A lot of movies are premiering in March, but only a few of them interest me. This is why they might be worth watching... or avoiding.
WATCHING
Life(March 24, 2017) A space ship crew finds life on Mars. I love sci-fi and the trailer looks great. With a case of Rebecca Ferguson, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Ryan Reynolds this should be good. Gyllenhaal has learned to pick good roles, ever since Prince of Persia.
Logan (March 3, 2017) Standalone Wolverine movies don't have the best track record, but the hype this movie has generated has me curious. The first teaser images with the little girl seemed like a ploy, but this just might deliver. It's supposed to be Hugh Jackman's final time portrayed the admantium reinforced mutant.
Kong: Skull Island(March 10, 2017) I was disappointed with Peter Jackson's King Kong (2005) pet project and I know I should be hesitant with this one, but I think it could be good. With Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson, and John C. Reilly, surely not all of them made a mistake, right?
CHIPS(March 24, 2017) I don't know if we need a reboot of the 70s/80s television series, I'm willing to give it a chance if only in the hopes that Dax Shephard and Michael Peña can hold a candle to Super Troopers (2001).
AVOIDING
Beauty and the Beast (March 17, 2017) While I don't think this will be bad, it appears they are going to recreate the 1994 animated version scene for scene in live action, I don't like the lack of creativity. It's a cash grab banking on nostalgia. Is Disney going to start re-creating all of their animated films in live action now?
T2 Trainspotting(March 17, 2017) Any sequel that comes out twenty years later is going to have a hard time establishing credibility and re-capturing the magic of the first film. Trainspotting (1996) doesn't need a sequel. I don't care if Danny Boyle and Ewan McGregor are both on board.
Power Rangers(March 24, 2017) I thought the darker, edgier recreations had finally passed. I guess not. This is targeting the now grown ups that grew up with Power Rangers. I missed that boat. Is this going to sink like the Titanic? Only time will tell.
Ghost in the Shell(March 31, 2017) Despite Scarlett Johannson I don't think this will be that good. Many people will see it for the actress, but this recreation of the mange turned 1995 film is going to be too simplified in a bid to reach mainstream audiences.That's my prediction.
Plot In this Korean language drama, an heiress and an ambitious new hire war over money and power.
Verdict This is corporate espionage with a soap opera production and tone. I have to imagine the subtitles aren't the best translation because the dialog always felt slightly off. There is a near continuous music backing track that sounds like free stock music. It's terrible. The music never fit the tone of the show, or not the tone I expected. This has a distinctly light and almost comedic tone for the content. It's more of a comedy than a drama and that is NOT the intention... at least I don't think so. Skip it.
Review The drama and dialog are stilted, just like a soap opera. Like that same genre, this borders on parody unintentionally. It would be easier to turn this into a comedy than it would a true drama. This looks like a soap opera with low production values and very basic shot framing. This has the classic trick your enemy into overpaying at an auction and a Russian roulette scene. At no point does the pilot build the tension it should or even could. I don't care about the characters because they are thin. Granted, it's the pilot, this needs to at least hook me.
Yi-Kyung and Si-jen.
Se-jin meets business owner Yi-Kyung at a charity and then hires her to steal information from a rival's phone. This is played up as an intense sequence, but the music might as well be from Benny Hill.
Yi-Kyung then pays Se-jin to impersonate her. It's a bit of a ruse as Yi-Khung knows that her business rival will abduct her for discovering evidence of embezzlement but tells Se-jin it's an appointment to buy art. I would guess the season deals with the friction between these two as well as Yi-Kyung trying to conquer her business rivals. The business world can be sordid and twisted. Yi-Kyung wants to prove her rivals wrong, they accuse her of riding her father's coat tails. While Se-jin knows she was tricked will she continue to work with Yi-Kyung or attempt revenge? She doesn't have the means to do revenge which is why she was hired in the first place.
My issues with the show could also be the cultural divide. This is a Korean show not made for me. The title screen isn't even translated. Netflix calls this White Nights, but I've also seen it called Night Light. This leads to my questioning of the translation. Was it a rush job? Is there more depth to the show than the subtitles convey? Even if there is, I'm not sure it can make up for the horrid musical backing.
Amy Schumer: The Leather Special (2017) Amy Schumer: The Leather Special premieres March 7 Amy's performance was recorded November 2016. Her last comedy special for HBO, Amy Schumer: Live at the Apollo earned three Emmy nominations.
Dark (2017-) Season 1 - 10 episodes (2017) Dark Season 1 premieres Winter 2017
Netflix's first German series is a family mystery saga with a supernatural twist that takes the story back to 1986. Two missing children connect four families in the present day.
The question isn't who kidnapped the children, but when. The years 2019, 1986, and 1953 are somehow linked.
War Machine (2017) War Machine premieres Friday May 26
Starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Michael Hall, Topher Grace, Will Poulter, Tilda Swinton, and Ben Kingsley, this comedy war film is based on the non-fiction book The Operators about a journalist's journey in Afghanistan with General McChrystal. Brad Pitt plays McChrystal who rose to command NATO forces, only to fall from grace because of a journalist's expose.
13 Reasons Why (2017-) Season 1 - 13 episodes (2017)
13 Reasons Why Season 1 premieres March 31 This drama is based on a 2007 young adult novel. A girl recorded 13 tapes before committing suicide and passes them to classmates she blames for her depression.
Glow Season 1 (2017-) Season 1 - 10 episodes (2017) GLOW Season 1 premieres June 23 Set in the 80s and created by Jenji Kohan (Weeds, Orange is the New Black), Ruth Wilder (Alison Brie), an out-of-work, struggling actress in 1980s Los Angeles finds a chance for stardom when she enters the glitter and spandex world of women's wrestling. Sam Sylvia (Marc Maron), a washed-up B-movie director maanges 14 women on the journey to wrestling stardom.
Ricky Gervais reprises his role as David Brent from the U.K. The Office in this mockumentary comedy. He's a traveling salesman that cashes in his pension to chase his dreams with his band Forgone Conclusion.
Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul) is a disgraced greeting card writer framed for murder while trying to win a contest and write the best "Girlfriend's Day" card.
Also watched - Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, war Dogs, A Bittersweet Life, Orpheus, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The Hateful Eight, Family Matters
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2016) After a harrowing Iraq battle, nineteen year old Billy Lynn (Joe Alwyn) is commemorated by his hometown. He's become a commodity where people want to make money off his heroic encounter, but no one cares about his well being. War Dogs (2016) Based on a true story, David Packouz (Miles Teller) and Efraim Diveroli (Jonah Hill) win a $300 million contract from the Pentagon to arm America's allies in Afghanistan. They started as twenty-somethings living at home.
A Bittersweet Life (2006) A mobster disobeys his boss's orders, starting a destructive chain of events.
Orpheus (1950) Infatuated with death, a poet travels to the underworld.
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) The story of Major-General Clive Wynne-Candy as he rises up the ranks of the British military.
The Hateful Eight (2015) Trapped in a cabin during a blizzard, bounty hunters, a bounty, a sheriff, a hangman, a rancher, and more must survive each other.
Family Matters (1989-1998) Centering on the Winslow family and their pesky next-door neighbor, ultra-nerd Steve Urkel. Key & Peele - Family Matters Uncensored
The results for our predictions for the 2017 Oscar nominations. The Oscars aired February 26, 2017. Ward predicted the most results. Ward: 10 Rod: 4 Eric: 1 (24 categories) Best Picture Eric: La La Land // Rod: La La Land // Ward: La La Land Winner: Moonlight Best Director Eric: Mel Gibson // Rod: Mel Gibson // Ward: Kenneth Lonergan - Manchester by the Sea Winner: Damien Chazelle
Best Actor Eric: Casey Affleck - Manchester by the Sea // Rod: Ryan Gosling - La La Land // Ward: Casey Affleck - Manchester by the Sea Winner: Casey Affleck
Best Actress Eric: Ruth Negga - Loving // Rod: Isabelle Huppert - Elle // Ward: Ruth Negga - Loving Winner: Emma Stone
Best Supporting Actor Eric: Jeff Bridges - Hell or High Water // Rod: Lucas Hedges - Manchester by the Sea // Ward: Mahershala Ali - Moonlight Winner: Mahershala Ali
Best Supporting Actress Eric: Nicole Kidman - Lion // Rod: Viola Davis - Fences // Ward: Octavia Spencer - Hidden Figures Winner: Viola Davis
Best Original Screenplay Eric: The Lobster // Rod: Manchester by the Sea // Ward: Hell or High Water - Taylor Sheridan Winner: Manchester by the Sea
Best Adapted Screenplay Eric: Lion // Rod: Lion // Ward: Arrival - Eric Heisserer Winner: Moonlight
Best Animated Feature Film Eric: Kubo and the Two Strings // Rod: The Red Turtle // Ward: Zootopia Winner: Zootopia
Best Foreign Language Film Eric: A Man Called Ove // Rod: Land of Mine // Ward: The Salesman - Asghar Farhadi Winner: The Salesman
Best Documentary - Feature Eric: I Am Not Your Negro // Rod: Fire at Sea // Ward: O.J.: Made in America Winner: O.J.: Made in American
Best Documentary - Short Subject Eric: 4.1 Miles // Rod: Extremis // Ward: Extremis Winner: White Helmets
Best Live Action Short Film Eric: Aske Bang // Rod: Aske Bang // Ward: Timecode Winner: Sing
Best Animated Short Film Eric: Pear Cider and Cigarettes // Rod: Borrowed Time // Ward: Piper Winner: Piper
Best Original Score Eric: Passengers // Rod: La La Land // Ward: La La Land Winner: La La Land
Best Original Song Eric: Can't Stop the Feeling // Rod: Moana // Ward: City of Stars - La La Land Winner: City of Stars
Directed by Bong Joon Ho (Snowpiercer) and starring Tilda Swinton, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano, Steven Yeun, Giancarlo Esposito, and Lily Collins, a young girl risks everything to prevent a massive company from kidnapping her best friend, a giant animal named Okja.
Five Came Back (2017) Five Came Back premieres Friday March 31
Narrated by Meryl Streep, this documentary details the effects of World War II on Hollywood and its directors. Five directors went to World War II, Frank Capra, John Ford, John Huston, George Stevens, and William Wyler. When they came back they changed film making forever.
Francis Ford Coppola, Guillermo Del Toro, Steven Spielberg, and Paul Greengrass recount the events.
I have a soft spot for this magnificent creature ever since seeing KING KONG as my first theatrical movie experience in 1976 (I did see WESTWORLD at the drive-in at a younger age). I was thoroughly thrilled and I truly hope there are some out there that are making KONG: SKULL ISLAND their first cinema experience too. I was hooked on movies ever since. Kong makes an impression, let me tell you.
And the tradition continues. Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures is going all out with this production and their final trailer for KONG: SKULL ISLAND is no exception. Honestly, I didn't want to visually spoil more of the movie for myself but what it did really, was amplify my need to see this on the biggest 3D screen possible! You've got to see this in all its glory. Prime Focus is the 3D conversion company of record.
Here's the movie's storyline: When a scientific expedition to an uncharted island awakens titanic forces of nature, a mission of discovery becomes an explosive war between monster and man. Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson, John Goodman and John C. Reilly star in a thrilling and original new adventure that reveals the untold story of how Kong became King.
It is true, I was not excited about this year Academy Awards as knew my favorites were not going to win plus on top, I really dislike Jimmy Kimmel, and expected to fall asleep because of a boring show. Gee, I was absolutely wrong (!!!) and I'm glad that no matter all my negative thoughts before the show, I watched as to my HUGE unexpected surprise, last night show was one of the few Academy Awards ceremony I can say I enjoyed beyond all my expectations!
Before getting into the movies, have to say that the show was great as producers made the show all about movies and winners, with multiple clips of actors winning their Oscars plus a few presenters talking about other actors they admire. That was great for me and yes, kept me awake expecting for more of the same and I got it! Then got the nominated songs being performed and the performances were distributed along the ceremony, which also kept me awake (lol!); but the best was the performances, especially the Moana song with those dancers with flags that made beautiful flowers (even when one flag hit the singer and she continued as nothing happened); also La La Land songs were great but it was Justin Timberlake who stole the show with his show opening number that definitively set the mood and suggested the night was going to be "different" and boy, it was.
Kimmel to my surprise was okay, I laughed with some of his dumb-dumb jokes and perhaps was my imagination but got the impression that he appeared a lot more than previous ceremony hosts. Truth is that he kept the show flowing and was an okay conductor. The parachute gimmick was alright but somehow made me think about those life-saving parachutes in the Hunger Games (LOL). Contrary to many I did enjoyed the so-called "cinema tourists" that went live into the show; IF gimmick was not staged or was staged is irrelevant as the idea was funny for me and as many reacted via Twitter, I was a bit jealous, wishing that happened to me! (LOL) Not ashamed to admit that I could go star-struck with seeing Meryl Streep in person!
Let's talk about the "incident". Was getting shattered with La La Land winning top awards, started to feel the too-long lenght of the show (3 hours and 49 minutes) and almost turn off the TV; but suddenly noticed all the fuzz in the stage and yes, the inconceivable happened: I was speechless! The only thing I could tweet was "that was awkward...". See, just a few hours before the show I was talking with friends and said was impossible for Moonlight to win top award because it was a gay movie. No lesbian or gay interest movie has ever won the top award, some had gotten close like Brokeback Mountain or Kiss of the Spiderwoman, but most have been ignored (like Carol last year) or have been given other Academy awards.
Today, everyone is talking about the gaffe but not many are talking about the awesome fact: a LGTB movie has finally broken the 89-years of "tradition" and won the Best Motion Picture of the Year from the most prestigious movie award in the world!!! YAY! Obviously was a gay-interest movie, but will not elaborate as wish to continue the milestone celebration, but hope soon there will be a lesbian-interest movie being honored with the same award, sigh.
Also undeniable is the fact that Moonlight is a gay movie about black men and yes, it is also the first time that an African-American movie wins and is NOT about civil rights or race relations, which is the type of African-America picture the Academy recognizes, like 12 Years A Slave, Lincoln, In the Heat of the Night or even Driving Miss Daisy. Another milestone.
So, no matter what all are talking today, last night show was one that those that love cinema and didn't watched (ratings are a tad down from last year) will regret it as yes, was an historic night for LGBT and African-American cinema. Great!
Now to the the great news, one expected and another not expected. We all knew Viola Davis performance belonged to the Best Actress category and NOT to the Supporting Actress but well, you know what publicists, producers and other industry personnel do; the FACT is Viola Davis has her so-much-well-deserved Oscar finally and I was genuinely happy for her. Most important Viola Davis has become the first black actor (ie male or female) to win an Oscar, Emmy and Tony! Maybe Viola could surprise us and win a Grammy to become a member of the very exclusive group of EGOT's. Yes, me like many, was expecting Toni Erdmann to win as film won "everything", so imagine my surprise when one of my most-favorite contemporary directors won instead! That was awesome! Truth is that there was a "campaign" to promote film as winner just because of Asghar Farhadi nationality, but I'm still naive and wish to think The Salesman was honored because is a great movie!
Ah! don't get me wrong, I liked La La Land and believe had great production design and outstanding cinematography with special emphasis in the incredibly-good use of color in the most unusual ways plus yes, I do believe Damien Chazelle deserved an Oscar but I give it to him more for what he did in Whiplash than what he accomplished in La La Land. Also confirm that enjoyed Moonlight and to my huge surprise found Hacksaw Ridge very entertaining. If you are wondering, from those nominated films my Oscar went to Lion, the Best Actress to Viola Davis and from those nominated to Natalie Portman, Best Supporting Actress to Nicole Kidman no more than 10 minutes absolutely awesome performance, Best Actor to Viggo Mortensen (it's about time as he should won for his performance in Eastern Promises), and Best Supporting Actor to none of the nominated (lol).
Will no more talk about Isabelle Huppert as yes had hope, but realistically Elle is not La Mome, so knew chances were on the very-low side. Sigh.
But the great news is that we survived another American Awards season and there are still more annual awards pending from other great cinema countries. Still the greatest news is that Cannes season is more than open as of today!!! Bravo.
To check winners at official site go here. Winners are in *BLUE.
Best Motion Picture of the Year Arrival Fences Hacksaw Ridge Hell or High Water Hidden Figures La La Land Lion Manchester by the Sea *Moonlight
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year Kubo and the Two Strings Moana Ma vie de Courgette (My Life as a Zucchini) La Tortue Rouge (The Red Turtle) *Zootopia
Best Documentary Feature Fuocoammare (Fire at Sea) I Am Not Your Negro Life, Animated *O.J.: Made in America 13th
Best Foreign Language Film En man som heter Ove (A Man Called Ove), Hannes Holm, Sweden *فروشنده Forushande (The Salesman), Asghar Farhadi, Iran Tanna, Martin Butler and Bentley Dean, Australia Toni Erdmann, Maren Ade, Germany Under Sandet (Land of Mine), Martin Zandvliet, Denmark
Achievement in Directing Denis Villeneuve for Arrival Mel Gibson for Hacksaw Ridge *Damien Chazelle for La La Land Keneth Lonergan for Manchester by the Sea Barry Jenkins for Moonlight
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Isabelle Huppert in Elle Ruth Negga in Loving Natalie Portman in Jackie *Emma Stone in La La Land Meryl Streep in Florence Foster Jenkins
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role *Viola Davis in Fences Naomi Harris in Moonlight Nicole Kidman in Lion Octavia Spencer in Hidden Figures Michelle Williams in Manchester by the Sea
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role *Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea Andrew Garfield in Hacksaw Ridge Ryan Gosling in La La Land Viggo Mortensen in Captain Fantastic Denzel Washington in Fences
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role *Mahershala Ali in Moonlight Jeff Bridges in Hell or High Water Lucas Hedges in Manchester by the Sea Dev Patel in Lion Michael Shannon in Nocturnal Animals
Best Adapted Screenplay Eric Heisserer for Arrival August Wilson for Fences Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi for Hidden Figures Luke Davies for Lion *Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney for Moonlight
Best Original Screenplay Taylor Sheridan for Hell or High Water Damien Chazelle for La La Land Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou for The Lobster *Kenneth Lonergan for Manchester by the Sea Mike Mills for 20th Century Women
Achievement in Cinematography Bradford Young for Arrival *Linus Sandgren for La La Land Greig Fraser for Lion James Laxton for Moonlight Rodrigo Prieto for Silence
Achievement in Film Editing Joe Walker for Arrival *John Gilbert for Hacksaw Ridge Jake Roberts for Hell or High Water Tom Cross for La La Land Nat Sanders and Joi McMillon for Moonlight
Achievement in Production Design Patrice Vermette and Paul Hotte for Arrival Stuart Craig and Anna Pinnock for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Jess Gonchor and Nancy Haigh for Hail, Caesar! *David Wasco and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco for La La Land Guy Hendrix Dyas and Gene Serdena for Passengers
Achievement in Visual Effects Craig Hammack, Jason Snell, Jason Billington and Burt Dalton for Deepwater Horizon Stephane Ceretti, Richard Bluff, Vincent Cirelli and Paul Corbould for Doctor Strange *Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Dan Lemmon for The Jungle Book Steve Emerson, Oliver Jones, Brian McLean and Brad Schiff for Kubo and the Two Strings John Knoll, Mohen Leo, Hal Hickel and Neil Corbould for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Achievement in Sound Editing *Sylvain Bellemare for Arrival Wylie Stateman and Renée Tondelli for Deepwater Horizon Robert Mackenzie and Andy Wright for Hacksaw Ridge Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Latrou Morgan for La La Land Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman for Sully
Achievement in Sound Mixing Bernard Gariépy Strobl and Claude La Haye for Arrival *Kevin O’Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie and Peter Grace for Hacksaw Ridge Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee and Steve A. Morrow for La La Land David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Mac Ruth for 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
Achievement in Costume Design Joanna Johnston for Allied *Colleen Atwood for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Consolata Boyle for Florence Foster Jenkins Madelline Fontaine for Jackie Mary Zophres for La La Land
Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling Eva von Bahr and Love Larson for En man som heter Ove (A Man Called Ove) Joel Harlow and Richard Alonzo for Star Trek Beyond *Alessandro Bertolazzi, Giorgio Gregorini and Christopher Nelson for Suicide Squad
Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score) Mica Levi for Jackie *Justin Hurwitz for La La Land Dustin O'Halloran and Hauschka for Lion Nicholas Britell for Moonlight Thomas Newman for Passengers
Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song) Audition (The Fools Who Dream) from La La Land, music by Justin Hurwitz, lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul Can't Stop The Feeling from Trolls, music and lyrics by Justin Timberlake, Max Martin and Karl Johan Schuster *City of Stars from La La Land, music by Justin Hurwitz, lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul The Empty Chair from Jim: The James Foley Story, music and lyric by J. Ralph and Sting How Far I'll Go from Moana, music and lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Short Films
Best Animated Short Blind Vaysha Borrowed Time Pear Cider and Cigarettes Pearl *Piper
Best Documentary Short Extremis 4.1 Miles Joe's Violin Watani: My Homeland *The White Helmets
Best Live Action Short Ennemis Intérieurs La Femme et le TGV Silent Nights *Sing Timecode
---///--- 1/24/17 Perhaps I'm not the majority but did enjoy more the digital nominations announcement than the previous format used by the Academy as a tape production is "safer" than a live production and yes, more easy to get what we are for watching: the nominees! Still the second part of the live stream was also broadcasted by major American networks so had to turn down my TV as everything was stereo with some time delay (don't know what for). Nevertheless, my spontaneous impression is that nominations show came and went TOO-fast, fun didn't lasted long, sigh.
Will start by sharing that Venezia73 has the most nominations! Yes, this morning nominations confirm that the Italian major film festival has become the Oscars harbinger. To me that's not good news as these films occupy spaces that should belong to other more interesting films, those that need a festival push for major world distribution. But well, the fact is La La Land (14), Arrival (8), Jackie (3), Hacksaw Ridge (6), and Nocturnal Animals (1) premiered at 2016 Biennale; also Tanna (1) but premiered at Venezia72. Still, the festival that has more movies honored by the Academy is, obviously, Cannes 2016 as Hell or High Water (4), Captain Fantastic (1) Elle (1), The Salesman (1), Loving (1), Toni Erdmann (1), My Life as a Zucchini (1), and La Tortue Rouge (1) premiered at this festival; also The Lobster (1) but premiered at Cannes 2015. Berlinale 2016 only has two films with nominations but one belongs to the Golden Bear winner, Fire at Sea; the other to Hail Caesar!
La La Land leads with fourteen (14) nominations to tie the record held by 1950 All About Eve and 1997 Titanic and beats the record nominations held by another musical film, Mary Poppins (13). Arrival and Moonlight follow with eight (8) nominations each and with six (6) nominations each, Hacksaw Ridge, Lion and Manchester by the Sea. With four (4) Fences and Hell or High Water; with three (3) Hidden Figures and Jackie; with two (2) Deepwater Horizon, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Florence Foster Jenkins, Kubo and the Two Strings, A Man Called Ove, Moana, Passengers and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
In the acting categories the best news is Isabelle Huppert getting her first Oscar nomination! Know many were hoping but most news were guessing if she could make it and just this morning, TV commentators say that race is between Emma Stone and Natalie Portman BUT after a major news host asked about Huppert as possible winner, answer came something like this: as she surprisingly made it, then maybe she can surprisingly win! (lol). Nevertheless, I'm very happy as there is no other female actor that works harder, travels almost all genres, has an extensive filmography, and SO-MANY extraordinary performances as Isabelle Huppert, she deserves all honors even when those came from a performance that is not her best!
Meryl Streep extends her lead as the most nominated performer with her 20th nomination, to think that someone recently call her "overrated" actress, perceptions and reality, sigh. Seven (7) individuals are first-time nominees: Andrew Garfield, Mahershala Ali, Lucas Hedges, Dev Patel, Isabelle Huppert, Ruth Negga and Naomie Harris; while six (6) are previous acting winners: Denzel Washington, Jeff Bridges, Natalie Portman, Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and Octavia Spencer. The most obvious acting snub goes to Amy Adams in Arrival, especial when film got so many honors today.
Actors get nominations for more roles than acting and this edition has Denzel Washington being nominated for Best Actor and producer of Fences; he's the seventh individual to receive those two nominations joining Warren Beatty, Kevin Costner, Clint Eastwood, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Bradley Cooper. Then there is Matt Damon who becomes only the third individual to be nominated in the Acting, Writing and Best picture categories; he joins Warren Beatty and George Clooney.
Let's recall that Academy members from each of the 17 branches vote to determine the nominees in their respective categories -actors nominate actors, film editors nominate film editors, etc. In the Animated Feature Film and Foreign Language Film categories, nominees are selected by a vote of multi-branch screening committees. All voting members are eligible to select the Best Picture nominees.
Active members of the Academy are eligible to vote for the winners in ALL 24 categories beginning Monday, February 13 through Tuesday, February 21. The Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 26 at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood and Highland center in Hollywood and will be televised on ABC from 7:00pm ET. The Oscars will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.
