Tag: oscar nominees

Hey there Oscars 2017!

Hey there!

Thanks for coming back to The Popcorn Waltz! It’s that time of the year again when movie lovers go into movie watching frenzy as the award season goes into hyper drive. Blame it on the state of politics, work or travel – we didn’t really get started on the Oscars till now – which kinda put us on a clock that is racing ahead to Sunday.

So like any mature adult we decided to jump headlong into an Oscars marathon to watch and share our take on the nine Best Picture nominees (And hopefully any others we can fit in!). This year’s list of nominees is an interesting mix and we can’t wait to start our Oscars marathon just in time for the 89th Academy Awards!

Here’s the list of movies we’re looking at:

Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Loving
Jackie
Arrival
Moonlight
Lion
La La Land
Hidden Figures
Manchester by the sea
Fences

Guess we have our work cut out. Let’s watch some movies, folks! But remember ‘The Popcorn Waltz’ is a two way street, so join the conversation and tell us what you think. Thoughts, ideas, opinions and rants are all welcome 🙂

Lastly, if you like what you read, please share it with your friends, family and social circles. You can follow us on Twitter @ThePopcornWaltz for updates and more movie fun! You can also reach us through our ‘Contact Us’ page or email us at thepopcornwaltz@gmail.com.

Till next time when you refill the tub and pop in the film!

Adi & Sahil

Our Picks for the 88th Annual Academy Awards a.k.a Oscars!

The 88th Academy Awards go live in an hour and we’re finally ready to share our picks, just in the nick of time! These are not our predictions, but rather what our choices for each of the categories. So queue the drumroll and read on:

Best Picture: Spotlight

Spotlight 01

In a category this contested, this one resonates with us and our idea of movies as a means to tell stories. As Mike says, ‘There’s a story here and I think it’s an important story.’ And a story told spectacularly well.

Best Director: All’s not fine in idyll on this one! We couldn’t agree on one, so here are the two picks:

Adi’s Pick: George Miller for Mad Max: Fury Road

Mad Max 05

An out an out action film overcomes Oscar snobbery to get it’s due. What a day, what a lovely day! 

Sahil’s Pick: Tom McCarthy for Spotlight

S_07041.CR2

It’s a story crafter with perfection and that couldn’t have been without Tom McCarthy. The spotlight’s on you!

Best Actor in a Leading Role: Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant

TheRevenant

Leo’s revenge against the Oscars. No ifs, no buts, all the crawls and the grunts, add up to an Oscar!

Best Actress in a Leading Role: Here again we’ve different picks!

Adi’s Pick: Brie Larson for Room

Room

This one is Cate Blanchett’s to lose. The super depressing nature of Larson’s Room, just makes it an unforgettable film to watch and a role that required a lot from her. Rooms can get claustrophobic.

Sahil’s Pick: Cate Blanchett for Carol

Cate Blanchett as Carol is mesmerizing. That is the performance of the year, and you can’t take your eyes off her!

Best Supporting Actor: Mark Ruffalo for Spotlight

Spotlight 04

This category is far more contested than Best Actor in a Leading Role and that is something to say about the awesomeness of each of the nominees. What a year of sterling characters, portrayed to perfection. Mark Ruffalo as Mike Rezendez is a powerhouse in Spotlight. And he is our pick!

Best Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander for The Danish Girl

Well she should have ideally been in the leading category, but Oscar voters went cuckoo over this one. Sorry Kate Winslet and Rooney Mara, but this goes to our Danish girl with top notch A.I. 😉

Best Original Screenplay: Spotlight

spotlight-2015-directed-by-tom-mccarthy-movie-review

Spotlight is storytelling at it’s very best. This one was very tricky and the right narrative was critical to tell the story. And it’s story worth telling.

Best Adapted Screenplay: The Big Short

The Big Short 04

From a pile of numbers to a story on Silver Screen! We’d give this to Charles Randolph for trying to make this simple for the average man.

Best Cinematographer: The Revenant

For making bleak look beautiful, The Revenant is an easy pick for this category. If anyone could make this happen, it was Emmanuel Lubezki and well we gotta cheer for him – he is on a hat-trick!

Now let’s see who actually wins Oscar gold!

Keep the popcorn tub handy!
Adi & Sahil
@ThePopcornWaltz