I also want to start a new Award tradition based on an outstanding idea I totally did not steal outright from Daniel O'Brien of Cracked.com. That idea, this brilliantly elegant idea is to put the Oscars on a 5 year lag. The reasoning being within five years most people would have forgotten the shallow trends and the trite lobbying of the studio system. Movies that serve as obligatory genre nominees will fade into the past while movies that stick with you will only become stronger contenders. There's also a chance that an under-appreciated classic might get it's turn in the limelight. Thus I give you:
You've had your chance to see movies released in 2011 at the theaters. Then, if that wasn't enough, they made the rounds on Netflix, online, at your friend's house and at Blockbuster (yes they were still around five years ago). Now that you're all caught up, you can vote for the nominees of the First Annual Laggys guaranteed to have 100% less Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011). These nominees were carefully curated and decided by the Film Association Reserved for the Temperament of Society (FARTS), also known as the small group of film-geeks I know.
Getting back to the 2016 Oscars for a moment; my total rate of success this year was 16 out of 24 which is an improvement from 12 out of 24 in 2015 and a little more than 15 out of 24 (my previous all-time record set in 2014). I didn't however pick the big winner of the night i.e. Best Picture which ultimately went to Spotlight and not The Revenant as I expected. Below is a list of every prediction I got wrong.
Visual Effects
I was so cocksure that Mad Max was going to win this award that I offered no explanation for picking it. But while I still contend Mad Max deserves the win Ex Machina still took the prize and I'm okay with that. I may have previously mentioned Ex Machina is an astounding film that should have been nominated for more. Alas at least it went home with something.
Film Editing
Mad Max ended up going home with six awards this past Sunday, which was the most any film got this year. One surprise win for the film (or at least surprise to me) was it's victory in the Film Editing category, accepted by Margaret Sixel the wife of director George Miller. The heavy favorite was The Big Short which was my pick but at least with this result there will be some interesting dinner conversations at the Miller's residence.
All Three Short Categories
Why: I could go on and on about the intricacies of the voting system or how all the media metrics on these films were wildly back and forth but the truth is I didn't see any of them. I also didn't see the lions-share of the nominees. Oops!
Best Supporting Actor
The online reactions from people over this one ranged between scary and sad as relative unknown Mark Rylance took home the prize over Sylvester Stallone. While I won't go as far to say Rylance was better, I will say this kind of spoiler gives me hope for the system. The Academy for once didn't base their votes on a warped meritocracy where one man can win for playing essentially the same character seven times over a forty year career. That said, I still voted for poor old Sly and was rebuffed by the system.
Best Original Song
Okay, this one pissed me off a little. In what would does Sam Smith win against Lady Gaga? Even if you're not a fan of either, you have to admit Gaga's showstopping performance amid a crowd of rape victims was the most powerful moment in the entire ceremony. The song is "Til it Happens to You" is a soulful ballad of unparalleled power, sung by one of the most talented artists of the day. "Writing's On the Wall" doesn't even crack the top ten James Bond songs.
Best Picture
No Oscar predictions are worth the URL they're printed on unless they get the big, big award right. I sadly did not thus deflating my best predictions ever with one big gruesome stain. Truth be told, The Revenant was my least favorite of the Best Picture nominees, I chose it simply because the odds were in its favor. I should have known, based on the voting system no odds-on favorite would emerge and they'd need a consensus winner. Thus Spotlight is the winner; not the best film of the bunch, not the worst, just what we got.
You've had your chance to see movies released in 2011 at the theaters. Then, if that wasn't enough, they made the rounds on Netflix, online, at your friend's house and at Blockbuster (yes they were still around five years ago). Now that you're all caught up, you can vote for the nominees of the First Annual Laggys guaranteed to have 100% less Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011). These nominees were carefully curated and decided by the Film Association Reserved for the Temperament of Society (FARTS), also known as the small group of film-geeks I know.
 |
| Yes, we all collectively look like this |
Getting back to the 2016 Oscars for a moment; my total rate of success this year was 16 out of 24 which is an improvement from 12 out of 24 in 2015 and a little more than 15 out of 24 (my previous all-time record set in 2014). I didn't however pick the big winner of the night i.e. Best Picture which ultimately went to Spotlight and not The Revenant as I expected. Below is a list of every prediction I got wrong.
I was so cocksure that Mad Max was going to win this award that I offered no explanation for picking it. But while I still contend Mad Max deserves the win Ex Machina still took the prize and I'm okay with that. I may have previously mentioned Ex Machina is an astounding film that should have been nominated for more. Alas at least it went home with something.
 |
| Oh yeah? Well I won an Oscar, what have you won recently? |
Mad Max ended up going home with six awards this past Sunday, which was the most any film got this year. One surprise win for the film (or at least surprise to me) was it's victory in the Film Editing category, accepted by Margaret Sixel the wife of director George Miller. The heavy favorite was The Big Short which was my pick but at least with this result there will be some interesting dinner conversations at the Miller's residence.
All Three Short Categories
 |
| There Is No God!!!!! |
The online reactions from people over this one ranged between scary and sad as relative unknown Mark Rylance took home the prize over Sylvester Stallone. While I won't go as far to say Rylance was better, I will say this kind of spoiler gives me hope for the system. The Academy for once didn't base their votes on a warped meritocracy where one man can win for playing essentially the same character seven times over a forty year career. That said, I still voted for poor old Sly and was rebuffed by the system.
Okay, this one pissed me off a little. In what would does Sam Smith win against Lady Gaga? Even if you're not a fan of either, you have to admit Gaga's showstopping performance amid a crowd of rape victims was the most powerful moment in the entire ceremony. The song is "Til it Happens to You" is a soulful ballad of unparalleled power, sung by one of the most talented artists of the day. "Writing's On the Wall" doesn't even crack the top ten James Bond songs.
 |
| So now that newspapers are out, we're printing our reviews on Milkduds and chucking them at people |
No Oscar predictions are worth the URL they're printed on unless they get the big, big award right. I sadly did not thus deflating my best predictions ever with one big gruesome stain. Truth be told, The Revenant was my least favorite of the Best Picture nominees, I chose it simply because the odds were in its favor. I should have known, based on the voting system no odds-on favorite would emerge and they'd need a consensus winner. Thus Spotlight is the winner; not the best film of the bunch, not the worst, just what we got.
No comments:
Post a Comment