Best Pictures #39: 2016 Academy Awards, My Pick for Best Picture

by A.J.

Best Pictures #39: 2016 Academy Awards

My Pick for Best Picture

The 2017 Academy Awards ceremony for films released in 2016, held on February 26th, will go down in history for its unprecedented, weird, wild twist ending. La La Land, with its 14 nominations, was the front runner in nearly every category according to betting markets, critics, insiders, and amateur prognosticators. The night started out with some surprises, most notably Hacksaw Ridge winning two Oscars for Editing and Sound Mixing--giving veteran sound mixer Kevin O'Connell his first win after a record 21 nominations without a win. Though it took home the most awards of any film at the 89th Academy Awards with a total of six, La La Land unexpectedly underperformed and, most surprising of all, did not take home Best Picture.

Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were the presenters of the Best Picture award at the end of the night. Beatty opened the envelope looked at the card, looked confused, then checked the empty envelope again, hesitated for a moment, then checked the envelope again. After a long awkward moment, he handed the card to Dunaway who read: La La Land. Two of the three producers of La La Land had gotten through their acceptance speeches and the third was about to speak when there was commotion on stage. The expressions of people on stage in the background were of confusion and disbelief. It was La La Land producer Jordan Horowitz that announced to everyone that, in fact, Moonlight had won Best Picture. Some of the La La Land cast and crew on stage were visibly, and justifiably, upset, but Horowitz was the epitome of class and dignity and graciously turned over the Oscar to the producers of Moonlight. 

The accounting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers counts all the of Oscar ballots and tabulates the winners, which are placed in the official envelopes and put in a locked briefcase handcuffed to a representative from the firm. For practical reasons, there are two sets of envelopes. Should anything happen and an envelope is missing, there is a backup. A close up freeze frame of the envelope in both Beatty and Dunaway's hands reveals that category on the envelope is: Actress in a Leading Role.

They were simply handed the wrong envelope. Beatty said that he opened it, it said "Emma Stone-La La Land" and he didn't know what to do, so when he showed it to Faye Dunaway she just read the name of the movie. Host Jimmy Kimmel tried graciously to take all the blame for the mix up saying that it was his fault and he won't be back next year. In reality, Kimmel was one of the best and liveliest hosts the Oscars has had in quite some time.

Early on in the night I thought: wouldn't it be nice if an independent film with no big name stars, about a troubled gay black man wins over the big Hollywood musical about the greatness of Hollywood? Then it didn't happen and La La Land won...then it did happen! I would not have voted for La La Land, but it would by no means be the Best Picture winner with which I most disagreed. It is a fine movie, but, frankly, I've seen it before, and I've seen it done better before. La La Land is simply another musical. Moonlight is filmmaking that approaches poetry. It takes a step back from the events happening to its main character, Chiron, allowing you to experience what he is experiencing. Moonlight is an art film, but it is open with its emotions and thus engaging. It is a special film that I've grown to like more and more.  

I'm very glad that Moonlight won, but it is still not the way I would cast my vote...

My Pick for Best Picture of 2016: Arrival

I didn't respond to any of the 2016 Best Picture nominees the way I responded to Arrival. It's rare that a science fiction film actually focuses on science instead of using the genre as a more interesting background for an action/fantasy story-- exactly what is the science in Star Wars? And, too often, when a science fiction film does focus on science it is to the detriment of the human aspect of the story. This is not the case with Arrival. It is a science fiction film brimming with pathos and thought provoking ideas.

There's so much to enjoy in Arrival: a new take on alien invaders, solid and even restrained filmmaking, and an excellent performance from Amy Adams. I was just as moved when I saw this film a second time as I was the first time I saw it in theaters. Perhaps the main reason for that is Adams' performance. The written language of the aliens is inventive and intriguing, as are the ideas it raises about language and time. The ideas it presents are interesting to ponder and move the story forward. Arrival is a serious science fiction film but it is also very entertaining. Genre conventions and references to other sci-fi movies are in the background, not the foreground, letting audiences enjoy this movie without constantly being reminded of other films in the same genre. Director Denis Villeneuve and screenwriter Eric Heisserer have crafted something poetic and profound.

Best Pictures #32: 2016 (89th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee, Moonlight

by A.J.

Best Pictures #32: 2016 (89^th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

Moonlight

You could call Moonlight a black coming of age movie. You could also call it a gay coming of age movie. Both statements would be true, but they would greatly reduce the substance of Moonlight and underestimate what it has to offer. Moonlight is about as far from an afterschool special as you could get. It is glimpse at a life and a world not often dramatized, or usually not dramatized well, that moves past expected clichés with ease and becomes an affecting work of art.

Moonlight is a film in three chapters. Each has a different actor portray the main character, Chiron, at different but important times in his life. In the first chapter titled “Little,” Chiron is a young boy being chased by bullies calling him “f*ggot.” He finds refuge not at home with his mother, but, in an abandoned apartment. It is there he meets Juan, a kind and benevolent man that gives the shy, quiet boy a meal and becomes a mentor and father figure to Chiron. It may seem a paradox that Juan, who is a decent man, is also the neighborhood drug boss and sells drugs to Chiron’s mother, but Chiron’s world is a confusing world. Juan’s time with Chiron is brief but greatly affecting and memorable. So, is Mahershala Ali’s performance, for which he has received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting actor.

The other two chapters, “Chiron” and “Black” show us Chiron’s teenage and adult life. Big chunks of time during which major events occur in his life are skipped between chapters. Other movies would have focused on these skipped moments but director Barry Jenkins prefers to suggest rather than show. It’s the right choice for this film. Chiron is a withdrawn, quiet person and his story is one of slow, quiet realization.

I’ve read at least one review that has used the phrase “cinematic poetry” to describe Moonlight. I wouldn’t use that exact phrase, though there is something poetic about the title of play Moonlight is based on, “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue.” The cinematography by James Laxton and the score by Nicholas Britell, orchestral and haunting, are a perfect moody match and both have received Oscar nominations. Moonlight is certainly an art film, but it is gentle, unpretentious, and dreamlike experience.

Nominee: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adele Romanski, producers

Director: Barry Jenkins

Screenplay: Barry Jenkins, story by Tarell Alvin McCraney, based the play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue by Tarell Alvin McCraney

Cast: Trevante Rhodes, Andre Holland, Mahershala Ali

Production Companies: A24, Plan B Entertainment, Pastel Productions

Distributor: A24

Release Date: October 21^st, 2016
Total Nominations: 8, including Best Picture

Other Nominations: Director-Barry Jenkins, Adapted Screenplay- Barry Jenkins, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Supporting Actor-Mahershala Ali, Supporting Actress-Naomie Harris, Cinematography-James Laxton, Editing- Joi McMillon, Nat Sanders, Original Score-Nicholas Britell