And the Oscars Go To...: My Picks and Predictions for The 88th Annual Academy Awards

For movie and award show fans, THIS is OUR Super Bowl!

With race and politics aside, here are my labored picks and predictions for The 88^th Annual Academy Awards.  The ONE true thing is that I still love the Cinema and there were many achievements made this year on celluloid.

Best Picture:
"The Big Short"
"Bridge of Spies"
"Brooklyn"
"Mad Max: Fury Road"
"The Martian"
"The Revenant"
"Room"
"Spotlight"

My Pick: I would love for the action of MAD MAX: FURY ROAD to win, with SPOTLIGHT next on my list.  It seems like a tight race though and…

My Prediction: I feel the grit and grandeur of THE REVENANT will prevail.

Best Actor:
Bryan Cranston, "Trumbo"
Matt Damon, "The Martian"
Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Revenant"
Michael Fassbender, "Steve Jobs"
Eddie Redmayne, "The Danish Girl"

My Pick and Prediction: Leonard DiCaprio for THE REVENANT. It is just time. FINALLY!

Best Actress:
Cate Blanchett, "Carol"
Brie Larson, "Room"
Jennifer Lawrence, "Joy"
Charlotte Rampling, "45 Years"
Saoirse Ronan, "Brooklyn"

My Pick and Prediction:  This would be Blanchett’s third win and I just don’t feel that is going to happen. Brie Larson’s star turn in ROOM has been winning all awards season and I am sure she will cap it off with a win here.

Best Supporting Actor:
Christian Bale, "The Big Short"
Tom Hardy, "The Revenant"
Mark Ruffalo, "Spotlight"
Mark Rylance, "Bridge of Spies"
Sylvester Stallone, "Creed"

My Pick and Prediction: Rocky Balboa comes full circle.  My parents would be so proud.  ROCKY was one of the very first movies I saw as a kid and to see this come to fruition all these years later would be a wonderful thing.  So, yes, I will be through the rafters when Sylvester Stallone wins for CREED.

Best Supporting Actress:
Jennifer Jason Leigh, "The Hateful Eight"
Rooney Mara, "Carol"
Rachel McAdams, "Spotlight"
Alicia Vikander, "The Danish Girl"
Kate Winslet, "Steve Jobs"

My Pick: Of the acting categories, this one seems to be the toughest to call.  I am rooting for either Jennifer Jason Leigh for THE HATEFUL EIGHT or Kate Winslet for STEVE JOBS, but…

My Prediction: Alicia Vikander, THE DANISH GIRL also rocked it in EX MACHINA and peaked at the right time during Awards season.  I think she will get the win here.

Best Director:
Adam McKay, "The Big Short"
George Miller, "Mad Max: Fury Road"
Alejandro Iñárritu, "The Revenant"
Lenny Abrahamson, "Room"
Tom McCarthy, "Spotlight"

My Pick: George Miller for MAD MAX: FURY ROAD is my personal fave.

My Prediction: Alejandro Iñárritu, THE REVENANT for the grind of helming his masterpiece alone.

Best Foreign Language Film:
"Embrace of the Serpent," Colombia
"Mustang," France
"Son of Saul," Hungary
"Theeb," Jordan
"A War," Denmark

My Pick and Prediction: SON OF SAUL, Hungary. No Contest.

Best Screenplay (Adaptation):
"The Big Short" by Charles Randolph and Adam McKay
"Brooklyn" by Nick Hornby
"Carol" by Phyllis Nagy
"The Martian" by Drew Goddard
"Room" by Emma Donoghue

My Pick: ROOM

My Prediction: THE BIG SHORT

Best Screenplay (Original):
"Bridge of Spies" by Matt Charman and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
"Ex Machina" by Alex Garland
"Inside Out" by Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley; original story by Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen
"Spotlight" by Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy
"Straight Outta Compton" by Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff; original story by S. Leigh Savidge & Alan Wenkus and Andrea Berloff

My Pick: My tastes gravitate more so toward INSIDE OUT and STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON, but…

My Prediction: SPOTLIGHT brilliantly shed light on a topical subject matter with both intense fierceness and entertainment quality that packed a punch.

Best Cinematography:
"Carol"
"The Hateful Eight"
"Mad Max: Fury Road"
"The Revenant"
"Sicario"

My Pick and Prediction: THE REVENANT

Best Costume Design:
"Carol," Sandy Powell
"Cinderella," Sandy Powell
"The Danish Girl," Paco Delgado
"Mad Max: Fury Road," Jenny Beaven
"The Revenant" Jacqueline West

My Pick and Prediction: This is such a toss-up and while I think Sandy Powell may actually win, I get the feeling she may cancel herself out with these two nods beaming that golden fella right to Jenny Beaven for MAD MAX: FURY ROAD.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:
"Mad Max: Fury Road" Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin
"The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared" Love Larson and Eva von Bahr
"The Revenant" Siân Grigg, Duncan Jarman and Robert Pandini

My Pick and Prediction: MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

Best Original Score:
"Bridge of Spies" Thomas Newman
"Carol" Carter Burwell
"The Hateful Eight" Ennio Morricone
"Sicario" Jóhann Jóhannsson
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" John Williams

My Pick: John Williams is such an icon and so is STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, but…

My Prediction: So is Ennio Morricone for THE HATEFUL EIGHT

Best Animated Feature Film:
"Anomalisa"
"Boy and the World"
"Inside Out"
"Shaun the Sheep Movie"
"When Marnie Was There"

My Pick: ANOMALISA

My Prediction: INSIDE OUT

Best Documentary Feature:
"Amy," Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees
"Cartel Land," Matthew Heineman and Tom Yellin
"The Look of Silence," Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen
"What Happened, Miss Simone?" Liz Garbus, Amy Hobby and Justin Wilkes
"Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom," Evgeny Afineevsky and Den Tolmor

My Pick: WHAT HAPPENED, MISS SIMONE?

My Prediction: AMY

Best Documentary Short Subject:
"Body Team 12," David Darg and Bryn Mooser
"Chau, beyond the Lines," Courtney Marsh and Jerry Franck
"Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah," Adam Benzine
"A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness," Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
"Last Day of Freedom," Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman

My Pick: A GIRL IN THE RIVER: THE PRICE OF FORGIVENESS

My Prediction: BODY TEAM 12

Best Film Editing:
"The Big Short," Hank Corwin
"Mad Max: Fury Road," Margaret Sixel
"The Revenant," Stephen Mirrione
"Spotlight," Tom McArdle
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens,"Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey

My Pick and Prediction: Margaret Sixel, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

Best Original Song:
"Earned It" from "Fifty Shades of Grey,"Abel Tesfaye, Ahmad Balshe, Jason Daheala Quenneville and Stephan Moccio
"Manta Ray" from "Racing Extinction" J. Ralph and Lyric by Antony Hegarty
"Simple Song #3" from "Youth," David Lang
"Til It Happens To You" from "The Hunting Ground," Diane Warren and Lady Gaga
"Writing's On The Wall" from "Spectre," Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith

My Pick and Predction: Til it Happens to You from THE HUNTING GROUND, so powerful! I really hope it wins.

Best Production Design:
"Bridge of Spies" Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Rena DeAngelo and Bernhard Henrich
"The Danish Girl" Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Michael Standish
"Mad Max: Fury Road" Production Design: Colin Gibson; Set Decoration: Lisa Thompson
"The Martian" Production Design: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Celia Bobak
"The Revenant" Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Hamish Purdy

My Pick and Prediction: MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

Best Animated Short Film:
"Bear Story" Gabriel Osorio and Pato Escala
"Prologue" Richard Williams and Imogen Sutton
"Sanjay's Super Team" Sanjay Patel and Nicole Grindle
"We Can't Live without Cosmos" Konstantin Bronzit
"World of Tomorrow" Don Hertzfeldt

My Pick and Prediction: SANJAY’S SUPER TEAM

Best Live Action Short Film:
"Ave Maria" Basil Khalil and Eric Dupont
"Day One" Henry Hughes
"Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut)" Patrick Vollrath
"Shok" Jamie Donoughue
"Stutterer" Benjamin Cleary and Serena Armitage

My Pick and Prediction: AVE MARIA

Best Sound Editing:
"Mad Max: Fury Road" Mark Mangini and David White
"The Martian" Oliver Tarney
"The Revenant" Martin Hernandez and Lon Bender
"Sicario" Alan Robert Murray
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" Matthew Wood and David Acord

My Pick and Prediction: MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

Best Sound Mixing:
"Bridge of Spies" Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Drew Kunin
"Mad Max: Fury Road" Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff and Ben Osmo
"The Martian" Paul Massey, Mark Taylor and Mac Ruth
"The Revenant" Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Randy Thom and Chris Duesterdiek
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson

My Pick and Prediction: MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

Best Visual Effects:
"Ex Machina," Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris, Mark Ardington and Sara Bennett
"Mad Max: Fury Road," Andrew Jackson, Tom Wood, Dan Oliver and Andy Williams
"The Martian," Richard Stammers, Anders Langlands, Chris Lawrence and Steven Warner
"The Revenant," Rich McBride, Matthew Shumway, Jason Smith and Cameron Waldbauer
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens," Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Chris Corbould

My Pick: MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

My Prediction: STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

 

The 88^th Annual Academy Awards will be held at The Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and will be telecast Live on ABC beginning with Live from the Red Carpet coverage on Sunday, February 28, 2016 on ABC-TV, 7pm EST/4pm PST.  Chris Rock will be the host.

For everything Oscar – please go visit the Academy’s website at http://oscar.go.com/

Check us out on YouTube – Please Subscribe (It’s Free!)
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Thank YOU!

GRAMMY WATCH – Pop Music Categories: My Picks and Predictions

Here are my picks and predictions in the Pop music categories for The 58^th Annual Grammy Awards.

Best Pop Solo Performance
• Heartbeat Song
      Kelly Clarkson
      Track from: Piece By Piece
      [RCA Records/19 Recordings Limited]

• Love Me Like You Do
     Ellie Goulding
      Track from: Fifty Shades Of Grey (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
      [Republic]

• Thinking Out Loud
      Ed Sheeran
      Track from: X
      [Atlantic]

• Blank Space
      Taylor Swift
      Track from: 1989
      [Big Machine Records]

• Can't Feel My Face
      The Weeknd
      Track from: Beauty Behind The Madness
      [Republic]

My Pick: CAN’T FEEL MY FACE

My Prediction: THINKING OUT LOUD

~

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
• Ship To Wreck
      Florence + The Machine
      Track from: How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
      [Republic]

• Sugar
      Maroon 5
      Track from: V
      [222 Records/Interscope]

• Uptown Funk
      Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars
      Track from: Uptown Special
      [RCA Records]

• Bad Blood
      Taylor Swift Featuring Kendrick Lamar
      [Big Machine Records]

• See You Again
      Wiz Khalifa Featuring Charlie Puth
      Track from: Furious 7: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
      [Atlantic]

My Pick and Prediction: UPTOWN FUNK – Tough and tight category though.

~

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
• The Silver Lining: The Songs Of Jerome Kern
      Tony Bennett & Bill Charlap
      [RPM Records/Columbia Records]

• Shadows In The Night
      Bob Dylan
      [Columbia]

• Stages
     Josh Groban
      [Reprise]

• No One Ever Tells You
     Seth MacFarlane
      [Republic]

• My Dream Duets
      Barry Manilow (& Various Artists)
      [Verve Music Group]

My Pick: NO ONE EVER TELLS YOU – Seth MacFarlane delivers the goods here and I hope he wins, but it is very competitive.

My Prediction: THE SILVER LINING: THE SONGS OF JEROME KERN – though Manilow could pull it off (duets means everybody on that album will probably throw support his way).

~

Best Pop Vocal Album
• Piece By Piece
      Kelly Clarkson
      [19/RCA]

• How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
      Florence + The Machine
      [Republic]

• Uptown Special
      Mark Ronson
      [RCA Records]

• 1989
      Taylor Swift
      [Big Machine Records]

• Before This World
      James Taylor
      [Concord Records]

My Pick and Prediction: 1989 – Swift should have no problem getting the win here, but don’t count out James Taylor.

THE 58^TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS will be telecast live on CBS, Monday February 15, 2016 at 8PM/EST – PM/PST.  For everything GRAMMY, including a Full List of this year’s Nominees visit their website at http://www.grammy.com/

Check us out on YouTube – Please Subscribe (It’s Free!)
http://www.youtube.com/cassone2007
Check out Antonio Cassone’s Author Page on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003OC3MME
Thank YOU!

GRAMMY WATCH – Dance/Electronic Music Categories: My Picks and Predictions

Here are my picks and predictions for the Dance/Electronic and Contemporary Instrumental categories for The 58^th Annual Grammy Awards.

Best Dance Recording
• We're All We Need
      Above & Beyond Featuring Zoë Johnston
      Andrew Bayer, Jono Grant, Tony McGuinness & Paavo Siljamäki, producers; Jono Grant, Tony McGuinness & Paavo Siljamäki, mixers
      [Ultra/Anjunabeats]

• Go
      The Chemical Brothers
      Tom Rowlands & Ed Simons, producers; Steve Dub Jones & Tom Rowlands, mixers
      [Astralwerks]

• Never Catch Me
      Flying Lotus Featuring Kendrick Lamar
      Steven Ellison, producer; Kevin Marques Moo, mixer
      Track from: You're Dead!
      [Warp Records]

• Runaway (U & I)
      Galantis
      Linus Eklöw, Christian Karlsson & Svidden, producers; Linus Eklöw, Niklas Flyckt & Christian Karlsson, mixers
      Track from: Pharmacy
      [Big Beat/Atlantic]

• Where Are Ü Now
      Skrillex And Diplo With Justin Bieber
      Sonny Moore & Thomas Pentz, producers; Sonny Moore & Thomas Pentz, mixers
      Track from: Skrillex And Diplo Present Jack Ü
      [Owsla/Mad Decent/Atlantic]

My Pick & Prediction: WHERE ARE U NOW… yes, I know.  I thought I would never root for a Bieber song, but it’s pretty damn good.

~

Best Dance/Electronic Album
• Our Love
      Caribou
      [Merge Records]

• Born In The Echoes
      The Chemical Brothers
      [Astralwerks]

• Caracal
      Disclosure
      [Capitol Records]

• In Colour
      Jamie XX
      [Young Turks Recordings]

• Skrillex And Diplo Present Jack Ü
      Skrillex And Diplo
      [Owsla/Mad Decent/Atlantic]

My Pick & Prediction: SKRILLEX AND DIPLO PRESENT JACK U

~
 

Best Contemporary Instrumental Album
• Guitar In The Space Age!
      Bill Frisell
      Bill Frisell
      [Okeh]

• Love Language
      Wouter Kellerman
      Wouter Kellerman
      [Listen 2 Entertainment Group]

• Afrodeezia
      Marcus Miller
      Marcus Miller
      [Blue Note Records]

• Sylva
      Snarky Puppy & Metropole Orkest
      Snarky Puppy & Metropole Orkest
      [Impulse!]

• The Gospel According To Jazz, Chapter IV
     Kirk Whalum
      Kirk Whalum
      [Mack Avenue Records]

My Pick: AFRODEEZIA

My Prediction: THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JAZZ, CHAPTER IV

THE 58^TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS will be telecast live on CBS, Monday February 15, 2016 at 8PM/EST – PM/PST.  For everything GRAMMY, including a Full List of this year’s Nominees visit their website at http://www.grammy.com/

Check us out on YouTube – Please Subscribe (It’s Free!)
http://www.youtube.com/cassone2007
Check out Antonio Cassone’s Author Page on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003OC3MME
Thank YOU!