Oscars

Festival Circuit, filmmaking, Life, Oscars

Only in Vegas!

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Only in Vegas!

There’s a saying, which goes like this: “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” It’s a city slogan R&R Partners came up in 2003 to promote the carefree adult playground atmosphere of Las Vegas. Prior to this, the city’s been known as the “Entertainment Capital of the World” and people have been telling that “Vegas is calling”. Whatever the case, the city has been pumped full of expectations of the naughtier nature and unsurprisingly, the moniker “Sin City” is well earned.

None of this is real. Not even the ‘blue sky’, it’s just a projection.

So, it goes without saying that I’m not going into too much detail about what happened on our trip to Vegas because, well, some things really should stay there. What I can share is that it involved countless casinos, a visit to a multi-millionaire’s mansion, and one of us—me or my producer Tero (I’m not saying who)—vomiting all over our Airbnb. We explored dingy bars tucked away in the side streets beyond the flashing lights of Fremont Street, dined at Robert De Niro’s restaurant, downed multiple bottles of ridiculously expensive sake, and embarked on long road trips through the Nevada desert, nervously wondering if our driver’s unpaid speeding tickets might catch up with us.

Weird world of Vegas casinos.

But we made it through in one piece, weirdly so. We returned back to Los Angeles from where our journey to Vegas’s American Film Market begun a few days prior and arranged a bunch of meetings with business associates we knew, to pitch our horror film projects. We met with Marvel writers, Netflix casting agents, independent producers and such likes, in places such as Roosevelt Hotel, where they had held the first-ever Oscars almost a hundred years ago.

A view from our AirBnB in LA.

Second to last night, we went downtown to a cool little Asian joint, to catch up with someone I knew from before.

This guy was late—not just 10 minutes like he claimed, but a solid 45. His excuse? “Traffic in LA, man.” Sure, maybe he came from some congested part of town, but it didn’t seem likely. When he finally showed up, he strutted in like he owned the place, talking nonstop about himself, his projects, and even griping about Finland after a brief visit there months ago. It was an odd start to an evening that was supposed to be a thank-you dinner for helping him connect with some important players in the business.

Over Asian food, the guy, a visiting talent agent from Europe with a few projects to pitch, did what he does best: sell himself. He promised “dinner’s on me” earlier in the week, but when the bill came, he didn’t touch it. Instead, we ended up splitting it three ways while he griped about tipping in LA. Sure, tipping culture can be annoying, but that’s hardly groundbreaking. After some nudging, we convinced him to leave a tip, though it felt more like babysitting than dining with an industry professional.

The real train wreck came when he revived an old dispute with a business associate, refusing to drop the subject despite our efforts to steer the conversation elsewhere. He kept digging until we’d had enough, and we left in frustration. He ran after us with half-hearted apologies, trying to smooth things over, but it was clear – he was his own worst enemy.

Honestly, I couldn’t stay too mad — he has to live with himself, and luckily…

I don’t.

Tero among the stars.

The trip ended with one of us—no names, of course—vomiting all over our LA Airbnb. It had to be the Norovirus, taking us down one by one. A lovely souvenir to bring home to your girlfriend, as someone might have done. Not naming names.

So, did we succeed? Did our little horror film secure funding, cast, and production dates? Absolutely not. (Not yet, at least.)
But was it a good trip?

Mos def!

Life, Opinions, Oscars

A wee bit on film durations

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A regular human urinates approximately every 3-3,5 hours. The approximate length of an Oscar contender this year is approximately 2,5 hours – and there are several films that exceed 3 hours. This means, that unless you have flushed your system completely before watching a movie, you are more than likely to have to hold your wee at the end of every movie see at the theaters, or go make a run. Either way, you are distracted from the story only by your natural needs, or even if you are perfectly prepared for your 3h26min sit-through, you can be 100% sure not everyone around you is. So, either way, you’ll be distracted.

Helsinki Lux – Eero Helle: EQ

These behemoths of a movie started to appear in more frequent pace after streaming started to be more accessible in households, as watching a film home that’s 3-4 hours is no problem at all – easy to pause, easy to get your snacks and moment with nature and continue. Yeah, distraction, but at least you don’t lose 10 minutes of the story when trying to run around the megaplex finding a toilet.

Victor Vicsek / Limelight: Talking Heads

Why have the most remarkable films of the year started to get longer and longer, it seems, every year? I made a comparison between projected Best Picture contenders of this year, and those of my birth year 1979, and while the approximate length of a movie has gone from 129 minutes to 136 minutes, only 1 out of 5 was over 3 hours, and 4 out of 5 were under 2h10min, compared to this year when we have 2 out of 10 over 3 hours, and 5 out of 10 over 2h10 min.

What I’m saying is, filmmakers are demanding more and more of my bladder and my bum than before, and that’s a trend I don’t think is necessarily all for the good. For me, the best film of 2023 was Fallen Leaves, at only 88 minutes length, and didn’t feel too short or too quick – the story was told, economically and clearly, instead of some of this year’s more meandering epics. Even Napoleon, at it’s 2h38minutes length felt more right than Killers of the Flower Moon or, let alone, Poor Things – because the story was there, and it kept on moving forward with a pace that felt clear and good and understandable.

What I’m trying to say here is that the streaming platforms have brought this new trend of meandering, over-self-indulgent films that just don’t know when to call it quits and let people go home. Watching Poor Things yesterday, around the time when they were wrapping it up, I was about to call it a masterpiece, but then they decided to throw in another new 20-minute-long sidestep that totally deflated the experience. Same happeend with Flower Moon, had there been some consideration for the length, it would have been a much better movie in my opinion. Many would disagree, and I have no need or want to try to tell them I’m more right than they, but my experience was really crippled by the length and I’m not too keen on that trend.

Well, what else. Yeah, went to stroll around the town checking out the Helsinki Lux light festival. The night was absolutely freezing, below negative 20 feeling like negative 30 I guess, but we braved through few of the displays and enjoyed them. I was impressed by the music and light show they displayed on the Helsinki Cathedral, but frankly, it was too cold to really stand around and enjoy every piece.

Good old Kyösti Kallio just keeps on sitting, letting the snow pile on him.
Life, Oscars

Chasing The Oscars

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For over ten years now I’ve had a sacred mission, one that’s both dumb but funnily educational, but I take it rather seriously. The rules are simple, by the the the Oscar ceremony is on, I’m trying – and, succeeding! – to watch each and every Oscar contender in every categy (except Original Song, which I consider to be there solely for entertainment purposes).

Lea enjoying the sunny Lauttasaari nature.

Preparing for the run I try to keep my eyes on several sites that predict Oscars, so by the time the nominees are announced – usually about a month and a half before the ceremony – I’m already hitting the ground running. This year, it’s 23rd of January when they announce the nominees, and 11th of March for the ceremony.

I’ve so far seen Barbie, The Holdovers, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, Oppenheimer, Rustin, The Boy and the Heron, Napoleon, Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret and The Creator that are likely competing for the feature film Oscars in different categories, and 20 Days In Mariupol and American Symphony that will likely be contending for the Documentary Feature. The one category I always find the most interesting one is the International Features, and this year I’m especially interested, as it seems Finland is getting a nomination for Aki Kaurismäki’s Fallen Leaves, which I ranked the best film of 2024 anyway. I also try to check out the short films as much as possible, although sometimes those are harder to find that the features – for this year, I’ve seen The Wonderful Life of Henry Sugar, The After, The Last Repair Shop and Deciding Vote.

Without really knowing the final list of contenders, it’s still quite clear there’s quite a lot to see in the coming two months, but luckily I don’t have an ongoing shoot or anything else obstructing my mission, so I’m sure I’ll succeed.

Other than that, we’ve been having a pretty harsh winter here in Finland this year, but I for one welcome the beautiful snow and fresh air. Walking around Lauttasaari, enjoying the winter and relaxing playing Baldur’s Gate 3 has been my beginning of the year, and while I suspect (hope!) it’s getting quite a bit busier as the year goes along, I’m happy to be able to kick back and take care of my place and my mental and physical health for a bit before the madness starts again.

One of the majestic Lauttasaari trees.
Oscars

Oscar 2021 Predictions & Final Results

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An extraordinary year for film, as everyone knows, Oscars this year offer some unique treats for us to follow! I managed to watch all the feature films this year, and have now formed my opinion about the awards. In the end, I wasn’t that far off, I got 16/23 correct, most painfully failing at the Original and Adapted Screenplays, and Song I knew I would fail anyhow.

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

NOMINEES

RIZ AHMED

Sound of Metal

CHADWICK BOSEMAN

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

ANTHONY HOPKINS

The Father

GARY OLDMAN

Mank

STEVEN YEUN

Minari

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

NOMINEES

SACHA BARON COHEN

The Trial of the Chicago 7

DANIEL KALUUYA

Judas and the Black Messiah

LESLIE ODOM, JR.

One Night in Miami…

PAUL RACI

Sound of Metal

LAKEITH STANFIELD

Judas and the Black Messiah

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

NOMINEES

VIOLA DAVIS

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

ANDRA DAY

The United States vs. Billie Holiday

VANESSA KIRBY

Pieces of a Woman

FRANCES MCDORMAND

Nomadland

CAREY MULLIGAN

Promising Young Woman

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

NOMINEES

MARIA BAKALOVA

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

GLENN CLOSE

Hillbilly Elegy

OLIVIA COLMAN

The Father

AMANDA SEYFRIED

Mank

YUH-JUNG YOUN

Minari

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

NOMINEES

ONWARD

Dan Scanlon and Kori Rae

OVER THE MOON

Glen Keane, Gennie Rim and Peilin Chou

A SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE: FARMAGEDDON

Richard Phelan, Will Becher and Paul Kewley

SOUL

Pete Docter and Dana Murray

WOLFWALKERS

Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart, Paul Young and Stéphan Roelants

CINEMATOGRAPHY

NOMINEES

JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH

Sean Bobbitt

MANK

Erik Messerschmidt

NEWS OF THE WORLD

Dariusz Wolski

NOMADLAND

Joshua James Richards

THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7

Phedon Papamichael

COSTUME DESIGN

NOMINEES

EMMA

Alexandra Byrne

MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM

Ann Roth

MANK

Trish Summerville

MULAN

Bina Daigeler

PINOCCHIO

Massimo Cantini Parrini

DIRECTING

NOMINEES

ANOTHER ROUND

Thomas Vinterberg

MANK

David Fincher

MINARI

Lee Isaac Chung

NOMADLAND

Chloé Zhao

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

Emerald Fennell

DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)

NOMINEES

COLLECTIVE

Alexander Nanau and Bianca Oana

CRIP CAMP

Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht and Sara Bolder

THE MOLE AGENT

Maite Alberdi and Marcela Santibáñez

MY OCTOPUS TEACHER

Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed and Craig Foster

TIME

Garrett Bradley, Lauren Domino and Kellen Quinn

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)

NOMINEES

COLETTE

Anthony Giacchino and Alice Doyard

A CONCERTO IS A CONVERSATION

Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers

DO NOT SPLIT

Anders Hammer and Charlotte Cook

HUNGER WARD

Skye Fitzgerald and Michael Scheuerman

A LOVE SONG FOR LATASHA

Sophia Nahli Allison and Janice Duncan

FILM EDITING

NOMINEES

THE FATHER

Yorgos Lamprinos

NOMADLAND

Chloé Zhao

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

Frédéric Thoraval

SOUND OF METAL

Mikkel E. G. Nielsen

THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7

Alan Baumgarten

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

NOMINEES

ANOTHER ROUND

Denmark

BETTER DAYS

Hong Kong

COLLECTIVE

Romania

THE MAN WHO SOLD HIS SKIN

Tunisia

QUO VADIS, AIDA?

Bosnia and Herzegovina

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

NOMINEES

EMMA

Marese Langan, Laura Allen and Claudia Stolze

HILLBILLY ELEGY

Eryn Krueger Mekash, Matthew Mungle and Patricia Dehaney

MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM

Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson

MANK

Gigi Williams, Kimberley Spiteri and Colleen LaBaff

PINOCCHIO

Mark Coulier, Dalia Colli and Francesco Pegoretti

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

NOMINEES

DA 5 BLOODS

Terence Blanchard

MANK

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

MINARI

Emile Mosseri

NEWS OF THE WORLD

James Newton Howard

SOUL

Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

NOMINEES

FIGHT FOR YOU

from Judas and the Black Messiah; Music by H.E.R. and Dernst Emile II; Lyric by H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas

HEAR MY VOICE

from The Trial of the Chicago 7; Music by Daniel Pemberton; Lyric by Daniel Pemberton and Celeste Waite

HUSAVIK

from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga; Music and Lyric by Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus and Rickard Göransson

IO SÌ (SEEN)

from The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se); Music by Diane Warren; Lyric by Diane Warren and Laura Pausini

SPEAK NOW

from One Night in Miami…; Music and Lyric by Leslie Odom, Jr. and Sam Ashworth

BEST PICTURE

NOMINEES

THE FATHER

David Parfitt, Jean-Louis Livi and Philippe Carcassonne, Producers

JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH

Shaka King, Charles D. King and Ryan Coogler, Producers

MANK

Ceán Chaffin, Eric Roth and Douglas Urbanski, Producers

MINARI

Christina Oh, Producer

NOMADLAND

Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey and Chloé Zhao, Producers

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, Emerald Fennell and Josey McNamara, Producers

SOUND OF METAL

Bert Hamelinck and Sacha Ben Harroche, Producers

THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7

Marc Platt and Stuart Besser, Producers

PRODUCTION DESIGN

NOMINEES

THE FATHER

Production Design: Peter Francis; Set Decoration: Cathy Featherstone

MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM

Production Design: Mark Ricker; Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara and Diana Stoughton

MANK

Production Design: Donald Graham Burt; Set Decoration: Jan Pascale

NEWS OF THE WORLD

Production Design: David Crank; Set Decoration: Elizabeth Keenan

TENET

Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Kathy Lucas

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

NOMINEES

BURROW

Madeline Sharafian and Michael Capbarat

GENIUS LOCI

Adrien Mérigeau and Amaury Ovise

IF ANYTHING HAPPENS I LOVE YOU

Will McCormack and Michael Govier

OPERA

Erick Oh

YES-PEOPLE

Gísli Darri Halldórsson and Arnar Gunnarsson

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)

NOMINEES

FEELING THROUGH

Doug Roland and Susan Ruzenski

THE LETTER ROOM

Elvira Lind and Sofia Sondervan

THE PRESENT

Farah Nabulsi and Ossama Bawardi

TWO DISTANT STRANGERS

Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe

WHITE EYE

Tomer Shushan and Shira Hochman

SOUND

NOMINEES

GREYHOUND

Warren Shaw, Michael Minkler, Beau Borders and David Wyman

MANK

Ren Klyce, Jeremy Molod, David Parker, Nathan Nance and Drew Kunin

NEWS OF THE WORLD

Oliver Tarney, Mike Prestwood Smith, William Miller and John Pritchett

SOUL

Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott and David Parker

SOUND OF METAL

Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michellee Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés and Phillip Bladh

VISUAL EFFECTS

NOMINEES

LOVE AND MONSTERS

Matt Sloan, Genevieve Camilleri, Matt Everitt and Brian Cox

THE MIDNIGHT SKY

Matthew Kasmir, Christopher Lawrence, Max Solomon and David Watkins

MULAN

Sean Faden, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury and Steve Ingram

THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN

Nick Davis, Greg Fisher, Ben Jones and Santiago Colomo Martinez

TENET

Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley and Scott Fisher

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

NOMINEES

BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM: DELIVERY OF PRODIGIOUS BRIBE TO AMERICAN REGIME FOR MAKE BENEFIT ONCE GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN

Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Peter Baynham & Erica Rivinoja & Dan Mazer & Jena Friedman & Lee Kern; Story by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Nina Pedrad

THE FATHER

Screenplay by Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller

NOMADLAND

Written for the screen by Chloé Zhao

ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI…

Screenplay by Kemp Powers

THE WHITE TIGER

Written for the screen by Ramin Bahrani

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

NOMINEES

JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH

Screenplay by Will Berson & Shaka King; Story by Will Berson & Shaka King and Kenny Lucas & Keith Lucas

MINARI

Written by Lee Isaac Chung

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

Written by Emerald Fennell

SOUND OF METAL

Screenplay by Darius Marder & Abraham Marder; Story by Darius Marder & Derek Cianfrance

THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7

Written by Aaron Sorkin

Oscars

This is how I would hand out the Oscars 2020

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This year’s Oscar race is yet again at the doorsteps of us mere mortals, who only can dream of one day holding the golden statue in our hands and dreaming who we’d be telling to suck it now that we made it this far. Instead of hanging around in LA, I’m currently in Lauttasaari, winter storm whistling outside, rain pattering against the window. It’s fine here, though, and I’m not even thinking really staying up for the show, but nevertheless, here’s my predictions for 2020!

LEADING ROLE / ACTRESS

Renée Zellweger (JUDY)

I mean, she was quite friggin’ perfect in the role, right?

LEADING ROLE / ACTOR

Joaquin Phoenix (JOKER)

There’s was no real competition here, was there?

SUPPORTING ROLE / ACTRESS

Laura Dern (Marriage Story)

I didn’t think too much of the movie, but I could’ve watched a whole spinoff TV series, full seven seasons big budget and whatnot about Laura Dern and Ray Liotta’s characters!

SUPPORTING ROLE / ACTOR

Joe Pesci (THE IRISHMAN)

Sometimes, doing nothing and looking slightly sad about it is the best thing to do.

ANIMATED FEATURE

I LOST MY BODY (Jérémy Clapin, Marc du Pontavice)

Such a beautiful and melancholic piece, amidst all the crashing, banging, wailing and fuzzing about the other nominees are all about.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

THE LIGHTHOUSE (Jarin Blaschke)

I mean, it’s black and white. Of course it gets the Oscar. Also, it’s really beautiful.

COSTUME DESIGN

ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD (Arianne Phillips)

Every character has a jacket so amazing it’s just pure pleasure to watch.

DIRECTING

Martin Scorsese (THE IRISHMAN)

It was the best film of the year, and I’m one of those who tend to think director has a bit to do with that, so…

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

FOR SAMA (Waad al-Kateab, Edward Watts)

The only real reason for Oscars to exist is to list a bunch of docs everyone else has missed, which actually talk about stuff that matters. Both The Cave and For Sama did this, both broke my heart and I wish I could give Oscar to both. And fuck you Putin and Al-Assad, too.

DOCUMENTARY SHORT

ST. LOUIS SUPERMAN (Smriti Mundhra, Sami Khan)

Didn’t watch any, so this one goes out random.

EDITING

THE IRISHMAN (Thelma Schoonmaker)

It’s a monster of a movie, but the pacing never gets boring. Other than that, you rarely notice the editing, which is the best compliment an edit can have.

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

PARASITE (Bong Joon Ho)

It’s really nice to see fresh films that go borderline genre actually make their mark internationally. 

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL (Paul Gooch, Arjen Tuiten, David White)

Just the sheer amount of work they’ve done for this one is … mind-blowing.

ORIGINAL SCORE

1917 (Thomas Newman)

I know everybody says this should go to The Joker, but frankly, I can’t remember anything from Joker’s score, maybe that’s a good sign since I thought the film was terrific, but for me, 1917’s music perfectly fit the picture and really kept the film flowing.

ORIGINAL SONG

(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again (Elton John, Bernie Taupin)

It’s Elton John. Of course he wins..

BEST PICTURE

THE IRISHMAN (Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Emma Tillinger Koskoff)

I’m pretty split between Irishman, Joker and Parasite, but chose The Irishman as I thought it was such a strong, long-lasting and well-crafted, beautiful movie with so much appeal and rewatchability that it just deserves to be the best picture of 2019.

PRODUCTION DESIGN

ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD (Barbara Ling, Nancy Haigh)

Recreating the old-time Hollywood charm is something many have tried, but Once Upon A Time… did it so well I feel like I had visited there.

ANIMATED SHORT

HAIR LOVE (Matthew A. Cherry, Karen Rupert Toliver)

Again, no idea. Just a random pick.

LIVE ACTION SHORT

A SISTER (Delphine Girard)

Another random pick.

SOUND EDITING

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER (Matthew Wood and David Acord)

It’s so. Much. Work. And it never, ever felt artificial, every sound was in its’ rightful place. 

SOUND MIXING

AD ASTRA (Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson and Mark Ulano)

I remember not liking the movie that much, but walking out and saying out I thought the sound mixing was spectacular. I can’t remember anymore exactly why, but I trust my then-me.

VISUAL EFFECTS

LION KING (Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Elliot Newman)

Irishman’s de-aging was revolutionary, but not remarkably well made. We’ll see much better takes on the same gimmick in the future. But Lion King was flawless, and that’s a big one. Turning an animated, beloved legend into “reality” and making it work. 

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

THE IRISHMAN (Steven Zaillian)

Best picture kinda demands best screenplay, dontchathink?

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

PARASITE (Bong Joon Ho, Han Jin Won)

Just the fact that a gory home-invasion film from South Korea even made it to the list itself is worth the award, but it’s also really, really well, written. And director’s original story, too.

Oscars

Oscars 2018 – My predictions / ruminations

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It’s that time of the year again – the Oscars are indeed coming. As it has become my tradition, I will submit my predictions and this time also a short explanation on why I think a certain film will win the category.

All in all, it’s going to be a very interesting Oscars ceremony this year. The #metoo and other hashtag-movements – and I call them hashtag-movements with respect, because I’m still in awe on what these movements have achieved – have dethroned many powerful figures from the American film industry, and the ripples of those splashes have reached all around the world. Finland went through its’ own #metoo outing a bunch of film industry assholes, and now it seems the movement is slowly moving towards music industry – and there I am sure will be a lot of dirt to be unearthed, too.

The awarded films this year were quite a colorful bunch of movies – horror and fantastic realism stir the Best Movie category, which has its’ typical share of political films, coming-of-age stories and smaller, hard-hitting indies. There is more diversity amongst the nominees, which is great, and the topics are braver.

This year’s big nominee is of course Del Toro’s The Shape Of Water, which will most likely steal many categories, but there’s also a lot of things to be said on behalf of other movies. Nevertheless, here are the nominees, my predictions and explanations.

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

NOMINEES

TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET

Call Me by Your Name

DANIEL DAY-LEWIS

Phantom Thread

DANIEL KALUUYA

Get Out

*** GARY OLDMAN ***

Darkest Hour
Not the most original pick, but I think mr. Oldman nailed the complicated role well and made an immemorable, well fleshed out character out of a very complex personality.

DENZEL WASHINGTON

Roman J. Israel, Esq.

 

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

NOMINEES

WILLEM DAFOE

The Florida Project

WOODY HARRELSON

Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

RICHARD JENKINS

The Shape of Water

*** CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER ***

All the Money in the World
Christopher Plummer jumped into the shoes of Kevin Spacey and filled them many times over. While the film itself is not that amazing, Plummer’s role is inseparable, and I can’t understand how Spacey would’ve played any better.

SAM ROCKWELL

Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

NOMINEES

SALLY HAWKINS

The Shape of Water

*** FRANCES MCDORMAND ***

Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
It’s quite clear Frances McDormand will gather her second Oscar, playing definitely the strongest of all nominees – and they all were very good – in a otherwise pretty mediocre movie, which became great just because of her. 

MARGOT ROBBIE

I, Tonya

SAOIRSE RONAN

Lady Bird

MERYL STREEP

The Post

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

NOMINEES

MARY J. BLIGE

Mudbound

ALLISON JANNEY

I, Tonya

*** LESLEY MANVILLE ***

Phantom Thread
This one is pretty hard to guess, since there’s a lot of options but I think the scary, creepy sister in Phantom Thread was probably the most memorable of all roles. 

LAURIE METCALF

Lady Bird

OCTAVIA SPENCER

The Shape of Water

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

NOMINEES

THE BOSS BABY

Tom McGrath and Ramsey Naito

THE BREADWINNER

Nora Twomey and Anthony Leo

*** COCO ***

Lee Unkrich and Darla K. Anderson
Only Pixar has the balls to do a children animation talking about death in a colorful, vivid way. The film is impeccable execution of wonderful storytelling, tricky topic and whole family accessability.

FERDINAND

Carlos Saldanha and Lori Forte

LOVING VINCENT

Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman and Ivan Mactaggart

CINEMATOGRAPHY

NOMINEES

*** BLADE RUNNER 2049 ***

Roger A. Deakins
Deakins has been nominated fourteen times for an Oscar, but never won one. Speaking of film-defining craftmanship, Blade Runner’s cinematography is beyond anything I’ve seen in ages. Simply beautiful, wondefully lit and while the film itself is a bit of a meh to me, the visual display Deakins has brought forward is just amazing.

DARKEST HOUR

Bruno Delbonnel

DUNKIRK

Hoyte van Hoytema

MUDBOUND

Rachel Morrison

THE SHAPE OF WATER

Dan Laustsen

COSTUME DESIGN

NOMINEES

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Jacqueline Durran

DARKEST HOUR

Jacqueline Durran

PHANTOM THREAD

Mark Bridges

*** THE SHAPE OF WATER ***

Luis Sequeira
The world of The Shape of Water is the thing that makes the film so brilliant, and definitely the costumes are a key factor in it. Although I don’t think the film really lives up to the hype, the artistic values of the production design and costumes is the best there is this year.

VICTORIA & ABDUL

Consolata Boyle

DIRECTING

NOMINEES

DUNKIRK

Christopher Nolan

GET OUT

Jordan Peele

LADY BIRD

Greta Gerwig

PHANTOM THREAD

Paul Thomas Anderson

*** THE SHAPE OF WATER ***

Guillermo del Toro
I’m not much of a fan of The Shape of Water, but Del Toro does terrific job in directing the lead actress and taking the story, which is pretty simple, almost a bit dumb, and elevating it into a wonderful cinematic experience, exactly the craftmanship of a director.

DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)

NOMINEES

ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL

Steve James, Mark Mitten and Julie Goldman

FACES PLACES

Agnès Varda, JR and Rosalie Varda

ICARUS

Bryan Fogel and Dan Cogan

*** LAST MEN IN ALEPPO ***

Feras Fayyad, Kareem Abeed and Søren Steen Jespersen
Tricky one again, but I believe Last Men in Aleppo deserve the win. Just the fact that someone has stuck their neck out to document the worst humanitarian crisis of our time, and brought up the real heroes of the conflict, the White Helmets, is commendable as itself. As a documentary the slightly staged feel some discussions and elements takes a bit away from its’ novelty value, but when the going gets rough, it’s as real as it can be, in all its’ horror.

STRONG ISLAND

Yance Ford and Joslyn Barnes

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)

NOMINEES

EDITH+EDDIE

Laura Checkoway and Thomas Lee Wright

*** HEAVEN IS A TRAFFIC JAM ON THE 405 ***

Frank Stiefel

HEROIN(E)

Elaine McMillion Sheldon and Kerrin Sheldon

KNIFE SKILLS

Thomas Lennon

TRAFFIC STOP

Kate Davis and David Heilbroner

FILM EDITING

NOMINEES

BABY DRIVER

Paul Machliss and Jonathan Amos

*** DUNKIRK ***

Lee Smith
War movies are extremely hard to put together and maintain the balance, but Lee Smith is able to run the big scale story and make it feel just huge and real. 

I, TONYA

Tatiana S. Riegel

THE SHAPE OF WATER

Sidney Wolinsky

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

Jon Gregory

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

NOMINEES

A FANTASTIC WOMAN

Chile

THE INSULT

Lebanon

LOVELESS

Russia

ON BODY AND SOUL

Hungary

*** THE SQUARE ***

Sweden
Since Cannes, Ruben Östlund’s The Square has been going around the award ceremonies, grabbing price after price – and for a good reason. The film feels alienated and cold in its’ nasty satirical tone, which is exactly where it aims. 

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

NOMINEES

*** DARKEST HOUR ***

Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski and Lucy Sibbick
However they managed to make Gary Oldman into an overweight old man is beyond me to understand, but as fat suits go, the work was brilliant. 

VICTORIA & ABDUL

Daniel Phillips and Lou Sheppard

WONDER

Arjen Tuiten

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

NOMINEES

DUNKIRK

Hans Zimmer

PHANTOM THREAD

Jonny Greenwood

*** THE SHAPE OF WATER ***

Alexandre Desplat
Beautiful, jazzy soundtrack that fits the film’s magical world like a nail in the head. Together with the beautiful production design and costumes, the music takes the viewer into the strange world of Del Toro and leaves no questions open whether or not it could happen.

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI

John Williams

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

Carter Burwell

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

NOMINEES

*** MIGHTY RIVER ***

from Mudbound; Music and Lyric by Mary J. Blige, Raphael Saadiq and Taura Stinson

MYSTERY OF LOVE

from Call Me by Your Name; Music and Lyric by Sufjan Stevens

REMEMBER ME

from Coco; Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez

STAND UP FOR SOMETHING

from Marshall; Music by Diane Warren; Lyric by Lonnie R. Lynn and Diane Warren

THIS IS ME

from The Greatest Showman; Music and Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

BEST PICTURE

NOMINEES

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME

Peter Spears, Luca Guadagnino, Emilie Georges and Marco Morabito, Producers

DARKEST HOUR

Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony McCarten and Douglas Urbanski, Producers

DUNKIRK

Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers

GET OUT

Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Edward H. Hamm Jr. and Jordan Peele, Producers

LADY BIRD

Scott Rudin, Eli Bush and Evelyn O’Neill, Producers

PHANTOM THREAD

JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson, Megan Ellison and Daniel Lupi, Producers

THE POST

Amy Pascal, Steven Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers

*** THE SHAPE OF WATER ***

Guillermo del Toro and J. Miles Dale, Producers
I think Del Toro’s magic reaches from screen to the Academy; the film speaks to both older and younger generation, to both filmmakers and film lovers and is the most special, defined movie of the year. Also, given its’ award run so far, I’d be surprised if it didn’t take home this one as well.

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh, Producers

PRODUCTION DESIGN

NOMINEES

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer

BLADE RUNNER 2049

Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Alessandra Querzola

DARKEST HOUR

Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer

DUNKIRK

Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis

*** THE SHAPE OF WATER ***

Production Design: Paul Denham Austerberry; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau and Jeffrey A. Melvin
This is a tricky fight between Blade Runner and Shape of Water, but this year is definitely Del Toro’s year, so it’s very probable Production Design goes here as well.

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

NOMINEES

DEAR BASKETBALL

Glen Keane and Kobe Bryant

GARDEN PARTY

Victor Caire and Gabriel Grapperon

*** LOU ***

Dave Mullins and Dana Murray

NEGATIVE SPACE

Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata

REVOLTING RHYMES

Jakob Schuh and Jan Lachauer

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)

NOMINEES

DEKALB ELEMENTARY

Reed Van Dyk

*** THE ELEVEN O’CLOCK ***

Derin Seale and Josh Lawson

MY NEPHEW EMMETT

Kevin Wilson, Jr.

THE SILENT CHILD

Chris Overton and Rachel Shenton

WATU WOTE/ALL OF US

Katja Benrath and Tobias Rosen

SOUND EDITING

NOMINEES

BABY DRIVER

Julian Slater

BLADE RUNNER 2049

Mark Mangini and Theo Green

DUNKIRK

Richard King and Alex Gibson

*** THE SHAPE OF WATER ***

Nathan Robitaille and Nelson Ferreira
The technical Oscars will definitely go to The Shape of Water.

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI

Matthew Wood and Ren Klyce

SOUND MIXING

NOMINEES

BABY DRIVER

Julian Slater, Tim Cavagin and Mary H. Ellis

BLADE RUNNER 2049

Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill and Mac Ruth

DUNKIRK

Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo and Mark Weingarten

*** THE SHAPE OF WATER ***

Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern and Glen Gauthier

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI

David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Stuart Wilson

VISUAL EFFECTS

NOMINEES

BLADE RUNNER 2049

John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert and Richard R. Hoover

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2

Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Jonathan Fawkner and Dan Sudick

KONG: SKULL ISLAND

Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff White, Scott Benza and Mike Meinardus

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI

Ben Morris, Mike Mulholland, Neal Scanlan and Chris Corbould

*** WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES ***

Joe Letteri, Daniel Barrett, Dan Lemmon and Joel Whist
For the first time in my life I’ve seen visual effects so good that they would fool me. At least that I know of. The apes of War for the Planet of the Apes are just next level amazing…

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

NOMINEES

*** CALL ME BY YOUR NAME ***

Screenplay by James Ivory
My personal favorite of the year, and although it won’t be winning big in any category, the script could easily fall here. Great characters, very believable setting and a surprising story that manages to tell a love story in a way that’s just relatable and beautiful without feeling tacky or fake.

THE DISASTER ARTIST

Screenplay by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber

LOGAN

Screenplay by Scott Frank & James Mangold and Michael Green; Story by James Mangold

MOLLY’S GAME

Written for the screen by Aaron Sorkin

MUDBOUND

Screenplay by Virgil Williams and Dee Rees

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

NOMINEES

THE BIG SICK

Written by Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani

GET OUT

Written by Jordan Peele

LADY BIRD

Written by Greta Gerwig

THE SHAPE OF WATER

Screenplay by Guillermo del Toro & Vanessa Taylor; Story by Guillermo del Toro

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

Written by Martin McDonagh
While The Shape will grab everything else, I think the script is the weakest point of the film, so there’s an opening for somebody else go and grab this award. Out of all the films, Three Billboards manages to create a story that’s very simple on its’ basic concept but grows and surprises everyone.

DENZEL WASHINGTON

Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Oscars

The 2017 Oscar Winners Are…

By No Comments

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Well, La La Land – it goes without saying – is going to win everything. I honestly think, though, that the film sucks. It’s a film about white people and nothing in particular. It’s a soothing, numbing experience that takes us away from the world’s horrors for a moment and gives us a chance to dance into the galaxy like there’s nothing to worry about in the world. Like there wasn’t a war in Syria, a Nazi regime in America shaping up, immigrants drowning trying to get to Europe and inequality and racism becoming a norm again everywhere in the world. To top that, it’s also a musical. Some people love them, but not me.

But let’s, for  just a short, passing minute think that Oscar voters wouldn’t be so obsessed with the good old days of Hollywood, and would actually be interested in contemporary films that have the balls to discuss the current topics, have great, unforgettable performances in them, directed by daring directors who fear not go where directors haven’t gone before, written by writers who care about the world around them and dare to speak their mind, and films that look, sound and feel like nothing you’ve ever seen, felt or heard before.

I know, this is not what Oscars are for, but if it was, the list of winners would be quite different.

The best picture would probably go to Moonlight, a film that discusses homosexuality in black communities. Casey Affleck would grab the best male performance from his extremely precise work on Manchester By Sea, and Emma Stone‘s amazing audition scene in La La Land would stand above all when choosing the best female performance.

Supporting roles would go to Jeff Bridges at Hell or High Water – or even, if the Academy was really daring, to Michael Shannon from Nocturnal Animals – and Viola Davis for her fucking amazing work in Fences.

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Barry Jenkins would grab the best director’s golden statue, and writing Oscars would go to Moonlight and Manchester By The Sea.

But, like I said, it won’t go down like this, unfortunately. La La Land will grab all the important ones it’s being nominated for, save maybe Ryan Gosling, who is merely a thin shadow of what Casey Affleck is a master in – you know, staring and doing nothing. Let’s not even get started with the craft Oscars, all going to La La for sure.

The actual competition this year will most likely be in Foreign Language film, to see whether The Academy fell in love with the German comedy Toni Erdmann more than with the Iranian drama The Salesman, and Documentary Feature, where they either go for the black history at 13th, or shed some tears to the poor souls of Fire At Sea, trying to escape the Middle-Eastern and African horrors to Europe.

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Nevertheless, because Oscars are not about who should get it, but a game of trying to guess what The Academy prefers – here’s my gritty Oscar ballot, left here with a unsatisfied frown on my face. (Note 24.2.2017 – I’m still about to watch few of the contenders, so this might change, but I’ll update latest when the actual broadcast begins.)

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Oh – and if you ask me, the best picture of 2017 was Manchester By The Sea, and the best actor and actress were Casey Affleck and Emma Stone.