Blah blah blah Oscar 2016

For Best Picture:

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

The rest.

You might have noticed that I don't follow the Oscar race all that closely anymore. I guess I've finally wised up to the fact that it's all a crapshoot, a popularity contest, that has no real meaning to my life and only rarely awards the truly worthy, and trying to predict who will win is not worth the hassle. That said, it is still, y'know, THE OSCARS, and as such, I can't help but pay attention. So while I'm no longer gonna bother with predictions and such, this is me paying lip service to the whole dog and pony show.

Mel Gibson made a movie? This is how far out of the loop I am; this is still news to me. I guess all is forgiven with him. He's back, and in a big way. I read about Hacksaw Ridge the other day; it sounds like Gary Cooper in Sergeant York all over again. I read a lukewarm review of Ridge that noted how for a movie about a non-violent man, it sure is violent. Whatever, I guess.

I'm glad it's popular and successful, but Hidden Figures is not Best Picture-worthy. I'm sorry. Certainly not compared to Loving, which was snubbed (except for Ruth Negga; good on her), or 20th Century Women; I saw that one last night and I found it remarkable.

I am pleasantly surprised to see Hell or High Water made it in. This was absolutely one of the best films I saw last year, but I didn't expect it to get anything more than a Screenplay nod, which it did get as well.

Arrival continues the trend of sci-fi/fantasy films getting Best Picture love (Mad Max: Fury Road, Gravity, Hugo, Inception, District 9), which may be because in spite of everything, good sci-fi/fantasy films are still being made. And yay for Bradford Young getting a well-deserved cinematography nod; I predicted his future greatness on this very blog five years ago!

Kubo and the Two Strings for Animated Feature; definitely deserved... Yay for Ava DuVernay's 13th making the cut for Documentary Feature... I'll have more to say about 20th Century Women on Friday, but I'm glad Mike Mills' screenplay made it in. Annette Bening was totally snubbed... Perhaps I'll go see Lion. That's another one that flew under my radar... Star Trek Beyond for Makeup!

So, yeah, the Oscars; very nice, very nice. I'm sure La La Land will clean up here like it did at the Globes. Either that or Manchester.

Thoughts?