The 88th Academy Awards

The 88^th Academy Awards is going to be happening on February 28^th but what does that mean – does it really matter?  No, it doesn’t really matter; not really – well, partially.  While film making is an art and a business, I prefer the art side of the house.  Rewarding the art is fine but the rest of the event is suspect.  I am easily turned off by the bloated egos, the self-righteousness, the politics, and those God awful musical numbers.  Are the Oscars too white?  Perhaps, but we (the viewing public) have never had the chance to choose the films represented.  It has always been a crap-shoot.  The films that were selected are, just that, the films that are selected.  Fashion?  I don’t care who is wearing who on any ‘red carpet’ or the vermin who stalk those walking down said carpet pretending that what they are doing matters.  Stick with the art – stick with the storytelling.  That is the hook, the riff, the thing that truly brings the viewing audience back again and again the art of the story and who is going to be rewarded for telling some of the finest ones this past year.  Everything else is superfluous.  It’s not on point.    

The grumpy speech is now over.  Sorry, I had to vent before separating the wheat from the chaff.  

                                                  Chris Rock has hosting duties.

So, who is going to make room on their mantel for an Oscar or two this year?  It’s hard to say, it always has been.  In order to pick who wins an Academy Award one must breathe in, breathe out, think the way the Academy thinks – taking into account whichever way the popular & political winds are blowing.

And the nominees are… easily found right here: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/oscars-2016-complete-list-nominees/story?id=36271826

Best Picture?  It’s gonna come down to two “Mad Max: Fury Road” and “The Revenant”.  Who gets the gold?  The Revenant.  While Mad Max magnificently transcended the chase movie genera the Academy will only hear “Mad Max” and they will vote for “The Revenant”.

Best Actor?  Leo.  He’s due.

Best Actress?  Jennifer Lawrence. 

Best Supporting Actor?  Sylvester Stallone.  Tight race but The Academy will think to themselves, “Say, wasn’t Stallone nominated in the seventies for the same role?”  Nostalgia.  Stallone wins.

Best Supporting Actress?  Alicia Vikander.  Jennifer Jason Leigh would be my choice but the Academy has a love/hate relationship with Quinton. 

Directing?  I’d love to see George Miller pull this off for “Mad Max: Fury Road” but it will go to Alejandro G. Iñárritu for the reasons that I have already expressed.

Animated Feature Film?  Just give it to “Inside Out”.

Costume Design?  “Mad Max: Fury Road”.  The Academy will give Max this much.

Make Up & Hair Styling?  “Mad Max: Fury Road”.

Visual Effects?  Tight race.  Who wins?  “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”. 

Adapted Screenplay?  “The Martian”.

Original Screenplay?  “Ex Machina” or “Straight Out of Compton” – again a tight race.

…

So there.  That’s my list.  No, I have not seen all the films ~ the trick is with the Academy one does not have to.  Was I right?  Was I wrong?  Make your list, check it twice, try to get inside the heads of the Academy voters, tune in on February 28^th, and we’ll compare notes.  Further, if you have any tips on getting through those hideous dance numbers please let me know.  I’m looking forward to Chris Rock’s opening and getting down to the nitty gritty of things – the celebration of the art of storytelling. 

NOTE: this blog was written before the BAFTAs.  But my picks are lookin’ good!

Eagles Vs. Drones or Flying the Orwellian Skies

A video has been popping up on Facebook and, for one reason or another, it is sticking in my craw.  Here, look for yourself:  http://www.hlntv.com/articles/2016/02/03/dutch-police-use-eagles-to-battle-unwanted-drones

 Who defines "Unwanted"?

The headline reads, “Eagles vs. drones: A low-tech solution to a high-tech problem”. Basically a Dutch company, “Guard from Above”, is training eagles to ‘take down’ drones.  The pompous music starts as a stoic gentleman with a trained eagle on his arm sics the bird on a hovering drone.  The text states, “A low-tech solution to a high-tech problem”.  Problem?  Are the Dutch lousy with drones to the point that this needs to be a thing or is it a question of their government picking which drones are wanted (trust me, the ones run by the police or the government) or the unwanted ones run by, well, people with drones.  It begs the question, who defines "Unwanted"? 

                                                      Typical Dutch skyline.

Now look, I’m not talking about voyeuristic intention or invasion of privacy territory here – I’m talking about your casual, run of the mill, drone user.  The user who is responsibly taking video of all the beauty that the Dutch landscape has to offer.

 Look, a windmill!

In addition to the whole, man keepin’ you down thing, this can’t be good for these birds, right?  “Soar mighty eagle! Strait into the whirling propellers of that legally operated drone!”  Then there is the unexpected problem of retaliation that does not seem to have been taken into account.  There are those out there who will booby-trap their drones just to keep the aggressive eagle population at bay.  A modified Taser unit would probably do the trick.  50,000 volts, a flash in the low ceilinged sky, the eagle drops like Icarus who flew too close to the sun.  Too bad.  Such a majestic bird.  Such a medium-tech solution for a low-tech problem.  I bet the unscrupulous drone user would be carrying a lot of extra 9 volt batteries for the rig to set it again and again and again.  I wonder, how long does it take to train an eagle from a hatchling to snatch a whirling piece of plastic out of the sky?  Probably a lot longer than it takes to buy a box of 9 volt batteries.    

                                                                     ZAP!

I would never advocate such behavior but it is clear to see how it could happen. 

What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.  In order to stave off the Orwellian skies of the future the everyday Joe should be able to fly them too.  Otherwise it’s just one more tool only to be utilized by any police state.  You can cry, “it’s all for our security” all you want but without probable cause you are being watched consistently and categorically monitored.  This is no longer tin-foil hat wearing banter – this is the real deal.  This is life in the twenty-first century.   

Prior to this happening, keep smiling for the cameras, learn to fly the friendly skies, and charge up your EMP discharge device.  You just may need it.  

You Should Go See Deadpool

Yep, you should go see Deadpool. 

Don't bring the children - but, of course, you should know this already.  It is one of the finest from comic to screen transformations that has yet been made.  The humor, the fourth wall breaking, the violence - it all fits together to tell a twisted love story that will have you begging for Deadpool II. 

Stay for the end credits.  ...Some character named Cable just may be in it and that is a good thing.

Sunset

“It’s crowded.  What are these people staring at?” she said standing on one of the horizontal telephone poles that marked the line of demarcation between the asphalt and the sand. “There’s nothing to see.”

“They’re here for the sunset,” he said.

“It’s a cloud,” she said, “There’s nothing to see.”

“It’s like Key West,” he said standing next to her looking out at the scene before him.

“This is not Key West.” She said, sick of the sand, the people, and the cloud that was blocking her vision of the sun.

“No, in Key West the people are piled twenty deep against a fence.”

“Did you hear that man?” my wife asked me, “Piled against the fence. Twenty deep.” She was sitting and kicking the broken shells out of her sandals. My wife and I are taking a belated 25th anniversary trip to Florida and Key West is on our itinerary. We were both close enough to hear their conversation. Of course hearing their conversation wasn’t all that hard to do.

“Yeah, but did you hear her?” I asked looking out at the blazing colors that outlined the ‘cloud’ that the woman was so verbally distraught about. I looked back at where they were standing and they were gone – retreated to a gift shop or, more likely, their car. I was sure she would be bemoaning the fact that there were so many people “staring at nothing” far past her trip to Cape May.

My wife had not heard the woman. They were a middle-aged couple; I suppose they were about our age but as couples we were obviously looking at two completely different sunsets. I felt that I had to look again at the view and see it with eyes that weren’t poisoned by the woman’s freely offered but never asked for opinions. And so I did.

She missed it. She never saw the colors that exploded around the edge of the clouds – the shimmering feathers of light that were painted like bright orange brush strokes against the canvas of the sky. The sparkling reflection of ambient light on the water so close to where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Delaware Bay. She missed the magic – the celebration of another day turning into night. The thing about sunsets is that no two are alike. Each one is different, unique. Each has its own verse of poetry to whisper in your ear. You either appreciate that or you don’t. Sunsets are moments in time and moments are fleeting, they are unique - they are precious. 

I thought of the man on their car ride back to wherever it is they were from and whatever their life together has been thus far. “Poor bastard,” I said.

“What?” my wife asked.

“Huh? Oh, nothing,” I said and we returned to the sight before us.