Unofficial Academy Awards Discussion Board

It's worth pointing out that First Man didn't have such a hot weekend at the box-office -- only $16.5 million. This pretty much rules out any chance of the movie becoming a Dunkirk-size hit. So now the best hope comparison would have to be something like Bridge of Spies, which did about the same on ...

A thoroughly enjoyable movie, even if its pleasures are on the small side. I remember Mister Tee used to say that he long ago got tired of watching films about losers losing -- this definitely is a movie about losers losing, but I'd say the level of wit and humor here make this one far less dreary t...

This is a tough one for me because I think there are several strong choices that are all so different, it's hard to elevate one above another. My alternates would be The Handmaiden, which merited nominations in all the visual design categories, as well as Jackie. Lion is the easiest to move past, ma...

Beautiful Boy is the kind of movie that just simply doesn't pass the "what is the point of me watching this?" test. I felt much the same way about the director's earlier film The Broken Circle Breakdown, where I was presented with a deeply sobering subject (a couple losing their young chil...

And as with so many things the last few years, what seemed like it could end up being a complete disaster for the Republicans ends with them squeaking through by the narrowest of victories.

I truly have no bigger election night wish than to see Mitch McConnell become Senate Minority Leader.

Sabin wrote:Same question. How do you think this thing will do? Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress noms, no wins?

I'd say acting noms are possible but not certain for anyone, depending on how the competition from more enthusiastically received vehicles shakes out.

Great take, BJ. Do you see First Man being greeted more with respect than passion in the Oscar race? My hunch is the movie will be a hit at the box-office -- the combo of spectacle/familiar subject matter/strong reviews could make it something like the Dunkirk of this year, which isn't a bad positi...

I'd be curious if others react to the Variety Debruge review the way I do. It strikes me as closer to an analysis of how effective the film is as political tool than a review of it as a piece of art. This is something I think is creeping into criticism overall of late, and, while I think it's being...

First Man is a solid accomplishment, certainly at a technical level, where I doubt anyone would take issue with the movie's credentials as an impressive piece of filmmaking craft. I'd also say it's impressive in terms of the sense of verisimilitude it provides -- its portrait of the space race feels...

I'm more in line with Mister Tee's take than those that flat-out HATED it -- I found it engaging enough, with a decent conceit, but thought its execution was on the hum-drum side, even when making allowances for the limited nature of such a smallish vehicle. SPOILERS ARE GOING TO FOLLOW I think my b...

I saw this opening day, but have been relatively short on time as of late, so commenting has eluded me. I quite liked the movie as well, and think it's probably Spike Lee's strongest film since 25th Hour. One thing that really impressed me was his handling of the tone. There's a lot of humor in this...

I'll piggy-back one thing onto Mister Tee's post, all of which I'd agree with... The Honorary Oscar certainly has been effectively used to reward people who fit in the "you should have won at some point, but you slipped through the cracks" criteria -- Cary Grant and Barbara Stanwyck certai...

I knew she'd dealt with a bout of cancer, but had no idea it had recurred after her return to the stage a couple years ago. I was, of course, too young to see Passion in real time, but it was one of those shows that got a video recording that's widely available, so I was lucky enough to see her (and...

As we get into these years, I know I won't be able to participate as much. There are certain years where I've seen all the nominees in one category, or am only missing one film, so it won't be a problem to fill in that gap. But there are also categories where I'm missing most of the slate, and some ...

This field mostly made sense to me. Son of Saul would be my chief (albeit likely chanceless) alternative. I don't really get the nomination for The Hateful Eight. I know a lot of brouhaha was made about the fact that it was shot in 70mm (and I saw it in that format), but I have no idea why a mostly ...