2018 OSCARS: The Winners

Here are the winners of the 90th Academy Awards. I correctly predicted 7 of 8 of the Top categories (hoped for the Lady Bird upset) and 17 of 24 overall.

Best Motion Picture of the Year
The Shape of Water

Achievement in Directing
The Shape of Water – Guillermo del Toro

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Gary Oldman – Darkest Hour

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Frances McDormand – Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Allison Janney – I, Tonya

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Sam Rockwell – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Achievement in Cinematography
Blade Runner 2049 – Roger A. Deakins

Original Screenplay
Get Out – Jordan Peele

Adapted Screenplay
Call Me By Your Name – James Ivory

Achievement in Film Editing
Dunkirk – Lee Smith

Achievement in Music (Original Score)
The Shape of Water – Alexandre Desplat

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
A Fantastic Woman – Chile

Best Documentary Feature
"Icarus" – Bryan Fogel and Dan Cogan

Achievement in Production Design
The Shape of Water Production Design: – Paul Denham Austerberry; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau and Jeff Melvin

Achievement in Costume Design
Phantom Thread – Mark Bridges

Achievement in Sound Editing
Dunkirk – Richard King and Alex Gibson

Achievement in Sound Mixing
Dunkirk – Mark Weingarten, Gregg Landaker and Gary A. Rizzo

Achievement in Visual Effects
Blade Runner 2049 – John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert and Richard R. Hoover

Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling
Darkest Hour – Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski and Lucy Sibbick

Achievement in Music (Original Song)
"Remember Me" from Coco
Music and Lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez

Best Documentary Short Subject
"Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405" – Frank Stiefel

Best Live Action Short Film
"The Silent Child" – Chris Overton and Rachel Shenton

Best Animated Short Film
"Dear Basketball" – Glen Keane and Kobe Bryant

FILM REVIEW: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

This summer's crop of movies has been somewhat disappointing to me. The biggest box-office successes released in summer 2014 are: 1) Guardians of the Galaxy ($262M); 2) Captain America : The Winter Soldier ($259M); 3) Transformers : Age of Extinction ($243M); 4) Maleficent ($237M); 5) X-Men: Days of Future Past ($232M). As you can see, I have only seen 2 of the Top 5 box-office hits to date. In fact, of the three I haven't seen the only one I would probably be interested in trying to see

One of the summer's hits that I wanted to see but almost didn't get around to it is Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, which is at #6 on the summer box-office list with $204M. I didn't see the original in the theaters, but I did see it, and I was impressed by that reboot of the venerable Planet of the Apes franchise starring James Franco to be interested to see how the story develops.

The sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, does not star Franco, but instead is carried by performances by Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke and Andy Serkis (as the motion capture source for Caesar, the talking ape from the first film). However, what sets apart this film from the other summer entertainment is the direction by Matt Reeves as well as a surprisingly clever script.

The new film starts about ten years after the events of the first film. There has been an epidemic which has basically led to a collapse of civilization. The apes from the first film have formed their own society in the depopulated woods of Northern California with Caesar as their leader.

However conflict with the humans resumes when a group lead by Jason Clarke's character ventures into the woods  to try and restart a power station in order to maintain electricity to San Francisco, where a sizable contingent of survivors who are genetically immune to the contagion which has decimated society.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the best film that I saw all summer long. The visual effects are truly astonishing, and within the first half-hour you really start to see the apes as fully realized characters with personalities and motivations clearly communicated (mostly through signs and subtitles). The story is compelling because it features both intra-species and inter-species conflicts.

Among the humans, there are factions that refuse to believe that the apes can be anything but dumb animals and want to use their technological advantages (particularly in armaments and weapons) to exterminate the apes and just take over the land that they want to insure their source of electricity.
However, there are humans who want to co-exist with the apes and they are able to negotiate with Caesar to give them enough access to the power station to fix it.

However, among the apes there are those who remember their torture and abuse (some would call it experiments in the name of science!) and who completely distrust the humans. They think that Caesar is too accommodating to the humans and when these apes learn of the stockpile of guns and ammunition the humans have back in the City they are sure this signals treacherous intentions among the humans.

So, the film's plot revolves around the worst elements in both factions inexorably leading the better, more openminded elements of the humans and apes into a violent conflict that will lead to many deaths on both sides.

All of this goes on in the context of the audience's knowledge of the future that these events presage a world where the apes are in complete ascendance and humans are viewed as chattel and uncivilized, violent creatures.

The result is an exciting, thought-provoking and emotionally satisfying movie which is great to look at and lingers with you afterwards as you ponder the issues it raised.

Title:  Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
Director: Matt Reeves.
Running Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes.
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and brief strong language.
Release Date: July 11, 2014.
Viewing Date: August 18, 2014.

Writing: A.
Acting: C.
Visuals: A.
Impact: A-.

Overall Grade: B-/C+ (2.50/4.0).

FILM REVIEW: The Dark Knight Rises

The third movie in director Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, is now difficult to be seen outside of the context of a horrific act of gun violence by a mad man and the follow-on to one of the most successful films of the last decade, 2008's The Dark Knight. However, to me, it was my most anticipated film of the year because it is the new film by my favorite director. Nolan's previous film was the brilliant Inception, my favorite film of 2010.

The Dark Knight Rises stars Oscar winners Christian Bale, Sir Michael Caine, Marion Cotillard and Morgan Freeman. Also in the cast are Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman. The film's screenplay was written by Nolan and his brother Jonathan Nolan. The film's story is credited to Nolan and David S. Goyer (Dark City, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight).

As expected, the film has set the box-office aflame, although not at quite the same torrid pace of the record setting The Dark Knight. That movie made over $1 billion worldwide, and grossed $533 million dollars domestically. It has a current rating of 94% on rottentomatoes.com while the sequel has a rating of 87%. The sequel The Dark Knight Rises  grossed $353 million domestically in the first 17 days of release, which is about 11% below where The Dark Knight was at that point.

So, which film is better? I would unequivocally answer that The Dark Knight Rises is the better movie, and clearly the best of Nolan's Batman trilogy. Having seen the film twice in its first two weeks of release, I can summarize the high points of the film.

They are: Hathaway's performance as Catwoman Selina Kayle, Hardy's performance as Bane and Gordon-Levitt's John Blake. Other key components are Nolan's direction, Hans Zimmer's score and the overall "look and feel" of the movie, which I think would be art direction/production design. I even apprecviated Cotillard's surprisingly small (but pivotal) role as Miranda Tate. Hathaway looks amazing as the cat burglar who forms an uneasy alliance with Bruce Wayne/Batman but who also betrays him in a potentially deadly fashion. I'm a Kinsey 6 (exclusively homosexual) but even I was looking at Hathaway in her catsuit going, "Damn that is one hot outfit!" Hardy is absolutely terrifying as Bane. One's first reaction when one sees him on screen is "Oh my goodness what have they done to Tom Hardy's body? The guy is huge!" Bane is physically imposing and extremely threatening. Despite (or maybe because he is) wearing a bizarre facial mask which only reveals his eyes, Hardy is forced to use his voice and physical presence to convey the nuances of his character and he does an outstanding job. Gordon-Levitt has left his child star days long behind him with his breakout roles in (500) Days of Summer and Inception. Here he plays the main audience surrogate as a fresh-faced police officer who is a fan of the now-reviled Batman and who never loses sight of the greater good. As in most Nolan's film the casting of every role is exquisite, even in essentially tiny roles. One of my personal favorite actors, the attractive Daniel Sunjata has a way too-brief appearance as a special forces officer.

The script is engaging, and includes some very nice twists and surprising reveals at the end. That is not to say that the plot hang together completely, but the central questions posed by entire trilogy such as "What are the implications and complications of an ordinary man with extraordinary resources who decides to put on a mask and fight crime and evil in a crime-ridden city?" The way Nolan resolves these issues in the third film are extremely satisfying and one walks out of the theater appreciating the way the three films work together as a cohesive and continuous story.

The Dark Knight Rises is not just an excellent example of a summer superhero movie but is also an example of simply a very good film, and finding one film which is able to exist as examples of both of these is quite a rare thing indeed.

Title: The Dark Knight Rises.
Director: Christopher Nolan.
Running Time: 2 hours, 45 minutes.
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, some sensuality and language.
Release Date: July 20, 2012.
Viewing Date: July 23, 2012 (and July 28, 2012).

Writing: A.
Acting: A.
Visuals: A+.
Impact: A.

Overall Grade: A/A+ (4.083/4.0).

2012 OSCARS: Actual vs. Predicted Nominations

Best Picture 

The Artist

The Descendants

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

The Help

Hugo

Midnight in Paris

Moneyball

Tree of Life
War Horse


MadProfessah's Predictions: 7 out of 9.

Best Director

• Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
• David Fincher, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Michael Hazanavicius, The Artist
• Terrence Malick, Tree of Life
• Alexander Payne, The Descendants
• Martin Scorsese, Hugo

MadProfessah's Predictions: 4 out of 5.


Best Actress

• Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
• Viola Davis, The Help
• Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
• Tilda Swinton, We Need To Talk About Kevin
• Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn

MadProfessah's Predictions: 4 out of 5.


Best Actor

• Demián Bichir, A Better Life
• George Clooney, The Descendants
• Leonardo Dicaprio, J. Edgar 
• Jean Dujardins, The Artist
• Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
• Brad Pitt, Moneyball

MadProfessah's Predictions: 4 out of 5.


Best Supporting Actress

• Berenice Bejo, The Artist
• Jessica Chastain, The Help
• Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
• Vanessa Redgrave, Coriolanus
• Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
• Olivia Spencer, The Help

MadProfessah's Predictions: 4 out of 5.

Best Supporting Actor

• Albert Brooks, Drive
• Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
• Armie Hammer, J. Edgar
• Jonah Hill,  Moneyball
• Christopher Plummer,  Beginners
• Andy Serkis, Rise of the Planet of the Apes
• Max Von Sydow, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

MadProfessah's Predictions: 3 out of 5.

Best Original Screenplay

• Michael Hazanavicius, The Artist
• Mike Mills, Beginners
• Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, Bridesmaids
• J.C. Chandor, Margin Call
• Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
• Diablo Cody, Young Adult
• Asghar Farhadi, A Separation

MadProfessah's Predictions: 3 out of 5.


Best Adapted Screenplay

• Alexander Payne, Nat Faxton and Jim Rash, The Descendants
• Tate Taylor, The Help
• John Logan, Hugo
• Aaron Sorkin, Steve Zaillian, and Stan Chervin, Moneyball
• George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon, The Ides of March
• Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan,  Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

MadProfessah's Predictions: 4 out of 5.


ANALYSIS

My overall total accuracy rate from the Top 8 categories is 75.0% (33 correct out of 44). This is a decrease from last year's astonishing 91% accuracy rate (41 out of 45) and lower than 2010's 82% accuracy (37 of 45). Interestingly, another thing I predicted correctly was that there would be 9 Best Picture nominations, not 10 for the first time in history (the new rule is that any film with first-place votes which is at least 5% of the total number of Oscar ballots gets a Best Picture nomination).


I underestimated the total for Hugo, which leads with 11 nominations, followed closely by The Artist at 10 nominations with War Horse tied Moneyball back at 6. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (which was robbed of a Best Picture and Best Director nomination--Memo to David Fincher: "they really, really don't like you!") ended up with 5, along with putative front-runner The Descendants.

The Oscars will be handed out on Sunday February 26th at 7pm EST.