Hana Kimura - RIP

I'm utterly shocked and dismayed. With great sadness, it was announced today that popular joshi wrestler Hana Kimura has died. It seems very likely that she took her own life, as determined by some distressing photos and tweets she posted in the past 24 hours. She was 22 years old.

Kimura was the daughter of Kyoko Kimura, a popular joshi wrestler in own right. She officially entered pro wrestling at 18 years old and soon was labeled as a natural for the business and a very charismatic performer. She worked her way up to the midcard in various joshi promotions but was often too popular to just stay there. Kimura eventually found a home in Stardom, the top joshi promotion, joining the dastardly group Oedo Tai. In 2019, during the promotion's near annual faction shakeup, she earned the right to lead her own group, later dubbed Tokyo Cyber Squad. Her last match was on March 24 against Stardom's ace Mayu Iwatani as part of the Cinderella Tournament.

Kimura found international fame beyond the wrestling ring by appearing in the recent season of the popular Netflix reality show Terrace House. Unfortunately, this exposure proved to be unwise, as her aggressive attitude and athletic appearance led to extensive hate mail and trolling. Netflix and Fuji TV announced they are postponing all future episodes until further notice given the news today.

This has been an absolutely god awful week for pro wrestling. It was already going to be bad with the release of the Owen Hart episode of Dark Side of the Ring, but it was made worst by the tragic death of Shad Gaspard, the passing of writer Larry Csonka, the sudden retirement of Arisa Hoshiki, and the numerous injuries at the recent AEW live taping. But this really has hurt me to the core. Like many joshi fans, I fell in love with Hana Kimura when she first started and was eager to see her career continue to flourish once the pandemic subsided. Alas, it was not meant to be.

She will sorely be missed.

Thoughts On The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 Turned Celebration

In a better timeline, I would right now be nervously standing in line to enter the Rotterdam Ahoy convention centre in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Alas, as practically everybody likes to remind you on the internet, we reside in the darkest timeline.

I was very looking forward to making 2020 an amazing year in my life. I eagerly wanted to cross something off my bucket list for quite some time, namely traveling abroad. I could even tried to hit two birds with one stone, since I had added "attend Eurovision" to the list since falling in love with the song contest back in 2017. Luck was on my side when I was able to score an arena floor ticket for the first semi-final of this year's Eurovision during the second wave of tickets. I then set my mind to making the dream even more of a reality, first by finally getting a passport and then locking down flights and hotel arrangements, possibly even through a travel agency. I was also going crazy on what to do for this website and how to properly post my thoughts while basking in the glow of the contest and my vacation. Unfortunately, reality didn't want to cooperate. I got a nasty flu in February that took me out for more than a week and severely hurt my enthusiasm. And then less than a month later, the COVID-19 pandemic proceeded to force the cancellation of Eurovision.

I imagined a lot about what I was going to do during the first semi-final. I would break out of my hard shell and chatted to the other contest goers. Since I'm American, maybe I could help them out in cheering for their homeland. I would have tried to dance amid the tightness of the arena floor to The Roop and Little Big. Hell, maybe I would even do VAL's little routine as well. I would have felt the power of The Mamas and clapped along. I would have been moved to tears or had goosebumps after listening to Ulrikke, Roxen and Damir Kedžo. Those dreams and thoughts now sadly will never happen.

Since the cancellation, my Eurovision love took a hit. Not an enormous hit, as I still listen to songs and partook in #EurovisionAgain, but significant enough to hurt me. Thankfully, the global fan community, the bloggers, the podcasters, and even the EBU and this year's selected representatives have gone above and beyond in their attempts to lift up a world stricken with fear, anxiety, and death. Instead of a contest, this year we will be celebrating the Eurovision Song Celebration. A bit corny but considering that I along with millions of people spent months rooting for artists after many national finals and song drops, it's a deserving choice.

Instead of attending the first semi-final today, I will be watching the first part of the Eurovision Song Celebration on YouTube. Artists who were set to compete in the first semi-final will be performing in the intended running order determined by the show's producers. Special guests are also set to appear.

Before I go, I would like to share my brief opinions on this year's entries.

First up, here's my top ten favorite songs from this year's Eurovision in alphabetical order:

Bulgaria

Croatia

Czech Republic

Germany

Iceland

Latvia

Lithuania

Norway
Russia

Sweden

Sadly, I didn't get my non-fan father to participate this year and give out his fav five. He was too busy being stuck as a winter bird under lockdown for the past two months. So to supplement this exclusion, here are some ancillary awards:

Biggest Guilty Pleasure

Ireland

Biggest "Don't Believe The Hype"

Serbia

Biggest On The Fence

Belgium

Biggest Save From Certain Non-Qualification

Czech Republic

Most Likely To End Up Second Or Third Despite Fan Hype

Lithuania and Iceland

Most Likely To Win The Contest

Norway

Most Likely To Win The Barbara Dex Award

Australia, Latvia, or San Marino

Howard Finkel - RIP

Though I was making the most of my birthday today, finding some fun amid the Coronavirus pandemic, some unfortunate news sprang up. WWE Hall of Famer Howard "The Fink" Finkel has died. He was 69 years old.

Finkel is, without question, the greatest pro wrestling ring announcer of all time. He first started in the business when he was hired by Vince McMahon Sr. for his promotion, the WWWF. He debuted in 1977 and by 1979 became the lead ring announcer. He was often synonymous with Madison Square Garden, the WWWF and later WWF and WWE's home arena, and the promotion's major annual event WrestleMania, for which he is credited as the creator of the name.

He was widely known for his dramatic introductions for the combatants and his signature take on delivering the results of championship matches. When a major title was retained or changed, he would say "The winner of this bout...", take a brief pause to draw in the crowd, and say "...And STILL!" or more memorably, "...And NEW!" respectively.

Even though he was a ring announcer, Finkel took part in several storylines in the WWF. In the mid-90s, he had a long feud with wrestling manager Harvey Whippleman. He would constantly introduce Whippleman and his "profession" as a doctor in a very condescending manner much to the chagrin of the bark-but-no-bite loser. It eventually lead to fisticuffs, first when "The Fink" humiliated Whippleman by pushing him down at WrestleMania X and concluding with a tuxedo match on an episode of Monday Night Raw, which Finkel would win with some help from the Bushwhackers. The gimmick match was later jokingly nominated for Match of the Year at the WWF 1996 Slammys.

He had an one-night feud with Jeff Jarrett at Summerslam 1998. Jarrett, who was about to compete in a hair vs. hair match against X-Pac, attacked and humiliated the balding Finkel by shaving off the rest of his hair. Finkel would return to the ring with X-Pac and got to give two special words to the hot MSG crowd. When Jarrett lost the match, Finkel helped shave off his long blond hair.

In 1999, he briefly became the lackey of the recently debuted Chris Jericho. The most memorable moment of this storyline was when the Ayatollah of Rock 'n' Rolla goaded Finkel into attacking fellow ring announcer Tony Chimel on the pilot episode of WWF Smackdown.

By 2000, Finkel began taking a lighter schedule as a ring announcer, often only showing up during major PPVs. The biggest highlights of this period was his introduction of Taz at WWF Royal Rumble 2000, which later became an internet meme, and his work at WrestleMania X-Seven, particularly his surprise announcement that the main event will now have "NOOOO Disqualifications!"

In 2009, he was wisely inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by another legendary WWE personality Mean Gene Okerlund. He then proceeded to pop up on various WWE programming and was later a cast member of WWE's first original reality show Legends' House. His last shining moment as a ring announcer was at Survivor Series 2011, where he was personally selected by CM Punk to be his personal ring announcer for his WWE Championship match. The show just so happened to take place in MSG and the crowd proceeded to warmly receive Finkel and chant his name, causing him to tear up on camera. This moment however is sadly tainted due to the mean interjections of the commentators, particularly Michael Cole and John Bradshaw Layfield.


Howard Finkel is an absolute icon. His brilliant announcing made everybody from the lowly jobber to the superstars of the WWE look like a million bucks.

He will sorely be missed.

My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising - Review

Class 1-A of UA High School continue their progress of being the next wave of superheroes by acting as the temporary guardians of the peaceful Nabu Island. Unfortunately, a group of supervillains have traveled to the isolated isle in order for their Darwinist leader Nine to sap the "quirk" from a kid and kickstart their campaign of world domination. MY HERO ACADEMIA: HEROES RISING is sure to placate fans of the series while at the same time act as a potential gateway for newbies. However, it is a slightly disappointing follow-up feature to TWO HEROES. While the previous movie had a lot of fun with its DIE HARD premise and tight focus on a small group of the characters, HEROES RISING instead spins out a standard shonen story with stock stakes and flat antagonists that ultimately will end with nothing mattering at all to the franchise's canon. It aggressively tries to say otherwise about its importance by offering up a big twist during the final battle that should make everyone gasp but any observant viewer obviously knows that everything will be reset once the smoke has cleared. Even the gullible members of the audience that saw the movie with me didn't believe the implications the film tries to spout, instead remaining quiet or sneering at it. I will give director Kenji Nagasaki and studio Bones credit for doing their best with the twist, as they deliver some amazingly bombastic animation to the conclusion set to a haunting ethereal j-pop tune. Though I'm being a bit harsh on it for its rote plot, HEROES RISING is still fine enough to kill an afternoon for an anime fan. The power battles are impressively staged and animated and there are a lot of little character moments to make everyone happy. Diehards will enjoy the the hints and cameos sprinkled throughout it while new viewers can be quickly caught up on the world and characters before being entertained by the proceedings. The English dub cast all do a great job reprising their roles, easily fitting into them like a glove, and Johnny Yong Bosch does the best he can with Nine. It may not be a stellar shonen anime flick but its easily digestible enough.


FINAL REVIEW: 3 / 5

So I Finally Watched My Hero Academia

Like most people, I tend to make New Year's Resolutions whenever I feel like it. For 2020, I created a couple but the easiest one that I wanted to accomplish was to finally dip my toes back into the world of anime. I'm not talking about the occasional movie or shonen one-off that I tend to do but to actually see what's going on in the current scene and to play some catch up on some series. I don't plan to go full weebo, foolishly think to watch everything available and get totally involved in the discourse with the diehards. All I just want to do is have some fun and watch some anime.

Putting my foot on the pedal for this decision largely came from several factors: I wanted to continue some series whose runs are stunted on Netflix (Fairy Tail, Blue Exorcist), there were series that are currently being simulcasted that I wanted to watch beyond YouTube clips (Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-Kun), and I needed a strong alternative to the daily binging of YouTube videos. So I got myself an annual subscription to both Crunchyroll and Funimation and have been partaking on the offerings. To make the endeavor more interesting, I decided to jot down my thoughts on whatever title I feel like talking about.

To kick off this side project, I picked one of the most popular ongoing shonen titles today: My Hero Academia. My only experience with the franchise before finally binging the series was seeing the first feature film Two Heroes in theaters with a packed crowd. I really enjoyed the film and it even came close to making my top 20 of 2018. Also before the binge, I read the first manga volume digitally.

As of this writing, I've watched the first three seasons and I'm up to episode 63. I plan to continue watching up to the current simulcast episodes some time this week, as like many anime fans I'm a bit more excited in seeing the franchise's latest feature film Heroes Rising on Wednesday.


Overall thoughts on the series: I do really enjoy it but I can see why some find it a bit overrated. It takes the American superhero concept and gives it a nice Japanese spin to make it palatable for its local audiences and easily win over overseas audiences. However, at the end of the day, it still acts and feels like a shonen series. Not quite as great as One Pice but a fun alternative.

So 80% of the world's population has a "quirk", aka a superpower, while the rest have been labeled as "quirkless". 20% is still a large enough number so I don't really feel the plight of main character Izuku Midoriya as much as I'm supposed to be. Considering the size of his middle school, statistically there had to be other students who didn't receive a quirk.

I can fully understand the "You Can Be A Hero!" scene and its significance but it just doesn't do anything to me, not in the manga nor in the anime. I think I have just seen this type of scene too many times for it to have any meaningful impact on me.

The series already struggles in the early goings by essentially repeating the same story beats. Both the UA entrance exam and the first day exercises hit the same notes: Midoriya is scared of failing, on the verge of being kicked out, performs a mighty feat that injures him but wins over hearts and minds, barely passes, annoys a fellow teen who thought he was better.

The show does a great job on the various injuries Midoriya inflects upon himself when using his earned quirk "One For All". They all look and sound absolutely painfully.


Now to run down the entire class of 1-A:

Midoriya is a perfectly fine shonen protagonist that you can cheer for throughout the series. Justin Briner does an amazing job as his English voice actor. I just wished he was a bit smarter when it comes to keeping his new quirk a secret instead of just straight up telling the first person who actively and angrily wants to know.

I know that he has to have some admirers and probably does well on the character polls but I detest Katsuki Bakugo. Perfect rival material and I do kinda like his Owen Hart-like personality of constantly being royally pissed off that his immense prowess and strength keeps being overlooked by mightier displays of heroism and charisma. But all he ever does is whine, complain and shout at everyone ad nauseam. Why is everyone friendly to him? I also roll my eyes at how he's had a extensive free ride since he was four and seemingly never got in trouble despite the clear evidence throughout his tumultuous life.

Ochaco Uraraka is a fun pick as the series' main heroine. I do like her character growth, her fight with Bakugo is a great episode, and her struggles with her crush on Midoriya is adorable. Having Luci Christian as your voice actress also greatly helps.

I'm still utterly surprised that Tenya Iida is placed so high in the series. The comical class rep with a somewhat limited superpower as the main supporting male player? The show does well with him but it is a little sad that he kinda falls into the background after the Hosu arc.

Todoroki is great. A fusion of Iceman and Pyro is an easy superhero concept but his backstory of how his quirk came to be, along with his facial scar, is utterly disturbing. Far more excited for him to be Midoriya's main rival.

Asui was an instant favorite with the internet and it's easy to see why once seeing her in action at the USJ. Utterly lovable and one of the series' best all-around heroes.

Kirishima seems alright but let's face it, the guy is clear cut C-tier. If action figures were made of the entire class, his would be the ones that would clog up all of the hangers. In other words, he's Booster, not Turbo Man. It's a bit sad that his most important moment in the series is being a rescue hook.

Yaoyorozu suffers from the story being hot and cold with her. Her struggle to overcome her early stumbles is good but then she's in the background as eye candy again only to briefly come back up as a new potential leader only to then retreat again.

Tokoyami is a personal favorite. I kept dubbing him Falco until I finally got his name down. I especially love how he gets moved to the forefront with the Cavalry Battle and the tournament finals in the Sports Festival arc and keeps his position as the most prominent B+ player of the class.

I like Ashido because she helps reinforce that oh yeah these are are children. Being a cheerful friend to everyone and having a cool destructive quirk adds further points in her favor.

Jiro is such an easy choice for best girl. You got the 80s female best friend/punk goth look and then you have her quirk that makes something normally gross into something cool and very useful and you have yourself a great character. Too bad she doesn't really get the spotlight and often shown to be the weakest of the group.

It's funny how Sero is often the most useful in the show. The diamond in the rough of the class.

Kaminari is fine. The show needs an easy comic relief. Not much else to say other than his stupid state is pretty funny albeit overused.

Hagakure also works as comic relief but she and her invisibility never seem useful in the slightest. Then the show just ups and gives her light refractions as her ultimate move. Huh?

What made me like Mineta back when I first saw Two Heroes was largely Brina Palencia's voice performance. Seeing him in the series, yeah I can understand all of the hate for him.

Do I really need to say something about Aoyama? I do like the anime trope of the most useless character who's somehow utterly useful at crucial moments but he just blends in the background.

Shoji. He has gross arms. Useful at times. Makes me long for Goro. That's all.

Ojiro. He has a gross tail and a bland gi. Useful that one time he talked with Midoriya. That's all.

Koda. I loathe him and his stupid animal voice quirk. Please expel him ASAP.

Sato. Nobody's favorite. Please also expel.

Okay, now back to the rest of the show!


I haven't talked at all about the opening and ending themes. That's because they are largely very forgettable. The sole highlight is "Odd Future", the third season's first OP. That's because it does the job of pumping you up for the show and it's from UVERworld, who are known for their great anime tracks.

Okay, maybe I'm being a little too hard on the theme songs. LiSA's ending theme "Datte Atashino Hero" was also good. Though I was more enamored with its corresponding animation, depicting the superhero kids in a fantasy RPG world.

The first season ends very strong with the surprise attack on the USJ. Eraser Head gets to shine albeit with some gruesome injuries, it's great following the trio of Midoriya/Asui/Mineta, and All Might's entrance and subsequent fight with the Nomu is pretty cool.

Wait a minute, Shigaraki is supposed to be the show's main bad guy? Really? Yeah, he starts off as a creepy menace with a scary quirk but then he falters hard from all of his tantrums, poor managerial skills, and penchant of just sitting around. He's so lame that he literally goes up to Midoriya in a latter episode and asks his opponent to remind himself why he wants to be evil.

It's quite hilarious how bad U.A. High School is at running itself. Kids nearly killed by a sneak attack? Let's do our version of the Olympics to distract everyone! Kid with a grudge wants to intern in a city where a supervillain is killing heroes? Approved! Kids still in danger and are more actively being targeted by evil? Send them to the woods with little to no adult backup! They surely will not be traumatized, poisoned, injured and kidnapped there!

The Sports Festival arc does its job well of slowing the main plot down, introduce a ton more characters and pad the show out with fights. There are several great episodes ("Shoto Todoroki: Origin" being the best) and I certainly enjoyed the supporter hero Mei Hatsume. Too bad it ends on a whimper in order to move on to the Hosu arc.

Stain's a good creep and I liked the 3-on-1 handicap street brawl but his mantra and ideals are so eye-rolling. To make it worse, the show then takes them very seriously and it becomes the rallying cry for supervillains to rise up. Really, that basic mumbo jumbo about the dilution of superheroes' convictions?

I do appreciate the injection of realism into the proceedings. Having the cops and teachers brownbeat the kids for getting over their heads and committing vigilante justice was a nice touch.

"Everyone's Internships". More like some brief clips of everybody and then a full side-story about Asui working with the Navy.

Bummer ending to season two. Just another series of battles and then Shigaraki's trip to the mall.

Season three starts and oh great, here's a sad kid designed specifically for Midoriya to win over and be spirited away once the plot is done with him.

I do like the Camp arc and how it finally cuts some of the wings off of the kid's dreams about being superheroes.

The show does a very poor job at making you care about the Wild Wild Pussycat member who gets kidnapped and later stripped of her quirk. A total fridge job indeed. I felt more bad for Pixie-Bob after getting that the awful hit to the head.

Oh hai Deadpool! Nice Spawn cosplay! Too bad Stain already did it.

Wow, this one villain. Mr. Magnet Guy and his "I got out of bed late" attire. What a complete scrub and yet the show takes him seriously and allows him to walk away.
(EDIT: So, I later learned by watching season 4 that Magne is actually a transgender woman. Sorry about the incorrect pronouns. But wow, the show really did a bad job conveying that detail, literally shoehorning it in right before killing her off in a surprise twist.)

Come on guys, you don't need to break the rules again just to save someone from the clutches of the DEADLIEST VILLAINS YET! Plus, it's Bakugo. Let the piss-ant rot for all I care.

I'm supposed to boo the media for going after U.A. but they bring up good points save for that one guy who plays the "think about the children" card.

Oh come on, how can Blue Jeanist survive from that horrible wound?! What a stupid hero.

Okay, episodes 48-50 are pretty god damn incredible. No wonder people were going crazy when they premiered.

Oh hey, we finally get to see Bakugo's parents.

I really hope Midoriya's new Shoot Style leads to good fights.

Oh great, Sports Festival Version 2.0 aka the Provisional Exam arc.

Seriously though, I do like how this arc has the kids acting like real heroes. You just have to get through another new set of flashy yet empty hero wannabes and an overlong dodgeball battle. Also, that Meatball guy. Whenever the show goes full-on disturbing, it pulls it off way too well. See the later Twice-focused episode for further proof.

Yeah, it's nice that we see a different side to Bakugo with his second fight with Midoriya but I still don't like him.

You know, when I first saw an image of Mirio aka Lemillion, I instantly disliked him and thought he was a very poor All Might replacement. Seeing him in action in the last two episodes of the third season, yeah my gut reaction ended up being right. But wow the opinions of this guy from other fans.


So there you have it! I hope you enjoyed all of my rambling opinions about My Hero Academia. This was kinda fun so there's a chance I might be doing this again this year. Just need to find a juicy title to rant and rave about.

Reaction To The 2020 Oscars

Unlike most critics online, I was generally fine with the Oscars broadcast. It wasn't as good as last year's and had some real duds but whatever, history has been made, memes have been created, and I'm happy with the ending.

13-11 again! I really blew it. Never expected their to be so much sharing all around.

First up we have the red carpet pre-show. Usual fluff but there were some moments.

I like Billy Porter but the greatness of his dress didn't translate to his interviewing skills. He stumbled a lot and called Michael Strahan, "Michael Strahorn".'

Billie Eilish is here. Really? What for? It was real cool though that she dropped that The Babadook and We Need To Talk About Kevin as films she loved while growing up.

Dear lord, Kirsten Wiig's dress. A red downward arrow mixed with a duster and a lasagna noodle.

Oh man, the look on the face of the female interviewer when while chatting with Brad Pitt she inadvertently said that Natural Born Killers is one of the best films of all time. Cringe at its best.

Oh great, Seacrest is back. Nice to show off the huge cue cards he's reading off from.

The show kicks off. Welcome everybody to this celebration of film. Here's a performance of a television show theme song!

I love Janelle Monáe but that opening was a bit of a mess. The trouble with he blouse button. The failed sweater zip up. The backup dancers largely dressed up as characters from royally snubbed movies (Midsommar, Us, Dolemite Is My Name). The not so hot call and response. Almost a flashback to the infamous Rob Lowe/Snow White duet.

The pure silence when Steve Martin and Chris Rock shouted out Jeff Bezos. The pompous billionaire then proceeded to not be amused at the jokes at his expense.

I was really enjoying the montages before every major acting category. Instead of the usual Oscar clip, you got to see more of why they were nominated. The Tony Awards-like reading afterwards of the nominees was clever.

Brad Pitt finally wins an acting Oscar. Nice job jabbing at the losers in Washington at the start and finishing his speech with a nice reflection of his journey and giving respect to stunt people.

Freaking Toy Story 4! Yeah, it was my #12 Best Film of 2019 but the fact that it won when Klaus was coming into the evening as the heavy favorite, with I Lost My Body being a potential dark horse, harshed my buzz.

At least I got Hair Love. And there's the first shoutout to Kobe Bryant.

I really liked the package of "Into The Unknown", from Josh Gad's hilarious intro to the decision to feature the Elsas from around the world. Still not hot at all for that song though.

Some nice funny banter between Diane Keaton and Keanu Reeves. And wow, Bong Joon-ho getting Best Screenplay!

Oh my god, Timothée Chalamet. What is up with that jumpsuit?!

Happy for Taika Waititi, even though I wasn't the biggest fan of Jojo Rabbit. At least his script is way better than the book in some key areas.

Time moved slow with Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig stalling with an unfunny routine on acting. Billie Eilish is utterly confused at this shit. The singing mashup was good.

Of course the period piece with all of the fancy dresses would win Best Costume Design. Why did I second guess it?!

Okay, just right into the song for Breakthrough. So weird and so not like "Shallow".

What's with all of these odd introductions by presenters to other presenters?

Hah, a bunch of snubs in the Best Documentary montage. Seriously the Academy, you were apparently too good for Won't You Be My Neighbor? and now you want to hail it?

Want to win Best Documentary Short? Have a great eye-catching title. Tony Hawk was invited to the Oscars. I'm guessing he was a producer of the short? (Doesn't seem to be the case!)

Very touching speech by Laura Dern, giving a solid shout out to her acting parents. Congrats on the special birthday prize!

Lin-Manuel Miranda literally gave a shout out to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles song!

This song montage is amateurish YouTube crap. Why is it taking up precious air time?

Oh no. Really, Eminem?! He didn't even go to the Oscars when "Lose Yourself" won!

The Academy really needed to push the Mom's Spaghetti meme to get those young folks tuning into a non-advertised surprise performance.

Billie Eilish, bless her, is not having it. Idina Menzel doesn't know what to think about it. Scorsese is so tired.

A standing O?!! He barely sang it all and the rest was largely bleeped out!

Great, now people will have their brief speeches cut down even further.

Ford v Ferrari over 1917 in Best Sound Editing. Must have been those squeaky tires.

1917 gets Best Sound Mixing. One of the absolute best things about that movie.

Now a weird throw to Randy Newman. The large stage swallowed him up and the plain song lost all of its luster once removed from its movie. Yeah, it will not win.

This Oscar recap rapper, who I later found out is Utkarsh Ambudkar, is far and away better than Eminem tonight.

The editing was good in Ford v Ferrari but not that good.

The Academy needs to shill the hell out of there new museum so they got Tom Hanks to do it. We have an opening date (Dec 14). Nick shout out to Kirk Douglas at the end.

Cynthia Erivo certainly has the power but "Stand Up" is just another uplifter.

Of course newly Razzie nominated James Corden and Rebel Wilson are here to mock Cats and its now infamous visual effects. Wait what, 1917 was the best visual effects of the year?!

Geez, major spoilers for 1917 in Best Makeup. It stinks that the Bombshell didn't get to finish their speech. Eminem was just too important.

Loving that foreign language film montage. Loving even more with Parasite winning.

Elton John was far better than every one else. Nice for him to show up and jazz up the proceedings.

I'm getting sick of the same commercials airing constantly. "For Life", more like three seasons than cancellation at best. Stupid meme M&Ms. Stupid Qibi, the streaming service no one will ever remember fondly.

Damn, no David Lynch sitting in the audience. Not even for Laura Dern's likely win tonight, Davey?

Wow, that's one cool female conductor. Awesome outfit.

Hildur Guðnadóttir wins, thus concluding this tribute to women by Gal Gadot, Brie Larson, and Sigourney Weaver. Great speech by her about women hearing the music within them.

2nd Oscar for Elton. Bernie Taupin finally gets some gold love. "Wow, this didn't suck", indeed. Too bad Randy Newman can't say the same after seeing his two chances wiped out in a row.

Spike Lee with the Kobe Bryant tribute suit. I thought he was a diehard Knicks fan?

Holy crap, what an upset in Best Director. Bong Joon-ho gave some nice love to Scorsese and Tarantino for their work and appreciation.

Oh, so that's why Billie Eilish is here. Please Oscar producers to remember to cut out the crowd mic.

Who got Farina'd in the "In Memoriam"? Luke Perry, Sid Haig, Tim Conway, and Ron Leibman to name a few.

Oh no, here comes Joaquin, primed and ready to blow.

... Okay that was something. Sad to see that he's still affected by River's untimely death.

Renée got it. Oh phooey. Now she's competing with Joaquin on who can have the most rambling speech of the night.

I just noticed that they cut out the Best Picture clips throughout the evening. Wise decision.

Jane Fonda looking real good.

Oh, wow wow wow wow! I'm utterly ecstatic! Parasite makes history! Justice for Roma!

A weird last note with the producers cutting the lights only to bring them back due to the crowd only to then cut them when there was an opening.

The Irishman was completely shut out. Good, says the man who still hasn't watched it.

2020 Oscars Predictions

As always, these are my predictions to win, not who or what movie I wish would win.


Best Picture: 1917

Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix - Joker

Best Actress: Renée Zellweger - Judy

Best Supporting Actor: Brad Pitt - Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood

Best Supporting Actress: Laura Dern - Marriage Story

Best Director: Sam Mendes - 1917

Best Original Screenplay: Noah Baumbach - Marriage Story

Best Adapted Screenplay: Greta Gerwig - Little Women

Best Animated Film: Klaus

Best Foreign Film: Parasite

Best Documentary Film: The Cave

Best Documentary (Short Subject): Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl)

Best Animated Short Film: Hair Love

Best Live Action Short Film: Nefta Football Club

Best Original Score: Hildur Guðnadóttir - Joker

Best Original Song: "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" - Rocketman

Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins - 1917

Best Film Editing: Yang Jin-mo - Parasite

Best Production Design: Barbara Ling and Nancy Haigh - Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood

Best Costume Design: Arianne Phillips - Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood

Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan, and Vivian Baker - Bombshell

Best Sound Editing: Oliver Tarney and Rachael Tate - 1917

Best Sound Mixing: Mark Taylor and Stuart Wilson - 1917

Best Visual Effects: The Irishman


Sorry for this being posted late. I was spending most of the day, and pretty much all of awards season, paying attention to what's happening in the world of Eurovision. At least there you have some real drama and stakes compared to this year's Oscars.

Sadly not much has changed since the Golden Globes. I thought 1917 would lose steam but it has been doing well at the other award shows. I definitely know it will pick up several technical awards, most especially Best Director and Best Cinematography, but it has a very strong chance taking the big prize away from Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood and Parasite. Some critics think Parasite has a strong shot but as displayed in this year's Brutally Honest Oscar Voter interviews via The Hollywood Reporter, the Academy would prefer that the Best Picture go to an American feature. See last year's decision of Green Book over Roma as an example.

I do think Sam Mendes will be the person to bring back the double whammy, aka a movie winning both Best Picture and Best Director.

Nothing really to say about the acting categories. Phoenix has been on a roll despite the weird and provocative things coming out of his mouth and the industry has such a hard on for Zellweger to be a comeback queen. That plus the Academy needs to give an acting Oscar to a non-fiction character every year or else they will riot.

Hopefully the Academy are like me and want to give the real-life couple of Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig corresponding Oscars for their writing work last year.

It's still amazing how much Toy Story 4 is just not resonating nowadays. It still has a mighty shot at winning Best Animated Feature, largely thanks to the amount of Disney people in the Academy, but Klaus has been doing very well all over the place, most notably sweeping up a lot at the Annie Awards.

Who knew Best Documentary Short Feature would be so controversial: I like most found out that Life Overtakes Me is embattled with strong accusations of an interviewee falsifying their accounts of experiencing Resignation Syndrome and the filmmakers distorting the words of a doctor.

I really hope Hair Love wins Best Animated Short just to shut up that Brutally Honest Oscar Voter who somehow didn't get it. More like Brutally White Oscar Voter.

Man, the Best Original Song performances might be a hard sit. None of them are really the best of last year. But whatever, at least Elton John will get another Oscar.


See you on Monday with my reactions to the awards and the ceremony itself.

Weathering With You - Review

Teenage runaway Hodaka struggles to live in an endlessly raining Tokyo until he is taken under the wing of a lowly entertainment publisher. Along the way, he becomes partners, both in a business and possibly romantic sense, with Hina, a slightly older but equally struggling teenage girl who possesses the supernatural power to briefly stop the stormy weather. WEATHERING WITH YOU is my first experience with Makoto Shinkai, the legendary anime director who became a global superstar thanks to his last film, the highly acclaimed mega blockbuster YOUR NAME. Yes, despite being a former anime aficionado who tries to keep an eye on the industry, I still haven't partake with his previous movie nor even his breakthrough feature VOICES OF A DISTANT STAR during its heyday. Putting all of that aside, WEATHERING is an engaging romantic fantasy drama that does sweep you off of your feet at times but struggles whenever it comes back down to Earth. Shinkai and his crew pour a lot of breathtaking detail into its animated world, from the gorgeous city landscapes to the salivating depictions of food that almost rivals Studio Ghibli. Some might say a little too much detail is included: the film is rife with product placement which is pretty accepting considering, well, it does take place in Tokyo but still proves to be a bit distracting. The film is further enhanced by its heartwarming soundtrack provided by the rock band RADWIMPS. The film's theme song is an utter delight and will stick with you after you leave the theater.


Unfortunately, Shinkai's script doesn't retain much of the same beauty. I can easily see why the film was a huge hit with its native audiences: it thoroughly relishes the melodramatic allure of teens rebelling against patronizing adults and an unforgiving social system while also falling in love via shouty exclamations and hand holding. However, the central romance leaves a lot to be desired. I just did not find it to be up to par with many other recent romantic anime dramas such as I WANT TO EAT YOUR PANCREAS and even dare say FIREWORKS. My only guess for the cause of this seems to be the film's heavy focus on Hodaka and his plight. His viewpoint is so dominating, he even narrates all over the opening scene, which is a crucial moment in the life of Hina. Speaking of whom, Hina doesn't get a whole lot to do besides her superpower or really show a lot of blatant affection for Hodaka until the film enters its second half and the script has to quickly make up for lost time. The pacing could have been better handled, often speeding past more fun comedic storylines only to then bog itself down with melancholy and liberious usage of flashbacks. And then you have the ending which can best be described as Edgar Wright-esque in its daringness and divisiveness. Even with its faults, I do see myself and many a viewer going back to this movie in the future and warming myself more and more with its good graces.


FINAL REVIEW: 3 / 5

Initial Reaction to the 2020 Oscar Nominations

Let's rip the band-aid off of the big one: Joker leading with 11 nominations. A great man once said that it is okay to like a movie. And I am very happy that Joaquin Phoenix, Hildur Guðnadóttir, and Lawrence Sher were given kudos for their work. But this movie as the top dog at the show?! Come on. Which leads us to the biggest uproar...


Once again, no female directors. I had the other four locked in but had Greta Gerwig for the fifth slot, with Noam Baumbach as the potential spoiler. I was so sure that Todd Philips would have no chance but nope, the dude bro director had to get in over Gerwig.


Very happy that Antonio Banderas got in for Best Actor. Not very happy with Jonathan Pryce. I easily predicted the snubs for Taron Egerton, Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, and Roman Griffin Davis. But I did held a little hope for Song Kang-ho.


Fuck off not having Awkwafina in Best Actress.


Ahem, now then. I am at least glad that Cynthia Erivo got in to break up the total whiteness of Best Actress. Lupita Nyong'o, Ana de Armas, and Alfre Woodard could have also helped.


Really wished Theron wasn't there for that throwaway Fox News movie. Love her, don't care at all for that movie.


Stupid freakin' pope movie. Best Supporting Actor was almost a perfect lock until Anthony Hopkins bumped out Willem Dafoe. But ultimately who cares? Brad Pitt has to win.


I had Margot Robbie for Best Supporting Actress but for Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood, not for Bombshell. Sucks to be Nicole Kidman.


So happy that my semi wild picks of Florence Pugh and Johansson were made true. Utterly pissed off that Kathy Bates came in as the fifth choice on the ballot. It wasn't saved for Meryl Streep (thank the gods above) but kicking out Jennifer Lopez' best chance at Oscar love is just plain mean.


1917 for Best Original Screenplay?! Stop making me laugh so much! I just saw the pic last Thursday and enjoyed it but largely more on the technical end of it. I'm fine with Mendes for Best Director and overjoyed with Deakins for Best Cinematography. Story wise though, it is very ho-hum in characterization and is more barren in depth than No Man's Land.


Wow, no Atlantics in Best International Film. That's crazy considering how well loved it was with critics last year.


Another shocker: Apollo 11, Maiden and Knock Down The House, the three most talked about documentaries last year, were all shut out.


But then there's the biggest non-acting or directing snub: No Frozen II in Best Animated Film! Holy crap!


I knew Ne Zha wouldn't be popular enough and Promare would be too weird and too anime for the animated voting board but not to have Weathering With You nominated after the royal snub of Your Name.?!


Congrats for I Lost My Body and Klaus. Also, hooray for you Missing Link. It seems that Golden Globe win wasn't a fluke. Still don't think you will win this time around though.


I love Hair Love getting in Best Animated Short. Twitter will be pleased.


Wow, what a bore Best Original Song is. But thank you, The Academy, for telling Beyoncé to shove off. "Spirit", my ass! And seriously, Diane Warren is just here again because of her immense reach in the industry.


Ecstatic that Jarin Blaschke was named one of the five best cinematographers. Too bad Deakins is going to eat his lunch.


Other major snubs: Robert De Niro, Jamie Foxx, 1917 in Best Editing, Uncut Gems, Booksmart, Waves, and everybody in front and behind the camera of The Farewell.


Seriously, I still can not believe the no love for The Farewell.



That's all I can muster right now. Tune in next month for my predictions which I will obviously fail at.

Film List of 2019

These are all of the movies I have watched throughout last year and were qualified to be judged for my awards.

If I didn't watch a film at all or in its entirety, it is disqualified and ineligible. There were a ton of movies that I couldn't get access to and/or make the time for. A few examples of films I wanted to see but couldn't before the mandated deadline were Midsommar, The Irishman, The Last Black Man In San Francisco, Pain and Glory, Dolemite Is My Name, Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror, 1917, FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, Klaus, Fast Color, I Lost My Body, High Life, Under The Silver Lake, Shadow, Fighting With My Family, Atlantics and Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark.


3 From Hell
The Addams Family
Arctic Dogs
Avengers: Endgame
A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood
Booksmart
Captain Marvel
Cats
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Re;surrection
Crawl
Doom: Annihilation
Dragon Ball Super: Broly
The Farewell
Ford v Ferrari
Frozen II
Gemini Man
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Hobbs & Shaw
How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
I Want To Eat Your Pancreas
Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? Arrow of the Orion
It Chapter Two
Jay & Silent Bob Reboot
John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Kingdom
Knives Out
KonoSuba: God’s Blessing On This Wonderful World! Legend Of Crimson
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
The Lighthouse
Linda Ronstadt: The Sound Of My Voice
The Lion King
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
Marriage Story
Metallica S&M 2
Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative
Missing Link
Ne Zha
Norm of the North: Keys to the Kingdom
Norm of the North: King Sized Adventure
Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood
One Cut of the Dead
One Piece: Stampede
Parasite
Playing With Fire
Playmobil: The Movie
Pokémon Detective Pikachu
Promare
Ready Or Not
Reign of the Supermen
Saga of Tanya the Evil: The Movie
Slayer: The Repentless Killogy
Sound! Euphonium: The Movie - Our Promise: A Brand New Day
Spider-Man: Far From Home
Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker
Tigers Are Not Afraid
Tokyo Ghoul S
Toy Story 4
Us
War
Wheely
Wonder Park
Zombieland: Double Tap


Overall Count: 64 Films

Joke Film Awards of 2019

Best Film Experience of the Year: Cats (Several walkouts after the first ten minutes, a large group of little girls and their moms sitting in dead silence, and theater geeks that began to loudly riff away towards the end.)

2nd Best Film Experience of the Year: Avengers: Endgame (My second viewing where a guy sitting behind me repeatedly kept saying "Shit!" whenever bad things happened to the heroes and was really triggered when the movie mocked Back to the Future.)

3rd Best Film Experience of the Year: Avengers: Endgame (My first viewing where a guy sitting next to me keep loudly sucking on the hard candy he snuck in.)

4th Best Film Experience of the Year: The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (Four losers who laughed uproariously at every single thing, from random objects in the background to the domestic abuse.)

5th Best Film Experience of the Year: One Piece: Stampede (A middle aged couple, who clearly were more likely set on seeing Western Stars next door, sat down and waited five minutes into the anime film before realizing they were in the wrong theater.)

Best Film Title of the Year: Slut in a Good Way

Worst Film Title of the Year: The Art of Racing in the Rain

Most Accurate Film Title: The Lighthouse

Same Dress, Different Hairstyle: FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened and Fyre Fraud

The Kathryn Morris Award for "What's The Deal With This Person?": Diana Silvers in Booksmart

The Enough Already Award for the Most Egregious Overuse of Something in Movies: Live-action remakes of Disney animated classics

2nd Place of The Enough Already Award: "Smile" in Joker

3rd Place of The Enough Already Award: A Dog’s... Sequels

Best Dog: Brandy in Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood

Best Cat: Goose in Captain Marvel

Best Kill: Sadie's demise in Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood

Worst Kill: General Hux's sudden execution in Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker

Best Reason to Fast-Forward to the Middle: Olaf's recap of the first movie in Frozen II

Best Reason to Fast-Forward to the End: "Enter Sandman" in Metallica S&M 2

Best Reason to Leave During the Credits: "Into the Unknown" by Panic At The Disco! in Frozen II

The Jai Courtney Award for The Biggest Failure to Jump to Stardom: Jessie Usher

The Lorraine Bracco Award for The Biggest Failure to Jump to Stardom: Francesca Hayward

Worst Use of CGI: Every single visual effect in Cats

2nd Worst Use of CGI: The de-aging of Will Smith (especially in daylight scenes) in Gemini Man

Best Food: Ram-don in Parasite

Worst Food: Cockroaches in Cats

Worst Spoiler Trailer: A Dog’s Way Home (Runner-Up: Black Christmas)

Best of the Rest of 2019

(EDIT: I didn't get this article up in time on 1/8/2020 and it lacks the accompanying pictures for its winners. I apologize for it not being up to my usual standard. Please enjoy regardless.)

BEST BREAKTHROUGH: Park So-dam


Honorable Mentions: Samara Weaving, Roman Griffin Davis, Shahadi Wright Joseph, Asia Kate Dillon, Evan Alex, Julia Butters, Juan Ramón López, Susan Kelechi Watson, Paola Lara


BEST ENSEMBLE: Marriage Story


Honorable Mentions: Parasite, Knives Out, Avengers: Endgame, Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood, Booksmart, Us, One Cut of the Dead, Ford v Ferrari


BEST DIRECTOR: Bong Joon-ho - Parasite


Honorable Mentions: Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story), Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood), Robert Eggers (The Lighthouse), Lulu Wang (The Farewell), Hiroyuki Imaishi (Promare), Shin'ichirô Ueda (One Cut of the Dead), Jordan Peele (Us), Olivia Wilde (Booksmart), Rian Johnson (Knives Out), James Mangold (Ford v Ferrari), Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (Ready Or Not), Issa López (Tigers Are Not Afraid)


BEST SCREENPLAY: Noah Baumbach - Marriage Story


Honorable Mentions: Lulu Wang (The Farewell), Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won (Parasite), Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood), Jordan Peele (Us); Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth and Jason Keller (Ford v Ferrari), Rian Johnson (Knives Out), Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy (Ready Or Not); Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel, and Katie Silberman (Booksmart), Shin'ichirô Ueda (One Cut of the Dead), Robert Eggers and Max Eggers (The Lighthouse)


BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Jarin Blaschke - The Lighthouse


Honorable Mentions: Mike Gioulakis (Us), Hong Kyung-pyo (Parasite), Robert Richardson (Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood), Anna Franquesa Solano (The Farewell), Robbie Ryan (Marriage Story), Tsuyoshi Sone (One Cut of the Dead), Lawrence Sher (Joker), John Mathieson (Pokémon Detective Pikachu)


BEST EDITING: Jennifer Lame - Marriage Story


Honorable Mentions: Yang Jin-mo (Parasite), Louise Ford (The Lighthouse), Bob Ducsay (Knives Out), Michael Taylor and Matthew Friedman (The Farewell), Fred Raskin (Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood), Nicholas Monsour (Us), Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland (Ford v Ferrari)


BEST SCORE: Hiroyuki Sawano - Promare


Honorable Mentions: Hildur Guðnadóttir (Joker), Randy Newman (Marriage Story), Henry Jackman (Pokémon Detective Pikachu)


BEST SONG: "Kakusei" by Superfly - Promare


Honorable Mentions: "Catchy Song" by Dillon Francis feat. T-Pain and That Girl Lay Lay (The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part), "A Glass of Soju" by Woo-sik Choi (Parasite), "Senza Di Te" by Fredo Viola (The Farewell), "Love Me Tender" by Stereo Jane (Ready Or Not), "Kōri ni Tojikomete" by Superfly (Promare), "Being Alive" by Adam Driver (Marriage Story)


BEST PREEXISTING SONG: "Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys - Us


Honorable Mentions: "You Keep Me Hangin' On" by Vanilla Fudge (Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood), "Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand" by The Beatles (Jojo Rabbit), "Doodle Let Me Go (Yaller Girls)" by A.L. Lloyd (The Lighthouse), "I Got 5 On It" by Luniz (Us)


BEST OPENING CREDITS: Promare


Honorable Mentions: Us, Jojo Rabbit


BEST ENDING CREDITS: One Cut of the Dead


Honorable Mentions: A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood, Booksmart, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Knives Out


BEST STINGER: Zombieland: Double Tap


Honorable Mentions: Jay & Silent Bob Reboot, Captain Marvel, Frozen II


BEST POSTER ART: Us


Honorable Mentions: Midsommar, Shazam!, Uncut Gems, John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum ("1 vs 100"), Jojo Rabbit ("Peace Sign"), Good Boys, It Chapter Two, Lucy in the Sky


BEST TRAILER: Joker


Honorable Mentions: The Lighthouse, Us


BEST ACTION FILM: John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum


Honorable Mentions: Avengers: Endgame, War, Spider-Man: Far From Home


BEST ANIMATED FILM: Promare


Honorable Mentions: Ne Zha, Toy Story 4, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Re;surrection, I Want To Eat Your Pancreas, Dragon Ball Super: Broly, How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Missing Link


BEST COMEDY FILM: Booksmart


Honorable Mentions: Zombieland: Double Tap, Jojo Rabbit


BEST HORROR FILM: The Lighthouse


Honorable Mentions: Us, Tigers Are Not Afraid, Ready Or Not


BEST SCI-FI FILM: Godzilla: King of the Monsters


BEST GUILTY PLEASURE: Crawl



FUTURE CULT AND APPRECIATION

Films that I feel will grow on me beyond my initial expectations and opinions and become the great films that they sought to be.

How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
Missing Link
Tigers Are Not Afraid


UNDERRATED AND UNDERAPPRECIATED

Actors and actresses that gave great performances in bad films and/or in roles with little material and screen time.

Julia Butters (Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood)
Enrico Colantoni (A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood)
Bruce Dern (Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood)
Adam Driver (The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker)
Billy Eichner (The Lion King)
Dakota Fanning (Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood)
Molly Gordon (Booksmart)
Richard E. Grant (Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker)
Jaeden Martell (Knives Out)
Stephen Merchant (Jojo Rabbit)
Bill Moseley (3 From Hell)
Frank Oz (Knives Out)
Christopher Plummer (Knives Out)
Jonathan Pryce (The Man Who Killed Don Quixote)
Kurt Russell (Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood)
Melanie Scrofano (Ready Or Not)
Noah Segan (Knives Out)
Wallace Shawn (Marriage Story)
Jason Sudeikis (Booksmart)
Emma Thompson (Missing Link)
Merritt Wever (Marriage Story)
Bradley Whitford (Godzilla: King of the Monsters)
Benedict Wong (Gemini Man)

Best Performances of 2019

Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio - Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood


Honorable Mentions:

Adam Driver - Marriage Story

Song Kang-ho - Parasite

Robert Pattinson - The Lighthouse

Joaquin Phoenix - Joker

Daniel Craig - Knives Out

Takayuki Hamatsu - One Cut of the Dead

Christian Bale - Ford v Ferrari

Robert Downey Jr. - Avengers: Endgame

Choi Woo-shik - Parasite

Roman Griffin Davis - Jojo Rabbit

Juan Ramón López - Tigers Are Not Afraid

Matt Damon - Ford v Ferrari

Tom Holland - Spider-Man: Far From Home




Best Actress: Lupita Nyong'o - Us


Honorable Mentions:

Scarlett Johansson - Marriage Story

Awkwafina - The Farewell

Beanie Feldstein - Booksmart

Samara Weaving - Ready Or Not

Kaitlyn Dever - Booksmart

Ana de Armas - Knives Out

Yuzuki Akiyama - One Cut of the Dead

Zendaya - Spider-Man: Far From Home




Best Supporting Actor: Tom Hanks - A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood


Honorable Mentions:

Willem Dafoe - The Lighthouse

Brad Pitt - Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood

Bill Hader - It Chapter Two

Alan Alda - Marriage Story

Taika Waititi - Jojo Rabbit

Winston Duke - Us

Jake Gyllenhaal - Spider-Man: Far From Home

Ken Watanabe - Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Sam Rockwell - Jojo Rabbit

Tracy Letts - Ford v Ferrari

Adam Brody - Ready Or Not

Mark Ruffalo - Avengers: Endgame

Evan Alex - Us

Archie Yates - Jojo Rabbit

Ray Liotta - Marriage Story

Paul Rudd - Avengers: Endgame




Best Supporting Actress: Lauren Dern - Marriage Story


Honorable Mentions:

Harumi Shuhama - One Cut of the Dead

Margot Robbie - Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood

Cho Yeo-jeong - Parasite

Zhao Shuzhen - The Farewell

Park So-dam - Parasite

Billie Lourd - Booksmart

Zoey Deutch - Zombieland: Double Tap

Shahadi Wright Joseph - Us

Margaret Qualley - Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood

Elisabeth Moss - Us

Karen Gillan - Avengers: Endgame

Julie Hagerty - Marriage Story



Next Up: The Best of the Rest of 2019

Worst Performances of 2019

Worst Actor: Jeremy Renner - Arctic Dogs


Dishonorable Mentions:

Will Smith - Gemini Man

Jason Trost - Slayer: The Repentless Killogy

Kento Yamazaki - Kingdom

Donald Glover - The Lion King

Ogie Banks - Wheely

Andrew Toth - Norm of the North: Keys to the Kingdom and Norm of the North: King Sized Adventure




Worst Actress: Francesca Hayward - Cats


Dishonorable Mention:

Amy Manson - Doom: Annihilation




Worst Supporting Actor: Jeff Daniel Phillips - 3 From Hell


Dishonorable Mentions:

James Franco - Arctic Dogs

Jason Derulo - Cats

Keegan-Michael Key - Playing With Fire

Clayton Adams - Doom: Annihilation

Gavin Yap - Wheely

Ian McKellen - Cats

Ray Winstone - Cats




Worst Supporting Actress: Rebel Wilson - Cats


Dishonorable Mentions:

Nina Bergman - Doom: Annihilation

Judi Dench - Cats

Alice Wen - Jay & Silent Bob Reboot



Next Up: The Best Performances of 2019

Best Films of 2019

2019 may have largely been a pleasing enough year for movies in general but that didn't stop it from bequeathing a treasure trove of great works and accomplishments. The eternal struggle between the rich and the poor played out in many inventive ways, from an elaborately surreal con game to a children's playground game. Movies about moviemaking came back with a vengeance and brought immense delight to audiences. Art horror once again struck a mighty nerve thanks to a trio of follow-up features from newly made auteurs. A mega anime franchise saw their latest film release become a surprising sleeper hit in theaters and make headline news among the industry. Docs about a failed musical festival, a Silicon Valley grifter, and a group of congresswomen had everyone talking. Concert films came out in full force, offering up everything from aging rockers that still got it to an pop-R&B queen reflecting on her glory to a double feature focusing on the hardest working pop group going today. And Disney helped create a sea of tears by closing the book on two of America's most beloved movie characters. Despite my movie-going experience still not being up to snuff with previous years, I was still able to find twenty films that stayed with me for days, played with my emotions so elegantly and made me want to watch them again and again.


These are the films I have deemed the best of 2019. Though I put them in list format, I was equally entertained and moved by all of these films.


Now comes the usual disclaimer that everyone forgets to remember: This list is of my own opinion, not the general public nor the Internet consensus. If I didn't see the film at all or in its entirety, it isn't counted or considered to be included.



TOP TEN BEST FILMS


1. One Cut of the Dead

Just when I thought I was done both with zombie movies and movies about movies, this magnificent feature finally escaped the hells of the festival circuit. It was well worth the year long wait. Even here I must stress again: Go into this film as blind as possible! And remember, it often takes more than one person to animate a world on to the canvas that is film.



2. Parasite

Never have I squirmed in my seat so much last year than watching this masterpiece. Its conclusion continues to haunt me. Bong Joon-ho, you've done it again!



3. Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood

In a year of acclaimed movies with long running times, nothing was more watchable and comfortable than Quentin Tarantino's ode to a bygone era of Hollywood and what could have been.



4. Marriage Story

I'm so glad for Noah Baumbach. He was finally able to capture the full attention of America with his sometimes funny and more times heartbreaking look at the disintegration of a family and the supporting players that help guide and hurt the process. Having Netflix as your release platform also helped in that goal.



5. The Farewell

This one hit way too close to home for me. A beautiful ode to the power of family and the secrets that we all keep, for better or worse.



6. Promare

Works that prioritize style over substance tend not to do well. Studio Trigger doesn't believe in that sentiment and offered up a stupendously gorgeous anime flick that generate goosebumps with ease. And my god, that luscious soundtrack by Hiroyuki Sawano and tunes supplied by Superfly. The movie also gets extra bonus points for literally ending on a fist bump.



7. Booksmart

I could have turned hard against this film after hearing "I'm Olivia Wilde, director of Booksmart..." before every single movie last year but it was infeasible. Absolutely funny and a great new entry in the "one night" sub-genre.



8. The Lighthouse

In the battle of art horror directors last year, Robert Eggers won via knockout. Black and white cinematography seemingly never looked so good, especially when capturing the talents of Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson or the disturbing nightmares that engulf the viewer. The fact that the movie was able to make me question what I just saw shows how dangerous the film can be.



9. Us

It was certainly a sophomore slump but Jordan Peele was still able to conjure up a distressing fable of American horror. Brilliantly acted all around, especially from the ever engrossing Lupita Nyong'o.



10. Ne Zha

China is certainly well known for not being an animation powerhouse and being far behind its continental competitors in the field. But thanks to writer-director Jiaozi and his dream to reimagine a mythical hero for modern audiences, they were able to deliver one mighty animated epic that made me believe in the power of IMAX 3D.



THE NEXT TEN


11. Ford v Ferrari

This is one of those perfect movies about dreamers pushing the limits of human ingenuity and the rebellious spirit that fuels America. Never have I loved and hated Ford Motors so much.



12. Toy Story 4

I was sure this would be a definite top ten placer but as with many a viewer it lost steam quite quickly. Even with its faults, Disney and Pixar were still able to create a beautifully animated tale of existentialism and moving on in life with their beloved gaggle of toys.



13. Ready Or Not

Though labeled as a horror-comedy, this film was more of a biting satire on the sheer ineptitude of the rich and how the help have to do all of the dirty work. It also had some welcoming surprises in store, such as playing with the conventions of the final girl and the morality of the villains. And holy hell, what an amazing ending.



14. Knives Out

Everybody loves a good ole murder mystery and writer-director Rian Johnson was able to bequeath a raucous one for the masses. Though it possesses a clever script, it is heavily bolstered by an excellent cast, led by its great lead performances by Ana de Armas and Daniel Craig.



15. Avengers: Endgame

It took a very long time and a ton of setup but Marvel Studios were able to conclude their superhero saga on a high note. I still never have had a screening of this anywhere where someone, including me, doesn't get a little choked up in the end.



16. Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Michael Dougherty is an underrated gem. He delivered up one hell of giant monster mash for kaiju fans to lap up and love. Godzilla and Mothra, best couple of all time!



17. A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

It may be milking some of the remaining goodwill of my top film of 2018 but this weepy melodrama melted my heart largely thanks to Tom Hanks' astonishing performance as Fred Rogers. I also have to commend director Marielle Heller for her risk-tasking decision to frame the film as an episode of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood and layering in some really surreal imagery.



18. Code Geass: Lelouch of the Re;surrection

Going into this film, I hadn't watched a single frame of the beloved anime television series Code Geass and had no knowledge of the world and its characters. I also wasn't aware that this film was a sequel to three compilation films that also act as an alternative telling of the show. Despite these high bars of entry for this lapsed anime fan, the movie ended up being far and away better than many of Hollywood's summer blockbusters the past year. But what really stuck with me was its bombastic mecha-laden climax that quite brilliantly subverts the Groundhog Day time loop trope.



19. Pokémon Detective Pikachu

Look, I love me some Pokémon and anything that has spiritual allusions to Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Ryan Reynolds and Justice Smith brought a lot of humor and heart and director Rob Letterman was able to capture the allure and repulsion of a Pokémon filled reality.



20. Zombieland: Double Tap

I'm still genuinely shocked at how much fun I had with this belated sequel. A lot of it goes to the sheer fact that director Ruben Fleischer and the returning cast are all clearly having a blast returning to their playful zombie apocalypse but the real highlight has to go to Zoey Deutch's fantastically funny supporting turn.



Next Up: The Worst Performances of 2019

Worst Films of 2019

2019 is a bit hard for me to sum up. I could just talk about all of the headline news and politics that was going on but it was often just more of the same and I frankly tried to avoid it as much as possible, even when signs of hope surfaced. For you see, despite having lots of fun throughout it, 2019 was rough on the personal front. I suffered severe big losses amid my family and friends and often had to partake in a lot of other people's painful suffering. I was able to keep my head above water throughout it but it still sucked up so much of my time and enthusiasm.


On the movie front, I continued to struggle with my movie-watching lifestyle, particularly when it came to any work not released last year. I once again fell behind on my Netflix usage which lead to me missing out on a lot of their exclusives. I sadly never went to my beloved drive-in theater at all despite multiple prime opportunities. MoviePass finally burned to the ground after all of the crap it pulled. And my local treks to Regal Cinemas began to become a bit of nuisance in the fall thanks to the newly implemented strategy of showing more and more commercials past the scheduled start time. None of us could win with the reserved seating and now we have to suffer through more ads because of their "premium" benefits.


As for what was going on in the film industry, oh boy where to begin? China was cracking down on more than just Hong Kong, spending most of the year hurting their film division due to intense censorship and the outright banning of movies. Disney had a boffo year in box office returns but at the cost of producing more pointless live action remakes of beloved animated films and disappointing to subpar sequels. American animation suffered through one of its worst years recently with many a film failing its execution and/or falling to deaf ears. Lori Louglin and Felicity Huffman lost their squeaky clean images thanks to their involvement in college admissions bribery. Very damning accusations were levied against two popular voice actors that shocked their fanbases. Amazon dropped a huge amount of money to acquire many prominent features coming out of the Sundance Film Festival only to end up heavily in the red once general audiences had a chance with them. Nobody cared for tales of British Indians who were motivated by or decided to crib influential rock music. Way too many talking dog movies were produced only to bomb badly. Sequels to very old movies that no asked for strangely flooded the video market in this day and age. Studios and a bunch of boomers rallied against the influence of Netflix, with Steven Spielberg briefly and depressingly leading the cause to have their works be banned from the Oscars. An extremely divisive movie received way too much attention and drama thanks to the stupid antics of the media and government officials and also the absolutely awful things spewed forth by its director. Martin Scorsese stirred up a shitstorm with his comments on Marvel and superhero movies that a lot of people took way too seriously. And in what hit me very hard this year, a deranged man set fire to Kyoto Animation's main building, killing over thirty people.


Amid all of the bombs, busts and failures, I was able to drum up twenty "lucky" losers: An instantly legendary fiasco that will be mocked throughout the ages; a sea of bad animated films; technologically advanced films that disturbed and annoyed audiences; And so much more.


These are the films I have deemed the worst of 2019.


Now comes the usual disclaimer that everyone forgets to remember: This list is of my own opinion, not the general public nor the Internet consensus. If I didn't see the film at all or in its entirety, it isn't counted or considered to be included.



TOP TEN WORST FILMS


1. Cats

It may be such an obvious and easy pick to be labeled as the worst film of the year but my god what a disaster. The terrible decision in a post-Green Lantern world to super impose CGI fur on people. The abysmal direction. The nauseating camerawork and choppy editing. The poor excuse of an plot even for a musical famously known for its lack of a plot. Human-faced cockroaches being munched on and the squirm-inducing sight of human kids as mice. Starting off as undiluted nightmare fuel only to become a colossal bore in its second half. The terrible singing and acting on display throughout the cast, including thespians like Judi Dench and Ian McKellen. Its stubborn refusal to end right at the perfect time only to haphazardly cut to black. The bare human hands and other CGI missteps. Again, what a disaster.



2. Arctic Dogs

I don't know what is sadder: having a main character whose life goal is to be a postal carrier or making an animated movie that's designed and marketed heavily as a celebration of Jeremy Renner. I especially loved it when it drops literally everything mid-movie so it can create a finale revolving around fracking and the protagonist running around and facing off against the bad guy in his tighty whities.



3. Norm of the North: Keys to the Kingdom

A former king of the shit pile decided to resurface last year with not one but two animated atrocities. This one was the more painful to sit through thanks to its slapdash script (literally two basic sitcom plots smushed together) and its grade-school level animation. The fact that Rob Schneider didn't reprise his role, despite making a second career recently in lending his voice to garbage CG animated fare, was the real shocker.



4. Norm of the North: King Sized Adventure

It had far better animation that Keys to the Kingdom but at the expense of being heavily catered to Chinese audiences. Honestly though, Norm didn't need to be in this Indiana Jones rip-off at all. Worst yet, it is less laughably bad than the second film and more of a tough sit.



5. The Lion King

I don't have this high up on the list just because it's a remake of one of my favorite films of all time. It deserves its placing thanks to Disney and Jon Favreau's decision to suck the life out of all of the beloved songs and waste a colossal amount of money on CGI animals that are highly detailed but completely lifeless. The "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" sequence has to now be forever logged as one of the worst musical sequences of all time, from the passionless expressions on Simba and Nala, to Donald Glover and Beyoncé's lackluster singing, to the sheer fact that it entirely takes place in bright daylight.



6. Playing With Fire

An unfunny mainstream comedy from Hollywood? Who would have guessed. It would have been better suited as a 22 minute sitcom pilot, not a 96 minute torture fest that violently swings between obnoxious buffoonery and depressing gloom. The best thing to come from this movie was seeing the unbridled joy my niece was experiencing with it at the theater. At least she had fun.



7. It Chapter Two

Nearly three hours of painful boredom and padded out horror. Slightly worth it for the fantastic dramatic turn from Bill Hader but only slightly.



8. Gemini Man

At its core, this movie is very trite and could be relatively painless to watch. However, Ang Lee's irritating agenda to shove 3D filmmaking and high frame rate down your throat, coupled with the utter failure of Will Smith's CGIed younger self, made me utterly loathe this film.



9. Wheely

There's been many clones of Cars with far worse animation quality than this Malaysian import. But those pathetic efforts don't spend most of their time being utterly depressing or featuring a villainous plot involving car trafficking and mutilation.



10. Joker

A great man once said that it is okay to like a movie. That being said, outside of Joaquin Phoenix's performance, the score and cinematography, I was not having this film. Young adults routinely get lambasted in film school for copying and/or plagiarizing from famous directors but it's a-okay for Todd Phillips to wholeheartedly crib from Scorsese?! The muddled main message, the bad dialogue, the twists that are either way too predictable or outlandishly dumb, and its wipe-everything-away conclusion all made it more of a miserable affair than it actually wanted to be.



THE NEXT TEN



11. 3 From Hell

Why in the blue hell would you want to make a sequel to a movie that had an amazing ending? Rob Zombie continued the exploits of the Firefly family by essentially remaking The Devil's Rejects again but to pitiful results. He even pulled an Ed Wood: Captain Spaulding was heavily advertised by due to Sid Haig's then real life health problems his character is killed off and replaced with a butt monkey played by Richard Brake.



12. Doom: Annihilation

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment unleashed a mighty plague on the video market with a slew of unnecessary sequels throughout 2019. The most high profile of them, especially with video game fans, was this dreadful Aliens ripoff that made you long for the 2005 Dwayne Johnson-starring misfire. Lowlights included the decision to name the lead heroine Joan Dark, feature more zombies than actual demons, the head slapping fan service, and making the BFG weapon a big deal again only for it to do little to no damage to an average undead.



13. Playmobil: The Movie

Anya Taylor-Joy deserved a lot better than wasting her talents in this laughably bad attempt to ride on the coattails of the Lego movies. Great timing there STX Films in waiting until the iron was ice cold.



14. Tokyo Ghoul S

I'm a sucker for anime-based products but this was an embarrassing watch. They turned a very important supporting player to the franchise into a villain of the week, the main hero is dumber than a bag of hammers, the whole production screams low television budget, and the second half of the film takes place entirely on an obvious soundstage.



15. Hobbs & Shaw

The reheating of the dick waggling between Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham was bad. Making a boring action blockbuster is even worse.



16. The Man Who Killed Don Quixote

In my review of this film, I said that a rewatch might make this movie more enjoyable. Instead, the film has only soured with me more and more, largely due to Gilliam plagiarizing his own works and its repugnant attitudes toward its female characters.



17. Wonder Park

The story of what happened behind the scenes with this animated movie is far more engaging than actually watching the final product. Seriously, all that trouble just to whisper into a monkey's ear? That song about pi was mighty catchy though.



18. Saga of Tanya the Evil: The Movie

I really wanted to get into this anime property last year and thought that this movie could be a good first step. Not only is it terrible for newcomers, never explaining its isekai design or who the hell Being X is, the film languishes in its inability to generate real danger at any point, even with a opposing character literally named Mary Sue.



19. The Addams Family

Utterly pointless. The cast is perfectly suited and the animation is spot on but like other bad movies on this list, it stretches out a baby-friendly sitcom plot way too long. Even Captain Planet would say this movie is too preachy.



20. Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker

This spot has routinely been given to a Disney produced failure and oh boy do we have a doozy this time around. I don't know what was more soul-sucking: the continuous bombardment of random plotlines and MacGuffins, the sickening decision to resurrect the Emperor in a desperate attempt of fan service, the boring battles and action sequences, the concept of force healing, or Disney and J.J. Abrams' smear job at wiping away all of the advancements set forth by the previous film.



Next Up: The Best Films of 2019