R.L. Terry ReelView

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R.L. Terry ReelView

Tag Archives: Academy Awards

Oscars 90 | The 2018 Annual Academy Award Nominations

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It’s that time of year again! The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the nominees for the 2018 Oscars, now celebrating its 90th year. Here are my picks for each category! The Academy may vote for these or another nominee, but I just wanted to post the ones I would like to see win this year. For a complete listing of nominees, please visit VARIETY! I am pretty happy with this year’s list of nominees, there are only a few films, collectively, that I thought were overlooked in their respective category. Fortunately, I have seen most of the films on this list! If I have not seen the movies in a category, I have listed all the nominees. Who do you hope wins this year?!?

Best Picture: “The Shape of Water”

Lead Actor: Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour”

Lead Actress: Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya”

Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, “All the Money in the World”

Supporting Actress: Allison Janney, “I, Tonya”

Director: “The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro

Animated Feature: “Coco,” Lee Unkrich, Darla K. Anderson

Animated Short: I have not seen any of these, so here is the list for you to decide

“Dear Basketball,” Glen Keane, Kobe Bryant
“Garden Party,” Victor Caire, Gabriel Grapperon
“Lou,” Dave Mullins, Dana Murray
“Negative Space,” Max Porter, Ru Kuwahata
“Revolting Rhymes,” Jakob Schuh, Jan Lachauer

Adapted Screenplay: “Logan,” Scott Frank & James Mangold and Michael Green

Original Screenplay: “The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor

Cinematography:  “The Shape of Water,” Dan Laustsen

Best Documentary Feature: I have not seen these films, so here is the full list

Best Documentary Short Subject: I have not seen these films, so here is the full list

“Edith+Eddie,” Laura Checkoway, Thomas Lee Wright
“Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405,” Frank Stiefel
“Heroin(e),” Elaine McMillion Sheldon, Kerrin Sheldon
“Knife Skills,” Thomas Lennon
“Traffic Stop,” Kate Davis, David Heilbroner

Best Live Action Short Film: I have not seen these films, so here is the full list

“DeKalb Elementary,” Reed Van Dyk
“The Eleven O’Clock,” Derin Seale, Josh Lawson
“My Nephew Emmett,” Kevin Wilson, Jr.
“The Silent Child,” Chris Overton, Rachel Shenton
“Watu Wote/All of Us,” Katja Benrath, Tobias Rosen

Best Foreign Language Film: “The Square” (Sweden)

Film Editing: “The Shape of Water,” Sidney Wolinsky

Sound Editing: “Dunkirk,” Alex Gibson, Richard King

Sound Mixing: “Dunkirk,” Mark Weingarten, Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo

Production Design: “The Shape of Water,” Paul D. Austerberry, Jeffrey A. Melvin, Shane Vieau

Original Score: “The Shape of Water,” Alexandre Desplat

Original Song: “This Is Me” from “The Greatest Showman,” Benj Pasek, Justin Paul

Makeup and Hair: “Darkest Hour,” Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski, Lucy Sibbick

Costume Design: “Beauty and the Beast,” Jacqueline Durran

Visual Effects: “Blade Runner 2049,” John Nelson, Paul Lambert, Richard R. Hoover, Gerd Nefzer

Best Picture: What Does it Take to Bring Home the Oscar?

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oscar_criteriaI created this infographic using Piktochart for the Media Writing class I teach at the University of Tampa. This infograph outlines some of the correlating criteria in respect to the films that win the Best Picture Oscar at the Academy Awards.

“Anomalisa” movie review

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AnomolisaAn anomaly of a movie. Okay, so my first line seems a little redundant given the title of the movie, but I honestly could not think of a more appropriate opening. Watch as the classic look and feel of claymation is pushed to new limits. However, a rather curt summary of this movie would be an avant-garde interpretive film that is overly abstract and subjective. Very much art house cinema material, this animated film has no clear message and provides the audience much to think about. However, due to the lack of coherency, it is difficult to apply a common theme or interpretive message throughout the narrative in its entirety. Despite the utter weirdness of the film, you will undoubtedly find yourself identifying with or interpreting various scenes in different ways; although, you may also ask yourself “what the???” after you leave the auditorium. It is definitely an animated film that is extremely artistic and serves as evidence that animation for adults can break from the confines of the living room or computer and find a place amongst other live-action avant-garde films. For fans of Cyndi Lauper, you will get a kick out of one of the scenes in particular, and also notice an analogy in the writing that goes along with her timeless hit “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.”

Michael Stone is a successful businessman and author who is spending the weekend in Cincinnati to talk about his book on improving customer service in stores and other businesses. Along the way, he finds himself meeting many people who adore him and his work–an all too familiar encounter. Upon a chance meeting in the hallway of his hotel, he meets Lisa who captures his attention in a way that no-one has in a long time. Unfortunately, he must deal with personal and interpersonal conflict throughout his business trip and must decide how to handle and move-on with life.

Well, that is pretty much it. There really isn’t much more to say because of the very nature of this film. Much of what you may find enjoyable is the awkward romantic claymation scenes and the ability to gleam from the film whatever you may. One thing is for sure, whereas I find the film to be entirely too abstract and subjective, I can definitely appreciate it for pushing the boundaries of how one typically views or experiences claymation films.