We got quite a cliffhanger at the end of episode six. Something that has been building since season one episode one. Xavier and Teri met eyes. Of course, it was right after Gary tried to kill Xavier by setting off the bomb early… the bomb that Xavier was setting up to blow up the people Teri was with because he was mistakenly believing that they had snatched Teri and was holding her prisoner. All because Gary had a weird fixation on Teri and he wanted Xavier out of the way.
Gary failed pretty amazingly considering. All he had to do was blow him up but he had to apologize to him first, giving Xavier the chance to get the bomb away from him so he would not be killed.
And this was not even the main focus of this episode.
This episode gave us background details on Jane and we learned how crazy she really is.
I mean… CRAZY…CRAZY….
She had a dark backstory for sure… but surely one that leads to the supervillain. Now I am not sure whether it is Sinatra that we should be worried about or Jane.
Meanwhile, Jeremy is preparing to try and escape from the camp he is being held at. Thankfully, he has Nicole Robinson to aid, despite it going against her better judgment.
Last season, One Piece was cruising along and then, suddenly, they had a two part episode. Season two has copied that idea as episodes four and five are a two part episode on the island in the Grand Line called Little Garden.
The Little Garden had all kinds of things we had not seen before such as dinosaurs, giants, and David Dastmalchian. Dastmalchian joined the roster of the Baroque Works as Mister 3, an assassin who can create wax.
This was an excellent pair of episodes that featured some awesome things:
One of the key storylines over theses two episodes includes trying to give Usopp an arc. He came through big time in these episodes.
The two giants and their century long duel was great and I loved how these giants were not the stereotypical giants one would come to expect.
The big fight with Miss Valentine and Mr. 5 at the giant wax cake was awesome, and, as I said, Usopp came through like a boss.
I love how the giants survived, even after it seemed as if they were dead.
Miss Goldenweek was perhaps the scariest of the Baroque Works assassins we’ve met so far. She caused a lot of suffering to Luffy.
We get our first interaction with the mysterious Mr. Zero, via a phone conversation between Mr. Zero and Sanji (who was pretending to be Mr. 3). I think he was being played by Joe Manganiello.
The two giants work together to help Luffy’s ship to get past a giant goldfish.
Three episodes remain in season two and I expect it to be awesome.
This one has been on my list on Amazon Prime for some time now. The snow day has given me the opportunity to give this a watch.
According to IMDB, “Estranged half-brothers Jonny and James reunite after their father’s mysterious death. As they search for the truth, buried secrets reveal a conspiracy threatening to tear their family apart.“
Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista played Jonny and James and they were the strength of this movie. Both of these giant men brought a humor, sensitivity and charisma with each other that carried a typical action film script on their hulking backs.
The story of this film is a generic action movie. The fact that this is a solid movie is because Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa are awesome. The action was really pretty decent and the stunt work was very good. There were some scenes that were excellent, including one scene with a car-helicopter chase.
Are the villains one note? Sure are. They are there as nothing more than to be killed off in cool action scenes.
I really enjoyed this film because of how great Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa are as half-brothers. I believed their relationship. I understood their anger. They did a great job and carried this movie to being a great streaming film.
With a no school day because of a March blizzard, I got a chance to watch a couple of streaming movies that I have been wanting to see. The first one was recommended by my friend Chris. I had never heard of it before, but it looked interesting.
Cold Storage had a late eighties, early nineties action flick feel to it, as had some fun characters dealing with a bizarre fungus that was turning people and animals into infected, spreading around.
According to IMDB, “When a highly dangerous fungus escapes from a secret laboratory, a former bioterrorism agent is called back into action. Alongside two young employees, he must confront an invisible and out-of-control threat.”
Joe Keery starred as Teacake, a guard at a storage facility, and Georgina Campbell starred as Naomi, a new worker at the facility. They discovered this fungus and how it has multiplied, calling in help from the army.
That help was Robert Quinn (Liam Neeson) who had interacted with the fungus in the past and was one of the few people remaining who had any expertise on this topic at all.
Keery and Campbell worked together extremely well. You immediately buy the chemistry between them and want them to survive the experience. You can feel for these characters. They are just deep enough to keep you interested in their well-being.
Liam Neeson brings the perfect energy for the grizzled, injured former military man with his first hand knowledge. Neeson handled the slightly comedic tone to the movie as well. Neeson has always had a strong sense of comedic timing and he gets a chance to show it here.
The overall story is fairly limited, but it works well as a monster movie. We get a bunch of secondary characters who we don’t mind seeing blow up from the fungus (though the vomiting green goo is unnecessary). While this story is simple, it is just about the right amount of combination of action/horror/comedy to pull off the film.
This was a fun film to watch and I had a great time rooting for these characters to survive the fungus.
The theme featured the real star of the show… the car. The opening credits has the Coyote X flying all over the place and “Drive” is that high-energy, high-speed electric guitar power that worked so well. The show changed themes songs in the second season, but the fan base revolted and “Drive” returned.
I went to the bi-yearly sale at In This Issue Comics this weekend and stuffed three bags full of a bunch of comics. It was such fun going through the boxes, looking for those gems of back issues. I got a bunch of Thor books, Ultimate Spider-Man Vol 1s, a run of Incredible Hulk with amazing covers that I had never seen before as well as a bunch of independent books. I wound up with over 250 books in those three bags. Great deal!
Comic of the Week
Alias: Red Band #1
This week’s Comic of the Week reminded me how much I enjoyed Jessica Jones as a character. The hard-drinking, rough housing, foul-mouthed character was having a difficult time fitting in as the First Lady of New York and the stress is causing some tension with her husband, Mayor Luke Cage. Not only that, but the murder in her old building that she has been forbidden to investigate is building that tension as well. I do love this noir style as Jessica Jones narrates the comic, giving you insights into her character.
Excited to continue this series moving forward.
Books this week:
The Exorcism at Buckingham Palace #1. Written by Hannah Rose May and art by Kelsey Ramsay. Cover art was done by Kelsey Ramsay & Heather Breckel. It was not that long ago when we had an exorcism story set in the White House. Now we take the idea across the pond to Britain and Buckingham Palace as the soon-to-be King of England has his own demons to deal with. But are they just found in a bottle or is there more to this story. Great first issue and I am excited this concept is back.
Ordained #2. Written by Robert Venditti with art by Trevor Hairsine. Cover art was done by Jorge Fornes (Silver Medalist). It has been several months since Ordained #1 came out and was one of the hottest books at the time. This issue picked up right away from the long break back into the action and it is clear that Father Roy is not one to mess with.
Mark Spears Monster #9. “The Tell-Tale Heart… but why will you say that I am mad?” Written by Mark Spears and Lucas Spears with art and cover art by Mark Spears. Cover C (Bronze Medalist), Cover D (Gold Medalist). The Mad Hatter is being interrogated at the police station and that sounds like it is not going to go smoothly.
Crownsville #5. Writtenby Rodney Barnes and illustrated by Elia Bonetti. Cover art was done by Jason Shawn Alexander. The mini-series closes with a cool wrap up. The killer kids are unstoppable, but, apparently not. I enjoyed how Crownsville finished up and left it open for a potential future.
X-Men United #1. “Welcome to Graymatter Lane” Written by Eve L. Ewing and art by Tiago Palma. Cover art was done by Stefano Caselli & Federico Blee. The White Queen is trying to reunite the X-Men. Cyclops ain’t happy about it. I’m not sure how this series affects Uncanny X-Men and X-Men, but it is intriguing to see these characters back together again. Even whiny Cyclops.
D’Orc #2. “Time to Die!” Written, art and cover art by Brett Bean. I was excited to see if D’Orc #2 would be able to maintain the huge momentum that the first issue. I am pleased to say that it absolutely continued its strength and thoroughly entertaining storytelling. This still reminds me of a combination of Eight Billion Genies and Groo.
Magik & Colossus #2. “Sisyphean” Written by Ashley Allen and art by German Peralta. Cover art was done by David Nakayama. It has been too long since we had interactions between Illyana and Piotr Rasputin. The brother-sister vibe of this book makes it intriguing.
Tigress Island #1. Written Patrick Kindlon and art and cover art by Ephk. This was an intriguing new book. I am not sure what is going on with this book. It was not anywhere what I expected to be. I will be continuing to look at it, but I am not sure what this is about.
Comic: The Magazine #1. The next attempt and putting out a comic magazine came out this weekend. After the Zdarsky newsletter went away, this stepped up and I liked the first issue. I think there are a lot of different ideas that could wind up in this magazine.
Black Cat #8. “Fortress of Magnitude” Written by G. Willow Wilson with art by Gleb Melnikov. Adam Hughes did the cover art. Felicia and Mary Jane are inside the Negative Zone in search of a video tape. The pairing of MJ and Black Cat has always been fun, and with MJ now as Venom, it makes things all the more weird.
A Quiet Place: Storm Warnings #1. Written by Phil Hester with pencils and cover art by Ryan Kelly. This is a new story with the creatures from A Quiet Place and this is an interesting story. I liked the time they spent this issue building our human characters because they are a vital part of the tale.
The Other/Half #1. “Dinner and a Diamond.” Written by Jim McCann and art by Joe Eisma. Cover art was done by Joe Eisma. Henry is a private investigator and Ethan is a socialite and they are married. However, there is a mystery that is going to require them to get into roles that they are not used to. Interesting new book from Ignition Press. The key is the relationship between Henry and Ethan.
Venom #255. Written by Al Ewing with art by Carlos Gomez. Cover art was done by Carlos Gomez & Frank Martin. I usually do not buy the Venom series (which is up to #255…wow, I did not think Marvel let books get that high any more). However, this is part three of the Death Spiral story where Venom and Spider-Man team up so I had to pick it up.
51 #1. Written by Curt Pires with art and cover art by Jok. Another book that was hot this weekend was 51 from Mad Cave. I like this one more than the Tigress Island book. This sends a group of individuals into Area 51 to try and maintain the secrets and clean up after they lose those secrets into the world. And what if it was the president’s son? This was fun.
Bleeding Hearts #2. Written by Deniz Camp with art and cover art by Stipan Morian. The first issue of this new Vertigo book did not win me over. It was fine, but I did not think it was great. However, you can throw that all out the window because I thought issue two of this series was fantastic. It was a real turn around for me and that made me very happy.
Absolute Batman #18. “The Seventh Kingdom-Part 2” Written by Scott Snyder with art by guest artist Eric Canete. Cover art was done by Nick Dragotta & Frank Martin. Batman’s conflict with Poison Ivy comes to a dramatic close and Batman does something that no one expects. It is taking this Absolute Batman on a distinctly different path. I am not sure how to feel about it, but it absolutely is a shocking step.
Transformers #30. Written by Robert Kirkman and art by Dan Mora. Cover art was done by David Nakayama. Speaking of shocking moments, there is one in the Transformers book too. The Transformers get themselves a brand new Prime! It is not Optimus any more.
Planet of the Apes Versus Fantastic Four #2. Written by Josh Trujillo with art by Andrea Di Vito. Cover art was done by Greg Land & Rachelle Rosenberg. I am surprised how well the Apes from Planet of the Apes and the FF mix together. This has been very entertaining so far in the first two issues.
Imperial Guardians #1. Written by Dan Abnett with pencils by Marcelo Ferreira. Cover art is done by Sean Izaakse & Nolan Woodard. A group of space heroes reform the Guardians, through the Imperial banner with Marvel. We get Gamora, Captain Marvel, Darkhawk, Cosmic Ghost Rider and Brawn.
Other books this week: Godzilla vs. Portland #1, Harley Quinn X Elvira #5, Masterminds #4, Sonja Reborn #6, The Seasons #9, Spider-Man: Meals to Astonish #1, Marian Heretic #5, Absolute Green Lantern #12, and Blood & Thunder #12.
Quick Hits: Space Ghost #9 is the first book this week in Quick Hits. This is a consistently good series from Dynamite. Another Dynamite book this week is Archie X The Army of Darkness #2. The book is able to get Archie and his friends into a cabin in the woods. The final issue of High Strangeness #5 is full of weirdness. No Place #4 continues its Oz based story. Storm: Earth’s Mightiest Mutant #2 has been a bit over my head so far. I love Storm so I will be sticking to it moving ahead, but it is not the most interesting storyline so far. Another series that has come to an end as 1776 #5 is finished. It was a strange book with the Revolutionary War, but I like big swings. Escape from Skull Island #2 keeps the Kong action going. Doctor Strange #4 keeps up with the Asgard storyline. It is another one that I have not loved, but I think it is okay. I missed Where Does the Rainbow End? #2 when it came out so I picked it up this week with Where Does the Rainbow End ?#3 was released.
Another great episode of One Piece. Here we get to see Zoro and his new swords get in some action on the new island where they stopped. It seemed as if the island loved pirates and we so friendly. Of course, things are too good to be true.
The two assassins, Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9, were freed by Luffy… or at least Miss Wednesday was freed because Luffy’s gut told him to do it. They escaped and became a major problem during this episode.
However, Miss Wednesday turned out to be someone that we did not expect… a missing princess, undercover inside the assassins.
One of the best parts of the episode was the swordfighting of Zoro as he is seeing visions of Dracule Mihawk, the world’s greatest swordsman who left Zoro defeated and near death last season. Zoro counting off the number of agents of the Baroque Works he took out was awesome and showed some amazing fight choreography.
Back to booger bombs. Mr. 5 showed up with Miss Valentine as they chased Miss Wednesday. Apparently, Miss Wednesday has found the info on the identity of the leader of the assassins, Mr. Zero.
The show has done a tremendous job of building up a group of antagonists for our crew in the first few episodes that feel more than just the bad-guy-of-the-week. From Smokey to Mr. Zero and the assassins in-between, this has a good group of characters with mysteries abounding.
It’s the Ides of March and I forgot to do this column this week. I had parent/teacher conferences on Thursday so it changed up when I picked up my books. I never even thought about it until about five minutes ago.
So here are this week’s belated Favorite covers of the week.
Also-Rans: Crownville #5, X-Men United #1, The Exorcism at Buckingham Palacce #1, Alias: Red Band #1, Space Ghost #9, Bleeding Hearts #2, and Transformers #30.
Bronze Medalist
Mark Spears Monsters #9
Variant Cover C
Cover art by Mark Spears
I do love evil clowns, especially those drawn by Mark Spears. There is a rolling pin in the middle of the page.
Silver Medalist
Ordained #2
Cover art by Jorge Fornes
We have been waiting for Ordained #2 for a long time. It was worth the wait. The bloody gun in the hand of Father Craig as he peaks around the corner of the brick wall really gives a strong story about what this issue is about. I love the darkness and how Craig’s clothes blend into it.
Gold Medalist
Mark Spears Monsters #9
Variant Cover D
Cover art by Mark Spears
Mark Spears art with 3D. Is it a little gimmicky? Sure. However, how can you turn down out favorite monsters with 3D glasses on their faces? This is a lot of fun and grabs mark Spears another gold medal.
Another week… another week where I can’t stand Cate.
She ended the episode looking at the broken Golden Gate Bridge and feeling all kinds of guilt over her releasing the Titan X that the world now knows about. Maybe she is planning on jumping off the bridge. It is terrible to say, but I think the show would benefit from it.
We get the scene we have been expecting in one of the flashbacks where Keiko and Lee made love after escaping from the natives on the island. Keiko felt guilty here too, but I think it probably will lead to Lee being the actual father of Hiroshi instead of Bill Randa.
Bill found a letter from Keiko to Lee at the end of this week’s episode which tells me that things are about to happen.
Lots of melodrama this week, which is the weakest part of this show. The flashbacks are still the strongest part of the show while the present day is just hardly interesting. Even now with a new Titan swimming around, the present day is not that good. Monarch sure feels like an incapable organization.
This show needed some more Titan action as the human drama is not cutting it.
More drama is brought up between out two main characters and we get what we have needed… some face to face with two of the top actors around. Jon Bernthal and Tessa Thompson are both powerhouse actors and this gives us the first, real, face to face engagement between them.
I mean, they have had scenes together int he previous three episodes of Him & Hers on Netflix, but none of them were as powerful as this one at the end of episode 4.
It focused around the loss of their child and how they were tearing each other apart, even when they did not want to be doing that. It was painful and real, but it seemed as if they may have taken a step in their relationship… as the truck sex may indicate.
Both swear that they had not part in hurting Rachel and the second victim Helen, but I am still not sure I believe them.
The killings are certainly connected as the presence of a friendship bracelet at both scenes implied. It also pointed toward Jack’s sister, who also has one of the bracelets. The cameraman is looking a little sus too.
The city is flipping out and the mayor showed what a dumb ass he was by making Jack do a press conference. The city town hall turned into a chaotic mess and winds up getting broadcast on the news… thanks Anna, who stirred the pot big time.
John Sebastian, formerly of Lovin’ Spoonful, recorded this song, which went to #1 on the Billboard charts in 1976. According to Wikipedia, the success of the song convinced the producers of the show to change its title from Kotter to Welcome Back, Kotter.
John Sebastian included a harmonica solo in the full version.
List from Angeline Jane Bernabe and Mason Leib on ABC News.com
These are my thoughts and predictions for Sunday night’s Academy Awards. As I said, these are my predictions for who I think will win. This is not my personal favorites. I will give a second choice as the runner-up in my opinion.
Best picture
“Bugonia”
“F1”
“Frankenstein”
“Hamnet”
“Marty Supreme”
“One Battle After Another”
“The Secret Agent”
“Sentimental Value”
“Sinners”
“Train Dreams”
I am a believer in the Sinner’s momentum. I do think that Sinners will overtake “One Battle After Another” which has been the leading candidate for much of the pre-award season. Sinners is also my personal favorite of the nominated films, so I am cheering for it. If not Sinners, it will be “One Battle After Another.”
Best supporting actress
Elle Fanning, “Sentimental Value”
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, “Sentimental Value”
Amy Madigan, “Weapons”
Wunmi Mosaku, “Sinners”
Teyana Taylor, “One Battle After Another”
This is a strong category, but the performance Amy Madigan gave in “Weapons” was just so special and it made that move more than what it would have been. Sure, it is a genre film and the Academy some times does not favor those, but I do believe this one transcends genre. Second choice: Teyana Taylor (OBAA).
Best actor
Timothée Chalamet, “Marty Supreme”
Leonardo DiCaprio, “One Battle After Another”
Ethan Hawke, “Blue Moon”
Michael B. Jordan, “Sinners”
Wagner Moura, “The Secret Agent”
Again, I believe in the momentum of Sinners. Michael B. Jordan’s victory at the Actor Awards was a significant signal that the race had switched. Jordan is a remarkably worthy potential winner as he played two different characters (and one of those he played two different ways when he was changed into a vampire). It brought a lot of energy. Second choice: Timothée Chalamet.
Best actress
Jessie Buckley, “Hamnet”
Rose Byrne, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”
Kate Hudson, “Song Sung Blue”
Renate Reinsve, “Sentimental Value”
Emma Stone, “Bugonia”
Jessie Buckley. ‘Nuff said. I would have loved to cheer for Kate Hudson because I thought she was exceptional in “Song Sung Blue” but Buckley may have given the best performance I have ever seen. If she does not win this award, there should be investigations. Second choice: NONE. It is Buckley.
Best supporting actor
Benicio Del Toro, “One Battle After Another”
Jacob Elordi, “Frankenstein”
Delroy Lindo, “Sinners”
Sean Penn, “One Battle After Another”
Stellan Skarsgård, “Sentimental Value”
I am going with Stellan Skarsgård for his work in “Sentimental Value.” I think Del Toro and Sean Penn may split votes, opening up the large contingent of foreign voters in the Academy to give it to Skarsgård. This is a tough category too because you also have the spoiler floating around in Delroy Lindo. Second choice: Sean Penn, but I could see it being Lindo or Del Toro.
Best director
Chloé Zhao, “Hamnet”
Josh Safdie, “Marty Supreme”
Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another”
Joachim Trier, “Sentimental Value”
Ryan Coogler, “Sinners”
This is the award they will give to this film since Sinners is going to win Best Picture. PTA has been deserving of an Academy Award for years, and this is the one he is going to get. Second Choice: Ryan Coogler.
Best makeup and hairstyling
“Frankenstein”
“Kokuho”
“Sinners”
“The Smashing Machine”
“The Ugly Stepsister”
The look of Frankenstein was great and it will most likely win this award. I would have liked to see “Smashing Machine” win because the Rock really did transform into Mark Kerr, but that is not going to happen. Second Choice: Sinners.
Best original score
“Bugonia” — Jerskin Fendrix
“Frankenstein” — Alexandre Desplat
“Hamnet” — Max Richter
“One Battle After Another” — Jonny Greenwood
“Sinners” — Ludwig Göransson
The music of Sinners is almost as important as the characters of the film. The soundtrack brings an authentic feel to this film and Ludwig Göransson will receive another Oscar. Second choice: Max Richter for Hamnet.
Best live action short film
“Butcher’s Stain”
“Jane Austen’s Period Drama”
“A Friend of Dorothy”
“The Singers”
“Two People Exchanging Saliva”
If I were voting, I would pick “Jane Austen’s Period Drama” because that was by far my favorite short on this list, but the Academy is not giving it an Oscar. “Two People Exchanging Saliva” is weird, wild and builds a fictional world around some of the strangest things. It wins. Second Choice: “A Friend of Dorothy”
Best adapted screenplay
“Bugonia” — Will Tracy
“Frankenstein” — Guillermo Del Toro
“Hamnet” — Maggie O’Farrell and Chloé Zhao
“One Battle After Another” — Paul Thomas Anderson
“Train Dreams” — Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar
One of the easiest picks to make. The Best Picture is coming down to One Battle vs Sinners so One Battle After Another wins this one. Second Choice: Hamnet.
Best original screenplay
“Blue Moon” — Robert Kaplow
“It Was Just an Accident” — Jafar Panahi
“Marty Supreme” — Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie
“Sentimental Value” — Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt
“Sinners” – Ryan Coogler
See above. Same reason “One Battle” wins Best Adapted. Second Choice: Blue Moon
Best animated short film
“Butterfly”
“Forevergreen”
“The Girl Who Cried Pearls”
“Retirement Plan”
“The Three Sisters”
This was my favorite animated short of this list and I do think it is the one with the best animation, a true story involving the Holocaust and an Olympic swimmer. It is far and away the best on this list. Second Choice: “The Girl Who Cried Pearls.”
Best casting
“Hamnet” — Nina Gold
“Marty Supreme” — Jennifer Venditti
“One Battle After Another” — Cassandra Kulukundis
“The Secret Agent” — Gabriel Domingues
“Sinners” — Francine Maisler
This is a brand new Academy Award this year and I think Sinners is going to get it. The casting of this film is just amazing and the cast brings it throughout. Second Choice: “One Battle After Another.”
Best original song
“Dear Me” from “Diane Warren: Relentless”
“Golden” from “KPop Demon Hunters”
“I Lied to You” from “Sinners”
“Sweet Dreams of Joy” from “Viva Verdi!”
“Train Dreams” from “Train Dreams”
This song is one of the biggest hits of 2025, worldwide. The Academy is not going to miss this and create a controversy. There are only a couple of shoo-ins. This is one. Second Choice: “I Lied to You” (Sinners)- which would be my personal choice if I had a vote.
Best documentary feature film
“The Alabama Solution”
“Come See Me in the Good Light”
“Cutting Through Rocks”
“Mr. Nobody Against Putin”
“The Perfect Neighbor”
I have not seen many here. I did see “The Perfect Neighbor” and I loved it. Second Choice: No idea. Probably the Putin one..
Best documentary short film
“All the Empty Rooms”
“Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud”
“Children No More: ‘Were and Are Gone'”
“The Devil is Busy”
“Perfectly a Strangeness”
I have not seen any of these documentary shorts. I know “All the Empty Rooms” is about school shootings and that is usually Academy fodder, so I will guess that one. Second Choice: How about “The Devil is Busy”?
Best international feature film
Brazil, “The Secret Agent”
France, “It Was Just an Accident”
Norway, “Sentimental Value”
Spain, “Sirât”
Tunisia, “The Voice of Hind Rajab”
I have only seen two of these, though I am excited about seeing The Secret Agent during this year’s June Swoon. Because I have seen it, Sentimental Value gets my vote. Second Guess: “The Secret Agent.” – Heard good things.
Best animated feature film
“Arco”
“Elio”
“KPop Demon Hunters”
“Little Amélie or the Character of Rain”
“Zootopia 2”
K-Pop Demon Hunters is winning this. It would not have been my vote, but it is clearly the biggest cultural animated film of the year. Not sure why Elio is on this list. Second choice: Zootopia 2 (which would have been my vote).
Best production design
“Frankenstein”
“Hamnet”
“Marty Supreme”
“One Battle After Another”
“Sinners”
I feel like I should have gone with Frankenstein, but I am looking for an upset and Hamnet does have tremendous production design. Second choice: (and most likely winner) Frankenstein
Best film editing
“F1” — Stephen Mirrione
“Marty Supreme” — Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie
“One Battle After Another” — Andy Jurgensen
“Sentimental Value” — Olivier Bugge Coutté
“Sinners” — Michael P. Shawver
I have yet another win for Sinners. This could go to several on this list though. Second Choice: F1
Best sound
“F1”
“Frankenstein”
“One Battle After Another”
“Sinners”
“Sirât”
F1’s use of sound is a key element to the film. While there are some other good choices, I think the Academy wants to reward F1 with something more than a nomination and this makes sense. Second Choice: Sirât
Best visual effects
“Avatar: Fire and Ash”
“F1”
“Jurassic World Rebirth”
“The Lost Bus”
“Sinners”
Bah. I don’t want to pick this one because there was nothing new done in this film, but it is going to win anyway. What I wouldn’t give to have “The Lost Bus” get this award. It really does deserve it. I was really happy when it got the nomination. Sadly, Avatar wins again. Second Choice: “The Lost Bus”
Best cinematography
“Frankenstein”
“Marty Supreme”
“One Battle After Another”
“Sinners”
“Train Dreams”
I think this is another unlikely winner, but I just think that this film deserves the cinematography Oscar. Second choice: “One Battle After Another.”
Best costume design
“Avatar: Fire and Ash” — Deborah L. Scott
“Frankenstein” — Kate Hawley
“Hamnet” — Malgosia Turzanska
“Marty Supreme” — Miyako Bellizzi
“Sinners” — Ruth E. Carter
Another win for the technical aspect of Frankenstein. It did look great and the costumes are top notch. Second choice: Sinners
There are my picks. As always, I will miss some and get some right. I do hope there is a great ceremony and that Conan O’Brien is a funny host. I have Marty Supreme getting shut out. That doesn’t feel right, but I guess we will have to go with it.
Every year, I go down to Cinemark the weekend of the Academy Awards so I can see the Live-Action Short Films and Animated Short Films that had been nominated for Oscars. It is always fun seeing these in their blocks.
It was weird this year because the shows were being produced by Roadside Attractions instead of the company that normally did it. It also said that the show was being presented by Taika Waititi, but I never saw or heard one thing from him. That was strange.
I am going to list my personal favorites from 5-1 here. This is not my Oscar predictions. It was just the ones I liked the best. In fact, i can almost 100% guarantee that my favorite of the Live-Action Shorts will NOT be the Oscar winner. I plan on doing my official predictions either later tonight or some time tomorrow before the ceremony.
Kicking off with the LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILMS
#5. Butcher’s Stain. This was my least favorite of all the shorts I saw today. It is a drama taking place in a supermarket in Tel Aviv. I had a hard time getting into this one. I was not interested and found little to grab my attention.
#4. The Singers. This was a fun short. It was the first one we were shown today and it featured a group of men in a bar, drinking and betting on who had the best singing voice. It had some great singing on it, but, while entertaining, I did not find, much depth in the short.
#3. Two People Exchanging Saliva. Weird. Wild. A strange world where kissing is frowned upon and the people go to the extreme of having terrible breath to ward off the kissers. It is also a society that pays for things by getting slapped in the face. This is such a bizarre short that it was tough to follow, but it fit right in with films like Bugonia.
#2. Friends of Dorothy. A sweet short that featured a young man (Alistair Nwachukwu) who meets an older woman (Miriam Margolyes) and they bond over plays. The young man secretly wishes to be an actor and the older woman is encouraging him to do so. This is such a sentimental flick, but it is very engaging as well.
#1. Jane Austen’s Period Drama. This was, BY FAR, my favorite short of the day. It was hilarious. The title lets you know what type of short this is going to be… and the “period” in the title does not refer to a time frame. The names of these characters were making me laugh every time they were mentioned. We had Estrogenia, Labinia, Mr. James Dickley, Mrs. Bitts, Dr. Bangley, and my personal favorite… Miss Vagianna. It sticks with these jokes throughout the film and it was amazingly funny. Again, while I would love seeing this as an Oscar winner, I can almost guarantee that it will not win. It is definitely my personal favorite though.
Next… Animated Short Films
#5. Forevergreen. The relationship between a bear cub and a tree. Yes, that is what I said. While this was fine, it felt very heavy-handed in its story and I simply found the story not to my liking. Perhaps it was too saccharin.
#4. Three Sisters. I liked this one. It was the first animated short they showed us, and it had some real funny moments with characters who barely made a sound, let alone speak. Three Sisters is quirky and unique and worked well with the animation that it gave us. There were some laugh out loud moments too.
#3. Retirement Plan. Narrated by Domhnall Gleeson, this short follows the life of a man who has just retired and who has planned on doing all kinds of things. We get a list of these plans as the unnamed man gets older with every one. This is very solid animated film with some strong moments. Gleeson does a tremendous job narrating the short. It takes us right up to the man’s death (and actually beyond it) and it is a good short.
#2. The Girl Who Cried Pearls. If I were talking about story only, this might have been my favorite. However the animation of the short was tough on me the whole time. Not only did the characters suffer from the old uncanny valley, their faces were just not what I wanted to see. While most of the film looked great, none of the characters did and it hurt a film that I think was one of the better ones I saw.
#1. Butterfly (aka Papillon). This was an absolutely beautiful short with a very powerful story of swimmer Alfred Nakache. Not only does the film focus on his swimming, it also has comments on the Holocaust and the cruelty of the Nazis. The animation style felt like we were constantly seeing everything in a water color background and it was gorgeously designed. I thought this was the best animated short we saw by a great distance.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 