My Lost in Space reboot paradox

My Lost in Space reboot paradox

I have begun watching the new

Netflix reboot of Lost in Space

I need to start out by saying that I’m a fan of the original. I have a boxed set of DVDs, and for years, pet toads of mine actually lived in a toy Jupiter 2 (with a lot more environment around it).

Before I give you my paradox about the new show, I do want to give you a

MILD SPOILER WARNING

I’m not going to reveal any major plot twists, but if you want complete discovery, you might want to wait to read this until you’ve seen the first couple of episodes.

Here’s my issue:

I watched it because it was a reboot of Lost in Space. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have watched it otherwise, but it was the specific impetus to get me to move it up in my queue.

I would have liked it better if I hadn’t thought of it as based on Lost in Space.

Whenever anybody is going to do a remake or a reboot, I always want them to come up with one sentence which describes the essence of the original, and stick to that.

For me, one of the key elements of the original LiS is that Will is a prodigy…that the youngest member of the family is the smartest, and even though they don’t always believe him, he is usually right. He is also brave and resourceful.

As far as I was concerned, Lost in Space was about Will and his family (and the robot and Dr. Smith)…not with Will as just one of the group.

Now, admittedly, that may be in part because I was resonating with Will at that point.

I want to be very clear: I would have had no problem if Will was a different gender, or race, or hair color. For that matter, Will could have been an alien in an alien family. The point was that the youngest, likely to be least respected family member, was the “best”.

In this new version, Will is incompetent and scared.

He becomes valuable, but mostly through his connection with the robot.

Okay, okay…he does have one idea which helps…but if Mom Maureen hadn’t been unable to make the suggestion, she would have.

Pretty much everybody is seriously flawed…that can work, but I think the show is geared at children. It’s nice to have people you can admire when you are a kid, and they seem to want to make a point that they all have negative qualities (although they may have more positive qualities).

There are nods to the original series. A character is named Goddard (Mark Goddard played Major Don West on the original), and an original cast member has what I thought was a pretty clever cameo.

END SPOILER ALERT

So…I’m enjoying it. It’s emotionally moving, and some of the effects are effective and even awe-invoking. It passes the “flashback test”, meaning that I have spontaneously thought about it. It doesn’t disrespect the original, and shows a deep knowledge of it…but does have a very different feel.

I’ll keep watching it and see where it goes. It may get better if it forges more of its own identity (so I’m not constantly reminded of the 1960s version), but it doesn’t need to get better to hold my interest.

Have a different opinion? Feel free to tell me and my readers what you think by commenting on this post.

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This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the The Measured Circle blog. To support this or other blogs/organizations, buy Amazon Gift Cards from a link on the site, then use those to buy your items. There will be no cost to you, and a benefit to them.

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BOPMadness 2018: final results and comments

BOPMadness 2018: final results and comments

It was a good year for the team!

It’s been a few weeks since the Oscars ceremony, so a quick summary:

I’ve been doing an Oscar predictions thing for decades. Anybody can play. Players rate every nominee in every category based on what they think the Academy will do. I aggregate those guesses and put them out before the ceremony. Our system tends to do pretty well (although I don’t get them out soon enough to help you in your office games).

We break it down into two categories (and the overall):

• The Big Six: the acting categories, Best Picture, and Best Director
• The Incredibly Difficult Maven Section: everything else

Let’s start with the Big Six:

The group scored a 97%! We called every category except for Best Picture (we went with Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Montana…but we did have The Shape of Water second).

• Best Picture: The Shape of Water (we gave it an 86%, and Three Billboards a 92%): I got this one wrong: I was concerned that the plagiarism allegations were going to affect it. This is a major win for geeky movies…it’s rare for a non-musical geeky movie to win
• Best Director: Guillermo del Toro for The Shape of Water: we were 100% on this one. Nothing else was even close. Obviously, I picked this one as well. Another advance for geeky moviemakers
• Lead Actress: Frances McDormand in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Montana: we were 100%
• Lead Actor: Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour: 100% Oldman has a lot of geeky credits, so this is a pedigeek win
• Supporting Actor: Sam Rockwell in Three Bilboards Outside Ebbing, Montana: 100%…and another pedigeek win
• Supporting Actress: Allison Janney in I, Tonya: 95% (but we picked it as the winner…Laurie Metcalf was closest at 85%

The team picked every category except Best Picture, and scored a 97%. Two of our players scored 100%: Marianne and Scott. Amazing! I personally got a 94%. By the way, I make my guesses before I see anybody else’s guesses, just to be fair.

Now, the Incredibly Difficult Maven Section.

There was a complication this year. I keep trying to find a best way to do this online. This year, I went with an Excel form…that was good for analysis, but it had a limitation I didn’t realize at first. You can only have 100 questions in a survey…since each nominee is a question, that wasn’t enough. That meant that there were two surveys: that’s also been true with some systems in the past but because I realized it up front, I could make the instructions very clear. Fully a third of our players didn’t complete the second survey. That affects those individuals scores, but I’ve decided not to have it affect the team scores. The percentage of the prediction will be based on the guesses on those questions, not the non-guesses, and that seems fair.

• Original Screenplay: Jordan Peele for Get Out: 95%, and we got it right as a group. This is another win for geeky movies
• Adapted Screenplay: James Ivory for Call Me By Your Name: 100%
• Cinematography: Roger Deakins for Bladerunner 2049: we missed this one, but just barely. 🙂 The group picked Hoyte Van Hoytema for Dunkirk. I personally missed this one…I really underestimated the love for Bladerunner 2049 throughout…I gave this the lowest possibility, a one out of five. The group gave it a 70%, and we gave Dunkirk a 75%. That means the group still gets four points our of five, since that was our second highest
• Costume: Mark Bridges for Phantom Thread: 90%, and we called it
• Film Editing: Lee Smith for Dunkirk 95%, and we called it
• Sound Mixing: Gregg Landaker, Gary Rizzo, Mark Weingarten for Dunkirk 95%, and we called it
• Sound Editing: Richard King, Alex Gibson for Dunkirk 95%, and we called it
• Visual Effects: John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert, Richard R. Hoover for Blade Runner 2049: 65% chance for the group, and we had a couple of ties, so we got 2.5 points. We picked War for the Planet of the Apes, but we weren’t confident on this. I really blew this one this year, and made this this least likely
• Makeup and Hairstyling: Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski, Lucy Sibbick for Darkest Hour: 100% and we called it
• Original Song: Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez or “Remember Me” from Coco: we gave it 85% and we called it
• Original Score: Alexandre Desplat for The Shape of Water and we called it unanimously (100%)
• Animated Short: Glen Keane and Kobe Bryant for Dear Basketball: we called it with 85%
• Live Action Short: Chris Overton and Rachel Shenton for The Silent Child: we picked DeKalb Elementary with 80%…but we had this picked second at 70%, so we get 4 points
• Animated Feature: Lee Unkrich and Darla K. Anderson for Coco: wnanimous at 100%, so we get this one
• Best Documentary Short: Frank Stiefel: Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405: We were pretty sure it was going to be Heroin(e) or Edith+Eddie…we gave them both 85%. We only gave the winner 50%, and we get 3.5 points
• Best Documentary Feature: Bryan Fogel and Dan Cogan for Icarus: we thought it would be Faces Places…we ended up with 2.5 points, and had predicted the winner at 55%
• Foreign Language: Chile won for A Fantastic Woman. We had that one at 90% and we called it
• Production Design: Paul D. Austerberry, Shane Vieau, and Jeffrey A. Melvin for The Shape of Water: 90% and we called it

We did well on this! We called 13 out of 18 and this is always tough. We got enough right and were close on others, so we end up with a 90%!

George Monkey was the Maven winner with 93%! Congratulations, George Monkey!

For the last accounting, looking at the overall:

The team scored 94%.

Our overall winner was George Monkey with 93%.

This year’s winners:

• Big Six: Marianne and Scott (tie)
• The Incredibly Difficult Maven Section: George Monkey
• Overall: George Monkey

I’ve learned some things about the way I did it this year…hopefully, next year will reap a benefit from this year’s experience in that category…and that next year is another good year for the predictions!

Thanks for playing, everybody! See you in the movies!

Join thousands of readers and try the free The Measured Circle magazine at Flipboard !

All aboard our new The Measured Circle’s Geek Time Trip at The History Project! Join the TMCGTT Timeblazers!

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the The Measured Circle blog. To support this or other blogs/organizations, buy Amazon Gift Cards from a link on the site, then use those to buy your items. There will be no cost to you, and a benefit to them.

Find Bigfoot (on the big screen) this weekend in SF! Loren Coleman, Daniel Perez guest speakers

Find Bigfoot (on the big screen) this weekend in SF! Loren Coleman, Daniel Perez guest speakers

There is something special about watching obscure movies and TV shows in a movie theatre with a crowd of enthusiasts. Don’t get me wrong, I typically spend hours a week watching videos in Virtual Reality (which for me, is the killer app for VR at this point), and sure, that one-person experience is my favorite way to watch movies and TV shows…by myself.

However, I’ll never forget spending over night in a theatre watching “bad movies”. There is something about that communal experience that satisfies an important part of the human psyche.

And, you know, it’s just fun. 😉

The key to something like this working is the curation, the decision for what videos to be shown and in what order.

This weekend (March 10th and 11th)

Super Shangri-La Show

brings their uniquely geeky programming skills to

The Great Bigfoot Bonanza

at the historic Vogue Theater in San Francisco.

I really wish I had known about them earlier! I became aware of this event through the

Twitter feed of Loren Coleman (@CryptoLoren)

the “Curator of Cryptids”, the leading expert on cryptozoology who has appeared on many TV shows, runs the

International Cryptozoology Museum in Maine

and whose

Creatures of the Outer Edge (at AmazonSmile: benefit a non-profit of your choice by shopping*)

one of many successful and significant books he has authored on cryptozoology and Fortean topics (he also has a Master of Social Work ((MSW)) degree, and his book, The Copycat Effect (at AmazonSmile*) has been getting a lot of interest lately in its analysis of the intersection of mass media and mass murder), is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

Full disclosure: I’ve had some correspondence with Loren Coleman over the years, donated a specimen to the museum, and had some other interactions, but we have never met in person and do not share any financial interests. Loren graciously said I could use the term “Weird World” after I started using it, not realizing he had already done so. I have always used the term “Bufo’s Weird World” since I became aware of it, but I have always appreciated that when we did not know each other. Loren has been similarly supportive of other people getting into this area.

The Super Shangri-La Show’s past events certainly align with my tastes: they’ve shown the “Turkish Star Wars”, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (I have a giant theatrical poster of it somewhere), and a double feature of William Shatner playing dual roles (Star Trek: The Original Series’ The Enemy Within and White Comanche).

This weekend has “Sasquatch Saturday”, which gives you a full day of documentaries and fictional movies (The Legend of Boggy Creek! John Carradine and Joi Lansing in Bigfoot!), and “Snowman Sunday” (Man Beast! Jonny Quest’s Murder in the Monastery!). I want to particularly point out the Ultraman episode, Phantom  of the Snow Mountain. The Bay Area was the TV home of Bob Wilkins (Creature Features) who was instrumental in bringing Japanese geekiness to the USA as Captain Cosmic.

The tickets for a full-day of entertainment including guest speakers are quite reasonable: $25 for just Sasquatch Saturday, $20 for just Snowman Sunday, or $40 for both. If you are able to be in San Francisco this weekend for a rare West Coast opportunity to see Loren (he speaks both days…another nice touch by the organizers which doesn’t always happen in these sorts of things), I’m sure it will be an event you will long remember.

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You can be part of my next book, Because of the Kindle!

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Join thousands of readers and try the free The Measured Circle magazine at Flipboard! 

All aboard The Measured Circle’s Geek Time Trip at The History Project!

* I am linking to the same thing at the regular Amazon site, and at AmazonSmile. When you shop at AmazonSmile, half a percent of your purchase price on eligible items goes to a non-profit you choose. It will feel just like shopping at Amazon: you’ll be using your same account. The one thing for you that is different is that you pick a non-profit the first time you go (which you can change whenever you want)…and the good feeling you’ll get.  Shop ’til you help!  

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog. To support this or other blogs/organizations, buy  Amazon Gift Cards from a link on the site, then use those to buy your items. There will be no cost to you, and a benefit to them.

BOPMadness final Oscar predictions (results will also appear here later)

BOPMadness final Oscar predictions (results will also appear here later)

Here are our final predictions for tonight’s Oscars! Thanks to everyone who played!

Each player/team ranks each nominee in each category. That enables me to come up with the percentage chance that the group gave of each nominee winning. Note that the players are predicting, not saying what they would like to see win.

As has happened in the past, we have some ties in the predictions. Let’s say two of the nominees in the same 5-nominew category are tied for being the most likely. If one nominee had the highest total and it won, we’d get five points. However, if there are two, we’ll only get 4.5 points.

I’ll put the winners in here, and we can see how we did. 🙂

Before it starts, though, I’ll note our surest bests and longest shots:

Surest bets (100% chance):

• Lead Actor: Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour
• Lead Actress: Frances McDormand in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
• Supporting Actor: Sam Rockwell in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
• Directing: Guillermo del Toro for The Shape of Water
• Adapted Screenplay: James Ivory for Call Me by Your Name
• Makeup & Hairstyling: Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Mainowski, Lucy Sibbick for Darkest Hour
• Original Score: Alexandre Desplat for The Shape of Water
• Animated Feature: Lee Unkrich, Darla K. Anderson for Coco

Longest shots (20%):

• Lead Actress: Meryl Streep in The Post
• Directing: Paul Thomas Anderson for Phantom Thread

The Big Six

Best Picture:

1. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri: 92%
2. The Shape of Water 86% Winner [missed it: 8 points]
3. Get Out 83%
4. Dunkirk 69%
5. Lady Bird 58%
6. Call Me By Your Name 33%
7. Darkest Hour/Phantom Thread 28%
8. –Tie
9. The Post 22%

Lead Actor

1. Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour 100% Winner [called it]
2. Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out 65%
3. Daniel Day-Lewis in Phantom Thread 55%
4. Timothee Chalomet in Call Me by Your Name 50%
5. Denzel Washington in Roman J. Israel, Esq. 30%

Lead Actress

1. Frances McDormand in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri 100% Winner [called it]
2. Sally Hawkins in The Shape of Water 75%
3. Saoirse Ronan in Lady Bird 65%
4. Margot Robbie in I, Tonya 40%
5. Meryl Streep in The Post 20%

Supporting Actress

1. Allison Janney in I, Tonya 95% Winner [called it]
2. Laurie Metcalf in Lady Bird 85%
3. Mary J. Blige in Mudbound 45%
4. Lesley Manville in Phantom Thread 40%
5. Octavia Spencer in The Shape of Water 35%

Supporting Actor

1. Sam Rockwell in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri 100% Winner  [called it]
2. Willem Dafoe in The Florida Project 65%
3. Christopher Plummer in All the Money in the World 55%
4. Richard Jenkins in The Shape of Water 50%
5. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri 30%

Directing

1. Guillermo del Toro for The Shape of Water 100% Winner [called it]
2. Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird/Jordan Peele for Get Out 65%
3. –Tie
4. Christopher Nolan for Dunkirk 50%
5. Paul Thomas Anderson for Phantom Thread 20%

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The Incredibly Difficult Maven Section

Original Screenplay

1. Jordan Peele for Get Out 95% Winner [called it]
2. Martin McDonagh for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri 75%
3. Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird 70%
4. Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor for The Shape of Water 35%
5. Kumail Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon for The Big Sick 25%

Adapted Screenplay

1. James Ivory for Call Me by Your Name 100% Winner [called it]
2. Dee Rees, Virgil Williams for Mudbound 75%
3. Aaron Sorkin for Molly’s Game 60%
4. Scott Frank, James Mangold, Michael Green for Logan 35%
5. Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber for The Disaster Artist 30%

Cinematography

1. Hoyte Van Hoytema for Dunkirk 75%
2. Roger Deakins for Blade Runner 2049 70% Winner [missed it: 4 points]
3. Dan Laustsen for The Shape of Water 65%
4. Rachel Morrison for Mudbound 55%
5. Bruno Delbonnel for the Darkest Hour 35%

Costume

1. Mark Bridges for Phantom Thread 90% Winner [called it]
2. Luis Sequiera for The Shape of Water 75%
3. Consolata Boyle for Victoria & Abdul 50%
4. Jacqueline Durran for Beauty and the Beast 45%
5. Jacqueline Durran for Darkest Hour 40%

Film Editing

1. Lee Smith for Dunkirk 95% Winner [called it]
2. Sidney Wolinsky for The Shape of Water 60%
3. Paul Machliss, Jonathan Amos for Baby Driver 55%
4. Jon Gregory for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri 50%
5. Tatiana S. Riegel for I, Tonya 40%

Sound Mixing

1. Gregg Landaker, Gary Rizzo, Mark Weingarten for Dunkirk 95% Winner [called it]
2. Tim Cavigan, Mary H. Ellis, Julian Slater for Baby Driver 60%
3. Michael Semanick, David Parker, Stuart Wilson, Ren Klyce for Star Wars: The Last Jedi/Christian T. Cooke, Glen Gauthier, Brad Zoern for The Shape of Water 50%
4. (tie)
5. Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill, Mac Ruth for Blade Runner 2049 45%

Sound Editing

1. Richard King, Alex Gibson for Dunkirk 95% Winner [called it]
2. Julian Slater for Baby Driver/Matthew Wood, Ren Klyce for Star Wars: The Last Jedi 60%
3. (tie)
4. Mark A. Mangini, Theo Green for Blade Runner 2049  50%
5. Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira for The Shape of Water  35%

Visual Effects

1. Ben Morris, Michael Mulholland, Neal Scanlan, Chris Corbould for Star Wars: The Last Jedi/Joe Letteri, Daniel Barrett, Dan Lemmon, Joel Whist for War for the Planet of the Apes  70%
2. –tie
3. John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert, Richard R. Hoover for Blade Runner 2049 Winner [missed it: 2.5 points]/Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Jonathan Fawkner, Daniel Sudnick for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 65% Winner
4. –tie
5. Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff White, Scott Benza, Michael Meinardus for Kong: Skull Island 30%

Makeup and Hairstyling

1. Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Mainowski, Lucy Sibbick for Darkest Hour 100% Winner [called it]
2. Arjen Tuiten for Wonder 58%
3. Daniel Phillips, Louis Sheppard for Victoria & Abdul 42%

Original Song

1. Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez for “Remember Me” from Coco 85% Winner [called it]
2. Benj Pasek, Justin Paul for “This Is Me” from The Greatest Showman 75%
3. Sufjan Stevens for “Mystery of Love” from Call Me by Your Name 55%
4. Raphael Saadiq, Mary J. Blige, Taura Stinson for “Mighty River” from Mudbound 45%
5. Common, Diane Warren for “Stand Up for Something” from Marshall 40%

Original Score

1. Alexandre Desplat for The Shape of Water 100% winner [called it]
2. Hans Zimmer for Dunkirk 75%
3. Carter Burwell for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri 45%
4. Johnny Greenwood for Phantom Thread/John Williams for Star Wars: The Last Jedi 40%
5. –tie

Live Action Short

1. Reed Van Dyk for DeKalb Elementary 80%
2. Chris Overton, Rachel Shenton for The Silent Child 70% Winner [missed it: 4 points]
3. Katja Benrath, Tobias Rosen for Watu Wote: All of Us 65%
4. Derin Seale, Josh Lawson for The Eleven O’Clock 50%
5. Kevin Wilson Jr. for My Nephew Emmett 35%

Animated Short

1. Glen Keane, Kobe Bryant for Dear Basketball 85% Winner [called it]
2. Jakob Schuh, Jan Lachauer for Revolting Rhymes Part One 60%
3. Victor Caire, Gabriel Grapperon for Garden Party/Max Porter, Ru Kuwahata for Negative Space 55%
4. –tie
5. Dave Mullins, Dana Murray for Lou 45%

Animated Feature

1. Lee Unkrich, Darla K. Anderson for Coco 100% Winner [called it]
2. Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, Ivan Mactaggart for Loving Vincent 80%
3. Nora Twomey, Anthony Leo for The Breadwinner 55%
4. Carlos Saldanha for Ferdinand 40%
5. Tom McGrath, Ramsey Ann Naito for The Boss Baby 25%

Documentary Short

1. Laura Checkoway, Thomas Lee Wright for Edith+Eddie/Elaine McMillion Sheldon, Kerrin James Sheldon for Heroin(e) 85%
2. –tie
3. Frank Stiefel for Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405 50% Winner [missed it: 3.5 points]
4. Kate Davis, David Heilbroner for Traffic Stop 45%
5. Thomas Lennon for Knife Skills 35%

Documentary Feature

1. Agnes Varda, Rosalie Varda, Jr. for Faces Places 75%
2. Kareem Abeed, Soeren Steen Jesperson, Feras Fayyad for Last Men in Aleppo 70%
3. Bryan Fogel, Dan Cogan for Icarus/Yance Ford, Joslyn Barnes for Strong Island 55% Winner [missed: 2.5 points]
4. –tie
5. Steve James, Mark Mitten, Julie Goldman for Abacus: Small Enough to Jail 45%

Foreign Language

1. A Fantastic Woman (Chile) 90% Winner [called it]
2. The Square (Sweden) 70%
3. On Body and Soul (Hungary)/The Insult (Lebanon) 50%
4. –tie
5. Loveless (Russia) 40%

Production Design

1. Paul D. Austerberry, Shane Vieau, Jeffrey A. Melvin for The Shape of Water 90% Winner [called it]
2. Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis for Dunkirk/Dennis Gassner, Alessandra Querzola for Blade Runner 2049 65%
3. –tie
4. Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer for Darkest Hour 50%
5. Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer for Beauty and the Beast 30%

Join thousands of readers and try the free The Measured Circle magazine at Flipboard !

All aboard our new The Measured Circle’s Geek Time Trip at The History Project! Join the TMCGTT Timeblazers!

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the The Measured Circle blog. To support this or other blogs/organizations, buy Amazon Gift Cards from a link on the site, then use those to buy your items. There will be no cost to you, and a benefit to them.

24 hours left to make your Oscar predictions! See our current odds

24 hours left to make your Oscar predictions! See our current odds

Want to make your predictions for the Oscar winners? They are due by noon Pacific time, Sunday March 4th (so I can get our final predictions out to the world before the show).

I’m going to include in this post where we are at time of writing, but I do expect the final numbers will be different. My intuition is that the more people who play, the more accurate we are as a group (and we’ve been pretty accurate in the past), so feel free to let people know about it!

Here are the links:

BOPMadness (Bufo’s Oscar Prediction Madness) 2018 Part 1:

https://1drv.ms/xs/s!AvkcopEaVSeijmSsbx6vG5Gcl96f?wdFormId=%7BE5793882%2D0660%2D4E4D%2DAB01%2DC36113A0B277%7D

BOPMadness (Bufo’s Oscar Prediction Madness) 2018 Part 2:

https://1drv.ms/xs/s!AvkcopEaVSeijmYLK7pAZBjqYs8w?wdFormId=%7BAF2B6048%2DE94B%2D426C%2DA3FF%2D5FF981F1FB14%7D

Please complete both parts, and make a guess for every nominee in every category. That’s what makes this work: data! 🙂 Also, use each number only once…if it is a five-nominee category, don’t give two nominees both the number 5. If you do…I guess I’ll have to randomize which one is which, but please use your intuition.

You don’t need to sign up or anything, just play. 🙂 I do require an e-mail address (which I use only for BOPMadness communications and do not share with the public) and I do require that you make guesses about every nominee in every category…the more answers, I think the better we should do (based on the wisdom of crowds).

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Our odds at time of writing:

Best Picture: Call Me by Your Name	Best Picture: Darkest Hour	Best Picture: Dunkirk	Best Picture: Get Out	Best Picture: Lady Bird	Best Picture: Phantom Thread	Best Picture: The Post	Best Picture: The Shape of Water	Best Picture: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
33%	28%	69%	83%	58%	28%	22%	86%	92%

Lead Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Phantom Thread	Lead Actor: Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out	Lead Actor: Denzel Washington in Roman J. Israel, Esq.	Lead Actor: Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour	Lead Actor: Timothee Chalomet in Call Me by Your Name
55%	65%	30%	100%	50%

Lead Actress: Frances McDormand in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri	Lead Actress: Margot Robbie in I, Tonya	Lead Actress: Meryl Streep in The Post	Lead Actress: Sally Hawkins in The Shape of Water	Lead Actress: Saoirse Ronan in Lady Bird
100%	40%	20%	75%	65%

Supporting Actress: Allison Janney in I, Tonya	Supporting Actress: Laurie Metcalf in Lady Bird	Supporting Actress: Lesley Manville in Phantom Thread	Supporting Actress: Mary J. Blige in Mudbound	Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer in The Shape of Water
95%	85%	40%	45%	35%

Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer in All the Money in the World	Supporting Actor: Richard Jenkins in The Shape of Water	Supporting Actor: Sam Rockwell in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri	Supporting Actor: Willem Dafoe in The Florida Project	Supporting Actor: Woody Harrelson in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
55%	50%	100%	65%	30%

Directing: Christopher Nolan for Dunkirk	Directing: Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird	Directing: Guillermo del Toro for The Shape of Water	Directing: Jordan Peele for Get Out	Directing: Paul Thomas Anderson for Phantom Thread
50%	65%	100%	65%	20%

Original Screenplay: Jordan Peele for Get Out	Original Screenplay: Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird	Original Screenplay: Kumail Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon for The Big Sick	Original Screenplay: Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor for The Shape of Water	Original Screenplay: Martin McDonagh for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
95%	70%	25%	35%	75%

Adapted Screenplay: James Ivory for Call Me by Your Name	Adapted Screenplay: Scott Frank, James Mangold, Michael Green for Logan	Adapted Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin for Molly’s Game	Adapted Screenplay: Dee Rees, Virgil Williams for Mudbound	Adapted Screenplay: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber for The Disaster Artist
100%	35%	60%	75%	30%

Cinematography: Roger Deakins for Blade Runner 2049	Cinematography: Bruno Delbonnel for the Darkest Hour	Cinematography: Hoyte Van Hoytema for Dunkirk	Cinematography: Rachel Morrison for Mudbound	Cinematography: Dan Laustsen for The Shape of Water
70%	35%	75%	55%	65%

Costume: Jacqueline Durran for Beauty and the Beast	Costume: Jacqueline Durran for Darkest Hour	Costume: Mark Bridges for Phantom Thread	Costume: Luis Sequiera for The Shape of Water	Costume: Consolata Boyle for Victoria & Abdul
45%	40%	90%	75%	50%

Sound Mixing: Tim Cavigan, Mary H. Ellis, Julian Slater for Baby Driver	Sound Mixing: Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill, Mac Ruth for Blade Runner 2049	Sound Mixing: Gregg Landaker, Gary Rizzo, Mark Weingarten for Dunkirk	Sound Mixing: Michael Semanick, David Parker, Stuart Wilson, Ren Klyce for Star Wars: The Last Jedi	Sound Mixing: Christian T. Cooke, Glen Gauthier, Brad Zoern for The Shape of Water
60%	45%	95%	50%	50%

Sound Editing: Julian Slater for Baby Driver	Sound Editing: Mark A. Mangini, Theo Green for Blade Runner 2049	Sound Editing: Richard King, Alex Gibson for Dunkirk	Sound Editing: Matthew Wood, Ren Klyce for Star Wars: The Last Jedi	Sound Editing: Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira for The Shape of Water
60%	50%	95%	60%	35%

Film Editing: Paul Machliss, Jonathan Amos for Baby Driver	Film Editing: Lee Smith for Dunkirk	Film Editing: Tatiana S. Riegel for I, Tonya	Film Editing: Sidney Wolinsky for The Shape of Water	Film Editing: Jon Gregory for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
55%	95%	40%	60%	50%

Visual Effects: John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert, Richard R. Hoover for Blade Runner 2049	Visual Effects: Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Jonathan Fawkner, Daniel Sudnick for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2	Visual Effects: Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff White, Scott Benza, Michael Meinardus for Kong: Skull Island	Visual Effects: Ben Morris, Michael Mulholland, Neal Scanlan, Chris Corbould for Star Wars: The Last Jedi	Visual Effects: Joe Letteri, Daniel Barrett, Dan Lemmon, Joel Whist for War for the Planet of the Apes
65%	65%	30%	70%	70%

Makeup and Hairstyling: Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Mainowski, Lucy Sibbick for Darkest Hour	Makeup and Hairstyling: Daniel Phillips, Louis Sheppard for Victoria & Abdul	Makeup and Hairstyling: Arjen Tuiten for Wonder
100%	42%	58%

Original Song: Sufjan Stevens for “Mystery of Love” from Call Me by Your Name	Original Song: Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez for “Remember Me” from Coco	Original Song: Common, Diane Warren for “Stand Up for Something” from Marshall	Original Song: Raphael Saadiq, Mary J. Blige, Taura Stinson for “Mighty River” from Mudbound	Original Song: Benj Pasek, Justin Paul for “This Is Me” from The Greatest Showman
5%	85%	40%	45%	75%

Original Song: Sufjan Stevens for “Mystery of Love” from Call Me by Your Name2	Original Score: Hans Zimmer for Dunkirk	Original Score: Johnny Greenwood for Phantom Thread	Original Score: John Williams for Star Wars: The Last Jedi	Original Score: Alexandre Desplat for The Shape of Water	Original Score: Carter Burwell for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
55%	75%	40%	40%	100%	45%

Animated Short: Glen Keane, Kobe Bryant for Dear Basketball	Animated Short: Victor Caire, Gabriel Grapperon for Garden Party	Animated Short: Dave Mullins, Dana Murray for Lou	Animated Short: Max Porter, Ru Kuwahata for Negative Space	Animated Short: Jakob Schuh, Jan Lachauer for Revolting Rhymes Part One
85%	55%	45%	55%	60%

Live Action Short: Reed Van Dyk for DeKalb Elementary	Live Action Short: Kevin Wilson Jr. for My Nephew Emmett	Live Action Short: Derin Seale, Josh Lawson for The Eleven O’Clock	Live Action Short: Chris Overton, Rachel Shenton for The Silent Child	Live Action Short: Katja Benrath, Tobias Rosen for Watu Wote: All of Us
80%	35%	50%	70%	65%

Join thousands of readers and try the free The Measured Circle magazine at Flipboard !

All aboard our new The Measured Circle’s Geek Time Trip at The History Project! Join the TMCGTT Timeblazers!

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the The Measured Circle blog. To support this or other blogs/organizations, buy Amazon Gift Cards from a link on the site, then use those to buy your items. There will be no cost to you, and a benefit to them.

BOPMadness 2018! Bufo’s Oscar Prediction Madness: make your own & see what we say

BOPMadness 2018! Bufo’s Oscar Prediction Madness: make your own & see what we say

For more than two decades, I’ve been doing an Oscar prediction contest. We only play for that most valuable of all human possessions…braggin’ rights. 😉 I’ve developed a particular way that we do it, and partially as a result of that, we tend to do quite well as a group in predictions…two years ago we were 90% overall. Last year, we didn’t do as well, I think in part because of the Academy’s transition.

I’m doing it a bit differently again this year (just in terms of process)…I haven’t found a perfect method, easy for players to use to enter their guesses, and easy to analyze. This year, I’ve switched to using an Excel survey. I thought I’d be able to get all of the categories into one survey, but there was a 100 question limit, so there are two:

BOPMadness (Bufo’s Oscar Prediction Madness) 2018 Part 1:

https://1drv.ms/xs/s!AvkcopEaVSeijmSsbx6vG5Gcl96f?wdFormId=%7BE5793882%2D0660%2D4E4D%2DAB01%2DC36113A0B277%7D

BOPMadness (Bufo’s Oscar Prediction Madness) 2018 Part 2:

https://1drv.ms/xs/s!AvkcopEaVSeijmYLK7pAZBjqYs8w?wdFormId=%7BAF2B6048%2DE94B%2D426C%2DA3FF%2D5FF981F1FB14%7D

Please complete both parts, and make a guess for every nominee in every category. That’s what makes this work: data! 🙂 Also, use each number only once…if it is a five-nominee category, don’t give two nominees both the number 5. If you do…I guess I’ll have to randomize which one is which, but please use your intuition.

You don’t need to sign up or anything, just play. 🙂 I do require an e-mail address (which I use only for BOPMadness communications and do not share with the public) and I do require that you make guesses about every nominee in every category…the more answers, I think the better we should do (based on the wisdom of crowds).

Feel free to spread the word! There’s only a week left. 😉

NOTE: the deadline for entries is noon Pacific time on Sunday, March 4th (Oscar day). That way, I can get the group’s predictions out before the ceremony.

Join thousands of readers and try the free The Measured Circle magazine at Flipboard !

All aboard our new The Measured Circle’s Geek Time Trip at The History Project! Join the TMCGTT Timeblazers!

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the The Measured Circle blog. To support this or other blogs/organizations, buy Amazon Gift Cards from a link on the site, then use those to buy your items. There will be no cost to you, and a benefit to them.

My take on…The Shape of Water

My take on…The Shape of Water

Before I get into plot details (and I’ll give you a Spoiler Alert before I do), I’ll give you some general impressions.

First,

The Shape of Water

did pass what I call my “flashback test”. By that I mean that I spontaneously thought of the movie in the days after I’d seen it. Many movies and TV shows down pass it. I see it, and if I consciously think about it, I remember it…but it doesn’t just bubble up on its own. “Bubbling” is a good thing: it means that the movie/TV show is still being processed by my brain. 🙂

Second, it was visually striking…I would expect it to get nominated for Art Direction, quite possibly for Costumes, and maybe even Cinematography.

Third, Sally Hawkins was impressive, and deserves the plaudits she’s been getting.

Fourth, though, I had some issues with the script…which requires the

SPOILER ALERT

Guillermo Del Toro, who directed the movie and co-wrote the screenplay with Vanessa Taylor (who, among other things, has written episodes of Game of Thrones), has described TSoW as a “fairy tale”.

I think that’s reasonable.

Fairy tales are great, but they aren’t known for character subtlety…especially in the case of the villains. You don’t wonder about the motivations of the Big Bad Wolf, or if maybe the Wicked Stepmother has a point about Cinderella’s behavior.

That’s how it is with Michael Shannon’s Richard Strickland character in The Shape of Water. He is simply, uncomplicatedly evil…cartoonishly so (and that’s not a knock on cartoons). That’s also not a criticism of Michael Shannon’s performance…he’s fine in the part. It’s the way the part is written, and the way the movie is (expertly) directed. It’s what GDT wanted it to be.

It made me less involved in the movie…while we don’t know exactly what he’s going to do, there’s never any mystery about his feelings.

I also had some issues with how the Gill-Man was handled. It looked great, especially the blinking eyes. I’m a fan of the original Creature from the Black Lagoon movies (I’ve watched them many times, both in 3-D and flat). This isn’t about contrasting the two, and I’m confident that I did go in with an open mind. I’m fine with many versions of the same story and characters.

My concerns here were primarily two.

The moral of the story seems to primarily be about acceptance of different intelligences…from the differently abled to different sexual preferences to Soviet Russians.

We are also supposed to accept the Gill-Man.

We can…he’s a sympathetic character. I also felt sympathy for the original Gill-Man, but I’m probably a bit unusual on that…for that matter, I felt sad for the Metaluna Mutant from This Island Earth. 😉

My concern here is that the Gill-Man is given magical healing powers (they aren’t supposed to be magical, I presume, but they function that way). That changes the message from “Be tolerant of those who are different from you…respect their differences” to “Be tolerant of those who are different from you…because they might be able to heal your baldness.” It’s not just about intrinsic value…it’s about practical value.

The other thing was that killing a thinking being (even one who might be a “monster”) is shown in the movie as a casual, appropriate thing. I understood why something different from that was shown earlier, but I didn’t think the sentient’s death was necessary or that it enhanced the message.

By the way, I’m also seeing this described as “What if the Gill-Man had a willing partner, rather than an unrequited love?” In the 1954 movie, I don’t think most people would describe the Gill-Man’s intent as love. In this movie, it’s Sally Hawkin’s Elisa who is the initiator, not the Gill-Man.

Finally, and you can tell that I’m dancing around some plot points, even with the alert, there was a foreshadowing element where I guessed what would happen later. My favorite thing in entertainment is to be surprised, and I just wasn’t on that one.

I also want to mention: the R-rating is for sexual content primarily. There is violence, and some minor language, but I’m sure that was it. A sexualized Gill-Man did appear, sort of, in the “Carl Dreadstone” (house name) 1977 novelization of the 1954 movie, but not like this.

END SPOILER ALERT

I’ll be clear: I agree with many of the Oscar nominations. I thought it was well-directed, well designed, and there was strong acting. There was a sub-plot I thought was particularly well-drawn. I think GDT realized his vision…I just wish he had seen some things a bit differently; but then that wouldn’t have been his vision.

My last thought: Michael Shannon should be in a biopic about Boris Karloff. 🙂 I got some similar vibes…that world weary sense of some (especially later) roles of Karloff, and I would say there is some facial similarity. Just an idea… 🙂

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You can be part of my next book, Because of the Kindle!

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Join thousands of readers and try the free ILMK magazine at Flipboard!

All aboard The Measured Circle’s Geek Time Trip at The History Project!

* I am linking to the same thing at the regular Amazon site, and at AmazonSmile. When you shop at AmazonSmile, half a percent of your purchase price on eligible items goes to a non-profit you choose. It will feel just like shopping at Amazon: you’ll be using your same account. The one thing for you that is different is that you pick a non-profit the first time you go (which you can change whenever you want)…and the good feeling you’ll get.  Shop ’til you help!  

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog. To support this or other blogs/organizations, buy  Amazon Gift Cards from a link on the site, then use those to buy your items. There will be no cost to you, and a benefit to them.

 

Ends in 8: geeky anniversaries in 2018

Ends in 8: geeky anniversaries in 2018

Hey, little Ten Toes! Humans (at least those using the decimal system) like to observe anniversaries by the decade. This is a brief list of some of the geeky anniversaries happening this year. It is in no way comprehensive, and we certainly may add to it (and invite you to make suggestions by commenting on the post).

This year, we’ve also decided to approach this a bit differently, and arrange them by the day of the year, rather by the length of the anniversary. While I like pointing out the number of geek-friendly movie favorites released in 1988, for example, I think it will be easier for people to be aware of an anniversary based on the day of the year. I’ll try to highlight the big ones. Let me know if you like it this way better…

Oh, and after internal debate, I decided not to list the birthdates of living celebrities. Some of them may not like having their ages highlighted in this way.

• January 2: Red Dwarf debuts (1978-40th anniversary)
• January 3: Jeanne Dixon born (1918-100th anniversary) (psychic)
• January 3: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine series debut (1993-25th anniversary)
• January 7: Captain Thomas Mantell dies pursuing a UFO (1948)
• January 8: William Hartnell born (1908) (Doctor Who actor)
• January 8: Leprechaun opens (1993-25th anniversary)
• January 13: Bud Westmore born (1918-100th anniversary) (makeup artist)
• January 13: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles series debut (2008-10th anniversary)
• January 18: Cloverfield opens (2008-10th anniversary)
• January 28: Fantasy Island debuts (1978-40th anniversary)
• February: Famous Monsters of Filmland first published (1958)
• February 1: George Pal born (1908)
• February 8: Planet of the Apes opens (1968-50th anniversary)
• February 12: Groundhog Day opens (1993-25th anniversary)
• February 14: Jumper  (2008-10th anniversary)
• February 15: Red Dwarf series debut (1988-30th anniversary)
• February 22: Babylon 5 series debut (1993-25th anniversary)
• February 26: Theodore Sturgeon born (1918-100th anniversary)
• February 27: Dark City opens (1998-20th anniversary)
• March 10: The Incredible Hulk debuts (1978-40th anniversary)
• March 11: Frankenstein published (1818-200th anniversary)
• April 6: 2001: A Space Odyssey opens (1968-50th anniversary)
• May 8: Dracula (AKA Horror of Dracula) (1958-USA release date) (start of the Hammer horror cycle)
• May 8: Deep Impact (1998-20th anniversary)
• May 19: Attack of the 50-Foot Woman opens (1958)
• April 16: My Neighbor Tortoro opens (1988-30th anniversary)
• April 26: Stafford Repp (1918-100th anniversary)
• April 29: Jack Williamson born (1908)
• May 2: Iron Man opens (2008-10th anniversary) (start of the Marvel Cinematic Universe)
• May 12: Earth Girls Are Easy opens (1988-30th anniversary)
• May 27th: Killer Klowns from Outer Space opens (1988-30th anniversary)
• June: Superman makes his first comic book appearance (1938)
• June: Lois Lane makes her first comic book appearance (1938)
• June 1: Revenge of Frankenstein opens (1958)
• June 3: Big opens (1988-30th anniversary)
• June 6: Kung Fu Panda opens (2008-10th anniversary)
• June 18: Bud Collyer born (1908) (Superman actor)
• June 22: Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988-30th anniversary)
• June 23: Coneheads opens (1993-25th anniversary)
• June 27: WALL-E opens (2008-10th anniversary)
• July 2: Hancock opens (2008-10th anniversary)
• July 16: Akira opens (1988-30th anniversary)
• July 18th: The Dark Knight opens (2008-10th anniversary)
• August 5: The Blob remake opens (1988-30th anniversary)
• August 18: Evelyn Ankers born (1918-100th anniversary)
• August 28: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers debuts in the USA (1993-25th anniversary)
• September: Brother Power makes his first comic book appearance (1968-50th anniversary)
• September: Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone is published in the USA (1998-20th anniversary)
• September 7: Queen of Outer Space opens (1958)
• September 7: The Banana Splits Adventure Hour debuts on TV (1968)
• September 7: Battlestar Galactica series debut (1978-40th anniversary)
• September 7: True Blood series debut (2008-10th anniversary)
• September 9: Fringe series debut (2008-10th anniversary)
• September 10: The X-Files series debut (1993-25th anniversary)
• September 12: The Blob opens (1958)
• September 30: Elvira: Mistress of the Dark opens (1988-30th anniversary)
• October 1: Night of the Living Dead opens (1968-50th anniversary)
• October 3: Star Wars: The Clone Wars series debut (2008-10th anniversary)
• October 7: Alien Nation opens (1988-30th anniversary)
• October 7: Charmed series debut (1998-20th anniversary)
• October 10: Barbarella opens (1968-50th anniversary)
• October 25: Halloween opens (1978-40th anniversary)
• November: Adam Strange makes his first comic book appearance (1958)
• November 3: Jean Rollin born (1938)
• November 4: They Live (1988-30th anniversary)
• November 9: Child’s Play opens (1988-30th anniversary) (1st appearance of Chucky)
• November 18: The Land Before Time opens (1988-30th anniversary)
• November 18: Oliver & Company opens (1988-30th anniversary)
• November 21: Twilight opens (2008-10th anniversary)
• November 23: Scrooged opens (1988-30th anniversary)
• November 24: Mystery Science Theater 3000 series debut (1988-30th anniversary)
• November 29: Madeleine L’Engle born (1918-100th anniversary)
• November 29: C.S. Lewis born (1898)
• December 9: Twins opens (1988-30th anniversary)
• December 25: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button opens (2008-10th anniversary)

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You can be part of my next book, Because of the Kindle!

---

Join thousands of readers and try the free ILMK magazine at Flipboard!

All aboard The Measured Circle’s Geek Time Trip at The History Project!

* I am linking to the same thing at the regular Amazon site, and at AmazonSmile. When you shop at AmazonSmile, half a percent of your purchase price on eligible items goes to a non-profit you choose. It will feel just like shopping at Amazon: you’ll be using your same account. The one thing for you that is different is that you pick a non-profit the first time you go (which you can change whenever you want)…and the good feeling you’ll get.  Shop ’til you help!  

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog. To support this or other blogs/organizations, buy  Amazon Gift Cards from a link on the site, then use those to buy your items. There will be no cost to you, and a benefit to them.

2018 Oscar noms

2018 Oscar noms

This is preliminary, almost live-blogging…I’ll refine it soon this morning.

Some thoughts:

• Wow! After the Screen Actors Guild went full Muggle with the winners, I was feeling a tad less confident that this would be the big year for geeky movies at the Oscars I had anticipated…but I was wrong. Complete embrace of geeky and hip movies…the Oscars have never looked as young as they do at 90
• Love how they are presenting the noms! They are doing short movies with well-known people to illustrate the concept of the category. It also shows the non-traditionalality 😉 of the Oscars, to have them presented by Andy Serkis (best known as the mocap king ((motion capture))) and Tiffany Haddish, who is an up and comer in an edgy movie (in particular)
• Blade Runner 2049 got a lot of recognition, as did Get Out and especially The Shape of Water
• The buzz as a snub? Wonder Woman…that’s part of why I’m doing this without having put everything together carefully. It’s going to be a big flap online this morning
• I had tried to anticipate what some of the nominees might be…I’ll get those into their proper nominations shortly…sorry, woke up with a cold this morning 🙂
• Beauty and the Beast also got a lot of noms
• If you want to see the big name movies online, you can shell out for HBO and watch them on Now or Go (or, if you have AT&T for internet, you get it on DirecTV…although I have to say, I find that app particularly difficult to use). For the roughly $10 a month club, it’s definitely Netflix, at least for geeky titles

I’m going to call out the geeky nominees, and I’ll make some comments.

Best Original Song

• Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, Remember Me from Coco
• Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, This is Me from The Greatest Showman

SFX (Special Effects)

• Blade Runner 2049
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
• Kong: Skull Island
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi
• War for the Planet of the Apes

Doc Short

Documentary Feature

Editing

• Sidney Wolinsky, The Shape of Water

Sound Mixing

• Christian T. Cooke, Glen Gauthier, Brad Zoern, The Shape of Water
• Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill, Mac Ruth, Blade Runner 2049
• Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (original title)
  Michael Semanick, David Parker, Stuart Wilson, Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Sound Editing

• Nathan Robitaille, The Shape of Water
• Mark A. Mangini, Blade Runner 2049
• Matthew Wood, Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Production Design

• Beauty and the Beast
• Blade Runner 2049
• The Shape of Water

Live Action Short

Animated Short

• Revolting Rhymes Part One
• may be others…

Best Animated Feature

• Coco
• Ferdinand
• The Boss Baby

 Supporting Actor

• Richard Jenkins, Shape of Water

Supporting Actress

• Octavia Spencer, Shape of Water

Makeup and Hairstyling

No geeky nominees in this category

Costume

• Jacqueline Durran, Beauty and the Beast
• Luis Sequeira, The Shape of Water

Cinematography

• Roger Deakins, Bladerunner 2049
• Dan Laustsen, The Shape of Water

Original Screenplay

• Jordan Peele, Get Out
• Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor, The Shape of Water

Adapted Screenplay

• Scott Frank, James Mangold, Michael Green, Logan

Original Score

• The Shape of Water
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Foreign Language

Directing

• Guillermo Del Toro, The Shape of Water
• Jordan Peele, Get Out

Other geeky movies which had buzz in this category:

• Patty Jenkins, Wonder Woman

Lead Actress

• Sally Hawkins in The Shape of Water

Lead Actor

• Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out

Best Picture

• Get Out
• The Shape of Water

Other geeky movies which had buzz in this category:

• Wonder Woman
• Blade Runner 2049
• Coco
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi
• Logan
• Beauty and the Beast
• Downsizing
• War for the Planet of the Apes
• Goodbye Christopher Robin
• Okja

A special Oscar is being awarded to Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for Carne y Arena, a virtual reality work.

Where can you legally stream any of these Oscar nominees without paying additional money (subscriptions required)?

Amazon Prime:

Hulu:

Netflix:

• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
• The Boss Baby
• Beauty and the Beast

HBO Now/HBO Go

Kong: Skull Island
Get Out
Logan

How about streaming if you are willing to piece pay to rent or buy? All links are to JustWatch:

• Blade Runner 2049
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
• War for the Planet of the Apes
• Kong: Skull Island
• Get Out
• Logan

Complete list of nominees from the Academy website:

http://oscar.go.com/nominees

Join thousands of readers and try the free The Measured Circle magazine at Flipboard

Join thousands of readers and try the free The Measured Circle magazine at Flipboard !

All aboard our new The Measured Circle’s Geek Time Trip at The History Project! Join the TMCGTT Timeblazers!

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the The Measured Circle blog. To support this or other blogs/organizations, buy Amazon Gift Cards from a link on the site, then use those to buy your items. There will be no cost to you, and a benefit to them.

Geek-friendly, blockbuster…and critically acclaimed

Geek-friendly, blockbuster…and critically acclaimed

“You know, Tommy…you’re really a freak. I don’t mean that unkindly. I like freaks. That’s why I like you.”
–Mary-Lou (played by Candy Clark) to Thomas Jerome Newton (played by David Bowie)
The Man Who Fell to Earth
screenplay by Paul Mayersberg
based on the novel by Walter Tevis
collected in
The Mind Boggles: A Unique Book of Quotations (at AmazonSmile: benefit a non-profit of your choice by shopping*) by Bufo Calvin

Now that the geeks have inherited the Earth, what do we want to do with it? 😉

I remember back in the olden days 😉 when consuming geek-friendly media was something that only a few of us did…and pretty much everybody else looked down on us for doing it. Robert Heinlein was in the kids’ section. You could make just about anything into a “sci-fi” movie for the summer drive-ins, because the market was small enough that we literally could see every single geeky movie released in the USA…and some of us did.

While there had always been some geeky hits, the seventies saw the real start of the change: The Exorcist (horror) (1973); Jaws (monster movies) (1975); and Star Wars (science fiction, although loosely defined) (1977) were giant blockbusters, dominating the box office.

If you look at the top-grossing movies of all time in the USA (not adjusted for inflation), and remove the anomaly of Titanic (even though it’s full of special effects and directed by a geek-friendly director), the top thirty are all geek-friendly, and they dominate on down the line for the top 100.

When we look at critical acclaim, though, that’s been a tougher path.

Not this year.

Again, if we look backwards (and I’m talking about movies here), there have been geek-friendly critically-acclaimed performances and movies. Fredric March won the Best Actor Oscar for portraying the title roles in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Julie Andrews won for the title role in Mary Poppins.

However, there is an important distinction in all the buzz around The Shape of Water and Get Out (which may each get multiple Oscar noms, announced on January 23, including Big Six awards…Best Picture/Director/acting awards).

They are originals, written for the screen. They are also both written by their directors, and are unambiguously geek-friendly.

Being based on a book gives geek-friendly movies a certain cachet. Even though the books themselves may have been considered “lowbrow” or for kids, that still counts, even in a sort of retroactive respect.

This year, critics are recognizing geek-friendly works that are born and raised in the geek-friendly world.

The Shape of Water, according to IMDb, has already won 67 awards and had 190 nominations.

Get Out has 84 wins and 142 nominations.

Note that that doesn’t mean they lost in those other cases…some of them have not been decided yet, like this weekend’s SAG awards.

When we look at the Oscar odds at

Gold Derby

nominations seem very likely, and wins are possible.

I don’t think we geeks need to worry that we are going to be like everybody else (that’s a negative, right?).  😉 There will always be eddies which keep us out of the mainstream. Still, I think the time has arrived that we can say, “All your base are belong to us”… 😉

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You can be part of my next book, Because of the Kindle!

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Join thousands of readers and try the free ILMK magazine at Flipboard!

All aboard The Measured Circle’s Geek Time Trip at The History Project!

* I am linking to the same thing at the regular Amazon site, and at AmazonSmile. When you shop at AmazonSmile, half a percent of your purchase price on eligible items goes to a non-profit you choose. It will feel just like shopping at Amazon: you’ll be using your same account. The one thing for you that is different is that you pick a non-profit the first time you go (which you can change whenever you want)…and the good feeling you’ll get.  Shop ’til you help!  

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog. To support this or other blogs/organizations, buy  Amazon Gift Cards from a link on the site, then use those to buy your items. There will be no cost to you, and a benefit to them.