Visual Effects

Despite all the films I've watched in the past couple weeks, I'm still behind schedule, and the Quest seems so interminable. I honestly don't know if I have the energy and critical words to write the gamut this year. I suppose we'll find out in just over three weeks. For now, I'm sitting on an excercise ball listening to dance music, and I feel pretty invigorated. And distracted.

I had the good fortune of starting small with Makeup and Hairstyling, but now I dive into the categories of five with Visual Effects:

• Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick for Captain America: The Winter Soldier
• Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Erik Winquist for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
• Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner and Paul Corbould for Guardians of the Galaxy
• Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher for Interstellar
• Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie and Cameron Waldbauer for X-Men: Days of Future Past

Makeup and Hairstyling

My film watching has been a little all over the place so far. I thought I was going to start the categories off with Visual Effects, but I ended up not being able to see Interstellar. So, then we'll start with the smallest of the categories: Makeup and Hairstyling. While the category hasn't terribly endeared me this year, at least I'm neither getting page views for google searches of "penis grandpa blogspot" nor dealing with tranmisogynistic representations as I did last year.

Up for the award are:

• Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard for Foxcatcher
• Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier for The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White for Guardians of the Galaxy

Oscar Quest 2015

I'm blogging again so you know that can mean only one thing: the 87th Academy Award nominees have been announced. I looked through the list and thought it was going to be a pretty easy year even with forty-five nominees plus the fifteen shorts because fifteen of these have been on my radar of things to watch since they've been released.

Then I realized I'd only actually made time for four of them. So, I have forty-one films plus fifteen shorts to watch in 38 days. I'm going to be honest, it's going to take a lot to unseat Birdman and Boyhood as my early favorites for, respectively, cinematography and directing. If you want to see me before February 23rd, then I hope you like film.

Seriously, please sit on my couch with me.

The Missing Scarf

Well, well, well. Nearly seven months after I published my piece on the animated short film field, The Missing Scarf is finally available. Here's what I wrote at the time:

Apparently some venues didn't show the animated shorts in conjunction with the live action shorts as the Detroit Film Theater did. Instead, the animated shorts presentation was padded by three other films there were all supposed also-rans. One of which has apparently stuck out to people. I do hope I can find a copy of The Missing Scarf soon as I've heard it's the best of the bunch.

The Missing Scarf follows a formulaic rote that is common in children's books and fellow animated short contender Room on the Broom. From the beginning, though, it seems like it deals with more adult problems than a squirrel in search of a scarf might beget. Indeed, as the short develops, it feels like it would be more at home in Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Animation Festival than your niece's Sunday school. Don't get me wrong, it isn't deranged or perverse in any sense, but it is a bit despairing.

The story isn't the interesting bit here, though. The animation is perfect for 2014 in maybe the same way that ReBoot was perfect for 1994. The character designs, settings, and effects were simple and bold in a really refreshing way for CGI. It was almost like watching a really enjoyable, crisp infographic, which still sounds way worse than it is. It's all hard edges, smooth curves, solid colors, and high contrast. The Missing Scarf is a real treat to watch.

All of that said, I absolutely understand why The Missing Scarf wasn't included. There were simply other shorts that were either more fun or more affecting. I wouldn't begrudge it nudging out a film, but neither can I begrudge those films nudging this out. Furthermore, it isn't a short that I think ranks above either Tsukumo or Get a Horse! (neither of which ended up winning), so the lack of inclusion for The Missing Scarf I really don't think had an impact on the award.

Guest spot!

Some of you might now I was asked to be an expert witness co-host on an episode of The Projection Booth some months ago as they talked about Myra Breckinridge. Apparently they thought I was clever enough to have me back, so tune in as they bring me in again as co-host for my first John Waters' film Female Trouble.

To those of you coming in from TPB, thanks for swinging by. If my opinions should make you sick, please at least let someone know, so they can mop up the carpet.

Postshow Recap

Based off my pageviews, can you tell when Oscar Season is?

So how'd I do? Five times I both liked and correctly picked the winner. Another four times I agreed with the academy voters but predicted incorrectly while eight times I predicted correctly while disagreeing.

Best Picture

Well this is it, the last major article before the Oscars are presented tonight. I've already talked at length about these films as even the least nominated film Philomena snagged three other nominations. At the other end of the spectrum I've gone on about American Hustle and Gravity a whole mess of nine times already. To note, there are only eighteen categories possible (seventeen for American films), so ten nominations is pretty hefty. Only two films have ever pulled in fourteen: Titanic and All About Eve. Ten isn't terribly uncommon as thirty-two other films have reached that mark with poor, poor Gangs of New York not winning a single one of them. That's not the record, though! Both The Turning Point and The Color Purple put up goose eggs with their eleven tries.

Now, I know I said I'd stop saying this, but since I've talked about these all ad nauseum, maybe I can get through them pretty quickly*. Later today I'll be putting up a total list of my hopes and predictions.

On to the nominees!

• American Hustle
• Captain Phillips
• Dallas Buyers Club
• Gravity
• Her
• Nebraska
• Philomena
• 12 Years a Slave
• The Wolf of Wall Street