As the title of the series implies, the ‘real’ in these handful of recent independent Chinese documentary films is not clear cut or concise; it is complex and contested. In fact, these films identify an overarching …
On to the The Show itself…It was…fine, I guess. Solid. Flashes of brilliance. A few more flashes of glaring failure. A considerable amount of curious-to-poor decisions.
So much to say…where to begin?
Honestly, I feel as though this will be a total thought-cluster, a stream-of-consciousness rant like no other…and for me, that’s saying something. There are lots of disparate thoughts floating around in terms of reaction to the 88th Academy Awards – both the ceremony and the awards themselves – that it’s hard to make them all coalesce. So let’s divide this …
Time’s up. Pencils down.
With a race this tight and uncertain, it’s hard to find any substantial reasoning to move away from the predictions that have been locked in for a while now. There are no revelatory announcements to look over, no new data points to parse, and, remarkably, no vicious smear campaigns to deter any of the major contenders. There is plenty of evidence to …
Year Five of Projection: Oscar began on August 31, 2015, when I emerged from hibernation feeling refreshed and excited for another Oscar season. I think I needed that freshness and positive outlook to weather the storm that was brewing. Clearly, the film award gods were looking out for me.
As Oscar Night approaches, it’s time to indulge in one of my favorite annual features of the season. Time to momentarily shed the worries and uncertainties of the prediction grind and cut loose with a pointed discussion of not what will win, but what should win…at least, from my humble perspective.
Last but not least, Projection: Oscar concludes its three-part odyssey into this year’s Oscar-nominated short films with a close-up exploration of the documentary short subjects. And the “not least” part of that otherwise clichéd statement holds unique weight in this case, since this year’s docs are unquestionably the best of the short film categories this year.
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Damn straight I used the word “penultimate.” Fancy but appropriate. Here’s one final mid-week shot at predictions in all categories. My final take – my “Ultimate” predictions, if you will – will be up on Sunday morning. In the interim, there will be feverish second-guessing, of course.
That’s it. It’s done.
Oscar voting officially closed today at 5:00pm Pacific. Now begins the vote tabulation process, by which the representatives from PricewaterhouseCoopers will determine the recipients of those iconic Oscar statuettes. Twenty-three of the 24 categories will be determined simply enough – the nominee who receives the most votes wins.