Oscar Nominations 2020


BEST PICTURE

“The Father”
“Judas and the Black Messiah”
“Mank”
“Minari”
“Nomadland”
“Promising Young Woman”
“Sound of Metal”
“The Trial of the Chicago 7″

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Maria Bakalova, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”
Glenn Close, “Hillbilly Elegy”
Olivia Colman, “The Father”
Amanda Seyfried, “Mank”
Youn Yuh-jung, “Minari”

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Sacha Baron Cohen, “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
Daniel Kaluuya, “Judas and the Black Messiah”
Leslie Odom Jr., “One Night in Miami”
Paul Raci, “Sound of Metal”
Lakeith Stanfield, “Judas and the Black Messiah”

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

“Another Round” – Denmark
“Better Days” – Hong Kong
“Collective” – Romania
“The Man Who Sold His Skin” – Tunisia
Qu Vadis, Aida? – Bosnia and Herzegovina

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT)

“Colette”
“A Concerto Is a Conversation”
“Do Not Split”
“Hunger Ward”
“A Love Song For Latasha”

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

“Collective”
“Crip Camp”
“The Mole Agent”
“My Octopus Teacher”
“Time”

ORIGINAL SONG

“Fight For You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah”
“Hear My Voice” from “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
“Husavik” from “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga”
“lo Sì (Seen)” from “The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se)”
“Speak Now” from “One Night in Miami…”

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

“Onward”
“Over the Moon”
“A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon”
“Soul”
“Wolfwalkers”

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

“Borat Subsequent MovieFilm”
“The Father”
“Nomadland”
“One Night in Miami”
“The White Tiger”

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

“Judas and the Black Messiah”
“Minari”
“Promising Young Woman”
“Sound of Metal”
“The Trial of the Chicago 7”

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Riz Ahmed, “Sound of Metal”
Chadwick Boseman, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Anthony Hopkins, “The Father”
Gary Oldman, “Mank”
Steven Yeun, “Minari”

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Viola Davis, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Andra Day, “The United States vs. Billie Holiday”
Vanessa Kirby, “Pieces of a Woman”
Francis McDormand, “Nomadland”
Carey Mulligan, “Promising Young Woman”

DIRECTOR

Thomas Vinterberg, “Another Round”
David Fincher, “Mank”
Lee Isaac Chung, “Minari”
Chloe Zhao, “Nomadland”
Emerald Fennell, “Promising Young Woman”

PRODUCTION DESIGN

“The Father”
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
“Mank”
“News of the World”
“Tenet”

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Sean Bobbitt, “Judas and the Black Messiah”
Erik Messerschmidt, “Mank”
Dariusz Wolski, “News of the World”
Joshua James Richards, “Nomadland”
Phedon Papamichael , “The Trial of the Chicago 7”

COSTUME DESIGN

“Emma”
“Ma Rainey’s Blackbottom”
“Mank”
“Mulan”
“Pinocchio”

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND

“Greyhound”
“Mank”
“News of the World”
“Soul”
“Sound of Metal”

ANIMATED SHORT FILM

“Burrow”
“Genius Loci”
“If Anything Happens I Love You”
“Opera”
“Yes-People”

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

“Feeling Through”
“The Letter Room”
“The Present”
“Two Distant Strangers”
“White Eye”

ORIGINAL SCORE

“Da 5 Bloods”
“Mank”
“Minari”
“News of the World”
“Soul”

VISUAL EFFECTS

“Love and Monsters”
“The Midnight Sky”
“Mulan”
“The One and Only Ivan”
“Tenet”

FILM EDITING

“The Father”
“Nomadland”
“Promising Young Woman”
“Sound of Metal”
“The Trial of the Chicago 7”

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

“Emma”
“Hillbilly Elegy”
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
“Mank”
“Pinocchio”

Movie Review: Boogie


There have been many films about young basketball players over the years, with main characters wondering if they can ever make it to the NBA, or even a college team. Nothing is easy for athletes in high school, there is only so much time in a day, to do homework, and attend class all day and then after school practice with the team. For the few who are very good, the pressure can be overwhelming. One bad game, one missed shot or one career ending injury. The odds are very long for Football and Basketball, maybe 1 in 10,000 great high school players will ever make it to the NBA or NFL.

The new movie “Boogie” is highly unusual because its about a very good Chinese Basketball player who has to overcome the rarity of any Asian making it to the NBA, or any major organized sport. During this film I was thinking about Jeremy Lin who had a miracle season with the New York Knicks some 10 years ago and even attended Harvard, creating an extremely rare sports sensation that may never be seen again. Lin lasted a few more years in the NBA, then went to the China and now is back in the G league trying to make it back to the NBA again. Everyone has to admire an athlete like Jeremy Lin who is doing his best with the highs and lows of being a professional athlete.

The problem with Boogie is that the story is not strong enough and there are not nearly enough impressive basketball scenes, making the movie mostly boring. There is some controversy over Alfred ‘Boogie’ Chin, played by Taylor Takahashi – possibly going to China for a $750,000 contract rather than taking a college scholarship that is somewhat interesting, as is his relationship with his girlfriend Eleanor played by Taylour Paige – but not nearly enough to save this film.

I agree with the low 47% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes and do not recommend this movie.

Amazon Prime Movie Review: Coming 2 America


Available on Amazon Prime, the sequel to 1988’s “Coming to America”, “Coming 2 America” has been released. Unfortunately this story committed the #1 cardinal sin of any comedy movie – it is just plain not funny. Not only is this film surprisingly unfunny, considering the first movie and the cast, it is also too long and very boring in too many areas. One would have thought after almost 33 years since the first film was released, that a better story idea would have been created and a much better screenplay would have been written. This is nothing more than a bad movie, highly unfortunate considering the cast and the quality of the first movie.

The cast is mostly the same, with the addition of Leslie Jones who plays Mary Junson who had a son with Prince Akeem (played by Eddie Murphy) 33 years earlier, during a drunken evening in Queens New York. Wesley Snipes plays the leader of another African nation that is threatening war with Prince Akeem’s country if one of his daughters or new son do not marry into this family. Other than these 2 new characters, there is nothing new here and definitely nothing funny, during the entire 2 hours. I actually remember feeling amazed at how boring and unfunny this movie was, with no surprises or new ideas during the entire run.

Amazon spared no expense with the sets and wardrobe with this lavish film, but unfortunately they raced through and commissioned a bad script, skipping over the obvious re-writes and creation of a better story that actually had some laughs or anything interesting. This movie was a slow moving nightmare to sit through and I was very happy when it was finally over. Odds are high that this sequel will ruin this franchise for good and I doubt there will be another sequel after this one.

I agree with all the very low ratings on Rotten Tomatoes – 47%. and IMDB 5.6 and do not recommend this mostly bad movie.