So! What is everyone saying?

Predictions for the big ones?

Best Picture?
Best Director?
Best Actress?
Best Actor?
Best Supporting Actor?
Best Supporting Actress?
Best Original Screenplay?
Best Adapted Screenplay?

For me (from the position of a betting man rather than personal choice)...

Best Picture? Green Book
Best Director? Alfonso Cuaron
Best Actress? Olivia Colman
Best Actor? Rami Malek
Best Supporting Actor? Mahershala Ali
Best Supporting Actress? Marina de Tarvira
Best Original Screenplay? Green Book
Best Adapted Screenplay? BlacKkKlansman

+++++++++++++++++++
Don's edit - Props to Andrew for nailed Best Original and Best Adapted:

Black Klansmen - undated, unspecified draft  script by Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee - hosted by: Focus Features - in pdf format

Ron Stallworth, an African American police officer from Colorado Springs, CO, successfully manages to infiltrate the local Ku Klux Klan branch with the help of a Jewish surrogate who eventually becomes its leader. Based on actual events.





Information courtesy of imdb.com

The Green Book - Undated, unspecified draft script by Nick Vallelonga & Brian Currie & Peter Farrelly - hosted by: Universal Pictures - in pdf format

A working-class Italian-American bouncer becomes the driver of an African-American classical pianist on a tour of venues through the 1960s American South.




Information courtesy of imdb.com

Worst year ever.

I am the biggest Queen fan there is, and I have no desire to see BR. Too many historical inaccuracies.

Been meaning to see A STAR IS BORN and GREEN BOOK. The latter though reminds me of all the Alexander Payne fare that has been feted in recent years. Probably a very good movie, like LADY BIRD, but is it Oscar worthy?

Boring year. Considered watching for the cringe factor/potential fuck-ups, but the ceremony is simply too long. I understand they've cut the runtime back this year, but even so. Will watch True Detective finale instead.

But I'll bite. Always fun to predict.

Best Picture - Roma (although I'll peg Black Panther as a dark horse. A Roma win also has some interesting implications for the future of film distribution. Perhaps some resistance within Hollywood inner circles?).
Best Director - Alfonso Cuaron
Best Actor - Christian Bale
Best Actress - Olivia Coleman (yes!)
Best Supporting Actor - Mahershala Ali (I guess?)
Best Supporting Actress - Rachel Weisz (I guess? Not too familiar with the other nominees. Weisz was terrific, though)
Best Original Screenplay - Roma
Best Adapted Screenplay - A Star is Born

Only films I have any real interest in are First Reformed and The Favourite. There were many I did not see, though.

These are not my opinions on the best of anything. These are my guesses based on how I think the Academy thinks.

Best Picture - A Star is Born
Best Director -  Alfonso Cuaron
Best Actress - Olivia Coleman (Glenn Close is my second guess)
Best Actor - William Dafoe
Best Supporting Actor - Sam Elliot
Best Supporting Actress - Regina King (this one is the one I'm most unsure of)
Best Original Screenplay - Green Book
Best Adapted Screenplay - A Star is Born

Wow! How'd you pick that one Demento?
I was sure one of The Favourite would have it.

Quoted from LC Wow! How'd you pick that one Demento? I was sure one of The Favourite would have it.

There wasn't too much difference in both actresses in The Favourite. Both were great.

Since none of the five actresses really stood out and no one was given rave reviews that stood out too much out of the pack, the safe bet is the black actress. The Academy always goes for the minority in cases like these. Sad but true.

I’m with you on BR, ajr😂   Why on earth would any Queen fan watch it when you can see the old concerts on YT or on DVDs? And I read that they mucked about with the timeline of the bands true history to make it more ‘hollywood’.

I wouldn’t be interested in watching a biopic of the Beatles or the Stones or Zep at all, no matter how well done it was. Give me the old vids plse.

Mind you, I plan to write a script about the early days of GNR. It would need an R rating that’s all lol.  The stories about the parties and orgies in a storage shed they lived in for a few months are legendary

It's strange how a room full of rich celebrities can seem so low rent.

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films It's strange how a room full of rich celebrities can seem so low rent.

Agree with you there.
The whole thing was strangely unglamorous and anticlimactic and I couldn't really get excited about the supposed cream of the crop this year.

Quoted from LC The whole thing was strangely unglamorous and anticlimactic and I couldn't really get excited about the supposed cream of the crop this year.

Maybe because movies are not glamorous anymore? We sit home and watch movies on our huge TVs at home now. There are more movies and TV shows available to last a lifetime. Nothing is special anymore. Going to the movies is not an event anymore. Everything feels cheapened. Definitely no glamour anywhere, IMO. Or it could be I'm just getting old too.  ;D

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films It's strange how a room full of rich celebrities can seem so low rent.

Well, there was one director who definitely wasn't in the "It was an honor just to be nominated" camp :)

(Going off media reports, like most people I didn't watch it.)

Quoted from Grandma Bear Maybe because movies are not glamorous anymore? We sit home and watch movies on our huge TVs at home now. There are more movies and TV shows available to last a lifetime. Nothing is special anymore. Going to the movies is not an event anymore. Everything feels cheapened. Definitely no glamour anywhere, IMO. Or it could be I'm just getting old too.  ;D

You just said what I say all the time. I still remember my grandma at Christmas time. She would buy corsages and we would dress up to go out.

She sent home fresh flowers cut from her garden. Roses smelled like roses and carnations like carnations.

Going to the movie theatre was a big event. And often, after leaving the theatre, the spell that was cast seemed to linger for hours if not days, if it was a good show.

People often did this thing where they would mosey along.

There are so many examples. I often enjoy talking with a lady I know. She's twenty years older than me and I notice a connection. When she speaks, it's like I remember how people used to speak, slowly and thoughtfully. Her manners and helpfulness are something to behold.

The thing I notice when out in the general market place, is an increasing lack of attention. It's like we've all developed this ADD from our phones and such. The acceleration feels temporal.

I don't know if it's just our age, though, because I've heard this from younger people also.

Hmmmm....

Quoted from Sandra Elstree. You just said what I say all the time. I still remember my grandma at Christmas time. She would buy corsages and we would dress up to go out. She sent home fresh flowers cut from her garden. Roses smelled like roses and carnations like carnations. Going to the movie theatre was a big event. And often, after leaving the theatre, the spell that was cast seemed to linger for hours if not days, if it was a good show. People often did this thing where they would mosey along. There are so many examples. I often enjoy talking with a lady I know. She's twenty years older than me and I notice a connection. When she speaks, it's like I remember how people used to speak, slowly and thoughtfully. Her manners and helpfulness are something to behold. The thing I notice when out in the general market place, is an increasing lack of attention. It's like we've all developed this ADD from our phones and such. The acceleration feels temporal. I don't know if it's just our age, though, because I've heard this from younger people also. Hmmmm....

People used to dress up to get on a plane, too.

Different time, different world.

Quoted from ReneC People used to dress up to get on a plane, too. Different time, different world.

And people could smoke on a plane!  Ugh.  I can’t even imagine going back to that!

Quoted from Gary in Houston And people could smoke on a plane!  Ugh.  I can’t even imagine going back to that!

Off topic, but it reminds me of a couple years ago at a kid's birthday party... when it was time to light the candles on the cake we realized no one there had a lighter.

RIPLEY
Do we have the capacity to make fire?
Most humans have enjoyed that privilege
since the stone age.

Coming back toward the topic, movies nowadays are no longer art-that-we-hope-the-masses-will-like but instead art-manufactured-to-match-what-the-masses-say-they-want. Back when I was a student, I sat in on test screenings of movies in the post-production stage and could see the difference when the movie finally released.

Except animation. For some reason the films that should be easiest to modify always seemed to come out with exactly the same scenes we saw in the rough cut.