Oscars 2017: Semi-Final Thoughts

The Academy wisely ignored ‘Nocturnal Animals’ but Michael Shannon probably deserves the Oscar for his performance

Oscars 2017: Passengers

Aurora’s a writer, or a wannabe writer anyway; she’s the sort of young writer who probably hangs around the futuristic version of Starbucks penning things like ’15 Ways to Get the Best Hypersleep’ for Buzzfeed.

Oscars 2017: La La Land

Nothing else in the film comes close to the perfection of the opening sequence, but that’s the point.

Oscars 2017: Best Production Design

The Academy Award for Production Design tends to go to the big, attention-getting sets. Recent winners include Sweeney Todd; The Grand Budapest Hotel; The Great Gatsby; Pan’s Labyrinth; and last year’s winner, Mad Max: Fury Road.

Oscars 2017: Best Original Song

As with almost every other category this year, La La Land is going to be the one to beat. While Justin Hurwitz is probably going to win a statue for Best Original Score, he faces a bit of a challenge in the Original Song category. He is in fact nominated twice for Best Original Song, so […]

Oscars 2017: Best Original Score

Here are the composers nominated for Best Original Score. Justin Hurwitz is more than likely going to win for his work on La La Land because the film has the most nominations and it is a musical, after all. Hurwitz also has two original songs nominated). Thomas Newman has been nominated an astonishing thirteen times already and […]

Oscars 2017: Hacksaw Ridge

Hacksaw Ridge is a throwback in many ways, not least in the depiction of the army platoon, filled with boisterous 1940s types with names like Teach, Hollywood, Grease and Smitty, who all look and talk like they just stepped out of a Van Johnson movie.

Oscars 2017: Hell or High Water

There is a fifth character, and it’s West Texas itself: all depressing small towns, poverty, country music, and cowhands.

Oscars 2017: Arrival

Some viewers might feel that the film is a bit of a cheat, getting to have its intellectual cake and a sentimental slice of it as well.

Oscars 2017: The Nominations

The Academy Award nominations were announced this morning. Most of the names were expected, but there were a few surprises and snubs. The snubs: No Amy Adams for Arrival. No Martin Scorcese for Silence. No Annette Bening for 20th Century Women. No Sully. No Deadpool … nothing at all. The surprise nominations: The Lobster […]

The Fluff Is Raging

Flufferings on Arts, Culture and the Perpetual Allure of Uma Thurman by an Irish ex-pat currently at large in Canada

Oscars 2017