Oscar Predictions

We've had a good run at seeing most of the contenders for best picture but I feel more invested in the live and animated shorts and foreign language categories. Some of this is because I've seen more of the nominees but also because the storytelling is on another level in these categories. Movie making does not seem to improve within the Hollywood system and the diversity in these categories counteracts the #OscarsSoWhite. Here are my picks for the 2016 #WhiteOscars. I'll update this post with the results.

BEST PICTURE

The Big Short

Bridge of Spies

Brooklyn (haven't seen it)

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant (haven't seen it)

Room -Winner

Spotlight

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ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Bryan Cranston, Trumbo (haven't seen it)

Matt Damon, The Martian

Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant (haven't seen it) - Winner

Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs (haven't seen it)

Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

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ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Cate Blanchett, Carol

Brie Larson, Room - Winner

Jennifer Lawrence, Joy (haven't seen it)

Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years (haven't seen it)

Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn (haven't seen it)

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ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Christian Bale, The Big Short

Tom Hardy, The Revenant (haven't seen it)

Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight

Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies -Winner

Sylvester Stallone, Creed (haven't seen it)

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ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight (haven't seen it)

Rooney Mara, Carol

Rachel McAdams, Spotlight

Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl - Winner

Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs (haven't seen it)

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ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Anomalisa (haven't seen it)

Boy and the World  (haven't seen it)

Inside Out - Winner

Shaun the Sheep Movie (haven't seen it)

When Marnie Was There (haven't seen it)

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CINEMATOGRAPHY

Carol

The Hateful Eight  (haven't seen it)

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant  (haven't seen it) - Winner

Sicario  (haven't seen it)
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COSTUME DESIGN

Carol

Cinderella  (haven't seen it)

The Danish Girl

Mad Max: Fury Road - Winner

The Revenant (haven't seen it)

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DIRECTING

The Big Short

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant  (haven't seen it)

Room - Winner

Spotlight

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DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)

Amy - Not the Winner

Cartel Land  (haven't seen it)

The Look of Silence  (haven't seen it)

What Happened, Miss Simone? (haven't seen it)

Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom (haven't seen it) - Winner?

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DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)

Body Team 12  (haven't seen it)

Chau, beyond the Lines (haven't seen it)

Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah (haven't seen it)

A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness (haven't seen it) Winner? 
Last Day of Freedom (haven't seen it)

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FILM EDITING

The Big Short - Winner

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant  (haven't seen it)

Spotlight

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

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FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Embrace of the Serpent  (haven't seen it)

Mustang - Winner!

Son of Saul  (haven't seen it)

Theeb

A War (haven't seen it)

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MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Mad Max: Fury Road

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared - Winner

The Revenant (haven't seen it)

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MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

Bridge of Spies  (haven't seen it)

Carol

The Hateful Eight (haven't seen it) Winner

Sicario (haven't seen it)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

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MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

“Earned It,” Fifty Shades of Grey

“Manta Ray,” Racing Extinction  (haven't seen it)

“Simple Song #3,” Youth (haven't seen it)

“Til It Happens To You,” The Hunting Ground (haven't seen it) Winner?

“Writing’s On The Wall,” Spectre (haven't seen it)

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PRODUCTION DESIGN

Bridge of Spies 

The Danish Girl - Winner

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant (haven't seen it)

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SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

Bear Story

Prologue

Sanjay’s Super Team

We Can’t Live without Cosmos

World of Tomorrow - Winner!!!! I love this movie.

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SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)

Ave Maria

Day One

Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut) Winner! I think about this movie almost everyday

Shok

Stutterer

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SOUND EDITING

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant (haven't seen it)

Sicario (haven't seen it)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Winner
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SOUND MIXING

Bridge of Spies  (haven't seen it)

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant (haven't seen it)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Winner

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VISUAL EFFECTS

Ex Machina  (haven't seen it)

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant (haven't seen it) Winner

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

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WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

The Big Short

Brooklyn  (haven't seen it)

Carol

The Martian

Room - Winner

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WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

Bridge of Spies 

Ex Machina (haven't seen it)

Inside Out - Winner, sure why not?

Spotlight

Straight Outta Compton (haven't seen it)

The Big Short

Movie: The Big Short
When: 5:15 P.M. on Monday, February 22, 2016
Who With: JL
Movie Count: 16
Snacks: popcorn and pop

Reaction: Man, I am not all that into this movie. Super-hyped, based on the Oscar nominated, and directed by Will Ferrell's writing partner, consulting from Planet Money's Adam Davidson, my expectations were justifiably inflated...just like the housing market. hey now! 

Not sure if such an intense dude-vibe is an inevitable product of the subject. It makes sense that the world of finance would be a boys club but there were only two women characters of any substance in very minor rolls. One was a supportive wife played by the wonderful Marisa Tomei. She shared the most emotional scene of the movie with Steve Carell. The other was mean ol' Kathy, played well by Adepero Oduy, but the role seemed written as the mom stand-in for grown men, tsk-tsking all day.

There were some flashy movie tricks that allowed the story to stay superficial but informative. The celebrity-explainers were majorly influenced by the podcaster and the first one was a major turn off. Oh, you're not making this movie for me? Got it. Heard ya loud and clear. Movie made by dudes, for dudes.

Recommendation: Let’s Go! | Let it come to you  | Let it pass
Next Up: Big Sky Doc Shorts with KC for her bday!

Theeb and The Witness

Movie: Theeb (foreign film Oscar contender out of Jordan) and The Witness at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
When: 5/8:15 P.M. on Saturday, February 20, 2016
Who With: JL for Theeb, then JL, KC, JC, and AC
Movie Count: Theeb gets us to 15, The Witness doesn't count as part of the Roxy membership
Snacks: pizza at the Bridge after the Lady Griz beat the Bobcats in a great back and forth game. Then we got butter chicken poutine and matar paneer at Masala's first late night window!

Reaction: Theeb is the second movie we've seen from the foreign film nominations for the Oscars and, in my mind, doesn't win against Mustang. Son of Saul is coming to the Roxy next weekend and I think we'll get Embrace the Serpent, though I don't see it on the calendar yet.

Theeb is beautiful, fascinating and some parts riveting, other parts sleepy. It is set in 1916 during the Arab Revolt during the Ottoman Empire. An Englishman joins young Theeb's Bedouin tribe and requests their guidance to the Iron Donkey trail, newly constructed train tracks. The journey through the desert is not easy, shots are fired, alliances form and break, and sand and flies abound.

The Witness is a corrective step in the Kitty Genovese story of 38 witnesses to her murder not calling the police and the parable for America's apathy, which may not be so truly apathetic. Kitty's younger brother explores the original reporting and and talks to anyone and everyone he can about what happened that night fifty years ago. It's an interesting story that we were still talking about the next day. In the recent wave of true crime, this film doesn't quite complete the pivot of revelation it sets up. Anyway, the ultimate moral of the Kitty Genovese case is that if you see or hear something, say something. In a non-big brothery way, we're all in the together and we can have an affect on the lives around us.


Recommendation: Let’s Go! | Let both come to you  | Let it pass
Next Up: The Big Short

Mavis!

Movie: Mavis! at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
When: 6 P.M on Friday, February 19, 2016
Who With: JL and KC
Movie Count: Staying at 14 since this wasn't part of the Roxy membership
Snacks: Drinks at Montgomery Distillery before and dinner at El Cazador after

Reaction: Mavis with an exclamation point is right! What a great lady! I walked in not knowing much but the free HBO opening night of the Big Sky Doc festival has become a very satisfying tradition. Except that one year when we all chickened out of Marina Abramovic : The Artist is Present (which we just watched at home and was pretty interesting and filled a cultural knowledge gap, although still a bit confirming of the weird art fear that prevented us wimps from going in 2012.).

But Mavis Staples, my goodness. This doc really let's you get to know her and her Pops as the Staple Singers create their relevancy in the 50s as a family gospel band with Mavis's powerful 13 year old pipes and then blending in the blues and rock as the decades progress. One striking aspect of this family band is that they're such good people. They seem to avoid the dramas of exploitation, exuberant spending, and excess that seem standard in famous family dynamics today. Pops is a visionary and lends their voice to Martin Luther King Jr.'s message early on. His reincarnation as Jeff Tweedy later on in the film seems as fulfilling for the audience as it is for him and Mavis.

Unfortunately, we sat one row behind the absolute worst people. They were using their phones throughout and talked at full volume throughout, practically holding a family meeting, until they were asked to be quiet. They complied by leaving! They left right before an emotional part of the movie, so it worked out. And when the movie was over, we got to repent for all of our judgy-mc-judginess of that group by helping reunite a wallet with it's owner. We're good people, just like Mavis and Pops.

The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival is a wonderful Missoula asset set at the time of year when the weather is making you cranky and you need to get you out of your house. It reunites you with endearing Missoulians you haven't seen in a while and makes our isolated town feel a bit more connected to the rest of the world. It brings a buzz of out-of-towners and terrible traffic which also connects us with the real world. And it marks the 9th anniversary of my first date with JL! We were working at Project Vote Smart (Vote Dumb) and came into the big city to see the Ralph Nader doc, "An Unreasonable Man." A perfect nerdish match made in Missoula.

Recommendation: Let’s Go! (well, technically let it come to you because although HBO is not TV, it happens on your TV or TV-like device) | Let it come to you  | Let it pass
Next Up: Theeb (foreign film Oscar contender out of Jordan) and The Witness at the doc fest, then The Big Short tomorrow. We need to distract ourselves as much as possible during the house selling project. Want a condo?

Mustang

Movie: Mustang
When: 5:45 P.M. Saturday February 13
Who With: JL, JG, JG's mom
Movie Count: 14
Snacks: Popcorn with nutrition yeast and masala and a Double Haul

Reaction: This movie about a family of five orphaned girls growing up in rural Turkey with their uncle and grandma is full of spirit, adventure, tragedy and love. The audience feels like the 6th sibling, or perhaps one of their suitors. It's a lovely story with notes of The Virgin Suicides and Room. You rarely see young girls building off each other's power and capacity becoming stronger together. It's up for Best Foreign Language Film at the #WhiteOscars and with two other nominees coming soon to the Roxy, I'll reserve my pick.

We followed this up with an at-home viewing of Jurasic World. We went old school, obtaining it as a Hastings rental. We've built up a few stashes of in-store credit here and at the Book Exchange in our decrapification during the house selling/buying project. Our current relationship with stuff prioritizes access over ownership. Anyway, I was excited for JW in a low-expectations, let's-just-have-fun kind of way but was disappointed. There was something very flat about the whole thing and had the boringest part before anything happens (my favorite part of any movie). I also fell asleep but when JL told me how the movie beats up the lady's assistant to kill her in an exaggeratingly long scene just seems rude and gross. Lady bashing to the extreme, although, like I said, I did not actually see it. JL just told me there were 7 writing credits on this stupid movie. Smells like too many cooks! Bad bad bad movie. Let this one pass.

Recommendation: Let’s Go! | Let it come to you  | Let it pass
Next Up: Probably some Documentary Film Fest movies or those foreign film contenders.

January in Review

Favorite: James White
Least Favorite: The Big Sleep
Saddest: Shok(Friend)/Alles Wird Gut(Everything Will Be Okay)
Funniest: The Baby
Most Surprising: Janis: Little Girl Blue
It's Art, Dad: Here's to the Future!
Missed Connections: Macbeth, Ziggy Stardust; Chicago Sing-Along, Planetary

STATS
Total Movies: 10
Would a Cost: 10*2*$8 = $160.00 (not including free popcorns, using some guest passes, & restaurant and drinkydrink spending)

Movies with Friends
One of the best things about this membership is the socializing it gets us doing. Montana winters are slow and rough, making it easy to barely leave the house. This month we saw four movies with friends, two in pretty big groups which we hadn't done in ages.

Recommended Viewing and Reading Outside the Roxy
Chi-raq, HBO Go
Transparent, Second Season, Amazon Prime
Making a Murder, Netflix
Superstore, Hulu

Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned by Walter Mosley
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

Pride

Movie: Pride
When: 7 P.M. Wednesday, February 11
Who With: JL and AMG
Movie Count: 13
Snacks: Popcorn and Cold Smoke

Reaction: People are effing amazing. This movie is full of so much happy making empowerment that you leave the theater ready to take on the world. I had to keep checking that there's not an exclamation point in the title since I kept wanting to give it one. This movie is from 2014 and totally passed me by. The Roxy showed it as part of their "Out at the Roxy" film series celebrating LGBT culture. I definitely walked in thinking it was going to be a documentary. My mistake.

1980s London gays form a group to support striking coal miners in a small town in Wales. There's discomfort on both sides, none so sure about the other, but by meeting, talking, dancing, and drinking, the common ground that was always there blossoms. Hand shakes, bus rides, sleep overs, solidarity, and British tunes.

Recommendation: Let’s Go! | Let it come to you  | Let it pass
Next Up: Maybe Mustang (a contender for Best Foreign out of Turkey) or Timber the Treasure Dog (so local)

The Danish Girl

Movie: The Danish Girl
When: 5:15 P.M. Saturday, February 6, after a Lady Griz Basketball win
Who With: JL and KC
Movie Count: 12
Snacks: pop and popcorn with a chipotle garlic salt that tastes pretty good but makes you cough. I felt bad every time someone in the theater coughed because we gave the salt to the Roxy since we don't eat popcorn at home anymore. It's like George Costanza's brilliant idea for the Yankees to wear cotton uniforms.

Reaction: A well done movie that looks even better. We were all worried that I would cry all the way through this movie because that's what Eddie Redmayne did to me in The Theory of Everything. I made it through this without a single tear although feelings were felt, for sure. We're dealing with the first sex reassignment surgery, here. Not light stuff. Alicia Vikander does a wonderful job as the best person in the world, supporting her husband as that identity and their relationship change. She portrays the grief associated with loving a transitioning person so well. Your chin quivers when hers quivers. You're mad when she's mad. We watch Eddie work at learning to be a woman by copying movement. It's a reminder of what a performance it is to be a woman. Here, I'll link to this post on the topic, which means I have to read it again.

Here's another #WhiteOscars contender but I don't think it'll win best picture. That has to go to Room, which we watched at the Roxy before we had the membership and so before the blog recaps. That movie made my heart pound and is a joyous devastation. It's playing at 6:30 P.M. on the 14th as part of the Roxy's "For Your Consideration" theme. It's not one you can see twice, but should definitely see once.

Recommendation: Let’s Go! | Let it come to you  | Let it pass
Next Up: Pride

Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts

Movie: 2016 Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts
When: 7:15, Thursday, February 3
Who With: JL, plus some good Missoula run-ins!
YTD Movie Count: 11
Snacks: popcorn and cold smoke

Reaction: So many movies! Five were up for best animated short and three more were shown as honorable mentions. A much lighter hearted blend than the live action shorts, not to say their wasn’t plenty of melancholy in the mix. Our audience had a REAL PARTICIPATOR in the row ahead of us. Full body wiggling then there were squiggles on screen, and verbally boing-oing-oing-ing along with any sound effect. Anyway, he was having fun and so was I. Here’s what we saw:
Sanjay’s Super Team – dir. Sanjay Patel, USA, 7 minutes 
Pixar-so-good! The standard bearer has done it again with this super sweet story of father, son, religion, and super heroes.
World of Tomorrow – dir. Don Hertzfeldt, USA, 17 minutes
My pic for the win! Hertzfeldt introduces a little girl with her adult clone from the somewhat distant future. They have heavy a philosophical conversation touching on love, death, class, and tech while exploring the universe.
**Update 2/20/16: Heard a great NPR interview with Don about "World of Tomorrow" and learned it's available on Netflix.
Bear Story – dir. Gabriel Osorio, Chile, 11 minutes 
Beautiful depiction of a bear family and circus sadness. After our September trip to Chile, JL instantly felt the Chilean history bursting in-between the lines here. I was slightly oblivious but the story is painful either way. This is a big contender for the prize and knows it. The audience was a little turned off by the wall of awards shown at the start.
We Can’t Live Without Cosmos – dir. Konstantin Bronzit, Russia, 16 minutes
Another bittersweet story, this time following two buds as they train in the Russian cosmonaut program. I still don’t understand why ‘cosmonaut’ was translated to “astronaut” at one point within the animation. I do know that space is a nasty quest.
Then they showed a few honorable mentions that are not nominated:
If I Was God: Very Canadian narration of a middle school frog dissection. I didn’t really feel this one.
Taking Flight: The Roxy claims it showed this to us but it did not.
The Short Story of a Fox and a Mouse: Beautifully done but not how nature works.
The Loneliest Spotlight: Pulling at my land use planner heart strings and narrated by Patton Oswalt, we see the years pass from the vantage of a street spotlight. I loved the animation of the cars moving through traffic.
Catch It: Abso-boring, full of meerkats and cliches.
Prologue – dir. Richard Williams, UK, 6 minutes
You don’t get the link for this one because I hate it so much. Yes, I know there’s a very impressive technique on display but I am here for the stories and this one is just for dudes. We got the very important notice that Prologue has male nudity and is not good for young children.

Recommendation: Let’s Go! | Let it come to you  | Let it pass
Next Up: The Danish Girl