Movie reviews

ACADEMY AWARDS CEREMONY 2015

I set my alarm for 1:45 (Polish time) expecting a reliable Pro7 Live Stream as in previous years. It didn't work. Resorted to the Filmweb forum under the Oscars nominees list. Finally http://www.brettygood.com/ seems to be working and it's 2:58 am already.

Costumes and Make-up Awards for "The Grand Budapest Hotel" - not surprised.

Foreign Language Film - I'm on the edge of my seat already. Pawlikowski's speech is nice, especially the bit about being "in the epicentre of world attention".

Lousy jokes so far. Snacks forbidden but seat fillers presented instead.

Finally a stream where even commercials are in English (ABC).

Now a winner's advertising his local donut bakery.

As I said before, "Joanna" didn't deserve an Oscar. It didn't get one. Neither did "Our Curse" which I haven't seen and most likely won't.

The stream's breaking up a bit.

Jokes still lousy.

Several actors in the audience look as if they were wearing masks, specially John Travolta. Surgery plus make-up? They somehow all resemble Putin.

The "Birdman" mock sketch is good!

"American Sniper" for Sound Editing. Happy to hear that.

Patricia Arquette's feminist manifesto speech was astonishing. Why is she talking about it?

Visual Effects - my fave category. Deservedly "Interstellar" this year.

Cinematography unfortunately not for "Ida".

Can't wait to hear Lady Gaga perform.

Oh, so Giger died last year? I didn't even know. Marquez In Memoriam too - what did he have to do with films?

Cumberbatch's speech about film editing was interesting. Apparently editors: help find a needle in a haystack, "save actors' asses" and remind directors why they made the movie in the first place.

I've just realised how bad the Polish translation of "The Imitation Game" title was - completely neglecting the protagonist's trying to blend in with the straight crowd.

"Citizenfour" winning the Best Documentary  - "the subject of the film, Edward Snowden, couldn't be here for some reason" - finally a good joke!

Polish commentators expected references to Ukraine. So far I've heard only one possible about the celebrities' oscar goodie bag containing "an armoured ride to safety if a revolution comes". Instead it's all about a bigger number of blacks incarcerated in the US nowadays than in slavery times.

Best Score for "The Grand Budapest Hotel" whose music I didn't like.

One of "Birdman" scriptwriters thanked his family and dog - loved it!

Ah, so "The Theory Of Everything" was based on Hawking's wife's book. That explains why the film's more about her than him.

What a moving speech by The Imitation Game" scriptwriter Graham Moore who admitted he had attempted suicide at 16 because he "didn't fit in".

Best Director - Alejandro G. Inarritu for "Birdman" - who else? The only film which was different.

Very good speech by Cate Blanchet about great acting being when you're afraid to blink an eye lest you miss an important moment. Not the case of Eddie Redmayne but his performance was remarkable. Must be terribly hard to act mobility impaired.

Actress In A Leading Role - Rosamund Pike is my hope and the Oscar goes to...Julianne Moore. Haven't seen that film. Her husband's younger than her. At last a woman admitting it.

The PWC guy really looks like aged Matt Damon.

"Oscar predictions" were brilliant!

Is Sean Penn the only one looking actually his age?

"Birdman" the Best Picture? I disagree. Preferred "American Sniper".
Clearly the whole ceremony was about equality.