2017 Oscar Picks

Okay People!

Lets start with a recap :

The last two years I've been batting about a .500 average. That's great if i'm playing baseball but horrible if we're talking final exam grades.

Me and the Academy don't agree but I love movies and I need content for this blog so here we go again for the 3rd Annual Fat Dreek's Oscar Picks :

Best Picture : La La Land

I am NOT a fan of musicals, and I'm not necessarily a fan of this movie but I know the Academy. The Artist (the silent movie a few years back), The Kings Speech (the boring movie about George the Vi), and Birdman (the one continuous shot movie, not the "Are we finished or are we done" guy) all have took home Best Picture. If I am to base my pick on history than La La Land should bring home the gold.

This movie is basically a clever way of telling the classic Boy meets Girl story. I told a friend of mine that the movie is GREEZY (Great + Cheezy). There is no denying the talent with the two lead actors. The songs within the musical were great songs. The directing by Damien Chazelle was superb as well.

Now let me use this category to vent a HUGE frustration! SILENCE SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED AND SHOULD FOR BEST PICTURE AND SHOULD HAVE WON! I don't know who Martin Scorsese screwed over, but Silence was the best picture I saw this past year and its a crime that it wasn't nominated for more awards from acting to directing.

Moonlight may pull off the upset here, so dont be stunned.

Actor In A Leading Role : Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic)

This was a tough one, and Im probably wrong but I just have to go with who I liked the most. Captain Fantastic is about a man who lives in the woods with his family. Its simple as that. Viggo is able to portray a range of emotions and I just loved the guy. Its simple as that. Denzel was great in Fences but I felt that Viola was the wave and Denzel just rode it. I would have liked for Denzel to have received a directing nod for Fences because it was wonderfully directed.

Let me regurgitate some frustration! ANDREW GARFIELD SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED FOR SILENCE AND HE SHOULD HAVE WON THE OSCAR FOR HIS ROLE! Maybe the Academy just hates Christian movies, but Andrew Garfield was wayyyyyy better in Silence than he was in Hacksaw Ridge.

Actress In A Leading Role : Emma Stone (La La Land)

I hate Emma Stone's eyes. Luckily Damien Chazelle went easy on the close ups compared to Alejandro González Iñárritu who zoomed in on her eyes every chance that he could get in Birdman. It took a special person to pull off this role and Emma executed on all levels with the dancing, the acting, and the singing. I also loved Natalie Portman as Jacqueline Kennedy but that seemed a little easy to pull off compared to La La Land. 

Actor In A Supporting Role : Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

This is my favorite actor at the moment so I maybe biased. Jeff Bridges and Michael Shannon play the same character in different movies, but here comes the frustration again...
SHINYA TSUKAMOTO SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED FOR SILENCE. 
I don't think he out shined Mahershala, but his role was remarkable and memorable. Replace him with Michael Shannon!


Actress In A Supporting Role : Viola Davis (Fences)

Nothing here to see people. Emma Stone should thank the Heavens that she wasn't nominated in her category or she would've been out of luck. Naomie Harris was cool, but she was basically the skinny Caribbean version of Monique in Precious.

Cinematography : Rodrigo Prieto (Silence)

The only stupid category that this masterpiece got nominated for (Im getting frustrated again) Rodrigo has been snubbed before so hopefully he'll invite the whole cast and crew on stage when he wins!

Best Director : Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

This will probably go to Damien Chazelle for La La Land, but I felt like Barry Jenkins did a lot more with a lot less. 3 no-named actors playing the lead and he was able to put together a great film. MARTIN SCORSESE SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED AND SHOULD HAVE WON THIS CATEGORY! 

Documentary : I Am Not Your Negro

I loved the OJ Documentary, but I think Im biased because I lived through it so it hits home a little more, but I Am Not Your Negro was great from beginning to end. So great I had to rewatch it because I missed the first 5 minutes of it originally (CP TIME). James Baldwin was a great mind and this movie was beautifully pieced together. Life, Animated was inspiring and I just didn't like Fire At Sea.

Adapted Screenplay : Eric Heisserer (Arrival)

Im usually wrong on my Adapted Screenplay predictions, because I never read the source material. I just assume Arrival was difficult to adapt because of the whole Alien dilemma and then the underlying stories underneath it. It has some Interstellar mixed with Gravity in it. Hidden Figures was great too and I wouldn't be upset if it won too. JAY COCKS SHOULD HAVE WON BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY FOR SILENCE!!

Original Screenplay : Mike Mills (20th Century Women)

I don't want La La Land to get all of the love at the Academy so I like Mike Mills for the upset. I enjoyed the writing in this movie very much. Its a story that's been told before but the approach that Mike Mills took was refreshing. As long as The Lobster doesn't win. That movie was terrible. Couldn't even finish it.

Moral of the story is, Silence got hosed and that pisses me off but not as much as my Falcons losing the Superbowl in an embarrassing fashion. Also, kids did real well in the movies this year. I hate kids in movies, but this year churned out some great performances!

That's it for this year. Lets see if I can get my batting average up!

See ya at the movies

Fatdreek

My Atlanta Falcons

I saw the potential.

I saw this day coming the day we announced the hire of Dan Quinn, the defensive coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks.

Our previous coach, Mike Smith, wasn't a terrible coach, but he wasn't a championship coach.

When it comes to sports, i live by one rule. If you aren't going to win us championships, then its adios!

That's why I didn't care when my Atlanta Hawks got rid of Jeff Teague and Al Horford.

I don't care when the Braves uproot their whole roster every other year.

I didn't sweat it this past off-season when Roddy White and William Moore were cut from the Falcons roster even though I personally loved both of those players.

Mike Smith was going to win games, but something was missing!

You know! That "IT" factor.

I felt different about Dan Quinn...

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Let me back track a little. I'm not a lifelong Falcons fan. I didn't go to my first game until 2011. I definitely watched a few games with Deion Sanders as a kid and I watched the Superbowl in 1999 when Elway and Terrell Davis (congrats on the HOF entry last night) put the beats on us. I was in college with no TV from 2002-2006 so I didnt get to see every Michael Vick game (I definitely saw the playoff performances). My Falcon diehardness came in 2007. My brother Jack bought me my first tickets to a Falcons game. My boy Eric opened a few Verizon Stores and since they were a sponsor of the Atlanta Falcons, we got some cool perks like sitting in the Verizon suite at the Georgia Dome and being on the sideline of some Falcon training camp practices (Pictures below). So this is the first Superbowl for my Falcons where I know what is going on. I know our strengths and I know our weaknesses.

 I'll be honest. I thought it would take a couple of more seasons. Last year, our defense was slow and our O Line was swiss cheese.

I was super excited about the Alex Mack signing this off-season.

I don't watch college football, so I just put my faith in the scouts (and their YouTube highlight videos) when they drafted Deion Jones, DeVondre Cambpell, and Keanu Neal. I talked to Jim Carrier about the picks and he assured me they were solid picks.

I figured that in 2-3 years, our team will be solid as long as Matt Ryan and Julio Jones could stay healthy.

Luckily and fortunately I was wrong.

We've been amazing and I have enjoyed the ride. We lost the first game of the year against Tampa Bay, but something seemed different.

As the season rolled on, the offense became more fluid and more fluid and MORE FLUID.

After the bye week, our defense has transformed from Boys 2 Men!

Matt Ryan developed such a swagger behind a offensive line that held up for more than 5 seconds.

I've argued the last few years about Matt Ryan aka Matty Ice.

Matt Ryan has always been a solid quarterback. I'm not going to say he didn't make his share of mistakes, but which quarterback doesn't. Eli Manning has 2 Super Bowl rings and he is KING mistake. Matt Ryan put up consistent numbers and I knew if he had a defense that could create turnovers and an O line that didn't resemble an old pair of drawers, he would succeed. NOW HE'S THE MVP!

The defense still needs some maturing, but with Vic Beasley and Jalen Collins, and the the rookie additions this off season, we've became the greatest terrible defense in history!!

Imagine next season when we get Desmond Trufant back!

We sailed through the best defense in the playoffs and the most dangerous quarterback in the playoffs, and now we come to Bradycek!

I believe Belicek is a cheater. He just wants to win. I can respect it. When our Offensive Coordinator's playbook came up missing and drones were flying above our practice session, I thought "ahhhh, That's Belicek"

This 51st Superbowl victory would mean a lot to me personally. I've rid for these boys back when Michael Turner was our star player. It will come down to our defense making some sort of plays against the great quarterback of all time. I believe! The greatest part about it is that this could be the beginning of a long stretch of victories. The team is built for the long run.

So lets RISE UP!!!!!!!

In the Verizon Suite

In Flowery Branch watching the Falcons training camp

On the sideline getting my Belicek on

Greatest game I ever been to! Falcons vs Seahawks in the playoffs in 2012

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One of many signed balls. JULIO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our current MVP "Matty Ice"

During my 2 years as a season ticket holder when I won a Season Ticket Holder Fantasy League

Getting my William Moore jersey signed by "Willie Mo" himself!

Birthday present from the wifey! Got a lot more to get! 

Me and Eric's last game in the dome where we sent Seattle a packing

I appreciate you Atlanta Falcons. Best of luck tonight,

Signing out,

Fatdreek

Batman vs Superman Review

My brother in law said that Batman v Superman : Dawn of Justice was the "most awesomest" movie he's ever seen....

I need to sit my brother down at the crib for a weekend and show him A LOT of movies then.

I give Batman v Superman a C+

It got a D+ in the Atlanta Journal Constitution

Its got a 29% on Rotten Tomatoes (That is horrible, lol)

It made $420 million in one weekend around the world on a $150 million budget so who really lost?

I'll tell you the problem with the movie and movie goers alike.

Let me start with the movie goers :

The last time we've seen Batman in theaters was in The Dark Knight Rises which I thought was excellent. Wasn't as excellent as The Dark Knight but excellent nonetheless.

Christopher Nolan was the director and co-writer of the last three Batman movies,

Christopher Nolan's brother, Jonathan Nolan, co-wrote the last two Batman movies.

Christopher and Jonathan Nolan are cinematic geniuses.

The Nolans have written Interstellar, The Prestige, and Inception,

I tell you their resumes to tell you this.

If you walked into Batman vs Superman : Dawn of Justice expecting a Nolan sculpted masterpiece, you're going to be disappointed.

Batman vs Superman : Dawn of Justice was directed by good ole Zack Snyder.

Mr. Snyder directed and wrote the ultimate guy movie 300.

He also directed Watchmen as well.

I enjoyed both of those movies, but they aint  no Christopher Nolan movie (excuse my grammar).

Batman vs Superman : Dawn of Justice was written by Chris Terrio and David S Goyer.

Now David S Goyer wrote story lines for Batman  Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises so any good story lines in the movie can be attributed to this guy.

On the other hand, Chris Terrio adapted Argo into a screenplay. Ben Affleck probably owed the guy a favor, and got him a writing gig for this movie. (Ben Affleck won a Best Movie Oscar for Argo)

Argo was a great story, but adapting a magazine article is a little different than adapting a comic book. Especially the two biggest comic superheros in history.

So any bad story lines, I'm going to attribute to Mr. Terrio.

I say all of that to say this...

If you go into this movie KNOWING that its not going to be a Nolan written/directed new classic, you'll be okay.

Now lets focus on the movie :

Eh!

Im neither here nor there.

There were some cool moments in the movie.

I dont want to spoil anything, but I was pleased with the ending.

Ben Affleck did a great job playing Batman.

Christian Bale was a great Bruce Wayne but Ben Affleck was a great Batman.

Facebook guy (I dont know his name) played a great Lex Luther too.

The casting was decent but the story line was all over the place.

Batman and Superman only fought once.

Lois Lane had too much of a role.

I think the story line spent so much time setting up future Justice League movies that it took away from the story line at hand.

I think another factor that yielded the poor reviews from critics is the success of Deadpool.

Deadpool set the bar high for superhero movies to come.

C+ is what it is.

You may enjoy it, you may hate it, but you WILL see it (or you wouldnt have made it through this post). Let me know what you think on facebook.

Signing Out,

Fatdreek

2016 Oscar Picks

Best Movie : Spotlight

To me, the best movie Oscar has to go to the film that was entertaining throughout and have excellent acting, and that was Spotlight through and through. It tackled a very difficult subject and every single stinking role was acted to perfection. Bravo to the casting directors! If the Oscar goes to any move else, it will be the Revenant just because of the stuff that Alejandro was able to pull off and the acting of Leonardo.

Best Director : Alejandro Inarittu (The Revenant)

Mr. Inarittu is a MASTER director. Last year's Birdman was brilliant (directing wise, it shouldn't have won the Movie of the Year). Inarittu will probably get the Back 2 Back and hopefully at the Oscars afterparty, he'll have Drizzy Drake perform the song for him. I don't want to spoil too much of the movie, but only a master director could have pulled this off. George Miller might pull off the upset because he's old, and Mad Max did have some cool stunts in there, but I wasn't too impressed about playing in the dirt for 2 hours.

Best Actor : Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)

This one breaks my heart to type, and I pray that I'm wrong, but I feel like Eddie Redmayne should bring home the Best Actor Oscar for the 2nd year in the row. (Cue Drizzy Drake again) I am a HUGE Leonardo DiCaprio fan, and maybe the Oscars can give it to Leonardo since he was robbed for The Wolf of Wall Street. & since I didn't feel that Eddie deserved the Oscar last year for portraying Stephen Hawking, maybe the Oscars can right their wrongs. With all of that said, I'm not biased. Eddie portraying the 1st Caitlyn Jenner of all time was brilliant brilliant brilliant.

Best Actress : Brie Larson (Room)

This should be a pretty easy pick for the Academy this year. No other performance stood out like Brie's did. I enjoyed Charlotte Rampling in 45 Years but Brie Larson should be a shoo-in!

AND Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)

In a stunning twist, Brie Larson will hop on stage and then dedicate her win to Eddie Redmaybe because honestly he played a woman better than the actual women this year!

Best Actor in A Supporting Role : Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)

This one was a tough one for me, but I do not believe Sylvester Stallone should win an Oscar for Creed. Michael B. Jordan out acted him in every scene and if anybody should've got a nomination, it should've been him. I mean no disrespect Rambo! The only competition for Ruffalo would be Christian Bale in The Big Short. That man can really act! Mark Ruffalo was great in every scene that he was in. I give Ruffalo the nod because he stood out amongst a sea of great acting in this film.

Best Actress in A Supporting Role : Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

Alicia shouldve been in the Best Actress in A Leading Role cstegory, because she carried the movie just as well as Redmayne. Having a husband going through a "metamorphosis" has to be challenging and Alicia portrayed that exceptionally well. She also was great in Ex Machina as a well put together robot. Her future is bright bright bright! Every lady nominated in this category all did well, so its really up in the air, but Ms. Vikander was my favorite.

Best Documentary : Winter on Fire : Ukraine's Fight for Freedom

Im not too sure about these other categories, but this is a guarantee! Probably the greatest documentary I've ever seen. Evgeny Afineevsky (I can't pronounce it) was front row for the peaceful protest when the revolt started, but I don't even think he expected to capture on film what he did. I encourage everybody to check this documentary out. You'll have to pay attention because its not in English, but it is amazing the see a large group of people fight for what they believe in. Might even see it play out in the great old US of A soon!

Best Original Screenplay : Pete Doctor (Inside Out)

What a premise! Made me think about my own childhood and making sure I do a good job with my own child. I don't really pick which movie I enjoyed the best. I pick the MOST original and it doesn't get more original than this. Very Spike Jonzey! I wouldn't mind seeing Spotlight bring this one home either.

Best Adapted Screenplay : Nick Hornby (Brooklyn)

When I saw the title, I thought it was a hood movie of some sort, but I don't think I saw a black person in the whole film, lol. This movie has chick flick written all over it, but I've definitely seen worse. The Big Short  may win this category but it seemed like a long SNL skit to me. The dialogue in this movie was excellent and the story flowed really well. I encourage all of my lady readers to check it out and all of my fellas to steer clear of it!

Best Cinematography : Robert Richardson (The Hateful Eight)

It may be a 4-peat for Double R (Robert Richardson). Too many N bombs in this movie for my liking but the backdrop was beautiful and the blood flew like liquor at an Irish pub. This category is another toss up. The Revenant had some beautiful shots. Sicario had some cool scenes. Mad Max was overrated but definitely deserved the nomination. Time will tell for this one too.

That's it for this year. Let me comment on this #oscarssowhite craziness while I'm here. Oscars are #sowhite, because Hollywood is #sowhite. If Tyler Perry and the sorts would put their money to producing quality films and not films where the black men are throwing babies out of project windows, maybe we can open the eyes of the big studio heads. Or how about this? Lets just build our own studio. Will Smith has Overbrook Entertainment. The only movie that Will produced that deserved any recognition was Ali. The movie should've definitely been nominated over Molin Rogue, and Will should've won Best Actor but he lost to Denzel that year for Training Day. So let those arguing about #oscarssowhite hold the black heavy hitters in Hollywood more accountable. If 3-6 Mafia can win an Oscar, then I cant see race EVER being a factor.

Hallelujah Holla Back,

Fatdreek

Hattie McDaniel

Its my favorite time of the year! Black History time!

This year I decided to combine my Black History blog with another one of my favorite times of the year : Oscar Sunday! (Picks will be here shortly)

Let's talk about ole Hattie McDaniel.

She looks like a great  Big Mama don't she?

You may recognize her better this way...

If you still don't recognize her, you're either too young or a Yankee!

Hattie McDaniel was born June 10, 1895 in Wichita, Kansas to former slaves. She was the youngest of 13 siblings. Two of her siblings were also actors : Sam McDaniel who was the only black to appear on I Love Lucy, and Etta McDaniel who appeared in the original King Kong movie.

Her family moved to Denver, Colorado where she attended East River High School. While in school she sang, danced, and acted alongside a few of her siblings in The Mighty Minstrels. Knowing she had found her calling, she dropped out of high school to pursue her dreams (who needs calculus to be a performer).

From there, Hattie spent her formative years working more minstrel shows and landing a gig singing with an orchestra led by George Morrison. This led to her performing on a radio station in Denver, making her one of  the first African American women to do so. She also began a career as a blues singer writing some of her own material and finding steady work at a hotel lounge in Milwaukee.

She followed in her before-mentioned siblings' footsteps and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in Hollywood. To make ends meet she worked alongside Sam on a radio show titled The Optimistic Do-nuts  and was dubbed "Hi Hat Hattie". She parlayed her success in radio to her first appearance on the big screen. A film titled The Golden West in 1932. 7 years and 64 films later, Mattie would secure the role of a lifetime in the film adaptation of Margaret Mitchell's Gone With The Wind where she played a very helpful and insightful  maid. Check out a scene below...

At the 12th Academy Awards in 1939, Hattie McDaniel brought home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Here is her acceptance speech...

Oh Hattie! You are a credit to the black race indeed! The sad part about Hattie receiving that Oscar is that she had to sit in the back of the Ambassador Hotel at a segregated table because she was black.

Some blacks didn't feel that Hattie was a credit to her race though. The NAACP thought she should turn down roles portraying maids and other degrading occupations. Hattie responded by saying "I can either work in Hollywood as a maid and make $700 a week, or I can work as an actual  maid and make $70 a week". Lord knows, Hattie had her experience as a real life maid trying to make ends meet while working on the radio and small movie roles in Los Angeles before she hit it big.

13 years later, Hattie was diagnosed with breast cancer and died shortly thereafter. She was 57. She was awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. One for her work in radio and one for her work in film.

I'll end this blog by quoting Hattie's philosophy in life : "I did my best, and God did the rest"

Hallelujah Holla Back,

Fat Dreek

James Armistead

Its Black History Month!!!!

Let me put on my schooling cap and give you some facts about a person that I honestly I didn't hear of until last year (shout out to the Rockdale Public School System) and I was determined to do a blog just to pass a long the knowledge because I feel he was a great unsung hero in black history who deserves to be recognized one way or another, even if it is this dumb blog (and maybe I'll write a screenplay for him one day).

His name is Mr. James Armistead Lafayette.

Here's his picture :

& here's a cartoon version for all of my 10 & under readers :

He was born in the 1700's in an undetermined city in the great state of Virginia (what up Milt?). Just like all of the other blacks in America in the 1700's, he was enslaved. Also in the 1700's the Englishmen (white folks) who migrated to America got into a little spat with the Englishmen back in their mother country. This is what historians would call the Revolutionary War. 

Now James Armistead was a peculiar brother in my books. On one side you have the 13 colonies of America who enslaved black people and on the other side you have Britain who also enslaved black people but promised these slaves freedom once the war was over. America didn't offer this deal to their slaves. Mr. Armistead requested and received permission from his owner (William Armistead) to enlist in the U.S. Army in 1781. He wasn't a brave warrior. He wasn't a decisive strategist.  He wasn't even on the front line (or the back line). He was a spy. Marquis de Lafayette was a commander for the U.S. and employed Armistead as a spy to collect data from the British forces.

He put on an oscar-worthy performance and approached the British army as a runaway slave from North America. While serving under Benedict Arnold, Armistead gathered intel  that led to a sneak attack on Arnold's infantry and a near capture of the traitor. 

For his next and greatest performance, Mr. Armistead posed as a waiter (ala Forest Whitaker in the Butler) for the headquarters of General Charles Cornwallis. While the British general and his cohorts blabbed their mouths about future plans, Armistead, with memory like an elephant, relayed his findings back to Lafayette and the U.S. was able to derail the Brits from sending an additional 10,000 troops to battle and give the Americans a decisive victory at the Battle of Yorktown and ultimately the Revolutionary War.

After the war was over, you'd figure that Armistead would've been awarded his own holiday, a stamp, a street, or something. NOPE! Back to slavery he went. 

A couple of years later, Armistead was finally granted his freedom and decided to add Lafayette to his name in honor of the commander who he had served under during the war. Lafayette also wrote a letter of recommendation requesting the freedom of Armistead. 

Armistead concluded his life as a farmer in the state of Virginia with his family, and he died in 1830.

A true American Hero!

Signing Out,

Professor FatDreek

Dreek's Oscar Picks 2015

Welcome me back.

If you're friends with me on Facebook, you know I've been to the theater a lot lately.

All to help you get informed for the Oscar's this weekend (I've also come to the realization that I'd like to be a movie critic one day. Maybe for a website or a newspaper. When I apply for such positioning, I'll direct my potential employer to this blog).

I believe I get my movie bug from my grandfather. When I was a young'n, he'd take me to the movies and for some reason, I remember seeing "Fallen" with Denzel and John Goodman and "True Crime" with Arnold Schwarzenegger (thank God for spell check) & Jamie Lee Curtis  My father, is also a movie aficionado but he's more of the bootleg variety and you just cant really get a good movie experience when there is coughing, popcorn munching, and shadowboxing in the background of a movie

                                        


When I traveled with my previous job, instead of going to clubs and hooters (EVERY weekend), I typically would go the closest cinema to Womelsdorf, PA and check out a flick. Its sort of like an escape for me for a couple of hours.

Now, I have an eye to spot horrible actors that are wrapped up in a great script or a great actor illuminating in a horrible script, for example :

Nicholas Cage has been in some pretty epic movies from Speed to The Rock, but that man can't act worth a lick. It pays to be Francis Ford Coppola's nephew!

On the flipside, The Tree of Life is the worst movie that I've ever seen, but Brad Pitt was phenomenal in his 3 or 4 scenes .

These following Academy Award picks are mine and mine alone. My picks are usually not in line with the Academy's but they were pretty spot on last year.

Im not saying to NOT check out the other movies or actors / actresses, but if you disagree then your taste may be more inferior than mine (j/k...but seriously), and we can debate until our heart's content.

Let the picking begin...

Best Original Screenplay

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) written by Alejandro G Inarritu and a few other writers

Boyhood written by Richard Linklater

Foxcatcher written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman

The Grand Budapest Hotel written by Wes Anderson

Nightcrawler written by Dan Gilroy

Dreek's Analysis :

Now if you don't know what this category is, let me describe this and the adapted screenplay categories. Original screenplays come out of nowhere. A writer just dreamed up a story and wrote a movie about said dream. An adapted screenplay can come from a book or a short story in a Reader's Digest, or a play, etc. Basically, the story is not the screenwriter's original idea. Now let's take a pop quiz :

True or False : The Ten Commandments is an original screenplay

You got it?

The answer is False!

The Ten Commandments is based off of The Bible silly!

Aight, All of these movies were good. Birdman was definitely different.
Boyhood is a little overrated. Yeah, filming a movie over 13 years (or however many years) is a cool concept, but that doesn't make the story that intriguing. At least to me it wasn't. They may just win the Oscar because of their dedication to the film, and I wouldn't be too upset about it.

Side note : If you liked Boyhood, check out Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight. Another project involving Ethan Hawke where they follow the same 2 characters every 9 years. Its pretty cool too.

Foxcatcher and Nightcrawler were cool but too dark and just lacked something, even though I loved Nightcrawler, I don't see these two winning best original screenplay.

Im giving it to Wes Anderson for The Grand Budapest Hotel. It kept me intrigued from beginning to end and was very entertaining. The characters were well developed Had a little bit of everything for everybody.



Best Adapted Screenplay

American Sniper written by Jason Hall

The Imitation Game written by Graham Moore

Inherent Vice written by Paul Thomas Anderson

The Theory of Everything written by Anthony McCarten

Whiplash written by Damien Chazelle

Dreek's Analysis :

I have NOT seen Inherent Vice (which surprises me). I have not read any of the books from which these screenplays were adapted so I can't speak in that regards but the most entertaining of these movies TO ME was The Imitation Game and that's my pick. Graham Moore took a topic that was so complicated to my non-scientific mind and made it where I didn't really miss a beat, and that says a lot about his screenwriting skills.


Documentary Feature

CitzenFour

Finding Vivian Maier

Last Days in Vietnam

The Salt of the Earth

Virunga

Dreek's Analysis :

I have NOT seen The Salt of the Earth. I saw the trailer and it looked like Sean Penn portrayed this photographer in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. This one is a toss up for me. Virunga was intriguing and kept me on the edge of my seat, and really makes you look at things in a different perspective. CitizenFour took a lot of guts to make. Basically ousting the NSA will keep Laura Poitras on the run for a while. With Netflix backing Virunga, I give the nod to it, seeing that they may have lined a few pockets.

Best Director 

Alejandro G Inarritu for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Richard Linklater for Boyhood

Bennett Miller for Foxcatcher

Wes Anderson for The Grand Budapest Hotel

Morten Tyldum for The Imitation Game

Dreek's Analysis :

This one isn't really up for debate. This trophy is going to Alejandro. Birdman was a brilliant piece of directing. Its definitely not my favorite movie in this category, but you have to separate your likes and the technicality of directing. The movie was filmed as one continuous shot, which has to be difficult and for that, Inarritu will win his 1st Oscar. I could see Wes Anderson upsetting Alejandro, but nahhhhhhh!

Cinematography

Emmanuel Lubezki for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Robert Yeoman for The Grand Budapest Hotel

Lukasz Zai and Ryszard Lencxewski (Thank God for Copy & Paste) for Ida

Dick Pope for Mr. Turner

Roger Deakins for Unbroken

Dreek's Analysis :

Im going to be honest, I only saw 2 movies in this category, so Im going to leave this one to the academy. Between Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel, I'd give it to the latter. My girl TC, said that Unrboken was a great movie, but I haven't got around to seeing it, since it wasn't nominated for Best Film and none of the actors were nominated. Big ups to Angelina Jolie though!


Actress in a Supporting Role

Patricia Arquette in Boyhood

Laura Dern in Wild

Keira Knightley in The Imitation Game

Emma Stone in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Meryl Street in Into the Woods

Dreek's Analysis :

This has to be the worst category in this year's Oscars.

I have no earthly idea on why Patricia Arquette has won so many awards for her role in Boyhood. Only one good scene comes to mind in the whole movie, and that wasn't even that great. I'd be upset if she won!

On the other hand, Emma Stone made Patricia Arquette look like the greatest actress on Earth with her performance in Birdman. I couldnt believe she was even nominated!! Her nomination should have went to Carmen Ejogo for her portrayal of Coretta Scott King in Selma!!

Im giving my pick to Keira Knightly in The Imitation Game. She was consistently good throughout the entire film.

Im not bringing myself to watch Into the Woods, so my pick isn't all the way accurate but I haven't heard much buzz about Meryl Streep's performance (besides the nomination) and she's won so much, I doubt the Academy would give her a trophy for a Disney movie (no offense).

Actor in a Supporting Role

Robert Duvall in The Judge

Ethan Hawke in Boyhood

Edward Norton in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Mark Ruffalo in Foxcatcher

J.K. Simmons in Whiplash 

Dreek's Analysis :

Edward Norton is unlucky. He would've won the Oscar for his performance in Birdman, BUT J.K. Simmons will win by a landslide. No Question. No Debate.

A side note about Mark Ruffalo in Foxcatcher. I felt that Channing Tatum should have been nominated and not Mark Ruffalo (as surprising as that sounds). Im taking Ruffalo's nomination away and giving it to Channing.

Robert Duvall is just playing the old guy in all of his movies lately. He should have won an Oscar for The Godfather (the best movie of all time), so maybe they will give him an Oscar for Supporting Role to make up for it (he already has a Best Actor Oscar for Tender Mercies)

Acress in a Leading Role

Marion Cotillard in Two Days, One Night

Felicity Jones in The Theory of Everything

Julianne Moore in Still Alice

Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl

Reese Witherspoon in Wild

Dreek's Analysis :

I really wanted to see Two Days, One Night. I had plans to see it, but my kitchen sink was calling me. Out of the other four, I'd really have to give it to Julianne Moore in Still Alice. Playing an Alzheimer's patient seems a little more difficult to me than playing a handicap person (we'll get to that later). You really feel for her character and thats why I think she'll nab this category. Reese did a pretty good job as well. Roesamund Pike is just GONE girl!



Actor in a Leading Role

Steve Carell in Foxcatcher

Bradley Cooper in American Sniper

Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game

Michael Keaton in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything

Dreek's Analysis :

Im going to go ahead and strike out Steve Carell. It wasn't a bad performance, but he has too much competition this year.

God forbid that Michael Keaton wins this category. I just didn't see it! It was a decent role, but he got out-acted in every scene he performed with Edward Norton and I can't give my pick for that!

Now this Eddie Redmayne guy did a pretty good job as Stephen Hawking. I think being cruel in middle school when I first heard about him, I think I pulled off a pretty good impression myself. I don't like the Academy handing out awards just because you play someone who's handicapped.

Bradley Cooper (or as we call him in the hood, B Coop) was good as well, but I have to give my pick to Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game. To play a genius homosexual smart aleck was pretty impressive to me.

Anybody but Keaton, please!!

Best Picture 

American Sniper

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Boyhood

The Imitation Game

Selma

The Theory of Everything

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Whiplash

Dreek's Analysis :

Now its time for the kit and kaboodle. All of these movies were pretty great. I think Boyhood was overrated but I appreciate the experiment. I consider Birdman an experiment too, but it was a little more entertaining. The Theory of Everything was just TOO boring to me. I figured it would have been similar to The Imitation Game but it was nowhere close. The Grand Budapest Hotel was entertaining with great acting all around. Selma was a great surprise. Ava DuVernay did an excellent job, besides when Oprah fell (spoiler alert). Whiplash was probably my favorite out of all of these movies. A film about a jazz drummer sounded boring, but the one on one with JK Simmons and Miles Teller was genius. American Sniper was a good movie, but I think the actual character of Chris Kyle and his real life heroics made me like the film and not the actual movie itself. IT was good though!

Im giving my pick to the Imitation Game, even though Birdman will probably win because its so artsy! Artsy Fartsy is what I say! See yall next year. Same Oscars. Same Blog.

Signing Out,

Fatdreek