for the MY PREDICTION section even if you have not seen any of the nominees.


2.  TECHNICAL AWARDS
-Best Editing
-Best Cinematography
-Best Visual Effects
-Best Sound Editing
-Best Sound Mixing
-Best Makeup
-Best Costumes
-Best Production Design

For these, give yourself 1 point for each correct guess in MY PREDICTIONS.   Give yourself 1 points each correct guess in MY CHOICE.  There is no penalty for incorrect guesses for MY PREDICTIONS or MY CHOICE.



3.  MINOR AWARDS
-Best Documentary Feature
-Best Documentary Short
-Best Animated Short
-Best Live Action Short
-Best Foreign Language Film

For these, give yourself 1 point for each correct guess in MY PREDICTIONS.   Since so few people have seen these, there is no MY CHOICE section.  There is no penalty for incorrect guesses for MY PREDICTIONS.

PARTICIPATION:

Fill out the below score sheet and send it to me.  I will be the designated score-keeper.  You may change any choice up until the broadcast begins.

The winner will receive bragging rights and recognition on this blog.

You can change your answers up until the broadcast.  Here is my ballot:



Name
Catholic Skywalker
BEST PICTURE - MY CHOICE
Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST PICTURE - MY PREDICTION
Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST DIRECTOR - MY CHOICE
"Mad Max: Fury Road," George Miller
BEST DIRECTOR - MY PREDICTION
"The Revenant," Alejandro G. Iñárritu
BEST ACTOR - MY CHOICE
Matt Damon in "The Martian"
BEST ACTOR - MY PREDICTION
Leonardo DiCaprio in "The Revenant"
BEST ACTRESS - MY CHOICE
Jennifer Lawrence in "Joy"
BEST ACTRESS - MY PREDICTION
Brie Larson in "Room"
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - MY CHOICE
Christian Bale in "The Big Short"
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - MY PREDICTION
Sylvester Stallone in "Creed"
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - MY CHOICE
Jennifer Jason Leigh in "The Hateful Eight"
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - MY PREDICTION
Jennifer Jason Leigh in "The Hateful Eight"
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY - MY CHOICE
"The Martian," screenplay by Drew Goddard
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY - MY PREDICTION
"The Big Short," screenplay by Charles Randolph and Adam McKay
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY - MY CHOICE
"Inside Out," screenplay by Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve and Josh Cooley; original story by Pete Docter and Ronnie del Carmen
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY - MY PREDICTION
"Inside Out," screenplay by Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve and Josh Cooley; original story by Pete Docter and Ronnie del Carmen
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY - MY CHOICE
"Mad Max: Fury Road," John Seale
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY - MY PREDICTION
"The Revenant," Emmanuel Lubezki
BEST COSTUME DESIGN - MY CHOICE
"Mad Max: Fury Road," Jenny Beavan
BEST COSTUME DESIGN - MY PREDICTION
"Carol," Sandy Powell
BEST FILM EDITING - MY CHOICE
"Mad Max: Fury Road," Margaret Sixel
BEST FILM EDITING - MY PREDICTION
"Mad Max: Fury Road," Margaret Sixel
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING - MY CHOICE
"Mad Max: Fury Road," Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING - MY PREDICTION
"Mad Max: Fury Road," Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE - MY CHOICE
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens," John Williams
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE - MY PREDICTION
"The Hateful Eight," Ennio Morricone
BEST ORIGINAL SONG - MY CHOICE
"Writing's on the Wall" from "Spectre"
BEST ORIGINAL SONG - MY PREDICTION
"Writing's on the Wall" from "Spectre"
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN - MY CHOICE
"Mad Max: Fury Road," production design: Colin Gibson; set decoration: Lisa Thompson
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN - MY PREDICTION
"The Martian," production design: Arthur Max; set decoration: Celia Bobak
BEST SOUND EDITING - MY CHOICE
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens," Matthew Wood and David Acord
BEST SOUND EDITING - MY PREDICTION
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens," Matthew Wood and David Acord
BEST SOUND MIXING - MY CHOICE
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens," Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson
BEST SOUND MIXING - MY PREDICTION
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens," Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS - MY CHOICE
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens," Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Chris Corbould
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS - MY PREDICTION
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens," Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Chris Corbould
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM - MY PREDICTION
"Son of Saul," Hungary
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM - MY CHOICE
"Inside Out," Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM - MY PREDICTION
"Inside Out," Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE - MY PREDICTION
"Amy," Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT - MY PREDICTION
"A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness," Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM- MY PREDICTION
"World of Tomorrow," Don Hertzfeldt
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM- MY PREDICTION
"Ave Maria," Basil Khalil and Eric Dupont











When guessing for MY PREDICTION, my rule of thumb is to choose the most pretentious title.

So I invite all of you to join in the fun!



1 comment:

  1. I can wait for the Youtube edit of Ricky Gervais.

    The Oscars's original intent is long forgotten.

    It, like the other award shows, is a chance for well to do people to be kind to themselves.

    They are at the self service station of PDA.

    Cornfed - "Interesting how the need for substance in an unexamined life often times leads to gullibility."

    Their work has meaning because they have something shiny.

    Sean Penn is now an international crime fighter.

    The Method gave Brando license to be a Grande Dame in Hollywood.

    "Sylvester Stallone was recognized for his body of work by getting the award for Creed."

    His heavily 'roided body body of work. He's been on the juice so long his testicles have shrunk to the size of raisins. A few more treatments and they will collapse into a singularity, triggering California's slide into the Pacific.

    ReplyDelete