Oscar Predictions!!

I know I've been way for a long time. Since I got off Facebook, I haven't had a lot of motivation to post. But the greatness of the Oscars has motivated me out of hiding. 

Daniel’s Official Oscar Predictions, 1/31/2016

All predictions subject to change up until 2/27/2016.

Explanatory thoughts provided where pertinent. 

Best Picture

Who will win: Spotlight

Who should win: Spotlight

This is a close race with Spotlight, Big Short, Mad Max and The Revenant all taking various top prizes from various award shows. But I’ve seen all four of those movies, and Spotlight is the best by quite a wide margin.

Best Actor

Who will win: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant 

Who should win: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant 

After the SAG win Saturday night, this is almost a lock. I would bet money on this category (but no one would pay any odds because it’s almost a lock).

Best Actress

Who will win: Brie Larson, Room 

Who should win: Brie Larson, Room

Like Best Actor, this is all but a guarantee.

Best Supporting Actor

Who will win: Christian Bale, The Big Short 

Who should win: Tom Hardy, The Revenant

This is a tough one to call with several worthy candidates. I make this pick under the logic that since Big Short didn’t win top prize, The Academy will still want to bestow upon it deserved accolades. I suspect Revenant is in for a disappointing night. A lot of people think Stalone for Creed, but I’m skeptical.

Best Supporting Actress

Who will win: Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl 

Who should win: Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl 

Best Animated Feature

Who will win: Inside Out 

Who should win: Inside Out

Mixed reviews (and very limited release) for Anomalisa make this easy to call. The best screenplay nomination makes it as close to a sure thing as I can remember.

Best Supporting Actress

Who will win: Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl 

Who should win: Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl 

Best Cinematography

Who will win: Emmanuel Lubezki, The Revenant  

Who should win: I don’t know.

Another tough call (this one even harder). Lubezki has won the past two years for Gravity and Birdman.

Best Costume Design

Who will win: The Danish Girl 

Who should win: (Probably) The Danish Girl 

I haven’t seen it yet, but this always goes to either a period drama or a Wes Anderson movie.

Best Director

Who will win: Tom McCarthy, Spotlight 

Who should win: George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road

This award is nearly always given in conjuncture with Best Picture. However, what Miller did is nothing short of miraculous directing. This will be really close.

Best Documentary

Who will win: Amy 

Best Documentary Short

Who will win: Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah

As someone who unabashedly knows NOTHING about documentary shorts, I’m deferring to the one Internet prediction I could find. (For the record, I did pick this correctly last year; I’m not really sure how I did).

Best Editing

Who will win: Spotlight

Who should win: Mad Max: Fury Road

The Internet is largely leaning The Big Short on this one, but that was before Saturday when Spotlight seized control of the top. This is tough call. Any nominee except for The Force Awakens wouldn’t surprise me at all.

Best Foreign Film

Who will win: Son of Saul

Best Makeup

Who will win: Mad Max: Fury Road

Who should win: Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Score

Who will win: Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight

Who should win: Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight

In my mind, this isn’t even a contest. Morricone by a landslide.

Best Song

Who will win: Till it Happens to You, The Hunting Ground

Unlike last year when I knew all the songs, this year I know none of them. This is a majority opinion online.

Best Production Design

Who will win: Eve Stewart, The Danish Girl

She’s been nominated three times before without a win. For this category, that’s really odd. She was nominated for Kings Speech (which obviously should have won), so she appears to be due.

Best Short Film (Animated)

Who will win: Sanjay’s Super Team

Who should win: I don’t know, but I really liked World of Tomorrow

 

Best Short Film (Live)

Who will win: Shok

Best Sound Editing

Who will win: Mad Max: Fury Road

Who should win: Mad Max: Fury Road

This is so hard to call! Revenant is also very deserving. Or the Martian could come out of nowhere and win.

Best Sound Mixing

Who will win: Mad Max: Fury Road

Who should win: Mad Max: Fury Road

This award almost always goes in tandem with Sound Editing. If Revenant wins above, it will win here too.

Best Visual Effects

Who will win: Mad Max: Fury Road

Who should win: Mad Max: Fury Road

I really want Ex Machina to win (assuming Mad Max has won a sufficient number of awards), but it’s not going to happen.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Who will win: The Big Short

Who should win: The Big Short

This might sound crazy, but all the while I watch the Big Short I thought, “This is best adapted screenplay ever.” If it doesn’t win, I will not be happy.

Best Original Screenplay

Who will win: Spotlight

Who should win: Spotlight

I would really love to give this award to Spotlight, Ex Machina and Inside Out, but I can’t do that. Spotlight is the clear best, but it’s HUGE for an animated movie and small-time April release sci-fi flick to get this nomination.

Some final notes:

A lot has been made about the lack of racial diversity in the acting categories, and frankly, it’s crap. Last year they had a strong case with the snubbing of David Oyelowo and Ava Duverney (both from Selma) but this year, they have very little. I will concede that Ildris Elba probably should have been nominated for Supporting Actor BUT (and everyone losing their head forget this), that would mean the Academy acknowledging the legitimacy of Netflix, and they aren’t ready to do that yet.  Despite the lack of racial diversity, the nominations are pretty diverse. Small and big movies alike are in real contention this year. Ex Machina, a tiny April release sci-fi, is given consideration; an animated movie got a screen play nom! (I’m not sure anyone gets how huge that is). A summer blockbuster (Mad Max) is nominated all along the board. It’s a very diverse year, just not racially.

The combination of Spotlight and The Big Short drive home a sobering reality: systemic unethical behavior hurts everyone. Though dealing with different issues, different formats and different angles, these movies make it clear that when the system is corrupt, everyone gets screwed. That made both movies tough to watch, but also extremely necessary to American film. Movies like these remind me why I love movies, especially Oscar movies.

Though not worth a heck of a lot, my favorite movies of 2015 were (in order): Mad Max, Inside Out, Spotlight, The Big Short and the Martian. Hateful Eight deserves an honorable mention; The Revenant was slightly disappointing.

Win or lose Adam McKay had a monster year. In 2015 he veered from his Will Ferrell comedy genre to take on Ant-Man (such a great movie) and The Big Short. Props to you, McKay.

 

  

Fall Movie Preview!

Words cannot express how ridiculous this Fall's crop of movies is going to be. Whether you want horror, sci-fi, comedy or drama, this fall has it. I predict, even a few months out, the closest Oscars race in many years. So now without further ado, my Fall movie Preview. Unlike my TV preview, these aren't ranked by how much I want to see them but rather listed by release date (because I can't possible rank how much I want to see these movies).

October 16th
Beasts of No Nation: This movie is directed by the mind that brought us the True Detective drug raid scene (youtube it). It stars Ildris Elba and should be gritty, dark and super good. Bonus! It's premiering on Netflix so you don't have to spend money on this one!

Crimson Peak: I don't necessarily go for these kind of movies, but everything about this has me intrigued. The cast (Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain) is top-notch for horror-fantasy movies and the director, Guillermo Del Torro, knows a thing or two about these kind of movies.

Bridge of Spies: I would have almost no interest in this movie EXCEPT that it stars Tom Hanks directed by Steven Spielberg. The fact that it's a WWII story (Spielberg's best period) is icing on the cake. NOTE: All three of these movies come out the same day, but then there isn't much for a while, so you can space them out.

Suffragette, Oct. 23: I'm not really excited for this movie so much as I think it will be really good and helpful for people to see. I expect a really good drama, but I doubt it to make many Oscar waves (except Meryl Streep for Best Supporting Actress seems like a good possibility).

Spectre, Nov. 6: I only recently watched the recent James Bond story arc, and boy was I missing out. Skyfall was excellent by any movie standard you wish to apply descending the "spy" genre with its greatness. All signs point to Spectre delivering just as much. Plus Christophe Waltz as the main villain.

Legend, Nov. 20: Tom Hardy plays twin brother gangsters in 1960s London. I love crime thrillers and Tom Hardy so I'm on board.

November 25th

The Good Dinosaur: My excitement for this movie crashed dramatically when I learned that Bob Peterson was no longer the director. Still, it's Pixar so it should be good, but don't expect it to come anywhere near Inside Out.

The Night Before: I like Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogan and I really like 50/50 which had both of them and the same director as this movie. That's enough for me to think this might be a surprisingly good comedy (or at least surprising to the rest of the world).

The Danish Girl, Nov. 27: This movie tells the story of a transgender artist long before that was close to being an acceptable thing. The cast is strong including Oscar Winner Eddie Redmayne (many people's pick to repeat this year) and director Tom Hooper (of King's Speech and Les Mis fame). In my mind this movie is probably one of four really big Oscar contenders.

 December 18th

Sisters: I think there's about a 100 percent chance that this movie will be really funny...and not be talked about at all when it comes out. It stars Amy Poehler and Tine Fey who are very funny people. See it sometime in the week after it opens because...

Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens: It finally arrives! I'm no where near as excited for this movie as about 100 million Americans, but I am excited all the same. I'm especially curious to see Adam Driver take on a big villain role and wonder if the story might center on him. One can only hope.

December 25th

The Hateful 8: I'm WAY more excited for this movie than for Christmas. Everything I've seen makes it look like Django Unchained level of great, and that's pretty stinking great. Tarrantino might have a long-shot at Best Director with this one.

Joy: I'm also really excited for this movie, reuniting Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and director David O'Russell. That group made two really awesome movies (Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle). I don't really even care what it's about, I think it should be great.

The Revenant, January: Last but not least (like really REALLY not least) The Revenant. Leonardo DiCaprio. Tom Hardy. The director of Birdman. Do I need to go on? If you insist. It's also a frontier story of survival. I predict major Oscar wins for this one including an Oscar (finally) for Leo. The only caveat to that being the performance of Eddie Redmayne. At this point The Revenant is my pic for Best Director, Best Picture, Best Actor, as well as some editing categories. I don't care when it comes out in January, I'll be there.

I hope this gets you as excited about watching movies this fall as it does me! I'm super excited for all these movies and the stories they'll generate. Rest up for October 16th!

Fall TV Preview!

I've been trying to write this post for weeks, but I've just been so busy. This last week many, many shows had their fall premieres, so I figured if I didn't get this preview out quickly there would be no reason to do it at all. And that wasn't an option. There is so much potentially great TV coming out this fall that I had to limit the list to 15. The shows are ranked by how much I want to watch that show. With some shows I've seen one or two episodes already, and that will factor into the rankings, though, so far, the shows I've seen have been good, so it won't factor in too much. Now without further ado my ultimate Fall TV Preview (including new and returning shows)!

TV Shows

15. Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris. The only reason I have any interest in this in NPH. The reviews so far have been mixed. I haven't seen it yet.

14. Into the Badlands. I don't know much about this show, but I think AMC is due for a hit. This miniseries probably wont be that, but it might get them back on the right track.

13. Better Call Saul. I rank this so lowly because I don't expect it to come out till early 2016 (and if I include early 2016 titles then I have to put Westworld top of this list). So since it's kind of cheating to have it here at all, I rank it lowly.

12. Blind Spot. Like AMC, NBC is due for a hit. I wonder if this twisty thriller will be it (I'm skeptical and probably wont get around to watching this one for a while).

11. Late Night with Stephen Colbert. I watched the episode with Donald Trump and Stephen seems to still be in top form. I'll be interested to see if he can establish a youtube identity like Fallon. Time will tell, but I'm glad he's back on TV.

10. A.K.A. Jessica Jones. My excitement for this is based on three factors: Netflix, Kristen Ritter and David Tennant. I love all these people/things and am excited to see what this show will be. I really like that virtually no one knows anything about it to this point, so we will see. I'm excited to see how this will do launching full-on into the female superhero canon of TV.

9. Supergirl. And that leads us to the other show that I think will do good things for Superhero TV. When I watched Whiplash a few months ago I said, "That Melissa Benoist girl is going places." And here she is in a staring superhero vehicle. CBS makes good TV. This whole show is a really interesting experiment in the future of superhero TV. Let's hope it goes well.

8. Doctor Who. All the trailers and the first episode have this poised to be one of the best seasons yet. I'm excited to see it all come together, though the apparent rise of 2-part episodes has me worried.

7. American Horror Story: Hotel. I was pretty turned off to the AHS brand after the very lack luster final episodes of last season. BUT I think the introduction of Lady Gaga and the setting of a hotel will provide a much needed surge. The fifth season is a make-or-break season in TV shows (more on that some other time); AHS needs to come on strong this year.

6. Sherlock. I've heard so little talk of Sherlock's return that it's easy to almost forget that it's happening. BUT IT'S HAPPENING SO GET EXCITED!!

5. Scream Queens. Mixed review have done little to assuage my excitement for this show. I'm excited to see how the AHS team do at tampering done the horror factor a little for broadcast TV. The cast is beyond outstanding, so I predict good things.

4. The Muppets. I watched the pilot and was actually surprised at how well they captured the essential-ness of the Muppets while also pointing them in new directions. I'm excited to see how this show progresses this season.

3. Master of None. Aziz Ansari is making his own show on Netflix. That's really all you need to know. I love Aziz and I love Netflix. I'm hoping this show is like Louie except that it's actually funny.

2. South Park. Two weeks ago I probably would have ranked this 4th or 5th but that was before two nearly perfect episodes to start the season brilliantly skewering the PC culture of the summer, Tom Brady and the current election landscape. Also I love how they're following in last season's stead tying the season together with themes and jokes. It's better than ever (except the revered season 7).

1. Fargo. I STILL know almost nothing about this season even after watching all the cryptic trailers and such. My excitement is almost unmeasurable for this new season. It's been something of a down year for anthology shows, but that's about to change.

That's it for TV. Tune in next time for my movie preview!

Emmy Predictions

I have a really substantial Fall movie and TV show preview I'm working on, but today it occurred to me that the Emmys are this weekend, so this post takes precedent. I write this post as a simple prediction of ALL the Emmy winners, regardless of whether I have any clue what I'm talking about or not. I can only hope to do any where near as well as I did at the Oscars getting about 20 out of 25 correct (and I totally out-thought a couple of them too). Whether you think that's impressive or not, I assure you, I could have made a lot of money betting on the Oscars if I'd done that well. But this is about the Emmys, so here we go. (These are in the order I find them on the Emmys website).

Best Actor in a Miniseries: David Oyelowo. My reasoning here is simple: he didn't win the Oscar. I have no clue about any of these movies and shows so my guess is as good as yours.

Best Actress in Miniseries: Emma Thompson. I'm going away from the AHS norm on this category, because the nominations went away from the AHS norm. It'd be cool to see Sweeney Todd win.

Best Actor in a Comedy: Jeffery Tambor. The popular pick is Louie C.K, but from what I've heard, he's lost some steam. Tambor did really well earlier this year and I think his hot-button transgender performance will get him the win.

Best Actor in a Drama: Jon Hamm. I want very badly for Jeff Daniels to win this one, but I suspect they'll give it to Hamm as the Mad Men hold over. If I picked the award, I'd probably go Kyle Chandler. Seriously, this category is tight.

Best Actress in a Comedy: Amy Poehler. Tough call between new comers (Amy Shumer) and holdovers, but since I picked Hamm, I might as well pick his similar-situation female counterpart.

Best Actress in a Drama:Robin Wright. I don't know, but she's won before.

Best Production Design: The Oscars. Who really even understands this category? I mean, really.

Best Children's Program: Girl Meets World.

Choreography: I'm not stooping so low as to pick one dance episode over another. I have standards.

Best Cinematography in Miniseries: Houdini

Best Comedy: Silicon Valley. This is a long shot, but I think the reign of Veep has to end sometime. I want it to be Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, but I doubt it.

Best Writing for Comedy: Veep. It only seems normal that they would win something.

Best Writing for Variety: Last Week Tonight by John Oliver. What? Did I just pick NOT John Stewart? Yes, I did, because John Oliver has hit another level of relevance as of late (and seriously it is just the best show).

Best Commercial: I don't care.

Best Directing for Comedy: Silicon Valley.

Best Directing for Variety: Colbert Finale (or I assume it was the finale).

Best Directing for Drama: Game of Thrones (one of them, probably Mother's Mercy). I still can't believe Hardhome wasn't nominated.

Best Directing for Miniseries: AHS.

Best Directing for Variety Special: SNL 40th.

Best Documentary: The Jinx

Best Drama: Better Call Saul. I just don't believe in House of Cards. I'm sorry, but I don't. I think the recognition of Odenkirk as Best Actor nomination gives them a real shot at this upset. Lets not forget how beloved Breaking Bad was (even last year against True Detective).

Best Technical Direction: Letterman. How am I supposed to know? No one predicts these categories.

Best TV Movie: Nightingale.

Best Composition for Miniseries: AHS.  But what an eclectic group of nominees.

Best Composition for Drama: House of Cards.

Best Original Music and Lyrics: The Oscars.

Best Variety Special: SNL 40th.

Best Supporting Actor in Comedy: Tituss Burgess. This should be a landslide, but who knows.

Best Supporting Actor in Drama: Jonathan Banks. Ben or Peter would also be good picks.

Best Supporting Actress in Comedy: Allison Janney. I think she won last year so...yeah.

Best Supporting Actress in Drama: Uzo Aduba.

Best Sound Editing: Game of Thrones: Hardhome. Seriously, this had BETTER win. Also there are a LOT of Emmys.

Best Writing for Drama: Mad Men: Person to Person. It was the finale.

Best Writing for Variety Special: SNL 40th. I don't like Louie, so I pick him.

Best Documentary: Citizenfour

Best Sound Mixing for Non fiction: Going Clear.

Animation Achievement: Over the Garden Wall.

Best Casting for Miniseries: AHS.

Best Costumes for Special: I didn't know that was a thing.

Sound Editing: Houdini.

Title Design: AHS. Also, I'm glad that award exists.

Hairstyling: AHS.

Main Title Music: Penny Dreadful. Surprised GoT isn't there.

Music Direction: Oscars.

Documentary: Going Clear.

Cinematography for Doc.: The Jinx. (They'll win the other ones too, I guess.)

Best Special Effects: Game of Thrones.

Best Animated Program: Over the Garden Wall

Best Casting for Comedy: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Best Casting for Drama: Orange is New Black

Okay. I'm saying enough is enough. That's almost 50 predictions, so way more than you'll find from anyone else on the internet. That's all I've got. Have fun watching the Emmys!!

Why I Love Movies

Many times in my life I have been asked a terrifying question: "What is your favorite movie?" For years I have caved under the pressure of summarizing a broad love into a single 2 hour film, so I usually skirt around the question. That it until last week when I read a blog by Jon Negroni. For those of you who don't know, Jon Negroni is the genius behind the expansive-now-made-into-a-book Pixar Theory that all the Pixar movies are connected in the same universe. He is a great thinker with great opinions on movies. On this blog when asked his favorite movie, Jon flipped the question to articulate five movies that show why he loves movies. 

This got me thinking so now I've done the same thing with this post. It is good to keep in mind that this post is NOT a ranking of my favorite movies but rather an articulation of why I love movies. Some of my favorite movies didn't make the list, but most did. I really love this exercise because it reframes the standard query from a "what" question to a "why" question, which yields a deeper, more thoughtful response. So here are five movies and five shows that show why I love movies. The ranking articulates the importance I place on what they bring to the table, not necessarily how I would rank them in terms of personal favorites.

Five Movies to Show Why I love Movies

5. Oceans 11 (2001)- This movie has always had a soft spot in my heart but it makes this list because it blends genres better than any other movie I can think of. Oceans 11 is part comedy/part action/part heist movie, yet the blending of this genres just works perfectly. Brad Pitt and George Clooney epitomize how two really good lead actors can enhance the performance of all the other cast members. 

4. When Harry Met Sally- I will go on record that When Harry Met Sally is one of my favorite comedy movies (romantic or otherwise), but that alone does not place it on this elite list. It makes the list because in my estimation, WHMS captures the perfect formula of what a comedy should be: a few actors in the prime of their careers with a competent supporting cast, a pretty good script and a REALLY good story. What sets this movie apart from others is the questions it asks. It presents the very real, difficult question "can men and women really be 'just friends'" and by asking this, strips down the finery of the movie to it's most base components. Good movies ask really good questions, and this one still has me baffled. 

 

3. Up- In my opinion, Up is the greatest achievement in animation. It was nominated for Best Picture for a reason (in a really solid year, I should add). Up makes this list because it clearly shows animated "kids" movies transcending the typical conventions. It's sad, intense, genuinely frightening and conveys deep meanings probably lost on its youngest viewers. No one worth their salt can classify Up as "just a kids movie" and for that reason it raises animation to new heights without sacrificing characters or story. 

2. Psycho- Psycho makes this list because it shows how cinematography, lighting, music and direction make a movie into a masterpiece. The story of Psycho isn't all that creative or compelling, but the cinematography is, I believe, second to none. Hitchcock's choice of shooting it in black and white even though color was common in 1960 captures why he was the genius that he was. Color would kill this movie and he knew it. Everything about this movie defies genre conventions, as well as those pioneered by Hitchcock himself. It's truly a masterpiece like no other.

1. Inception- Inception is my go-to answer for favorite movie for the simple reason that I've seen it some dozen times. Inception tops this list because it shows the number one reason I love movies: they are puzzles. It doesn't matter what the genre, all of the movies on this list (and my other favs that I didn't mention) are puzzles in some way. Because when movies have a puzzle element to them, they are just way more fun to watch and rewatch so you can catch another little touch of the director or track another fan theory. Inception brings together many of my favorite actors, my favorite director and a complicated story with so many levels and layers that you absolutely have to watch it many times. Ultimately that is what I love about movies: top-notch professionals creating a story yarn that I have no choice but to unravel and comprehend. 

I hope this has inspired you to think about you favorite movies differently and taught you a bit more about me. Next time I'll do the same thing with TV shows, which is an even harder task!

The Moment in the LEGO Movie that Changed Everything

If you haven't seen the LEGO Movie, stop reading this post and see it as quickly as humanly possible. It is one of the finest pieces of animation to grace human eyes and can genuinely rank among such titles as Shrek, Emperor's New Groove and many Pixar movies. So go watch it, get that little Lonely Island song stuck in your head and come back to read the blog.

I could easily rant about WHY the LEGO Movie was the ridiculous gem that it was (hint: it's the same formula as all good comedy movies), but that's not the focus of today's post. Today's post concerns a moment that happens 2:23 into the movie. At this point we've seen the opening scene of the movie. As a refresher, this scene depicts Vitruvius in some cave. He briefly interacts with some guards, then Lord Business enters the scene. He instantly steals the scene (like Will Ferrell often does) and eliminates any shreds of doubt that this movie won't be amazing. He and Vitruvius have a short scuffle that leaves Vitruvius blinded and the mysterious weapon, the Kragle, in the hands of Lord Business. Vitruvius then utters a prophecy about a special "lass or fellow" with "face of yellow" that will come along and "make the piece of resistance found" (Even writing that sentence, I cringe at the grammar). He concludes his prophecy saying, "All this is true because it rhymes". Lord Business, not being one for poorly formed unmetered poetry, kicks Vitruvius down into some lava or something and leaves.

Okay. That's the opening scene that takes the first 2:21 of the movie, but then there is a single second shot that changes everything. The scene changes and a blank yellow background reads "8 1/2 Years Later".

On the surface this moment may seem trivial, and it's certainly easy to miss, but I think it's implications for the rest of the LEGO Movie are profound. Lengthy passages of time in movies are interesting, but they're especially interesting when kids are involved. Toward the end of the movie, we come to find out that a boy named Finn is the son of the dad played by Will Ferrell. The movie does a brilliant job layering the story lines outside the LEGO world with those within, so it's clear that Dad/Lord Business is the villain in both, intent on freezing the LEGO world with Krazy Glue. Finn/Emmet is the hero set on stopping the Krazy Glue so LEGOs can still be used by master builders to blend sets and create. The crux of the movie hinges on the struggle between structured business and childlike, rampant creativity.

I promise, all that explanation was really important because the kid in the movie looks like he could be about 8 1/2 years old. I can't find the actual ago of Jadon Sand, the kid who played Finn, but the internet seems to be in total agreement that the kid is about 8 1/2. This means the opening scene of the movie happened before Finn was born or else shortly after he was born. One article on LEGO Movie easter eggs picks up on this point, but doesn't stretch it out far enough. It says "...Though it's never explicitly stated, when Finn was born, The Man Upstairs locked his toys away, separated the worlds, and made sure that his son would never play with them" (Alex Zalben, MTV*).

I think it's safe to say that Finn is 8 1/2 and thereby cannot be the one playing with the toys (i.e making the opening scene) at the beginning of the movie. This leaves the question "who is making it happen?" The obvious and only suggested choice is Dad. But this still leaves many questions, chief among them "How does this scene fit with the rest of the movie presented by Finn?"

Allow me to suggest the following explanation. Dad, knowing his wife is about to have their first child, goes downstairs to the basement and locks up his LEGO toys. He has a very large collection that fills the majority of the basement. LEGOs obviously aren't safe for a zero-year-old kid and neither is the basement. He is doing a GOOD think by locking up the toys. When he is down there to lock up the basement, he stops for a moment and plays with a couple of his old toys. He picks up Lord Business and Vitruvius and plays out a short scene. In this scene Lord Business, by no means the villain in his mind, finds some Krazy Glue and takes it out of the scene. This makes perfect sense on both a LEGO level and a human level. In the LEGO world the action could be read as either sinister or helpful, since the Kragle is an obvious weapon. In the human world, it is simply a dad (or soon-to-be-dad) picking up some Krazy Glue and taking it upstairs where it can be of more use.

Now I think this is a really positive and really probable explanation for the beginning of the film, but now we have to see how it fits with the rest of the movie. I can think of two pretty solid possibilities for how this Dad becomes the "villainous Lord Business" that keeps the toys from his 8 1/2 year old kid. Unfortunately both of these half-formed theories are much sadder than the idea I just entertained. You've been warned.

-Option 1. After having Finn, Dad and Mom's lives got really busy. In the process of raising a toddler, Dad grew hardened toward his childhood toys and grew more preoccupied with work (i.e "Business"). Along the way (by my guess 5-6 years after having Finn) he and his wife had a baby girl (this fact is explicitly stated at the end of the movie when Duplo blocks show up). Now preoccupied with a combination of the new baby/young toddler, Dad forgets about his toys in the basement and forgets that Finn is old enough to play with them. Finn gets down there anyway and plays with them leading to the heartwarming ending of the movie.

Though pretty possible, this explanation leaves several things unexplained, namely why Lord Business/Dad has tons of Krazy Glue down there to start hardening the LEGOs together. The next explanation is sadder still, but it solves this problem.

-Option 2. Mom and Dad have Finn and life is really great. Finn grows up for a few years and the family is really happy. When he's 4-5ish, they decide to have another kid. Finn isn't a toddler anymore and the parents likely have stable jobs. They have a baby girl, but then, tragedy strikes. Mom dies, either in childbirth or shortly thereafter, leaving Dad to raise Finn and his sister on his own.  He weathers the first couple years without her reasonably well, but then falls on hard times. In order to keep the family afloat, he has to sell his expansive collection of LEGOs to a museum. He systematically goes downstairs gluing LEGOs. This could have been going on a long time. Remember, we only see basement one time. It's possible he had even more LEGOs at one point. Wild Style does talk of worlds we don't see. The ending is a reconciliation with Finn, but also Dad moving on from the loss of his wife.

Now I understand this is a stretch, but in my mind, it is a possible or even probable explanation that allows the opening minutes to be acted out by Dad and the rest of the movie by Finn. Otherwise we have a Dad that has a RIDICULOUS NUMBER OF LEGOs he never uses, but locks them away from his son for no reason for years. This explanation at least explains why he wont let Finn play with the LEGOs; why he is hesitant to play with them himself; why he is gluing them together even though he once cared enough to own THAT many LEGOs; why the opening of sequence of Lord Business taking the Kragle works with the rest of the movie wherein he is using the Kragle.

As a quick point it's impossible for the Dad's collection to have been locked up, untouched, for this simple reason. In the middle of the movie, while in Cloud Cuckoo Land, we see a Milhouse figure. The Simpsons LEGO set was released shortly before the LEGO movie, so it's impossible for that figure to be in the basement unless the collection has been changed recently. It is possible that Finn carried it down there sometime, but I think it far more likely that Dad continues adding to the collection, even in small ways, because he REALLY loves LEGOs.

To summarize, Dad acts out the opening two minutes of the LEGO Movie. Around that same time he and his wife have Finn, causing him to lock the basement and keep it from Finn. 5-6 years later they have a daughter. Shortly after that Mom dies leaving Dad alone to raise two kids. This forces him to sell some of his prized LEGO worlds for money in order to provide for his family. The ending is both about reconciliation and moving on from the loss of his wife.

This theory needs a little work, but I think it's pretty solid. No matter what moviegoers have to deal with the discrepancy between the Dad acting out the first two minutes and Finn acting the rest of the movie. If you can think of another way to allow the Dad to be relatively heroic at the beginning and a villain later on, let me know. It is important to remember, he has an absurd amount of LEGOs that are clearly a huge part of his life. It has to take something drastic to cause him to glue them all down. This theory does change the meaning of the movie slightly, but if anything, it makes it all the more rich and satisfying.  

My Definitive Summer Movie Guide Review

Back in late May with summer movie season just barely upon us, I wrote a really long and extensive preview of all the greatness this summer had to offer. If you didn't read that post, it can be found here: http://rantsrankingsandreviews.blogspot.com/2015/05/my-definitive-summer-movietv-guide.html. Now with summer drawing to a close, I think it's time to take stock and see where I was right and wrong, as well as shed a little light on things I overlooked the first time around. So now, in the same order I talked about them the first time, my summer preview recap.

Tomorrowland. I haven't seen this movie yet. Critics and audiences alike were pretty spilt about it. I do plan to see it in the near future, but that might not happen because this fall is positively LOADED with TV and movies that I'll need to watch. I predicted B+. General opinion has this at C- or there abouts, so I'll say I missed with this one (but no definitive claim will be made until I see it).

Hannibal Season 3. I fell behind on this show (For some reason I really fail at watching weekly dramas that aren't on AMC, FX or HBO). I did see the first 4 episodes and they were top-notch, so I will certainly watch the rest of this season. Maybe I'll binge it this weekend. I also want to draw attention to the fact that on May 20th I wrote, "I'm still fearful of this show going the way of other Bryan Fuller projects (Pushing Daises) and getting canceled too soon..." and on June 22nd it was (despite really REALLY good reviews). My thoughts on this injustice are a rant for another day. I just want it to be know that I totally called that. I predicted A grade in May and hold to that grade. A

Sense 8. I also haven't seen this one yet, but the reviews are strong. My A- prediction seems to be on track, but I'll need to get back to this one when I see it.

Spy. In May I thought this would be a B+, but it turned out to be a strong A. Significantly funnier than the Heat, all the pieces come together for a real comedy treat. Even more surprising, the reviews have been 95%, which is unreal for comedy. Maybe Rotten Tomatoes has seen the error of their ways, but I doubt it. Anyway, this is an extremely funny movie that all fans of Bridesmaids should appreciate a LOT. A (very near A+)

Inside out. I thought it would be an A+ but it turned out to be an A++ and as good as just about any other movie I've ever seen. I already sang the praises of Inside Out at length, so go read that post for a further description. If you STILL haven't seen it, get on it ASAP! A++

True Detective Season 2. I don't what is the deal with critics because this season is not anywhere near as well received as Season 1. I think because it wasn't as "star studded" they lost their minds while reviewing it. Seriously, I'm almost certain that I like this season MORE than season 1, though that it at least part due to the fact that I'm really studying the story this year. I will sing the praises of this show more soon I imagine. Critics don't know everything and True Detective is still exceptional TV at the level that only Netflix and HBO (and occasionally AMC/FX) can deliver. A+

Drunk History and Nathan For You. In an exceedingly rare intelligent programming move by Comedy Central (seriously, they don't know what they're doing most of the time), they moved the premieres from the dead time of summer to prime slots in the fall. Also on the REALLY long shot that Drunk History wins the Emmy for which they're nominated, ratings will skyrocket. I have high hope for season 3.

Spoils Before Dying. I've only seen the first third of the miniseries at this point, so I can't speak to the whole of the show, but I liked what I saw so far. I think my predicted A is right on point.

Minions: Haven't seen it, but the reviews have been middling at best. It looks like my B+ will probably be more of a B-.

Ant-Man. I was one of the few people out there really stoked for this movie, and it totally delivered. The writing was as good as any Marvel movie, the story was fresh and Paul Rudd was amazing. I predicted an A and it certainly was. 

Trainwreck. I haven't gotten around to this one yet either, but the reviews have been great. I plan to see this one really soon. It seems like my predicted B- will probably be closer to a B+ or an A.

Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp. This is a beautiful show in every way. It delivers on all the same levels as the brilliant movie while adding to the experience in new ways too. It reminded me very much of how Arrested Development handled their reboot for Season 4. Watch the movie then watch this show. It's brilliant in every way. A+

Rick and Morty. They aren't far into their second season yet, but I can already tell that it will be on par or better than season one. The pilot was ridiculously amazing. My A+ line of thought is right on the money with this one.

BoJack Horseman. Netflix kinda sprung Season 2 on me with very little warning, but it's awesome. Better than the first in many ways and a good show to tide me over until South Park, The Simpsons, Bob's Burgers and more return in the fall. A


Now a brief series of bullet points about the things I didn't have on my radar the first time around:

-Mad Max: Fury Road. I hadn't seen this when I wrote the post in May. It's one of, if not THE, greatest action movies I've ever seen. A+

-Vacation. Don't believe the poor critic reviews. The new Vacation reboot is as good as the original (at least from my 21st century standpoint) and is probably the funniest movie since 22 Jump Street. A+

-7 Days in Hell. Words can't descibe the greatness of this TV movie. It's Andy Samberg being as fantastic as he was in Hot Rod mixed with awesome interjections from Bill Hader and Fred Armisen. You don't need more than that. A

-The Gift. I might be reaching here, but this new movie has me really excited. Best reviews on a thriller since Gone Girl. I predict A.

That's all for now. I should probably stop saying what I'll do next because I haven't followed it yet. But you should expect thoughts on the Emmys, a few more Best Pic nominees and you will certainly get thoughts on Fargo soon.