Saturday, 27 February 2016

Showhand: 88th Oscars Final Predictions - The Royal Flush



The clock is ticking, and the red carpets will be rolled out by tomorrow! Better get your seats warmed up for the most possible big snatchers of the night, including Leonardo diCaprio, The Revenant, Mad Max: Fury Road etc. There may be dark horses this year, but to be frank the best house of cards have been revealed over the past few weeks through various awards announcements. In your predictions deck, it is not a surprise if you put down either The Revenant or Mad Max: Fury Road. These two are really the 'royal flush' of the year. The Big Short would be a very daring prediction for Best Picture, yet well respected if you got the guts to do so.

Speaking of guts, the dark horses of the night could be the following:

  • Best Picture: The Big Short or Spotlight
  • Best Supporting Actress: Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)
  • Best Costume Design: Mad Max: Fury Road
  • Best Film Editing: The Big Short
  • Best Visual Effects: Mad Max: Fury Road

It really feels like horse-racing around the racecourse, but of course I did not put any of the dark horses into my final score sheet, except for Best Costume Design. Enough said, here are my final predictions for the night...


BEST PICTURE

The Revenant



BEST DIRECTOR

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu - The Revenant



BEST ACTOR

Leonardo diCaprio - The Revenant



BEST ACTRESS

Brie Larson - Room



BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Sylvester Stallone - Creed



BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Alicia Vikander - The Danish Girl



BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Inside Out




BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Son of Saul (Hungary)



BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Amy


BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Emmanuel Lubezki - The Revenant


BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Big Short



BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Spotlight



BEST FILM EDITING

Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

The Hateful Eight

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

"Til It Happens To You" - The Hunting Ground

BEST SOUND EDITING

Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST SOUND MIXING

The Revenant

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Body Team 12

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

World of Tomorrow

Monday, 22 February 2016

All You Need To Know Before Watching the 88th Oscars



Shouldn't take long, just some interesting things you should know...


When is it?



28th February! Coming Sunday at 7pm EST (For Hong Kong folks, Monday morning 8am instead!)

Who is hosting?



Yep, there goes Chris Rock. Might have Will Smith, Idris Elba or Samuel L Jackson to host next year if they and many other well-deserved actors/actresses still don't get nominated.

Including The Revenant, Leo would have been nominated 4 times for Best Actor, and still no Oscar for him at all. This should be his year and moment though!!



Leo's Oscar records:
  • The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) - Nominated for Best Actor
  • The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) - Nominated for Best Picture
  • Blood Diamond (2006) - Nominated for Best Actor
  • The Aviator (2004) - Nominated for Best Actor
  • What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) - Nominated for Best Supporting Actor

If director Alejandro G. Inarritu wins Best Director and Best Picture for The Revenant, he will become the first ever director to win both these titles in two consecutive years.



Past directors who have won Best Director twice consecutively:
  • John Ford - The Grapes of Wrath (1940) & How Green Was My Valley (1941)
  • Joseph L. Mankiewicz - A Letter to Three Wives (1949) & All About Eve (1950)
Looks ancient history, eh?

Sylvester Stallone became the first ever male nominee to have been nominated twice for playing the same character, same role. He was Rocky Balboa nominated for Best Actor in Rocky (1976), and now he is still Rocky Balboa nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Creed (2015).





Stallone is still in good shape, eh? After all these 40 years, we remember Rocky and those final steps.

Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki would become the first ever to win three in a row for Best Cinematography if he were to win for The Revenant.



His last two consecutive wins:
  • Birdman (2014)
  • Gravity (2013)

Including his nomination for Sicario, cinematographer Roger Deakins has surmounted his number of nominations for Best Cinematography to 13. Is it time for the Oscars to show a little sympathy?



Ennio Morricone is now 87 of age and he is still writing masterpieces for film scores. Tarantino was right about him being more than Beethoven and Schubert. Including The Hateful Eight, it is his 6th nomination for Best Original Score, and yet he has never won too, except an Honorary Oscar.




That's enough for the day. More analysis to come before Monday. Stay tuned :)

Tuesday, 12 January 2016

88th Academy Awards Nominations Predictions (& What we learnt over these weeks!)

WE ALL DREAM IN GOLD......






                                                         Chris Rock will host the 88th Oscars



***SCROLL DOWN FOR PREDICTIONS***

When is it announced?


88th Oscars nominations will be announced at 5:30 a.m. PST (8:30 a.m. EST) at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater on 14th January, 2016. If you have no clue about time zones, use an online time zone converter. For Hong Kong friends, this is Thursday evening 9:30pm.

*********************************************************************************************************************

What is the current buzz?


73rd Golden Globes Results

  • Shocking results, but should have foreseen the Globes owing Alejandro G. Inarritu

  • The Revenant is a sure nominee for Oscars, but probably not the winner

  • Winners that do make sense and are precursors to the Oscars: Leonardo diCaprio for Best Actor, Drama (The Revenant); Brie Larson for Best Actress, Drama (Room)

  • Promising films that will win the Oscars: Son of Saul for Best Foreign Language Film; Inside Out for Best Animated Feature

  • Results that can now add instability to the Oscars race: Sylvester Stallone for Best Supporting Actor (Creed); Kate Winslet for Best Supporting Actress in (Steve Jobs); Aaron Sorkin for Best Screenplay (Steve Jobs); Ennio Morricone for Best Original Score (The Hateful Eight)

  • Winners that will not win anything at the Oscars: Alejandro G. Inarritu for Best Director in The Revenant; Sam Smith for Best Song "Writing's on the Wall" (Spectre)

BAFTA nominations

  • Best Picture nominees The Big Short, Spotlight, Carol, The Revenant should garner enough Best Picture buzz at the Oscars

  • Bridge of Spies and Carol walked home with 9 nominations, The Revenant seconding at 8 nominations

  • Mad Max: Fury Road has 7 nominations, but mainly in the technical categories

  • The Martian got snubbed for Best Picture, but it should have love from the Oscars

  • Nominated directors Steven Spielberg (Bridge of Spies) and Adam McKay (The Big Short) are gathering buzzes for Best Director race

  • The nominated original screenplay of Ex Machina can be a surprise at the Oscars nominations

  • Very confused about where Alicia Vikander stands for her role in The Danish Girl - Best Actress or Best Supporting Actress????

  • Nominated Benicio del Toro for Best Supporting Actor in Sicario could suddenly hit the Oscars
*********************************************************************************************************************


88th Oscars Best Picture Nominations Deduction 


Table: No. of nominations obtained for films in each major award & Overall count

FilmBAFTAGolden GlobesCritics' ChoicePGAAFI Top 105/5 count
Bridge of Spies915****5
Carol959**4
The Revenant849**4
Mad Max: Fury Road729****5
Brooklyn615**4
The Martian638****5
The Big Short543****5
Star Wars: The Force Awakens400**4
Sicario303**4
Spotlight337****5
Steve Jobs3433
The Hateful Eight3353
Inside Out212****5
Room233**4

**Listed as the award's best films or top 10


Deduction......

1st criteria: BAFTA nominations (Closest set of major awards nominations to date)
2nd criteria: 5/5 Count rule (Refer to Table)


SAFE NOMINATIONS (= BAFTA noms more than or equal to 3 + Count with 5/5)

1. Bridge of Spies
2. Mad Max: Fury Road
3. The Martian
4. The Big Short
5. Spotlight


SECOND TIER NOMINATIONS (= BAFTA noms more than or equal to 6 + Count with 4/5)

6. Carol
7. The Revenant
8. Brooklyn

DARK HORSES (= BAFTA noms more than or equal to 2 + Count with 4/5)

9. Room
10. Sicario
11. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

*********************************************************************************************************************

filmAEO predictions to 88th Oscars nominations


Best Picture

Bridge of Spies
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Big Short
Spotlight
Carol
The Revenant
Brooklyn
Room
Sicario

Best Director

Alejandro G. Inarritu (The Revenant)
Todd Haynes (Carol)
Ridley Scott (The Martian)
George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)
Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)

Best Actor

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)
Bryan Cranston (Trumbo)
Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)
Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)
Matt Damon (The Martian)

Best Actress

Brie Larson (Room)
Jennifer Lawrence (Joy)
Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)
Cate Blanchett (Carol)
Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)

Best Supporting Actor

Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)
Sylvester Stallone (Creed)
Christian Bale (The Big Short)
Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)
Benicio del Toro (Sicario)

Best Supporting Actress

Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)
Rooney Mara (Carol)
Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight)
Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)
Rachel McAdams (Spotlight)

Best Original Screenplay

Spotlight
Ex Machina
The Hateful Eight
Inside Out
Bridge of Spies

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Big Short
Steve Jobs
Carol
The Martian
Room

Best Cinematography

Mad Max: Fury Road
Sicario
Bridge of Spies
The Revenant
Carol

Best Film Editing

Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Big Short
The Revenant
Spotlight

Best Costume Design

Carol
Brooklyn
The Danish Girl
Cinderella
Bridge of Spies

Best Production Design

Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
Bridge of Spies
Carol
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Best Makeup & Hairstyling

Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Black Mass

Best Original Score

John Williams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)
Ennio Morricone (The Hateful Eight)
Carter Burwell (Carol)
Michael Giacchino (Inside Out)
Alexandre Desplat (The Danish Girl)

Best Sound Editing

Sicario
Mad Max: Fury Road
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The Martian
The Revenant

Best Sound Mixing

Straight Outta Compton
Mad Max: Fury Road
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The Martian
The Revenant

Best Visual Effects

Ant-Man
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The Martian
The Walk
Jurassic World

Best Animated Feature

Inside Out
Anomalisa
The Good Dinosaur
The Peanuts Movie
Shaun the Sheep Movie

Best Foreign Language Film

Son of Saul (Hungary)
Mustang (France)
Labyrinth of Lies (Germany)
Theeb (Jordan)
A War (Denmark)

*********************************************************************************************************************




What do you think of our daring predictions and the deduction to Best Picture nominees? Be sure to check them out on 14th January, 2016 (Thursday)

filmAEO

Last-Minute DGA Predictions

Nominees for Directors Guild of America Awards (DGA) for Outstanding Directing will be announced today in less than a few hours. Usually, whoever wins this award should take on the Oscars as well. Let us quickly predict who would make it to the nomination list for directing films:

  1. Steven Spielberg (Bridge of Spies)
  2. George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)
  3. Ridley Scott (The Martian)
  4. Todd Haynes (Carol)
  5. Alejandro G. Inarritu (The Revenant)

Upsets: Tom McCarthy (Spotlight); Adam McKay (The Big Short)

What do you think? We shall see very soon, and do not forget about the Oscars nominations on Thursday!!


filmAEO

Saturday, 9 January 2016

73rd Golden Globes Predictions

                                                                                       Courtesy of NBC New York


The Intense Weeks of January: Nominations


Every year this time, Oscars consultants representing their films will be working their brains off if there are game changers or how to keep up the film's momentum in order to get attention from voters. This really requires a lot of tactical lobbying skills, yet keeping up with what is happening around the circle.

Reviewing this week or so, nominations from ACE Eddie Award surrounding best edited films, WGA Awards on best screenplays of the year and finally the BAFTA which was just announced fresh. BAFTA would be a close indicator to the Oscars as the voting periods are closer. Therefore, considering the different times of voting, one would expect the results for Golden Globes over this weekend might be different from the BAFTA and the Oscars which will be presented in a month's time. We should dig deeper into BAFTA later, but before next Thursday when the 88th Oscars nominees will be announced.

If we want something meaningful and solid to our Golden Globes predictions, we have results from the New York Films Critics Circle (NYFCC). They have awarded Carol Best Picture and Mark Rylance Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Bridge of Spies. These two wins are good indicators to the Golden Globes, or even the Oscars nominations. The other wins among NYFCC awards do not reflect much on the Oscars as of this stage, mainly because the winners are categorised and submitted differently in the Oscars process. So, let us focus on these two solid links and in general the 73rd Golden Globes predictions first.


                                                     Mark Rylance and Tom Hanks in Bridge of Spies

Decoding the identity of the Golden Globes


Before we get into the wordy analysis, let us talk about numbers first which we often ignore when judgement becomes subjective. Here is an interesting fact raised by StudySoup. They have found that the alumni of New York University (NYU) obtained the most Golden Globes wins in the past, and 5 alumni are nominated again this year, notably Lady Gaga and Felicity Huffman to be competing for Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television. If you would love to learn more about their findings, please follow the link below.


                                                            Lady Gaga in American Horror Story: Hotel

You might not see the obvious of ranking these top schools of the US and mistook it as chance to be proud of your alma matar if you went to any of them. (Unfortunately, never had a chance to study in the US, would have been really cool!) The obvious lies in whether voters of the Globes or even other awards have gone to any of these colleges. Yes, I am referring to passionate votes here. This alma matar effect could be a factor on mainly the TV categories as seen from StudySoup. But what exactly do we know about these voters? Would they even know some nominees have attended their alma matar?

The Golden Globes is composed of members from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). The voting is performed by approximately 90 members who are international journalists based in Southern California. However, how large could 90 voters be when compared with the total of more than 7000 members from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars)? Would the Golden Globes results really mean that much from journalists instead of accomplished filmmakers and film professionals? The fact is sometimes the Globes deviate from the Oscars results, so it may not be that accurate at all times. Since the pictures and acting categories split up in the Globes, let us throw you the statistics of Golden Globe winning directors from the 1980s who went on winning the Oscars by year:

YearGolden GlobesOscarsSucceeded (Y/N)
1980Robert Redford (Ordinary People)Robert Redford (Ordinary People)Y
1981Warren Beatty (Reds)Warren Beatty (Reds)Y
1982Richard Attenborough (Gandhi)Richard Attenborough (Gandhi)Y
1983Barbra Streisand (Yentl)James L. Brooks (Terms of Endearment)N
1984Milos Forman (Amadeus)Milos Forman (Amadeus)Y
1985John Huston (Prizzi's Honour)Sydney Pollack (Out of Africa)N
1986Oliver Stone (Platoon)Oliver Stone (Platoon)Y
1987Bernardo Bertolucci (The Last Emperor)Bernardo Bertolucci (The Last Emperor)Y
1988Clint Eastwood (Bird)Barry Levinson (Rain Man)N
1989Oliver Stone (Born On The Fourth Of July)Oliver Stone (Born On The Fourth Of July)Y
1990Kevin Costner (Dances With Wolves)Kevin Costner (Dances With Wolves)Y
1991Oliver Stone (JFK)Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs)N
1992Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven)Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven)Y
1993Steven Spielberg (Schindler's List)Steven Spielberg (Schindler's List)Y
1994Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump)Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump)Y
1995Mel Gibson (Braveheart)Mel Gibson (Braveheart)Y
1996Milos Forman (The People vs. Larry Flynt)Anthony Minghella (The English Patient)N
1997James Cameron (Titanic)James Cameron (Titanic)Y
1998Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan)Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan)Y
1999Sam Mendes (American Beauty)Sam Mendes (American Beauty)Y
2000Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)Steven Soderbergh (Traffic)N
2001Robert Altman (Gosford Park)Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind)N
2002Martin Scorsese (Gangs of New York)Roman Polanski (The Pianist)N
2003Peter Jackson (The Return of the King)Peter Jackson (The Return of the King)Y
2004Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby)Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby)Y
2005Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain)Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain)Y
2006Martin Scorsese (The Departed)Martin Scorsese (The Departed)Y
2007Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)Joel & Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men)N
2008Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)Y
2009James Cameron (Avatar)Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)N
2010David Fincher (The Social Network)Tom Hooper (The King's Speech)N
2011Martin Scorsese (Hugo)Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)N
2012Ben Affleck (Argo)Ang Lee (Life of Pi)N
2013Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)Y
2014Richard Linklater (Boyhood)Alejandro G. Inarritu (Birdman)N

From the results for 35 years above, there were 14 times when Globe winner did not go on winning the Oscars. The unsuccessful rate of winning the Oscars is 40%. The deviations in Director race or even other categories arise from two sources. Firstly, the schedule of the Globes is normally held a month before the Oscars. Secondly, the Globes vie for popularity votes and celebrities rather than taking the Oscar approach on art and influence. Globe tends to honour celebrity contribution and influence, as seen in 2009 from the Directors table above when blockbuster Avatar directed by popularly praised James Cameron faces off with indie film The Hurt Locker. The Globes will be a night of movie and TV stars together!  

On the flip side of the token, we should not underestimate Spotlight this year, as it is a film on the dedication and bravery of journalists to challenge the truth. The Globes would definitely crown this film, and possibly the Academy members too because the film has been gaining momentum throughout these weeks. In conclusion, many factors can validate the unsuccessful rate of 40%, including passionate factors for their alumni, schedule of Globes to the Oscars and most importantly what the cohort of voters were thinking as of that moment. Let us wait and see the results then.




Courtesy of StudySoup and their findings. Check them out:



filmAEO predictions to the 73rd Golden Globes


The Globes will take place this Sunday, January 10, hosted by Ricky Gervais. Time is running out, so here is what filmAEO thinks and predicts ob the film categories...


Motion Picture, Drama




Prediction: Spotlight



Motion Picture, Comedy



Prediction: The Martian



Director



Prediction: Ridley Scott (The Martian)



Actor, Drama



Prediction: Leonardo diCaprio (The Revenant)



Actor, Comedy/Musical



Prediction: Matt Damon (The Martian)



Actress, Drama



Prediction: Brie Larson (Room)



Actress, Comedy/Musical



Prediction: Amy Schumer (Trainwreck)



Supporting Actor



Prediction: Sylvester Stallone (Creed)



Supporting Actress



Prediction: Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight)



Screenplay



Prediction: Spotlight



Animated Feature



Prediction: Inside Out



Foreign Language Film



Prediction: Son of Saul 



Original Score



Prediction: Ennio Morricone (The Hateful Eight)



Original Song



Prediction: See You Again (Furious 7)



filmAEO

Friday, 1 January 2016

Top 10 films of 2015: A quick look back before the 88th Oscars

Never have I thought it has been nearly a year since I last post. For those who have missed my analysis and long-winded theories, welcome back to the race again with an outlook to 88th Oscars. The 88th Oscars will honour the best films of 2015, and the nominations will be out very soon (14th January, 2016). Before we proceed with the coming discussion about the race this year, let us embrace the moment of looking back to the top 10 films of 2015 in NO preferential order. If you do not trust me, at least believe in the convincing eyes and gesture of Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron in the wild, dusty psuedo-imaginary desert land from Mad Max: Fury Road.


2015 Top 10 Look Back (in NO preferential order):

1. The Martian
2. Steve Jobs
3. Wild Tales
4. Mad Max: Fury Road
5. Inside Out
6. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
7. Bridge of Spies
8. The Hateful Eight
9. The Big Short
10. Spotlight

The reason for putting the list in no particular order because 2015 has been a tricky year for the movie industry. Firstly, emerging online TV platforms and boom in productions of quality TV series have introduced a transition and migration of Hollywood actors, directors and writers to the TV business. Secondly, the already announced nominees for Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and Critics' Choice display uncertainty and mixed reviews. Particularly, the race of Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress is murky. As a result, when one makes a top 10, you start comparing first with TV stories as well, and then looking into patterns of the race so far.


When it comes to judging the good and bad elements of a film, great films of 2015 can be flawed with loopholes and cliche. For example, Star Wars: The Force Awakens really impressed and makes you think what will happen, but it referenced many ideas of A New Hope to the point that the story is predictable. Do not get me wrong, I am a huge Star Wars fan and I totally loved J. J. Abrams' work, but I thought some moments could have been filmed better. Unlike films of 2014, you see Birdman or Boyhood were nearly flawless in their own ways.


Inside Out is close to perfection due to its originality of ideas that stitch to our minds. Problem with it is once again it is a Pixar animated feature. Then, you 'disgust' yourself to compare it with other Pixar films, even though you 'joy' for its very likely Best Animated Feature win.

I sound confused, so as my mind, because it is difficult to pick top 10 in a justified order. Do not forget we also have other notable films that filmAEO has viewed in the following:

Ex-Machina
- Kingsman: The Secret Service
- The Revenant
Youth
99 Homes
- Ant-Man
- Spy
- Trainwreck
- Macbeth
- The Walk
- Creed

What's more? Some films are scheduled for showings in 2016, but we see they have been picking up good reviews in US recently. They could have been potentially placed either at top 10 or the notable films. Here you go:

The Assassin
Sicario
Straight Outta Compton
Joy
- Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
- Room
- Brooklyn
- Carol
- The Danish Girl
- Anomalisa
- 45 Years
- Son of Saul

If you get a chance to see all these great films of 2015, good for you! So, stay tuned for the upcoming analysis for 88th Oscars. Wish you all a prosperous year ahead and keep loving films and filmAEO as usual, even the TV side can be really tempting to watch sometimes. May the films be with us, as Quentin Tarantino shot The Hateful Eight in original and glorious 70mm film. Retro and Respect!


filmAEO