Queen K’s Oscar Predictions

Alright, now I don’t claim to be any superstar movie critic or anything, but I watched *most* of the Oscar nominated films this year so I feel that I have a pretty good handle on the movies. Here’s a rundown of who I think will/want to win the Oscars this year. Maybe this will help you win at your Oscars pool this year. Also, find a list of the nominees here.

Best Picture: Spotlight

Now while I want it to be Room because never have I ever thought continuously about a movie for over a month, I don’t think Room will win. I feel that movies like Room almost never win best picture, they usually win the top acting awards though. So, for my prediction, which I also want to win because I thought it was an excellent movie is Spotlight. Plus, I think they could give a really cool acceptance speech, which I always love to hear.

Actor in a Leading Role: Leonardo DiCaprio

Hands-down if Leo doesn’t win it will be the biggest middle finger from the Academy in all the land in Oscars history (and they have given some pretty big ones in the past…cough, cough Ben Affleck for Argo). Leo deserves this win and he has won every major award this awards season so I really hope he wins the big one. Although, this does mean Internet memers will have to come up with some new Leo memes.

Actress in a Leading Role: Brie Larson

Again, no question, it should be Brie Larson. How could it be anyone else? Her portrayal of the truly unimaginable in Room was such a fabulous and gut wrenching performance that she deserves this honor. Also, I’m sorry, but if they give this award to Jennifer Lawrence I will personally be upset because she was just not very good in Joy (#SorryI’mNotSorry).

Actor in a Supporting Role: Mark Ruffalo

I really loved his character in Spotlight, plus I really just love him so I definitely think he should take it home. I think it’s kind of an outside shot, but why  not root for the underdog?

Actress in a Supporting Role: Alicia Vikander

While I would love for Rachel McAdams to take home this award I think that is too outside of a chance to even happen (sadly). But I really do love her and I thought she did a fabulous, Oscar worthy performance either way. Although Vikander’s role in The Danish Girl was weird and I didn’t particularly care for that movie, I did think she did a great job and I can easily see her walking away with the golden statue.

Animated Feature Film: Inside Out

Okay, one this was a fantastic film, and two it’s Pixar, so I mean does anyone else really even have a chance? No. And, honestly, in my opinion, they shouldn’t. The minds behind this movie are genius because this movie made me think and question things that I had never even considered. I mean they gave our feelings, feelings. WHAT. MIND BLOWN. I’ll never forget during the movie when Joy had her big realization that ‘oh wait, it’s okay to feel sadness because that will bring us happiness eventually.’ I mean WHAT. At that moment I just thought to myself ‘dang it Disney, you’ve done it again.’ What a great movie for all age groups to see.

Cinematography: Mad Max: Fury Road

Now while I thought this was the weirdest movie maybe ever, I will say the cinematography was done beautifully so I think these people should win.

Costume Design: The Danish Girl

Now, while I do think it would be super cool if Cinderella won, and I would say they would be deserving of it, I still think it’s going to The Danish Girl. Those costumes were done so beautifully and although I didn’t like the movie, I did LOVE the costumes, as I wrote about in my post. I felt the costumes kept very well with the time period and I thought they were crafted to perfection. Read this cool article about the costume designs here.

Directing: Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Now, while I admit I don’t know much (anything) about directing, I do think it’s going to the director of The Revenant. If anything, I would think the sub-zero conditions in the wilderness that this guy shot in would be enough to get him the “W.”

Documentary (Feature): ?

Documentary (Short Subject): ?

Unfortunately, I was a little pressed for time this year and did not have time to see these movies. Hopefully I’ll have more time next year! (Although honestly documentaries are not my absolute favorites so watching all of these would probably be a struggle even if I had all the time in the world).

Film Editing: The Revenant

I am not even sure how to judge this one. I guess I need to brush up on my film editing knowledge. I’m going with The Revenant because I imagine that editing this film was no easy task. Although, I can really see any of these films walking away with this one.

Foreign Language Film: ?

Again, didn’t get around to any of these.

Makeup and Hairstyling: Mad Max: Fury Road

The makeup in this movie was done really well and I imagine that there was a lot of it to do. I could also see The Revenant walking away with this one, too.

Music (Original Score): Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight

I have seen this name thrown around a lot as the winner in the (many) prediction articles I’ve read so I’m going with it.

Music (Original Song): “Til it Happens to You” from The Hunting Ground, Diane Warren and Lady Gaga

I just see this one winning, don’t you?

Production Design: Mad Max: Fury Road

Short Film (Animated): ?

Short Film (Live Action): ?

Sound Editing: Mad Max: Fury Road

Sound Mixing: Mad Max: Fury Road

Visual Effects: Mad Max: Fury Road

Writing (Adapted Screenplay): Brooklyn

Probably an outside shot, but I would love to see this one win.

Writing (Original Screenplay): Spotlight

I can’t wait to see how these predictions actually play out tonight. Hopefully there will be some surprises because I mean is it really any fun without?

Queen K

Spotlight

WOW.

That is my 100% honest and complete reaction to this film.  This director, the cast, the writers, every component of this film satisfied the extremely tall order of delivering the true story of the sex abuse scandal in the Boston Archdiocese.

Reminiscent of All the President’s Men, Spotlight follows the year-long investigation into the Catholic Church and the protection of almost a hundred priests.  The film offers an objective view of the investigators, the victims, and even of those who tried for so long to protect the Church.  The report by the Boston Globe opened up further investigations across the world and started a tidal wave of suspicion within and against established religion.

Heavy stuff, right?  But, Spotlight doesn’t play out like a documentary.  On the contrary, I found myself gripping the edge of my seat, desperate for the next twist of the story.  The flawless acting of Rachel McAdams, Michael Keaton, and Mark Ruffalo often made me forget that I was actually sitting in my small apartment watching on a forty-inch screen, not in the room exposing scandals with the rest of the team.

This was a universally loved film by the Queens and the nomination was well-deserved.  Queen B would not be the least bit shocked or disappointed if Spotlight takes home the Oscar for Best Picture.

Nominations

Best Motion Picture of the Year

• Michael Sugar
• Steve Golin
• Nicole Rocklin
• Blye Pagon Faust

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

• Mark Ruffalo

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

• Rachel McAdams

Best Achievement in Directing

• Tom McCarthy

Best Writing, Original Screenplay

• Josh Singer
• Tom McCarthy

Best Achievement in Film Editing

• Tom McArdle

 

 

 

The Danish Girl

*I want to make a full disclaimer before I talk about how much the Queens did not enjoy this movie that I absolutely LOVE Eddie Redmayne to pieces.

Nominations

Actor in a Leading Role: Eddie Redmayne

Actress in a Supporting Role: Alicia Vikander

Costume Design: Paco Delgado

Production Design: Eve Stewart

The Danish Girl revolves mainly around two characters, Einar Wegener/Lili Elbe (Eddie Redmayne) and Gerda Wegener (Alicia Vikander). The two begin the movie as husband and wife in what seems to be the most picture perfect 1920s European relationship. They are both artists and really help support each other through their art. Einar has to go to another art show that he really doesn’t want to attend, but Gerda makes a suggestion so that it will hopefully be more fun: for him to go as a completely new character, a woman named Lili. Einar is delighted to try out this idea and ends up really getting into the character. Many of the men at the show are attracted to him and he even ends up locking lips with one of his admirers. Gerda sees this and they leave at once. This is just the beginning of Einar’s full transition into becoming Lili.

Once Einar feels that he can no longer be Einar, he makes the full transition into being Lili. While they are no longer in a physical relationship together, Lili and Gerda are still great friends and even still live together. They are very supportive of each other and their art. Gerda starts to paint pictures of Lili and these paintings are actually what propel her to fame. She opens a show in Paris and asks Lili to accompany her. Now, of course, even though Gerda was super cool with her husband no longer being her husband, the rest of 1920s Europe wasn’t so cool with the transition. Every time they went to see a doctor they wanted to have Einar/Lili arrested. All of this changes once they meet an experimental doctor, who is willing to do the first ever male to female transition. Lili is more than excited even though this is highly risky, with those risks including death. She doesn’t care because she is so desperate to leave her male body. Gerda goes with Lili to receive the first operation and much to everyone’s surprise it is successful. Lili is so excited and wants the second operation to come as quickly as possible, even though Gerda believes there hasn’t been enough time. The pair then go back for the second risky operation and shockingly (it wasn’t shocking) Lili is not able to make it through the operation and dies out while laying in the sun a few days after the operation. Even though Lili dies at the end of the movie, it felt almost difficult to feel sad for the character because it was so predictable and I was upset with Lili for doing the second operation too quickly. I also felt disinterested through most of the movie, which made it hard to develop a relationship with any of the characters in the movie. The relationship between Gerda and Lili felt unrealistic for the time period or in any time period considering that her husband cheated on her. I think most people, in any time period, would be pretty upset if that happened to them. I still love Eddie Redmayne, but I don’t think he deserved the Oscar for this one. Sorry Eddie.

Now, while this wasn’t my favorite movie, I did still love a few aspects. Hans (MAJOR SHOUTOUT TO HANS), played by Matthias Schoenaerts, was a fabulous addition to the cast and much needed in my opinion. The entire time, the Queens were rooting for him and Gerda to get together. It is kind of implied that they do in the end. He was her rock during such a difficult and confusing time in her life when most people likely would’ve turned their shoulder the other way. Also, he was pretty nice to look at.

I also thought the costumes were just beautiful. Paco Delgado did an excellent job in keeping with the time period and the lifestyle that these characters lived. He picked clothes that fit each part perfectly and also made the actors look good.

So, I clearly didn’t love this movie, but maybe you did. Leave a comment and let me know what you think! (Or leave a comment and talk about how great and beautiful you think Eddie is, too.)

Queen K

The Revenant: Leo’s Chance to Shine?

Nominations:

• Best Picture: The Revenant
• Best Actor in a Leading Role: Leonardo DiCaprio
• Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Tom Hardy
• Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki
• Costume Design: Jacqueline West
• Directing: Alejandro G. Iñárritu
• Film Editing: Stephen Mirrione
• Makeup and Hairstyling
• Production Design: Jack Fisk
• Sound Editing
• Sound Mixing
• Visual Effects

I’ve always been neutral about Leonardo DiCaprio, not really caring whether he got an Oscar or not (unlike Queen B who loves him). He did an exceptional job in The Revenant, though I’m not sure if that’s because of the role or because he is a good actor…

The Revenant , directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, tells the story of Hugh Glass, (Leonardo DiCaprio) a frontiersman left to die after being mauled by a bear. His journey back to civilization is wrought with danger after danger including wreaking revenge on the man who murdered his son and left him for dead.

During this entire movie, I sat with my shoulders tensed and my hands half covering my eyes. I kept expecting something horrible to happen because horrible things KEPT HAPPENING. But it was wonderful. Intense, awful, nerve-wracking, wonderful. It felt so real…you were right there with Hugh, shivering in the cold and eating a hunk of raw meat (which was disgusting and made me gag). And when he slept inside the hide of his dead horse, NAKED, I couldn’t believe how invested I was in his survival. So much so that I couldn’t judge him for doing something so repulsive.

I’m no professional film critic, but I can recognize great cinematography when I see it. The Revenant fits that criteria. The scene that really hit me hard was the one from John Fitzgerald’s (Tom Hardy) sniper’s point of view into a valley where Hugh’s superior’s corpse is held upright atop a horse. Fitzgerald shoots the body, thinking it’s Hugh’s, which gives Hugh a chance for a surprise attack. The placement of the camera makes the scene more profound.

The Queens highly recommend The Revenant, though it’s not for the faint of heart. I recommend watching this at your own home so you don’t have to show everyone how much the sight of bloody animal intestines disgusts you.

–Queen M