The Jake and Fred Show Episode 1

 Hey look a podcast! Yes the inaugural episode of the Fred and Jake show is here! This is one of hopefully two new podcasts (no promises but I'm working on it) debuting within the next few weeks. Specifically the Jake and Fred show will focus mostly on talking about a few random entertainment related topics that are topical during the week before doing a look back segment on an old, sometimes classic sometimes not, film.

This week Jake and I talk about Alien: Isolation and how it could potentially rejuvenate both the idea of an Alien game franchise and survival games in general. Our second topic focuses around the recent announcement that Pixar is now working on 2 new sequels as well as how much of an effect that Pixar films have had on both our childhoods and how we look at those films now. Then in the final segment we debut the first film look back segment with the infamous beginning of the Start Wars prequel trilogy "Episode 1 the Phantom Menace."

For now the only link to the podcast is here through Soundcloud. Once I get the RSS Feed thing figured out and try to get the show posted on Itunes I will update this post.

Link to the show on Soundcloud

On the next show (hopefully next week I have to find a good day to edit and post it) the movie we are going to talk about is, of course, Star Wars Episode 2 Attack of the Clones (ugh). For now if you want to watch along and share your thoughts potentially at the show comment on this post. By the time the next episode is released I should either have a proboards page, or an email address ready for feedback and movie responses.

Girls: “Two Plane Rides” Review: Welcome to Broadway

Shoshona and Ray have some awkward moments on Girls

Photo Credit: HBO 

A review of Girls’ season finale (and a few thoughts on the season as a whole) as soon as I feel out the gender of my unborn child…

Oh bittersweet melancholy…

Girls (one of my absolute favorite shows on television) wrapped up its third season to more and more of the bittersweetnes that the series knows all too well. “Two Plane Rides” was another perfectly toned finale that, even better than in past years managed to wrap the season’s themes into a nice bow of beauty and sadness. Better yet it made Season 3, unlike its predecessor, to feel better than the sum of its parts, managing to better balance its strange ideas, character beats, and plot better than it managed in, say the end of last season.

The place we leave Hannah in this season is interesting. Most of this season seems to be tied to how Hannah has begun to grow up in some ways and stay in the same place in others. On one hand we see her get some professional direction with her acceptance to grad school in Iowa (and the best writing school in America none the less), but at the same time personally, and especially here with Adam, seems to be going close to nowhere. She still needs that moment of being special, and thus despite knowing better than anyone Adam’s negative reaction, decides to tell him about Iowa right before he goes on opening night. The scene where she does tell him is beautifully uncomfortable in that way that only Girls can manage to make it, providing that wonderful reaction of “why would she do this?” while still keeping it with in the territory of something that Hannah Horvath would actually do.

Of course it leaves Adam and Hannah’s relationship on the rocks, which for the most part is nothing new for the show. The way that it does leave it on the rocks though is a fascinating new place providing numerous different options of where this could go as the series moves on. The final shot of the finale that shows Hannah hugging the Iowa acceptance letter suggesting that we could go off into strange new territory, one that could potentially be an interesting departure for the series as a whole. It also allows us to ponder just how stable this relationship between Adam and Hanna is, and whether Hanna’s attempt to feel special, instead of waiting on breaking the news, has cost her the relationship.

Relationship drama doesn’t end with Hannah, in the ball goes quite firmly into Shoshana’s court as well. Shosh finds herself in quite the situation in this finale, being three credits short of being able to graduate university, and having Ray flat out reject her as he feels potentially “better off” without her. The scene in which Shoshana painfully proclaims her desperate love for Ray while he coldly rejects her is one of the most painful scenes this season and easily the best work that Zosia Mamott has done so far on the show. The dramatic angle that this season has brought the character is very suiting and has made Shoshana a much more satisfying character as the season has progressed.

If I had a problem with the way the finale wrapped up it would be that the show still has very little idea of how to handle Jess and her messiness. Even this season with two episodes to work with her arc still seems incomplete and rushed in so many ways. It’s way too quick for Beadie to want to commit suicide and then go against it by wanting to call 911 immediately afterwards, it seems like that whole arc needed a few more episodes to develop and give us an idea of where Jessa has gone as this season has progressed.

Some other musings:

• Marnie is playing man stealer as this episode goes along. She really brings out the desperateness in Shoshana when she talks about sleeping with Ray right to her without real remorse. Then she goes and steals a few kisses from Desi, and awkwardly confronts his girlfriend (in a similar dress none the less) in the bathroom a little later in the episode.

• Ray has yet to learn how to dress to Elijah’s standards for a formal event.

• Those textbooks really can break windows!

That’s it for Girls this season! Another really good one indeed! We’ll have to wait and see whether we will be spending a ton of time in Iowa I guess…

That’s just me folks. What did everyone else think?

Live Blogging the Oscars 2014

How long will the Oscars last??

It's Oscar time again!!!! It's going to be a long show so strap in, grab some snacks and join me for this year's Oscar's live blog 2014. I'm going to be commenting on the awards, all the filler, and counting all my picks to see just how right I am! Also I'll be keeping track of the points for this year's Outpick Fred at the Oscars to see who will win (this year it's looking pretty grim for my picks in the contest). So follow me throughout the evening as I cover the Oscars as they air:

4:12- So I'm a sucker apparently 4pm doesn't actually mean 4pm in Oscar world... Show is set to start at 5:30 I'll see you then...

5:29- Ok here we go! A little uneasy with the lack of overdone video package....

5:40- Elen's not bad so far... A few of her jokes weren't funny, but for the most part it worked ok. Nice finish with the 12 Years a Slave joke overall I was decently happy with it

5:40-On to best supporting actor with the very awkward Anne Hathaway

5:42 Jared Leto with the predictable win. Would have liked to see Fassbender but I get the first prediction correct. Good speech, gone very long as expected given the producers. Fred Picks 1/1

5:46- Elen does the Anne Hathaway joke from a few years ago but less awkwardly and not with a stoned looking James Franco

5:48- Hey look it's a segment to make the show go long! This time a tribute to animation ie a bunch of clips set to music... And the great Jim Carry

5:50- Hey look it's that we're trying to be too much like the grammy's and tony's thing.... Starting with Pherell Williams... These should have all happened in one montage... Like the animation one...

5:54- Hey look almost a half an hour in and only one award presented... This is going to be a long show....

5:56- Hey look finally another award! Let's see how long the tech people get to speak!!

5:58- Yup I really screwed up on this pick... Great Gatsby wins this one easily... And there goes my win I do believe in  the contest Fred's picks 1/2

6:00- Redeamed myself with Hair and makeup.... Although it was an easy pick... Apparently we fought for the hair and makeup of Dallas Buyers Club! Short speech though no Jared Leto's here! Fred's Picks 2/3

6:02- Hey it's Harrison Ford from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal skull... No they're taking cues from the Golden Globes... No.. Not the stupid films clip packages! No!! Why?? What's the freaking point?

6:09- Hey animation! Go Mathew McConaughey go all Rust and talk about life the universe and everything! Animated Short, a category I don't generally pick!

6:13- Ok best animated feature ie the category that Frozen will win.... And Frozen wins... Shocker! *Sarcasm* Hey they're going to keep it short well done Disney animated studios people! Fred's Picks 3/4

6:16- That was really lame Ellen.... There must be something wrong with this teleprompter everyone is tripping up on their lives... Ok why do we have these video packages these don't celebrate film, they are redundant and messy... Can we just let the tech people speak more or make this show shorter?

6:20- Hey it's Hermione and Batman Jr. doing visual effects ie the award if Gravity doesn't win there should be an uprising... And Gravity wins! Woot I guess! It's all about the team they say while Gordon Levitt seems to mock them in the background... Hey they get to speak! Good job all around... Fred's Picks 4/5

6:24- Time for another song from the "most important not important category!" At least we get to hear Karen O who is very good

6:29- Ellen update... Most of her jokes have been misses

6:30- Hey shorts now time for a quick break... Although I will stick around to see what the tiebreak winner is... So Helium is the winner for best live action short... One person got it in the contest so if it comes down to it said person has the leg up!

6:35- God Ellen is becoming a little unbearable... Oh Documentary time... If I loose this I'm done... Go Act of Killing! Winner is.... 20 Feet from Stardom... Yup I'm done in the contest looks like we're going to have a winner this year! Sad Act of Killing is a special documentary... Fred's Picks 4/6

6:39- Yay Kevin Spacey!!! Who gets to do 10 seconds of his House of Cards accent! He looks board, about as board as I am at this point...

6:47- Hey look it Obi wan Kenobi! And Ms monotone I mean Viola Davis... Foreign film which should have gone to Blue is the Warmest Color... Winnner is The Great Beauty! No surprise there 5/7...

6:50- Tyler Perry??? Disappointed he's not dressed as Madea because that shtick hasn't gotten old... He's introducing more stupid video packages... Why did they take the worst part of the Golden Globes? Couldn't they have gotten Tina and Amy instead? God Ellen still isn't funny...

6:54- So U2's now the biggest band in the world? That's a reach... Why did we waste Brad Pitt for U2 by the way? Gahh none of this makes any sense... Bono is shouting way too much and can't hit high notes really well but otherwise he's fine... Ps the sound mixing is awful as they aren't miking the guy who is singing Bono's high notes at all...

7:01- Ellen is still terrible... Where is the Pizza? This selfie Joke is really bad and has gone on way too long... Where's Billy Crystal when you need him? I mean people insult him for being safe but at least he's funny... Hey it's Wallace and Veronica Mars!!! God Michael B Jordan and Kristen Bell got to host the tech show? Why couldn't they have hosted this show???

7:06- Sound awards... Gravity wins mixing! No surprise there! Got another pick... it looks like 2 picks wrong seems like a bad score so far though... Fred's Picks 6/8... Sound Editing... Also Gravity! No surprise well deserved awards though! Wow could we be exposing how terrible Alfonso Caurone is to his staff? Probably not Fred Picks 7/9

7:11- How can you tell that the show is running behind time... How fast Christoph Waltz is walking! Woops camera 1 where are you? On to supporting actress... Great clip for June Squibb.... Winner is Lupita Nyong'o! Great win! Absolutely deserved!!! She gets a deserved standing ovation! Great speech too! She's trying so hard not to cry and is so excited! Good for her! 8/10

7:20- Pizza is here!!! Finally... That Pizza company is really slow... Sorry Ellen I doubt a billion people are watching this.... Hey Marty gets pizza!!!

7:24- Not going to make too many jokes about the museum but boy are those designs ugly... Cinematography time... Or best shooter.... Gravity needs to win this for that tracking shot... Great Job Bill for giving the shout out to Harold Ramis!! Gravity wins! Fred's picks 9/11

7:29- Time for Film Editing... Another award that Gravity should win.... And it does! Fred's Picks 10/12

7:32- Whoopi Goldberg! Where's Billy Crystal? Can we please just have Billy Crystal? Wizard of Oz celebration time! At least it isn't just just a video package... The Garland kids are here! Why is Pink doing the Wizard of Oz tribute? Everything makes no sense!!

7:36- That being said I'm surprised Pink isn't terrible! This is the best musical segment they've done so far.... Not saying too much... Still confused why it's Pink and Whoopi Goldberg.... At least for the Bond tribute last year they got Shirley Bassey...

7:42- Really Ellen?... Still terrible... Oh hey there's production design! Why is it this late in the show? This should have happened with hair and makeup and Costume design.... Winner is The Great Gatsby... Deserved... at least I picked this right unlike my slip up in costume design... Fred's Picks 11/13

7:47- This show would be a lot shorter without all these stupid video packages... At this rate this show is never going to end.... Gahhh!!!

7:52- In Memoriam time hopefully they don't screw it up and turn it into a musical number like last time... Goodness we lost a lot of people this year....And yup it's a musical number again.... Why? Can't we just honor those people we lost without having an overindulgent song? And a bad song at that... Why do we have to make it about some singer? Can't we just make it about the people we lost? Anyways....

8:01- Can this just be over already? I don't remember this show being this painful last year... Maybe I don't remember things properly...

8:05- My god this show is never going to end!!!!!! More video packages!!! We still have a ton of awards to go folks and we're almost 3 hours in!!!

8:07- Ok at least here is the final song performance... This show just needs to end now

8:11- Idina Menzel is pretty fantastic! Hey remember those days where the band was actually at the theater... No? God Jamie Fox is terrible but at least he has some energy in him unlike the person typing this right now... Finally it's score and original score time... Score goes to Gravity.... Not surprised! Good win! Fred's Picks 12/14

8:15- God almost through the music stuff... Original Song goes to.... Let it Go! Again limited surprises at these Oscars... Nice rhyming speech though! Made the most out of what they got! Fred's Picks 13/15

8:22- Ok this Pizza thing is now old... Deniro!!! Finally screenplay.... Adapted Screenplay... Go Before Midnight... (it won't win)... winner is 12 Years a Slave! Yet to to be surprised by a win yet the two picks I made early were just either stupid or followed the heart... Good speech by Ridley... If before midnight weren't nominated I would cheer this more...  Fred's Picks 14/16... Now for Original Screenplay... Can Woody Alan win so that we don't have to hear a speech? Winner is Her! Deserved win! God you give Spike Jonze 42 seconds to win because you gave all those minutes to stupid video packages??!! Gahhhhh! Fred's Picks 15/17

8:28- Ps Ellen is still terrible! And this show still hasn't ended!

8:31- There is totally a problem with this teleprompter.... Could we just get this over with? Directing time folks! Winner is... Alfonso Cauron! Deservingly so he made the best looking film of the year! Great speech on Cauron's part! Get's laughs! That's a relief! Fred's Picks 16/18

8:37- God they teased the show ending!!! Please let this show end!!!

8:40- Daniel Day Lewis!!!!!! Can he make this show better please? Nope he just gets to say one line! Best actress in a leading role time! Winner is.... Cate Blanchett! Again no surprise here! Well deserved though! Great Speech! Fred's Picks 17/19

8:47- Best Actor time... Still puzzled why Bale was nominated... Winner is Matthew McConaughey! Hugs Dicaprio... Love the guy but sad that Dicaprio nor Ejiofor.... Alright alright alright great speech... No surprises from the acting category Fred's Picks 18/20

8:54- Finnnnnnallly Best Picture time!!! god it has taken so long to get here! Could Will Smith hurry the heck up?? And the ultimate winner is.... 12 Years a Slave.... Really no surprises at all! Deserved win.... I did love this film so no bitterness at all In total I went 19/21... Better than last year... But not enough to win... Someone went perfect in Outpick Fred at the Oscars this year Congratulations to Jimmy Orsag!!! You win! I'll email you (if your reading this) sometime later tonight and get the film sometime tomorrow! For now thank God this show is over!!! Hosting was terrible! Pacing was terrible! Show was predictable! Goodnight folks finally thanks for reading!

Outpick Fred at the Oscars 2014 Contest

Are your Oscar picks the best?

Here we are, it’s finally Oscar time again and that means time for the second annual Outpick Fred at the Oscars Contest. It’s your chance to see if you can beat my Oscar picks and possibly win yourself an awesome DVD and movie review of your choice. Before you get started picking here are the rules to this year’s contest:

Rules and Prize:

• Contest Opens Sunday February 23rd and closes at 11:59 Saturday March 1st

• Contest entries are all recorded on the document linked at the bottom of this page. It’s really easy to fill out! Only one entrance per person, if I find duplicates (and I’m pretty good at spotting these things) you will automatically be disqualified and your post will be deleted. I have made everything on the document required responses so it goes without saying that you must fill out a complete form to be considered a proper entry.

• Contest is open to residence of Canada and the United States only (at least for the dvd prize). In order to keep shipping cost down this is necessary; I’m pretty sure no one who lives beyond these places reads this blog anyhow but still Canada and the United States only! The form does require your Full name, email address, physical address (including Province/State and Country) and postal code, this is entirely for shipping and winner contact purposes only just so I have an idea of where to send your prize if you are the winner.

• To win the contest you must beat my picks as well as everyone else’s picks. The contest is called “Outpick Fred” at the Oscars for a reason! If no one is able to outpick me I win, it doesn’t go to the next best person. There has to be some level of competition and suspense to this competition, if not where’s the fun in that? That being said I’m not the greatest picker in the whole wide world (I did “win” last year but on a ratio that’s pretty beatable) so there is a great chance that you can pull this one off despite having to beat me.

• In terms of categories and points, we’re picking every category but short films. I don’t generally watch short films nor does it interest me to pick them (it’s my break during the live blog too) nor is it too often that people pick these categories anyhow. The picks are divided into four separate categories totaling to 40 points: Minor Categories (sound design, visual effects etc) worth one point each and totaling to 10 points, Medium categories (both screenplays, animated and foreign language films, and documentary feature) worth two points each for a total of 10 points, Major Categories (all the acting awards as well as directing) work 3 points each for a total of 15 points, and Best Picture worth 5 points. They’re about equal points wise so it’s important to have good picks in every category because even a single minor category can make a big difference.

• In the case of a tie there are three possible tiebreakers. The first tiebreaker is the Best Live action Short Film category, if two people are tied the person who correctly picks Best Live action Short wins. If both guess or do not guess the pick correctly we move to the second tiebreaker: point distribution. The person who has the most points in the more substantial categories (hierarchy of categories from lowest to highest: minor, medium major, best picture) wins. If we are still tied then the person who registered first wins (although I’m pretty sure it won’t come to this). If someone ties me there is no tiebreaker I win. This makes it so people can’t duplicate my picks exactly and expect to win.

• The winner will receive their choice of a DVD copy (we’ll see about Blu ray if it’s something the potential winner wants) of one of the four best picture nominations that are released before the night of the Oscars and a review of any film of your choice. These films are Nebraska, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, and Captain Phillips. The reason it’s only the films that are released before Oscar night is so that I can ship the prize off guaranteed a day or two after the Oscars. Release dates can change and things could get complicated if I included films that were released after the ceremonies conclude. The film that you choose for me must be rentable on Canadian ITunes other than that it can be anything, whether it’s used to torture me or a is a really cool film that you may have seen but I haven’t had a chance to see/review (I prefer the cool movie option).

Enter Here:

Outpick Fred the the Oscars 2014 Contest Form!

Here is a summary of my Oscar Picks:

Best Picture (5 Points)

Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave

Major Categories (3 Points each)

Best Actor in a Leading Role: Mathew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

Best Actress in a Leading Role: Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)

Best Actor in as Supporting Role: Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave)

Best Director: Alfonso Cauron (Gravity)

Medium Categories (2 Points each)

Best Animated Feature: Frozen

Best Documentary Feature: The Act of Killing

Best Foreign Language Feature: The Great Beauty (Italy)

Best Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave

Best Original Screenplay: Her

Minor Categories (1 Point each)

Best Cinematography: Gravity

Best Costume Design: 12 Years a Slave

Best Film Editing: Gravity

Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Dallas Buyers Club

Best Original Score: Gravity

Best Original Song: Let it Go (Frozen)

Best Production Design: The Great Gatsby

Best Sound Editing: Gravity

Best Sound Mixing: Gravity

Best Visual Effects: Gravity

  

Good Luck Everyone! Let the best set of predictions win!

The Oscars 2014: Fred’s Picks Part 2 From Medium Categories to Best Picture!

The Oscars are coming!

It’s Oscar season again everyone! Of course as with last year, my contest Outpick Fred at the Oscars is going to start up soon (ie Sunday February 23^rd 2014) and thus now is the time to present the thinking behind by Oscar picks. I’m going to start these picks from what I call the “minor categories”  before writing about the” medium and major categories” along the way giving my picks of who I think will win, as well as putting my two cents in on who should win. Without further due here are my picks for the 86^th Annual Academy Awards, going from the medium categories all the way up to best picture!

The Medium Categories:

Best Animated Feature:

Usually I go with the always vote Pixar rule, but for the first time in a while that doesn’t actually apply… In theory this would make the category harder to pick… But then Frozen became the huge success it was and now it’s an easy pick again. This one is a deserved lock for Frozen

Should Win: Frozen

Will Win (Fred’s Prediction): Frozen

Best Documentary Feature:

It’s time to play Fred doesn’t watch too many documentaries but has to pick one game. I actually have an opinion this year though as I got the chance to watch The Act of Killing recently and believe it should win this category. And you know what I’m going to foolishly go with my heart here as I think that The Act of Killing has enough buzz around it to actually pull this off. It may be foolish but hey I don’t have a calculated pick for this one so here goes nothing.

Should Win: The Act of Killing

Will Win (Fred’s Prediction): The Act of Killing

Best Foreign Language Film:
Another category I don’t have as much investment in sadly. I’m going to watch Broken Circle Breakdown in a few days (it’s now on ITunes) and I hope to have the time to see the Great Beauty before it exits the current theatre it’s showing in. So we go with hype and right now The Great Beuty is the big favorite and some even say a lock. So they Great Beauty is going to be my pick.

Should Win: ??

Will Win (Fred’s Prediction): The Great Beauty

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Cue Before Midnight should really win but it won’t rant. First off this is the only category (predictably) in which Before Midnight is nominated and sadly it has to go up against 12 Years a Slave. No “Before” movie has ever won an Oscar and sadly this doesn’t seem to be changing come next week. It is the best script in either category though and I will stand by that through and through. 12 Years a Slave is the predictable winner and the only one I can really see winning this category. But darned if I won’t be cheering for Before Midnight on Oscar night!

Should Win: Before Midnight

Will Win (Fred’s Prediction): 12 Years a Slave

Best Original Screenplay:

This is a tough category oh boy. Personally my favorite overall script in this category is Blue Jasmine’s. It’s Woody Alan’s best in a while and I think it was perhaps the chief reason I liked the film as much as I did. I think Her will be the ultimate winner though, a well deserved one too as it seems to be the film riding the biggest high in this category.

Should Win: Blue Jasmine

Will Win (Fred’s Prediction): Her

Major Categories:

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:

For the most part the acting categories this year aren’t so bad. For me the best performance in this category is probably either Fassbender, for his unpredictability or Jared Leto just for having the gull to play this character and give this specific performance. Leto is the clear favorite going in and I think the lock to ultimately win the category. I can’t really see an upset here. Ps the fact that James Gandolfini isn’t nominated is mind boggling…

Should Win: Michael Fassbender

Will Win (Fred’s Prediction): Jared Leto

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:

It looked like Lawrence was the favorite for a while but since the SAG awards it’s been a different story, and a good one at that. It seems now that Lupita Nyong’o is the clear favorite going into Oscar night which is great because she’s easily the best pick out of the nominated class. No other nominee has quite the same power and emotional beauty portrayed in Nyong’o’s performance and I’m glad to say I get to have a safe heart pick by picking her to win come Oscar night.

Should Win: Lupita Nyong’o

Will Win (Fred’s Prediction): Lupita Nyong’o

Best Actress in a Leading Role:

This one might be the biggest big award lock of the night. I can’t see anyone (even with the power of Amy Adam’s side boob) overtaking Cate Blanchett here and deservedly so, this is the best female lead performance of the year (except maybe Greta Gerwig in Frances Ha, or Julie Delpy in Before Midnight). This category puzzles me though as there is no nomination for the awesome Emma Thompson performance in Saving Mr. Banks, and Meryl Streep just seems to get nominated because she’s well, Meryl Streep. Either way this is Cate Blanchett’s award to win and it would be a huge upset if she doesn’t.

Should Win: Cate Blanchett

Will Win (Fred’s Prediction): Cate Blanchett

Best Actor in a Leading Role:

Poor Chiwetel Ejiofor and Leonardo DiCaprio whom between them have the best male performance of the year and somehow neither are going to win. Instead it’s going to go to the token Hollywood loves massive weight loss performance and McConaughey looks to take it come Oscar night. I’m not saying this is terrible, like it would be if Christian Bale took it but I’m sad that the best performance won’t be awarded the prize. Also I’m sad that Oscar Isaac and Tom Hanks aren’t nominated but that’s a topic that at this point sadly doesn’t apply.

Should Win: Chiwetel Ejiofor or Leonardo DiCaprio

Will Win (Fred’s Prediction): Matthew McConaughey

Best Director:

It’s been a more common since the extra best picture era for the best director, best picture split to occur. I predict it will happen this year as well as I don’t think that the academy can overlook Cauron’s magnificent direction in Gravity. I don’t think anything really matches up to it this year and I will be glad when I hopefully see him win for the amazing work

Should Win: Alfonso Cauron

Will Win (Fred’s Prediction): Alfonso Cauron

And now for the big one...

Best Picture:

I think that this is pretty much a lock. I can’t really see any other film winning at this year’s Oscars other than 12 Years a Slave. Mostly I see this as almost an importance or morality thing for Oscar voters. That and I don’t think any other film really has the hype in this race to push past that potential “moral obligation.” I think this is a lock. Ps it puzzles me that in this year of so many good movies that they couldn’t just pick a tenth nominee for best picture… Maybe Before Midnight??

Should Win: Cue “Why isn’t Before Midnight nominated?” cry

Will Win: 12 Years a Slave

The Oscar’s 2014: Fred’s Picks Part 1 the Minor Categories

 It's Oscar time!!

It’s Oscar season again everyone! Of course as with last year, my contest Outpick Fred at the Oscars is going to start up soon (ie Sunday February 23^rd 2014) and thus now is the time to present the thinking behind by Oscar picks. I’m going to start these picks from what I call the “minor categories”  before writing about the” medium and major categories” along the way giving my picks of who I think will win, as well as putting my two cents in on who should win. Without further due here are my picks for the 86^th Annual Academy Awards minor category edition!

Best Cinematography:
This one’s pretty easy for me in the sense that if Gravity doesn’t win it’s a pretty large tragedy. Ok that may be an overstatement, but seriously for that opening tracking shot alone could easily take the prize for me. The only other film that comes close for me is Roger Deakins’ work in Prisoners and while it’s a beautifully shot film for me it’s a distant second. As for the prediction of who will win, I’m going to put my eggs in the Gravity basket technical achievement wise and so my pick for who will win is also Gravity.

Should Win: Gravity

Will Win (Fred’s Prediction): Gravity

Best Costume Design:

I don’t think I ever get this right because of accurate prediction…. So it’s guessing time folks! I think this ultimately comes down to 12 Years a Slave or American Hustle, and ultimately I think it ends up going to 12 Years a Slave. The only thing I worry about is getting blindsided by The Great Gatsby which can come in and win this, but my policy says stay close to the best picture and that’s what I’m going to do…

Should Win: No really strong opinions but… American Hustle *Shrug*

Will Win (Fred’s Prediction): 12 Years a Slave

Best Film Editing:

Ok I have a little bit of a better educated opinion on this one… But not really a more knowledgeable pick mind you. So with the pick I’m going to use my give technical awards to Gravity theory and run. Editing wise I think again that nothing matches Gravity due to just the sheer amount of effort it takes to create this world and all the technical prowess that goes into it. Sure it’s not like they are the visual effects guys, but they matter almost as much in this case. It’s not particularly flashy editing which may be my downfall on this pick, but again I’m in on the Gravity tech awards boat and it seems so far that I’m not leaving it.

Should Win: Gravity

Will Win (Fred’s Prediction): Gravity

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:

I think that Dallas Buyers Club is a lock here. Even just for the Jared Leto makeup this film deserves it. Sure Bad Grandpa has a single trick up its sleeve but it’s not overall as great as Buyers Club. Also I don’t think that the Hobbit has momentum at this point and considering the first Hobbit film failed to win last year sets the tone for this one. Also Dallas Buyers Club is a best picture nominee giving it a bit of a better chance of winning this one.

Should Win: Dallas Buyers Club

Will Win (Fred’s Prediction):  Dallas Buyers Club

Best Original Score:

This one is usually easier for me because I’m either sure about this one or I go with the one that won to Golden Globe if I’m not sure. Problem is I have no idea and the one that won the Globe didn’t even get nominated for the Oscar, so this one is a crap shoot for me. First off the fact that Hans Zimmer isn’t nominated for his work in 12 Years a Slave at all is utterly ridiculous. Not flashy enough I guess. The sentimentalist in me says they give a career achievement award to John Williams, but he’s won a lot already. I end up falling back on Gravity again because I think it has the potential to steel all of the tech awards.

Should Win: Her

Will Win (Fred’s Prediction): Gravity

Best Original Song:

God I hope U2 doesn’t win this award. It’s not that I don’t like them or anything but literally every choice in this category is better. I’m putting my money on Frozen which should eak out the victory as I think that it’s riding too much momentum to lose this one, even if it has major competition because U2’s song is about the late great Nelson Mandela.

Should Win: “Let it go” (Frozen)

Will Win (Fred’s Prediction): “Let it go” (Frozen)

Best Production Design:

This one’s another slightly tricky one. I that Gatsby might be able to steal this one. I’m going to take a plunge and pick Gatsby because I feel like it, and I think I have to at least have to go with Gatsby for one of either production or costume design.

Should Win: *Shrug*

Will Win (Fred’s Prediction): The Great Gatsby

Sound Editing:

Gravity wins move on!

Should Win: Gravity

Will Win (Fred’s Prediction): Gravity

Sound Mixing:

Again Gravity wins move on!

Should Win: Gravity

Will Win (Fred’s Prediction): Gravity

Visual Effects:

If Gravity doesn’t win this category something is absolutely wrong! Is there anything even close to this movie in this category?

Should Win: Gravity

Will Win (Fred’s Prediction): Gravity