MovieManifesto

Now we’re getting somewhere. Having dispensed with the technical categories (in somewhat brisk fashion, I might add), we now move on to what I call the “Big Eight”. Why? Because they’re big – as in important – and there are eight of them. But seriously, while I concede that the majority of film fans aren’t particularly interested in fields such as Sound Editing and Art Direction, I’ll posit that even casual moviegoers may hold a vested interest in the winners of the Big Eight. First up are the screenplays (adapted and original), and they present quite a contrast this year, at least in terms of predicting the winner. One category features a surefire champion, while the other represents the most intriguing competition of all of Oscar-night.

Before I get to the analysis, I want to introduce a new feature of the Manifesto, unique to the Big Eight, called “My Ideal Ballot”. Loyal readers (hi Dad!) will know that in addition to the standard “Will Win” and “Should Win” analyses, I generally include a “Deserving” section, where I enumerate other high-quality contenders that failed to receive a nomination. I’ll continue on that tack, but with “My Ideal Ballot”, I’ll be limiting myself to five choices (including the actual nominees). The theoretical goal is answer a simple hypothetical: If I were an Academy member, what/whom would I nominate? It’s relatively easy to excoriate Oscar voters for their poor cinematic judgment, but I imagine it will be somewhat more difficult to place similar restrictions on my own analysis. We shall see.

Alright, let’s get to it. Read More

We now turn to what I term the “major” technical awards. While I recognize that the vast majority of moviegoers couldn’t care less about evaluating a film’s editing or production design, I honestly believe that the following categories are critical to a picture’s success (or, in some cases, failure). Do I have any evidentiary basis for this belief? No. That’s why I chose not to attend film school, so I can continue making bald claims about cinematic values without having any educational pedigree with which to defend them. It’s more fun this way. Alright, let’s get to it, starting out with most important technical award of the entire ceremony.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Avatar – Mauro Fiore
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – Bruno Delbonnel
The Hurt Locker – Barry Ackroyd
Inglourious Basterds – Robert Richardson
The White Ribbon – Christian Berger Read More

Hey, turns out the Oscars are in less than a week! Given that the Manifesto’s official raison d’être is to provide detailed analysis of every category of the Academy Awards, only I’ve yet to publish a single post-nomination prediction, I should probably pick up the pace. As a result, we’re instituting a Five-Post Plan this week, whereby I evaluate each of the 21 categories across, well, five separate posts. Given my style of writing (which could charitably be described as “less than brief”), such a task is about as difficult as the Patronus Charm, but duty calls.

For the first installment, I’ll be focusing on some of the “minor” technical awards. (Benefit of having a blog readership of fewer than 100 people: No disgruntled costume designer is going to send me a letter bomb after I characterize her life’s work as “minor”.) I’ll move on to “major” technical awards next, followed by the screenplays, then the acting categories, and finally Best Picture and Best Director. Of course, this is all theoretical, as it’s possible my Legal Writing professor will randomly assign a 5,000-word memorandum in the middle of the week, but I’m aiming high.

Let’s get to it. Read More

What could the Manifesto’s Oscar nomination predictions possibly have to do with the classic television show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”? I shall explain.

One of my favorite things to do as I walk through life is to make references to my favorite movies and TV shows whenever possible. It is, I find, one of the ways in which I add value to the world. For example, one of my proudest moments at my old job occurred when I pretended to stumble into a meeting and mock-screamed, “It’s O.K., I’m here, we can start the meeting now!”. My buddy Pat recognized the reference to Anchorman. He laughed. It was funny.

Alright, maybe you had to be there, but the point is that my brain tends to operate on this level, and I know I’m not the only one – everyone appreciates a well-timed movie reference. Of course, I recognize that, if abused, this technique can go from “amusing” to “tedious” to “I’m going to kill your family if you quote ‘Seinfeld” one more time”. (Judd Apatow recognized this as well, which is why for his brilliant TV show “Undeclared” he created a character who spoke exclusively in movie quotes and drove everyone around him completely crazy.) But for the most part, whilst in conversation, the spontaneous delivery of a pertinent movie reference constitutes an incredibly high form of humor. Like dick and fart jokes. Read More