Y'all probably already know what I'm going to say here, but let's carry on with the charade, shall we?
Friday, February 12, 2016
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Costume Design
Ah! Ah! Ah! I left town without any of my movies! What will I do?
Get to writing, I suppose.
Get to writing, I suppose.
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Makeup and Hairstyling
I woke up late this morning afternoon, so you get to read all about the award with the fewest nominees in an effort of mine to actually get this published before the day is through.
Somewhere along the way, my blog started attracting views even when no one (that I know of) was promoting the articles. When that happened, my piece from 2014 on Makeup and Hairstyling garnered a lot of attention. One might think that I benefited from google searches along the lines of "repugnant grandpa penis," and, well, yes, there's evidence to support that. I prefer to think, however, that it's actually more palatable of a piece than the previously most-viewed piece which was on gender roles. I wrote it in 2011 and am honestly worried to read over it again. No, I'm not linking you to it. Onward and upward!
Somewhere along the way, my blog started attracting views even when no one (that I know of) was promoting the articles. When that happened, my piece from 2014 on Makeup and Hairstyling garnered a lot of attention. One might think that I benefited from google searches along the lines of "repugnant grandpa penis," and, well, yes, there's evidence to support that. I prefer to think, however, that it's actually more palatable of a piece than the previously most-viewed piece which was on gender roles. I wrote it in 2011 and am honestly worried to read over it again. No, I'm not linking you to it. Onward and upward!
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Visual Effects
In getting ready to write this article, I realized the Academy doesn't use the Oxford comma, for whatever that's worth. Not much, probably.
Oh, visual effects. Is there any category for which my love has so diminished? I was born the year Ghostbusters and Temple of Doom won. My early years were full of science-fiction masterpieces that spawned winning franchises and owed their lifeblood to the effects - Alien, Predator, Terminator, Back to the Future, and Jurassic Park amongst them. Somehow, these are still all still going (so long as you count Nike's shoe release next year in the Back to the Future timeline). Since, though, there have been too many Transformer films ruining a good thing, too many Hobbit films, and too many blunders in those storied franchises. Prometheus? Terminator Salvation? Jurassic World? Crystal Skull? No. This is not how special effects are supposed to age. They're supposed to get better! To be sure, now we have beauties like Interstellar, but they're drowning in a sea of Avengers sequels. Somehow, this year, we've only two sequels, both of which are throwbacks to franchises without an entry since the '80s*. Things feel fresh again. Everyone is out there establishing their brand and putting in amazing work. It's a sight to behold.
Oh, visual effects. Is there any category for which my love has so diminished? I was born the year Ghostbusters and Temple of Doom won. My early years were full of science-fiction masterpieces that spawned winning franchises and owed their lifeblood to the effects - Alien, Predator, Terminator, Back to the Future, and Jurassic Park amongst them. Somehow, these are still all still going (so long as you count Nike's shoe release next year in the Back to the Future timeline). Since, though, there have been too many Transformer films ruining a good thing, too many Hobbit films, and too many blunders in those storied franchises. Prometheus? Terminator Salvation? Jurassic World? Crystal Skull? No. This is not how special effects are supposed to age. They're supposed to get better! To be sure, now we have beauties like Interstellar, but they're drowning in a sea of Avengers sequels. Somehow, this year, we've only two sequels, both of which are throwbacks to franchises without an entry since the '80s*. Things feel fresh again. Everyone is out there establishing their brand and putting in amazing work. It's a sight to behold.
Original Song and Score
I'm going to be honest from the get-go: I'm really not feeling these categories this year. I didn't watch a single film nominated for original song largely because it's unnecessary, but also because none of them are nominated for a single other award. Also, I didn't want to watch Fifty Shades of Grey. This is America dammit, and in America we spell it "gray!" Yes, with the exclamation point.
Furthermore, I'm rather disappointed with the nominees for score. The Revenant had one of the best scores of the year, but it is ineligible due to there being multiple composers. That's another sad blow for an Iñárritu project as the amazing score for Birdman was disallowed last year. Harkening back to yesterday's post on sound mixing and editing, the sonic elements are nearly a character unto themselves in Fury Road, and JunkieXL put together a score that blew me away. Hans Zimmer called it "absolutely phenomenal and mind-blowingly brilliant," and even though it eclipses two hours, the score never becomes tedious. Beyond those two, Alexandre Desplat had two of my favorite scores last year, and his work for The Danish Girl feels like version 2.0 of his beautiful score for The Imitation Game. I have absolutely nothing against the nominees, because they're all grand in their own right. I'm just amazed that three of my five favorite film scores this year failed to make the cut. However, that does leave two that did.
Furthermore, I'm rather disappointed with the nominees for score. The Revenant had one of the best scores of the year, but it is ineligible due to there being multiple composers. That's another sad blow for an Iñárritu project as the amazing score for Birdman was disallowed last year. Harkening back to yesterday's post on sound mixing and editing, the sonic elements are nearly a character unto themselves in Fury Road, and JunkieXL put together a score that blew me away. Hans Zimmer called it "absolutely phenomenal and mind-blowingly brilliant," and even though it eclipses two hours, the score never becomes tedious. Beyond those two, Alexandre Desplat had two of my favorite scores last year, and his work for The Danish Girl feels like version 2.0 of his beautiful score for The Imitation Game. I have absolutely nothing against the nominees, because they're all grand in their own right. I'm just amazed that three of my five favorite film scores this year failed to make the cut. However, that does leave two that did.
Monday, February 8, 2016
Sound Editing and Sound Mixing
Remember when I said that this year's film slate "feels far more palatable than last years breakneck pace." Yeah, that'd be accurate if I didn't have way more obligations this year than last year. As such, I'm already incredibly behind and am going to attempt to publish no less than four categories today. Yeah, I know. We'll see about that*. I blame it on The Revenant which took me a ridiculous amount of time to actually get around to watching and which is seemingly up for every award including a few from last year just for funsies**.
Today, I delve into Sound Editing and Sound Mixing, two categories which are so closely tied, pretty much no one knows the difference between them. Seemingly every year, they offer a nearly identical list of nominees, and this year is no different as four films are nominated for both categories. What is the difference, though? It's the difference between a chef and a cook working under them. I trot this analogy out every year, because it's so perfect, but it ultimately boils down to the idea that the chef chooses the ingredients while the cook is the one who actually prepares them for you to consume. Here the sound editor is the chef who goes out and procures all the little bits of sound you're going to listen to and provides them to the sound mixer / cook who then works their craft upon those sounds and presents to you a finished experience. With that in mind, what's on the menu?
Today, I delve into Sound Editing and Sound Mixing, two categories which are so closely tied, pretty much no one knows the difference between them. Seemingly every year, they offer a nearly identical list of nominees, and this year is no different as four films are nominated for both categories. What is the difference, though? It's the difference between a chef and a cook working under them. I trot this analogy out every year, because it's so perfect, but it ultimately boils down to the idea that the chef chooses the ingredients while the cook is the one who actually prepares them for you to consume. Here the sound editor is the chef who goes out and procures all the little bits of sound you're going to listen to and provides them to the sound mixer / cook who then works their craft upon those sounds and presents to you a finished experience. With that in mind, what's on the menu?
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Oscar Quest 2016
Well, the 2016 Academy Awards are here, despite the fact that the Oscars website lists the nominees as for 2015. Honestly, I've been rather dreading awards season this year as evidenced by the fact that I've done just about everything I can except watch films that have been touted as potential Academy Award winners. Last year I casually watched movies thinking I'd watch more films up for awards than I did (four), and this year I intended to actively raise that number. Instead, though, I mostly loathed the idea of watching the films I knew would be fighting for awards and my tally is exactly the same as last year's four: Ex Machina, Mad Max, Room, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I kept holding out on watching The Danish Girl and Sicario in particular hoping they would fail to be named, but knowing that they eventually would. And here they are with six nominations between them.
There is excitement, too. All too often, there seem to be too few films striving to win Best Picture on the strength of their leading ladies, and yet we have Brooklyn (nominated only for Actress in a Leading Role and Adapted Screenplay in addition to Best Picture) and Room (which garnered the same honors as well as Director). Though, it is still disappointing to see Carol not make the cut despite having women up for each acting category. Also encouraging is that The Danish Girl, while accumulating four nods, did not reach Best Picture status. Part of this is that two of those nods, to no one's surprise, are Production Design and Costume Design which I dare say carry little to no weight on that ultimate of categories. Eddie Redmayne of course is unfortunately hoping to win Actor in a Leading Role, and, to no surprise of mine, no female director was honored, nor were their films as a whole. And, honestly, I'd rather this year's no respect to past years of Kathryn Bigelow garnering praise for directing pieces of propaganda.
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