Monday, February 27, 2017

If I Gave the Oscars: 2016 Edition


As usual, these are how I would give out awards to the movies of 2016, if that was a power that I had.  Best Picture nominees are top 10 from my Best of 2016 post.

Each category is listed in order of preference, with the first director/actor/etc. being my choice for the winner.  Things should be fairly self-explanatory from there.


Best Director
1. Martin Scorsese (Silence)
2. Terrence Malick (Knight of Cups)
3. Terence Davies (Sunset Song)
4. Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)
5. Robert Eggers (The Witch)


Best Screenplay (Adapted or Original, doesn't matter)
1. Jay Cocks, Martin Scorsese (Silence)
2. Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)
3. Whit Stillman (Love & Friendship)
4. Richard Linklater (Everybody Wants Some!!)
5. Robert Eggers (The Witch)


Best Actor
1. Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)
2. Tom Hanks (Sully)
3. Andrew Garfield (Silence)
4. Josh Brolin (Hail, Caesar!)
5. Michael Shannon (Midnight Special)


Best Actress
1. Kate Beckinsale (Love & Friendship)
2. Agyness Deyn (Sunset Song)
3. Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch)
4. Amy Adams (Arrival)
5. Emma Stone (La La Land)


Best Supporting Actor
1. Mahershala Ali (Midnight)
2. Issey Ogata (Silence)
3. Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea
4. Glen Powell (Everybody Wants Some!!)
5. Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesar!)


Best Supporting Actress
1. Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea)
2. Zoey Deutch (Everybody Wants Some!!)
3. Kirsten Dunst (Midnight Special)
4. Janelle Monae (Midnight, Hidden Figures)
5. Margot Robbie (Suicide Squad)


Best Cinematography
1. Emmanuel Lubezki (Knight of Cups)
2. Rodrigo Prieto (Silence)
3. Michael McDonough (Sunset Song)
4. Khalik Allah, Par Ekberg, Snatiago Gonzalez, Chayse Irvin, Dikayl Rimmasch, Malik Hassan Sayeed (Lemonade)
5. James Laxton (Midnight)


Best Editing
1. Geoffrey Richman, Keith Fraase, A. J. Edwards (Knight of Cups)
2. Thelma Schoonmaker (Silence)
3.  Blu Murray (Sully)
4.  Bret Granato, Maya Mumma, Ben Sozanski (O. J.: Made in America)
5.  Gilbert Adair (Everybody Wants Some!!)


Best Scene
1. Going to church (Sunset Song)
2. The final apostasy (Silence)
3. Grand finale (La La Land)
4. Hold Up (Lemonade)
5. Airport fight (Captain America: Civil War)
6. History of the Louvre in one shot (Francofonia)
7. Final penthouse fight (Kill Zone 2/SPL 2: A Time for Consequences)
8. Running into your ex (Manchester by the Sea)
9. Calling a girl (Everybody Wants Some!!)
10. Triple crucifixion (Silence)
11. O.J.'s second criminal trial (O.J.: Made in America)
12. 155 Safe (Sully)
13. "Drive It Like You Stole It"--final concert (Sing Street)
14. Diner interrogations (Hell or High Water)
15. Police station scene--Trying to describe a mermaid (The Mermaid)



(actually posted Mary 18, 2017)

Sunday, February 26, 2017

Best of 2016



1. Silence (Martin Scorsese)

2. Knight of Cups (Terrence Malick)

3. Manchester by the Sea (Kenneth Lonergan)

4. Sunset Song (Terence Davies)

5. O. J.: Made in America (Ezra Edelman)

6. Everybody Wants Some!! (Richard Linklater)

7. Love & Friendship (Whit Stillman)

8. Francofonia (Aleksandr Sokurov)

9. Sully (Clint Eastwood)

10. The Witch (Robert Eggers)

11. Sing Street (John Carney)

12. Hell or High Water (David Mackenzie)

Honorable Mentions:  Arrival (Denis Villeneuve), La La Land (Damien Chazelle), Lemonade (Beyonce Knowles), Moonlight (Barry Jenkins), Pete's Dragon (David Lowery), Kill Zone 2/SPL 2: A Time for Consequences (Soi Cheang), Three (Johnnie To), Hail, Caesar! (Joel & Ethan Coen), Kubo and the Two Strings (Travis Knight)

Most Overrated:  Zootopia (Byron Howard, Rich Moore, Jared Bush) (but also kinda Moonlight)

Most Underrated/Underseen:  Knight of Cups (Terrence Malick), obviously, but also Pete's Dragon and Sunset Song and Francofonia

Favorite Guilty Pleasure:  The Mermaid (Stephen Chow)

Worst Movie I Saw This Year: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (John Requa, Glenn Ficarra)


Complete list of movies I saw in 2016 HERE.


Top 20 Older Films I Saw for the First Time in 2016:

1. Children of Paradise (Carne, 1945)
2. Where Is My Friend's House? (Kiarostami, 1987)
3. Daughters of the Dust (Dash, 1991)
4. Point Break (Bigelow, 1991)
5. Night of the Living Dead (Romero, 1968)
6. The House of Mirth (Davies, 2000)
7. I Walked With a Zombie (Tourneur, 1943)
8. Risky Business (Brickman, 1983)
9. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Hawks, 1953)
10. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Demy, 1964)
11. Stage Door (La Cava, 1937)
12. Arsenic and Old Lace (Capra, 1944)
13. Extreme Prejudice (Hill,1987)
14. Speed Racer (Wachowskis, 2008)
15. La Promesse (Dardennes, 1996)
16. Near Dark (Bigelow, 1987)
17. The Awful Truth (McCarey, 1937)
18. Metropolis (Lang, 1927)
19. Late Spring (Ozu, 1949)
20. Great Day in the Morning (Tourneur, 1956)

That's the Top 20, but you can find the Top 40 in color HERE.