I wrote two blog posts on Hollywood icon Mae West to accompany the PBS American Masters documentary on her life (I work on the show). Click below to read them, and if you’re a PBS Passport member, watch the film here.
She Was No Angel: 8 Mae West Quotes That Will Get Your Blood Flowing
These are my top 10 films of 2019.
For all annual top films lists from 2002 to the present, click on the “Annual Top Films Lists” tab above.
These are my top 10 films of 2018. And yes, I did see Roma, Green Book, The Favourite, and Bohemian Rhapsody, among many others.
For all annual top films lists from 2002 to the present, click on the “Annual Top Films Lists” tab above.
I’ve mentioned before how much I love the Academy Originals YouTube series, courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. There are well over 100 videos that cover filmmaker and celebrity insights, as well as what I love most, brief glances into the various crafts that come together to make a movie. The series dives into the work of screenwriters, cinematographers, composers, makeup artists, and so many more. Perhaps my favorite is the one I truly knew nothing about until I saw the video. What the heck are conlangers? You hear their work whenever you watch movies like Avatar or The Lord of the Rings, or watch a show like Game of Thrones. Learn about this interesting craft in under seven minutes.
Best Picture: Lady Bird
Actor: Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Actress: Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Supporting Actor: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Supporting Actress: Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Animated Feature Film: Coco
Cinematography: Roger Deakins, Blade Runner 2049
Costume Design: Mark Bridges, Phantom Thread
Directing: Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water
Documentary (Feature): Icarus
Documentary (Short Subject): “Heroin(e)”
Film Editing: Lee Smith, Dunkirk
Foreign Language Film: The Insult
Makeup and Hairstyling: Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski, and Lucy Sibbick, Darkest Hour
Music (Original Score): Alexandre Desplat, The Shape of Water
Music (Original Song): Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, “Remember Me” (Coco)
Production Design: Paul Denham Austerberry, Shane Vieau, and Jeffrey A. Melvin, The Shape of Water
Animated Short Film: “Revolting Rhymes”
Live Action Short Film: “DeKalb Elementary”
Sound Editing: Richard King and Alex Gibson, Dunkirk
Sound Mixing: Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo, and Mark Weingarten, Dunkirk
Visual Effects: John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert, and Richard R. Hoover, Blade Runner 2049
Writing (Adapted Screenplay): James Ivory, Call Me by Your Name
Writing (Original Screenplay): Jordan Peele, Get Out
We live in a democracy. Majority rules, right? Not always. Not at the Oscars, anyway (necessarily). You’d think that the process of deciding the year’s Best Picture would be as clear-cut as to award the movie with the most votes. But it’s not, and hasn’t been since 2008. (It doesn’t necessarily work that way to determine the US President, so why should determining the year’s top movie be any different?)
In 2009, when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) expanded its Best Picture nominations from five to 10 (now the number of nominees can be anywhere between 5 and 10), it reintroduced its preferential voting system, one that was last used from 1934 – 1945. The system is pretty complex, and with over 7,000 ballots to sort, it takes about a week for those famed accountants at PricewaterhouseCoopers to determine the winners.
A few of this year’s Oscar-nominated documentary short films are available free online (full versions below), while others are accessible on Netflix and HBO. Here’s how to watch all five.
IMDb description: Edith and Eddie, ages 96 and 95, are America’s oldest interracial newlyweds. Their love story is disrupted by a family feud that threatens to tear the couple apart.
Director: Laura Checkoway
Runtime: 29 min.
Continue reading How to Watch the Oscar-Nominated Documentary Shorts
Dear Academy,
You have enough on your plate. Nominee luncheons. Press releases. Etc. I get it. You don’t have time to watch all the nominated films. No worries. I’m pleased to step up to the plate, watch the movies, and offer my (informed) opinions. I know you’ve looked forward to this memo for the last nine years, so how could I possibly disappoint you by skipping a year? So attend your lunches and write your press releases lauding improved diversity numbers among your ranks. Leave the Oscars to me. I’ll take it from here.
Your Friend,
Dan Quitério
The tradition continues. I’ve been documenting my top films of the year since 2002, when Bowling for Columbine took the top spot. This past year had some real gems, including those that made this list, as well as some that didn’t, like low-budget indie The Florida Project and large-scale blockbuster Beauty and the Beast. Check out my 2017 list, then tell me what made your list.
I’ve always been fascinated by foley. For anyone interested in the art of filmmaking—especially sound—this is a good watch.
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