Thursday, January 16, 2014

And the actual nominations...

Short Animated
The only shoo-in here is Get a Horse! and there are 9 other possibilities, so I'm kinda picking at random (not having seen any of these):
Get a Horse!
Gloria Victoria
Mr. Hublot
Subconcious Password
The Missing Scarf


(Alternates: Feral, Hollow Land, Possessions, Requiem for a Romance, Room on the Broom)

Short Live
Again - no idea, having yet to see these...
Kush
Record/Play

The Voorman Problem
Helium
Tiger Boy

(Alternates: Throat Song, Aquel No Era Yo, Avant Que De Tout Perdre, Dva, Pitaako)

Short Documentary
Hey - I am confident that Slomo will be nominated here, as it won an IDA and was nominated for a CinemaEye. Huzzah for having a feeling about 1! However, despite the fact that CinemaEye nominated 15 other doc shorts, none of those others overlap with Oscar's shortlist. Fabulous.
Slomo (Upset! Upset I say!)
CaveDigger
Facing Fear
Prison Terminal

Recollections

(Alternates: Karama Has No Walls, Jujitsu-ing Reality, The Lady in Number 6)

Best Sound - Mixing and Editing
Lord God I have no idea. The CAS nominations were today, for mixing. The Sound Editors Guild doesn't announce nominations till the 18th. And I don't know if other award show dropped this category this year or what. Last year the BAFTAs, BFCA, and Satellites all had sound nominees, but I didn't catch them this year if they did. The only film I know to have won any sound awards at all this year was Upstream Color (deservedly, but unlikely to repeat at the Oscars.)

Sound Mixing:
Gravity
Captain Phillips
Lone Survivor
Inside Llewyn Davis

Iron Man 3
The Hobbit

(Alternates: Rush, All Is Lost, 12 Years a Slave, Pacific Rim, Man of Steel)

Sound Editing:
Gravity
Captain Phillips
Rush
All Is Lost
Pacific Rim (How do you not nominate the sound of a robot swinging a shipping container into a monster?)

The Hobbit (Man, the Oscars sure do like Bandersnatch Cumberbund's voice)
Lone Survivor

(Alternates: Man of Steel, Iron Man 3, Star Trek)

Song
Ah yes, a shortlist of 75. Ok - Let it Go and Ordinary Love seem like safe bets. Probably also Atlas and Sweeter Than Fiction. Of the 5 possible Gatsby songs, they seem to be pushing Young and Beautiful. Please Mr. Kennedy from Inside Llewyn Davis is ineligible. So:
Atlas - Coldplay - Hunger Games
Let It Go - Indina Menzel - Frozen
Ordinary Love - U2 - Mandela (HEY! DID YOU KNOW U2 WORKED FOR MANDELA TO SOLVE APARTHEID?!)
Sweeter Than Fiction - Taylor Swift - One Chance (Which I still don't believe has been released in the US)
Young and Beautiful - Lana Del Rey - Great Gatsby
Alone Yet Not Alone And the weirdest out of left field evangelical christian nominee is, oh, what's that you say? It is written by an Academy Governor? And Chief of the Music Branch? Oh. Ooooh.

(Alternates: Happy - Pharrell - Despicable Me 2, Last Mile Home - Kings of Leon - August Osage County, The Moon Song - Karen O - Her, Amen - Alex Ebert - All Is Lost, A Little Party Never Killed Nobody - Fergie - Great Gatsby)

Score
Finally, we're into the categories with some actual precursors to go on.
All Is Lost (the GG win doesn't help, but the nomination may have)
12 Years a Slave
Gravity
[Inside Llewyn Davis]
The Book Thief (weird, but nominated by the GGs and BAFTA, so I feel like it may have momentum)
Philomena

[ED UPDATE 1/14/14: Apparently Inside Llewyn Davis is ineligible? So, I add Saving Mr. Banks, and put Frozen in the alternate spot.]

(Alternates: Saving Mr. Banks (ugh), Captain Phillips, Her)

Visual Effects
Another one with the guild nominations today. Gravity led, with Pacific Rim and then the Hobbit following.
Gravity
Pacific Rim
The Hobbit
Star Trek

Iron Man 3
(Alternates: The Lone Ranger (probably should be nominated, but poor box office. The guild at least recognized it with a nom.), Elysium)

Production Design
Production Design and Costumes are always a little harder to predict, because the guilds separate out nominees by Period, Fantasy and Contemporary categories. However, it has led to one of my favorite nominations this season: Wolf of Wall Street for contemporary production design. Go home, art directors, you're drunk. (Before you argue that maybe anything post 1960 is contemporary, American Hustle is counted as period. So unless the cutoff is 1985...)
Great Gatsby
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle

The Hobbit
Wolf of Wall Street

Oh lord, I forgot Gravity. That was up for a guild award. I shoulda known better...

(Alternates: Her, Inside Llewyn Davis. I refuse to put Saving Mr. Banks.)

Costume
Hunger Games
American Hustle
Great Gatsby
12 Years a Slave

Saving Mr. Banks. *SIGH.*
The Grandmaster
The Invisible Woman


(Alternates: Dallas Buyers Club, Oz, Her.)

Makeup
Oh, you totally bizarre mis-mash of a shortlist.
American Hustle
Hunger Games
Dallas Buyers Club
The Lone Ranger

(Alternates: Great Gatsby, Hansel & Gretel, Jackass)

Cinematography
This is such a weird category anymore. They so need to split into directed animation and traditional cinematography. I'd say 12 Years, Inside Llewyn Davis, and Gravity are all shoo-ins. After that, you've got Nebraska, Captain Phillips (which got its only two nominations late in the season - so upsurge in momentum?), Prisoners (GIVE ROGER ONE ALREADY), All Is Lost, and the Indies had the excellent taste to nominate Spring Breakers. I'm gonna go with:
12 Years a Slave
Inside Llewyn Davis
Gravity

Nebraska Prisoners
The Grandmaster (here and not in foreign - whaaaa?)

(Alternates: Captain Phillips, All Is Lost)

Editing
Ah, one where the guild nominates 10 to the Oscar's 5. I always have a tricky time on editing, because while Rush would seem a shoo-in, these tend to follow the best picture nominees. Except that Oscar only nominates, you know, 5 best edited to the 8-10 best picture nominees. Helpful.
Gravity
12 Years a Slave

Wolf of Wall Street
American Hustle
Captain Phillips

Dallas Buyers Club

(Alternates: Her, Inside Llewyn Davis, Nebraska)

Foregin Film
Another odd category, as almost every critics group picked either The Act of Killing or Blue is the Warmest Color, and neither is eligible here. A few even picked Wadjda or The Past - also both ineligible. So is Gloria or the Wind Also Rises. Of those that are eligible, both The Great Beauty and the Hunt have received several nods. The Grandmaster and Broken Circle Breakdown got one and two, respectively. So:
The Great Beauty
The Hunt
Broken Circle Breakdown

The Grandmaster
As for the last one... I've heard of The Notebook (it was picked up for distribution) and Two Lives (playing SF soon). So, I'll go with Two Lives.

(Alternates: The Notebook, Omar, The Missing Picture.)

Documentary
Oooh - this one is tough. 15 film shortlist. The Act of Killing is the only certainty. After that, Stories We Tell, 20 Feet From Stardom, Blackfish, The Square, and Tim's Vermeer have all received awards, and all have good recognition. Cutie and the Boxer and The Armstrong Lie have a few nominations, and The Crash Reel just got a DGA nom. The PGA only nominated Life According to Sam, which is not helpful in narrowing things down.
The Act of Killing
Stories We Tell
Blackfish
The Square
20 Feet from Stardom

Dirty Wars
Cutie and the Boxer



(Alternates: Tim's Vermeer (I feel like this has momentum recently), The Armstrong Lie)

[ED NOTE: Sadly, I heard that the boy Sam in Life According to Sam passed away yesterday of his progeria.]

Animated
The Wind Rises
Frozen
Despicable Me 2

Monsters University
and I hope to god Ernest & Celestine over the Croods.

(Alternats: Croods, Epic, Cloudy with a Chance)

Screenplay
Screenplay is always a strange one to guess, because half the scripts are ineligible for the guild nominations. Nevertheless:
Screenplay - Original
Nebraska
American Hustle
Her
Blue Jasmine

Inside Llewyn Davis

(Alternates: Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity)

Screenplay - Adapted
12 Years a Slave
Philomena
Wolf of Wall Street

August Osage County
Captain Phillips

(Alternates: Before Midnight, Lone Survivor)

Director
Last year, I was tickled pink that David O. Russell made it in over Tom Hooper. This year, I'm hoping Spike Jonze makes it in over him or Paul Greengrass.
Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
David O. Russell, American Hustle
Martin Scorsese, Wolf of Wall Street
Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips
Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave

(Alternates: Spike Jonze - Her, the Coens - Inside Llewyn Davis, Alexander Payne - Nebraska)

Supporting Actor
Barkhad Abdi - Captain Phillips
Bradley Cooper - American Hustle
Daniel Bruhl - Rush
Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club
Michael Fassbender - 12 Years a Slave

(Alternates: Jonah Hill - Wolf of Wall Street, James Gandolfini - Enough Said, James Franco - Spring Breakers)

Supporting Actress
Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle
Julia Roberts - August Osage County (ugh)
June Squibb - Nebraska
Lupita Nyong'o - 12 Years a Slave
Oprah and Sally Hawkins have split the rest. I think it'll go Oprah, like the SAGs.

(Alternates: Sally Hawkins - Blue Jasmine. I really don't see Lea Seydoux or Octavia Spencer getting in here.)

Actor
Bruce Dern - Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave
Tom Hanks - Captain Phillips
Leonardo DiCaprio - Wolf of Wall Street
Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club

(Alternates: Robert Redford - All Is Lost (could easily swap with Leo), Christian Bale - American Hustle)

Actress
Amy Adams - American Hustle
Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
Emma Thompson - Saving Mr. Banks
Judi Dench - Philomena
Sandra Bullock - Gravity

(Alternates: Meryl Streep - August Osage County. Honestly? I don't think anyone else is close. But. Brie Larson - Short Term 12, Adele Exarchopoulos - Blue is the Warmest Color, Greta Gerwig - Frances Ha.)

Picture
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Gravity
Her

Inside Llewyn Davis
Wolf of Wall Street
The above are pretty sure, I think. I think Fruitvale Station is totally out at this point, sadly. (As is The Butler.) Then you have the crop of Nebraska, Philomena, Rush, Dallas Buyers Club, Saving Mr. Banks, and Blue Jasmine. That group all has at least 1 nomination from the PGA, BAFTAs, Golden Globes, and/or BFCA. Dallas and Blue Jasmine only have two nominations a piece from those groups, and I don't think they were particularly strong contenders anyway. So I will say if:
8 nominations: include Nebraska
9: Saving Mr. Banks (ugh ugh ugh)
10: Rush
Dallas Buyers Club

Over on goldderby, I got 83/122. I literally have been unable to add up a tally on my own blog that equals that, or that comes out the same each time, so apparently I need more sleep. Or a better calculator. I think I got 11 first round alternate picks correct. So that is 68% correct, or 77% with first pick alternates. Worse than 2012 (89), better than 2011 (71) and 2010 (74).

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Predicting the Oscar Noms

I have given up on catching up on 2013 films before the Oscar nominations come out. There is no more time. I go to the theater tonight and have plans tomorrow. C'est la vie. I will get around to my top 10 of 2013 soon (I'm REALLY holding off on that till I see Her and Inside Llewyn Davis, and preferably some combination of The Great Beauty, The Hunt, Ain't Them Bodies Saints, Blue is the Warmest Color and Nebraska) as well as what *I* think should be up for the Oscars.

But, for now, what do I think will actually get the nod?

Short Animated
The only shoo-in here is Get a Horse! and there are 9 other possibilities, so I'm kinda picking at random (not having seen any of these):
Get a Horse!
Gloria Victoria
Mr. Hublot
Subconcious Password
The Missing Scarf

(Alternates: Feral, Hollow Land, Possessions, Requiem for a Romance, Room on the Broom)

Short Live
Again - no idea, having yet to see these...
Kush
Record/Play
The Voorman Problem
Helium
Tiger Boy

(Alternates: Throat Song, Aquel No Era Yo, Avant Que De Tout Perdre, Dva, Pitaako)

Short Documentary
Hey - I am confident that Slomo will be nominated here, as it won an IDA and was nominated for a CinemaEye. Huzzah for having a feeling about 1! However, despite the fact that CinemaEye nominated 15 other doc shorts, none of those others overlap with Oscar's shortlist. Fabulous.
Slomo
CaveDigger
Facing Fear
Prison Terminal
Recollections

(Alternates: Karama Has No Walls, Jujitsu-ing Reality, The Lady in Number 6)

Best Sound - Mixing and Editing
Lord God I have no idea. The CAS nominations were today, for mixing. The Sound Editors Guild doesn't announce nominations till the 18th. And I don't know if other award show dropped this category this year or what. Last year the BAFTAs, BFCA, and Satellites all had sound nominees, but I didn't catch them this year if they did. The only film I know to have won any sound awards at all this year was Upstream Color (deservedly, but unlikely to repeat at the Oscars.)

Sound Mixing:
Gravity
Captain Phillips
Lone Survivor
Inside Llewyn Davis
Iron Man 3

(Alternates: Rush, All Is Lost, 12 Years a Slave, Pacific Rim, Man of Steel)

Sound Editing:
Gravity
Captain Phillips
Rush
All Is Lost
Pacific Rim

(Alternates: Man of Steel, Iron Man 3, Star Trek)

Song
Ah yes, a shortlist of 75. Ok - Let it Go and Ordinary Love seem like safe bets. Probably also Atlas and Sweeter Than Fiction. Of the 5 possible Gatsby songs, they seem to be pushing Young and Beautiful. Please Mr. Kennedy from Inside Llewyn Davis is ineligible. So:
Atlas - Coldplay - Hunger Games
Let It Go - Indina Menzel - Frozen
Ordinary Love - U2 - Mandela (HEY! DID YOU KNOW U2 WORKED FOR MANDELA TO SOLVE APARTHEID?!)
Sweeter Than Fiction - Taylor Swift - One Chance (Which I still don't believe has been released in the US)
Young and Beautiful - Lana Del Rey - Great Gatsby

(Alternates: Happy - Pharrell - Despicable Me 2, Last Mile Home - Kings of Leon - August Osage County, The Moon Song - Karen O - Her, Amen - Alex Ebert - All Is Lost, A Little Party Never Killed Nobody - Fergie - Great Gatsby)

Score
Finally, we're into the categories with some actual precursors to go on.
All Is Lost (the GG win doesn't help, but the nomination may have)
12 Years a Slave
Gravity
Inside Llewyn Davis
The Book Thief (weird, but nominated by the GGs and BAFTA, so I feel like it may have momentum)

[ED UPDATE 1/14/14: Apparently Inside Llewyn Davis is ineligible? So, I add Saving Mr. Banks, and put Frozen in the alternate spot.]

(Alternates: Saving Mr. Banks (ugh), Captain Phillips, Her)

Visual Effects
Another one with the guild nominations today. Gravity led, with Pacific Rim and then the Hobbit following.
Gravity
Pacific Rim
The Hobbit
Star Trek
Iron Man 3

(Alternates: The Lone Ranger (probably should be nominated, but poor box office. The guild at least recognized it with a nom.), Elysium)

Production Design
Production Design and Costumes are always a little harder to predict, because the guilds separate out nominees by Period, Fantasy and Contemporary categories. However, it has led to one of my favorite nominations this season: Wolf of Wall Street for contemporary production design. Go home, art directors, you're drunk. (Before you argue that maybe anything post 1960 is contemporary, American Hustle is counted as period. So unless the cutoff is 1985...)
Great Gatsby
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
The Hobbit
Wolf of Wall Street

(Alternates: Her, Inside Llewyn Davis. I refuse to put Saving Mr. Banks.)

Costume
Hunger Games
American Hustle
Great Gatsby
12 Years a Slave
Saving Mr. Banks. *SIGH.*

(Alternates: Dallas Buyers Club, Oz, Her.)

Makeup
Oh, you totally bizarre mis-mash of a shortlist.
American Hustle
Hunger Games
Dallas Buyers Club

(Alternates: Great Gatsby, Hansel & Gretel, Jackass)

Cinematography
This is such a weird category anymore. They so need to split into directed animation and traditional cinematography. I'd say 12 Years, Inside Llewyn Davis, and Gravity are all shoo-ins. After that, you've got Nebraska, Captain Phillips (which got its only two nominations late in the season - so upsurge in momentum?), Prisoners (GIVE ROGER ONE ALREADY), All Is Lost, and the Indies had the excellent taste to nominate Spring Breakers. I'm gonna go with:
12 Years a Slave
Inside Llewyn Davis
Gravity
Nebraska
Prisoners

(Alternates: Captain Phillips, All Is Lost)

Editing
Ah, one where the guild nominates 10 to the Oscar's 5. I always have a tricky time on editing, because while Rush would seem a shoo-in, these tend to follow the best picture nominees. Except that Oscar only nominates, you know, 5 best edited to the 8-10 best picture nominees. Helpful.
Gravity
12 Years a Slave
Wolf of Wall Street
American Hustle
Captain Phillips

(Alternates: Her, Inside Llewyn Davis, Nebraska)

Foregin Film
Another odd category, as almost every critics group picked either The Act of Killing or Blue is the Warmest Color, and neither is eligible here. A few even picked Wadjda or The Past - also both ineligible. So is Gloria or the Wind Also Rises. Of those that are eligible, both The Great Beauty and the Hunt have received several nods. The Grandmaster and Broken Circle Breakdown got one and two, respectively. So:
The Great Beauty
The Hunt
Broken Circle Breakdown
The Grandmaster
As for the last one... I've heard of The Notebook (it was picked up for distribution) and Two Lives (playing SF soon). So, I'll go with Two Lives.

(Alternates: The Notebook, Omar, The Missing Picture.)

Documentary
Oooh - this one is tough. 15 film shortlist. The Act of Killing is the only certainty. After that, Stories We Tell, 20 Feet From Stardom, Blackfish, The Square, and Tim's Vermeer have all received awards, and all have good recognition. Cutie and the Boxer and The Armstrong Lie have a few nominations, and The Crash Reel just got a DGA nom. The PGA only nominated Life According to Sam, which is not helpful in narrowing things down.
The Act of Killing
Stories We Tell
Blackfish
The Square
20 Feet from Stardom

(Alternates: Tim's Vermeer (I feel like this has momentum recently), The Armstrong Lie)

[ED NOTE: Sadly, I heard that the boy Sam in Life According to Sam passed away yesterday of his progeria.]

Animated
The Wind Rises
Frozen
Despicable Me 2
Monsters University
and I hope to god Ernest & Celestine over the Croods.

(Alternats: Croods, Epic, Cloudy with a Chance)

Screenplay
Screenplay is always a strange one to guess, because half the scripts are ineligible for the guild nominations. Nevertheless:
Screenplay - Original
Nebraska
American Hustle
Her
Blue Jasmine
Inside Llewyn Davis

(Alternates: Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity)

Screenplay - Adapted
12 Years a Slave
Philomena
Wolf of Wall Street
August Osage County
Captain Phillips

(Alternates: Before Midnight, Lone Survivor)

Director
Last year, I was tickled pink that David O. Russell made it in over Tom Hooper. This year, I'm hoping Spike Jonze makes it in over him or Paul Greengrass.
Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
David O. Russell, American Hustle
Martin Scorsese, Wolf of Wall Street
Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips
Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave

(Alternates: Spike Jonze - Her, the Coens - Inside Llewyn Davis, Alexander Payne - Nebraska)

Supporting Actor
Barkhad Abdi - Captain Phillips
Bradley Cooper - American Hustle
Daniel Bruhl - Rush
Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club
Michael Fassbender - 12 Years a Slave

(Alternates: Jonah Hill - Wolf of Wall Street, James Gandolfini - Enough Said, James Franco - Spring Breakers)

Supporting Actress
Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle
Julia Roberts - August Osage County (ugh)
June Squibb - Nebraska
Lupita Nyong'o - 12 Years a Slave
Oprah and Sally Hawkins have split the rest. I think it'll go Oprah, like the SAGs.

(Alternates: Sally Hawkins - Blue Jasmine. I really don't see Lea Seydoux or Octavia Spencer getting in here.)

Actor
Bruce Dern - Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave
Tom Hanks - Captain Phillips
Leonardo DiCaprio - Wolf of Wall Street
Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club

(Alternates: Robert Redford - All Is Lost (could easily swap with Leo), Christian Bale - American Hustle)

Actress
Amy Adams - American Hustle
Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
Emma Thompson - Saving Mr. Banks
Judi Dench - Philomena
Sandra Bullock - Gravity

(Alternates: Meryl Streep - August Osage County. Honestly? I don't think anyone else is close. But. Brie Larson - Short Term 12, Adele Exarchopoulos - Blue is the Warmest Color, Greta Gerwig - Frances Ha.)

Picture
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Gravity
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Wolf of Wall Street

The above are pretty sure, I think. I think Fruitvale Station is totally out at this point, sadly. (As is The Butler.) Then you have the crop of Nebraska, Philomena, Rush, Dallas Buyers Club, Saving Mr. Banks, and Blue Jasmine. That group all has at least 1 nomination from the PGA, BAFTAs, Golden Globes, and/or BFCA. Dallas and Blue Jasmine only have two nominations a piece from those groups, and I don't think they were particularly strong contenders anyway. So I will say if:
8 nominations: include Nebraska
9: Saving Mr. Banks (ugh ugh ugh)
10: Rush

There we go. Last year, I predicted 89 correct outright and 103 including first pick alternates. Let's see if I beat it on Thursday. 

Monday, January 13, 2014

2014 Most Anticipated

I am SO behind for 2013 that I am spending most of January catching up. But. In fun, awry tradition, here are the films I am excited for this year.

I'm not including Mockingjay part 1, because despite how great I thought Catching Fire was, it is stupid to break that book in two.

There are a number of Sundance films that look really interesting, but of course most are not yet assured of a 2014 release:
Whiplash (drama competition)
God's Pocket (Philip Seymour Hoffman, drama competition)
Hellion (Aaron Paul, drama competition)
Life After Beth (Dane DeHaan, Aubrey Plaza as a zombie, drama competition)
Low Down (John Hawkes, drama competition)
Skeleton Twins (Bill Hader, drama competition)
Lilting (Ben Whishaw)
God Help the Girl (musical)
A Girl Walks Home at Night (Iranian vampires)
The Voices (Ryan Reynolds, evil talking cat)
Frank (Fassbender)
Trip to Italy (Coogan/Brydon)
Cavalry (Gleeson, Aiden Gillen, Dylan Moran, Chris O'Dowd)
Laggies (Rockwell)
A Most Wanted Man (Philip Seymour Hoffman)
Rudderless (Billy Crudup)
White Bird in a Blizzard (Araki, Eva Green)
Dinosaur 13 (oscar doc buzz)
The Sleepwalker (horror, drama competition)
Jamie Marks is Dead (horror, drama competition)
What We Do in the Shadows (NZ horror - Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement)
The Better Angels (Brit Marling, Wes Bentley)

And here are a few more I am currently looking forward to:
99 Homes (Andrew Garfield, Michael Shannon)
Amazing Spider Man 2 (Assuming they leave Marc Webb alone this time)
Animal Rescue (Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, Matthias Schoenaerts)
Big Eyes (Tim Burton)
Birdman (Emma Stone, Edward Norton, Michael Keaton, Andrea Riseborough)
Captain America: Winter Soldier (Chris Evans, even though tumblr seems to be excited for Sebastian Stan)
Carol (Todd Haynes, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara)
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (Rise was surprisingly good. Hope that keeps up)
Enemy (Jake Gyllenhaal, good reviews at TIFF (I've heard the trailer has spoilers, so I'm not linking))
Exodus (Christian Bale, Aaron Paul)
Far From the Maddening Crowd (Thomas Vinterberg, Michael Sheen, Matthias Schoenaerts, Carey Mulligan)
Foxcatcher (Steve Carrell goes dark. I'm still sad this wasn't ready for oscar season this year.)
Gone Girl (I haven't read the book, because I loathed Sharp Objects, but I'm excited for anything of David Fincher's.)
Guardians of the Galaxy (a raccoon with a gun)
I Origins (Mike Cahill, Brit Marling - I really liked their first film, Another Earth) (Oops, another Sundance one.)
Island of Lemurs (It's a movie with lemurs in IMAX. What's not to like? Fuck, I want to go back to Madagascar.)
Joe (David Gordon Green, Nicholas Cage)
Jupiter Ascending (The Wachowskis. I loved a lot of Cloud Atlas. I'm excited to see their next.)
The Lobster (Yorgos Lanthimos, Ben Whishaw, Jason Clarke)
Locke (Tom Hardy)
Kill Me Three Times (Simon Pegg as a hitman. I mean, what?)
Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (Rinko Kikuchi) (Oh, whoops. Another Sundance film. Also in dramatic competition)
Night Moves (Kelly Reichardt, Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning, Peter Sarsgaard)
Open Grave (Sharlto Copley)
Smash & Grab (Danny Boyle)
They Came Together (David Wain, Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler. Closest we are getting to a Wet Hot American Summer.)
To Be Two (Casey Affleck)
Tracks (Mia Wasikowska in the outback. Awesome.)
Unbroken (Angie dir., Roger Deakins shooting)
We are the Best (Swedish film with good TIFF reviews)

And here are my Top 10 Most Anticipated:
10. A Field in England: I have not seen Ben Wheatley's last two films yet, but I hear great things, and this one looks surreal and was nominated for British Film of the year last year. I already have my ticket.
9. Interstellar: I have no idea what Christopher Nolan's new film is about. I do know that he attached IMAX cameras to drones to film it. Yes, please.
8. Cold in July: I have sadly only seen one of Jim Mickle's films so far, but I loved it and this one will have Michael C. Hall. In the dramatic competition at Sundance.
7. Transcendence: Johnny Depp becomes a computer and it has Cillian Murphy. 'Nuff said.
6. Veronica Mars: Finally! Veronica Mars was so much fun and it was cancelled far too soon and too abruptly. I helped kickstart the film (not that it needed my help) and I'm glad it is being put out for wide release. I also liked what the AV Club had to say about it: "Anyone pulling for Piz in the inevitable Veronica-Logan-Piz triangle is just wrong and should get used to a life full of disappointments."
5. The Double: I really liked Richard Ayoade's first film, Submarine, so I am excited to see him take on Dostoevsky with Jesse Eisenberg, Mia Wasikowska, and Noah Taylor.
4. Snowpiercer: Assuming there is SOME way of seeing the original cut, and not whatever bastardization Harvey Weinstein has decided to release. 
3. Untitled Terrence Malick Project: It is Terrence Malick and it has this cast: Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Christian Bale, Natalie Portman, and Ryan Gosling.
2. Grand Budapest Hotel. This looks like it could be Wes Anderson's best yet. The trailer has made me laugh every single time I've seen it. 
1. Only Lovers Left Alive. Jim Jarmush. Tilda Swinton. Tom Hiddleston. VAMPIRES.

Friday, January 3, 2014

The race to the Oscar noms

I'm so behind on movies at the moment, its not even funny. Year-end is crazy, busy, and stressful and I haven't been able to go see anything for two weeks.

However, that all changes this weekend. (Not the busy stress part; the ability to go to the movies.)

Oscar nominations come out January 16th.

How many of the following do we think I can catch up on by then?

In theaters:
American Hustle (2hrs)
Wolf of Wall Street (3hrs)
The Great Beauty (2.5hrs)
Blue is the Warmest Color (3hrs)
Blue Jasmine (1.5hrs)
Her (2hrs)
Philomena (1.5hrs)
Inside Llewyn Davis (1.75hrs)
Dallas Buyers Club (2hrs)
The Past (2hrs)
Nebraska (2hrs)

On Netflix:
Ain't Them Bodies Saints (1.75hrs)
The Hunt (2hrs)
Post Tenebras Lux (2hrs)
20 Feet from Stardom (1.5hrs)
Fruitvale Station (1.5hrs)
Short Term 12 (1.5hrs)
The Spectacular Now (1.5hrs)
Prisoners (2.5hrs)
Byzantium (2hrs)
Europa Report (1.5hrs)
Blancanieves (1.5hrs)
Something in the Air (2hrs)
Upstream Color (1.5hrs)
Place Beyond the Pines (2hrs)
Mud (2hrs)
Shadow Dancer (1.75hrs)
Broken (1.5hrs)
We Are What We Are (1.75hrs)
Pain & Gain (2hrs)
The Bling Ring (1.5hrs)
Laurence Anyways (2.5hrs)
Ginger & Rosa (1.5hrs)
Fill the Void (1.5hrs)
Oblivion (2hrs)
Kiss of the Damned (1.5hrs)

(Okay, maybe I don't need to see that last one by the Oscars...)

No Chance:
In a World
A Touch of Sin
Broken Circle Breakdown
The Grandmaster
Beyond the Hills

So... a list of 36. Maybe 20 by the nominations? How much of the rest of my life can I put off....