The Academy Has Common Sense After All, Will Present All 24 Categories Live

Something John Bailey forgot about The Oscars

With the seal cracked on the single digits countdown (nine days to go!), things should be in place for The Academy Awards, right? People have turned in their ballots and now everyone is tallying up scores. If you're like me, you'll enjoy reading anonymous voter articles. However, what makes the Class of 2019 all the more impressive is that even this close to the air date things are once again changing. At the beginning of this week, Academy president John Bailey shot himself in the foot once again by suggesting that four categories would not be presented at the ceremony. Before diving into the responses, one had to ask "What did you expect?" The decision was met with universal ridicule and in one moment of rare clairvoyance Bailey decided to reverse his order. Good news everyone, The Oscars are presenting every category on the air! Consider this a victory in a year without too many. 

Nothing But the Best: "The Shape of Water" (2017)

Scene from The Shape of Water

Welcome to the series Nothing But the Best in which I chronicle all of the Academy Award Best Picture winners as they celebrate their anniversaries. Instead of going in chronological order, this series will be presented on each film's anniversary and will feature personal opinions as well as facts regarding its legacy and behind the scenes information. The goal is to create an in depth essay for each film while looking not only how the medium progressed, but how the film is integral to pop culture. In some cases, it will be easy. Others not so much. Without further ado, let's start the show.

What "The Shape of Water" Winning Best Picture Means to Me

Credit: Naki for Variety

There's certain things that people have come to expect from a Best Picture winner at The Academy Awards. They are prestigious dramas conveying deep and conflicting resonance of the moment it came out. It's supposed to be serious, often contextualizing a piece of history through an artistic prism. But, as someone who has loved classic monster movies, I've also known that another thing is true: genre movies don't win. Comedies or musicals maybe, but never sci-fi, horror, fantasy, or anything considered niche. After all, the Best Picture winner is something agreed upon of thousands of people from differing tastes. So to see The Shape of Water win two of film's most prestigious awards this past Sunday gave me an incredible feeling. Somehow it validated the idea that The Oscars have always preached: all movies matter. For the first time this millennium, that's felt like more than hyperbole.

Long Shot Week: Best Original Screenplay - "The Shape of Water"

Scene from The Shape of Water

Welcome to the first Long Shot Week, where I will attempt to persuade you to think outside of the Oscar box. While it's too late to change voters' minds, I believe that audiences need to take a moment to look at the other contenders in any category and give them a chance. Long Shot Week is designed as a way to highlight these talents that likely don't stand a chance of winning, but more than deserve a chance to be appreciated for what they bring to the game. In a way, this is my list of "Films that should've won," though it's not always indicative of my favorite. Join me all week as I look at different categories and pose the question "Why not?" in hopes that The Oscars still have a few surprises up their sleeve.

Composing Greatness: #2. Oscars 2018 Edition - "The Shape of Water"

Scene from The Shape of Water

Welcome to a very special edition of Composing Greatness. In this limited series, I will be looking at the five scores nominated for this year's Best Original Score category. To avoid favoritism, the list will be done in alphabetical order of composers and feature the same guidelines as the original series. This is meant to explore the music behind the great films of 2017, and provide insight into what makes each of them special and whether or not they deserved to be nominated at all. Join me all week as I listen to the  music, leave some thoughts, and hopefully sway you to check out these wonderful, wonderful scores.

"The Shape of Water" and the Three Forms of Loneliness

Scene from The Shape of Water

*Note: Spoilers for The Shape of Water

It is a moment that comes between two phases of Eliza (Sally Hawkins) and Amphibian Man's (Doug Jones) relationship. They have escaped the lab and are in their last passionate moments together before Amphibian Man returns to the sea, possibly without the requited love of Eliza. She is mute, only ever able to communicate through a mix of sign language, eggs, and Benny Goodman records. Yet it's in a fantasy moment that she gets her only spoken lines of the film. As the scene trades a dumpy apartment with a leaky room for a black-and-white set out of a musical set, she sings "You'll never know how much I love you." It's a moment where repression breaks through, and moves the subtle themes of the film to the forefront. The Shape of Water is more than a film about loving someone different, it's about understanding loneliness when you don't have love readily available. It's may be a story that's been trivialized as the "woman who loves a fish" story, but it's so much more. It's a look at how loneliness can be used for good as well as bad. 

Review: "The Shape of Water" Romanticizes Horror with Tenderness and Awe

Scene from The Shape of Water

Monsters are scary. It's a simple rule of life that all narrative forms have accepted as true. So why are we fascinated by them then? In director Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water, he updates the classic fairy tale structure in order to answer that question, using Amphibian Man (Doug Jones) as an allegory for interracial love. He presupposes that monsters are misunderstood, choosing to borrow an ethos dating back to James Whale's Bride of Frankenstein. With lavish productions and an amazing performance by Sally Hawkins as Eliza, del Toro has created a film that not only humanizes monster movies, but finds the tender heart and longing that make them not too different from you or I. It's a powerful film, and one that should appeal to fans of monster movies that do more than horrify. This one sympathizes so perfectly that it becomes less of a horror movie and more of a supernatural Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. It may be simple at heart, but it only adds to the profundity of its text. 

Theory Thursday: "Pacific Rim" is Overrated

Scene from Pacific Rim

Welcome to a weekly column called Theory Thursdays, which will be released every Thursday and discuss my "controversial opinion" related to something relative to the week of release. Sometimes it will be birthdays while others is current events or a new film release. Whatever the case may be, this is a personal defense for why I disagree with the general opinion and hope to convince you of the same. While I don't expect you to be on my side, I do hope for a rational argument. After all, film is a subjective medium and this is merely just a theory that can be proven either way. 

Check This Out: The 2017 Oscar Nominations Announcement Video

While many are likely still mulling over the Oscar nominations, there is one new thing that has already happened this year worthy of further discussion: the announcement presentation. It was billed as an "in house production" that would be different from the familiar rigmarole of presenting the nominees live before a press audience. With a video format highlighting every nomination with heartfelt stories of what it means to be a winner, the worst that can be said is that this year was different. If you're interested in seeing the video, as well as discussing its effectiveness, just click the button and read on.

Theory Thursday: "Crimson Peak" is Underrated

Mia Wasikowska in Crimson Peak

Welcome to a weekly column called Theory Thursdays, which will be released every Thursday and discuss my "controversial opinion" related to something relative to the week of release. Sometimes it will be birthdays while others is current events or a new film release. Whatever the case may be, this is a personal defense for why I disagree with the general opinion and hope to convince you of the same. While I don't expect you to be on my side, I do hope for a rational argument. After all, film is a subjective medium and this is merely just a theory that can be proven either way. 

Here's the Information About Tomorrow's Oscar Nominations Announcement

Ang Lee

If you're one of those who love Oscar seasons, then tomorrow is going to be a big day for you. That's right, the nominations are finally upon us! You can check out my personal picks here, and chime in with your own comments. However, there's a good chance that you're wondering where you can watch everything happen live. Here's the information: The nominations will be announced beginning at 5:30 AM PST (8:30 EST) and broken up into two parts. The first will be presented by Oscar-winning directors Ang Lee and Guillermo del Toro, with the second half being presented by actor John Krasinski and Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs around 5:38 AM PST (8:38 EST). You may also watch it online via the Oscars' YouTube page (click here to watch the feed). So get ready for one of the most exciting days of the Oscar season, and prepare for recaps at The Oscar Buzz following the announcement.

Also, make sure to watch the Oscars ceremony on Sunday, February 28 at 5:30 PST (8:30 PST).

Birthday Take: Guillermo Del Toro in "Pan's Labyrinth" (2006)

Scene from Pan's Labyrinth

Welcome to The Birthday Take, a column dedicated to celebrating Oscar nominees and winners' birthdays by paying tribute to the work that got them noticed. This isn't meant to be an exhaustive retrospective, but more of a highlight of one nominated work that makes them noteworthy. The column will run whenever there is a birthday and will hopefully give a dense exploration of the finest performances and techniques applied to film. So please join me as we blow out the candles and dig into the delicious substance.

The Directors Project: #45 - Guillermo Del Toro

Scene from Cinema Paradiso

With the many lists and essays written on the subject of film, there has been one thing that The Oscar Buzz has tried to understand: Who is my favorite of the film world? For 10 weeks this summer, I will be exploring this with a countdown of the Top 50 names based on a numerical ranking of ratings from various sources, the following is a list of directors who rank above everyone else. With occasional upsets, this is intended as both a discussion opener as well as a better understanding of me as a film critic and fan. Please enjoy and leave any comments you have regarding the entry's selection.

Will "Rise of the Guardians" Get the Gift of Best Animated Feature?

It has been quite a year for animated movies. Not only have we seen Pixar bounce back into prominence with Brave, but we have also seen two horror-based films (Paranorman and Frankenweenie) and a brilliant video game fueled Wreck-It Ralph (review coming next week). It may be one of the most diverse years in recent times. However, the race isn't quite over. Opening today is Dreamworks Animation's Rise of the Guardians, which can serve as The Avengers of holiday icons ranging from Santa Claus to Jack Frost and the Tooth Fairy. However, is the film capable of standing a chance against the already strong competition at the Oscars, or is it just another holiday film?