Oscars 2017

OSCAR PREDICTIONS

http://oscar.go.com/nominees

Best Picture

Who I WANT to win: All the nominees this year are all great choices for the most part, though some good movies might be missing. I don't think it will be disappointing to see any of these win, but I still hope for Manchester By The Sea to take it since it was my favorite out of all of them and if La La Land wins like it probably will, I'll be just as happy.

Who I think WILL win: Seems like all signs are pointing strongly to La La Land winning this one. It's the obvious choice, but I think I would want to take a risk and go with the film Moonlight to take this one for this year. I'd rather have the more happy and musical La La Land win, but I just feel like the academy will go for the more serious and important movie over the fun Hollywood movie. I'm probably wrong here, but it's worth a risk. 

Best Lead Actor

Who I WANT to win: I really hope Casey Affleck wins the Oscar here, I really loved watching him in Manchester and thought it was a really fantastic performance. On the other hand, Viggo Mortensen is another choice that I would be really happy to see win, as his role in Captain Fantastic came out of nowhere and it was also... fantastic. 

Who I think WILL win: This one feels tough, but I think I can rule out Gosling from winning. I'm sticking with the favorite for this category and picking Affleck to win. 

Best Lead Actress

Who I Want to win: How surprising to see another nomination for Meryl Streep, she never gets those. This year I think is Emma Stone's year and not only do I want her to win, but I think she will be the one to take it this year. Though I might just be saying that because I haven't seen any of the other movies in this category, Emma Stone was really great in La La Land and was the best part of that movie.

Best Supporting Actor

Who I Want to win:  Mahershala Ali seems to be the standout here for me and I would really like him to win. 

Who I Think WILL win: Mahershala Ali will take it home for Moonlight, it's possible that Jeff Bridges might sneak up and win, but i'm sticking with Ali.

Best Supporting Actress

Who I want and Who WILL win: I really think that Michelle Williams' performance in Manchester By the Sea was the best out of all of these, even though all of them were great. She's my pick to win it and I also want her to win cause she was powerful in what little time she spent in the film.

Animated 

Who I want to win: I was surprised to not see Finding Dory nominated this year, but I think it's the right choice. There were far better movies and most of these are worthy of being on this list. I would have liked The Boy and the Beast to be here over The Red Turtle, but I think it doesn't matter in the long run because this fight is between Zootoia and Kubo. Of course I loved both, but I have to cheer on Kubo as it was my favorite of the year in animation. 

Who I think WILL win: I'm going to go with my heart and choose Kubo, as the animation and storytelling felt very unique and mature. Even though Zootopia has a better chance with it's more topical message, I still think Kubo will somehow win. Please win.

Director

For this one, it's pretty simple... I want and I think Damien Chazelle will win for La La Land. The only other choice I think could take it is Barry Jenkins for moonlight. It could go either way really - but i'm sticking with La La Land because of the Hollywood story and the performances and music. 

The Other Awards

Going into the more backstage awards I'll just put my winner prediction,

Cinematography: Moonlight

Costume Design: La La Land

Documentary: 13th

Short Documentary: Extremis

Editing: Moonlight

Foreign: Man Called Ove

Makeup: Man Called Ove (I hope)

Music: La La Land 

Original Song: Audition w/ Emma Stone

Production Design: La La Land

Short Animated: Piper

Short Live Action: La Femme

Sound Edit: Arrival

Sound Mix: La La Land

Visual Effects: Doctor Strange

Writing: Fences

Writing Original: Manchester By The Sea

So those are my predictions for this year, and I'm sure most will be wrong BUT it's fun to take a guess and see where it goes. Either way, lots of great movies nominated this year (except Deadpool for some reason) and I'll have fun watching these be given out. 

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John Wick Chapter 2

John Wick Chapter 2

Now that January is finally over and the more interesting movies are starting to release every other week, I hope to start reviewing more movies again and I want to try to keep up with new releases at least once a week if possible. To sum up the month of January that I missed: sequels no one wanted, horror movies no one wanted and one good movie in Split. So the first big movie of the year I saw was John Wick Chapter 2, a movie a was pretty excited for considering how surprisingly good the first one ended up being. I've always been a fan of Keanu Reeves, especially as an action star he seems to really work hard on his acting and stunt work. So we return to the dark and underground world of the legend known as John Wick.

John Wick Chapter 2 is not too different from the first, but I think that was really what it needed to be. Reeves is great as the character of John Wick and it was great to see more of him and follow along his new struggles. The film does a good job at making you believe that John is this really big threat and that he is one of the best, if not the best at what he does (or did). The action sequences are all fun to watch and the fighting and choreography done in the film are all really cool looking. When the action starts it's all very fluid and runs smoothly, though the camera shoots aren't always the best like in most modern action movies it can be a bit shaky. Still that doesn't take away from how cool it all looks and how much of a bad ass John Wick is.

The story picks up pretty much right where the last movie ended and it wraps it all up quickly with some good action and funny dialog. John Wick is finally done with his revenge and is finally looking to settle down to a quiet life with his dog. Of course the peace doesn't last long as an old acquaintance reappears in Wick's life to use a favor of sorts that John Wick owes him. With no choice, Wick is forced to do one last job before he can truly settle down, but of course it's not all as easy as it should be. I really liked the world that John Wick lives works in, this underground society of killers with lots of different rules and codes to follow and connections. It's all very interesting to learn about as the movie goes a little deeper into it this time around and you get to meet some interesting characters along the way. It's clear there is still a lot to be revealed about the underground world of killers the movie is about by the end, and it looks like there will be at least one more movie to dive into this world again with.

There are some moments, one in particular that felt a little "over dramatic" even by this movies standards. Just one scene that felt like it lasted a little too long and went a little too over the top. The rest of the movie was always enjoyable whether it was the great action or learning more about the lore of John Wick. John Wick does feel a bit too powerful at times, but I think it's necessary since they established him as a legendary killer who most men fear. I can't say I really loved this movie, but I did love Reeves in it and his character of John Wick. It's a great action movie, but it's nothing more than that really and that's not a problem since it's what it was trying to be. Any fan of action movies should watch this, you will have a good time.

Overall Grade: B-

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