It’s nearly that time of year! The Oscars are almost upon us and with the famous golden statues comes the emotion, drama, outfits, tears, predictions, and movie pitted against movie just…because. Not just that, but it opens the door for three behemoths of film criticism to go head-to-head in a test of knowledge, luck, nerve, and more luck! I was kindly invited by friend of the site and top man/Statesman Jon Berk (head honcho of Berk Reviews) to participate in the annual Berk Reviews Oscar Draft against himself and movie guru Sean Boelman/Big Tuna (spreading his good word at Popaxiom.
Points are earned dependant on nominations and wins (plus bonus points for Best picture winner and Perfect Attendance – winning every category a movie is nominated in) and the rules are:
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Each participant will draft 1 movie per round.
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Round Order is randomized and the rotation of the draft switches each round.
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There are five rounds.
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STEAL: The person who picks last in the first round gets to steal a movie from any other participant. However, the participant being stolen from gets to choose which movie will be exchanged from the other player’s team AND gets to add a sixth movie to their team. (e.g. Jonathan picks last in the first round. Sean has Vice and Jonathan has If Beale Street Could Talk. Jonathan wants Vice, so Jonathan steals Vice and Sean gets If Beale Street Could Talk from him AND gets to add a sixth, unselected movie to his team.)
The entertaining episode can be heard in full below where you can find out what choices Jon and Sean staked their reputations on. As the winner gets to inflict potential punishment on the losers subjecting them to a movie of their choice – the heat is on. My choices are solid and I’m pleased with all of them, though I have a feeling that Netflix borefest may romp home with a fair few statues (eye roll). So, my five picks are beneath the episode, and fingers crossed that What I Watched Tonight is sent victorious, happy, and glorious.
GREEN BOOK
The main reason I chose Green Book is the fact that it’s a great movie. The off-screen antics will certainly hamper its chances (the draft took place before the majority of ‘incidents’ were brought to light), and whether that should affect the movie’s chances is another story. However, the performances of Mortensen and Ali are fabulous which will lead to nominations, it’ll be in the frame for Best Picture and a handful of other categories also. The Academy loves an underdog, so why not? (The Golden Globes did…)
VICE
The Academy being US-based gave me hope that US-centric Vice would be firmly in their minds. Add to that Christian Bale’s marvellous turn as Dick Cheney and a great supporting cast – this is another movie that’s looking at acting nods. McKay could be in the frame for Best Director and there’ll be noms for Picture, Editing, Score, and Makeup amongst others.
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
Another big winner at the Golden Globes, Bohemian Rhapsody is another shoo-in for Best Picture attention and who’s going to bet against Rami Malek winning Best Actor for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury? Expect Makeup, Costume Design, Editing, and a host of technical nominations also.
BLACKKKLANSMAN
Spike Lee’s powerful latest effort was 2018’s finest directorial moment – if Lee doesn’t take home Best Director it’ll be a crime. Adam Driver and John David Washington have to be in the picture for acting noms plus a whole host of others will surely be coming BlacKkKlansman’s way. It’s an incredibly important movie for NOW, so will the Academy vote on that basis…? (Hopefully)
SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE
The best comic movie of the year was also the best animated movie of the year. Taking home the Golden Globe is a handy sign that Spider-Verse is heading for Oscar glory, as well it should. Fresh, vibrant, and not as derivative as other animated flicks in 2018 – this could be one for a Perfect Attendance bonus to tack up some points.
Check out the show above and come January 22nd, 2019, we’ll see just how well the guys have done in terms of picks before the big event on February 24th (25th for us UK folk!)