The Guys From Oscar Picks Recap and Reaction 2016

We did this before with our NFL picks, and Dave and I thought that, in the interest of being open and fair, here is how terrible (I mean amazing) our picks were, which put together on the {PODCAST}.

Overall, the Oscars were very good; I mean there is very little that changes from Oscars to Oscars...but this was one of the better productions. The new award order was excellent, the use if a "thank you ticker" at the bottom of the screen to take pressure off speeches was brilliant (and you could tell it was effective), and the set is perhaps on of my favorites--simply, elegant, and full of awesome projections, yet not gaudy. Somehow it felt like a more relaxed Oscars...partly because of the excellent hosting by Chris Rock.

I have always been a big fan of Chris Rock (I own a pile of his albums), and he was as funny as I expected; I mean, it's still on network television, so it's not going to be Chris Rock-Chris Rock, but his opening monologue, his directness with addressing the #oscarssowhite controversy was exactly what this ceremony needed (other than to nominate Idris Elba...). The Girl Guide cookie sales were amazing, his remote segment at the theatre in Compton was great (and he did it before, the last time he hosted as well), and...yeah. 

Overall: great ceremony, despite a couple hiccups.

But in the end, you're here for this: 

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Best Narrative Short:

DAVE: Stutterer

SHAUN: Ave Maria

And the Winner is: Stutterer

Dave was as surprised as I was here, but as we mentioned in our Oscars {PODCAST}, these shorts are so hard to guess...unless you're Dave this year... 

Dave- 1/1

Shaun- 0/1

Best Animated Short:

DAVE: Bear Story

SHAUN: Sanjay's Super Team

And the Winner is: Bear Story

This one didn't shock me as much as Narrative Short did, especially after seeing the beautiful bear animations; coincidentally I was very happy that Bear Story is now the first ever Oscar win for Chile. Which is absolutely awesome. 

Dave- 2/2

Shaun- 0/2

Best Documentary Short:

DAVE: A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness

SHAUN: BodyTeam 12

And the Winner is: A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness 

Dave nailed the short film categories this year, and having now seen what the film is about, and hearing film may actually help get laws changed in Pakistan, I have to say I'm happy it won...even if my Oscar Prediction totals sucked, but such is the nature of the short film categories at the Academy Awards.

Dave- 3/3

Shaun- 0/3

Best Foreign Language Film:

DAVE: Embrace of the Serpent

SHAUN: Son of Saul

And the Winner is: Son of Saul

Anyone who read my earlier articles about awards season should not have been surprised here, as I had basically pegged Saul to win this award from the get go, and am happy to see this first Oscar go to a film from Hungary. It looks like an absolutely beautiful (and obviously, as it's a Holocaust film, sad and tragic) film.

Dave- 3/4

Shaun- 1/4 (on the board!) 

Best Documentary:

DAVE: Amy

SHAUN: Amy

And the Winner is: Amy

This felt like one of the few locks at this years' Oscars, as this devastatingly honest and beautifully made documentary on one of the most talented (and troubled) musical artists of our generation was one of those 'near perfect' documentaries, and 100% deserved this Award.  

Dave- 4/5

Shaun- 2/5

Best Animated Film:

DAVE: Inside Out

SHAUN: Inside Out

And the Winner is: Inside Out

Disney-Pixar won the Disney-Pixar award. In fact, they used Pixar characters to give Pixar the award. Essentially as soon as you saw Woody and Buzz Lightyear (celebrating the anniversary of Toy Story, I guess), you should have known. I hope against hope this category becomes competitive soon...

Dave- 5/6

Shaun- 3/6

Best Visual Effects:

DAVE: Mad Max: Fury Road

SHAUN: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

And the Winner is: Ex Machina

A surprise! But it was a deserved and wonderful surprise, as I really did not think that Ex Machina had a chance, and now that stunning little British film can call itselfan Oscar winner. If we are being honest, what they did (especially with Ava/Alicia Vikander) was stunning, and believable, so no complaints here. 

Dave- 5/7

Shaun- 3/7

Best Sound Mixing:

DAVE: The Martian

SHAUN: Mad Max: Fury Road

And the Winner is: Mad Max: Fury Road

The clip montages they did this year for the sound categories were spectacular, and I must say that when you really listen to MMFR, the idea of them not winning sound awards is silly (everything had to have more layers than any other film this year).   

Dave- 5/8

Shaun- 4/8

Best Sound Editing: 

DAVE: The Martian

SHAUN: Mad Max: Fury Road

And the Winner is: Mad Max: Fury Road

Everything I said above. Again.  

Dave- 5/9

Shaun- 5/9

Best Song:

DAVE: "Simple Song #3" - Youth

SHAUN: "Til It Happens To You" - The Hunting Ground

And the Winner is: "Writing's on the Wall"- Spectre

No.  All sorts of no. This is a dull, and uninspired Bond song that, in my opinion, had no business beating 'Til It Happens To You'. None. Just...ugh, what an awful Bond theme. 

And no, Sam Smith is not the first openly gay Oscar winner, as Sir John Gielgud, Dustin Lance Black, Pedro Almdóvar, and Elton John all have Academy Awards...but his dedication of the award to the LGBT community was sweet, and nice to see. 

Dave- 5/10

Shaun- 5/10

Best Score:

DAVE: Bridge of Spies

SHAUN: The Hateful Eight

And the Winner is: The Hateful Eight

ABOUT DAMN TIME ACADEMY. ENNIO!!!! 

If you don't know what I mean, look up Ennio Morricone's filmography.  I'll wait. 

Yeah.  

Exactly.  

 Dave- 5/11

Shaun- 6/11

Best Production Design:

DAVE: Mad Max: Fury Road

SHAUN: Mad Max: Fury Road

And the Winner is: Mad Max: Fury Road

How could this not win? Seriously. The Production Design of MMFR was more of the movie than Max was...every time I see clips of this film, I love it more. I will nit be surprised if the next time I do a Top 10 Movies of All Time, it cracks my list.

Dave- 6/12

Shaun- 7/12

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Best Makeup & Hairstyling:

DAVE: Mad Max: Fury Road

SHAUN: Mad Max: Fury Road

And the Winner is: Mad Max: Fury Road

Was there a doubt? My goodness... 

Dave- 7/13

Shaun- 8/13

Best Film Editing:

DAVE: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

SHAUN: Mad Max: Fury Road

And the Winner is: Mad Max: Fury Road

Sequentially shot massive action sequences with tons on moving pieces, cars, and endlessly fluid scenes with piles going on and you -never get lost-. Brilliant.  

Dave- 8/14

Shaun- 9/14

Best Costume Design:

DAVE: Cinderella

SHAUN: Cinderella

And the Winner is: Mad Max: Fury Road

That vote splitting worry I had on the {PODCAST} about Sandy Powell splitting her votes between two films and the technically stunning MMFR coming up the middle and winning it happened. And yet somehow I wasn't disappointed at all...

Dave- 8/15

Shaun- 9/15

Best Cinematography:

DAVE: Mad Max: Fury Road

SHAUN: The Revenant

And the Winner is: The Revenant

Not shocked, not surprised at all--the entirely naturally lit, sweeping and gorgeously shot Revenant was no surprise, giving Lubezki his third straight Oscar. Can we please start talking about him being one of (maybe the?) the best cinematographers of all time? Genius. 

Dave- 8/16

Shaun- 10/16

Best Adapted Screenplay:

DAVE: Brooklyn

SHAUN: The Big Short

And the Winner is: The Big Short

Taking a non-narrative (really) book about the financial crisis of 2008 and turning it into a dramedy, that was both easy to understand and surprisingly funny? Yeah. Deserving for sure, and in a weaker year, could've seen more awards, easily.  

Dave- 8/17

Shaun- 11/17

Best Original Screenplay:

DAVE: Straight Outta Compton

SHAUN: Spotlight

And the Winner is: Spotlight

I thought this was going to be Spotlight's award for the year, as it seemed to have lost momentum, but was a brilliant, old school newspaper film that deserved recognition...

Dave- 8/18

Shaun- 12/18

Best Supporting Actor:

DAVE: Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)

SHAUN: Sylvester Stallone (Creed)

And the Winner is: Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)

Always felt like a 2-horse race, and I bet the wrong way, feeling the legacy award more than the brilliance of Rylance in Bridge of Spies, so I would be lying if isaid I was surprised, or even disappointed...his performance was the soul of that movie, and really ratcheted up how good it was.  

Dave- 8/19

Shaun- 12/19

Best Supporting Actress:

DAVE: Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

SHAUN: Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

And the Winner is: Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

Well yeah. She was excellent, but as I said before, and will say again, I like to think thus award is also for playing Ava in Ex Machina this year, because both roles were diverse and brilliant,y subtle.  

Dave- 9/20

Shaun- 13/20

Best Actor:

DAVE: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

SHAUN: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

And the Winner is: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant) 

Another lock. So, yay? 

Dave- 10/21

Shaun- 14/21

Best Actress:

DAVE: Saorise Ronan (Brooklyn)

SHAUN: Brie Larson (Room)

And the Winner is: Brie Larson (Room)

I cannot say this was a shock either, although I did think Dave's pick was an excellent one as they were the two front runners all awards season, but momentum seemed to be on Larson's side, and that feeling turned out to be true. Can't wait to see Room.  

Dave- 10/22

Shaun- 15/22

Best Director:

DAVE: Adam McKay (The Big Short)

SHAUN: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (The Revenant)

And the Winner is: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (The Revenant)

The DGA winner generally takes this award, and that proved true again, with AGI taking his second straight Best Director award. Now while I do still disagree with last year (Boyhood?!), this was quite the achievement, and I do not dispute how talented the man really, really is.  

Dave- 10/23

Shaun- 16/23

Best Picture:

DAVE: The Revenant

SHAUN: The Revenant

And the Winner is: Spotlight

WOW!

WHOA! This was the shock of the night for me (my jaw literally dropped when Morgan Freeman said it); this is an excellent Best Picture winner, that did not really deserve any other awards, but as a whole is the definition of a Best Picture film--when you see it (and you should if you haven't) you will be treated to an Expertly crafted, old school style newspaper drama where you get to revel in the process of discovery in a massively important subject, done by a stunningly good ensemble cast. 

Well done Academy. No one should have an argument with you here...and if they do, send 'em my way, my twitter is below.

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So there you have it...whether you decide to trust us next year or not, is up to you, but I have to say that I put a pretty good showing in again this year, hitting my same total as last year (yeah, I'm a little lower than I like, but what can you do), and hopefully by releasing our picks a bit early, I was able to help you with your office pool a bit.

And Dave is there too, hitting double digits for he first time ever!!!

Whee! 

-S (@Shauncord)

PS: Now, can we finally get the 25th Oscar added to next years ceremony for Stunt workers? Please? They very much deserve to have a category for their tireless work...

PPS: I know that we also did picks for the Grammys (sorta), and that we never covered how we did on those: that is because doing so would require one of us to watch said Grammys...and that is not happening.