WGA Nominees Include 'I, Tonya,' 'Logan,' Snub 'The Post'

So the Writers Guild has announced its annual nominations for the best original and adapted screenplays of the year. They came in as follows:

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• The Big Sick
• Get Out
• I, Tonya
• Lady Bird
• The Shape of Water

Missing from the list was Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which wasn't eligible with the guild and not expected to show up, but it almost certainly will at the Oscars. Either in place of The Big Sick or I, Tonya. Paul Thomas Anderson's Phantom Thread was another dark horse contender that missed. The big surprise here though was the omission of The Post, which was eligible and plainly snubbed. The movie missed SAG noms and now the WGA in favor of I, Tonya, a film that's showing more strength so far than people thought. The Post is still a timely, well-reviewed Spielberg movie though, so it could easily show up in the Oscar nominations.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• Call Me By Your Name
• The Disaster Artist
• Logan
• Molly's Game
• Mudbound

Hey, Logan got nominated! The WGA seems to have a yearly tradition now of nominating at least one of the well received blockbuster superhero movies for screenplay, even though the movie never goes anywhere with the Oscars after that. Looks like Logan got that honor this year. The rest of these were more or less expected, as most of the best picture contenders are in original this year. I'm hopeful that Mudbound, one of my favorites of the year, will at least get a couple of Oscar nods, this one included.

Happy New Year! Welcome 2018

I'm back! I'd like to welcome the new year by saying that this site will be back live with regular postings again, including reviews, trailers, and updates for the coming year. It's been slow going these days, but I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season, and I'm ready to turn my attention back to my favorite shows, movies, and entertainment for the year to come. Hope you'll join me!

REVIEW: "Logan" (2017) Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart. Dir. James Mangold

The massive success of last year’s Deadpool opens the door for studios to green light more R-rated superhero projects. Or, at least it does for Fox, which agreed to fund an R-rated Wolverine movie for the first time, after the character has lived the entirety of his onscreen life in a bloodless, PG-13 world. The rating itself isn’t a guarantee of success, as Deadpool’s triumph wasn’t simply due to the filth aspect, but the lack of restrictions can lead an individual filmmaker to be more creative with the genre, something the X-Men franchise could benefit from. James Mangold takes full advantage of his opportunity with the final Wolverine film, which feels nothing like any other X-Men movie, and has more in common with a gritty, violent Western from the 1970’s. 

For starters, there is no reference to any event or character from any of the other films, a fact that makes it a true standalone, so don’t worry about continuity issues. The year is 2029, and Logan, aka Wolverine, is a beat up, broken down mess. It’s not exactly an apocalyptic universe, but mutants have stopped being born at all, leading to what we must presume is their ultimate extinction. Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart in his best ever performance as Professor X) is a 90-year-old man suffering from a dementia-like illness and hiding out in a Mexican warehouse where Logan must keep him alive with illegally procured meds that prevent seizures (in his case, events that paralyze everyone in the vicinity surrounding him and make him a danger to himself and others). Logan is tired, tired of life and of the constant killing that is and has always been the result of his adamantium claws that for the first time are shown to rip people limb from limb whenever he gets in a fight. His healing powers are no longer as strong as they once were either.

Newcomer Dafne Keen is a scene-stealer

It’s a desolate, depressing existence, made ever more brutal by the shocking, graphic bursts of bloody violence that accompany action scenes, the likes of which have not been seen before in the X-Men films. Eventually, we find out that a secret government program has been creating its own mutants using the stolen DNA codes of the existing (and likely dead) ones, which has led to a select group of genetically engineered adolescents, possessing the powers of their unknown parents. One of that group is Laura, played by 11-year-old Dafne Keen, who winds up in Logan and Charles’s care, and the three set out on a violent road trip intended to escape to freedom as they are being pursued by the feds. 

What sets this movie apart is the tone and pace of it, a complete departure from its predecessors. I’ve mentioned the bursts of violence, which are very brutal and may wear you out eventually, but there is real care taken in the development of Logan, Charles and Laura, who are exhausted, world weary survivors of the shattered mutant race that sees no real hope for evolution. For X-Man fans, this is probably pretty sad, as Professor X’s idealistic dream of peaceful mutant and human co-existence is revealed to be the ultimate façade. For non-comics fans, it’s a lengthy, deliberately paced, melancholic road movie, one where Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart play out a pseudo father-son relationship that’s doomed like everything else in this universe, but lent some added weight thanks to the 17-year history the two have of playing these characters. 

In some ways this film is an oddity, and one wonders if many fans will actually enjoy the hardened experience of it. Sentiment is enhanced by the character’s histories and the terrific performances from the leads (this is also the best Jackman has ever been), due to a screenplay that asks for more from them than any other entry in the franchise ever has. But Keen is also a standout, a tough, commanding presence that is in no way coached to be anything resembling a cute movie kid. The bond between her and Jackman takes its time, as do many scenes in the film itself, which misses the frantic pace of a typical action movie. The boldness of Logan in striking out its own path and its own integrity is to be admired on the part of writer-director Mangold, and it’s a fitting end to Jackman’s iconic two decade run as the character unlikely to be recast anytime soon.

* * * 1/2

The 'X-Men' franchise bids farewell to Wolverine and Professor X

Scarlet Johansson is a Futuristic Robot in 'Ghost in the Shell'

Despite the whitewashing controversy over casting a white actress in a what was a very famous Japanese animated film and franchise, everyone involved in the movie is pretty unapologetic about it and it's headed for a big release on March 31st. Unfortunately, it'll probably also be a hit and do nothing to discourage studios from continuing to refuse to cast Asian or Asian-American actresses as leads in these properties. 

Nicole Kidman and Kirsten Dunst Star in Sofia Coppola's 'The Beguiled'

Catching up on some of these summer movie trailers today. Sofia Coppola's films don't get much attention anymore, but I've always had a soft spot for them, having liked every movie she's made so far. This one is a remake of a 1971 Clint Eastwood vehicle and the creepy story is totally right for her sensibilities. Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell join old Coppola favorites Kirsten Dunst and Elle Fanning for the ensemble drama about a bunch of repressed Southern women who basically kidnap a Union soldier during the Civil War. It's coming out in June. Can't wait.

New Trailer for 'Kong: Skull Island' Ups the Action

This movie looks nuts. Looks like they're going for sort of a comedic, B-movie tone, with Samuel L. Jackson and John C. Reilly providing the comic relief, but without a comedy director at the helm, that's a tricky balancing act. Either they pull it off and it's big dumb fun, or it's really, really bad. Who knows with this one, but it can't get much worse than Peter Jackson's 2005 Kong movie. Comes out next Friday, March 10th.

'Moonlight' Defeats 'La La Land' for Best Picture in Most Stunning Finale in Oscar History

WOW. So...what can I even say???? This will go down as the infamous ceremony where the WRONG BEST PICTURE WINNER was actually announced on live television, given out, the winners were in the middle of their acceptance speeches, and then mayhem commenced as the mistake was realized, leading La La Land producer Jordan Horowitz to declare that Moonlight had won Best Picture, not them! Jaws dropped in the room, across the country and around the world, as confusion spread, seemingly in slow motion while the befuddled Moonlight winners then got onstage and the crushed La La Land people retreated, having to hand over their statues. Unbelievable! How did this happen?? Apparently Warren Beatty was given a duplicate of the Best Actress envelope with Emma Stone's win printed in it, which he didn't realize until he opened it, and clearly flustered and not knowing what to do, he handed it to Faye Dunaway, who blurted out La La Land as the winner, leading to the epic fail. This ultimately robbed the Moonlight crew from being able to have their moment unsullied, while simultaneously humiliating the La La Land team for good measure. In all 89 years of Oscar history, never before has such a thing occurred. 

• Best Picture: Moonlight
• Best Director: Damien Chazelle, La La Land
• Best Actress: Emma Stone, La La Land
• Best Actor: Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
• Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis, Fences
• Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
• Best Adapted Screenplay: Moonlight
• Best Original Screenplay: Manchester by the Sea
• Best Foreign Language Film: The Salesman
• Best Animated Feature: Zootopia
• Best Film Editing: Hacksaw Ridge
• Best Cinematography: La La Land
• Best Original Score: La La Land
• Best Original Song: “City of Stars,” La La Land
• Best Costume Design: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
• Best Documentary Feature: O.J.: Made in America
• Best Production Design: La La Land
• Best Visual Effects: The Jungle Book
• Best Sound Editing: Arrival
• Best Sound Mixing: Hacksaw Ridge
• Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Suicide Squad
• Best Short Film, Animated: Piper
• Best Documentary, Short Subject: The White Helmets
• Best Short Film, Live Action: Sing

Aside from the last five minutes, everything else that happened in the show feels ancient. I completely screwed up the techs on my predictions, leading to a pathetic 15/24 score (ugh), but seriously, who cares after that wild finish? And we do have to take a moment here to appreciate the fact that Moonlight, a $1.5 million budgeted movie about gay black men in Miami, won BEST PICTURE at the Academy Awards! That's incredible. This is the same academy that voted for Crash over Brokeback Mountain eleven years ago, which had been the biggest Best Picture upset ever until now. La La Land had won the DGA, PGA, BAFTA, Golden Globes and Critics Choice awards. How did it lose??? That alone is unprecedented. All I can think is that the backlash to awarding a fluffy musical over more important subject matter during this politically charged time we live in, must have had an impact during the voting after all. That and the preferential ballot they use for tallying Best Picture (ranking the films), in which a close race can make the movie that garners a lot of #2 and #3 votes just as important, if not more so, than #1's. That's how Spotlight won last year. La La Land was apparently much more divisive than people realized. It still won 6 Oscars to Moonlight's 3, so both films go home with big wins, but another interesting stat is that under this system of voting, only once in the last five years has Best Picture and Best Director lined up. That's a HUGE shift in Oscar history. Not since the 1930's have they seen such division in those two awards, which for decades had been so closely linked. But all stats aside, nothing can beat that crazy moment at the end of the show, already set to go down as the most insane in the history of the ceremony. What a strange and stunning ending. It was an unforgettable television moment.

Jimmy Kimmel hosts the 89th Academy Awards

Bill Paxton 1955-2017

Some bad news this morning, as it was announced that Bill Paxton has died at the age of 61, from complications due to heart surgery. A longtime veteran actor who appeared and starred in many films since the 1980's, most memorably including Terminator (1984), Aliens (1986), True Lies (1994), Apollo 13 (1995), Twister (1996), Titanic (1997) and A Simple Plan (1998). He starred in HBO's Big Love from 2006 to 2011 and was nominated for an Emmy for the 2012 miniseries Hatfields & McCoys. Most recently he'd guest starred on ABC's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. He is survived by his wife Louise and children James and Lydia.

'Moonlight' Sweeps the Independent Spirit Awards

The Indie Spirits took place as always on Oscar eve, with Moonlight winning the lion's share of prizes, including Picture, Director, Editing, Screenplay and Cinematography. The lead acting wins went to Casey Affleck and Isabelle Huppert while the supporting races refreshingly went to non-Oscar nominees Molly Shannon for Other People and Ben Foster for Hell or High Water. Also nice to see The Witch pick up two first-time feature awards.

INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARD WINNERS

• Best Feature: Moonlight
• Best Female Lead: Isabelle Huppert (Elle)
• Best Male Lead: Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)
• Best Director: Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)
• Best Screenplay: Moonlight
• Best Supporting Female: Molly Shannon (Other People)
• Best Supporting Male: Ben Foster (Hell or High Water)
• Best International Film: Toni Erdmann
• Best Documentary: O.J.: Made in America
• Best First Feature: The Witch
• Best First Screenplay: The Witch
• Best Cinematography: Moonlight
• Best Editing: Moonlight
• John Cassavetes Award (Best Feature Under $500,000): Spa Night
• Robert Altman Award (Best Ensemble): Moonlight

Casey Affleck got political at the podium- preview for tomorrow night?

2017 Oscar Predictions, Part Five: Director and Picture

So it’s time for the final predictions in the last two categories, which, unsurprisingly, are not that suspenseful this year.

BEST DIRECTOR

The 31-year-old director of 'La La Land' is the favorite to win the directing prize

• Damian Chazelle, La La Land
• Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge
• Barry Jenkins, Moonlight
• Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester By the Sea
• Denis Villeneuve, Arrival

Barring some kind of heretofore unknown resistance to him based on his age perhaps, Damian Chazelle is poised to become the youngest best director winner ever. He won the DGA, BAFTA, Globe, everything. But if there is a second choice, it’s Moonlight’s Barry Jenkins, who would be the first African-American to win this award. It’s a possibility- lately there have been more and more splits in Director and Picture, which used to be rare. But Chazelle is the undisputed frontrunner.

Winner: Damian Chazelle

Alternate: Barry Jenkins

BEST PICTURE

'La La Land' looks set to walk away with lots of Oscars

• Arrival
• Fences
• Hacksaw Ridge
• Hell or High Water
• Hidden Figures
• La La Land
• Lion
• Manchester By the Sea
• Moonlight

There’s not much point in picking anything besides La La Land. I have it pegged to win eight awards- I don’t think it will get more than that, but that would be the highest trophy haul for a BP winner since 2008’s Slumdog Millionaire. I really don’t think this movie deserves that many Oscars, but the precursor tally is undeniable. I can’t even make an argument for anything else to win the big prize, since none of the guilds were split this year. Everything lined up for this movie- the guilds, the Golden Globes, BAFTA and the Critics Choice awards. It’d be amazing if anything else won.

Winner: La La Land

Alternate: Moonlight (the second most critics awards)

Dark Horse: Hidden Figures (the box office, cultural importance and affection for it as the public’s choice give it a slim chance)

2017 Oscar Predictions, Part Four: Acting

Today it’s time for the acting awards. The big ones, along with Picture, that everyone who watches the Oscars basically tunes in for. 

BEST ACTOR

• Casey Affleck, Manchester By the Sea
• Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge
• Ryan Gosling, La La Land
• Viggo Mortenson, Captain Fantastic
• Denzel Washington, Fences

This is a really close race, like 50/50 close. But after believing Casey Affleck had this for so long, I’ve now become convinced that Denzel Washington is going to take it. Mostly it’s because of the SAG award. The Best Actor winner at SAG has won the Oscar for the last thirteen years. That’s a pretty strong stat. Affleck dominated the critics awards, won the Globe and won the BAFTA (where Denzel wasn’t even nominated), but something keeps gnawing at me that the momentum has shifted. First of all, Denzel gives a fantastic performance in Fences, one of the very best of his career, so this is more than deserved, and yet it’s hard to win three Oscars. Here are literally the only people who’ve done it: Meryl Streep, Daniel Day-Lewis, Jack Nicholson, Ingrid Bergman and Walter Brennan. That’s it. He’s joining a very small club, but everyone knows he’s more than worthy of being on that list, so I don’t think that’s a big hurdle. Also, his performance is a showy, theatrical, dominant kind of acting versus Casey Affleck’s subtle, understated, quieter role. In the past, the Academy has always preferred the former to the latter. I think it will this time too.

Winner: Denzel Washington

Alternate: Casey Affleck

BEST ACTRESS

• Isabelle Huppert, Elle
• Ruth Negga, Loving
• Natalie Portman, Jackie
• Emma Stone, La La Land
• Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins

This one’s much easier. Emma Stone won the Globe, SAG and BAFTA, so I don’t think anyone can challenge her here. If there’s an alternate it’s Isabelle Huppert, who wasn’t eligible for SAG or BAFTA, so they haven’t competed against each other yet, but I don’t think most of the Academy will even watch Elle, and those who do will probably be very uncomfortable with it. If Huppert wins it’s a career award, which is deserved, but I’m not sure many in the Academy are as aware of her entire career in France as film critics are. Interesting to note that Emma Stone will be the first Best Actress from a Best Picture winner since 2004’s Million Dollar Baby. Usually Best Actor goes with Best Picture, this year it’s finally the opposite.

Winner: Emma Stone

Alternate: Isabelle Huppert

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
• Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water
• Lucas Hedges, Manchester By the Sea
• Dev Patel, Lion
• Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals

Yikes. This one’s really hard, actually. Mahershala Ali did not dominate the precursors the way I expected him to. He won just about all the critics awards and the SAG, but the Golden Globe went to Aaron Taylor-Johnson from Nocturnal Animals (not even nominated for the Oscar) and BAFTA chose Dev Patel from Lion. Believe it or not, I think Patel has a really strong chance to win here. His role is much bigger than Ali’s, and lately the supporting awards have been going to people whose roles were clearly lead. Ali is also unknown, so fame wouldn’t put him over the top, while Patel was the young star of the one-time Best Picture winner Slumdog Millionaire, which was snubbed for any acting nominations back in the day. Plus, the industry seems to genuinely love Lion, which won the ASC award, was nominated for Scripter, and won screenplay AND supporting actor at BAFTA. If they want to give it something, this is the only place it’s likely to win. SAG is still a strong indicator, but given that supporting is where surprises tend to happen, and when they do, BAFTA is usually the place that predicts it, I think I may go ahead and choose Patel. It’s a bit of a risk though.

Winner: Dev Patel

Alternate: Mahershala Ali

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Viola Davis, Fences
• Naomie Harris, Moonlight
• Nicole Kidman, Lion
• Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures
• Michelle Williams, Manchester By the Sea

This time I don’t think there’s any way Viola Davis loses. She’s won every single precursor, so she’s in great shape. As the first African-American actress to get three acting nominations she’s already made history, and she’s due for a win after being famously beaten by Meryl Streep for Best Actress in 2011. It’d be shocking if anyone else took this.

Winner: Viola Davis

2017 Oscar Predictions, Part Three: Screenplays, Editing, Foreign, Animated and Documentary

Okay, moving on! Today we get to some slightly bigger categories, like the screenplays, plus foreign, animated and documentary films. 

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Kenneth Lonergan's script for 'Manchester By the Sea' has the edge in original

• 20th Century Women
• Hell or High Water
• La La Land
• The Lobster
• Manchester By the Sea

I think this belongs to Manchester By the Sea, but that’s just going off the bulk of the critics awards. The truth is Moonlight competed in original in several of the big precursors and won (like the WGA), while the Golden Globe actually went to La La Land. So with Moonlight over in Adapted, this is kind of a shot in the dark. But Manchester was highly praised for its screenplay, it won the BAFTA, and I don’t think the Academy will go with La La Land in this category, so…I’m sticking with that.

Winner: Manchester By the Sea

Alternate: La La Land

Dark Horse: Hell or High Water (also won quite a few critics prizes for this)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

'Moonlight' has a lock on adapted screenplay

• Arrival
• Fences
• Hidden Figures
• Lion
• Moonlight

Now this is Moonlight’s all the way. It won the USC Scripter award, which has guaranteed adapted screenplay for several years now, and the WGA, even if it was in original there. Lion won the BAFTA though, so if anything could beat it, it’d be that, but I don’t think it will.

Winner: Moonlight

Alternate: Lion

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

'Zootopia' remains the strong frontrunner in animated

• Kubo and the Two Strings
• Moana
• My Life as a Courgette
• The Red Turtle
• Zootopia

Zootopia swept the Annies, won the Golden Globe and most of the precursors, although Kubo and the Two Strings made a strong showing with critics, and just won the BAFTA, surprisingly. But with the enormous box office success of Zootopia plus the fact that the content of the film makes it one of the strongest anti-Trump statements AMPAS can make, I think it will win for sure.

Winner: Zootopia

Alternate: Kubo and the Two Strings

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

'The Salesman' rides momentum

• Land of Mine
• A Man Called Ove
• The Salesman
• Tanna
• Toni Erdmann

This category got kind of upended after the muslim ban situation, when it looked like director Asghar Farhadi would be banned from entering the country for the ceremony. That immediately launched his film The Salesman into top contention to win this award, and rightfully so, to be honest. Farhadi will not be attending in protest now, but I still think his film will win. Toni Erdmann had won the majority of precursors here, but in truth Farhadi’s film is more accessible narratively, and with him being a past winner for 2011’s A Separation, I don’t see how he doesn’t win this, with the chance to make such a huge statement by giving it to him.

Winner: The Salesman

Alternate: Toni Erdmann

BEST DOCUMENTARY

'OJ' still has the edge

• 13th
• Fire at Sea
• I Am Not Your Negro
• Life, Animated
• OJ: Made in America

OJ: Made in America is the frontrunner, having won almost all precursor awards, including the DGA and PGA documentary prize. But somehow I feel like this category isn’t necessarily sealed. This film is still facing the longstanding controversy over whether it should actually count as a movie or a television series, despite the fact that it was released in theaters briefly to qualify it for Oscar consideration. And Ava Duvernay has engaged in an enormous campaign for her film 13th, which just won the BAFTA. Meanwhile, I Am Not Your Negro has acquired major buzz and acclaim after being recently released in theaters. So, I’ll stick with OJ, but I’m feeling a little shaky about it.

Winner: OJ: Made in America

Alternate: 13th

Dark Horse: I Am Not Your Negro

BEST EDITING

'Arrival's best chance to win is in editing

• Arrival
• La La Land
• Hacksaw Ridge
• Hell or High Water
• Moonlight

This is where I’m going to take a risk. Best Picture frontrunners are always formidable here, but for some reason I feel like La La Land won’t necessarily win this one. Hacksaw Ridge could be the likely alternative (and it won the BAFTA), but I also think Arrival is possible, since it won the ACE Eddie for drama feature, and it’s unlikely to win anywhere else (and they do like the movie, having given it eight nominations). I’m taking a huge risk and going with Arrival for this one. But I really think all three movies are in the running here.

Winner: Arrival

Alternate: La La Land

Dark Horse: Hacksaw Ridge