Oscar Prep: Supporting Actor

Every year, there are categories that are decided from the beginning of the season and no amount of malaise can shift opinions about the result. Last year, it was Daniel Day Lewis for Lincoln, Octavia Spencer the year before for The Help. This year, it's the Supporting Actor race.

A couple notes first:
-Each category is arrange from Most to Least likely to win by my measure.
-An '*' before the title indicates a movie that I have seen.
-I'm trying to keep the shorthand to a minimum (get it). A couple that come up though are BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), SAG (Screen Actors Guild), PGA (Producers Guild of America, WGA (Writers Guild of America), DGA (Directors Guild of America).

Other Picks

Best Supporting Actor
Front Runner: *Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club
Winner: Golden Globes – Best Supporting Actor, SAG – Outstanding Supporting ActorThe lack of recognition by the BAFTAs is a little baffling, but make no mistake. The people have decided. This is Jared Leto's award. Personally, I wouldn't give it to him, but I didn't enjoy his movie near as much as other people did.

Dark Horse: *Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips
Winner: BAFTA – Best Supporting Actor
Nominee: Golden Globes – Best Supporting ActorThis is Jared Leto's award. The BAFTA win gives Abdi the Dark Horse distinction. I can't see any situation where he steals this from Leto. Case closed.

Other Nominees:
*Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave
Nominee: Golden Globes – Best Supporting Actor, BAFTA – Best Supporting Actor, SAG – Outstanding Supporting Actor
Like a lot of the categories where 12 Years a Slave is my 2nd or 3rd pick, the only way Fassbender wins is if it dominates the night. If it's any consolation, he'd be my pick from this group.
*Bradley Cooper – American Hustle
Nominee: Golden Globes – Best Supporting Actor, BAFTA – Best Supporting Actor
He keeps getting nominated and I don't know why. It's a good performance. It's a movie filled with scene-stealers and the only scenes Cooper steals are the ones without Adams, Lawrence, or Bale.
*Jonah Hill – The Wolf of Wall Street
"2 time Oscar Nominee Jonah Hill". As someone who legitimately lists Superbad as one of my favorite movies, I love hearing that. It makes it no less surprising to hear. Sadly, despite this being an amazingly committed performance it was largely unrecognized beyond the Oscars. There's no sign of the needed support to pull off a win.

Oscar Prep: Supporting Actress

Supporting Actress had potential to be one of the more interesting categories this year due to some pretty heavy campaigning to get Scarlett Johansson nominated for Her. Alas., the Academy is still not ready to accept a non-traditional performance and the nomination field is all the less interesting as a result. Mark my words though. After the close call with Andy Serkis for Rise of the Planet of the Apes 2 years ago and Scarlett now, we can't be more than a couple years away from seeing a nomination for screen-capture or voice-over work.

A couple notes first:
-Each category is arrange from Most to Least likely to win by my measure.
-An '*' before the title indicates a movie that I have seen.
-I'm trying to keep the shorthand to a minimum (get it). A couple that come up though are BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), SAG (Screen Actors Guild), PGA (Producers Guild of America, WGA (Writers Guild of America), DGA (Directors Guild of America).

Other Picks

Best Supporting Actress
Front Runner: *Lupita Nyong'o – 12 Years a Slave
Winner: SAG – Outstanding Supporting Actress
Nominee: Golden Globes – Best Supporting Actress, BAFTA – Best Supporting Actress
First of all, she should win. I can't even allow an argument to the contrary because it's wrong. I'm backed up though by her SAG win which is by far the most influential group for the acting awards. She's been nominated any opportunity she's been given. She's not a lock, but she should be.

Dark Horse: *Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle
Winner: Golden Globes – Best Supporting Actress, BAFTA – Best Supporting Actress
Nominee: SAG – Outstanding Supporting Actress
People love Jennifer Lawrence and who could blame them? This is a big performance on a very performance-heavy movie. The Golden Globe and BAFTA trophies indicate that she has momentum on her side. As I understand it though, she's not even petitioning for her to win the Oscar over Nyong'o. Certainly, if 12 Years a Slave is the Oscar hopeful it looks to be, I'd expect it could beat the massive J-Law train.

Other Nominees:
*Julia Roberts – August: Osage County
Nominee: Golden Globes – Best Supporting Actress, BAFTA – Best Supporting Actress, SAG – Outstanding Supporting Actress
You know Roberts took this role because it was a guaranteed Oscar Nomination. As it turns out, the competition is stiff enough that her excellent work is a longshot to win at best.
*June Squibb – Nebraska
Nominee: Golden Globes – Best Supporting Actress, SAG – Outstanding Supporting Actress
I won't lie. This is not a nomination I agree with at all. She's funny and has one fantastic scene in the movie. I completely thing she is riding the Bruce Dern momentum and, at the end of the day, I think voters will look at the nomination as all she's due.
*Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine
Nominee: Golden Globes – Best Supporting Actress, BAFTA – Best Leading Actress (?)
I think she deserves more consideration than she's received. She will certainly fall victim to voters being unable to look past Blanchett's powerhouse performance.

Oscar Prep: Original Screenplay

Original Screenplay is where the voters get to have some fun. Without having to compete with some stogy old textbook or classic of literature, voters a free get a little weird. A lot of strong choices this year.

A couple notes first:
-Each category is arrange from Most to Least likely to win by my measure.
-An '*' before the title indicates a movie that I have seen.
-I'm trying to keep the shorthand to a minimum (get it). A couple that come up though are BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), SAG (Screen Actors Guild), PGA (Producers Guild of America, WGA (Writers Guild of America), DGA (Directors Guild of America).

Other Picks

Best Writing – Original Screenplay
Front Runner: *Her
Winner: Golden Globes - Best Screenplay, WGA - Best Original Screenplay
It has momentum on its side. The script is clever and the most unique thing about the movie is the one sentence description of it. I'm having a very hard time seeing how it doesn't win.

Dark Horse: *American Hustle
Winner: BAFTA - Best Original Screenplay
Nominee: Golden Globes - Best Screenplay - Motion Picture, WGA - Best Original Screenplay
Academy voters love David O. Russell in general and, what's this? A movie with "American" in the title winning a BAFTA? That's gotta indicate something. It been thoroughly nominated by anyone who is able to. That can only help it.

Other Nominees:
*Blue Jasmine
Nominee: WGA - Best Original Screenplay, BAFTA - Best Original Screenplay
If Oscar voters love David O. Russell, they "Glen Close in Fatal Attraction" Woody Allen. The man has a staggering 16 nominations and 3 wins for screenwriting. He's not to be dismissed. Then again, he's written nearly 50 screenplays so they aren't all winners.
*Nebraska
Nominee: Golden Globes - Best Screenplay - Motion Picture, BAFTA - Best Original Screenplay, WGA - Best Original Screenplay
This is the first test of whether the love of Alexander Payne directed scripts are contingent on him also writing the script since this is his first time only directing.
*Dallas Buyers Club
Nominee: WGA - Best Original Screenplay
More power to Focus features on securing so many nominations for this little indie that could. They'll have to be happy with just the nomination though.

Oscar Picks: Adapted Screenplay

The writing categories are fun. The writers branch of the Academy doesn't follow trends the way a lot of other categories do. The nominees are more diverse and the winner doesn't have to go to a best picture front runner. That said, adapted screenplay is the more boring of the two most years.

A couple notes first:
-Each category is arrange from Most to Least likely to win by my measure.
-An '*' before the title indicates a movie that I have seen.
-I'm trying to keep the shorthand to a minimum (get it). A couple that come up though are BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), SAG (Screen Actors Guild), PGA (Producers Guild of America, WGA (Writers Guild of America), DGA (Directors Guild of America).

Other Picks

Best Writing – Adapted Screenplay
Front Runner: *12 Years a Slave
Nominee: Golden Globes - Best Screenplay, BAFTA - Best Adapted Screenplay
I'm a little surprised to see no wins for this. It wasn't eligible for the WGA prize so that absence shouldn't indicate any lack of support. If this movie is the Best Picture contender everyone thinks it is, it really aught to get this win.

Dark Horse: *Philomena
Winner: BAFTA - Best Adapted Screenplay
Nominee: Golden Globes - Best Screenplay
The BAFTA win is basically home court advantage so I'm not sure how much to read into that. It too was not eligible for the WGA award, so don't be frightened by that. The strength of Philomena has always been it's script and Judi Dench. There's a strong chance that its Best Picture nomination could be justified with a win here.

Other Nominees:
*Captain Phillips
Winner: WGA - Best Adapted Screenplay
Nominee: BAFTA - Best Adapted Screenplay
The WGA field isn't as competitive as one may think so I wouldn't get to excited about that. Ultimately, what hurts Captain Phillips' odds (unfair as it may be) is the fact that it is well known how many liberties the script takes with what actually happened.
*Before Midnight
Nominee: WGA - Best Adapted Screenplay
I'd love to see this win about as much as I'd've love see see Julie Delpy in the Best Actress field. Alas, there just isn't the needed support for this to win (hopefully I'm wrong).
*The Wolf of Wall Street
Nominee: BAFTA - Best Adapted Screenplay, WGA - Best Adapted Screenplay
The cries of misogyny and three hour run time will probably do this one in.

Oscar Prep: Production Design

Flashy and loud pays off in this category more often than not. When it's not that, it's a technical award juggernaut that gets it.  This year is definitely looking like one of those cases.

A couple notes first:
-Each category is arrange from Most to Least likely to win by my measure.
-An '*' before the title indicates a movie that I have seen.
-I'm trying to keep the shorthand to a minimum (get it). A couple that come up though are BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), SAG (Screen Actors Guild), PGA (Producers Guild of America, WGA (Writers Guild of America), DGA (Directors Guild of America).

Other Picks

Best Production Design
Front Runner: *Gravity
Winner: Art Directors Guild - Fantasy Film
Nominee: BAFTA - Best Production Design
I may be foolish for choosing this over Gatsby. That's not to say this is a crazy pick though. Voter momentum for the techinical awards is a common occurance and it won one of the Guild prizes and was recognize by the British.

Dark Horse: *The Great Gatsby
Winner: BAFTA - Best Production Design, Art Directors Guild - Period Film
Dark Horse is probably the wrong classifier. "Co-Favorite" is more accurate. Few films this year were more distinctive or pretty and everything about this is loud in a way that the voters can't miss.

Other Nominees:
*American Hustle
Nominee: BAFTA - Best Production Design, Art Directors Guild - Period Film
This has harly been ignored in this category. If not for Gatsby, it surely would've won the guild award. The competition is too stiff.
*12 Years a Slave
Nominee: BAFTA - Best Production Design, Art Directors Guild - Period Film
It's only hope is a Titanic-esque domination on the night which looks unlikely.
*Her
Winner: Art Directors Guild - Contemporary Film
It's crazy that I'm calling one of the guild winners the least likely winner. That's the way voiting goes sometimes.

Oscar Prep: Costume Design

Another category where it pays to be flashy rather than accurate. More often than not, the costume winner is the one where people remember the costumes, not the movies where the costuming is so perfectly chosen that it never calls attention to itself. That's why this is dominated by period pieces or fantasy. There isn't a clear winner here, but there is a top and bottom tier.

A couple notes first:
-Each category is arrange from Most to Least likely to win by my measure.
-An '*' before the title indicates a movie that I have seen.
-I'm trying to keep the shorthand to a minimum (get it). A couple that come up though are BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), SAG (Screen Actors Guild), PGA (Producers Guild of America, WGA (Writers Guild of America), DGA (Directors Guild of America).

Other Picks

Best Costume Design
Front Runner: *The Great GatsbyNominee: BAFTA - Best Costume Design, Costume Designers Guild - Excellence in Period Film
Despite what anyone thinks of the movie as a whole, it does two things right: production design (which we'll get to) and costumes. None of the Oscar nominees came away with the BAFTA or Costume Designers Guild award wins so there's no major indicator of which way the vote's going.When in doubt, go with the period piece.

Dark Horse: *American Hustle
Nominee: BAFTA - Best Costume Design, Costume Designers Guild - Excellence in Period Film
While I found the movie to only be good and not deserving of all the award attention, I would completely understand a win here. The closer we get to the Oscars it looks like American Hustle may be shut out. This is probably it's best shot at winning (unless people continue to have their heads up their asses about the supporting actress award).

Other Nominees:
*12 Years a Slave
Nominee: Costume Designers Guild - Excellence in Period Film
This only wins if 12 Years a Slave completely dominates the night, which seems unlikely.
The Invisible Woman
Nominee: BAFTA - Best Costume Design
The BAFTAs liked it, so it has that going for it.
The Grandmaster
I get the Cinematography nomination. This one confuses me. Whatever. It's not like it's going to win. There's no sign of support for it by any voting block.

Oscar Prep: Editing

For over 30 years, no best picture winner has gone without a nomination in Editing. That's the longest streak of any category (if if we don't include Argo winning without a Best Director nod last year). That's a strange stat but I think it reflects how editing is one of those areas that is only noticeable if it's done badly. Otherwise, it tends to get credited to the directing, writing, or cinematography. Sadly, the trend only goes as far as the nomination. A win in Editing doesn't necessarily presume a win for best picture, which means this field is technically wide open.

A couple notes first:
-Each category is arrange from Most to Least likely to win by my measure.
-An '*' before the title indicates a movie that I have seen.
-I'm trying to keep the shorthand to a minimum (get it). A couple that come up though are BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), SAG (Screen Actors Guild), PGA (Producers Guild of America, WGA (Writers Guild of America), DGA (Directors Guild of America).
 

Other Picks

Best Film Editing
Winner: *Gravity
Nominese: BAFTA - Best Editing, American Cinema Editors - Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic
Despite being a wide open field, I still have to go with Gravity for the win. It got the BAFTA and ACE nominations and is a tight 90 minutes which I have to assume owes partial credit to the editing.

Dark Horse:
*Captain Phillips
Winner: American Cinema Editors - Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic
Nominee: BAFTA - Best Editing
It has the ACE win and a BAFTA nod which puts it on good footing. This one is tough because I don't know what people vote for. There's the assumed voter complacency which could work in Gravity's favor. After that, I'm leaning toward picking the thriller in the group because they are cut in ways that make the editing obvious

Other Nominees:
*American Hustle
Winner: American Cinema Editors - Best Edited Feature Film - Comedy or Musical
They say that David O. Russel movies always come together in the editing room.  The ACE awards seems to recognize that theory. It hasn't helped him win in the past and I see this year too much as a race to recognize one of the big two movies rather than the 2013 ceremony's "spread the wealth" philosophy.
*12 Years a SlaveNominee: BAFTA - Best Editing, American Cinema Editors - Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic
It's got enough nominations for me to put it higher on the list. I see the length and tone of the movie to hurt it and if voters are going to get lazy with this category, I'm thinking they'll pick Gravity.

*Dallas Buyers Club
No disrespect to the movie, but I don't know what it is doing here. I think voter momentum carried it here. That's going to translate into a couple acting wins. It's much harder to see it sneaking by the other 4 movies here.

Oscar Prep: Score

A couple notes first:
-Each category is arrange from Most to Least likely to win by my measure.
-An '*' before the title indicates a movie that I have seen.
-I'm trying to keep the shorthand to a minimum (get it). A couple that come up though are BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), SAG (Screen Actors Guild), PGA (Producers Guild of America, WGA (Writers Guild of America), DGA (Directors Guild of America).

Other Picks

Best Original Score
Front Runner: *Gravity
Winner: BAFTA – Music
Nominee: Golden Globes - Best Original Score
Certainly the most awarded score in the list. I wish I could remember the score better than I do. I believe I was pleased by it.

Dark Horse: The Book Thief
Nominee: Golden Globe - Best Original Score
Never ever ever count John Williams out. The man has 5 Oscar wins and 50-something nominations.

Other Nominees:
*Her
I'm surprised that neither the Globes or BAFTAs recognized this. Spike Jonze movies have a good ear for music and the score goes along with that.
*Saving Mr. Banks
Mary Poppins won an Oscar for its scoring. Why can't this?
*Philomena
Of the many things I enjoyed about this movie, I can't say the score comes to mind. I sense that the Oscar voters will feel the same way.

Oscar Prep: Sound

I know the difference between Sound Editing and Sound Mixing the way I know the difference between the words editing and mixing. Editing is about how it is cut and mixing is about how it is blended, right? I have an awful ear for music in general so I cannot pretend that I can tell the difference between these two categories. I will try though. Besides, I'm picking the winners, not who I liked best.

 A couple notes first:
-Each category is arrange from Most to Least likely to win by my measure.
-An '*' before the title indicates a movie that I have seen.
-I'm trying to keep the shorthand to a minimum (get it). A couple that come up though are BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), SAG (Screen Actors Guild), PGA (Producers Guild of America, WGA (Writers Guild of America), DGA (Directors Guild of America).

Other Picks

Best Sound Editing
Front Runner: *Gravity
Winner: BAFTA - Best Sound
Nominee: Motion Picture Sound Editors - Best Sound Editing in 3 categories
Beating a dead horse, right? If this is boring you, too bad. Remember Hugo a couple years ago? This is like Hugo on crack. Besides, the movie sounded great.

Dark Horse: All Is Lost
Nominee: BAFTA - Best Sound, Motion Picture Sound Editors - Best Sound Editing in 1 category
Predictions aren't all a numbers game. For example, Captain Phillips is more recognized by the Motion Picture Sound Editors than All is Lost but I'm still calling this the dark horse. It's 90 minutes of Robert Redford in a boat. Robert Redford barely speaks the whole time so the sound editing must be pretty good then. At least that's my theory.

Other Nominees:
*Captain Phillips
Nominee: BAFTA - Best Sound, Motion Picture Sound Editors - Best Sound Editing in 2 categories
The BAFTAs liked it, but not enough for a win. Same goes for the Sound Editors group.
*Lone Survivor
Nominee: Motion Picture Sound Editors - Best Sound Editing in 2 categories
It's hard to count out a war movie to sound editing. Warfare done right in film owes a lot to the sound editing.
*The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Nominee: Motion Picture Sound Editors - Best Sound Editing in 2 categories
I don't think a movie this noisy can win. Plenty of Sound Editing nominations to go around from the Motion Picture Sound Editors though, if you notice.

Best Sound Mixing
Front Runner: *Gravity
Nominee: Cinema Audio Society - Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing
There's not a clear-cut front runner based on previous nominations. When in doubt, go for Gravity.

Dark Horse: *Captain Phillips
Nominee: Cinema Audio Society - Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing
I don't have a good reason for this as the Dark Horse over the others beyond a possible feeling that Captain Phillips is owed something for not yield an acting nomination for Tom Hanks. This would be an arbitrary way to rectify it.

Other Nominees:
*Lone Survivor
Nominee: Cinema Audio Society - Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing
The Cinema Audio Society likes it, so that's enough to give it more of a chance than the movies that didn't secure a nomination.
*Inside Llewyn Davis
If it was up to me, a movie that sounded this pretty would be more of a contender if not the front runner. Sadly, the rest of the world ignored it. With the amount of music featured in the movie, I have to put it as more likely to win than The Hobbit although by the slimmest of margins.
*The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
See Sound Editing, excluding the part about nominations. No guilds nominating this one.

Oscar Prep: Cinematography

Still in the middle of the Gravity portion of the Oscar predictions. It's one of the most diverse categories this year with a single nominee, a couple doubles, and a couple Best Picture contenders across a variety of genres too. It would be one of the hardest for me to pick. Thankfully, Oscar season can be tracked much easier than my opinions.

A couple notes first:
-Each category is arrange from Most to Least likely to win by my measure.
-An '*' before the title indicates a movie that I have seen.
-I'm trying to keep the shorthand to a minimum (get it). A couple that come up though are BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), SAG (Screen Actors Guild), PGA (Producers Guild of America, WGA (Writers Guild of America), DGA (Directors Guild of America).

Other Picks

Best Cinematography
Front Runner: *Gravity
Winner: BAFTA - Best Cinematography, Cinematographers Society - Outstanding Cinematography in Feature Film
If the guild and the British like it, that's all I need to know. I won't pretend that I have a great eye for cinematography but by my measure, it's pretty damn spectacular in this.

Dark Horse: *Inside Llewyn Davis
Nominee: BAFTA - Best Cinematography, Cinematographers Society - Outstanding Cinematography in Feature Film
Double nominee for cinematography and shot beautifully. If voters are looking for a way to award the Coens (which clearly, they aren't this year), this would be a good place to do it.

Other Nominees:
*Nebraska
Nominee: BAFTA - Best Cinematography, Cinematographers Society - Outstanding Cinematography in Feature Film
The choice to do black and white is an interesting one and it is shot well for that. It's not flashy enough to get a win.
*Prisoners
Nominee: Cinematographers Society - Outstanding Cinematography in Feature Film
I'm glad they found some way to nominate this movie and cinematography was the right place. This is Prisoners' lone nomination which means it probably won't yield the attention needed for a win.
The Grandmaster
Nominee: Cinematographers Society - Outstanding Cinematography in Feature Film
From the trailer alone I can see why this was nominated. Perhaps I'm undercrediting the Academy's appreciation to eastern cinema. And, did the Cinematographers Society and Academy really have the exact same picks? Kind of seals it for Gravity then, I suppose.

Oscar Prep: Visual Effects

I'd like to say this is a tight race. It's not. Beyond The Lone Ranger's nomination, this is a set of movies I can agree with. I would've been nice for Pacific Rim to sneak in. That was always a longshot though.

 A couple notes first:
-Each category is arrange from Most to Least likely to win by my measure.
-An '*' before the title indicates a movie that I have seen.
-I'm trying to keep the shorthand to a minimum (get it). A couple that come up though are BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), SAG (Screen Actors Guild), PGA (Producers Guild of America, WGA (Writers Guild of America), DGA (Directors Guild of America).

Other Picks

Best Visual Effects
Front Runner: *Gravity
Winner: BAFTA - Best Special Visual Effects, Visual Effects Society - Every Award Possible. I'm not kidding, look at that ceremony.
Gravity is going to clean up in the Technical Categories and of all the sure things, this is the surest. The Visual Effects society will probably name this award after Gravity within the decade. And it will be a deserved win.

Dark Horse: *The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Nominee: BAFTA - Best Special Visual Effects, Visual Effects Society - Outstanding Visual Effects
Smaug looked pretty great. It's hard to the Academy getting a renewed interested in Middle Earth though. Especially with such a cemented front runner.

Other Nominees:
*The Lone Ranger
Winner: Visual Effects Society - Outstanding Visual Effects
It has something the other nominees don't: a win. That's it.
*Star Trek Into Darkness
Nominee: BAFTA - Best Special Visual Effects, Visual Effects Society - Outstanding Visual Effects
It's a coin toss between the bottom two. When in doubt, pick the one without exploding Iron Man suits.
*Iron Man 3
Nominee: BAFTA - Best Special Visual Effects, Visual Effects Society - Outstanding Visual Effects
Even the least likely winner has two different nominations to its name. That goes to show that this year's field of nominees is incredibly consistent.

Oscar Prep: Makeup and Hairstyling

Are these the only options? Did The Hobbit CGI it's way out of contention? Did Marvel not dress anyone up enough? Weren't there more movies about sick people? These are our choices? Oh well, here we go.

A couple notes first:
-Each category is arrange from Most to Least likely to win by my measure.
-An '*' before the title indicates a movie that I have seen.
-I'm trying to keep the shorthand to a minimum (get it). A couple that come up though are BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), SAG (Screen Actors Guild), PGA (Producers Guild of America, WGA (Writers Guild of America), DGA (Directors Guild of America).

Other Picks

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Front Runner: *Dallas Buyers ClubNominee - Hollywood Makeup and Hair Stylist Guild - Best Period and/or Character Makeup
Simply put, it's the movie on the list that most voters will feel comfortable voting for.

Front Runner: *The Lone Ranger
Nominee: Hollywood Makeup and Hair Stylist Guild - Best Period and/or Character Makeup - Feature Films, Hollywood Makeup and Hair Stylist Guild - Best Period and/or Character Hair Styling
The only movie nominated by the Hair and Makeup Guild for both Hair and Makeup. If we assume there's some overlap in the voters, that puts this in a good position. Then again, it's the Lone fucking Ranger. Who's going to vote for it?

Other Nominees:
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa
Nominee: Hollywood Makeup and Hair Stylist Guild - Best Special Makeup Effects
As much as I would like to hear Jackass mentioned in a ceremony supposedly representing the best in films for the year, I don't see it happening.

Oscar Prep: Original Song

When will the Oscars drop this category? Don't get me wrong, I like the category. I think it is a good idea to honor the musical achievements in movies this for the year. The rules seem to be so strict though. I imagine that's why some years have had as few as 2 nominees. This year, there's only four after the fifth was disqualified (which seems like something they should've been able to determine earlier, but whatever). We've good a decent batch this year although it's looking like Disney vs. Bono and it's tough to say who the more formidable challenger is.

A couple notes first:
-Each category is arrange from Most to Least likely to win by my measure.
-An '*' before the title indicates a movie that I have seen.
-I'm trying to keep the shorthand to a minimum (get it). A couple that come up though are BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), SAG (Screen Actors Guild), PGA (Producers Guild of America, WGA (Writers Guild of America), DGA (Directors Guild of America), HFPA (Hollywood Foreign Press Association).

Other Picks

Best Original Song
Front Runner: *“Let It Go” - Frozen
Nominee: Golden Globe - Best Original Song
Sure, it lost at the Globes but the HFPA like celebrities, especially foreign ones, so that was Bono's to lose. I can't see how "Let It Go" loses. It is a genuine billboard hit and, as we learned with Skyfall, that should not be taken lightly.

Dark Horse: “Ordinary Love” - Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Winner: Golden Globe - Best Original Song
Who knows? Maybe the Academy loves Bono too.

Other Nominees:
*“The Moon Song” - Her
I could see a narrative in which voters are looking for every way to get Her a win possible. The music branch doesn't tend to work like that however.
“Happy” - Despicable Me 2
Well, it's got Pharrell. Apparently it's 2003 and that's cool again.

Oscar Prep: Foreign Film

I suck. I accept this. I'm a lazy, uncultured xenophobe and I get scared off by subtitles. I haven't seen any of these movies and I should've. That won't prevent me from making wild predictions about who will win though.

A couple notes first:
-Each category is arrange from Most to Least likely to win by my measure.
-An '*' before the title indicates a movie that I have seen.
-I'm trying to keep the shorthand to a minimum (get it). A couple that come up though are BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), SAG (Screen Actors Guild), PGA (Producers Guild of America, WGA (Writers Guild of America), DGA (Directors Guild of America).

Other Picks

Best Foreign Language Film

Front Runner: The Great Beauty
Win: Golden Globe – Best Foreign Language Film, BAFTA – Best Foreign Film
Well, it won in the two major awards that have a Foreign Film category other than the Oscars. While hardly a binding contract, the odds are in its favor.

Dark Horse: The Hunt
Nominee: Golden Globe - Best Foreign Language Film, BAFTA – Best Foreign Film
When looking for a dark horse, the smartest play is to find who keeps losing to the presumed winner. The Hunt fits that bill as the only movie to lose to The Great Beauty at the BAFTAs and Golden Globes. Besides, it has TV's Hannibal Lecter and you don't want to be on his bad side.

Other Nominees:
The Broken Circle Breakdown
The Missing Picture
Omar
Look, I'm getting at tired of having nothing to say about half the nominees as you are. Once we get to the nominees that the average person cares about I'll be able to order this by something other than what has the coolest name.

Oscar Prep: Animated Feature

I can't say much was overlooked this year. Monsters University was fun but felt a little tired and there wasn't the same mandate to get this nominated that most Pixar movies have. After that, what, there's Turbo and that Thanksgiving one. In 2013, there's Frozen, and then there's everyone else.

A couple notes first:
-Each category is arrange from Most to Least likely to win by my measure.
-An '*' before the title indicates a movie that I have seen.
-I'm trying to keep the shorthand to a minimum (get it). A couple that come up though are BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), SAG (Screen Actors Guild), PGA (Producers Guild of America, WGA (Writers Guild of America), DGA (Directors Guild of America).

No, I don't know how to use Photoshop. Why do you ask?

Other Picks

Best Animated Feature

Front Runner: *Frozen
Winner: Golden Globe - Best Animated Feature Film, BAFTA - Best Animated Film, Annie Awards - Best Animated Feature, PGA - Animated FeatureAnd it's not even close. This is probably the easiest pick of the night. Without even the mighty Pixar to compete with it, this award collecting powerhouse will not be stopped.

Dark Horse: The Wind Rises
Nominee: Golden Globe - Best Foreign Language Film, Annie Awards - Best Animated Feature
The only thing that could possibly get in Frozen's way is sentimentality about Miyazaki's (supposed) final film. Then again, it's hardly like he's an Oscar favorite and he already has a trophy for Spirited Away.

Other Nominees:
Despicable Me 2
Nominee: Golden Globe - Best Animated Feature Film, BAFTA - Best Animated Film, Annie Awards - Best Animated Feature, PGA - Animated FeatureIt's been the bridesmaid to Frozen at every ceremony it's been too.
*The Croods
Nominee: Golden Globe - Best Animated Feature Film, Annie Awards - Best Animated Feature, PGA - Animated Feature
At some point, the nominations are just here to fill space. They are just happy to be nominated.
Ernest & Celeste
Nominee: Annie Awards - Best Animated Feature
I'll give GKIDS this, they know how to get nominated. It never yields a win and this would not be the year to buck that trend.

Oscar Prep: Documentary Feature

I was hoping to have seen at least one of the nominees before the ceremony. The Act of Killing has been on my To See list for almost a year now. Frankly, I'm looking for a time when I can stomach that one. There's a lot of popular docs that were left out of the field this year from Blackfish to Tim's Vermeer (I think that was legible) to, most embarrassing for the Academy, The Stories We Tell. This is a strong enough batch though with potential to surprise on Oscar night.

A couple notes first:
-Each category is arrange from Most to Least likely to win by my measure.
-An '*' before the title indicates a movie that I have seen.
-I'm trying to keep the shorthand to a minimum (get it). A couple that come up though are BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), SAG (Screen Actors Guild), PGA (Producers Guild of America, WGA (Writers Guild of America), DGA (Directors Guild of America).

Other Picks

Best Documentary – Feature


Front Runner: The Act of Killing
Winner: BAFTA - Best Documentary
Nominee: BAFTA – Best Foreign Film, DGA - Direction in a  Documentary
The only multiple nominee here. This movie has been floating around for a while and has quite the reputation. I hate picking a sight-unseen favorite, but this has the look of one.

Dark Horse: 20 Feet from Stardom
It lacks any major nominations but I have to assume if something was released in a local theater by me, it must be the populist vote on the list which can never be ignored.

Other Nominees:
The Square
Winner: DGA - Direction in Documentary
A Director's Guild win is nothing to ignore. It isn't nearly as buzzy as the front runner or dark horse though.

Cutie and the BoxerNominee: DGA - Direction in Documentary
Haven't seen it so all I can go off is the DGA nomination.
Dirty Wars
Nominee: WGA - Best Documentary Screenplay
I have no reason for rating a DGA nomination over a WGA nomination. Maybe it's the perception that non-fiction doesn't need a writer. That's an asinine thought process, but it's probably at play.

DVR Purge: 2/14-2/22

It's been nice folks. The Olympics have given me some free time. I had a chance to binge House of Cards and Scandal as well as work down my Netflix queue. I even got to spend some time not watching TV or movies (It was awful. I don't recommend it for anyone). It's time to clear out the little bit that was new over the last week.

Past Purges

The Walking Dead "Inmates"
There's the rest of the cast. I was curious after last week what the approach for everyone else would be. I doubted each group would get an entire episode. That would take the rest of the season and would get stale pretty quickly. Besides, in an ensemble you don't want to isolate the cast for too long (I'm looking at you Season 3 of LOST). I always enjoy when a show shakes things up by pairing characters up in new ways. Since the episode was broken up, I should probably do that as well.

Darryl and Beth. I imagine this one was concocted completely for the difference in personalities. Darryl keeps very quiet. He started coming out of his shell by last season. With Carol [supposedly] gone and the comfort of the prison gone, he's retreated back to lone wolf survival mode. Beth has yet to get a fully realized character. She's the hopeful, hardened one (which is how I'd  describe half the characters at this point). There's is probably the least interesting group at this moment.

Tyreese, Carol, and the Girls. Had they brought Carol back with any other group, I'd call it a cop out after she got her spotlight and goodbye earlier in the year. Since there's the tension between her and Tyreese (even if he doesn't realize it yet), I accept it a little more readily. Since I never for an instant believed Judith was dead, seeing Tyreese holding her wasn't a surprise beyond not knowing who had her. With all the non-Carl children in this group and a crying baby, they are certainly the most interesting group at the moment.

Maggie, Sasha, and Bob. They meant for this to have a punchline, right? When Bob says "They were good people, all of them", that has to be a joke. I imagine the writers came up with the scene, then remembered that all the people on the bus were people they knew from the prison. Since they weren't central cast members, of course, we never got any time with them. It was sort of an unavoidable problem, but I'd've taken a moment of silence over that silly throw-away line.

Glenn and Tara. This story confused me the most, primarily because I have no idea how Glenn got there. I'm better off forgetting most of the things from the end of the first past of this season, so I'm kind of just accepting that he got there. He also might be a little too good at making a Molotov cocktail. Again, I've learned to accept that all the characters have an astounding learning curve when is comes to doing badass things like making explosives, having perfect aim, and never having to reload a shotgun. Tara had a little too much clarity about the events that had just transpired. I'd rather some silent discomfort over monologing about how wrong they were to attack the prison group. Whatever. It was good enough for a passing grade.

Cougar Town "Time to Move On"
I can't remember the last time we had a story with Grayson and Andy without Bobby. That was different. As for Ellie, I'm officially tired of 1) stories about getting into exclusive preschools and 2) using being gay as a way to get in. It was fun seeing Laurie making Ellie squirm though.

Oscar Prep: Shorts

Welcome. There's about a week left before the Academy Awards. I couldn't finish my "project" leading up to the awards this year, so I decided instead to go into way too much detail with my Oscar picks. Over the next week, I'll be posting something for all the categories.

A couple notes first:
-Each category is arrange from Most to Least likely to win by my measure.
-An '*' before the title indicates a movie that I have seen.
-I'm trying to keep the shorthand to a minimum (get it). A couple that come up though are BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), SAG (Screen Actors Guild), PGA (Producers Guild of America, WGA (Writers Guild of America), DGA (Directors Guild of America).

Other Picks

Best Animated Short Film
Front Runner: *Get a Horse!
Winner: Annie Award - Best Animated Short Subject
Approximately the same number of people who have seen Frozen have seen this. In short (get it?), this delightful Mickey Mouse short has the exposure and in a category this unseen, that goes a long way.
Dark Horse: Room on the Broom
Nominee: Annie Award - Best Animated Special Production
The only other nominee recognized by the Annie Awards. That's gotta help it.
Other Nominees
Feral
Mr. Hublot
Possessions
I can't tell any of these apart. There is no reason to think that one has a better chance than the other.

Best Live Action Short Film
Front Runner: The Voorman Problem
Nominee: BAFTA - Best Short Film
The only nominee with any award recognition (film festivals not included because, well, there's too many of those to track).
Dark Horse: Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?
Why? Because I like the name. That's it.
Other Nominees:
That Wasn't Me
Just Before Losing Everything
Helium
Again, I have not seen any of these (my bad. scheduling issue) and none of them were nominated outside the Oscars so I have little or none to go off.

Best Documentary – Short Subject
Front Runner: The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life
Dark Horse: CaveDigger
Other Nominees:
Facing Fear
Karma Has No Walls
Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall
As you can see, none of these have any major nominations to point to nor were any packaged with a feature release so all I can go off is the names since, again I didn't get around to seeing any of the shorts.

Oscar Picks

Follow the links for a deeper explanation if you'd like.

Update: 3/82/14 - 6:08pm. I swear, I'm done changing my picks. What you see now is what I'm sticking with.

Best Film
Will Win: Gravity
Could Win: 12 Years a Slave
Should Win: Gravity

Best Director
Will Win: Gravity
Could Win: 12 Years a Slave
Should Win: Gravity

Best Actor
Will Win: Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club
Could Win: Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave
Should Win: Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave

Best Actress
Will Win: Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
Could Win: Amy Adams - American Hustle
Should Win: Amy Adams - American Hustle Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine

Best Supporting Actor
Will Win: Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club
Could Win: Barkhad Abdi - Captain Phillips
Should Win: Michael Fassbender - 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actress
Will Win: Lupita Nyong'o - 12 Years a Slave
Could Win: Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle
Should Win: Lupita Nyong'o - 12 Years a Slave

Best Original Screenplay
Will Win: Her
Could Win: American Hustle
Should Win: Her

Best Adapted Screenplay
Will Win: 12 Years a Slave
Could Win: Philomena
Should Win: Before Midnight

Best Production Design
Will Win: Gravity
Could Win: The Great Gatsby
Should Win: Gravity

Best Costume Design
Will Win: American Hustle The Great Gatsby
Could Win: The Great Gatsby American Hustle
Should Win: The Great Gatsby

Best Editing
Will Win: Gravity
Could Win: 12 Years a Slave Captain Phillips
Should Win: Gravity

Best Original Score
Will Win: Gravity
Could Win: The Book Thief
Should Win: Gravity

Best Cinematography
Will Win: Gravity
Could Win:Inside Llewyn Davis
Should Win:Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Sound Mixing
Will Win:Gravity
Could Win:Captain Phillips
Should Win: Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Sound Editing
Will Win:Gravity
Could Win:All Is Lost
Should Win:Gravity
 
Best Visual Effects
Will Win: Gravity
Could Win: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Should Win: Gravity

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Will Win: The Lone Ranger Dallas Buyers Club
Could Win: Dallas Buyers Club The Lone Ranger
Should Win: Jackass Present: Bad Grandpa

Best Original Song
Will Win: "Let It Go" - Frozen
Could Win: "Ordinary Love" - Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Should Win: "Let It Go" - Frozen

Best Foreign Film
Will Win: The Great Beauty
Could Win: The Hunt
Should Win: N/A

Best Animated Feature
Will Win: Frozen
Could Win: The Wind Rises
Should Win: Frozen

Best Documentary Feature
Will Win: The Act of Killing
Could Win: The Square 20 Feet from Stardom
Should Win: The Act of Killing

Best Live Action Short
Will Win: The Voorman Problem
Could Win: Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?
Should Win: N/A

Best Animated Short
Will Win: Get a Horse!
Could Win: Room on the Broom
Should Win: Get a Horse!

Best Documentary Short
Will Win: The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life
Could Win: CaveDigger
Should Win: N/A

Delayed Reaction: Hulk

The Pitch: Let's do a Hulk movie and have it look like a comic book.

What Took Me So Long: The opinion of this movie is fiercely divided and I didn't want to get into it.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) I've seen virtually every other Marvel movie and I can say without a doubt that this one is unique. In terms of making a comic book come alive, Ang Lee nails it. Every choice the actors from Eric Bana to Nick Nolte to Jennifer Connolly make is consistent with comic book logic at it's finest.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: Personally, I don't read comic books and there is a reason for that. I found the style of the movie to be exhausting. I appreciated it a lot more by the end than I did when it started. I can't deny the skill of Lee in this. He certainly delivers exactly what was asked from him. It is a style that didn't work for me much though. It also doesn't help that I don't find the Hulk story as interesting as some of the other Marvel heroes.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Delayed Reaction: Chicken Little

The Pitch: Let's animate the Chicken Little story and go a little meta with it.

What Took Me So Long: I couldn't tell if this was "adults-allowed" Disney or "let's aim only for the kids" Disney.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) Here's an example of a children's fable that is famous enough that it seems obvious that it would get a movie treatment, until you think about the fable for 3 seconds and realize there's not a lot to this, at least, that can be given a G-rating. Realizing that, I'd say this movie does an admirable job. Chicken Little and his friends (including Fish out of Water, which is an easy sight-gag that gave me a chuckle more often than it should've) are all funny in a "appeals to kids but isn't endlessly annoying to adults" way. I'm not sure they nailed the moral of the original story all that well, but they fit a couple others about friendship and family to make up for that.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: Any time 'aliens' is an answer to a mystery, in my head I cry "cop-out", even for a kids movie. And, while I did find this to have a better funny bone than, say, Barnyard, there's too many movies from Pixar, Dreamworks, and even Disney Animation Studios that are accessible to both children and adults to give this a pass for not being painful to watch as an adult.

Verdict (?): Strongly Don't Recommend

Delayed Reaction: Blown Away

The Pitch: Bombs + Irish terrorism = Box office Gold

What Took Me So Long: As much as I love Jeff Bridges, I haven't seen a lot of his backlog. I don't know why.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) Jeff Bridges and Tommy Lee Jones in a game of cat and mouse using bombs. Why wouldn't I see this? No to mention Forest Whitaker...how many Oscar nominations and wins does that tally up to?

Why I Wish I Hadn't: I could do without Jones' Irish accent. It wasn't bad, exactly. He's one of those actors who it is hard to see as anything other than Tommy Lee Jones, so when something like his voice is disguised, it's distracting. Perhaps I need to check out more of his older movies, but I've never seen Bridges as a traditional action movie lead. He can do shades of it, but when the same character could be played by Sylvester Stallone easily, it doesn't seem right. Then there's the suspense scenes. In particular, I'm thinking of when Suzy Amis if going around turning on everything in the house and it milks every second tension it can from something like the stove lighting. My only thought the whole time is "they're trying too hard to make this tense". That's basically the biggest problem throughout: it tries too hard and wastes a wealth of acting talent.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Delayed Reaction: Far & Away

The Pitch: Poor boy and a rich girl go to America dreaming of the frontier, but Boston gets in the way.

What Took Me So Long: My first impulse when I hear Tom Cruise with an Irish accent is laughter, so I had to build my way up to this.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) Despite everything, I like Tom Cruise. He is a good movie star and manages to carry whatever role he takes. Nicole Kidman continues a long tradition of spoiled rich girls who are cranky from beginning to end and the only reason the lead male still loves them has to be because she is crazy hot. Trust me, it's a longer tradition than the highly specific name would suggest. Of course, the good examples all escape me right now. That shouldn't negate my point. Despite how little is happening at any point in the movie I never was bored by it. I must credit it there.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: This was kind of like Gangs of New York with less violence. That, in and of itself is not a bad thing. I can't say it made up for that with anything though. Cruise wants to kill Kidman's dad. Both flee to America. They go in to poverty. Cruise joins a fight club. They go their separate ways. Everyone meets up and gets some land. Nothing particularly engaging here.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

Delayed Reaction: Do The Right Thing

The Pitch: A funny dramatic movie about race in New York.

What Took Me So Long: I need to be in the right mood for a movie that deals so much with race.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) I never know what to do about Spike Lee. He kind of annoys me but he has his own voice, which is nice. And, this movie is nothing if not highly stylized and in Lee's voice. The characters are instantly memorable even if they aren't recognizable (I did a spit take when I realized that Buggin' Out was the Chicken Man).

Why I Wish I Hadn't: That was a crappy ending. I see absolutely no way that Sal would still be talking to Mookie by the end. That bothered me a great deal. Everything else was a pretty good balance of all the elements, but no. I could see if someone else broke the window and Mookie then joined in, but as the one who smashed the window and caused the riot to escalate, there is no way that I believe Sal would have a civil conversation with him the next god-damn day.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Delayed Reaction: Carlito's Way

The Pitch: What if Scarface lived, served 10 years in prison, got out on appeal, and tried to get out of the game?

What Took Me So Long: Ever since being disappointed by Scarface, I've been in no hurry to see De Palma features.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) It was on and Al Pacino has the potential to do good work. I'd say this does a good job of capturing the dirty parts of the 70s. We see enough of what made Carlito such a legend and also plenty of why he wanted to get away from his old life. Sean Penn does a good enough job for me to ignore his makeup and hair. Penelope Ann Miller is good too even if I'm scared to do the math of her and Calito's relationship (24 year age difference!).

Why I Wish I Hadn't: Sometimes I feel like if you've seen one Brian De Palma movie, you've seen them all. I think I'm supposed to find Carlito to be a more sympathetic character than I do. I have little room in my heart for people who get themselves into the same mess time and time again. Since I didn't care for any of the characters, it was hard for me to care about the movie at all.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Delayed Reaction: Happy Feet

The Pitch: Dancing penguins. Dancing penguins. Dancing penguins! Environmentalism!!!

What Took Me So Long: I don't get all the penguin love in the world. They are fine, I guess, but I'm actively indifferent to them.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) When a movie has so many different people with so many different things they love or hate it for, I feel the need to check it out at some point. On one hand, there's dancing penguins. That cannot be stressed enough when talking about what the movie does right. Then there's the singing penguins. Also key, although, secondary to the dancing. That's 3/4s of the profit right there.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: Depending on who you ask, this movie either subtly touches on a number of important themes or it beats you over the head with a clear agenda. Unsurprisingly, I fall in the latter category. Now, the story of Mumble not being accepted for his dancing until he finds group of Mexican caricature penguins who appreciate his dancing is, well, I guess standard lowest-common-denominator story-telling. That's already a fairly loaded topic for a movie that people are seeing because they want to see some dancing penguins. Then, they throw in a whole message about environmentalism that is...seriously, I read reviews of this that prominently complimented this for it subtlety and craft. How the fuck can anyone say that in earnest? Whatever! I hate agendas like this in kids movies because it's little more than indoctrination, which seems like cheating. All I signed up for was a movie with dancing penguins!

Verdict (?): Strongly Don't Recommend

Movie Reaction: The Monuments Men

Formula: (The Men Who Stare at Goats * Ocean's Eleven) / Inglourious Basterds

Why I Saw It: Intrigue from the change in release date from December to February and, in general, I'm a George Clooney fan.

Cast: This is the kind of cast that George Clooney can pull together, which I mean as a good thing. It's got a little bit of everything: his buddy coming in to give it some star power (Matt Damon), a beloved comedic star (Bill Murray), a recent Oscar winner (Jean Dujardin), a star from a TV (Hugh Bonneville), a journeyman character actor (Bob Balaban), a guy who the Oscars has always somehow ignore (John Goodman), a fresh young face (Dimitri Leonidas), the man himself (George Clooney), and a supremely talented actress (Cate Blanchett) to prevent this from being a complete sausage fest. Each actor brings to the movie exactly what you'd expect.

Plot: The basic synopsis is an easy one. It's the story of a group of art experts who go to Europe toward the end of World War II to save pieces of art from the Nazis or Russians. There's a couple items of significance they are especially looking for but the plot is not more complex than that. The structure is less of a single narrative and more like a collection of adventures along the way. It reads less like a novel and more like a collection of short stories. Most of the characters air paired of for the majority of the time. Little time is spent developing the characters. The movie relies on a lot of understood tropes for effect. Instead of showing bonding, the audience is supposed to assume it happened and feel bad when someone's partner dies. That kind of stuff. As a result, very little of the drama felt sincere. The comedy though, that all played very well. Let's not forget. Clooney is the director who gave us Leatherheads and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. He isn't always aiming for a Good Night, and Good Luck feel. One of the big questions raised by this film is whether preserving this art should be weighed above people's lives. I don't think it gives a very good answer although I get what they are trying to say. That would describe a lot of this movie: I get what they are going for but the execution isn't there.

Elephant in the Room: I see it moved out of the Oscar season. Smart smart smart smart move there. This is not an Oscar movie. Anyone who ever thought it could be was dazzled by the names on the call sheet. It is too messy and not serious enough about itself to be an Oscar movie. Imagine The Men Who Stare at Goats, only with a soundtrack that thinks it's Saving Private Ryan.

To Sum Things Up:
Look, I can't really recommend the movie. It's not exactly bad. It's one of those movies where you are like "Oh, so that's how they kept busy". It's like Pirate Radio: it won't be remembered in a decade. When it gets an Oscar nomination next year for, say, sound mixing, I guarantee that most people I'll talk to will say "was that this year?". If you are planning to see this movie simply because George Clooney is in it or Bill Murray, it'll deliver what you want. If you are looking for a movie with an engaging hook and that gets the full potential of the combined talent that worked on it, you'll be disappointed.


Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Delayed Reaction: Pretty in Pink

The Pitch: Sixteen Candles but switch out Anthony Michael Hall for Jon Cryer and some other basic tweaks.

What Took Me So Long: The thing with John Hughes movies is that they have a long shelf life, but if you don't see them before a certain age, it's tough to appreciate them.

Why I Saw It: It's been a while since I checked the official list, but I believe this is required viewing for anyone aspiring to be an 80s pop culture aficionado. I can see why. It positively screams 1985 or how history remembers that period. It's all bright and colorful with yuppies and punks and Molly Ringwald. What is more 80's than Molly Ringwald (R.I.P. Ringwalds' career 1990-Present)? There's a young James Spader, douching it up. Jon Cryer is...supposed to be a nerd in the movie, cool to us, right? Then there's the dreamy Andrew McCarthy.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: The fact that she doesn't end up with Ducky is a "nice guys finish last" kick in the balls that I don't prefer but I suppose I get the point of it. Overall, the thing working against it, as I hinted at already is that I didn't grow up with it so all I can see is the messiness of it. Of course, it's one of those movies that is dangerous to speak ill of, so I will stop with that.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

DVR Purge: 2/9-2/13

The schedule has slowed down not that I'm caught up again (Thank you Olympics!). Of course, the return of House of Cards will complicate things. I doubt I'll be commenting on that though. Too much too quick and I don't offer much in that situation.

Past Purges

The Walking Dead "After"
I like this angle of splitting the group up. I wish it wouldn't've come so soon after leaving the group for the Governor's side quest because it feels like way too long since I've seen Darryl, for example, in any capacity. In a vacuum though, a good episode. Finally learning something about Michonne was nice and needed. I'm glad they didn't leave her on her own too long. The lone wolf thing has run its course. The focus on Carl was very interesting. First of all, when did he learn how to swear? That took me aback for a moment (in a good way). He's become one of the most interesting characters in that he is still learning about the world in general, even if there was no zombie apocalypse. The focus this week seemed to be on his limitations (can't knock down the door, unable to overpower a walker, too headstrong) and why he still needs Rick (who I didn't realize got that messed up in the prison battle). Mostly, I'd say what this episode did right is my biggest problem with the series: show, don't tell. There was a lot of character development without a lot of on the nose discussions about morality and what was going on in their heads (my biggest issue with the days on the farm). Excited for next week.

New Girl "Sister"
I should start off by saying that however long Linda Cardellini is going to stay on the show it not long enough. Abby is a very entertaining firestarter  and plays off Jess very well. The show is starting to feel a little crowded these days, which I'm ok with. I'm not sure what the end game is with Coach and Cece. I'm hoping I read this correctly as them ending the possibility of them getting together because I need Cece available. Schmidt tends to be way more likable when that's the case.
Favorite line: "Have you seen a girl who looks like me but with chaos in her eye?"

Brooklyn Nine Nine "Full Boyle"
A lot to love about a show that has completely hit its stride. Going in, I'd've assumed a Boyle-centric episode would wear on me quickly since he is such an extreme character. The fact that I enjoyed it is a credit to Joe Lo Truglio. He has (as do the writers) an excellent grasp on that character. Peralta was used well too. Andy Sambery reacting to all the things about the perfect date was priceless and I was glad he stayed on the course of protecting Boyle. Oh, and pepper spray is always funny when I'm not either involved party. The B stories involving Super Dan and the AAGLNYCPA both had their merit as well, which is my way of saying "I liked them and have nothing to say about them".

Cougar Town "Learning to Fly"
Big Tippy didn't last long, did she? Maybe I'm wrong. I'd kind of like to see a chart of the episode count for each glass. I assume I wasn't the only one annoyed by the logistics of Bobby being afraid on the green screen roller coaster.

DVR Purge: 2/4-2/8

Part two of my week to catch up. This also marks the first time that my Purge hightlighted (highlit?) shows is Agents of SHIELD. I was as surprised as you are.

Past Purges

Agents of SHIELD "T.R.A.C.K.S."
This show may have finally figured it out. Last week's episode at the academy was thoroughly enjoyable and had the sense of humor the show desperately needs. That continued with this episode including Fitz attempting to be American and Simmons' elaborated backstories (complete with Stan Lee cameo). In addition to that, the episode was structured wonderfully. I'm a sucker for anything that tells the same story from different perspectives and they found a way to do it that didn't get tedious and changed the meaning of previously seen events. The only thing working against the episode was when Skye was shot, my thought was "I could see how this show could survive without her" rather than "oh no, not Skye!", which must be indicative of two things: 1) I'm a heartless monster and 2) they've still not made her into an invaluable character.

Brooklyn Nine Nine "The Party"
It seems like they are doing a lot of softening of Holt in the past few episodes. Andre Braugher continues to be gloriously dead-pan but was seeing the different shades of it. I think it's safe to call him the Ron Swanson of Brooklyn Nine Nine (which is my equivalent to the Peabody). They also did right by Peralta, having him figure out why Kev doesn't like the squad. This was the first time I can remember Sgt. Jeffords coming off like the superior officer besides Holt and it brought me back to his Everybody Hates Chris days. Finally, smart use of Gina. She's an established sociopath at this point, so having her in a room with psychologists is a given for laughs.

New Girl "Exes"
I liked the episode, don't get me wrong. Winston continues to be weird and funny on the sidelines. Schmidt got to be both likable and excessive. Fun guest turns from Adam Brody and Mary Elizabeth Ellis. Now for the negative. New Girl is not a good build show. It is funny, no doubt. It does not rely on escalation as much as, say, Modern Family, Frasier, Malcolm in the Middle. That's just not what it does. So, when the episode reaches a cresendo of crazy, with Croline pounding on the door, Berkley confessing his love to Jess, Nick celebrating being correct, and Schmidt, Coach, and Winston's plan crumbling, it's nothing more than chaos without laughter. It wasn't bad. It was loud for the sake of being loud. you know what would've fixed this: Prince.

Trophy Wife "Foxed Lunch"
I've come to realize that this show is about the combinations. Mix the wrong characters and it can be problematic. That's probably what hurt the episode the most for me. Kate and Jackie is among my least favorite pairs and the unoriginal story didn't help. Diane and Hillary can be good together but we just had that last week and playing on their competitiveness (also a story that's been done to death before) is not a great use. Then there's Pete, Bert, and Warren. The show has had trouble finding the comedic use of Bradley Whitford on this show (don't get me wrong, he can be very funny when used well) and it felt like a waste to give him all the big moments, leaving MVPs, Bert and Warren with nothing to do. (And this was a completely overused story too). Lastly, no Natalie Morales. C'mon!

Cougar Town "Hard on Me"
I want to try a popsicle made of cough syrup and red wine now. Like, the next time I get a cold, that will be my project. Beyond that though, I liked the black robed cult of the sick. It was a funny gag, even when overused, I still found funny. I remember the sentimentality being less on the nose in Scrubs than it was between Chick and Jules though.

The Middle "Hungry Games"
What is it about episodes involving the church the yields such great results for this show? As soon as I heard them say they had to go to church first before the buffet, I got excited. I thought it was strange that Axl didn't get a chat with Minister Peele. It sure payed off with his explosion at the end ("We win ugly. That's just how we roll."). Few shows are as genuinely touching as The Middle when it wants to be.

Suburgatory "The Birds and the Biederman"
I can't be the only one who feels like producers are bored. Tessa gets a moment of growth. George and Dallas comes to terms with the breakup. Lisa acts awkward and funny. Sheila was too intense for her own good. Fred is creepily open with Victor. Dalia is deadpan and awesome. Nothing wrong with any of it. Nothing remarkable either.
-Is June the girl from Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, and if so, why do I know that?
-Anyone else catch that they mentioned Noah but we've yet to see him this season.

Modern Family "iSpy"
You win ABC. My DVR messed up and they are being douches about posting the episode. Let's just assume that Phil does something ridiculous, Cam and Mitchell get in a fight, and Gloria says a word that she can't pronounce very well in English.

The Big Bang Theory "The Locomotive Manipulation"
The only part of this episode that matters is the Amy/Shelden kiss. The writers have been very cautious to parcel out the steps in the relationship painfully slowly, so that was a relief to see. I was much more excited by last season when Shelden was direct with her about his discomfort with affection. That was more telling. I'm not sure how much longer I'll be interested in this slow pace. Glad to see that Penny and Leonard are becoming the "awful people couple". It's about time the show embraced that rather than this "they kind of hate each other" thing that's been going on too long.

The Crazy Ones "Dead and Improved"
This was easily the most forgettable episode of my multi-day purging of a week of DVRed shows. All I remember is a sexy Charmin commercial and pallbearers dancing with a casket. I assume that's all I needed to take away from it.

DVR Purge: 2/2-2/3

So, I went on vacation for a week without cable access. Beyond being a harrowing experience in self-deprivation, I got way behind on my TV. Of course, it was a surprisingly busy week and my DVR fucked up more than a couple times, so I'll be slowly catching up and posting these. First up, the post Superbowl shows and a Monday night with a How I Met Your Mother that needs dissection.

Past Purges

New Girl "Prince"
Seemed appropriate for an After Superbowl episode. Prince was a big get and they used his quirkiness is a funny way without it feeling like they were working around them to make the episode work. The stunt casting gave the episode that gravitas it needed. The "I love you" confession gave it importance, although am I the only one who got the sense they wrote this to fit anywhere in the season in case the schedule got messed up? I caught that Ford Fusion ad they tried to sneak in. It was funny though, so no complaints there.
Best joke: Fire and Ice = Warm Water

Brooklyn Nine Nine "Operation: Broken Feather"
This had much less of the feel of a special Post Post Superbowl episode. I'm fine with that. They threw in the football segment at the beginning (side note: Terry Crews is a frightening specimen) and otherwise went about a normal episode which did a good job highlighting what every character does well. I've accepted this Peralta/Santiago business, so as long as I like both characters individually, I can accept their inevitable (unless they throw a curve ball in there) coupling. Capt. Holt was excellent in the episode. From the Icarus story to him watching Moneyball, everything Andre Braugher did was great.

How I Met Your Mother "Sunrise"
I've been tossing and turning on this one for a while. I had to rewatch it even. My first instinct was that I didn't like it. After all, no Mother. I've made my opinion known about the three things each episode needs this season (Mother, call-backs, emotions). The more I've considered it, we can exchange Mother this week for another thing I once loved about the show: structure. Let's break it down.
Emotion: The ending of each of the three stories were genuine in this regard. Ted finally lets go of Robin (despite having an awful definition for what love is). Given that there's no taking back all the stupid stuff happening before this with Ted, this was probably the best resolution they had available. Marshall and Lily got a cop-out of a resolution to a long-brewing argument. Again, the thought behind it though, there's no winning and losing in a good relationship, leaves them in a good place and frees us of having to see them at odds for the rest of the season. Barney's is the most ridiculous story. Yet, it was a good summation of him as a character and plausibly explained his reason for being willing to change.
Call Backs: This was heavy in them, thankfully. Ted talks to loves of the past. There's a sense that Abby Elliot was available and Jennifer Morrison wasn't, which is why Jeanette got so much to do. Very little of this was funny. It recognized the history of Ted's dating head on in a good way. Marshall has an argument with 2006 Lily. He is literally fighting with a callback. San Francisco is addressed in ways it hadn't before and Marshall's dad even finds a way to sneak in. Barney and his two new proteges is essentially a summary of every conversation with Ted he's ever had. It completely covers everything the old Barney was.
Structure: By that, I mean, "was it all a dream?". The short answer is "no". The fact that Robin now knows about Ted moving to Chicago proves that. Some of this really happened. Let's think about it though. Marshall is in bed, talking to imaginary people. Clearly, we aren't supposed to think this is real. It's not a leap to call this a dream. Barney is in a drunken stupor and teaches complete strangers everything he knows in a strip club that appears out of nowhere. This is about as symbolic as you can get. Short of the two guys showing up at the wedding, scamming on the Mother, I'm fine believing Barney is passed out in a ditch, imagining all this. Finally, Ted and Robin. It's interesting that we go from Ted alone last week to with Robin now. It's good that he got help, but why her? It's a bit convenient, and I don't mean that in a bad writing sense. They are alone the entire time, doing a bad job looking for Barney, and happen to discuss exactly what Ted needs to at that moment. Oh, and let's not forget, the refrain of the song when Robin is floating away is "dreaming".
Now that I've thought it through, this is an impressively done episode. Even if I am completely misreading it, the end result is that all of our characters' struggles are wiped clean in one fell swoop. Ted is open to loving someone other than Robin. Robin is set to marry Barney. Barney has passed on the Playbook and [most of] his old ways. Marshall and Lily are staying in New York and a happy couple again. Ladies and gentlemen, it's looking like we are in the How I Met Your Mother Victory lap.*

*I hereby reserve the write to take back this claim if the writers revert back to their old ways in the coming weeks since that's what they do best.

Archer "Archer Vice: House Call"
After that HIMYM dicertation, I don't have a lot left in me. This was a small and funny episode. Taking place entirely inside Cheryl's manor, it's like an animated bottle episode. I feel bad that I never have more to say about this incredibly smartly written show. I mean, all those jokes about metric conversion. Who does that? It was great.