89th Oscar Picks and Predictions

I saw almost every single summer blockbuster in theaters before our son was born and then didn't see a single nominated movie until this month. This is extremely unusual for me, as the late fall/winter movies are always my favorite. Babies change things, or whatever. Anyway, even though I only got around to seeing 6/9 movies nominated for best picture prior to now, I'm still as stoked as ever for the movie Super Bowl and all the snacks I'm going to eat.

PICTURE: La La Land

Moonlight could sneak in here, honestly, but I still predict (and pick) this

DIRECTOR: Damien Chazelle - La La Land 

ACTOR: Denzel Washington - Fences

I haven't gotten around to Fences yet, and although Casey Affleck was getting the buzz for a while, I think Denzel is going to come out with his third statue. In other news, I think Tom Hanks should have been nominated for Sully.

ACTRESS: Emma Stone - La La Land

I so wish that Amy Adams would have been nominated for Arrival, but this is still my pick.

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Mahershala Ali - Moonlight

A short but very impressionable performance

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Viola Davis - Fences

It's about time

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Moonlight

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: La La Land

ANIMATED: Zootopia

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Moonlight

COSTUME DESIGN: La La Land

DOCUMENTARY: OJ: Made in America

DOCUMENTARY SHORT: Extremis

FILM EDITING: La La Land

FOREIGN LANGUAGE: The Salesman

MAKEUP AND HAIR: Suicide Squad

MUSIC: La La Land

SONG: "City of Stars" from La La Land

PRODUCTION DESIGN: La La Land

ANIMATED SHORT: Piper

LIVE SHORT: Ennemis Intérieurs

SOUND EDITING: Hacksaw Ridge

SOUND MIXING: Hacksaw Ridge

VISUAL EFFECTS: The Jungle Book

Unstoppable (2010)

Speed. The sequel… or rather the re-imagining of a cliché action flick, minus Dennis Hopper.  Tony Scott’s adaptation of a real-life incident in Ohio features Frank (Denzel Washington), and Will (Trekky Chris Pine), veteran engineer & newbie conductor, chasing after an unmanned runaway freight train carrying – you guessed it – toxic chemicals.  The clock is ticking though until the train will inevitably derail on a curve in Stanton, PA.  (Not Ohio).

The fresh – the “one” thing that makes this a little bit different is the lack of sabotage.  Sure, I’d still take Dennis Hopper over this, but it was a fresh approach.  Along those same lines, THANK you for leaving the kids out of it.  Just sayin’.

The good – Rosario Dawson.  Sure, she’s a typical no nonsense female executive, but I like her.  Denzel Washington’s also good, as is Chris Pine.  The script is surprisingly not terrible – Denzel’s got a few pretty good lines that (for the most part) don’t seem forced.  It’s ordinary characters performing extraordinary heroic acts – you know, gives us all the feel goods.  It’s also relentlessly exciting, and keeps you gripped and on your toes – very well paced.

The garbage - Oh the bureaucracy… Seriously? Does there always need to be a hard-nosed top boss who won’t listen to the old doctor, scientist, or engineer?  Don’t THEY watch movies?  A rogue train is scary enough, people disagreeing over it is not really scarier, it’s just dumber.  And based on a true story it may be, but it’s still the same ol’ same ol’: cheesy, forced, and predictable.  Also, could there have been more shaky cam?  I don’t know about anyone else, but I was incredibly sick of it by the end.  Lastly, though back story generally adds depth to characters, this time I couldn’t care less about Chris Pine’s troubles with the wife (though he and Denzel bickering about it was enjoyable).

It was a good night at the movies.  Plenty of my girlfriends were drooling over Chris Pine.  People were gasping with the explosions and close calls, fist pumping over the epic conclusion.  I had a good time, it was solidly entertaining.  Heck, it ain’t meant to be a work of art, I’ll take it for what it is.  And it’s a whole lot better than The Next Three Days… 6/10