by John | Feb 23, 2018 | Industry News
We continue our Oscars prediction by looking at the big guns in the acting categories…
By Jamie White.
The glitz and the glamour of the Oscars really comes alive when we get to the main acting categories. These categories are arguably the most entertaining and interesting for the general audience, and this year interesting is the right word!
Best Actor
Timothée Chalamet, “Call Me by Your Name”
Daniel Day-Lewis, “Phantom Thread”
Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out”
Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour”
Denzel Washington, “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”
This category seems pretty straight forward, to be honest – even with Daniel Day-Lewis involved!
DARKEST HOUR is one of the most blatant examples of an Oscar-bait film we’ve seen since… well LA LA LAND. Hollywood loves movies about Hollywood, after all. But, Churchill just seems like a character that someone would win an Oscar for playing. It’s about time Gary Oldman got one, too.
This category does seem to already be over, and it reminds us of the time Leo won his Oscar – the joke about him never winning was running thin, and the same can be said for Oldman. It would be a genuine shock if Oldman didn’t win this.
Best Actress
Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water”
Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya”
Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird”
Meryl Streep, “The Post”
Now this category seems more like it! And again, we don’t think the Oscar nominee stalwart in this group (sorry, Meryl!) is gonna come out on top.
For us, we see this as a three-way stand-off between McDormand, Robbie, and Ronan. McDormand is definitely the front-runner, and rightly so. And if the love for McDormand at the BAFTAs is anything to go by, this should be as much a walkover as the male category should be for Oldman.
But for some reason our very own John Sullivan has this voice in the back of his head saying “It’s Margot’s time!” Similar wins have happened in the recent past (see Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Stone). But, maybe another year, John. This time we’re gonna overrule you! McDormand all the way for us.
Agree with our predictions or not? Let us know on Twitter and Facebook! Next we look at the big one – Best Picture!
© WriteMovies 2017. Exclusive to WriteMovies – To syndicate this content for your own publication, contact ian (at) writemovies dot-com.
by John | Feb 19, 2018 | Industry News
2018 Oscars Predictions: Supporting Actors and Actresses. By Jamie White.
The supporting actors categories don’t’ always get the recognition they deserve. They’re sometimes overlooked because the main acting category gets SO much attention. But this year may be the most interesting and competitive supporting acting categories yet… here’s our 2018 Oscars predictions for the Supporting Actors categories…
Supporting Actor
Willem Dafoe, “The Florida Project”
Woody Harrelson, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Richard Jenkins, “The Shape of Water”
Christopher Plummer, “All the Money in the World”
Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Five great actors with nominations in a category so competitive it sees two actors from the same film challenging each other!
And in truth, it would be a bit of a shock if THREE BILLBOARDS didn’t see one of its stars win out here. Both Harrelson and Rockwell were excellent performers in this masterpiece.
To choose one is difficult, though. But considering the critical buzz about his performance and his BAFTAs success last night, we’re leaning towards Rockwell taking this little gold man home.
Supporting Actress
Mary J. Blige, “Mudbound”
Allison Janney, “I, Tonya”
Lesley Manville, “Phantom Thread”
Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird”
Octavia Spencer, “The Shape of Water”
As if it couldn’t get any harder to predict a winner…
A truly outstanding group of nominees here, including Octavia Spencer who is now tied for most Oscar nominations for a black actress (tying with Viola Davis). But while we love THE SHAPE OF WATE and Guillermo Del Toro, the film’s acting isn’t it’s strongest suit.
We see this category as another two-way head-to-head, this time between Allison Janney and Laurie Metcalf – and once again, it almost hurts to pick a winner here!
But we will – and we’ll give it to Metcalf. Despite missing out to Janney at the Globes, we think this will be Metcalf’s night for her astounding performance in LADY BIRD.
Agree with our predictions or not? Let us know on Twitter and Facebook! Next we’ll look at the main acting categories…
© WriteMovies 2017. Exclusive to WriteMovies – To syndicate this content for your own publication, contact ian (at) writemovies dot-com.
by John | Jan 29, 2018 | Industry News
WriteMovies Oscars Nominees Reaction: Original Screenplay – The Original Screenplay category is where we have a couple of big hitters come into play… GET OUT and THE SHAPE OF WATER will be the big favorites for this category – and rightly so. Both are outstanding pieces that deserve some recognition in this category.
But let’s not forget the other three. THE BIG SICK, LADY BIRD, and THREE BILLBOARDS are all strong in their own right, and LADY BIRD in particular could challenge the big two in this category.
What is particularly interesting in this category is that THE BIG SICK is the only film that does not have its writer(s) also directing, while Jordan Peele, Guillermo del Toro, and Greta Gerwig have all received directorial nominations, respectively. This category is so difficult to call – and that’s just great! John and Jamie will try and call it anyway, though…
Predictions
John: Well, well, well… what a toughie! I don’t think there will be a surprise here, though. I’m going for GET OUT here.
Jamie: As much as I love del Toro, I think GET OUT or LADY BIRD will take this. And because I think del Toro will take Directing, Peele will get this as a “consolation”.
© WriteMovies 2017. Exclusive to WriteMovies – To syndicate this content for your own publication, contact ian (at) writemovies dot-com.
by John | Jan 26, 2018 | Industry News
With the full list of Oscars nominees having been revealed this week, it’s time to get excited for the most glamorous awards ceremony in America. THE SHAPE OF WATER leads the way with 13 nominations, while Meryl Streep got her annual nomination for just appearing in a film (this time it’s THE POST), and there were one or two surprises. One of which happened in the screenplay categories. So, let’s take a look, shall we?
Adapted Screenplay Nominees:
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, James Ivory
THE DISASTER ARTIST, Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber
LOGAN, Scott Frank & James Mangold and Michael Green
MOLLY’S GAME, Aaron Sorkin
MUDBOUND, Virgil Williams and Dee Rees
The Adapted Screenplay category is one of the most debatable categories considering the projects excluded. It feels strange to not have further biopics included in this category – THE DARKEST HOUR immediately springs to mind as one noticeable exclusion. But this category has one nomination that will spark some conversation…
The category is fairly… understated really. All excellent films, but this category doesn’t have the same stand out picks as others do. Still, some interesting inclusions. Most notably, LOGAN. This is the FIRST superhero film (that we can think of) that has been nominated in the Adapted Screenplay category. THE INCREDIBLES got a nod for Original Screenplay, making LOGAN only the second superhero film to EVER get an Oscar screenplay nomination.
The rest of the category isn’t as “standout” because of that, but some noticeable inclusions of THE DISASTER ARTIST and MOLLY’S GAME add some meat to the bones. CALL ME BY YOUR NAME and MUDBOUND are perhaps lesser-known to wider audiences, but the latter should definitely not be discounted considering it’s WWII setting and juxtaposition of white and black veterans; with GET OUT a strong contender this year, do not count MUDBOUND out!
Predictions…
John: I think considering the hype of GET OUT, and the racial tensions and relations in this country, MUDBOUND could be the winner here.
Jamie: I would love it if LOGAN won and set the new precedent for superhero/comic book films. It’s not even a superhero film really! Saying that… I think THE DISASTER ARTIST may take its token award in this category…
Watch out for our thoughts and reaction to the Original Screenplay nominations coming Monday…
Check out the full Oscars nominees list here: http://variety.com/2018/film/news/list-2018-oscar-nominations-1202668757/
by John | Apr 6, 2017 | Our pick of the web for writers and producers, WriteMovies News
Our pick of the web for March 2017 – From the @WriteMovies Twitter Feed!
Our @WriteMovies Twitter feed has been sharing lots of exciting things giving our tips of the best new articles, insights and offers for screenwriters and producers on the web. And in case you’ve missed anything there, here is our pick for March 2017… (more…)
by John | Mar 6, 2017 | Our pick of the web for writers and producers, WriteMovies News
Our pick of the web for January & February 2017 – @WriteMovies Twitter!
Our @WriteMovies Twitter feed has been sharing lots of exciting things giving our tips of the best new articles, insights and offers for screenwriters and producers on the web. And in case you’ve missed anything there, here is our pick for January and February 2017… (more…)
by John | Mar 2, 2017 | Movie Reviews and TV Reviews, WriteMovies News, Writing Insights
Here’s our 2017 Oscars reaction… by John Sullivan
Well, that was unexpected… Another Oscars night to remember, but this time for all the wrong reasons. The glitz and the glamor of the awards became overshadowed by a massive screw up during the Best Picture announcement. But we’ll come back to that. Now that the results are in (unless I have the wrong card, too…) we can take a look at how the night went… I think we all know how it went. (more…)