Welcome to WeeklyWilson.com, where author/film critic Connie (Corcoran) Wilson avoids totally losing her marbles in semi-retirement by writing about film (see the Chicago Film Festival reviews and SXSW), politics and books----her own books and those of other people. You'll also find her diverging frequently to share humorous (or not-so-humorous) anecdotes and concerns. Try it! You'll like it!

Tag: Oscar winners

Oscar Winners On Feb. 24th are “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Roma” and “Black Panther”

The Green Book with Viggo Mortensen and Mahershali Ali

This year, because we were going to be traveling, I was forced to make my Oscar predictions much further in advance than any other year. I tried going with my gut instinct and not playing the “odds.” I also did not want to do any “research” because the other 3 people in our long-time Oscar party already would cry foul about competing with a film critic in our small foursome of Oscar predicting.

The big upset tonight was that Glenn Close did not win the Oscar for Best Actress. This means that she has been nominated 8 times and is winless. She may have to go for 19 nominations like Susan Lucci.

Chadwick Boseman of “Black Panther”

I honestly thought that Glenn Close would garner the award, but Olivia Coleman from “The Favourite” gave an absolutely charming impromptu speech (see notes below).

From the informal tally I kept, “Bohemian Rhapsody” won the most, with 4-–although we all seem to have drifted off when Michael Keaton came out and announced the Best Editing award. I’m pretty sure it went to “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which means it won for Best Actor (Rami Malek),Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Production Design.

The “Roma” film—[black-and-white, Spanish subtitles, about a pregnant Mexican maid who cleans houses]—won 3: Best Director, Best Foreign Film and Best Cinematography. Also winning multiple Oscars was Black Panther, which won for Costume Design and Production Design.

The Big Surprise of the night, as mentioned above, was Glenn Close NOT winning. She had on a gold dress designed with 4 million gold beads that weighed 42 pounds, but still she did not win. I can relate; I wore a gold-beaded dress to my son’s wedding and it was the heaviest dress ever.

Queen, with Adam Lambert performed at the Oscars tonight. This is from a Chicago appearance of Queen that I attended.

I really had hoped that Spike Lee would be given the Best Director Oscar, but, otherwise, the Best Picture choice was fine by me. I had taken my husband to see it, saying that I thought it would do well. Last year, the film I went to with him prior to the awards was “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” so my hunches regarding movies that come on strong at the end have been spot on.

I was soundly drubbed by my spouse, as usual, however. We make him perform “the chicken dance” when he trounces us and I have posted one such dance.

16 of 24 is pretty good: 66 and 2/3 %!  (I was about 50% and most in our party of 5 got only 9 to 12 right.)

I am glad that “Green Book” won. It is too bad that Glenn Close didn’t “win” but, since Olivia Coleman is going to be in Austin at SXSW soon with a new film, that will be neat. I had predicted that Rami Malek would take home Best Actor and that Regina King would win Best Supporting Actress and Maharisha Ali would win for Best Supporting Actor.

I had voted my heart in hoping that “First Reformed’s” script might win for the 72-year-old screenwriter (Paul Schrader), who gave us both “Taxi Driver” and “Raging Bull,” and my vote for Spike Lee was “hedged” in print, as I knew Alfonso Cuaron was the favorite, but I hoped in my heart of hearts that Spike would prevail. (The Best Adapted Screenplay Award did go to “BlackKKlansman.”

So, it’s another one for the books as we head into the films of 2019.

Supporting Actress – Regina King in “If Beale Street Could Talk”

Documentary Feature – Free Solo

Make-Up and Hairstyling – Vice

Costume Design – Black Panther

Production Design – Black Panther

Best Sound Editing – Bohemian Rhapsody

Best Foreign Film – Roma

Best Supporting Actor – Mahershala Ali (“Green Book”)

Best Cinematography – “Roma”

Best Editing – Bohemian Rhapsody

Best Animated Short – Bao

Best Documentary Short Subject – Period. End of Sentence.

Best Short Action – Skin

Original Screenplay – Green Book

Best Adapted Screenplay – BlackKKlansman

Best Original Score – Black Panther

Best Song – The Shallows

Best Actor (Lead) – Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)

Best Actress (Lead) – Olivia Coleman (The Favourites) “This is quite stressful. This is hilarious. This is not gonna’ happen again. Any little girl who’s practicing her skills at home, don’t stop; you never know.” Olivia thanked her husband (shot of her husband) and said, “He’s gonna’ cry.”

Best Director – Alfonso Cuaron (for “Roma”)

Post Oscar Withdrawal on February 26th, 2015

Another Oscar year over.

The traveling trophy this year came home to East Moline, with my 17 (should have been 18) correct picks out of 24 possibilities. It was fairly impressive that all 4 contestants (Craig Wilson, Pam & John Rhodes and me) scored in double digits, as a similar competition sponsored by my son in Chicago netted some abyssmal scores from a few (Ahem). However, son Scott picked 19 correct of the 24, which, considering none of us had seen some of the more esoteric categories, is pretty impressive.
Now, some comments on the show itself.

The predominant colors on the Red Carpet seemed to be (logically enough), red…and white. There were a few other colors, including the lovely Anna Kendrick’s dress in coral (one of the best) and the impressive number that Scarlett Johanssen sported.

But what was up with the hair? Patricia Arquette (who was the front-runner all along) showed up with a “do” that made her look like she had just stepped out of the shower. Likewise, the long pony tail, reminiscent of Ariana Grande, that Jennifer Lopez wore was ho hum and the lower-on-the-neck ponytail that Dakota Johnson sported just looked way too casual for the event and the dresses. And then there was Scarlett Johnssen’s shaved side of head look, after she decked out in a green dress that was to die for. There has also been a huge flap over the dreadlocks sported by one actress, which Fashion Police star Juliana Rancic dissed.

Neil Patrick Harris:

I’m revising my opinion of Neil Patrick Harris….downward. No, it’s not just because this year’s viewership was the worst in years and the entire night seemed lackluster (with the exception of the truly wonderful “Sound of Music” medley from Lady Gaga and Jennifer Hudson’s song). It’s also because I saw NPH in “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” on Broadway and was underwhelmed. He won the Tony for it, so I was perhaps expecting too much. I really didn’t think the play or Neil Patrick Harris in it was that great; my opinion was confirmed when the woman sitting next to me got up and left early.

I wondered about some of the ad libs (“treason” and “She had to have balls to wear that dress” in particular) that Harris threw out there, and I thought his much-vaunted song-and-dance ability was wasted. He did a very credible job hosting the Tonys, so someone erred in just giving him the lame joke about his predictions in a glass case. Plus, as none other than David Morrell noted, some in the audience and/or at home perhaps found Harris showing up in nothing but his tighty whiteys crass for such an upscale crowd, (even if it was referencing a scene from the night’s Best Picture winner, “Birdman.”)

I was not a huge fan of “Birdman,” except for the acting. Nor of “Boyhood.” If you are interested in some of the truly ENJOYABLE and entertaining movies of the year, see my previous post on same.

The night AFTER the Oscars we watched the Oscar-winning documentary “CITIZENFOUR,” which was the story of Edward Snowden’s release of classified documents. I had read the story in its entirety in “Rolling Stone” and it was presented there better. I saw 3 (of 5) documentaries, and this one was definitely my least favorite, although I recognize the fact that its World Headline Topic was Big News and “Finding vivian Maier,” the documentary about the Chicago nanny who took many black-and-white photographs, stored them in a storage locker and then died, broke and alone, so that others discovered her talent (and developed the photos, which she did not have the money to do) hen they purchased the contents of that storage locker, was just the longest-running show at the Chicago History Museum.

There was a very poignant follow-up to this interesting documentary, which is that the city of Chicago or Cook County now wants in on the Vivian Maier action ($) since she supposedly died intestate and had no living heirs. In an article entitled “Claiming Vivian Maier” (Chicago Tribune, Jan. 25, 2015) the entire sordid tale unfolds, with the comment that the City Fathers are intent upon tying up ownership of Vivian Maier’s photographs for years. This would seem to fly in the face of capitalizing on the fact that the documentary on Vivian was just nominated for an Oscar. (Talk about striking while the iron is cold!)

The article by Jason Jeisner reveals that Rogers Park artist Jeffrey Goldstein abruptly sold 17,500 prints of Maier’s work to a Canadian gallery owner. Stephen Bulger of Toronto, who bought the prints, has been forced to put them on ice in storage until the dispute clears the Illinois courts.

Anne Zakaras and Chicago silver gelatin printers Ron Gordon and Sandra Steinbrecher (Gordon came out of retirement to help restore the hundreds of images) say they feel tremendous sadness to have it all end this way. “Everybody loses,” said Gordon. “Vivian loses too. She goes back in the box.”

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