Month: February 2019

91st Academy Awards Predictions

Posted on by jacobsonbblog

The 91st Academy Awards are tomorrow, my choices are bold, you get the idea.

Best Picture:
“Black Panther”
“BlacKkKlansman”
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“The Favourite”
“Green Book”
“Roma”
“A Star Is Born”
“Vice”

Lead Actor:
Christian Bale, “Vice”
Bradley Cooper, “A Star Is Born”
Willem Dafoe, “At Eternity’s Gate”
Rami Malek, “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Viggo Mortensen, “Green Book”

Lead Actress:
Yalitza Aparicio, “Roma”
Glenn Close, “The Wife”
Olivia Colman, “The Favourite”
Lady Gaga, “A Star Is Born”
Melissa McCarthy, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”

Supporting Actor:
Mahershala Ali, “Green Book”
Adam Driver, “BlacKkKlansman”
Sam Elliott, “A Star Is Born”
Richard E. Grant, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Sam Rockwell, “Vice”

Supporting Actress:
Amy Adams, “Vice”
Marina de Tavira, “Roma”
Regina King, “If Beale Street Could Talk”
Emma Stone, “The Favourite”
Rachel Weisz, “The Favourite”

Director:
Spike Lee, “BlacKkKlansman”
Pawel Pawlikowski, “Cold War”
Yorgos Lanthimos, “The Favourite”
Alfonso Cuarón, “Roma”
Adam McKay, “Vice”

Animated Feature:
Incredibles 2
Isle of Dogs
Mirai
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Animated Short:
Animal Behaviour
Bao
Late Afternoon
One Small Step
Weekends

Adapted Screenplay:
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
BlacKkKlansman
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
If Beale Street Could Talk
A Star Is Born

Original Screenplay:
The Favourite
First Reformed
Green Book
Roma
Vice

Cinematography:
Cold War
The Favourite
Never Look Away
Roma
A Star Is Born

Film Editing:
BlacKkKlansman
Bohemian Rhapsody
Green Book
The Favourite
Vice

Sound Editing:
Black Panther
Bohemian Rhapsody
First Man
A Quiet Place
Roma

Sound Mixing:
Black Panther
Bohemian Rhapsody
First Man
Roma
A Star Is Born

Production Design:
Black Panther
First Man
The Favourite
Mary Poppins Returns
Roma

Original Score:
BlacKkKlansman
Black Panther
If Beale Street Could Talk
Isle of Dogs
Mary Poppins Returns

Original Song:
“All The Stars” from “Black Panther”
“I’ll Fight” from “RBG”
“The Place Where Lost Things Go” from “Mary Poppins Returns”
“Shallow” from “A Star Is Born”
“When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings”

Makeup and Hair:
Border
Mary Queen of Scots
Vice

Costume Design:
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Black Panther
The Favourite
Mary Poppins Returns
Mary Queen of Scots

Visual Effects:
“Avengers: Infinity War”
“Christopher Robin”
“First Man”
“Ready Player One”
“Solo: A Star Wars Story”

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part review

Posted on by jacobsonbblog

Everything is still Awesome!

The Lego Movie was thought to be your standard cash grab animated movie just to sell toys and with a chosen one story we’ve heard a bunch of times before didn’t help. It turned out that we are wrong. The Lego Movie turned out to be not to be a funny and heartwarming movie about creativity. This one is directed by Mike Mitchell may not be the best director ever (though I’d recommend Sky High) he’s had experience with CGI animated movies and live action movies (considering that this is both).

The first movie ended on a cliffhanger involving Finn’s sister and her Duplos and the sequel starts off with the aftermath where everything is now apocalyptic except Emmett. Spoiler: Honestly just be watching the ending of the first one you can tell that this is a gender war between Finn and his sister Bianca and how they don’t get along. The real world twist doesn’t have the same wow impact as in the first one. The twist with the sister’s toys being good was nice though.

Now with the not so awesome stuff out of the way let’s talk about the awesome stuff. Chris Pratt is still as innocent as Emmett. There’s such a heart and likability to this character and I don’t think I can see anyone else as Emmett. Chris Pratt also plays Rex Dangervest a badass version of Emmett and a great foil (and main villain) to him. The animation is still as wonderful as it was in 2014. It’s amazing how animators can make CGI look like stop motion with a little bit of 2d animation on the faces. Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi’s ability to shapeshift gives some really great animation.

The Lego Movies are known for having really good comedy and that’s still the case here. There are references and little details that you could miss on your first watch. However some jokes fall flat like one involving Rex stealing Wonder Woman’s invisible jet and says her lasso is still in there. No payoff and no reason for the joke.

The Lego Movie 2 still has the creativitiy and the heart of the first movie and even the Batman spinoff while also showing new themes about family. It may not be as impactful as the first one but is still a nice follow up to the first one.

Verdict:
+ Animation
+ Chris Pratt as Emmett and Rex
+/- Comedy
-Predictable

Score: B+

 

Steven Universe Battle of Heart and Mind review

Posted on by jacobsonbblog

I would have gotten this review early but I was busy with another franchises that I love (KH3), and my job. Anyway, this Christmas Steven Universe returns with a huge arc about the gems going to Homeworld. It goes just as well as you think. Steven Universe Diamond Days has just concluded with the hour long episode Change Your Mind and what did I think of it? Remember how I thought Reunited was the high point of Steven Universe? I was wrong not only was Change Your Mind just as good as Reunited it was better. It’s amazing how this managed to top Reunited.

After watching Reunited I thought the diamonds except White were redeemed but it turned out they still had a long way to go. I like that each Diamond gets a scene where Steven talks to them about their treatment of Pink. Not only does Bismuth show up but also Peridot and Lapis with new awesome designs. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl also have new wonderful designs. Steven evens fuses with all three. I really liked Steven and Pearl’s fusion because I once imagined their fusion weapon to be an umbrella.

White Diamond, I was really close to hating this prick because 1. She’s creepy, 2. She won’t listen, 3. She turns everyone white. After seeing Together Alone I actually predicted that’s what White did to Pink Pearl. It’s like the show read my thoughts. The scene where Steven and Pink Steven reunite, oh my God the animation is unbelievable. It’s so fluid, beautiful, and emotional. It really feels like something from an animated movie. Turns out Disney animator James Baxter animated this scene so give him a round of applause. Who knows maybe he’ll work on the supposed Steven Universe movie this fall.

My main problem with this episode is a lot of things are wrapped up too quickly. So much stuff happens like seeing Steven’s fusions with Pearl, Garnet and all three together, redeeming White Diamond, healing the corrupted gems and Lars returning to Earth. It felt like all these ideas were planned but since this might have been the series finale they wanted to get these ideas out right away. Still the ideas they did were really great especially that reuniting scene.

Change You Mind feels a lot like a series finale and honestly it this really was (though we’re technically getting a movie this fall) the end, I’d be satisfied. If that is the case than Change Your Mind definitely ranks up there with Sozin’s Comet and Take Back the Falls as one of the best animated series finales I’ve seen. Besides how would season 6 top this? Change Your Mind was an epic conclusion to season 5 and in my opinion the best episode of Steven Universe.