It's Oscar Time!!

I needn't tell you that this coming Sunday night is that annual night when Hollywood congratulates and pats itself on the back - Academy Awards Night.  For all the self-congratulatory b.s. that takes place on that night, it is still the "Granddaddy of All Awards Shows", and it is the one such show that I will watch from beginning to end.

As I have done in past years, I will offer you my predictions for the winners in eight categories. The number in the parenthesis is the number of the nominees in the category that I have actually seen.  Actually, all of the various awards shows leading up to the Oscars (Golden Globes, SAG, PGA, DGA) serve as indicators of how the Academy will vote.  It makes predicting these rather simple (sometimes), and it often leads to a dull and predictable Oscar show, but what the hell. You never know when a Jack Palance will do one armed push-ups on stage, or whether or not Warren Beatty will open the wrong envelope, so you gotta watch anyway.

Here goes....

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY (2) - I'm calling this for Quentin Tarantino for Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood, as this will be a way to honor him if they don't award him the Director Oscar (as has happened to him twice in the past).  Dark horses in this one: Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns for 1917 and Rain Johnson for Knives Out.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY (4) - Greta Gerwig for Little Women.  A way to make up for snubbing her for a Best Director nomination.

DIRECTOR (4) - I think this comes down to either Tarantino or Sam Mendes for 1917.  Mendes has won all the significant awards leading up to this point, but I think that Hollywood will honor a movie that is, essentially, about Hollywood itself and give one of their favorites his first Oscar in this category, so I'm calling this one for Quentin Tarantino.

SUPPORTING ACTOR (5) - In a category that is loaded with Oscar winners (Hanks, Hopkins, Pacino, and Pesci), Brad Pitt, who has won as a Producer, gets his first Acting Oscar for Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS (1) - Thus is the category that I am least qualified to judge, so I am only going by what the previous awards' tea leaves spell out: Laura Dern wins for Marriage Story.

ACTOR (3) - This one seems to be a slam dunk for Joaquin Phoenix for Joker.  He played a loathsome character in a loathsome movie (at least to me), but he played it extremely well, so his victory seems inexorable.

ACTRESS (2) - I have to say that I would love to see my favorite young actress Saoirse Ronan win for Little Women, but I cannot deny that Renee Zellweger's portrayal of Judy Garland in Judy is fully deserving of the Oscar that she will win on Sunday night.

PICTURE (6 of the nine nominees) - The movie Joker received the most overall nominations this year with eleven, and I have to say that I just can't see it.  I found it to be an ugly and grim movie, but, as my pal Bill Montrose used to say, what the hell do I know?  My Number One and Two favorite movies of the year were Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood and Little Women, and I would be delighted if either of those movies took home the Best Picture Award.  However, every indicator seems to say that 1917 will take home the grand prize this year, so that is my prediction as well.  It's not my choice, but it will not be an undeserving winner, either.

So there you go.  As always, watch, but don't bet.

Oh, and I have also done in event years, let me stir up some memories by looking back at past Oscar winners in ten year intervals (Best Picture, Actor, Actress)

2009

The Hurt Locker

Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side

1999

American Beauty

Kevin Spacey, American Beauty

Hillary Swank, Boys Don't Cry

1989

Driving Miss Daisy

Daniel Day-Lewis, My Left Foot

Jessica Tandy, Driving Miss Daisy

1979

Kramer vs. Kramer

Dustin Hoffman, Kramer v. Kramer

Sally Field, Norma Rae

1969

Midnight Cowboy

John Wayne, True Grit

Maggie Smith, The Prime of Miss Jean Brody

1959

Ben-Hur

Charlton Heston, Ben-Hur

Simone Signoret, Room At The Top

1949

All the King's Men

Broderick Crawford, All The King's Men

Olivia de Havilland, The Heiress

1939

Gone With the Wind

Robert Donat, Goodbye, Mr. Chips

Vivian Leigh, Gone With the Wind

1929

The Broadway Melody

Warner Baxter, The Cisco Kid

Mary Pickford, Coquette

"1917" and Other Critical Commentary

Yesterday, I took in the Academy Award nominated movie, "1917", directed and co-written (along with Krysty Wilson-Cairns) by Sam Mendes.   Normally, I am not attracted to war movies as a genre, but the critical buzz surrounding this one, its multiple Oscar nominations, and its wins at the Golden Globes and SAG Awards,  put this on my "To See" list.  Plus, and not to get too geeky about it, the manner in which it was filmed, to appear that it was done one continuous take (much like Hitchcock's "Rope") made me really want to see it.  I will say that this "one take" aspect of the movie really was amazing.

I did like the movie.  Unlike "Saving Private Ryan", to which it has been compared, "1917" doesn't deal too much with actual battle scenes and gruesome deaths, although there is some of that, but it does show a lot of the aftermaths of brutal warfare, as the protagonists encounter fields littered with dead bodies, both human and animal, and decimated landscapes and buildings.   Movies have forever been showing us the brutality and futility of warfare, it will always be thus, and "1917" does it as well as any movie that you will see.

With exception of Colin Firth and Benedict Cumberbatch, who were on screen for only a few minutes each, the actors were unknown to me, but recognition has to be given to British actors Dean-Charles Chapman and George McKay who played the British soldiers Blake and Schofield.  They were great.  Chapman, while  unknown to me, was one of the stars of "Game of Thrones", so he is no doubt familiar to a lot of you who may be reading this.

Also, play attention to the "Dedication" that Mendes gives to this movie when it ends and the screen goes to black.  That had a real effect on me and made me see the movie in a different light.

Would this have made my "Ten Favorites of 2019" had I seen it in the calendar year of 2019?  Probably would have, although, I'm not sure which movie on that list I'd have bumped off in favor of it.  I am sure that this movie will be taking home some Oscars next month.

The Grandstander gives this one Three Stars.

Catching up on a couple of items from earlier in the month.....

After watching Seasons 1 and 2 of Amazon's "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel", the fear existed that Season 3 would in no way be able to live up to the high expectations that fans of the show had for it.  Fear not, as this newest season was every bit as good, funny, charming, and poignant as the previous two.  When it was over, we had the same sentiment as after the previous seasons: "What? We have to wait a whole year for NEXT season?  Bummer!"

Four Stars from The Grandstander.

"Jesus Christ Superstar", the production that introduced Andrew Lloyd Webber to the world is celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2020.  When it was unleashed upon the world in 1970, I was, of course aware of it, but I had never seen a production of it, nor did I ever own the album - the famous "Brown Album".  I knew only three of its songs, the title song, Everything's Alright, and the wonderful I Don't Know How to Love Him.

The Fiftieth Anniversary tour production of the show came to Pittsburgh in the first week of January as part of the Broadway in Pittsburgh schedule.   The show was a wonderful production.  Great rock music from the on-stage band and interesting choreography that made the show a true spectacle (in a good way), but I really wish that I had made the effort to listen to the music of the show ahead of time.  Save for the three songs mentioned above, I had a hard time hearing and understanding the lyrics over the loud rock music of the band (wow, did I just sound REALLY OLD with that statement!).  As I have told everybody who asks about listening to the music of "Hamilton" before you see the show, that is precisely what I should have done before seeing JCS.  My loss, unfortunately.

Two and One-Half Stars from The Grandstander, which no doubt puts me in the minority.