AU’s Oscar Ballot – How Did We Do?

84 AU community members entered our Oscar Ballot contest. Our winner got 16 correct, while one ballot only got 4 correct. There were some good surprises during the ceremony Sunday night (like Olivia Colman winning her well-deserved best actress statuette), and some not so-great surprises (Green Book winning Best Picture? Really?), overall our entrants were … Continue reading “AU’s Oscar Ballot – How Did We Do?”

84 AU community members entered our Oscar Ballot contest. Our winner got 16 correct, while one ballot only got 4 correct. There were some good surprises during the ceremony Sunday night (like Olivia Colman winning her well-deserved best actress statuette), and some not so-great surprises (Green Book winning Best Picture? Really?), overall our entrants were pretty accurate in predicting the outcomes of each category. Here’s a look at AU’s picks to win (the nominees with the majority of your votes), and how we did in each category.

Best Picture

AU Pick: Roma

The Academy Pick: Green Book

I’m with Spike Lee on this one— I was not expecting Green Book to walk away with this award. In fact, only 6 of our 82 ballots picked Green Book. Roma was far and away the favorite, with 39 votes, followed by Black Panther with 14.

Actor in a Leading Role

AU Pick: Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody

Academy’s Pick: Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody

Actress in a Leading Role

AU Pick: Glenn Close, The Wife

Academy Pick: Olivia Colman, The Favourite

I’ve never been happier to be wrong in my life. All the buzz was around Glenn Close, and I picked her for my ballot, but I really, really wanted Olivia Colman to win. Her performance as Queen Anne in The Favourite blew me away. Overall, Colman only received 15 votes (tied with Yalitza Aparicio) to Glenn Close’s 31. Lady Gaga was the second overall pick with 26.

Actor in a Supporting Role

AU Pick: Mahershala Ali, Green Book

Academy Pick: Mahershala Ali, Green Book

No surprises here, as Ali received more than double the number of votes than our second-place pick Adam Driver.

Actress in a Supporting Role

AU Pick: Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk

Academy Pick: Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk

Again, no surprises, as Regina King was a force to be reckoned with in Beale Street. Her dress was also probably my favorite of the night.

Animated Feature Film

AU Pick: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Academy Pick: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

This should have been nominated for Best Picture, just saying. 67 of you chose Spider-Man, a whopping 77 % of our total voters.

Cinematography

AU Pick: Roma

Academy Pick: Roma

Costume Design

AU Pick: Ruth Carter, Black Panther

Academy Pick: Ruth Carter, Black Panther

See my blog post from a few weeks ago. A very, very well-deserved win for Ruth Carter.

Directing

AU Pick: Alfonso Cuaron, Roma

Academy Pick: Alfonso Cuaron, Roma

I picked Spike Lee (the second overall pick at AU), but the majority of you got it right. 44 votes for Cuaron, and 28 votes for Lee.

Documentary (Feature)

AU Pick: RBG

Academy Pick: Free Solo

Of all the ones the AU voices got wrong, this was the most off. 49 of you voted for RBG, and Free Solo, the actual winner, only got 16 of your votes, just edging out Minding the Gap in third with 14.

Documentary (Short Subject)

AU Pick: Black Sheep

Academy Pick: Period. End of Sentence.

This race was actually very close.

Film Editing

AU Pick: Bohemian Rhapsody

Academy Pick: Bohemian Rhapsody

Foreign Language Film

AU Pick: Roma

Academy Pick: Roma

Makeup and Hairstyling

AU Pick: Mary, Queen of Scots

Academy Pick: Vice

AU was more wowed by the ornate (though historically inaccurate) hairdos on display in Mary, Queen of Scots than Christian Bale’s transformation into Dick Cheney.

Music (Original Score)

AU Pick: Ludwig Goransson, Black Panther

Academy Pick: Ludwig Goransson, Black Panther

Music (Original Song)

AU Pick: Lady Gaga, Shallow (A Star is Born)

Academy Pick: Lady Gaga, Shallow (A Star is Born)

Lady Gaga blew away her nearest competition (Kendrick Lamar’s All the Stars) 68-14.

Production Design

AU Pick: Black Panther

Academy Pick: Black Panther

Hannah Beachler is the first African-American to win this award. She essentially built Wakanda from the ground up.

Animated Short Film

AU Pick: Bao

Academy Pick: Bao

Live Action Short Film

AU Pick: Mother

Academy Pick: Skin

Skin was AU’s third pick overall, behind Mother and Marguerite.

Sound Editing

AU Pick: Bohemian Rhapsody

Academy Pick: Bohemian Rhapsody

Sound Mixing

AU Pick: Bohemian Rhapsody

Academy Pick: Bohemian Rhapsody

Visual Effects

AU Pick: Avengers: Infinity War

Academy Pick: First Man

First Man was AU’s second overall choice with 16 votes. Avengers garnered 44.

Adapted Screenplay

AU Pick: BlacKkKlansman

Academy Pick: BlacKkKlansman

If Spike Lee jumping into Samuel L. Jackson’s arms doesn’t bring you joy, I don’t know what will.

Original Screenplay

AU Pick: Roma

Academy Pick: Green Book

Roma just narrowly edged out Green Book with AU voters 27-25.

So, how did we do?

Overall, AU voters selected 16/24 of the winners. Given some of the night’s surprises, I’d say that’s a pretty good record.

Preoccupied With 1989

1989 was a bit of a surreal year – the Berlin Wall came down, the Tiananmen Square protests gripped the world…. And a hostless Academy Awards ceremony become infamous in the annals of Hollywood history. Just like this year, the producers of the 1989 Oscars ceremony failed to find a host for the event. This … Continue reading “Preoccupied With 1989”

1989 was a bit of a surreal year – the Berlin Wall came down, the Tiananmen Square protests gripped the world…. And a hostless Academy Awards ceremony become infamous in the annals of Hollywood history.

Just like this year, the producers of the 1989 Oscars ceremony failed to find a host for the event. This time around, the award’s producers are cutting, cutting, cutting. There won’t be any performances of the Best Original Song nominees, three categories are being relegated to commercial breaks… and the ceremony is still supposed to last over three hours. Presumably cutting the host means cutting the opening monologue, and the inane stunts in the middle of the ceremony, right? Surely that leaves time for the actual awards and the songs?

Perhaps the producers are trying to avoid a repeat of the 1989 ceremony, which was… a disaster. A total, unmitigated, humiliating disaster that I can’t believe didn’t end Rob Lowe’s career. The ceremony began with an opening number sung by Lowe and a campy, Disney-esque Snow White (Disney later sued for copyright infringement). This opening number… it’s something. Lowe and the pale princess dance and scamper about with people dressed as tables and stars. Snow White sounds more like Lina Lamont than an angelic princesses. It’s campy, but not glorious or self-aware campy. It’s just cringey. I made it to 1:19 before I had to stop the video:

It lasts eleven and a half minutes. You think it’s going to get better when Snow White leaves the stage and is replaced by couples dancing the samba, but then Merv Griffin appears, and he starts singing “I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts.” Then the women with huge coconut cocktails on their heads appear. And they start dancing. And there’s a sparkly cowboy? Who just seems to be chilling on the stage? The whole thing is briefly redeemed by Cyd Charisse, but then Snow White is back? And Rob Lowe is her blind date? And they sing? And the tables dance?

I fast forwarded from there and briefly resumed watching when there was suddenly a kick line.

Really, it’s not good.

There’s a second musical number later in the show. Don’t subject yourself to that.

By the end of the broadcast, the show’s producer, Allan Carr, would never work in Hollywood again—even if he did draw a record number of viewers.

So, what went wrong? Hollywood, and most of the viewing public, agreed that the ceremony was over the top and embarrassing. Seventeen former Oscar winners, including Julie Andrews and Gregory Peck, signed a letter condemning the ceremony as “an embarrassment to the Academy and the motion picture industry.” The denizens of a hugely popular industry gathered to celebrate another year or artistry and skill, and Allan Carr and his musical review made a mockery of everything Hollywood wanted to take pride in.

Today, the Academy is facing similar problems as it did in the lead up to the 1989 ceremony. Viewership is flagging, and valid criticisms of the Academy (such as #OscarsSoWhite), highlight that Hollywood is disconnected from the people who watch its movies. It will be interesting to see how the ceremony attempts to woo that audience back, and if they’ll repeat the same mistakes as 1989.

Best Costume Design – Black Panther

Let’s take a hot minute to talk about the most important category at the Academy Awards—Best Costume Design. Historical costume dramas a la Anna Karenina, The Great Gatsby, or The Duchess (basically any Keira Knightley movie) typically dominate this category, and that’s probably one of the reasons why it’s the award I most look forward … Continue reading “Best Costume Design – Black Panther”

Let’s take a hot minute to talk about the most important category at the Academy Awards—Best Costume Design. Historical costume dramas a la Anna Karenina, The Great Gatsby, or The Duchess (basically any Keira Knightley movie) typically dominate this category, and that’s probably one of the reasons why it’s the award I most look forward to each year. I could rhapsodize for days about how subtle differences in fabric, colors, and cuts reflect Jane Eyre’s emotional growth and confidence in Cary Fukunaga’s Jane Eyre. On the other hand, I walked out of The Crimes of Grindelwald annoyed by the fact that all the characters were dressed in styles from 1939, not 1925.

T'Challa on his throne.
T’Challa looking regal in his Nigerian-inspired coat. (Image copyright Disney/Marvel)

Despite the category’s history, I don’t think any of the period dramas will take home the award this year. Instead, I think that Ruth Carter will emerge victorious because of her incredible Afro-Futurist costumes for Black Panther. Black Panther struck that sweet spot between statement and detail, and I think the Academy will reward Carter for that. The costumes also went a long way towards building the world of Wakanda. Along with director Ryan Coogler and production designer Hannah Beachler, Ruth Carter built a nation with its own history, materials, and traditions. Though she drew heavily from traditional dress across the African continent, she laced it with modern details—like a 3D printed headdress for Angela Basset’s Queen Ramonda, or recycled mesh for Letitia Wright’s Shuri—that reflected Wakanda’s technological advancement and resistance to colonization. Carter had a story behind every costume, and you can tell that she sat down and asked herself how the clothes characters wear reflect their personalities, positions, and choices. As I watched this incredible film, I imagined the characters dressing themselves, rather than a costumer dressing mannequins.

Shuri in a white dress showing T'Challa how brilliant she is.
The silhouette may be Western, but the mesh is made from recylced materials, and features African geometric patterns. (Disney/Marvel)

Ruth Carter and Black Panther definitely deserve to win, but if this film had come out six years ago, I doubt it would have won. For one thing, the Academy’s obvious bias towards costume dramas with overwhelmingly white casts would be hard to overcome. Black Panther is up against the structured, dramatic early 1700s gowns of The Favourite, the Depression era-chic of Mary Poppins Returns, the old American West of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, and the faux-Renaissance costuming of Mary Queen of Scots. Still, in the past five years, the Academy has shown signs of a shift. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them won the category in 2016, and it blended fantastical wizard wear with 20s fashion (don’t get me started on how much the Academy loves 20s costumes); and in 2015 the winner was Mad Max: Fury Road. To say that nothing quite like Mad Max had ever won Best Costuming would be an understatement, and it signals to me that the Academy is learning to look beyond hoop skirts and pretty white flappers.

Shuri and Ramonda in traditional garb.
Bow before your queen and your princess. Ramonda’s headdress was 3D printed, btw. (Disney/Marvel)

Beyond these two recent winners, there are two other fantasy/sci fi films that won the category, and each of them were paradigm shifting. The first is the first Star Wars movie, which I don’t need to tell you was groundbreaking. Almost all of its looks continue to be iconic. The second is The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which not only won Best Costume Design, but Best Picture, and made a clean sweep of all 11 Oscars for which it was nominated.

Black Panther is paradigm-shifting in its own right, so I think it definitely has a chance to win not only best costume design, but best picture. If it does win for costuming, it will not only overcome the Academy’s love affair with period costume dramas, but its bias against films featuring non-Western costumes. Memoirs of a Geisha is the only recent winner that featured mostly non-Western costumes, and even then most of the men wear Western-style suits throughout the movie. Black Panther definitely takes some cues from Western couture, but its main influences, not to mention its materials, are overwhelmingly African.

The Dora Milaje in full battle dress.
This photo doesn’t quite capture it, but the personal detailing on each of the Dora Milaje’s uniforms is astounding. (Disney/Marvel

Black Panther has a lot of hurdles to overcome if it wants to win this category (and I didn’t even get in to how it’s a superhero film), but it’s the clear winner. Let’s just hope the Academy figures that out.

Judge Movies and Win!

It’s that time of year again! All the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are busy watching and judging this year’s Oscar-nominated films and performances. Most films considered serious Oscar contenders are released between October and December of the preceding year, presumably so they’ll be fresh in everyone’s minds when nominees … Continue reading “Judge Movies and Win!”

It’s that time of year again! All the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are busy watching and judging this year’s Oscar-nominated films and performances. Most films considered serious Oscar contenders are released between October and December of the preceding year, presumably so they’ll be fresh in everyone’s minds when nominees are being whittled down.

Because of this, a lot of films haven’t made it to DVD yet, so everything we want to purchase for our media collection is out of our reach, for the time being at least. Still, we’re celebrating the movie industry’s biggest night with our own Oscar’s contest. AU community members can fill out their own ballots here, and watch the nominated films in our collection between now and February 24th. Whoever predicts the most winners will win a 3D printed Oscar statuette from the AU Library’s Makerspace!

Here’s a list of current nominees in our collection:

  • A Quiet Place (DVD 16021)
  • Black Panther (DVD 16090)
  • First Reformed (DVD 16162)
  • Isle of the Dogs (DVD 16077)
  • RBG (DVD 16120)

And if those aren’t enough for you, take a look at some of the past nominees and winners in our collection, including:

  • Moonlight (DVD 13759)
  • Call Me By Your Name (DVD 15322)
  • Hidden Figures (DVD 13951)
  • The Big Short (DVD 13094)
  • The Hurt Locker (DVD 6762)
  • Lion (DVD 13992)
  • 12 Years a Slave (DVD 11176)
  • Toy Story 3 (DVD 7770)
  • The Artist (DVD 10193)
  • La La Land (DVD 13991)

Keep an eyes on this blog between now and February 24th. We have a lot more Oscars-related content coming your way!

Watch this year’s Oscar nominees

The Oscar nominees for 2017 are out! Keep in mind that awards are political and determined by the arbitrary makeup of whichever group is voting for them. That said, this year’s nominations already seem richer and more varied than usual. There’s far greater diversity, led not just by Moonlight and the recent hit Hidden Figures … Continue reading “Watch this year’s Oscar nominees”

The Oscar nominees for 2017 are out!

Keep in mind that awards are political and determined by the arbitrary makeup of whichever group is voting for them. That said, this year’s nominations already seem richer and more varied than usual. There’s far greater diversity, led not just by Moonlight and the recent hit Hidden Figures but across the board in acting and production categories. Most shocking for us, at least, was the Best Documentary nomination for O.J.: Made in America, the first Oscar nod for ESPN Films.

As always happens, most of the Oscar nominees were released late last year. You’ll have to go to the theaters to see La La Land, but we have a few of the nominated films available to check out.

Hell or High WaterHU DVD 13629
Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Film Editing, Best Original Screenplay

Captain FantasticHU DVD 13625
Best Actor

Kubo and the Two StringsHU DVD 13637 and HU BLU 13637
Best Animated Feature, Best Visual Effects

ZootopiaHU DVD 13259
Best Animated Feature

O.J.: Made in AmericaHU DVD 13289 and HU BLU 13289
Best Documentary Feature

Life, AnimatedHU DVD 13661
Best Documentary Feature

Hail, Caesar!HU DVD 13258
Best Production Design

The LobsterHU DVD 13642
Best Original Screenplay

Live up the Oscars glitz right here in DC

We’ve been more mum about the Oscars this year than usual. Maybe the controversies soured us a little bit. Then again, hey, the Oscars are on Sunday! That was fast! Most people would be comfortable watching at home or catching up on the results the next morning, but a certain level of Hollywood nerd might … Continue reading “Live up the Oscars glitz right here in DC”

We’ve been more mum about the Oscars this year than usual. Maybe the controversies soured us a little bit. Then again, hey, the Oscars are on Sunday! That was fast!

Most people would be comfortable watching at home or catching up on the results the next morning, but a certain level of Hollywood nerd might want something a little… flashier. Enter the Washington Post‘s Going Out Guide’s list of the cities biggest, glitziest Oscar parties.

A few restaurants and bars in the area have specials for the event, but the two clear highlights are the Arlington Cinema ‘n’ Drafthouse and Malmaison. Arlington’s film-and-theater venue will host a full party complete with an Oscar win pool and an autographed movie poster auction. Malmaison, going above and beyond the call of duty, is rolling out a red carpet with imitation paparazzi and press interviews. Not everyone will want something that showy, but if you want the full Oscar experience locally, Malmaison’s (pricey) event sounds close to the real deal.

This is all a bunch of hoopla around an arguably meaningless, indulgent awards show, but for film people, it’s our meaningless indulgence. This is the one time a year when broader culture talks about the artistic accomplishments of film, and we’re going to celebrate that with a mock red carpet.

This year’s Oscars remind about the importance of cinematography

This year’s Oscar nominations are out, with the usual mix of surprises (Mad Max!) and disappointments (whitewashing across the board). But the one incontestable standout out on the list is the Achievement in Cinematography award. 2016’s lineup might be one of the most competitive races ever. It’s too easy to lump cinematography in with the … Continue reading “This year’s Oscars remind about the importance of cinematography”

This year’s Oscar nominations are out, with the usual mix of surprises (Mad Max!) and disappointments (whitewashing across the board). But the one incontestable standout out on the list is the Achievement in Cinematography award. 2016’s lineup might be one of the most competitive races ever.

It’s too easy to lump cinematography in with the technical categories (which is what the Academy does), but this award is one of the most important to the filmmaking process. Directors receive all the credit for how a film looks, but skilled cinematographers are the ones who execute their vision. For examples, read The Beat‘s summary of famous directors and cinematographers who teamed up: when you watch a Christopher Nolan film, the tone and composition of those images were chosen by his cinematographer Wally Pfister. Don’t underestimate a great cinematographer.

All five nominated films are outstanding, and a four in particular represent exceptional achievements and pedigrees.

  • Robert Richardson’s work on The Hateful Eight was famously the first Ultra Panavsion 70 production in decades, and the work shows.
  • Mad Max: Fury Road has been considered one of the all-time greatest action movies thanks to John Seale’s surreal camera work.
  • Emmanuel Lubezki has won the cinematography Oscar for the past two years for good reason, and he stands a chance to repeat for his gripping work on The Revenant.
  • Roger Deakins’s nod for Sicario is his thirteenth nomination, but the legendary DP has never won an Academy Award yet (?!).

Of the five nominees, only Mad Max: Fury Road is currently available in the library (HU DVD 12486), but Carol, The Revenant, and The Hateful Eight are still in theaters. If you can see all of them, remember that someone sat behind that camera to get those gorgeous – and this year, chaotic – shots.

See Leonardo DiCaprio’s next big (award-winning?) film early!

November and December are the peak release months for prestige films. Academy Award nominees are announced in January, and the big hopefuls have a habit of popping up right before the deadline. We’ve been fortunate enough to share passes to a few of these movies, but we’re saving the biggest for the end of the … Continue reading “See Leonardo DiCaprio’s next big (award-winning?) film early!”

November and December are the peak release months for prestige films. Academy Award nominees are announced in January, and the big hopefuls have a habit of popping up right before the deadline. We’ve been fortunate enough to share passes to a few of these movies, but we’re saving the biggest for the end of the semester…

We have advance passes to see The Revenant, director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s upcoming frontier movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio! The Revenant is in serious contention for Best Picture, and DiCaprio is an early favorite to win Best Actor – potentially his first Oscar. And you can see it almost a month before everyone else. Lucky you!

(Plus, there will be a Q&A afterwards with supporting actor Will Poulter!)

We have only 40 admit-two passes to give away for this screening on Thursday, December 3 at 7pm at the Georgetown Loews 14. Follow this link to redeem your pass before they’re gone. This screening will no doubt be packed, so you’ll need to arrive way in advance of the 7pm start time to ensure that you get a seat. Passes don’t guarantee that you’ll get in!

Snag a pass now so you can lord it over your family for Thanksgiving! Or, because it’s an incredibly exciting movie that you can see weeks early for free before it becomes a hot topic.

Meet Chuck Workman, the Oscar montage man

There’s really nothing else we have to say about the Oscars last night apart from congratulating Birdman for its big win. Instead, let’s direct your attention to one of the most important people behind the scenes at the biggest award show of the year. He’s Chuck Workman, and he creates the clips played during the … Continue reading “Meet Chuck Workman, the Oscar montage man”

There’s really nothing else we have to say about the Oscars last night apart from congratulating Birdman for its big win. Instead, let’s direct your attention to one of the most important people behind the scenes at the biggest award show of the year. He’s Chuck Workman, and he creates the clips played during the Oscar ceremonies.

NPR put together a great profile about Workman and his twenty years of experience cutting clips for the Oscars. There’s a ton of skill on display, whether that’s matching cuts for a montage, reducing a film to a highlight reel, or finding a single great scene from an actor’s entire career. Everyone in the industry seems to have great respect for him and his talents. You’ve gotta respect his craft, even if his interview is tinged with some disdain towards new media.

Workman is one of the many people who gets overlooked when dolling out credit to the film industry, and we always love to see more attention thrown their way.

A radical proposal: what if the Oscars removed nominations?

The Oscars are this Sunday, and although we’re as excited as every year, there’s a certain level of predictability in every ceremony. A few months ago, the current Oscar race was considered one of the most competitive of all time, but the past weeks of tertiary award shows have made it clear who will win … Continue reading “A radical proposal: what if the Oscars removed nominations?”

The Oscars are this Sunday, and although we’re as excited as every year, there’s a certain level of predictability in every ceremony. A few months ago, the current Oscar race was considered one of the most competitive of all time, but the past weeks of tertiary award shows have made it clear who will win most of the awards. Best Picture and Best Director are down between Birdman and Boyhood. Julianne Moore and Patricia Arquette will win the actress categories. Even the Best Actor category, a field of overwhelming talent, is now just between Michael Keaton and Eddie Redmayne.

So how do you bring back the surprise? Vulture writer Adam Sternbergh has an interesting idea: never reveal the nominees.

Sternbergh points out that the Oscar nomination announcements are often more exciting and talked-about than the winners themselves. Consider all the ink spilled about Selma‘s nomination snubs this year; there will certainly be less attention if the film doesn’t win Best Picture or Best Song. It would probably never fly for a number of reasons (practicality chief among them), but Sternbergh’s proposal would involve revealing the nominees at the event itself, bringing some drama and immediacy back to the ceremony.

The Oscars’s problems are well-documented and possibly over-discussed, but much of that criticism focuses on the structure of the Academy and its voting process. We give Sternbergh points for thinking outside the box in an attempt to repair the ceremony.