It’s Oscar Time!
As an avid life-long Academy Award watcher, I’ve always enjoyed attempting to see all Oscar-worthy films, along with selecting my personal winners. The Oscars are my Super Bowl so to speak, an activity I look forward to every year. It’s no surprise to me that I ventured into the realm of film criticism, as my determination to view all of the films was typically a solo endeavor. Yes, I became very comfortable viewing films by myself, as I would urge you all to do as well. I’ve come to realize that some people feel uncomfortable going to a film by themselves; take it from me—it’s liberating!
For those of you that don’t know me here’s a bit about how I started in the film industry. Looking back I actually started thinking about some sort of career in film when I accepted my first ‘Film Extra’ job in Chicago working on the film, The Express, (2007) a true historical film centered on Ernie Davis the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy in 1961. It was a crazy first ‘Extra’ job as I wore a short wig and was placed in 1960s costuming along with hundreds of extras at Northwestern College Football Stadium in Evanston, IL. Little did I know that working on this film would lead to my first film writing column for a local magazine a few months later that same year.
(I’ll add more in future blog posts about my ‘Film Extra’ days, as they are very fond memories of mine.)
My official film journalism career began on June 8, 2008, of which I was invited by a Chicago publicist to interview three stars of the film, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl; Abigail Breslin, Joan Cusack and Chris O’Donnell for my monthly column Sarah’s Backstage Pass® in a local Naperville magazine I was writing for at the time. In the fall of 2009 I became a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association after submitting around 150 written reviews. As they say, the rest is history, with my main press outlets being radio as WINDam560 Hollywood 360’s weekly film critic and online free-lance writing.
I’ll update this blog until all of the main awards have been covered, here’s my take on Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor:
*ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE- Casey Affleck, Andrew Garfield could be the upset
Nominees: Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea), Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge), Ryan Gosling (La La Land), Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic), Denzel Washington (Fences)
Casey Affleck has a strong chance of winning for his guilt and grief role in Manchester By the Sea. His emotions are so deep; his soul appears to have been reduced to a hollow shell. We are saddened by his situation and root for him to find some sort of happiness; whatever that may be. Truly an authentic, remarkable performance.
However, I do feel that Andrew Garfield had the more physically challenging role. Oscar tradition does tend to lean toward that attribute as in Eddie Redmayne’s performance of Stephen Hawkings in 2015 for The Theory of Everything beating out favorite Michael Keaton in Birdman.
*ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE-Mahershala Ali
Nominees: Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water), Mahershala Ali (Moonlight), Dev Patel (Lion), Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea), Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals)
My favorite performance is Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea), playing a grieving teen navigating the feelings of the loss of a parent, while also attempting to find a new normal. Writer/director Kenneth Lonergan’s crisp, sharp script is written perfectly for this part, which by the way will probably win Best Original Screenplay. We root for Lucas, and more importantly, we care about him. He’s heart-wrenchingly sorrowful, with bursts of comedy while entertaining−−a pure delight to watch.
Dev Patel’s performance in (Lion), is complex as he’s mainly angry and frustrated as he also deals with feelings of the loss of a parent, who’s additionally, facing the overwhelming odds of being reunited with that parent. Dev has a great chance of winning as he has the added bonus of Oscar history on his side of playing a poor orphaned teen in the Best Picture Slumdog Millionaire in 2008.
Mahershala Ali as Juan, the drug dealer in (Moonlight) to Chiron’s crack-addicted mom part has the least screentime, but is a powerful, stand-alone performance. He’s an unlikely friend to Chiron, yet takes him under his wing and shows him the goodness in this world. I predict he will win, due to the incredible, unforgettable and beautifully filmed scene in which he teaches Chiron to swim. Oscar traditionally likes memorable lines, performances or a scene.
Sarah Knight Adamson© February 15, 2017