Tag: Reaction

A Celebration or a Clusterfuck? My Thoughts on the 93rd Academy Awards

In honor of Thomas Vinterberg’s extremely moving acceptance speech last night, allow me to open with a reference to arguably his most famous film. There is a moment in Thomas Vinterberg’s Cannes Awards-winning Dogme-film Festen (international title: The Celebration), where the main character Christian (played by Ulrich Thomsen) asks his father, whose birthday is being celebrated, what speech he would like Christian to read for him — the green speech or the yellow speech? His father chooses the ‘green’ speech, and, as a result, the events of the unforgettable film take place. Sometimes a single decision can change everything. And, in the case of the 93rd Academy Awards’ ceremony, a decision was made that ultimately destroyed an otherwise decent ceremony.

Continue reading “A Celebration or a Clusterfuck? My Thoughts on the 93rd Academy Awards” →

Reaction to the 93rd Academy Awards Nominations

The nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards were revealed a couple of days ago. As always, there were great surprises, disappointingly safe choices, and frustrating ‘snubs.’ I’ve now had some time to think about the decisions that the various branches of the Academy made, and I want to share with you a couple of thoughts that I have had over the course of the last two days or so. I’m going to talk about a couple of Oscar snubs, but, mostly, I want to talk about the Best Director-category. Or, rather, one of the nominees in that category. Continue reading “Reaction to the 93rd Academy Awards Nominations” →

Parasite Won Best Picture and Made History – Special Features #62

What happened at the 92nd Academy Awards was incredible. Just ask most Oscar experts and they will agree. This was, based on statistics and precursor awards results, supposed to be Sam Mendes’ and 1917‘s night. Though I desperately wanted Parasite to win all of the night’s biggest awards, my head was telling me no. Therefore, in my final predictions, I went with the safe bet and said 1917 would win Best Director and Best Picture. I’ve never been so happy to be wrong about an Oscar-prediction. In the end, the latest South Korean masterpiece — Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite — won the night’s two biggest awards (as well as two other prestigious golden statuettes). The Academy made the right choice. This time, in my opinion, the Best Picture winner is actually the best film of the year. The Academy finally got it right, as they say. Continue reading “Parasite Won Best Picture and Made History – Special Features #62” →

92nd Academy Awards Nominations: Reaction – Special Features #59

Edited image originally from ‘Joker (2019),’ Warner Bros.

The nominations for the 92nd Academy Awards have been released by AMPAS. We now know the names of the individuals who might become Oscar winners in a month. For the full list of nominations, click here. There is a lot to talk about this time around. One film clearly overperformed much to many pundits and critics’ chagrin, while the Academy made some of the classic problematic mistakes that awards seasons tend to result in at some point or another.

Continue reading “92nd Academy Awards Nominations: Reaction – Special Features #59” →

BAFTA Nominations Disappoint – Special Features #57

This morning, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) announced their nominations for the 73rd British Academy Film Awards. For a complete list of the nominations, click here. Normally, I have some love for the BAFTA awards. I’m not British, but I think they function as a nice alternative to the Oscars every year. They also tend to zig when the Oscars zag, which is to say that often they don’t agree on the nominations and winners. I look forward to the BAFTAs every year because they sometimes make some really inspired choices, like when they showed a lot of love for Blade Runner 2049. But this year’s nominations list is very disappointing. Continue reading “BAFTA Nominations Disappoint – Special Features #57” →

Golden Globes Film Nominations: Reaction – Special Features #36

The film nominations for the 2019 Golden Globe Awards have been announced. As always there are surprises, and, of course, there are some snubs that really hurt. In Special Features #36, I present you with the complete film nominations list as well as five reaction sections to the film nominations. In short: Oh, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, I am so angry with you today. Continue reading “Golden Globes Film Nominations: Reaction – Special Features #36” →

Reaction to the 90th Academy Awards – Special Features #19

It has all been said and done. The winners have won, the songs have been sung, and the tweets have been tweeted. But let’s now go through the predictions, the winners, the losers, and the surprises (if there were any). We have to start with who won the coveted Jet Ski, though.
Continue reading “Reaction to the 90th Academy Awards – Special Features #19” →

Reaction to the Nominees for the 89th Academy Awards

'Manchester by the Sea,' Amazon Studios
‘Manchester by the Sea,’ Amazon Studios

And here we are! I had a lot of fun with trying to predict the nominations this awards season, it went a little bit better than last year’s predictions. I believe I got 77% of my predictions correct this year. But that’s not important. Now, let’s discuss the biggest shocks and surprises from this year’s nominations. Continue reading “Reaction to the Nominees for the 89th Academy Awards” →