‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ sweeps at the 95th Academy Awards.

A24’s sleeper hit, ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ is indeed winning almost everything everywhere all at once (just as the movie’s title) at the 95th Academy Awards held yesterday on March 12, 2023. The multiverse sci-fi, comedy and drama film won 7 Oscars out of the 11 nominations it received and became the biggest winner of the evening.

The awards ceremony hosted by Jimmy Kimmel for the third time took a little over three and a half hours and went smoothly this year without any unwanted moments (no slapping incident, no wrong announcement of winner, etc). It was such a good show and I’m very excited and happy for most of the result this year, particularly to EEAAO’s sweep as I admire this film and it is certainly one-of-a-kind that truly deserves best picture.

Here are the full list of winners for the Hollywood’s biggest annual film awards, the 95th Academy Awards:

Best Picture: “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Best Actress: Michelle Yeoh, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Best Actor: Brendan Fraser, “The Whale”

Best Director: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Best Original Song: “Naatu Naatu,” “RRR”

Best Documentary Feature: “Navalny”

Best Adapted Screenplay: “Women Talking”

Best Original Screenplay: “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Best Costume Design: “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”

Best International Feature: “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Best Supporting Actor: Ke Huy Quan, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Best Animated Feature: “Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio”

Best Visual Effects: “Avatar: The Way of Water”

Best Cinematography: “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Best Supporting Actress: Jamie Lee Curtis, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Best Film Editing: “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Best Score: “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Best Sound: “Top Gun: Maverick”

Best Production Design: “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Best Makeup and Hairstyling: “The Whale”

Best: Documentary (Short Subject): “The Elephant Whisperers”

Best Short (Animated): “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse”

Best Short Film (Live Action): “An Irish Goodbye”

You can see the full nomination list for the awards in my previous blog post that also comes along with my final prediction. Out of the 23 categories, I correctly predicted in 17 of them. That’s 73.9% accuracy. Not bad. Not bad. Will try to aim for higher accuracy next year.

All of the awards that EEAO won are above-the-line categories, taking home best picture, director, screenplay (original), acting (lead actress, supporting actor, supporting actress) and film editing. The Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) won three Oscars each at the ceremony as they co-write, co-direct and co-produce (together with Jonathan Wang) EEAAO. I’m so happy that they called out Michelle Yeoh’s name when announcing the best actress winner too. She truly deserves it. I’m so proud to be Malaysian at that moment and she did mention Malaysia and KL too in her acceptance speech while mentioning about her mother watching the ceremony live in their country. She became the first Asian to win the Oscar for Best Actress, the first Malaysian to win an Academy Award in any category, and the second woman of color to win Best Actress after Halle Berry in 2002. A huge congratulation to Michelle Yeoh!

Out of the 10 nominated films in best picture, 5 films went home empty handed that evening. They are ‘Elvis’ (quite unexpected as I was expecting this film to take home at least few Oscars like best actor and best costume design), ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’, ‘Triangle of Sadness’, ‘The Fabelmans’ and ‘Tar’. It is very unlikely especially in recent years that Academy would let a film to make major sweep for their awards but it does finally happen this year with EEAAO’s dominance.

‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ ended the evening with second most wins at 4 (international feature, cinematography, score and production design). I never thought it won for production design as I felt it was actually the weakest among the nominees in that category. What a surprise. Well, luckily, the movie didn’t perform here as well as in the BAFTA as I don’t really enjoy the film and was quite perplexed on how it could win so many awards at the BAFTA earlier including best film. The Academy made it right. All the 4 acting winners at the Oscars also matched up with the result at the SAG awards and not the BAFTA (and I’m very happy for it!).

Once Jamie Lee Curtis won in the tight supporting actress race (she isn’t even affected from the vote splitting with her co-star Stephanie Hsu who is also nominated in the same category) in the earlier part of the ceremony, I knew it will be a big night for EEAAO and a win for Michelle Yeoh for best actress is very likely. I still prefer Angela Bassett to win though for her performance in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’.

Alright. That’s the wrap for the Hollywood awards season honouring the best of films released in 2022. It concludes with the 95th Oscars that made history in several categories and delivered one of the most satisfying results in a long time. What a year!

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ making sweep at PGA and SAG in the past weekend!

It’s less than 2 weeks away to the Oscars and we are now in the midst of plenty of major precursor awards from the critics and the guilds in recognizing the best of Hollywood films released in 2022. In fact, most of the precursor awards have passed including the Producers Guild of America Awards (PGA) and Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG) which took place just in the past weekend.

‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ made history as the first ever film to win 4 awards at the SAG. Before the ceremony, the film has 5 nominations in 4 categories and won in all the 4 categories including the coveted best cast ensemble award. Actors do really love and adore this film, particularly its cast. Who doesn’t love them? Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Jamie-Lee Curtis, Stephanie Hsu and several others including the legendary 94-years old James Hong. The acceptance speech at the final award (cast ensemble) which is turned into a tribute to James Hong is momentous. James himself was quite funny too on his speech.

Very well deserved win to everyone (well maybe except for Jamie-Lee Curtis as the other nominees in her supporting actress category are more superior than her in terms of performances). The film really wins everything everwhere all at once! Haha (except for BAFTA where it only managed to win editing to everyone’s shock!. British academy had poor taste in judging films). It is also very rare seeing that the 4 acting winners at the BAFTA are totally different with the 4 acting winners at the SAG. It’s going to be an exciting race at the Oscars. Close calls in all the acting categories except for maybe the supporting actor where Ke Huy Quan is the most solid frontrunner.

I’m so happy for Michelle Yeoh. She deserved this lead actress award and need to win this to stay on the race to win best actress at the Oscars. Her main competitor, Cate Blanchett had beaten her in many previous major precursor awards. Let’s hope the momentum stays on for her to become the first ever Asian to win best actress at the Academy Awards. I knew; many are saying Cate’s performance in ‘Tar’ is the best. I personally felt both Michelle Yeoh and Cate Blanchett are equal in their respective performances. After that, I am thinking who is overdue and in need of this recognition? Cate has won Oscars twice and she would have many more future opportunities to get awards. That’s not the case for Michelle. This is her once-in-a-lifetime chance. Hence, I’m rooting for her (also partly because she is a Malaysian and I’m of course supporting my own country along the way!).

I like the way this year’s SAG Awards is being presented. The ceremony was available for live streaming on YouTube so everyone is able to watch it easily online. No commercial ads. No music playoff to cut short the time for the award’s winners to speak. Clips of all nominees are presented. And lastly…the result are so much more exciting and great!

Here’s below the result only for the film categories for the 29th Screen Actors Guild Awards (didn’t bother the television categories as I do not watch any US television series):

Motion Picture Cast

Babylon
The Banshees of Inisherin
WINNER: Everything Everywhere All at Once
The Fabelmans
Women Talking

Male Actor in a Leading Role — Motion Picture

Austin Butler, Elvis
Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin
WINNER: Brendan Fraser, The Whale
Bill Nighy, Living
Adam Sandler, Hustle

Female Actor in a Leading Role — Motion Picture

Cate Blanchett, Tár
Viola Davis, The Woman King
Ana de Armas, Blonde
Danielle Deadwyler, Till
WINNER: Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Male Actor in a Supporting Role — Motion Picture

Paul Dano, The Fabelmans
Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin
Barry Keoghan, The Banshees of Inisherin
WINNER: Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Eddie Redmayne, The Good Nurse

Female Actor in a Supporting Role — Motion Picture

Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Hong Chau, The Whale
Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin
WINNER: Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

Avatar: The Way of Water
The Batman
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
WINNER: Top Gun: Maverick
The Woman King

Brendan Fraser also needed this best actor win to stay in the race for the Oscars as Austin Butler had prevailed at the Golden Globes and the BAFTA. So for best actor it will be battle between Brendan and Austin. Colin Farrell has lost a lot of momentum at this point. For best actress, it’s just between Cate Blanchett and Michelle Yeoh (sorry for the other nominees!). Supporting actor is likely a lock for Ke Huy Quan. Supporting actress is a bit more crowded with a three-way race between Kerry Condon, Angela Bassett and Jamie-Lee Curtis (I’m still picking Angela Bassett for the Oscars win).

A24 dominated the SAG this year (as both ‘The Whale’ and ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ are from A24 studio). ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ is now a clear frontrunner for best picture at the Oscars after winning SAG ensemble on top of the previous major win at Producers Guild of America Awards (PGA), Directors Guild of America Awards (DGA) and Critics Choice Awards. It is also set to win at the upcoming Writers Guild Awards (WGA) and Independent Spirit Awards which are to be held on this coming weekend.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Oscars 2022: CODA won best picture but Will Smith’s slap is the highlight of the year’s Academy Awards.

The 94th Academy Awards took place yesterday (this morning here in Singapore) with CODA, a movie about a child who is the only hearing person in her deaf family winning best picture (the film also win in the other two other categories it was nominated in; best supporting actor and best adapted screenplay). ‘Dune’, the epic sci-fi film last year is the biggest winner of the night with 6 wins (all in technical categories).

The biggest highlight of the awards ceremony is not from any of the above. It was ‘the slap’. Chris Rock who was making a disrespectful joke against Will Smith’s wife (Pinkett Smith) on stage was then given a violent slap by Will Smith. Will then returned to his seat, swear and yelled at him twice to stop talking about his wife. Some sided with Chris for his professionalism especially after facing such physical assault on live television and he continued to carry on with his presentation. Some thinks that it is a violence that is uncalled for by Will. However, some supported Will’s action to protect his wife and that Chris’ joke went overboard. Will Smith did went to the stage again for winning best actor for his performance in ‘King Richard’ and he took the opportunity to apologize to the Academy for what he did earlier.

Out of the 10 movies nominated in best picture this year, I have only watched three of them; ‘Don’t Look Up’, ‘West Side Story’ and ‘Nightmare Alley’. I have also not watched most of the other movies nominated in rest of the categories this year. Hence, I didn’t really put much attention to this year’s film awards season unlike in the previous years. For now, perhaps I will find a time to watch ‘CODA’ after it had won the best picture. Anyway, below is the full list of winners for the recently concluded 94th Academy Awards (Oscars 2022) along with my comments in some of the categories;

Best Picture

• “CODA” — Winner
• “Belfast”
• “Don’t Look Up”
• “Drive My Car”
• “Dune”
• “King Richard”
• “Licorice Pizza”
• “Nightmare Alley”
• “The Power of the Dog”
• “West Side Story”

Comment: Many general audiences would not have even heard of these nominated movies. It is better for the Academy to include more mainstream films rather than giving all the 10 slots to arthouse films. General audiences are getting more detached from these awards because of the industry’s dominant preference to small drama films. My personal pick is ‘Don’t Look Up’ but I knew it has zero chance of winning.

Actor in a Leading Role

• Will Smith, “King Richard” — Winner
• Javier Bardem, “Being the Ricardos”
• Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Power of the Dog”
• Andrew Garfield, “tick, tick…BOOM!”
• Denzel Washington, “The Tragedy of Macbeth”‘

Will Smith in ‘King Richard’.

Opinion: It is Will Smith’s year. No one else is strong enough to take that best actor win from him. I’m hoping for more great projects for Benedict Cumberbatch and Andrew Garfield so that they both can win some day. They are both great actors too and are certainly not only good in portraying superhero characters but also in everything else.

Actress in a Leading Role

• Jessica Chastain, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” — Winner
• Olivia Colman, “The Lost Daughter”
• Penélope Cruz, “Parallel Mothers”
• Nicole Kidman, “Being the Ricardos”
• Kristen Stewart, “Spencer”

Opinion: Congratz to Jessica Chastain! Didn’t watch her movie but have heard of all the good reviews to her performance in that movie. Well, she has been nominated twice in the past so third time is really a charm for her this year!

Animated Feature Film

• “Encanto” — Winner
• “Flee”
• “Luca”
• “The Mitchells vs. the Machines”
• “Raya and the Last Dragon”

Opinion: Disney wins again for animated feature film. ‘Encanto’ is yet another solid Disney film with all the ‘promised to be successful’ similar formulas. Hmm…but I have seen enough of these formulas and start to get tired of it after watching ‘Encanto’. My own preference is ‘Ron’s Gone Wrong’ but this film cannot even make it into the top 5 nominees.

Cinematography

• “Dune,” Greig Fraser — Winner
• “Nightmare Alley,” Dan Laustsen
• “The Power of the Dog,” Ari Wegner
• “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” Bruno Delbonnel
• “West Side Story,” Janusz Kaminski

Directing

• Jane Campion,  “The Power of the Dog” — Winner
• Paul Thomas Anderson, “Licorice Pizza”
• Kenneth Branagh, “Belfast”
• Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, “Drive My Car”
• Steven Spielberg, “West Side Story”

Documentary Feature

• “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” — Winner
• “Ascension”
• “Attica”
• “Flee”
• “Writing with Fire”

Documentary Short Subject

• “The Queen of Basketball” — Winner
• “Audible”
• “Lead Me Home”
• “Three Songs for Benazir”
• “When We Were Bullies”

International Feature Film

• “Drive My Car” (Japan) — Winner
• “Flee” (Denmark)
• “The Hand of God” (Italy)
• “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” (Bhutan)
• “The Worst Person in the World” (Norway)

Opinion: Very much expected since ‘Drive My Car’ is the only non-English film which is able to make it into top 10 best picture nominees.

Original Song

• “No Time To Die” from “No Time to Die,” music and lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell — Winner
• “Be Alive” from “King Richard,” music and lyric by DIXSON and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter
• “Dos Oruguitas” from “Encanto,” music and lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda
• “Down To Joy” from “Belfast,” music and lyric by Van Morrison
• “Somehow You Do” from “Four Good Days,” music and lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell 

Production Design

• “Dune,” Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Zsuzsanna Sipos — Winner
• “Nightmare Alley,” Production Design: Tamara Deverell; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau
• “The Power of the Dog,” Production Design: Grant Major; Set Decoration: Amber Richards
• “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” Production Design: Stefan Dechant; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
• “West Side Story,” Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Rena DeAngelo

Visual Effects

• “Dune,” Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor and Gerd Nefzer — Winner
• “Free Guy,” Swen Gillberg, Bryan Grill, Nikos Kalaitzidis and Dan Sudick
• “No Time to Die,” Charlie Noble, Joel Green, Jonathan Fawkner and Chris Corbould
• “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” Charlie Noble, Joel Green, Jonathan Fawkner and Chris Corbould
• “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” Kelly Port, Chris Waegner, Scott Edelstein and Dan Sudick

Makeup and Hairstyling

• “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram and Justin Raleigh — Winner
• “Coming 2 America,” Mike Marino, Stacey Morris and Carla Farmer
• “Cruella,” Nadia Stacey, Naomi Donne and Julia Vernon
• “Dune,” Donald Mowat, Love Larson and Eva von Bahr
• “House of Gucci,” Göran Lundström, Anna Carin Lock and Frederic Aspiras

Film Editing

• “Dune,” Joe Walker — Winner
• “Don’t Look Up,” Hank Corwin
• “King Richard,” Pamela Martin
• “The Power of the Dog,” Peter Sciberras
• “tick, tick…BOOM!” Myron Kerstein and Andrew Weisblum

Opinion: Wow…’Dune’ is sweeping in almost all the technical categories, leaving no place for other movies to snatch trophies.

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Troy Kotsur, “CODA” — Winner
• Ciarán Hinds, “Belfast”
• Jesse Plemons, “The Power of the Dog”
• J.K. Simmons, “Being the Ricardos”
• Kodi Smit-McPhee, “The Power of the Dog”

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Ariana DeBose, “West Side Story” — Winner
• Jessie Buckley, “The Lost Daughter”
• Judi Dench, “Belfast”
• Kirsten Dunst, “The Power of the Dog”
• Aunjanue Ellis, “King Richard”

Live Action Short Film

• “The Long Goodbye” — Winner
• “Ala Kachuu – Take and Run”
• “The Dress”
• “On My Mind”
• “Please Hold”

Animated Short Film

• “The Windshield Wiper” — Winner
• “Affairs of the Art”
• “Bestia”
• “Boxballet”
• “Robin Robin”

Original Screenplay

• “Belfast” (Kenneth Branagh) — Winner
• “Don’t Look Up” (Screenplay by Adam McKay and story by Adam McKay and David Sirota)
• “King Richard” (Zach Baylin)
• “Licorice Pizza” (Paul Thomas Anderson)
• “The Worst Person in the World” (Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier)

Adapted Screenplay

• Siân Heder, “CODA” — Winner
• Jane Campion, “The Power of the Dog”
• Maggie Gyllenhaal, “The Lost Daughter”
• Ryûsuke Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe, “Drive My Car”
• Eric Roth, Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve, “Dune”

Original Score

• “Dune,” Hans Zimmer — Winner
• “Don’t Look Up,” Nicholas Britell
• “Encanto,” Germaine Franco
• “Parallel Mothers,” Alberto Iglesias
• “The Power of the Dog,” Jonny Greenwood

Sound

• “Dune,” Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill and Ron Bartlett — Winner
• “Belfast,” Denise Yarde, Simon Chase, James Mather and Niv Adiri
• “No Time to Die,” Simon Hayes, Oliver Tarney, James Harrison, Paul Massey and Mark Taylor
• “The Power of the Dog,” Richard Flynn, Robert Mackenzie and Tara Webb
• “West Side Story,” Tod A. Maitland, Gary Rydstrom, Brian Chumney, Andy Nelson and Shawn Murphy

Costume Design

• “Cruella,” Jenny Beavan — Winner
• “Cyrano,” Massimo Cantini Parrini and Jacqueline Durran
• “Dune,” Jacqueline West and Robert Morgan
• “Nightmare Alley,” Luis Sequeira
• “West Side Story,” Paul Tazewell

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Shaun Tam and Rosina Lam won TV King and Queen at TVB Anniversary Awards 2021 while ‘Battle of the Seven Sisters’ surprisingly snags best TV series.

TVB Anniversary Awards 2021 took place a moment ago to recognize the best from TVB series and programmes aired last year. Although there is no live online streaming of the event on Youtube (unlike last year), but I was still able to watch it from TVB Anywhere app via my mobile phone fortunately (but have to be patient with the unstable streaming).

This is the first time I’m not seeing Carol Cheng hosting the awards presentation ceremony. I wonder why. I’m surprised also at more number of heavyweight guests that are able to be invited to present awards this evening. I think mostly due to Eric Tsang’s (he is general manager of TVB now) many close ties in the industry. Here below are the results along with my opinions (only series related awards are shown. All non-series related awards are excluded as those are not of my interest):

Lifetime Achievement Award – David Chiang

Opinion: Very deserved win for David Chiang. He is a very solid veteran actor who has acted in TV series from 1980s all the way to the present. He had also acted in over 100 films to date. Even my father who doesn’t really remember names of popular actors of his generation also does know his name.

Best Supporting Actor – Brian Chu (Take Two)

Opinion: Disappointed with this result. Brian Chu’s performance in that drama is only average. Cheung Wing-hong or Him Law displayed much better performances last year.

Most Improved TV Female Artiste – Lesley Chiang

Opinion: Didn’t watch any of her works last year and so couldn’t comment much. I also have no particular preference for this category.

Most Improved TV Male Artiste – Joey Law, Karl Ting

Opinion: Happy for both of them winning. Both of them put a lot of effort and deserved recognition. Karl is very energetic on his works in non-series programmes and he is also very good and natural in ‘Battle of the Seven Sister’. Didn’t see any Joey Law’s works last year though.

Best Dressed TV Female Artiste – Jeannie Chan

Best Dressed TV Male Artiste – Shaun Tam

Malaysia’s Most Favourite Leading Actress – Linda Chung (Kids’ Lives Matter)

Opinion: She is my second choice. I prefer Ali but I’m not too disappointed with Linda winning. However, she had won this award (Malaysia) before. Ali has not if I’m not mistaken.

Malaysia’s Most Favourite Leading Actor – Shaun Tam (Take Two)

Opinion: Yes. He is my pick. The competition is very weak last year for lead actor categories. Out of the nominees, the ones who have not win before is Owen and Shaun. Out of these two, Shaun has the edge. His acting still has huge room of improvement but is certainly much better than Owen’s stiff acting in ‘The Ringmaster’.

Malaysia’s Most Favourite TV Series – Kids’ Lives Matter

Opinion: Disagreed with this outcome. This series is so boring. My choice is ‘AI Romantic’ which is more fun and interesting.

Best Supporting Actress – Yoyo Chen (Plan B)

Opinion: Quite a well deserved win. She had been in the industry for over 17 years but had been always sidelined to minor roles. She finally had a breakthrough year in 2021 with her winning a voice-acting contest show and a great performance in ‘Plan B’ as a fierce mother.

Most Popular TV Partnership – Mandy Lam & Jack Hui (Come Home Love: Lo and Behold)

Opinion: Didn’t watch this long running sitcom so nothing to comment for this category. The top 5 lists are also not of my interest.

Most Popular TV Male Character – Kenneth Ma (Kids’ Lives Matter)

Opinion: Wow…this is his 4th time winning this award. He is really super popular. I would prefer Billy Luk from ‘AI Romantic’ to win instead. Kenneth Ma won too many times. He doesn’t feel anything already after this 4th win which he himself find very surprising too.

Best Leading Actor – Shaun Tam (Take Two)

Opinion: Luckily is not Owen. Like I said earlier, if between Shaun and Owen, my choice is Shaun. Although his performance is not really exceptional but is good enough in 2021. Owen delivered a very bland performance in ‘The Ringmaster’. Shaun’s character in ‘Take Two’ is more interesting and he quite succeeded in it. Looking forward to see him further improving on his acting in future works.

Most Popular TV Female Character – Ali Lee (Beauty and the Boss)

Opinion: Didn’t watch her performance in ‘Beauty and the Boss’ but I do really like her in ‘AI Romantic’. I’m still glad she win though. She never win this before despite winning best actress few years ago. A very solid young actress.

Best Leading Actress – Rosina Lam (Battle of the Seven Sisters)

Opinion: I am almost 100% certain that Linda will take this. I’m very shocked now. She is robbed. I didn’t expect Rosina Lam to win. Her performance in ‘Battle of the Seven Sisters’ is indeed better than in ‘Sinister Beings’ (both were aired last year). But I still felt it is not her time yet. Her emotional scenes were still quite unnatural and felt forced. Perhaps it is TVB’s way to keep Rosina to continue filming for the station while Linda is now staying mostly at Canada already. This is supposed to be Linda’s year. Her emotional scenes in ‘Kids’ Lives Matter’ were great and many were already picking her.

Best TV Series – Battle of the Seven Sisters

Opinion: Disagreed with this series winning best series. Nothing spectacular or outstanding about this series. Out of the top 5, my choice is ‘Sinister Beings’. Disappointed that ‘AI Romantic’ does not even make it into top 5. It was my personal favourite in 2021.

Ok. That wraps up TVB report card for 2021. Time for new TVB series to watch this year soon.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games came to an end while Malaysia has to wait for Paris 2024 for its first Olympic gold medal dream.

The pandemic-hit Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games came to an end today after over 2 weeks of great sport events involving over 11 000 worldwide athletes participating in 339 events in 33 sports. I managed to watch some of the events, particularly the ones involving our Malaysian athletes like badminton and cycling and other sports like synchronized swimming, gymnastics, athletics, diving, golf and sailing.

As expected, the closing ceremony was a very modest affair with no public spectators. The performers are as though they were random street performers simply brought into the stadium to perform for the ceremony. Small scale and low key performances that doesn’t reflect the true scale of this global event. Tokyo 2020 would have deliver exceptional opening and closing ceremonies if not for the pandemic which have led to a more somber and less extravagant ceremonies.

Anyway, the baton now passed to Paris which is the host city of the next edition of the Summer Olympic Games in 2024 (only 3 years from now). Let’s hope there will be no more pandemic by then. United States topped the overall medal tally with 39 golds, 41 silvers and 33 bronzes while China came closely behind at 2nd place with 38 golds, 32 silvers and 18 bronzes. The host nation, Japan came in third with 27 golds, 14 silvers and 17 bronzes (peak result for Japan due to home advantage for being the host nation).

Malaysia managed to win 1 silver and 1 bronze in this games. Although we still could not win our first ever Olympic gold medal, but at least we are not returning home empty handed. The silver medal came from Azizulhasni Awang in men’s keirin event (cycling) this morning and the bronze medal came from Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in men’s double event (badminton) earlier. A huge congratulation to them!

Hmm…why is it so hard for Malaysia to win a gold medal in the Olympics? The golds are within our reach in many past occasions and yet we couldn’t pull through in the end. The Malaysian athletes have did their best but there are always someone better and stronger from other countries. It shows that we need to really look into ways to further improve the performance of our athletes and it’s critical to nurture young talented athletes to get them ready for Paris 2024 and the future games. China sent athletes as young as 14 years old and even won gold medal (in women’s diving).

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Tokyo 2020 finally opens after a year of being postponed due to the pandemic.

I continued to sit in front of my laptop right after my work just now for another 4 hours straight to watch the live online streaming of the opening ceremony of Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games. Already postponed a year due to the pandemic, the world’s biggest sporting event finally opens today with a ceremony that is scaled down and is held in a largely empty stadium with no public spectators.

Yes. There will be no public spectators to the ceremonies and also to all the games events to minimize risk of spread of coronavirus to the local community. The organizing committee earlier faces huge criticisms and public backlash on the decision to proceed with the games during the current pandemic and when the country is under the state of emergency.

The opening ceremony features the standard parade of nations (over 200 nations and that alone took half of the ceremony’s time and we just got about 20 seconds to watch our Malaysian contingent coming out during the parade..haha), boring speeches (especially the very long and repetitive speech by the IOC president who I believed had repeated the word ‘Olympic’ over 30 times in his speech…that’s way too long!), singing of Olympic and Japan (host country) national anthems, lighting of Olympic cauldron, etc.

I usually look forward to the artistic segment of these kind of ceremonies of which the host will deliver some extravagant and beautifully orchestrated/synchronized/coordinated performances to showcase the history, culture, power, and modern identity of the host nation. I understand that the ceremony this time is toned down with limited number of performers and reduced cost. This made the artistic segment which is supposed to be the highlight of the ceremony to be a bit underwhelming with hint of lack of effort. I do find the pictogram part creative and fun though.

I do like the drones show too that forms the image of the Earth and the games logo. This is the only ‘wow’ moment of the entire ceremony unfortunately. Besides that, this part is too quick and the drones show could have deliver more interesting formations. The Olympic cauldron lighting at the end is also a bit underwhelming. If not for the pandemic, I believe Tokyo 2020 would have been an epic games and the opening ceremony would have been one of the better ones. Now, it is just a tiny bit better than Rio 2016 opening ceremony, but definitely falls behind Beijing 2008 and London 2012. The opening ceremony was simple and does its purpose but lacks the usual glitz and glamour (it is understandable though).

I am wishing all the best and good luck to the Malaysian athletes competing in this games. Hope that we can finally win the country’s first ever Olympic gold medal in Tokyo 2020. By the way, it is recently announced that Brisbane has been selected as the host city for the 2032 Summer Olympic Games. Congratulations to Australia for this great news! But I’m curious on why they choose the host for 2032 edition this early though? 2032 is a whopping 11 years from now!

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Very excited with ‘Parasite’ winning best picture at the 92nd Academy Awards!

‘Parasite’, a South-Korean film last year that receives huge critical acclaim and international buzz and is my best film in 2019 made history by becoming the first ever foreign language film to win the coveted ‘best picture’ prize at the 92nd Academy Awards (Oscars)! Before the awards ceremony, I have looked into the major precursor awards and I have been thinking that ‘Parasite’ has been doing quite well but not to the point that it can manage to pull off this huge best picture win.

Deep down in my heart, I still wish for it to win despite knowing that ‘1917’ film is the frontrunner (I also love 1917 and placed it as my 2nd best film in 2019). My wish came true. I was so excited when ‘Parasite’ name is called during the revealing of the best picture’s envelope a moment ago. History is made!

The film is also the biggest winner of the night with 4 wins including best director, best international feature film and best original screenplay. Even Bong Joon-Ho (the director of ‘Parasite’) had told us that he thought he was done for the day at the acceptance speech for his win in the international feature film category (previously known as best foreign language film). I didn’t expect he would go up on stage two more times later. What a great result and the film totally deserves it! It is a masterpiece and it marks a huge step forward for South Korean films, or in more general, Asian film industry. Asian talents and films do deserve more attention in Hollywood.

World War I film, ‘1917’ lost out in best picture and best director categories but still managed to score 3 wins in other categories (sound mixing, cinematography and visual effects). I’m surprised for this movie to prevail in visual effects category. Among all the nominees, ‘1917’ has the least amount of work in visual effects and yet it won.

Each of the 9 best picture nominees won at least an Oscar in the ceremony except for ‘The Irishman’. The 4 acting champs (Joaquin Phoenix, Renee Zellweger, Brad Pitt, Laura Dern) from the previous major precursor awards (Golden Globes, Critics Choice, SAG & BAFTA) repeat in the Oscars with no surprise.

Here below is the full list of winners for the 92nd Academy Awards (Oscars 2020) honoring the best of films in 2019:

Best Picture
Ford v Ferrari
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Little Women
Marriage Story
1917
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Parasite

Best Actress
Cynthia Erivo, Harriet
Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story
Saoirse Ronan, Little Women
Charlize Theron, Bombshell
Renée Zellweger, Judy

Best Actor
Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory
Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Adam Driver, Marriage Story
Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Jonathan Pryce, The Two Popes

Best Director
Martin Scorsese, The Irishman
Todd Phillips, Joker
Sam Mendes, 1917
Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Bong Joon Ho, Parasite

Best Supporting Actress
Kathy Bates, Richard Jewell
Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Scarlett Johansson, Jojo Rabbit
Florence Pugh, Little Women
Margot Robbie, Bombshell

Best Supporting Actor
Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Anthony Hopkins, The Two Popes
Al Pacino, The Irishman
Joe Pesci, The Irishman
Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Best Animated Feature
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
I Lost My Body
Klaus
Missing Link
Toy Story 4

Best Animated Short
Dcera (Daughter)
Hair Love
Kitbull
Memorable
Sister

Best Original Screenplay
Knives Out
Marriage Story
1917
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Parasite

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Little Women
The Two Popes

Best Live Action Short
Brotherhood
Nefta Football Club
The Neighbors’ Window
Saria
A Sister

Best Production Design
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
1917
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Parasite

Best Costume Design
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Little Women
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Documentary Feature
American Factory
The Cave
The Edge of Democracy
For Sama
Honeyland

Documentary Short
In the Absence
Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)
Life Overtakes Me
St. Louis Superman
Walk, Run, Cha-Cha

Sound Editing
Ford v Ferrari
Joker
1917
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Sound Mixing
Ad Astra
Ford v. Ferrari
Joker
1917
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Best Cinematography
The Irishman
Joker
The Lighthouse
1917
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Best Film Editing
Ford v Ferrari
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Parasite

Best Visual Effects
Avengers: Endgame
The Irishman
The Lion King
1917
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Bombshell
Joker
Judy
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
1917

Best International Feature Film
Corpus Christi
Honeyland
Les Misérables
Pain and Glory
Parasite

Best Original Score
Joker
Little Women
Marriage Story
1917
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Best Original Song
“I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away,” Toy Story 4
“(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again,” Rocketman
“I’m Standing With You,” Breakthrough
“Into the Unknown,” Frozen II
“Stand Up,” Harriet

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

 

91st Oscars: ‘Green Book’ took Best Picture. Rami Malek is the best actor while Olivia Colman prevailed with best actress win over heavy favourite Glenn Close.

Finally, the Oscars is here. The 91st Academy Awards took place just a moment ago with some surprising wins. This year’s ceremony runs half hour longer than the anticipated 3-hours period. The ceremony also comes with no host. Here’s below is the full winners list along with my comments:

Best Picture
“BlacKkKlansman”
“Black Panther”
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“The Favourite”
“Green Book”
“Roma”
“A Star Is Born”
“Vice”

 

Opinion: I haven’t watch ‘Green Book’ (now I think I should). My first choice is ‘Roma’. I have a feeling many would be fine with ‘Roma’ winning since it is not as divisive as ‘Green Book’ (this film has some controversy). I’m surprised. I have to admit that ‘Roma’ is more of a technical masterpiece while the Academy just wanted to go away from that since they had done so last year (as many viewed ‘The Shape of Water’ more of a technical masterpiece too).

Best Director
Alfonso Cuarón, “Roma”
Spike Lee, “BlacKkKlansman”
Adam McKay, “Vice”
Pawel Pawlikowski, “Cold War”
Yorgos Lanthimos, “The Favourite”

Opinion: Expected. It’s so nice to see Guillermo del Toro (last year winner) to present this to Alfonso Cuaron. Both are great friends and are from Mexico. Very well deserved win to Cuaron. It’s his second directing win! So many Mexicans rule in this category for the last couple of years.

Best Actress
Yalitza Aparicio, “Roma”
Glenn Close, “The Wife”
Olivia Colman, “The Favourite”
Lady Gaga, “A Star Is Born”
Melissa McCarthy, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”

Opinion: Oh my god! I was so shocked when I heard ‘Olivia Colman’. Poor Glenn…she is amazing in ‘The Wife’ and everyone thinks she is going to get it this time due to the huge overdue factor (me included). But she isn’t. That is shocking. I was really hoping she will win after 7 nominations. And yet, not again. She is a a wonderful actress and has been unfortunately overlooked by the Academy once again. Felt really bad for Glenn Close. Congratz, Olivia Colman; win in first nomination! I love her acceptance speech (she is a very likable and fun person). She is excellent in ‘The Favourite’ too but I still wanted Close to win her first Oscar in her long amazing career.

Best Actor
Christian Bale, “Vice”
Bradley Cooper, “A Star Is Born”
Willem Dafoe, “At Eternity’s Gate”
Rami Malek, “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Viggo Mortensen, “Green Book”

Opinion: Happy for Rami Malek. He is phenomenal in ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. Some people criticized that he just impersonates Freddie Mercury and lip-sync throughout the entire movie. To these people, have you watched the entire movie? His performance in it is much more than that and I’m glad that the Academy recognizes that.

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, “Vice”
Marina de Tavira, “Roma”
Regina King, “If Beale Street Could Talk”
Emma Stone, “The Favourite”
Rachel Weisz, “The Favourite”

Opinion: Haven’t watch ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ but have heard a lot of good reviews particularly for Regina King’s performance in it. She is snubbed at the SAG and BAFTA surprisingly. I would have prefer Emma Stone from ‘The Favourite’ to win this one but I knew she won’t. The 5 ladies here are all very deserving.

Best Supporting Actor
Mahershala Ali, “Green Book”
Adam Driver, “BlacKkKlansman”
Sam Elliott, “A Star Is Born”
Richard E. Grant, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Sam Rockwell, “Vice”

Opinion: No. Although I knew Mahershala Ali is going to win as he sweeps all the major precursor awards, but I prefer Richard E. Grant. My judgement is a bit biased here as I have not watched ‘Green Book’. Ali has already won the same award just few years ago and I think it’s too quick for him to win another one.

Best Adapted Screenplay
“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” (Joel Coen , Ethan Coen)
“BlacKkKlansman” (Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott, Spike Lee)
“Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty)
“If Beale Street Could Talk” (Barry Jenkins)
“A Star Is Born” (Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper, Will Fetters)

Opinion: Haven’t watch ‘Blackkklansman’. My choice is ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’.

Best Original Screenplay
“The Favourite” (Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara)
“First Reformed” (Paul Schrader)
“Green Book” (Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly)
“Roma” (Alfonso Cuarón)
“Vice” (Adam McKay)

Opinion: Haven’t watch ‘Green Book’ and I would prefer ‘The Favourite’ to win this. Its script is brilliant. It just doesn’t feel right when ‘The Favourite’ is not winning anything at all.

Best Cinematography
“Cold War” (Lukasz Zal)
“The Favourite” (Robbie Ryan)
“Never Look Away” (Caleb Deschanel)
“Roma” (Alfonso Cuaron)
“A Star Is Born” (Matty Libatique)

Opinion: Expected. The camerawork and lighting in ‘Roma’ are brilliant. The black-and-white style further expresses the cinematography of the film.

Best Costume Design
“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” (Mary Zophres)
“Black Panther”(Ruth E. Carter)
“The Favourite” (Sandy Powell)
“Mary Poppins Returns” (Sandy Powell)
“Mary Queen of Scots” (Alexandra Byrne)

Opinion: Good for ‘Black Panther’. The only fascinating thing from the film is its unique costumes.

Best Film Editing
“BlacKkKlansman” (Barry Alexander Brown)
“Bohemian Rhapsody” (John Ottman)
“The Favourite” (Yorgos Mavropsaridis)
“Green Book”(Patrick J. Don Vito)
“Vice” (Hank Corwin)

Opinion: I predicted ‘Vice’ while ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is my second choice. I was wrong. I find that the editing in ‘Vice’ is much more obvious but Academy is very in love with the editing for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (mostly due to the amazing Live Aid scene).

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
“Border”
“Mary Queen of Scots”
“Vice”

Opinion: Expected. The same formula last year; do a huge transformation to a leading man in a movie (particularly turning one into a fat politician – Winston Churchill last year and Dick Cheney this year) and you got this.

Best Original Score
“Black Panther” (Ludwig Goransson)
“BlacKkKlansman” (Terence Blanchard)
“If Beale Street Could Talk” (Nicholas Britell)
“Isle of Dogs” (Alexandre Desplat)
“Mary Poppins Returns” (Marc Shaiman)

Opinion: ‘Black Panther’ has best score?! This is a joke. ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ or even ‘Isle of Dogs’ are much more worthy. I have a feeling that Academy wanted to give a lot of awards to ‘Black Panther’ just to show that they are very serious in celebrating diversity. This is not right. Quality should be the priority.

Best Original Song
“All The Stars” from “Black Panther” by Kendrick Lamar, SZA

“I’ll Fight” from “RBG” by Diane Warren, Jennifer Hudson

“The Place Where Lost Things Go” from “Mary Poppins Returns” by Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman

“Shallow” from “A Star Is Born” by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, Andrew Wyatt and Benjamin Rice

“When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” from “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” by Willie Watson, Tim Blake Nelson

Opinion: Definitely ‘Shallow’. Very deserving as the song is simply amazing! The only win for ‘A Star Is Born’ which has been predicted to be a strong contender in the early award season but fails.

Best Production Design
“Black Panther” (Hannah Beachler)
“First Man” (Nathan Crowley, Kathy Lucas)
“The Favourite” (Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton)
“Mary Poppins Returns” (John Myhre, Gordon Sim)
“Roma” (Eugenio Caballero, Bárbara Enrı́quez)

Opinion: Not hugely disappointed but would have prefer ‘The Favourite’ to take this. Looks like the love for ‘Black Panther’ is strong. There’s a lot of reliance on green screen for most setting in ‘Black Panther’ and less on practical set-up and that’s why I don’t really agree with it winning production design.

Best Sound Editing
“Black Panther”
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“First Man”
“A Quiet Place”
“Roma”

Opinion: ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is my third pick and it ends up prevailing even in this category. ‘A Quiet Place’ and ‘First Man’ have better sound editing in my opinion.

Best Sound Mixing
“Black Panther”
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“First Man”
“Roma”
“A Star Is Born”

Opinion: Expected. The sound mixing for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is amazing. Music-themed film usually win here. Sorry ‘A Star Is Born’. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ has much more obvious sound work and in much larger quantity and volume.

Best Visual Effects
“Avengers: Infinity War”
“Christopher Robin”
“First Man”
“Ready Player One”
“Solo: A Star Wars Story”

Opinion: Wow. This is so surprising. Academy tends to favour low-key supporting visual effects (same like when ‘Ex Machina’ won some years ago). I disagree totally. ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ is robbed. The CGI on Thanos alone is enough to win. ‘First Man’ is like my 4th pick (at the bottom).

Best Foreign Language Film
“Capernaum” (Lebanon)
“Cold War” (Poland)
“Never Look Away” (Germany)
“Roma” (Mexico)
“Shoplifters” (Japan)

Opinion: Expected again. ‘Roma’ is even in best picture contention.

Best Animated Feature
“Incredibles 2,” Brad Bird
“Isle of Dogs,” Wes Anderson
“Mirai,” Mamoru Hosoda
“Ralph Breaks the Internet,” Rich Moore, Phil Johnston
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman

Opinion: No competition. ‘Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse’ is certainly at the top this year. ‘Incredibles 2’ is fun but ordinary. I have high expectation for ‘Isle of Dogs’ but it came out being fine although it has unique animation. ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ is here just to fill in the slot.

– No comments for the last 4 categories below as I’m not interested in them and have not watched any of them too.-

Best Animated Short
“Animal Behavior”
“Bao”
“Late Afternoon”
“One Small Step”
“Weekends”

Best Documentary Feature
“Free Solo,” Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
“Hale County This Morning, This Evening,” RaMell Ross
“Minding the Gap,” Bing Liu
“Of Fathers and Sons,” Talal Derki
“RBG,” Betsy West, Julie Cohen

Best Documentary Short
“Black Sheep,” Ed Perkins
“End Game,” Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman
“Lifeboat,” Skye Fitzgerald
“A Night at the Garden,” Marshall Curry
“Period. End of Sentence.,” Rayka Zehtabchi

Best Live Action Short
“Detainment,” Vincent Lambe
“Fauve,” Jeremy Comte
“Marguerite,” Marianne Farley
“Mother,” Rodrigo Sorogoyen
“Skin,” Guy Nattiv

I got 11 correct and 9 incorrect for my prediction (can check out my final prediction in my previous blog post). That is not good. I got almost half of my prediction wrong. The 91st Academy Awards gave us a lot of surprise in a year where a lot of races are wide open.

‘Green Book’ took the top honor (winning best picture), defeating ‘Roma’ which is thought to be the frontrunner (‘Roma’ has most nominations and has won quite a lot of major precursor prizes). ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ has the most wins at the night with 4 (lead actor, film editing, sound mixing, sound editing). ‘Green Book’, ‘Black Panther’ and ‘Roma’ ties with 3 wins each. Each of the best picture nominees won at least an award this year which is quite rare.

So now, that’s the official end of the 2018 Hollywood film awards season.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

My final prediction for the 2019 Oscars.

The 91st Academy Awards is finally happening this weekend. All the 13 guilds have handed out their prizes and major precursor awards (Golden Globes, Critics Choice, SAG, BAFTA) have announced their winners in the past several weeks.

‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ topped at the guild wins with 4 but these wins are mostly at the lesser important technical categories. The movie also won best motion picture – drama at the Golden Globes. ‘Green Book’ won at the Producers Guild Awards (PGA) and also won best motion picture – musical or comedy at the Golden Globes. ‘Roma’ won at the Directors Guild Awards (DGA) and also won Best Picture at the Critics Choice and the BAFTA. ‘Black Panther’ won Best Cast in Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG). So which film is going to win best picture this Sunday at the Oscars? Predicting the winner this year is super challenging as there is no clear frontrunner even after all the precursors. Now, this is really an exciting year.

I have previously published the full nomination list for the 2019 Oscars some time ago with my prediction but that wasn’t quite updated. Here, I will publish it again with my latest and final prediction of who will win and who should win.

Best Picture
“BlacKkKlansman”
“Black Panther”
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“The Favourite”
“Green Book”
“Roma”
“A Star Is Born”
“Vice”

Should win: Roma

Will win: Roma

Opinion: In term of statistic, ‘Roma’ is at a very slight upper edge over the other nominees in terms of winning in the precursor awards. This movie is beautiful, intimate and is a technical masterpiece. Since preferential system is applied for this category, ‘Roma’ has the advantage for being a movie that is not divisive or heavily hated by anyone (unlike Bohemian Rhapsody, Black Panther, Vice and Green Book) and is expected to take up a lot of 1st, and also crucial 2nd and 3rd pick by the voters. Out of the 8 nominees, I enjoyed ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ the most because it is highly entertaining. But other than that, I don’t think that it is best picture material. ‘Roma’ has my pick. ‘The Favourite’ or ‘Blackkklansman’ may upset but I think their chances are quite far behind.

Best Director
Alfonso Cuarón, “Roma”
Spike Lee, “BlacKkKlansman”
Adam McKay, “Vice”
Pawel Pawlikowski, “Cold War”
Yorgos Lanthimos, “The Favourite”

Should win: Alfonso Cuaron (Roma)

Will win: Alfonso Cuaron (Roma)

Opinion: There is no doubt that Alfonso Cuaron is getting his second directing Oscars. The dark horse here would be Spike Lee but I don’t think he has that momentum to take down Cuaron at this point since the latter has been sweeping all the precursor awards already.

Best Actress
Yalitza Aparicio, “Roma”
Glenn Close, “The Wife”
Olivia Colman, “The Favourite”
Lady Gaga, “A Star Is Born”
Melissa McCarthy, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”

Should win: Glenn Close (The Wife)

Will win: Glenn Close (The Wife)

Opinion: Only losing the best actress to Olivia Colman in the BAFTA (due to Colman being a British and has the home advantage), Glenn Close is certainly the frontrunner (she won at the Golden Globes, Critics Choice and SAG) and my pick to win the best actress. This would be her first ever win in her 7th nomination. That is crazy and unbelievable that such an amazing actress has never won an Oscar before. She is winning this not because of the overdue factor but because she delivered an excellent performance in ‘The Wife’. I have to admit that the overdue factor is also giving her an advantage over the other nominees. I will scream if she doesn’t get to go up on stage to take that Oscar this Sunday. Looking forward to a standing ovation for her. She is a phenomenal actress. This shall be her year!

Best Actor
Christian Bale, “Vice”
Bradley Cooper, “A Star Is Born”
Willem Dafoe, “At Eternity’s Gate”
Rami Malek, “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Viggo Mortensen, “Green Book”

Should win: Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)

Will win: Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)

Opinion: Rami Malek is the frontrunner after winning Golden Globes, BAFTA and SAG. He only lost the Critics Choice (to Christian Bale). Forget about Critics Choice. The critics have been seriously panning ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ but the film industry people have shown the opposite reaction to the movie instead (by giving it multiple major awards). I am with the industry people this time. The critics are wrong. Rami Malek didn’t just imitate Freddie Mercury but he brought the character to life with fantastic acting. His performance there is beyond imitation or lip-syncing. He made us believe that Freddie Mercury himself was in that movie.

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, “Vice”
Marina de Tavira, “Roma”
Regina King, “If Beale Street Could Talk”
Emma Stone, “The Favourite”
Rachel Weisz, “The Favourite”

Should win: Emma Stone (The Favourite)

Will win: Rachel Weisz (The Favourite)

Opinion: Regina King may still win this but I think Rachel Weisz will prevail especially after her recent BAFTA win. It gave her a lot of momentum. Between her and Emma Stone (both from the same film;The Favourite), I would slightly prefer the latter more because her role is slightly more complex and her performance slightly more engaging. But I don’t think she can win as she has just won best actress not long ago. The other nominees can pull off upset here too as this race is wide open till now.

Best Supporting Actor
Mahershala Ali, “Green Book”
Adam Driver, “BlacKkKlansman”
Sam Elliott, “A Star Is Born”
Richard E. Grant, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Sam Rockwell, “Vice”

Should win: Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

Will win: Mahershala Ali (Green Book)

Opinion: Mahershala Ali has been taking all the supporting actor prizes, making him the clear frontrunner in this category. He is certainly going to win (this will be his second supporting actor Oscar) but I would prefer Richard E. Grant to prevail. He is superb in ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’ alongside Mellisa McCarthy.

Best Adapted Screenplay
“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” (Joel Coen , Ethan Coen)
“BlacKkKlansman” (Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott, Spike Lee)
“Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty)
“If Beale Street Could Talk” (Barry Jenkins)
“A Star Is Born” (Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper, Will Fetters)

Should win: Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Will win: Blackkklansman.

Opinion: Can You Ever Forgive Me? won at the Writers Guild Awards (WGA) and that’s my choice too. However, I think the Academy wouldn’t want ‘Blackkklansman’ to go home empty-handed since it is also a best picture nominee (Can You Ever Forgive Me? is not a best picture nominee).

Best Original Screenplay
“The Favourite” (Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara)
“First Reformed” (Paul Schrader)
“Green Book” (Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly)
“Roma” (Alfonso Cuarón)
“Vice” (Adam McKay)

Should win: The Favourite

Will win: The Favourite

Opinion: ‘The Favourite’ is the frontrunner here but ‘Green Book’ or even ‘Roma’ can pull off a surprise win here too. ‘The Favourite’ is a quirky, unconventional period film and its screenplay helps a lot for its success. If the love for ‘Roma’ is super strong, then it may also possible to take this one too.

Best Cinematography
“Cold War” (Lukasz Zal)
“The Favourite” (Robbie Ryan)
“Never Look Away” (Caleb Deschanel)
“Roma” (Alfonso Cuaron)
“A Star Is Born” (Matty Libatique)

Should win: Roma

Will win: Roma

Opinion: No debate. It’s going to be ‘Roma’. Another foreign film ‘Cold War’ is the dark horse here. English film has no chance for this category this year. Opps.

Best Costume Design
“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” (Mary Zophres)
“Black Panther”(Ruth E. Carter)
“The Favourite” (Sandy Powell)
“Mary Poppins Returns” (Sandy Powell)
“Mary Queen of Scots” (Alexandra Byrne)

Should win: Black Panther

Will win: Black Panther

Opinion: This is going to be battle between ‘Black Panther’ and ‘The Favourite’. Academy will certainly find a way to reward ‘Black Panther’ which is the first superhero film nominated for best picture ever (but unlikely to win best picture) and this is the category for it (also possible on the ‘best production design’ category). I’m giving the edge for ‘Black Panther’ due to their creative and futuristic looking costumes and I’m bored of seeing period movies keep on winning this from their typical massive traditional dresses.

Best Film Editing
“BlacKkKlansman” (Barry Alexander Brown)
“Bohemian Rhapsody” (John Ottman)
“The Favourite” (Yorgos Mavropsaridis)
“Green Book”(Patrick J. Don Vito)
“Vice” (Hank Corwin)

Should win: Vice

Will win: Vice

Opinion: It’s between ‘Vice’ and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. It’s too close to call but I’m picking ‘Vice’ in the end for its more obvious editing effort throughout the entire movie while ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ has splendid and spectacular editing only particularly at its end during the Live Aid segment.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
“Border”
“Mary Queen of Scots”
“Vice”

Should win: Vice

Will win: Vice

Opinion: Same scenario as ‘Darkest Hour’ last year. Huge makeup to turn an actor unrecognizable and particularly into a fat politician and you are winning this.

Best Original Score
“Black Panther” (Ludwig Goransson)
“BlacKkKlansman” (Terence Blanchard)
“If Beale Street Could Talk” (Nicholas Britell)
“Isle of Dogs” (Alexandre Desplat)
“Mary Poppins Returns” (Marc Shaiman)

Should win: Isle Of Dogs

Will win: If Beale Street Could Talk

Opinion: It is absurd that ‘First Man’ is not nominated here. I would have pick that to win here easily. This is the category where ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ has the higher chance of winning (besides than the very tight race in the supporting actress category).

Best Original Song
“All The Stars” from “Black Panther” by Kendrick Lamar, SZA

“I’ll Fight” from “RBG” by Diane Warren, Jennifer Hudson

“The Place Where Lost Things Go” from “Mary Poppins Returns” by Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman

“Shallow” from “A Star Is Born” by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, Andrew Wyatt and Benjamin Rice

“When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” from “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” by Willie Watson, Tim Blake Nelson

Should win: Shallow (A Star Is Born)

Will win: Shallow (A Star Is Born)

Opinion: 100% sure that Lady Gaga (and Bradley Cooper) will still have their moment on stage to receive an award (rather than just performing the song live during the ceremony). They won’t have chance to win for the acting categories. ‘Shallow’ is a beautiful and powerful song (I love this song too) and it will secure the only win for the overrated ‘A Star Is Born’.

Best Production Design
“Black Panther” (Hannah Beachler)
“First Man” (Nathan Crowley, Kathy Lucas)
“The Favourite” (Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton)
“Mary Poppins Returns” (John Myhre, Gordon Sim)
“Roma” (Eugenio Caballero, Bárbara Enrı́quez)

Should win: The Favourite

Will win: The Favourite

Opinion: Similar to the ‘best costume design’ category, this is the battle between ‘Black Panther’ and ‘The Favourite’. The other nominees wouldn’t stand a chance at all. I’m fine with any of these two winning. If ‘The Favourite’ won here, I prefer ‘Black Panther’ to win for costume design. Hence, that’s my prediction right now.

Best Sound Editing
“Black Panther”
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“First Man”
“A Quiet Place”
“Roma”

Should win: A Quiet Place

Will win: A Quiet Place

Opinion: The only nomination for ‘A Quiet Place’ and I have a feeling that many voters will put a tick for it. The movie has great sound editing despite its content being mostly quiet due to its plot. Now, that is what makes the sound work from the movie so awesome and noticeable. ‘First Man’ or ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ may stun us with a win here too.

Best Sound Mixing
“Black Panther”
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“First Man”
“Roma”
“A Star Is Born”

Should win: Bohemian Rhapsody

Will win: Bohemian Rhapsody

Opinion: All the way for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. The sound mixing work in this movie is brilliant! Period.

Best Visual Effects
“Avengers: Infinity War”
“Christopher Robin”
“First Man”
“Ready Player One”
“Solo: A Star Wars Story”

Should win: Avengers: Infinity War

Will win: Avengers: Infinity War

Opinion: The visual effect on Thanos alone is enough for ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ to win. I must say that I’m also impressed by the visual effects from ‘Ready Player One’. But hey, this mega blockbuster (Infinity War) has to be rewarded!

Best Foreign Language Film
“Capernaum” (Lebanon)
“Cold War” (Poland)
“Never Look Away” (Germany)
“Roma” (Mexico)
“Shoplifters” (Japan)

Should win: Roma

Will win: Roma

Opinion: Definitely ‘Roma’. This film is even in contention at best picture category and is even projected to win there. So, it should take this one easily without any competition.

Best Animated Feature
“Incredibles 2,” Brad Bird
“Isle of Dogs,” Wes Anderson
“Mirai,” Mamoru Hosoda
“Ralph Breaks the Internet,” Rich Moore, Phil Johnston
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman

Should win: Spider-Man: Into The Spider- Verse.

Will win: Spider-Man: Into The Spider- Verse.

Opinion: No competition. ‘Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse’ is going to win due to its brilliant story and unique animation. The other nominees are pretty ordinary.

– No comments or predictions for the last 4 categories below as I’m not interested in them and have not watched any of them too.-

Best Animated Short
“Animal Behavior”
“Bao”
“Late Afternoon”
“One Small Step”
“Weekends”

Best Documentary Feature
“Free Solo,” Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
“Hale County This Morning, This Evening,” RaMell Ross
“Minding the Gap,” Bing Liu
“Of Fathers and Sons,” Talal Derki
“RBG,” Betsy West, Julie Cohen

Best Documentary Short
“Black Sheep,” Ed Perkins
“End Game,” Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman
“Lifeboat,” Skye Fitzgerald
“A Night at the Garden,” Marshall Curry
“Period. End of Sentence.,” Rayka Zehtabchi

Best Live Action Short
“Detainment,” Vincent Lambe
“Fauve,” Jeremy Comte
“Marguerite,” Marianne Farley
“Mother,” Rodrigo Sorogoyen
“Skin,” Guy Nattiv

So, it looks like each of the 8 best picture nominee is going to win at least one award. That is good. No one is going home empty handed. Everyone will be happy at the end of the ceremony (except for the non best picture contender which lost in the categories they are contending). ‘Roma’ is projected to be the biggest winner with 4 wins (picture, director, foreign language film and cinematography). ‘The Favourite’ is expected to win 3 awards (production design, original screenplay and supporting actress). ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is to win 2 (lead actor, sound mixing) and ‘Vice’ is predicted to do the same (makeup & hairstyling, film editing).

So now, I have made my final prediction for the 91st Academy Awards (2019 Oscars) in 20 out of the 24 categories. Let see how many out of 20 that I got it right. The awards ceremony is happening this Sunday, 24th February 2019 at 8pm (will be the next day morning at local time). I will be watching it live. This year’s competition is intense and many categories are still wide open. It makes the awards to be more exciting than previous years.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Golden Globes 2019 gave us some seriously shocking outcome. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is the champion while ‘A Star Is Born’ dims.

The 76th Golden Globe Awards had just taken place yesterday (this morning at local time) with some seriously major shocks. However, I’m actually very delighted by that. Golden Globes is the first major Hollywood film awards (out of 5) in annual award season and the result is determined by votes from the 90+ members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).

I always like the Golden Globes ceremony because it is more fun, less formal and always deliver very hilarious opening monologue in the past years. Same goes to this year. Andy Samberg and Sandra Oh hosted the ceremony. So, here’s the full list of Golden Globes 2019 winners (only for film section as I’m not interested on TV section) along with my thoughts:

Best Motion Picture – Drama

“Black Panther”

“BlackKklansman”

“Bohemian Rhapsody” *WINNER

“If Beale Street Could Talk”

“A Star Is Born”

Opinion: Sometime, I have just got to go with my gut. My personal preference is ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ but it has the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score among the five nominees. So, I didn’t have any expectation at all for it to win. Everyone is picking ‘A Star Is Born’ because it is an easy pick and the movie received universal acclaim. I myself is predicting ‘A Star Is Born’ to win due to all the positive reviews it had and all the love it received. People were already surprised when ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ manages to score a nomination, and now the whole world is in shock that it won too. I’m happy with this surprise. After this shocking win, no one should play down the probability of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ winning some major hardware in the following awards although ‘A Star Is Born’ is still the heavy favourite.

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

“Crazy Rich Asians”

“The Favourite”

“Green Book” *WINNER

“Mary Poppins Returns”

“Vice”

Opinion: Nothing much to comment on this category as I have only watched ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ and ‘The Favourite’.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

Glenn Close (“The Wife”) *WINNER

Lady Gaga (“A Star Is Born”)

Nicole Kidman (“Destroyer”)

Melissa McCarthy (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”)

Rosamund Pike (“A Private War”)

Opinion: Well, another surprise! Lady Gaga is tipped to win this but she lost it to a great veteran actress, Glenn Close. Now, it makes the best actress competition in the Oscars an interesting three-way race; Glenn Close, Lady Gaga and Olivia Colman. Vote splitting is sure to happen in this scenario and any one of the three can win.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Bradley Cooper (“A Star Is Born”)

Willem Dafoe (“At Eternity’s Gate”)

Lucas Hedges (“Boy Erased”)

Rami Malek (“Bohemian Rhapsody”) *WINNER

John David Washington (“BlackKklansman”)

Opinion: Very happy for Rami Malek. I’m very impressed by his performance in ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. It was as though I watched the real Freddie Mercury in that movie. He dissolves himself fully into the character and his transformation is simply splendid. A very deserving win. Now, it looks like ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ may not win any more best film in the coming awards, but Rami Malek is the strong frontrunner for best actor. A lot are praising Bradley Cooper but I think his performance in ‘A Star Is Born’ is just average.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Emily Blunt (“Mary Poppins Returns”)

Olivia Colman (“The Favourite”) *WINNER

Elsie Fisher (“Eighth Grade”)

Charlize Theron (“Tully”)

Constance Wu (“Crazy Rich Asians”)

Opinion: I had just watched ‘The Favourite’ last evening. Olivia Colman is good as Queen Anne but I think the movie’s success comes not from a single person but from the three ladies altogether; Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz. Since Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz lost in supporting actress race, this is the chance to award ‘The Favourite’.

Best Director

Bradley Cooper (“A Star Is Born”)

Alfonso Cuaron (“Roma”) *WINNER

Peter Farrelly (“Green Book”)

Spike Lee (“BlackKklansman”)

Adam McKay (“Vice”)

Opinion: Didn’t watch ‘Roma’ but I knew Alfonso Cuaron is a great director. I still remember very well his past work especially ‘Gravity’.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Christian Bale (“Vice”) *WINNER

Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Mary Poppins Returns”)

Vigo Mortensen (“Green Book”)

Robert Redford (“The Old Man and the Gun”)

John C. Reilly (“Stan and Ollie”)

Opinion: Didn’t watch ‘Vice’ but I’m supposed that this is the only reasonable category to reward ‘Vice’ so that it won’t go home empty handed despite scoring the highest number of nomination at 6.

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture

Amy Adams (“Vice”)

Claire Foy (“First Man”)

Regina King (“If Beale Street Could Talk”) *WINNER

Emma Stone (“The Favourite”)

Rachel Weisz (“The Favourite”)

Opinion: I realize this pattern where award voters love to award black person for best supporting actor or actress in recent years. I’m not stressing on anything racially but it’s true. Emma Stone and Rachel Weiz are great but I think they cancelled each other out, leaving room for Regina King to emerge as winner. Claire Foy’s role is a bit too bland in ‘First Man’ although she is a great actress while Amy Adams just doesn’t have luck in awards.

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture

Mahershala Ali (“Green Book”) *WINNER

Timothee Chalamet (“Beautiful Boy”)

Adam Driver (“BlackKklansman”)

Richard E. Grant (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”)

Sam Rockwell (“Vice”)

Opinion: Didn’t watch Green Book and I personally prefer Timothee Chalamet to win from his heartbreaking performance in ‘Beautiful Boy’. Golden Globe decided to compensate for Mahershala Ali this time when he lost in the same race 2 years ago when he was the heavy favourite from his performance in ‘Moonlight’.

Best Original Score in a Motion Picture

Marco Beltrami (“A Quiet Place”)

Alexandre Desplat (“Isle of Dogs”)

Ludwig Göransson (“Black Panther”)

Justin Hurwitz (“First Man”) *WINNER

Marc Shaiman (“Mary Poppins Returns”)

Opinion: This is the only category to reward ‘First Man’. The score is really incredible. End of story. No other score can get close to that.

Best Original Song in a Motion Picture

“All the Stars” (“Black Panther”)

“Girl in the Movies” (“Dumplin'”)

“Requiem for a Private War” (“A Private War”)

“Revelation” (“Boy Erased”)

“Shallow” (“A Star Is Born”) *WINNER

Opinion: Easy pick. From the moment ‘Shallow’ song is released to the public, everyone is already in love and saying that it is going to win in this category for all the awards. I am in that same opinion. ‘Shallow’ is such a powerful and beautiful song. The only win for ‘A Star Is Born’ which came with a strong 5 nominations.

Best Screenplay in a Motion Picture

Barry Jenkins (“If Beale Street Could Talk”)

Adam McKay (“Vice”)

Alfonso Cuaron (“Roma”)

Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara (“The Favourite”)

Peter Farrelly, Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie (“Green Book”) *WINNER

Opinion: I have only watched ‘The Favourite’ out of all the five nominees. Hence, nothing much to comment for ‘Green Book’ win here.

Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language

“Capernaum”

“Girl”

“Never Look Away”

“Roma” *WINNER

“Shoplifters”

Opinion: Very much expected. ‘Roma’ is tipped to win all the ‘best foreign language film’ awards easily this year.

Best Animated Film

“Incredibles 2”

“Isle of Dogs”

“Mirai”

“Ralph Breaks the Internet”

“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” *WINNER

Opinion: I haven’t watch ‘Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse’ but I have heard a lot of good things for it. So, yeah, I’m fine for it winning. ‘Incredibles 2’ is entertaining, ‘Isle of Dogs’ is unique, ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ is good but they are still not enough to be deemed awesome.

‘Green Book’ is the biggest winner of the ceremony with 3 wins while ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ surprises everyone by winning two out of two nominations it received (and they are the big ones; best motion picture – drama and best actor – motion picture drama). ‘A Star Is Born’ fails to take off with only one win and it lost out in all the major categories (Bradley Cooper must be really sad as he has three nominations and lost them all – director, producer, and actor). ‘Vice’ also didn’t do well with just one win despite scoring the highest number of nomination at 6.

The next major Hollywood film awards to look out for is the Critics Choice which is set to take place on this weekend, 13th January 2019.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)