Very funny. I agree with the Sing Street part.

Haven't looked at the video, but I'm still pretty confused why there's so much praise being heaped on La La Land. It's not a bad movie per se, but it's not that great either. It's just not very memorable, and no particular song or dance number stands out to me other than the last one in the observatory, and that's mostly due to the visuals and not the song or dance itself.

I wish Sing Street had gotten more love this year. I don't know who I'd like to see win BP, because I haven't seen most of the nominees. But I know that Sing Street is a movie I enjoyed a lot more than La La Land. And probably Arrival as well. (Though that is also not a movie I would consider a "masterpiece". Just a solid movie.)

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Haven't looked at the video, but I'm still pretty confused why there's so much praise being heaped on La La Land. It's not a bad movie per se, but it's not that great either. It's just not very memorable, and no particular song or dance number stands out to me other than the last one in the observatory, and that's mostly due to the visuals and not the song or dance itself.

I wish Sing Street had gotten more love this year. I don't know who I'd like to see win BP, because I haven't seen most of the nominees. But I know that Sing Street is a movie I enjoyed a lot more than La La Land. And probably Arrival as well. (Though that is also not a movie I would consider a "masterpiece". Just a solid movie.)

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watch the video, they touch on the self love for LaLa Land.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Haven't looked at the video, but I'm still pretty confused why there's so much praise being heaped on La La Land. It's not a bad movie per se, but it's not that great either. It's just not very memorable, and no particular song or dance number stands out to me other than the last one in the observatory, and that's mostly due to the visuals and not the song or dance itself.

I wish Sing Street had gotten more love this year. I don't know who I'd like to see win BP, because I haven't seen most of the nominees. But I know that Sing Street is a movie I enjoyed a lot more than La La Land. And probably Arrival as well. (Though that is also not a movie I would consider a "masterpiece". Just a solid movie.)

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Haven't seen La La Land and don't intend to. But I would say the same thing about Hidden Figures. Thought it was a decent movie but not sure it's worthy of all the praise it's getting. But that's just me.

Lion, on the other hand, was one of the best things I've seen in a while. If I were to actually watch the Oscars that's the one I'd be rooting for.

Michele Williams is far past due.

Unfortunately, there hardly look to be any surprises this year. I'd be willing to bet heavily that this is exactly how the main categories go down...


BEST PICTURE
"La La Land"
"Hidden Figures"
"Moonlight"
"Lion"
"Hacksaw Ridge"
"Manchester By the Sea"
"Arrival"
"Hell or High Water"
"Fences"

BEST ACTOR
Casey Affleck in "Manchester by the Sea"
Andrew Garfield in "Hacksaw Ridge"
Ryan Gosling in "La La Land"
Viggo Mortensen in "Captain Fantastic"
Denzel Washington in "Fences"

BEST ACTRESS
Isabelle Huppert in "Elle"
Ruth Negga in "Loving"
Natalie Portman in "Jackie"
Emma Stone in "La La Land"
Meryl Streep in "Florence Foster Jenkins"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Mahershala Ali in "Moonlight"
Jeff Bridges in "Hell or High Water"
Lucas Hedges in "Manchester by the Sea"
Dev Patel in "Lion"
Michael Shannon in "Nocturnal Animals"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Viola Davis in "Fences"
Naomie Harris in "Moonlight"
Nicole Kidman in "Lion"
Octavia Spencer in "Hidden Figures"
Michelle Williams in "Manchester by the Sea"

BEST DIRECTOR
Denis Villeneuve for "Arrival"
Mel Gibson for "Hacksaw Ridge"
Damien Chazelle for "La La Land"
Kenneth Lonergan for "Manchester by the Sea"
Barry Jenkins for "Moonlight"

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Taylor Sheridan for "Hell or High Water"
Damien Chazelle for "La La Land"
Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthimis Filippou for "The Lobster"
Kenneth Lonergan for "Manchester by the Sea"
Mike Mills for "20th Century Women"

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Eric Heisserer for "Arrival"
August Wilson for "Fences"
Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi for "Hidden Figures"
Luke Davies for "Lion"
Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney for "Moonlight"

BEST DOCUMENTARY
"Fire at Sea"
"I Am Not Your Negro"
"Life, Animated"
"O.J.: Made in America"
"13th"


If there were to be any potential upsets, I'd say...

- "Moonlight" over "La La Land" for Best Picture
- Affleck over Denzel for Best Actor
- Huppert over Stone for Best Actress
- Jenkins over Chazelle for Best Director
- Chazelle over Lonergan for Best Original Screenplay

... but I'd be shocked if a single one of those happened (save for maybe Best Original Screenplay)

For the most part I agree, but for me Arrival is a truly GREAT film, one of my favorites in years. And you're kidding yourself if you don't think La La Land is going to be playing over and over on cable for years to come.

I heard an insightful prediction the other day that this Oscars will be remembered as the Oscars when a bunch of great filmmakers truly arrived on the scene, and that most of these films will be remembered as the films they made before they made their signature film(s). Chazelle (La La Land), Jenkins (Moonlight), Mackenzie (Hell or High Water), Nichols (Loving), and even Villeneuve (Arrival) to an extent have all barely arrived on the scene, and will each go on to do phenomenal things. These guys are the future of Hollywood, there's no doubt it.

TCTTS said:

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For the most part I agree, but for me Arrival is a truly GREAT film, one of my favorites in years. And you're kidding yourself if you don't think La La Land is going to be playing over and over on cable for years to come.

I heard an insightful prediction the other day that this Oscars will be remembered as the Oscars when a bunch of great filmmakers truly arrived on the scene, and that most of these films will be remembered as the films they made before they made their signature film(s). Chazelle (La La Land), Jenkins (Moonlight), Mackenzie (Hell or High Water), Nichols (Loving), and even Villeneuve (Arrival) to an extent have all barely arrived on the scene, and will each go on to do phenomenal things. These guys are the future of Hollywood, there's no doubt it.

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I really liked Arrival as well, but there were many issues with it as has been discussed in the Arrivals thread. But it was a very entertaining movie, and the best "sci fi" movie in a while.

La La Land is a really good film as well, but it will not have a long lasting impact on Hollywood. Yes, it will have a long life for girl parties, date movies and whatnot, but it will not result in a renaissance of musicals in Hollywood.

I did not say these movies were bad, I am just pointing out NONE of these will have any sort of lasting impact on the collective consciousness or on Hollywood's output.

He won't win, but Casey Affleck deserves best actor for Manchester by the Sea. I've never wanted an on screen person to catch a break more in my life.

Wouldn't that be Whiplash for Chazelle?

I liked La La Land, but I understand why Hollywood types loved it. It is what it is.

Yeah, but we still didn't know quite what we had with him. It was one movie, and he very well could have been a one-hit wonder. But knocking out two smash movies in a row like this basically solidifies his greatness to come. And same with Mackenzie, who also had the phenomenal Starred Up before Hell or High Water. Nichols, too, who is truly starting to show his range. Point is, it's super early in all of these guys' careers, and it's likely that none of them have made their best movies yet. Even Villeneuve has finally only just now landed his dream project with Dune, and even though Jenkins is only one movie in, and could prove to be a flop, you just get the sense that he's going to be on this scene for a long time to come. And for all these guys to be here together like this kind of "officially" signifies the next wave of must-watch directors, in a way I can't quite remember happening before.

I'm afraid you might be right, but it just flat out wasn't a great script. Good, but not great. And there was definitely a backlash when he won the same award at The Golden Globes, and it felt like voters might vote in response to that. Especially because Lonergan deserves it. But yeah, that category is the one I'm least confident about.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, La La Land is the Dave Matthews of movies. It's cinematic masturbation, where Hollywood can look at themselves and watch on film about how great they are, while watching content created to adhere to Hollywood awards shows, while also being depressing.

The only Hollywood circle jerk it doesn't have is a lead with AIDS.

Just like any other year, I'll let the show get started without me and then fast forward through commercials and when a winner's acceptance speech begins to bore me.

Whomever invented the DVR deserves a Nobel freaking prize.

Right there with you on that. I always start these things about half an hour to forty-five minutes in. Then, once I'm caught up, it's fun to follow along on Twitter in real-time for the bigger awards. But yeah, there's A LOT to fast forward through. I'm happy for them and appreciate what they do, but I just don't need to hear what the costume designer has to say in their acceptance speech.

TCTTS said:

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Genuine question... is the problem more that they'll be bashing Trump/a Republican, or that it's a bunch of celebs using their platform to get political? I'm just curious if, say, there was some kind of hypothetical NASCAR or Agriculture awards show (literally just trying to think of predominantly conservative professions), and everyone was using their platform to speak out against Hilary or Obama, would some of you have as much of a problem with it?

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yes but I'll watch anyway. Don't care to hear athletes, actors, etc opinions on politics. Most are just sucking the proverbial schlong of their fan base. I believe Hollywood is bad for democrat party right now anyway. Hard working rust belt states don't really care about Hollywood issues as much as coastal states. They care about jobs first. That's my opinion and I've got nothing else.

Fair answer, and I totally see where you're coming from. But I think I side with Brian on this one. It's not that hard to just roll your eyes and ignore it either. 90% of the Oscars is some pretty good comedy and a genuinely inspiring celebration of cinema with all the great montages and clips and what not. It can be a fun high, and if I have to listen to a couple celebs spout about politics, I consider that a small price to pay. Can it be mildly annoying? Yes. But I've never understood letting it get that much under your skin.

TCTTS said:

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Fair answer, and I totally see where you're coming from. But I think I side with Brian on this one. It's not that hard to just roll your eyes and ignore it either. 90% of the Oscars is some pretty good comedy and a genuinely inspiring celebration of cinema with all the great montages and clips and what not. It can be a fun high, and if I have to listen to a couple celebs spout about politics, I consider that a small price to pay. Can it be annoying? Yes. But I've never understood letting it get that much under your skin.

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Not under my skin too much. I have not watched the AA in almost a decade, with this issue being the main reason why.

I hope all of you that like to throw Oscar parties and whatnot have a great and enjoyable time. Instead of watching the Academy Awards tonight, I am going to try to watch the last three episodes of Amazon's "Patriot" series, at which point I will read a list of winners from somewhere on Google and be done with it.

Speaking of comedy at awards show, for those of you who missed it yesterday, this was HILARIOUS (and very much on topic / light on the Trump jokes)...