Four Cents: Rob & Ricki and Oscar, Part Four: Our Oscar Picks, Top Eight Categories

Ricki: It's become a tradition at the Cacchione household the last few years for us to host an (incredibly small) Oscar party.  That "party" consists of my lovely wife Debbie preparing a meal that involves bacon in some creative way (which I can't eat, since I can't digest meat protein) and our main movie friend Kyle coming over to watch the bloated nightmare that is the Oscar Awards broadcast from what seems like five in the afternoon 'til sometime past three o'clock the next morning.

The three of us fill out the entire Oscar ballot and point values are assigned to the various categories: i.e. tech categories are one point apiece; documentaries & animated maybe three points; writing cats five points; on up to 10 points apiece for the acting and best director & best picture picks.

Generally, by the time they get around to announcing Best Supporting Actress around midnight and people with jobs on Monday are already sleeping, I'm behind by so wide a margin that I start making up rules: like from then on, all the remaining categories are worth 50 points apiece.  The winner gets a prize, but none of us can remember what any of the prizes have ever been, so they can't be that great. 

So Rob and I are dispensing with all the down-the-line categories and concentrating on what we are terming The Big Eight: writing, acting, best director & best picture. 

Rob: I don’t watch the Oscars. I don’t like bloated pageantry. I have no dog in the fight, so I’m not missing anything. That’s not to say I’m not interested. I’ll check the results in the morning.

I have never entered an Oscars pool or had to predict the winners. Until now. What would we do if blogs didn't need content?

BEST PICTURE

Arrival
Fences
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Hidden Figures
La La Land
Lion
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight

Rob: Gotta begrudgingly pick La La Land. Hollywood loves Hollywood.  I’d like to be surprised by something else winning, but I don’t think I will be.

Ricki: Most of my picks are gonna be divided into What Should Win and What Will Win: What Should Win, Manchester By The Sea, by far the best movie I saw all year;  What Will Win, La La Land.   

BEST DIRECTING

Damien Chazelle (La La Land)
Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge)
Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)
Kenneth Lonergan (Mancheaster by the Sea)
Denis Villeneuve (Arrival)

Rob: Again, La La Land. It can’t win Best Picture and not win Best Directing. However, it is worthy of directing honors over best in show. My off-ballot hopes are with Moonlight.

Ricki: Rob's probably right about Best Picture/Best Director being intertwined, as they are most years.  Who Should Win, Kenneth Lonergan.  Who Will Win, Damien Chazelle. 

BEST LEADING ACTRESS

Isabelle Huppert (Elle)
Ruth Negga (Loving)
Natalie Portman (Jackie)
Emma Stone (La La Land)
Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins)

Rob: Can we please agree that Meryl Streep is an excellent actress and not nominate her for anything for a while? The same goes for Pixar movies. Anomalisa should have won last year over Inside Out. Anyway, Isabelle Huppert for the win.

Ricki: I'm going with Emma Stone here, partly because I thought she was the best thing ABOUT La La Land, and partly because I truthfully didn't see any of the other performances.

BEST LEADING ACTOR

Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)
Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge)
Ryan Gosling (La La Land)
Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic)
Denzel Washington (Fences)

Rob: Denzel Washington. duh. If by some freak occurrence Ryan Gosling wins, I’m going to pretend it’s for The Nice Guys.

Ricki: I say Casey Affleck is going to pull this out. 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Viola Davis (Fences)
Naomie Harris (Moonlight)
Nicole Kidman (Lion)
Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures)
Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea)

Rob: Viola Davis. duh. And yet it can not be understated how much Michelle Williams crushed that one scene in Manchester by the Sea. You never would have guessed she was hardly in the movie before it.

Ricki: I didn't see Fences, so I'm pulling for Naomie Harris in a truly fearsome, ferocious performance in Moonlight.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)
Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water)
Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea)
Dev Patel (Lion)
Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals)

Rob: Mahershala Ali. Largely no contest. When isn’t Michael Shannon great? Maybe when he’s slightly overshadowed by his co-supporting actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Sill, with a Taylor-Johnson nomination instead, Ali would have taken it.

Ricki: I concur, Mahershala Ali.  (Hopefully John Travolta will NOT be called upon to present this award.)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Hell or High Water
La La Land
The Lobster
Manchester by the Sea
20th Century Women

Rob: It’s between 20th Century Women and The Lobster. I’m giving the edge to The Lobster. Its world-building should be rewarded.

Ricki: Manchester By The Sea.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Arrival
Fences
Hidden Figures
Lion
Moonlight

Rob: I’m assuming none of the voters compared the original text with the adaptation: I mean, that would be the best way, right? Sure, but I’m not going to do that either. I’d like to pick Fences. The content is great. I don’t feel like it was adapted for the screen. It still had the rhythm, feel, and - at times - the staging of a play. Is it better to change the content for the medium or to let it stand as it is? In this case, the latter was chosen. I’m picking Arrival.

…well, maybe not. Arrival’s strength might be in the editing. Hidden Figures, while an amazing story, is presented in a very ordinary way. I didn’t see Lion. So, Moonlight for the win.

Ricki: Yeah, this is tough, since I don't know what any of these screenplays were adapted FROM.  (But none of them were comic books, naturally.)  I'd like to pick Moonlight, but I'm going to go with Hidden Figures, just because I enjoyed it so much, which is exactly the kind of from-the-heart-makes-no-logical-sense-pick that loses me our Oscar Ballot Pize every year.

In closing I want to thank the Pencilstorm readers for hanging in with us through all these blogs and I especially want to thank Rob for watching 366 movies in 2016, an accomplishment that should be hailed.

My easiest Oscar Prediction of the Year?  Jimmy Kimmel is gonna suck as the host. 

Four Cents - Rob & Ricki and Oscar, Part Three: Oscar Commentary

Ricki - Concerning The Oscars: I like an art-house film as much as the next guy, but I've gotta admit, if some hip local tastemaker type tells me they just saw "A lovely Iranian documentary about a Pashti single mother who supports her family by raising pygmy Dalmatians in war-torn Syria, rendered in Farsi with French subtitles," I am likely to call "bullshit" on that picture simply because I know said tastemaker did not enjoy "Caddyshack."  (They never like Get Your Wings-era Aerosmith either.)  To me, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Science's slavish devotion to La La Land is exactly the kind of misguided elitism that got Donald Trump elected President of the United States.  (Let's face facts, folks, Meryl Streep can badmouth Trump on T.V. award shows all she wants, but Gary & Kelly in Middletown, Ohio and Terry & Melissa out in the suburbs of Iowa - all of whom LOVED the new Star Wars movie and Bad Moms - still get one vote apiece in the national elections, the same as Meryl Streep and Michael Moore.) 

La La Land is essentially a movie ABOUT making a movie.  As such, it's exactly the kind of picture that the Oscars would rhapsodize over: "OH!, the storytelling, OH!, the cinematography, OH! the lush dancing-in-the-stars numbers with Emma & Ryan."  If Colin Gawel recorded a double-CD set ABOUT making a CD, I would probably like it, but I wouldn't expect Colin to try to foist it on the public-at-large, and I don't think HE would even want to.

As I said in my section of our Top Ten Movies blog, I enjoyed La La Land, but if there had been even one or two more quality movies out this year (and I kinda expect Arrival and/or Hell Or High Water to be those movies, once I have time to catch them) "LLL" would not have even made my Top Ten.

I can think of NOT ONE REASON that Captain America: Civil War did not get at least a Best Picture nomination from the Oscars.  Oh wait, yes I can: because it's a "comic book movie" and regular people might have liked it.  And ENJOYED it.  As much as I appreciated Manchester By The Sea and Moonlight and as much as I found them oddly simultaneously depressing AND uplifting,  I can't really say I enjoyed them.  And what I wouldn't have given for at least one COMEDY to get an Oscar nod, but God forbid we have a laugh while raising our crystal brandy snifters to Damien Chazelle's directorial prowess in La La Land.

Oooops, over to you, Rob, my cardiac pacemaker is signaling me that I'm becoming over-stimulated....... 

Rob - At the risk of short-circuiting your system, Ricki, La La Land isn’t about making movies. He’s a jazz musician. Sure, she goes on auditions, but you don’t see her on set. However, it is about people trying live their dream in Los Angeles, Hollywood’s hometown. And like The Artist before it, it’s a style that is rarely made anymore, reminding the voters of what it was like before, before the magic was gone. You want a populist voting system? You want to make movies great again? I give you La. La. Land.

The members of the Academy are busy folks. They can’t make it to the theater to see everything. The studios mail screeners of their movies for the members to watch in the comfort of their homes, as well as run “for you consideration” campaigns for individual categories. To me, this creates a rigged system. How likely are these voters going to look outside of what they are given and directed to look for? Good luck getting your movie recognized if it is released before September. I’m guessing Hail, Caesar! (released 2/5/2016) was nominated for production design because it was 1) a period picture and 2) about Hollywood.

The Academy made changes last year to ensure the voting body will become more diverse. I think this year’s nominations reflect those changes a little. Oscar nominees gets more attention from the studios. Their options for making more movies widen. If the new kids play their cards right, careers are made. The Oscars is how many people learn about some of these movies. Some folks will watch a movie just because it was nominated for an Oscar. Getting movies from a more diverse pool of storytellers is good for us all. Movies from women, gay and non-white filmmakers not only provide a different perspective but will inspire others like them, by showing there is a place for them on the movie theater screen.

In the end, it’s the Academy’s party. They will nominate whatever they want. They tend to lean toward more serious subjects, more “important” issues, flashier performances and Meryl Streep. Maybe one day movies with explosions will be recognized for more than how those explosions sound.

Four Cents will continue next week on Pencilstorm with an Oscars installment of Buggy Eyes and a Big Butt on Tuesday and Rob & Ricki's Oscars picks on Thursday.  Stay tuned.  

Four Cents - Rob & Ricki and Oscar, Part One: Our Top Ten Movies, 2016

Ricki: Two young people - one an actress and one a musician - meet and fall in love while pursuing their dreams, set against the backdrop of a classic musical.  La La Land?  No, Sing Street, a movie I found far superior to the overhyped Emma Stone/Ryan Gosling vehicle.  I LIKED La La Land, I really did, but I found it far more overblown and pretentious than the unassuming, far more charming Sing Street.  Plus, for the most part, the songs in "LLL" kinda sucked.  And that opening production number on the freeway almost had me walking out of the theater to catch another movie at the multiplex in which I saw "LLL." For the most part I thought director Damien Chazelle couldn't make up his mind WHAT movie he wanted to make in the first 20 minutes or half-hour of La La Land, and that's NOT the best thing I can say about a movie nominated for Best Picture in the Oscars.    

Rob: Almost to prove I still don't like musicals, I saw La La Land. After 20 minutes I thought, "Yep, I still don't like musicals." They make me anxious. When a song starts, I wonder how long it will be until it stops. Then, when there hasn't been a song for a while, I wonder how long it will be until one starts. But, it looked pretty, there was some nice camerawork, and I enjoyed listening to the random commentary from the girls I was sitting next to. ("I like that dress." "Aaaawwww." *gasp* "Slut.")

Here's a video that's germane to the discussion at hand...

Rob: My Top Ten Movies from 2016, in alphabetical order: A) Arrival D) Deadpool D) Don’t Breathe E) Evolution E) The Eyes of My Mother F) The Fits G) Green Room H) Hunt for the Wilderpeople L) The Lobster W) The Witch.

I'm a little self-conscious how "in the weeds" this list looks. There were a lot of great movies this year. I could come up with another list of ten movies that I'd be just as happy with. These ten, however, are ones I thought about for days after seeing them.

I debated which superhero movie to put on my list. Captain America: Civil War was great. I never would have guessed that the best Marvel series was going to be Cap's.  Doctor Strange showed some originality in the all-too-familiar formula of the origin story. But Deadpool won the spot because it had me laughing too much to realize it was just another origin story.  It also delivered on some genuine terror as Wade underwent the experimental treatments. 

Ricki: My Top Ten 2016 movies, in order: 1) Manchester By The Sea  2) Captain America: Civil War  3) Sing Street  4) Moonlight  5) The Edge Of Seventeen  6) Hidden Figures  7) Dr. Strange  8) The Light Between Oceans  9) Ghostbusters (2016)  10) La La Land (just edging out Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates). 

Okay, so even I admit that's not a very good list.  I didn't see Arrival or Hell Or High Water, but hope to before the Oscars telecast February 26th.  (Warning: bad puns coming.......)  I'm on the fence about Fences and I'd be lyin' if I said I'm at all excited about catching Lion.  Further, I have no intention of spending good money on Hacksaw Ridge, directed by hackmeister Mel Gibson, so there you go, those are my picks as of early February.  

Rob: Mel Gibson might be a lot of things, but he ain't no hack. Hacksaw Ridge is structured really well and not nearly as righteous as the trailer made it seem. If you want to get your war on, then the last hour is for you.

There has been some really good understated horror that last couple of years. I'm not a big fan of slasher movies. I'm always down for a ghost story with its heart in the right place. I will always react more to atmosphere than cheap jump scares. The Eyes of My Mother is one of the most horrific movies I've ever seen. And The Witch might not seem like much, but there is an amazing story there.

Ricki: The last good movie I saw that Mel Gibson was involved in was "Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior" in 1981, when I still lived on the West Side, at the Westland Cinema, next to Funway Freeway.

Rob: [rolls eyes] See you in the next part, Ricki.