ReasonForOurHope

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Film Review: Frozen II



Sexuality/Nudity No Objection
Violence No Objection
Vulgarity No Objection
Anti-Catholic Philosophy No Objection

There isn't much to say about Frozen II, because almost everything good from it is derriviate of the original film.

The story takes place soon after the original.  Elsa (Idina Menzel) is queen of Arendelle, but feels a strong calling to the wilder lands to the north.  Anna (Kristen Bell) is still seeing Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and the latter is getting close to proposing.  But when an earthquake shatters their peace. the group must travel beyond their borders, a place of guardian spirits and native tribes.

This review will be brief, because honestly, there is not much here to like or dislike.  There is nothing really bad about the movie.  It is as enjoyable as it is forgettable.  There is nothing in this story that makes it feel necessary.  Like Iron Man 2, this feels like a rehash with nothing to add.

Say what you will about the last film, but it had some truly memorable, if not great, songs.  There is only one ballad "Into the Unknown" that gets any traction past the closing credits.  There is a funny song by Kristoff that plays like a music video right out of the 1980's but it more clever than funny.

The movie enters into some strange territory with its pantheistic guardian spirits of fire, water, etc.  It almost feels like they took an old script for a Pocahontas sequel and reworked it for the the Frozen characters.

As I wrote, there isn't much to dislike, but when the movie finished, I felt like nothing really happened.
  

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Sunday Worst: Bizarro Awards 2019

My good friend the Doctor said that I should do a parallel list to my Kal-El Awards that reflect to worst in pop culture from the year.  He suggested that I call them the "Lenny Luthors" after the horrible Jon Cryer character from Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.  The rational for choosing Lenny was that "he is terrible in every way that Superman is awesome."

I liked the idea, but I thought instead of Lenny Luthor we would name the awards after the true opposite of Superman:

Bizarro.


Bizarro is the anti-Superman, literally.  He even maintains speech patterns that are the opposite of what he means.  "Good-bye, me am not Bizarro.  Me like you!  Live!"  said by Bizarro actually means "Hello, I am Bizarro.  I hate you! Die!"

So since Superman is my mark of excellence.  Bizarro will be my mark of utter awfulness.   Unlike the Kal-El awards, these will be focused only on movies.  The reason is that serialized work like television and comics require a longer time commitment in order to understand the material.  You may have to watch a show or read a comic for several months before you discover if it is truly bad or good.  It took me a few episodes to understand the logic behind Vincent D'Onofrio's performance in Daredevil.  The investment of time and/or money also precludes a lot of unnecessary sampling, so my exposure to bad material is a bit less.

With a movie, you can have a complete understanding of the product after 90-180 minutes


-Worst TV Show I Stopped Watching
-Worst TV Show I Still Watch

In both of these cases I will be giving my critical condemnation of shows about which I have some significant experience and thus have a basis for calling them critical failures


So now, here are the Bizarro Awards for movies this past year.  (based on the movies I have seen).


WORST MOVIE

CATS

A pure cinematic nightmare!

It isn't that it's scary, but that experience is horrifying on an artistic level.  Everything about this movie is terrible.  Even the potentially good parts like "Memory" are destroyed by the abundance of oozing bodily fluids.  I can't tell if this was a failure of vision or if everyone was under a collective delusion that normal people would find this cinematic vomit even remotely digestible.  It isn't even that it is bad, but it feels like it is never going to end and you will be trapped in this feline purgatory forever.

TOP TEN WORST MOVIES
10. Glass -Too talky/expositiony, but better than I expected. Willis/Jackson/McAvoy make the movie interesting.
9. Stuber - An average buddy cop comedy with very likable leads.  Not bad, but not great.
8. The Public - Like a secular "Christian movie" with heart-felt uplift and 1-dimensional villains.  Very odd ending.
7. Late Night - Not bad.  But to work, movies about comedians must be extremely funny.  This isn't.
6. All is True - Beautiful directing and great acting cannot overcome this terrible, terrible script.
5. A Marriage Story - Shocking! Two self-centered people who don’t understand love/marriage end up destroying their family
4. Ad Astra - A film with moon pirates and space baboons sounds awesome but isn't. Pretentious snoozer
3. Long Shot - With a premise this good and actors this charming, this movie shouldn't be this boring!
2. Booksmart - one of the most vulgar and vile movies I have seen in a long time.  If this is an accurate representation of all of America's youth, I would be tempted to ask God to burn the country down and start over.
1. CATS

WORST ACTOR

James Cordon - CATS


There isn't a single ounce of actual acting in this performance.  Cordon is likable enough, but at least other actors like Idris Elba seem like they are trying.  Cordon performs in this film like he is doing one of his late night sketches.  I suppose I cannot fault him too much since no one comes out of CATS unscathed.  He should be thankful that he is does not have the worst performance in this movie.

WORST ACTRESS

Rebel Wilson - CATS

This is the worst performance in the worst movie of the year, which Is very dubious honor.  Wilson performs her usual schtick of playing into the stereotype while at the same time being gross and horrifying.  All of her apparent ad libs fall flat and only serve to reinforce that nothing about this movie makes an ounce of sense.

WORST DIRECTOR

Tom Hooper - CATS

From my review of CATS:

I imagine that you are supposed to turn off your brain and enjoy the music and the dancing spectacle.  But this doesn't work because director Tom Hooper does everything he can to make this movie a disgusting display.  There was a great deal of mockery of the cat special effects when the trailer dropped, and rightly so.  There is a principle in visual design called "The Uncanny Valley."  It refers to a phenomenon where if you make something non-human look more and more human our attraction to it grows until just before it looks completely human and then we find ourselves horribly repulsed by this "almost human" monstrosity.  That is what it is like to see the cats in CATS.  But it isn't even the design that is the essential problem, but how Hooper presents this horrific world.


WORST SCREENPLAY

  • Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel, Katie Silberman-
  •    
Booksmart

This script is dripping with disgust.   The whole movie is premised on the ugly sin of envy.  For some reason, the writers thought that this was a solid enough idea on which to build their entire story.  Our main characters start out in an ugly place and somehow go through their arcs even uglier.  That could be interesting, but it is clear that we are supposed to not only sympathize with their initial shallowness but also with their newfound enlightenment.

But worst of all... it isn't funny.  As I wrote in my review: Bad comedians replace humor with shock, hoping that the vulgarity will be so great that it will provoke laughs, like in Borat.  But that wears off quickly.  I chuckled maybe once or twice in the entire film.  Nothing was funny.  Each new adventure should have been a ludicrous laugh riot.  Instead I felt like Dante going deeper and deeper into the concentric circles of hell.


MOST ANTI-CHRISTIAN MOVIE

Booksmart

I did not see too many movie this year that took direct aim at Christianity.  But Booksmart has a scene where they make fun of Amy's Christian parents.  Amy has same-sex attractions.  Her parents are Christians.  It is clear that they are struggling with this dynamic in their family with their faith.  Molly decides that it would funny to make them uncomfortable by implying she is sexual active with Amy.  Her parents try very hard to not offend the girls.  But this seems to give the girls license to attack them because their faith holds to some unchanging truths about sexual morality.  This is a classic bullying move where you take advantage of your opponent's kindness and hit them because you know they won't hit back.


MOST MORALLY OFFENSIVE

Booksmart



From my review:

It is hard for me to describe how ugly this movie is.  The characters lack any kind of redeeming qualities.  The impetus for the quest is Molly's insane envy.  She is completely filled with an inflated pride and it shakes her to the core that anyone could be as smart as her without working as hard.  Their success takes nothing away from her own achievements, but she is so enraged by their good fortune.  The only reason that you feel even a little sympathetic with her is that all of her other classmates are portrayed as horrid.  They are mean, selfish, sexually promiscuous, intoxicated, vulgarians.

...

You could make the argument that a movie like Can't Hardly Wait is morally worse than Booksmart because it sanitizes the ugliness of sin and makes it more acceptable to watch.  I am open to those arguments, but Can't Hardly Wait had a setting which is a bit scandalous, but it had a great deal of heart.  It didn't seem to revel in the ugliness of the sin and Booksmart does.  It wants to be "in your face" and shock you.  Writers Emily Halpirn, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel, and Katie Silberman have given us two very unlikeable, lecturing lead characters surrounded by flat, unfunny characters.

WORST TV SHOW I STOPPED WATCHING

The Conners

The Roseanne reboot was a gigantic hit that looked at all different points of life in suburban Chicago.  For that reason it was incredibly relatable and watchable.  Once Roseanne Barr was fired, the show took an immediate downturn.  The characters were always flawed, but there was something likable came from deep inside.  But all of that goodness has evaporated.  In a particularly ugly encounter, Jackie ends up slapping Darlene for after she says something potentially unforgivable.  This is not longer a dysfunctional family.  This is a family in crisis.

WORST SHOW I STILL WATCH

Saturday Night Live

(Below are my comments from last two years, but they still apply to this year)

I still hold out hope that in 90 minutes of television there may still be at least 5 minutes of good humor.  But it takes a lot of endurance through horrible sketches to come across a gem like "Crucible Cast Party."

The show has two major problems in its current era.

1.  The Election of Donald Trump.  If you watch the skits before the election they were harsh but there was still a great deal that was funny.  But after the election, especially after that somber cold open (and it is not an exaggeration to say that it was the most somber cold opening since 9/11), with Kate McKinnon playing a heartbroken Hillary Clinton, something broke in the show.  Donald Trump is the president and he models incredibly unusual behavior, so there is fertile ground for jokes.  But the writers don't seem to be interested in jokes and are instead only interested in attacking someone they hate.  That's all well and good, but you need to at least make it funny.

2.  The Anti-Comedy skits.  Pete Davidson (who still shows up on the show) and Kyle Mooney seem to be hellbent on making the most un-funny comedy sketches on the show, particularly with their digital shorts.  I was never a big fan of Andy Sandberg's digital shorts, but you could tell he was working hard on trying to get you to laugh no matter how silly he was.  Davidson and Mooney present sketches that are so odd that they fail to do anything but make you say "What the hell was that?"  And that might be their point, but it makes for incredibly bad television.

Saturday, January 25, 2020

Film Flash: 1917

1917 (2019 film).png

15 words or less film review (full review to follow soon)


Pure intensity from start to finish, expertly filmed.  Emotional with too-stiff an upper lip.



Thursday, January 23, 2020

Spring Movie Season


We are in the odd time for theatrical movies.  Summer is when a number of the big blockbusters are released.  Fall and Winter are when we see more of the prestige pictures.  But the spring season is strange.  Yes, there are some bigger movies coming out, but it always feels like this is the time when studios keep their powder dry and get ready to fire their big guns later.


That isn't always the case.  Deadpool, I believe, was a February release.  And that film went on to do some amazing business.

So here are some of the movies that are coming out along with my level of excitement.  My ability to get out to the theater may be limited this time around.  But I will try to get to the ones that really excite me.

Here is a list, with a few brief thoughts of my own, including on a scale of 1-5 stars my likelihood of seeing it in theaters (1 being “Not at all” 5 being “Cannot wait!”).




January 24


The Last Full Measure (**)
The Last Full Measure 2019 poster.jpg
The idea looks intriguing: a mystery regarding a fallen soldier in the Vietnam war with a really good cast.  But I can't quite get excited about it.





The Gentlemen (**)
The Gentlemen poster.jpg


This movie looks like it is trying to hard to be a quirky, cool crime movie.  But it looks rather boring




January 31

Gretel and Hansel (*)
Gretel & Hansel - A Grim Fairy Tale theatrical poster.jpeg
See?  It's different because they put Gretel's name first!  Totally new!



The Rhythm Section(***)
The Rhythm Section poster.jpg
The plot doesn't look too intriguing, but Blake Lively looks like she is putting in one heck of a performance.  I am so shocked at how good of an actress she has become in the last few years.

FEBRUARY 7

Birds of Prey (**)
BirdsofPreyHarley.jpg
I am a huge DC fan, but this movie looks like it is going to be a giant lecture dressed up like a super hero film.  I'm hoping I'm wrong.

FEBRUARY 14

Fantasy Island (*)
Fantasy Island poster.jpg
While the original show would sometimes have some scary elements, turning the entire concept into a mystical Saw film seems in poor taste.


Sonic the Hedgehog (***)
Sonic the Hedgehog poster.jpg
I was never a fan of this video game series, but this movie has already engendered a great deal of good will by listening to fans.  Also, the trailers are kind of charming.  I might check it out.




Downhill (*)
Downhill poster.jpeg
This looks like a purely pretentious "comedy" where everyone is a miserable jerk.  No thank you.


Buffaloed (**)
Buffaloed poster.jpeg
Zoey Deutch looks very good in this film, but it looks like it has no moral center.  Could be okay.


FEBRUARY 21


Call of the Wild (***)
The Call of the Wild poster.jpg
Making the dog a strange melding of live-action and cartoon might actually work.  It makes it photo-realistic, but you have more expression than you do in the recent Lion King.  This might be a fun film.

MARCH 6

Onward  (****)
Onward poster.jpg
PIXAR films are usually synonymous with quality.  And while this doesn't necessarily look like their best work, the premise and the world-building look interesting enough to get me to buy a ticket.



The Way Back (****)
The Way Back poster.jpeg
Readers of this blog know that I am huge Affleck fan.  This movie seems weirdly autobiographical about a man with an addiction who is trying to rebuild his life by coaching a high school basketball team.  If done right, this could be a great film.

MARCH 13

Bloodshot (***)
Bloodshot - film logo.png

This doesn't look like a great film, but it could be a nice shoot-em-up to pass the time.



MARCH 20

I Still Believe (****)
I Still Believe promotional poster.jpg
Most Christian movies are terrible.  But something about this one tells me that it could actually break through and be a decent film.

A Quiet Place Part II (****)
A Quiet Place Part II poster.jpg
As much as I loved the first one, I am very skeptical that they can continue the story going forward with the same level of quality.  But John Krasinski has earned some good will with his first movie.


MARCH 27

Mulan (***)
Mulan holding a sword as she stares toward the viewer with the film's logo beneath her.
I'm not a big fan of the original animated film.  This movie looks very much a by-the-numbers Disney adventure, but it could be fun.

APRIL 3

The Lovebirds (**)
The Lovebirds poster.jpeg
I would be more interested in this, but Kumail Nanjiani's last movie, Stuber, was not that enjoyable.

The New Mutants (**)
TheNewMutantsPoster.jpeg
I didn't see Dark Phoenix and this looks even worse than that.  Turning your next-generation super hero film into a horror movie seems like the wrong move.




Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway(**)
Peterrabbit2teaser.jpg
I didn't see the first, and I probably won't see the second.


APRIL 10

No Time to Die (***)
No Time to Die poster.jpg
The Daniel Craig bonds have been hit or miss.  Fukunaga could turn out to be a very interesting directing choice, but I'm not a fan of Phoebe Waller-Bridge, so I don't know if her influence will make this film a lecture-y mess.

Thoughts?

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

New Evangelizers Post: The Calcification of the Soul


I have a new article up at NewEvangelizers.com.  

When you are young, you are a being of pure potential.  Your life and your future stretch out with endless possibilities.  Remember what it was like to one day want to be an astronaut and the next to be a famous athlete and then a ninja.  Children have this wonderful ability to shape and reshape themselves over and over. Their lives are like Play-Doh fresh out of the container.


But once out of the container, that Play-Doh begins to harden.  Soon, whatever shape that material takes will become, more or less, its permanent shape.  To change it would cause it to break and crack all over. This is what happens to us as we get older.


As we age, instead of standing and looking at the infinite paths before us, we have to choose a path to follow.  This path limits us and our other choices. Choices about the schools I attended, the social groups with which I associate, the career paths I pursue, and whether or not to marry all cut off the alternative possibilities.  We find we can’t easily drop all of our life’s plans at the drop of a hat to pursue some new interest.  


This is all a natural part of growing up.  We cannot be everything, we must become something.  And that something, by definition, excludes the alternatives.  I can be single or I can be married. I cannot be both. As our lives solidify around us, we also become less pliant on the inside.  Life is often difficult and we easily fall into habit and routine to make it more manageable. Again, there is nothing wrong with this.  St. Thomas Aquinas picks up Aristotle’s insight that developing good habits is the definition of a virtuous life.  


But there is a problem with this.


The permanence of yourself would be wonderful if you were already perfected.  I would not put by clay sculpture into the fires of the kiln until it was exactly the shape I wanted it.  If I let the structure harden with a flaw, then it will cause a lot of damage or “pain” to the object to reshape it the way I wanted.


The same thing applies to the soul.  Unless you are already a perfect saint, your soul needs reshaping.


I’ve found that as I have gotten older, the spiritual habits of my life have created a wonderful scaffolding to help build my relationship with God.  I am blessed to have a very prayerful wife with whom I can spend a good portion of the day in prayer. I also work at a Catholic school which affords me time before the Blessed Sacrament in our chapel.  And as wonderful as these routines are, I know that this is not wear I must remain.  


Please don’t misunderstand, growth in the spiritual life does not always mean doing more.  With God, quality is more important than quantity. As Christ said, “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. “ (Matthew 6:7) Sometimes we are called simply to break out of the routine.

As helpful as routines are, we can often go on autopilot.  How often have we prayed the Lord’s Prayer or the Nicene Creed at mass without much thought behind the words.  In our friendships and in our families, sometimes we can fall into routines to the point where we stop having meaningful encounters with each other.


And that is the key to the spiritual life: meaningful encounters with God.  That doesn’t mean that each prayer experience must be one of intense emotions.  Chasing after that will not lead to growth. But we must strive to be as open to God’s presence as we can.  This could involve a re-commitment to the spiritual practices we already have. It could also mean saying yes to new experiences.


I have worked in ministry with young people for a very long time.  One of the joys of this life is that the young are open to trying new things and that openness can lead to intense encounters with the Lord.  Working with adults has been a different experience because there is often a lack of openness. If we are competent adults, we will have a wealth of experience that helps us make good decisions.  While this experience is a gift, it can also be a limitation. We can get caught up in the idea that “this is the way I’ve always done it and it’s worked so far.” This experience is valuable, but it cannot and must not be an excuse to be open.


As we get older, we start to think that there is nothing new we can learn or experience about our faith in a meaningful way.  I know I am guilty of this. While I have worked many retreats in the last few decades I have not gone on many. When invited, I decline by saying that I am busy (which is mostly true).  But if I am being honest, there is that prideful part of me that says that it will be a waste of time because I won’t experience anything I don’t already know.  


But if I do an honest assessment of my soul, I am still very far from sainthood.  My heart is hardening, calcifying with age but not in the shape that God wants it to be in yet.  I still need to change. But because of this hardening of my heart and soul, the change can hurt.  It can feel like an inconvenience or interruptions to our plans. But God needs to interrupt our plans so we can be a part of His plan.


You can read the whole article here.

Monday, January 20, 2020

MLK Day

(originally posted 6 years ago)



I just have a few random thoughts on the secular feast of Martin Luther King.

As cliche as it sounds, I still marvel at his "I Have A Dream" speech.  It is a marvel of rhetoric and too many people have tried to imitate with its lofty words and his echoing voice.

I have always held his principle of a Color Blind Society as the true end goal of the Civil Rights Movement.  Anything which seeks to sub-divide us by race is antithetical to the American Dream.

My father began working with American doctors at Clarke Air Base in the Philippines.  I once asked him at dinner if he ever experienced racism from the white doctors there.  He gave a little shrug and said "Sure," and then continued eating.  When I asked him how he handled it, he said, "I worked harder than anyone to be the best doctor there so that they knew to respect me."

To me, that is best way to fight back against racial bigots.  Success is the best victory.  But that only comes with hard work and perseverance.  My dad had no chip on his shoulder over ill treatment.  He figured you're going to get stupid people in life.  The only thing to do is be excellent.

On a lighter note, there is a reason beyond his importance that MLK is revered today as a secular saint. Ask any school child about him, and they will say that he is a great man.  How do children know this intuitively?  Because they get the day off of school because of him.

Ask them who the greatest presidents are and they will say Washington and Lincoln?  They get a day off of school because of them too.



You can imagine how important Jesus is: you get 3 weeks off because of Him.  He must have been great!

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Sunday Best: Oscar Game 2020

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 = Todd Philips, "Joker"

-MY PREDICTION = Quentin Tarantino, “Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood.”


BEST ACTOR

-MY CHOICE =Joaquin Phoenix, "Joker

-MY PREDICTION = Leonardo DiCaprio, “Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood.”



BEST ACTRESS

-MY CHOICE = Saorsie Ronan, “Little Women”

-MY PREDICTION = Saorsie Ronan, “Little Women”



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


If Saorsie Ronan 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 International Feature Film


For these, give yourself 1/5th of a point (.2) 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.




Click the link below to fill out the form
CATHOLIC SKYWALKER 2020 OSCAR GAME

Here are my choices so far:



NameCatholic Skywalker
Do you want me to use your real name on my blog?No
BEST PICTURE - MY CHOICEJoker
BEST PICTURE - MY PREDICTIONOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood
BEST DIRECTOR - MY CHOICETodd Phillips, Joker
BEST DIRECTOR - MY PREDICTIONQuentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
BEST ACTOR - MY CHOICEJoaquin Phoenix, Joker
BEST ACTOR - MY PREDICTIONJoaquin Phoenix, Joker
BEST ACTRESS - MY CHOICESaoirse Ronan, Little Women
BEST ACTRESS - MY PREDICTIONScarlett Johansson, Marriage Story
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - MY CHOICEBrad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - MY PREDICTIONBrad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - MY CHOICEFlorence Pugh, Little Women
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - MY PREDICTIONLaura Dern, Marriage Story
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY - MY CHOICELittle Women, Greta Gerwig
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY - MY PREDICTIONJojo Rabbit, Taika Waititi
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY - MY CHOICEOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY - MY PREDICTIONOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE - MY CHOICEStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, John Williams
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE - MY PREDICTIONStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, John Williams
BEST ORIGINAL SONG - MY CHOICE"I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away," Toy Story 4, music and lyrics by Randy Newman
BEST ORIGINAL SONG - MY PREDICTION"I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away," Toy Story 4, music and lyrics by Randy Newman
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM - MY CHOICEToy Story 4
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM - MY PREDICTIONToy Story 4
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY - MY CHOICEJoker, Lawrence Sher
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY - MY PREDICTION1917, Roger Deakins
BEST COSTUME DESIGN - MY CHOICELittle Women, Jacqueline Durran
BEST COSTUME DESIGN - MY PREDICTIONJojo Rabbit, Mayes C. Rubeo
BEST FILM EDITING - MY CHOICEFord v Ferrari, Andrew Buckland and Michael McCusker
BEST FILM EDITING - MY PREDICTIONJoker, Jeff Groth
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING - MY CHOICEJoker, Nicki Ledermann and Kay Georgiou
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING - MY PREDICTIONBombshell, Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan and Vivian Baker
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN - MY CHOICEOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood, production design: Barbara Ling; set decoration: Nancy Haigh
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN - MY PREDICTIONOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood, production design: Barbara Ling; set decoration: Nancy Haigh
BEST SOUND EDITING - MY CHOICEStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Matthew Wood and David Acord
BEST SOUND EDITING - MY PREDICTION1917, Oliver Tarney and Rachael Tate
BEST SOUND MIXING - MY CHOICEFord v Ferrari, Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Steven A. Morrow
BEST SOUND MIXING - MY PREDICTIONFord v Ferrari, Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Steven A. Morrow
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS - MY CHOICEStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Roger Guyett, Neal Scanlan, Patrick Tubach and Dominic Tuohy
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS - MY PREDICTIONAvengers: Endgame, Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Matt Aitken and Dan Sudick
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM - MY PREDICTIONParasite (South Korea)
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE - MY PREDICTIONAmerican Factory (Netflix), Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert and Jeff Reichert
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT - MY PREDICTIONSt. Louis Superman, Smriti Mundhra and Sami Khan
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM- MY PREDICTIONHair Love, Matthew A. Cherry and Karen Rupert Toliver
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM- MY PREDICTIONA Sister, Delphine Girard