Michael Musa and I join noted screenwriting teacher and author Pilar Alessandra at her On the Page podcast to discuss the 2017 Oscar-nominated screenplays. Podcast producer Pat Francis, host of the popular Rock Solid podcast, and YA author Nina Berry join the fracas. The gloves are coming off...
Just copy the below link into your browser and click on Oscar Podcast 2018 link (#546).
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-page-screenwriting/id262077408
Enjoy.
Friday, February 23, 2018
Sunday, December 17, 2017
HAPPY BUDDHAS: Vietnam Travelogue (Part 4 – Of Dollars and Dong)
28
November 2017 (Tuesday)
Somehow
I manage to set my travel alarm clock back 30 minutes, so I wake up 30 minutes
later than I planned. After a fortifying
breakfast I join the city tour. The
toilet in my room won’t flush, so I leave a note for housekeeping. I hope it will be fixed by my return.
As the
bus makes its way to the Museum of Ethnology I notice power lines strung
haphazardly along the city streets, bunched and bound together. This would not meet U.S. safety standards. The city bustles but doesn’t seem as dirty as
last night. Perhaps this morning was
trash day.
Hai
guides us around the outdoor component of the museum. We see housing and burial structures of the
various tribes that populate the more remote regions of the country. Inside the museum there are more traditional
exhibits. We only have 30 minutes
inside. I could have used 30 more, but
it’s on to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Complex.
Uncle
Ho’s final resting place is a boxy multilevel structure in the middle of a
large mall convenient for parades and other large gatherings. Military personnel are everywhere. The mausoleum proper is guarded by 2 soldiers
in white dress uniforms. Every hour the
guard changes. We catch the noon
ceremony. Before arriving Hai told us to
hold off on any politically sensitive questions until we were back on board the
bus. Several “tourists” wandering the
mall are likely government spies, and there is an underground monitoring
station beneath a grassy knoll that records everything said in the
complex. They can translate all language
to make sure foreign tours weren’t being given non-Communist propaganda. No shorts above the knee are allowed, and shoulders
must be covered. We must show respect
for Uncle Ho.
Our last
official stop before lunch is Hoa Lo Prison (dubbed by American POWs as the
“Hanoi Hilton”), built by the French to house Vietnamese prisoners during
colonial times. The French would shackle
one or both legs of a prisoner depending on how well they were behaving. The guillotine used for executions remains on
display.
After
the gloom of the prison we make an unscheduled stop at Marou, a specialty
chocolate shop with cacao varieties from different regions of Vietnam. We spend far more time than Hai allotted as
nearly everyone gets chocolate bars, candies and hot chocolate.
For
lunch before our scheduled Water Puppet Theater performance I follow Hai, Tom
& Anne, Lana & Mike, and Ana Maria to a restaurant near the theater
overlooking Hoan Kiem Lake and have a simple vegetable fried rice and a Hanoi
beer.
We walk
to the Lotus Theater for the performance which features traditional North
Vietnamese music and signing, along with water puppetry that focuses on local
legends and the farming and fishing life of the local peasants. There is a lot of chatting during the show
either from tourists who don’t know better or children caught up in the
spectacle. Though the music and puppetry
are interesting, the inertia of sitting after the long day of walking causes me
and several group members to nod off occasionally.
Back at
the hotel (my toilet is fixed) I promptly pass out and sleep until 10:00
p.m. I hope I am able to sleep tonight.
29
November 2017 (Wednesday)
Side Note:
Vietnam is a communist country.
However, as Hai pointed out, communism is no longer an economic
philosophy. It is solely political. And wholly corrupt. Capitalism runs rampant here, most obviously
in Saigon.
Today is our final optional tour. I’m glad to be out of Hanoi for a few
hours. The dirty air and dirty streets
have begun to get to me and my sinuses.
We visit the Thay Pagoda, the master pagoda, about an hour outside the
city. It’s not as elaborate and elevated
as the pagodas and tombs we saw in Hue.
Its title notwithstanding, this pagoda feels quite modest.
The next stop is So Village where we are given
a clear reminder of the poverty of much of country. We visit the home of an 87-year-old woman who
offers us biscuits and tea, as well as some beetle nut (which no one accepts
because it turns your teeth black). When
she’s not doing household chores, she makes brooms and fans to sell. Most of her children and grandchildren live
in cities where they could find jobs.
We drive back to Hanoi for lunch at a chain
restaurant (not Vietnamese) called Al Fresco.
Pleasant but nothing special.
Back to the hotel then one more trek to Café Pho
Co for a hot egg coffee. I follow our
path from the first night. The streets
are busier and dirtier than before. Or
at least it seems that way. My sinuses
cry out for relief. I wish I were
wearing a mask. Now I understand why
they are ubiquitous on the streets of Vietnam.
I don’t think I could stay in the city another full day. I would be in respiratory distress.
I run into Marika and her Irish boyfriend
(husband?) from our tour group at Café Pho Co.
They had the same idea. She is in
rapture over the hot egg coffee, and I can’t say I blame her. We have a group farewell dinner tonight, but
they will not be attending. Instead they
have a street food tour. Perhaps I will
see them at breakfast tomorrow before departure.
I walk to the park around Hoan Kiem Lake and
find a bench to relax upon. Before too
long a young woman with a backpack approaches me and starts chatting me
up. Earlier in the tour Hai mentioned
that students would frequently want to practice English with tourists. Since the first words out of her mouth are
“Do you speak English?” I assume this is the case. She pulls out a handwritten essay on the legend
of Hoan Kiem Lake and asks me to read it aloud to make sure it makes sense. The young woman’s English is spotty. She claims to be 12 but that can’t be the
case since I met an 11-year-old in So Village who was much younger. I assume she is confused about English
numbers. She says she is studying
banking and working part time with kids, so my guess is she’s a college
student. After a time I excuse myself
and walk back to the hotel.
Breathing the air has become more and more
difficult. I return to my hotel room and
hibernate until dinner.
Hai walks the group to 5 Spices, a local
restaurant. I sit with Rike and Pam
again. We’re the Special People’s Club.
The food is delicious, our best group meal to
date, but Rike is accidentally given a chicken cake and makes a fuss. The staff is very apologetic, and she’s given
special attention the rest of the evening.
We walk back to the hotel, and I say my
goodbyes to Tom & Anne and Lana & Mike, since they leave at 6:00 a.m.
the next morning for Thailand. I also
say goodbye to Ali & Fariba and their boys.
They leave at 9:00 a.m., but I may see them at breakfast.
Back to the room for a shower and to begin a
course of decongestant. I hope that
helps. I do not want any sinus issues on
the plane home. My shuttle leaves the
hotel for the airport at 12:45 p.m. tomorrow, so luggage out at 11:45 p.m. and
check out at noon.
30
November 2017 (Thursday)
My last day in Vietnam. Pack and breakfast. There’s still time before luggage out, so I
walk over to Truc Bach Lake. Anne said
it was an easy walk away. My sinuses are
unhappy, though the decongestant seems to have helped somewhat.
The air around the lake and the surrounding
city is hazy. I try to take a picture
but everything’s white and gray wash.
The lake is close and easily walkable within an hour.
I stop at a convenience store to buy water and use
up some of my remaining dong. On the far
side of the lake I see a “Cho” (dog) restaurant. Walk on by.
Back at the hotel I finish packing, put my
luggage out, and walk across the street for a quick lunch before the shuttle to
the airport. My biggest language
difficulty of the trip occurs with the young waiter at the restaurant. Luckily the hostess speaks decent English and
translates my order.
Ana Vigo (a Peruvian who lives in Los Angeles)
holds up our shuttle a few minutes while she waits for her dressmaker to
deliver clothes she ordered.
Hai, Ana and her friend Matthew, and Michael
and his 83-year-old mother Dinah are in the 12:45 p.m. group. Ana, Matthew, Dinah and I are on the same
flights to L.A. Dinah’s son Michael is
flying to Cambodia. Hai flies back to
his home in Saigon.
Dinah and I sat together at breakfast, so she
adopts me as her proxy son for the trip home.
In Guangzhou we pick up boarding passes for our long final flight. Ana and I are seated next to each other. I ask for an emergency exit row, but the
agent counts wrong and gives me the row in front of the emergency exit, which
is the world’s worst row (with a wall behind the seat).
After takeoff Ana, who’s feeling
claustrophobic, looks for another open seat and finds one, so her seat opens up
to my left. The middle aged gentlemen on
the aisle is an odd duck who plans to sleep at LAX and catch a flight to
Montana the next day. He says he brought
his own sleeping bag.
HAPPY BUDDHAS: Vietnam Travelogue (Part 3 – Communism)
25
November 2017 (Saturday)
******************************************************************************************
Side Note: In Hoi An Hai recommended the massage services at the hotel’s spa. However, he specifically did not recommend the massage services at the hotel in Hue. According to him they focus little on massage and keep asking whether you want a “happy ending.”
******************************************************************************************
Side Note: In Hoi An Hai recommended the massage services at the hotel’s spa. However, he specifically did not recommend the massage services at the hotel in Hue. According to him they focus little on massage and keep asking whether you want a “happy ending.”
******************************************************************************************
I’m up before
wake-up call for a quick stretch. My
right leg is stiff – perhaps from yesterday’s walking tour. I realize I left my handkerchief drying in my
room at the Hoi An Trials Resort. Oh
well. Better than forgetting my phone.
I breakfast
with Armond, a tech wiz from the Bay Area.
He’s traveling with his parents and brother, Alex. Lana interrupts to enlist Armond’s help. She’s a real estate agent, and her email was
hacked by a particularly aggressive hacker.
She can’t figure out how to change her password. Armond kindly offers his assistance.
Before leaving
for the Perfume River tour I discover my hotel safe won’t open. The safe contains my passport (which I don’t
need for the tour) and my camera (which I do).
I call the front desk, and they send housekeeping. While waiting for my safe to be opened I call
the front desk to let Hai know I’m running late. Housekeeping opens the safe, but now it’s
locked open. I lock what valuables I
don’t need in my suitcase and head downstairs.
I’ll have to sort this out after the tour.
Overcast
skies but no rain for the one hour cruise on a Dragon Boat (tourist version) down
the Perfume River to Thien Mu Pagoda.
The pagoda has lots of stairs and beautiful grounds. We take a bus to the Khai Dinh tomb. This particular king didn’t like his
concubines and preferred his bodyguards.
His queen became pregnant (by the king’s uncle, or so it was believed)
and gave birth to the next king – technically not related to the king by blood. But what could the monarch say nothing without
causing more problems? There are even
more stairs here. Grimmer in mood, and
the rain starts again. Next stop is the
Tu Duc tomb via an Incense and Cone Hat making shop. The Tu Duc tomb has more extensive grounds
but the tomb itself is being renovated.
******************************************************************************************
******************************************************************************************
Side
Note: While waiting on the tour bus to
leave Khai Dinh tomb I see the Kiwis from the XO Tour heading up to the
site. When we spoke during the food tour
they had mentioned they would be in Hue a day after me. I knock on the window, and they wave back in
recognition.
******************************************************************************************
******************************************************************************************
Lunch is
a vegan affair, prepared and served by nuns at the Dong Thuyen Pagoda. Ana Maria and I share a plate (it’s two to a
plate all around). After lunch Hai
interviews (and translates for) a 19-year-old nun. She answers questions about her life in the
nunnery. She wanted to become a nun from
a very early age. She is very endearing.
Back at
the hotel I call reception to have my safe fixed, with just enough time to
scout a dinner location before dark.
Both Hai and Lonely Planet recommend the Mandarin Café, so I trek
there. Glad I scouted in daylight as the
map is not very clear. Back to the hotel
to read and rest my knee, which is sore after all the stair climbing.
Next the
dinner trek for real. After dark there
are significantly more taxi drivers accosting you. One cyclo driver approaches me. When I refuse he makes the universal sign for
smoking. I’m not sure if he wants a
cigarette or is offering marijuana.
Either way my answer is no.
Mandarin
Café is both a restaurant and a travel agency run by Mr. Cu, who displays his
exceptional photos on the walls. I order
the local beer on his recommendation (Hai said it tastes like water; we’ll
see), fried vegetable spring rolls as an appetizer, and sautéed mixed seafood for
the main course. Dessert is a mango
pancake with ice cream and chocolate sauce, along with coffee and condensed
milk. Decadent!
Before
leaving the restaurant Mr. Cu gives me one of his pictures as a souvenir. Some fellow tour companions are eating at the
restaurant when I arrive and leave shortly thereafter to check out the Night
Market (if it isn’t closed due to rain).
They suggest I meet them, but my knee is still bothering me and I don’t
want to overdo it. So back to the hotel
to shower and pack for tomorrow’s flight to Hanoi.
26
November 2017 (Sunday)
A brief
stretch before breakfast, then on to the Hue airport. Hai warns us that the customs officials there
can be stern, but the woman who checks our passports is fairly typical. Not friendly, not unfriendly. The flight is short, but the bus ride to
Halong Bay feels long. The scenery
begins to reflect the politics in Hanoi – flat, gray buildings become the norm.
We stop
halfway to Halong Bay for a modest lunch at a restaurant whose proceeds assist
victims of Agent Orange. The food is
unremarkable but hits the spot. During
the final leg to Halong Bay Hai fills us in our upcoming hotel’s scam to make you
pay for drinks from the fridge in your room.
I take inventory when I arrive (even take a picture of the fridge
contents just in case). After unpacking
I walk toward the bay with Ana Maria so she can smoke.
At the
group dinner that evening I sit (once again) with my fellow vegan/vegetarians,
Rike and Pam. Joining us are Ali, his
wife Fariba, son Ali and other son Alex.
They migrated to the U.S. from Iran.
The sons and I talk science fiction books, then Rike changes the subject
(as is her wont) to politics, which I have no interest in. Hai sits next to us but eats very
little. I wonder if he has some dietary
restrictions, because I can’t recall him eating much of anything thus far.
After
dinner Ana Vigo (as opposed to Ana Maria) suggests drinks at the Skybar. When I return to my room many of my group are
gathered outside the elevator. They are
still there when I head to the less busy elevator down the hall. The Skybar is on the 16th floor. It has trendy pretensions and tries too
hard. The only group member there is
Fariba. The outdoor seating looks
enticing, so I head back to my room for a jacket, figuring the rest of the
group will have arrived by the time I return.
Not so. They must have gone to
the night market. I have no interest in
that, or in waiting. I make an early
night of it.
27 November
2017 (Monday)
Because several
tour groups are in the hotel Hai suggests we arrive at breakfast this morning
before 7:00 a.m. I arrive at 6:30 a.m.,
and it’s already a zoo. Clearly everyone
has the same idea. A half hour later the
crowds subside. Oh well. The food is good, though coffee and milk are
in short supply.
Rike,
the politics talker, is a lawyer from the D.C. area (originally from
Nigeria). She sits across from me and,
bless her heart, talks my ear off. Both
she and Pam (who rounds out the non-meat-eating trio) seem to abhor
silence. Maybe it’s too many vegetables
in their diet.
During
check out Hai’s warning about housekeeping is confirmed. Anne and Tom are called to task for removing
a glass from their room. All’s well that
ends well, however, as it is tracked to the dining room (?!). This meticulousness seems egregious. However, Hai says it’s not uncommon for
Korean or Chinese businessmen to get drunk and try to enter the wrong
room. Perhaps they (the businessmen)
tear up their rooms, which has led to housekeeping’s overcompensating behavior.
At 8:00
a.m. we bus to the marina for our cruise of Halong Bay, which has hundreds of
islands, many with caves. We cruise for
two hours before stopping to explore three caves in one of the islands. The bay is gorgeous, the sailing serene, and
the caves breathtaking. Even the crowds at
the caves aren’t too obnoxious.
After
the cave crawl it’s back to the boat for a 9-course lunch. No joke.
By the end of the meal I am full to near exploding. Hai says this particular lunch used to be 11
courses. That must have been coma
inducing.
We take
our 4-hour bus ride back to Hanoi where we will spend the remainder of the
tour. We arrive earlier than expected,
so Hai conducts an informal walking orientation of the city. He leads us from the hotel to Hoan Kiem Lake,
then walks us to the Café Pho Co for a hot egg coffee, a Hanoi specialty. I also have an uninspired piece of chocolate
cake. Dessert before dinner
tonight. Some teenage girls bus the tables.
I give one a $1 tip, and she is completely
overwhelmed. As I leave I see her
speaking excitedly to a co-worker. Never
has a dollar gone so far.
Hai
warned us about hygiene in the city, and the walk confirms this. The sidewalks and curbs are covered with
detritus. According to Hai it’s not
uncommon at street food stations for patrons to toss their used napkins on the
floor around their table.
Tom
& Anne, Mike & Lana, and Ana Maria and I walk back to the hotel (a
significant hike). I lead the way, since
no one else feels confident of the route.
We make it back without incident – only minor stress crossing the
street. On the walk down Hai showed us
his “kung fu” technique. You wait for a
break in the traffic, step into the road and hold up your hand. It works for him but is not as easy for a
non-native to pull off.
We go
straight to Cha Ca Thang Lang for dinner.
It’s next door to the hotel, and they only serve fish. You get a full meal for a mere 170,000 VND
(the equivalent of $8) plus whatever you want to drink. I also have the Bai Ha Nai (the local
beer). The fish is amazing. I have yet to have a bad meal here. The check comes all together, and there is
some drama as we pay separately, some in dong (VND), some in dollars. No credit cards at this restaurant.
Saturday, December 16, 2017
HAPPY BUDDHAS: Vietnam Travelogue (Part 2 – Culture)
23
November 2017 (Thanksgiving)
I join
Anne & Tom and Mike & Lana for breakfast and am filled in on the
previous evening’s shenanigans. They are
going on the optional tour this morning and must leave to prepare. I go back to my room, putter, write in my
journal, and head to the concierge to make arrangements for a taxi to the Hoi
An Theater. I am told the drive should
take 15 minutes, so I plan to return to the hotel no later than 2:15 p.m. to
make my 2:45 p.m. meeting time.
I time
the walk from my hotel to Old Town Hoi An to gauge when I should head
back. On the way I’m accosted by a very
nice seamstress who wants to make me some clothes. Apparently it’s common for proprietors to chat
you up and segue into the sales pitch.
Unless what they’re offering is a massage. Then they skip the pleasantries and get right
to the point. I guess that product
speaks for itself.
I plan
to eat at Morning Glory, a cooking school and restaurant known for its high
quality street food, so I make my way there to scout the location. My map is confusing, and I get turned around,
ending up in the Central Market for several stressful minutes. My personal version of hell. Consumerism at its most aggressive. I make my way to the river to escape. The water has breached the banks and spilled
into small inlets on the sidewalk. I
locate the restaurant, then find a bench on the other side of the river to
relax and enjoy the view.
All over
Old Town handicapped men sell English language newspapers for $2. One approaches me, and I give in. Several minutes later another comes up to me,
so I flashed the recently purchased newspaper, and he moves on. A pack of unchaperoned dogs run up and down
the street. They look fed and clean, so
perhaps residents are more comfortable with animals roaming freely about the
town than we are in the U.S.
Morning
Glory serves an exceptional seafood noodle dish, and I wash it down with Larue
beer. For dessert I have an excellent
banana pudding cake. Yes, it’s as
decadent as it sounds. After lunch I
hike back to the hotel for a brief rest before the “Dinner With The Nguyens”
tour.
Considering
how most people drive in this country I prepare for a white-knuckled taxi
ride. Instead we move at a snail’s
pace. The driver spends a fair amount of
time on his cell phone. And despite
leaving the hotel at 2:20 p.m. I begin to wonder if I’ll meet my guide on time. There’s further delay because the driver
doesn’t have 30,000 VND in change, so we stop at a nearby store. I suspect I may be his first customer
ever. I arrive at the meeting place
exactly at 2:45 p.m. The rain has begun
in earnest now.
******************************************************************************************
Side
Note: Most Vietnamese speak at least two
languages fluently – Vietnamese and honking.
Everyone honks. I’m not sure what
the rules of the road are in Vietnam, but I have yet to see an accident. Plenty of close calls, however.
******************************************************************************************
After a
few uncertain minutes walking around the Hoi An Theater I meet Trang Le, my
guide, and she and I climb into a mini-van to pick up 4 Kiwis who represent the
balance of our tour group. This is a
walking tour, so the driver drops us off at the bridge to the nearby island of
Cam Nam. Though I have my own raincoat
Trang has come prepared with XO Tours rain gear for everyone. Bundled against the rain and wind, we trudge across
the bridge to the island where our first stop is a local restaurant. We sample fish cakes with dipping sauce,
oysters with dipping sauce, and rice fried shrimp with dipping sauce. Did I mention there were dipping sauces? All washed down with more Larue beer.
Our next
stop is a local farmhouse, but the path there is unexpectedly flooded. Two of our number (myself being one) lack
appropriate foot ware, so off come the shoes and socks and up go the pant
legs. When we arrive at the farm, the
farmer brings out a bucket, gives us rubber sandals, and rinses our feet. Inside we meet the farmer’s wife who teaches
us to make Vietnamese pancakes made of rice flour, turmeric and milk. You can add pork and/or shrimp to taste. The pancake (folded over like an omelet) is
rolled in rice paper with some sprouts and – you guessed it! – dipping
sauce. We each made one pancake at the
family stove under the wife’s supervision.
Lovely.
Because
our route would still be flooded and muddy, the farmer lends us the rubber sandals
for the remainder of the tour. Trang
will return them afterwards.
Our next
stop is a local market where we try different local fruits. One looks like an eyeball but tastes
sweet. My favorite is the persimmon.
Our
final leg of the trip is a boat ride back to Old Town for dessert. Due to flooded banks we take a small boat to
the larger boat. The water is a shin
deep wade, and the mud sucks at the borrowed sandals. On the boat there’s more food. I’m beginning to hit my limit. The meat eaters (everyone but me) have beef
and pork wraps with dipping sauce. I
have steamed fish with dipping sauce.
I’m glad this is a walking/wading tour, otherwise I’d be hopelessly
stuffed.
We
arrive at the banks of Old Town, and the sidewalks are underwater up to the
steps of businesses. We wade from the
boat to Cargo for dessert -- a variety of fruit cakes. These are mercifully free of dipping
sauces. We return the rubber sandals to
Trang, and the shoes and socks go back on.
A fitting end to an amazing tour.
All the adventure and incredible food you could possibly desire. If you ever go to Ho Chi Minh or Hoi An, look
up XO Tours. You will be glad you did.
24
November 2017 (Friday)
Heavy
rains all through the night. The Kiwis
had a cooking class scheduled for this morning in Old Town. I wonder if they were flooded out. I suspect the restaurant where we had dessert
the night before is under several inches of water. The hotel grounds are flooded. I walk to breakfast leaping over puddles.
Another
Gate 1 group arrived yesterday, and today’s breakfast is chaotic. The buffet is elbow to elbow. I try the Vietnamese coffee with condensed
milk and am quite pleased. Nearby a
woman (from the other Gate 1 group?) complains that she has yet to see the sun
in Vietnam. By her tone one would think
the Vietnamese people personally responsible for the country’s weather.
On the
bus ride to Hue we stop briefly at a marble shop in Da Nang where I buy a small
Happy Buddha figurine. Another brief
stop at China Beach (where the French and American soldiers landed during their
respective invasions). The sky is
overcast and drizzly. Our last side trip
before Hue is at the Dragon Bridge.
We
arrive at the hotel in Hue an hour before the city tour is to begin. With a very quick lunch of shrimp fried rice
and Saigon beer at a family run restaurant across the street I am fortified for
the tour.
The rain
continues. The bus drops us off, and a
gaggle of women selling umbrellas and ponchos descend upon us. I have to pull out my own umbrella to get a
persistent hawker to back off.
The Imperial
City was home to the last King of Vietnam before control was handed over to the
French in 1945. Hai explains that the King
had many concubines so he could hand power over to one of his many
children. The parents of prospective
concubines would bribe the attending eunuch to bring their daughter to the
King’s attention. Also a prospective
concubine could prepare one of the King’s many dishes. Presentation was everything (since the King
could not possibly eat everything presented to him). If the dish caught the King’s eye, the girl
would be summoned. Likewise a girl could
make the King an article of clothing. If
a particular garment pleased him the seamstress was brought to him.
Eunuchs,
Hai continues, were brought to the Imperial City in three ways. The first type were those born without the
“population stick.” They were
unceremoniously dropped off at the gates.
The second type were effeminate men.
The third type were boys so poor that becoming a eunuch was their chance
for a good life serving the King. There
were female eunuchs that were used primarily to teach young princes the ways of
love. Boys were mutilated by removing
some or all of their “population sticks” while girls were beaten on the stomach
to force out their ovaries. Neither eunuch
could reproduce.
Hue was
the site of the Tet Offensive in 1968, and a good portion of the Imperial City
was destroyed by B-52 bombers trying to dislodge the Viet Cong from the
grounds. The city is still impressive,
but the rain and excessive tourists take away much of the luster.
HAPPY BUDDHAS: Vietnam Travelogue (Part 1 – Commerce)
19-20
November 2017 (Sunday and Monday)
I park
my car at work around 8:00 a.m. on Sunday.
The shuttle driver is early, and I’m his last pick up. So I arrive at LAX with time to spare. Just how I like it.
I
mention to the agent at China Southern Airlines that this will be my longest
flight to date, and he offers me an emergency exit row for the 14-hour flight. Much more leg room and ready access to the
aisles and bathrooms. Score.
I sleep
much of the way. I can’t read without
dozing, so my book, Why Does The World Exist? by Jim Holt, goes untouched. The provided headphones are impossible. I can’t hear dialogue clearly. I try watching “The Trip to Italy” but haven’t
a clue what they’re saying. Instead I
watch “Guardians of the Galaxy,” because I’ve seen it already.
The
flight to Guangzhou goes on and on. At
the 7½ hour mark I realize I’m only half way there.
We land
in southern China 15 minutes late due to turbulence en route, so it’s a frantic
scramble for the connecting flight to Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon). That flight is delayed as well, so we arrive in
Vietnam around 10:30 p.m. local time on 20 November 2017. The customs line is a grind. Weary passengers (myself included) jockey
from one line to the next when the first line stalls.
Our tour
manager Hai meets us outside baggage claim.
My luggage arrives without incident.
The next day I learn that an elderly Chinese woman on my flight had her
luggage left in Guangzhou. (Happy ending
– the luggage arrives the next day.)
While waiting for the tour group to gather a pleasant taxi driver tries
to drum up business. He seems unable (or
unwilling) to grasp that each of us already have transportation to the hotel.
Check in
at the Saigon Prince Hotel is quick, but I dread the 6:00 a.m. wake up call
(it’s 2:00 a.m. when I crawl into bed) in order to make breakfast before the
early morning tour of the Cu Chi Tunnels.
Not sure
if it’s the jet lag or the constant sleeping/dozing on the flights but my sleep
is restless. Also it takes me several
tries to figure out the A/C in the room.
Despite sweltering temps outside my room is chilly. My foot keeps cramping. I get about 2 hours of sleep on and off before
the wake-up call at 5:45 a.m.(?)! I
showered the night before; otherwise I would have been very unhappy – and
smelly.
21
November 2017 (Tuesday)
Breakfast
is hearty. I’m famished and wolf down
eggs, noodles, beans, fruit and cereal with yogurt. I’m surprisingly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed
for the tour. We’re set to depart at
7:15 a.m. but delayed due to the elderly Chinese woman. Her son has to go to her room to fetch her.
The optional
Cu Chi Tunnels tour is the one I’m most interested in. The tunnels were used by the Viet Cong to
escape detection by South Vietnamese Army (SVA) and US forces. Our tour manager Hai is a Saigon native and
has very personal opinions about the war.
For him it was a great tragedy for the people of Vietnam. He believes the war has been misnamed. The least correct names (in his opinion) are
the Vietnam War (by the US) and the American War (by the Vietnamese). A more accurate term (again, in his opinion)
is the Civil War, but he prefers the term Ideological War -- a war to secure
power through ideology. He has no love
for the Viet Cong but he certainly (and justifiably) admires their strategy and
determination.
The Cu
Chi tour highlight is watching a Viet soldier drop down into a tunnel through a
tiny opening. I’m claustrophobic just
watching. We are offered a chance to
crawl 60 feet through a tunnel. I demur,
fearing a panic attack and unwilling to aggravate my bad right knee. A couple men younger and shorter than me
complain about the experience as they exit.
I made the smart move.
We drive
to Saigon for lunch and a brief city tour, which is anticlimactic after Cu Chi. Near tour’s end we stop at a local tile
manufacturer. I skip it and hang out at
a nearby park. Several tour members
express interest in the War Remnants Museum instead of visiting the local market. We alter the plan after a vote. A fortuitous decision as a heavy squall moves
in. The museum is harrowing, though certainly
lopsided in its viewpoint. It is the
unexpected highlight of the city tour.
******************************************************************************************
Side
Note: Hai explains that Vietnam is
divided into 3 regions. The southern
region, primarily the Mekong Delta and Saigon, represent the country’s
commerce. The central region with Hoi An
and Hue, represents the country’s culture.
And the northern region, primarily Hanoi, represents the country’s
political center.
******************************************************************************************
We have
a brief group meet and greet at the hotel, then off for dinner on our own. Across the street a music festival is about
to begin. The road is blocked off, so
it’s safer to walk. Pedestrians look for
a break in traffic then step into the road and press forward at a consistent
speed. Surprisingly no one seems to get
hit, though it’s disconcerting to have motorbikes weave around you. In a city of 12 million people there are 8 million
motorbikes, and most are on the road or parked on the sidewalk at any given
time.
I have a
filling meal of seafood noodles at Nha Hang Ngon, a restaurant specializing in street
food. Afterward I walk to the Rex Hotel
(recommended by a co-worker who had visited not long ago) and have a Saigon By
Night (the Vietnamese equivalent of a Mint Julep) at the rooftop bar. It’s easy to imagine diplomats after the heat
of the day plotting over drinks and dinner while enjoying the cooler evening
breeze. As I sip my drink a Viet band
play a guitar cover of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game.” As I leave they break into a rousing vocal
cover of Elton John’s “Crocodile Rock.”
The
street fair is in full swing as I make my way back to the hotel. Hai had mentioned earlier that Gate 1 tried
to get rooms at the Continental, but that hotel was full. As I ride up to the 8th floor I
still hear the pounding beat of the musical acts. Now it’s clear why the Continental was full and
the Royal Saigon not. The music ends
shortly after 10:00 p.m. It’s a school
night after all.
Before
bed I shower and start packing for tomorrow’s flight to Da Nang. I hope for more sleep tonight than last
night. Until tomorrow…
22
November 2017 (Wednesday)
I sleep
much better after mastering the temperature gauge in the room. After a hearty breakfast I finish packing
then check out. We bus to the airport
for the in country flight to Da Nang.
Traffic is lighter than before, and we make it in plenty of time. We check in as a group then wait. I grab an egg sandwich to stow in my bag
after Hai informs us that there may not be much time for lunch after we arrive.
During
the wait I chat with two couples from Flagstaff – Tom & Anne and Mike &
Lana. Tom had gained notoriety the day
before by wandering out of the Cu Chi site without telling anyone. His wife, Anne, and Hai looked all over for
him. After about 15 minutes the group
went outside to find Tom waiting by the bus.
Anne confirms this is not the first time Tom has gone missing. It will not be the last. I also chat with Ana Maria who, though nice,
announces that all news is biased and that Puerto Rico is not nearly as
devastated as media reports would have us believe. The reports are political. I consider mentioning that my boss’ sister
lives in Puerto Rico and can back up the reports but don’t feeling like having
that debate.
For the
1+ hour trip the inflight monitors play a French version of “Candid Camera”
over and over. The first 15 minutes are amusing,
but after 45 minutes the formula gets tired.
Somehow I manage to lose my water bottle while departing the plane.
As we
bus to Hoi An, the streets become narrower.
The region feels like a rustic version of the Napa Valley but with more
motorbikes, cyclos and bicycles. Or
Cambria with more humidity.
We
arrive at the Hoi An Trails Resort, a beautiful enclave off the bustling street
not far from Old Town. My room is
spacious, with floors of dark wood. It’s
far more space than I need. The rain
begins just in time for our Old Town walking tour.
I suspect
Hoi An at night has considerable charm.
However any charm is overwhelmed by the crush of tourists on foot,
motorbike, cyclo and bicycle. Add to
that all the oversized umbrellas for the rain, and you have the recipe for a circle
of Hell Dante might recognize. I miss
much of Hai’s narrative as I tried to dodge tourists and motorbikes on the
narrow streets. Inside it’s drier but
not much better. Sodden tourists crowd
like packed sardines. It’s a relief to
go out onto the rainy street to find our dinner spot.
Somewhere
between our last tour stop and the restaurant Tom disappears again, causing
much consternation. (It turns out that,
against Hai’s earlier admonition, Tom had stopped in a shop to buy a rain poncho. By the time he finished the transaction, the
group had disappeared up an alleyway.) Hai
and Anne spend much of the dinner looking off the balcony at the wet street
below. (After searching the streets for
some time Tom had taken a cab back to the hotel.) Hai gives Anne a takeaway meal for Tom.
The
dinner is lovely. I sit at a table with
two other non-meat eaters, Rike (pronounced “Ricky”) and Pam, which gives us
the opportunity to bond as such. There
is more political talk, so I tune out until the subject moves on. A significant reason to leave the U.S. for a
couple of weeks is to avoid exactly these types of conversations.
I am not
a mango fan, but the mango served with the dessert is stunning. I will now only eat mango in Vietnam. So I may never eat mango again.
Some
stay to explore Old Town while most head back to the hotel. Tomorrow is my food walking tour with XO
Tours. I’m to meet the tour guide at the
Hoi An Theater, so I ask Hai how far away it is. It’s in Hoi An proper (not Old Town), so I
will need to cab it. I will check with
reception tomorrow to arrange transportation.
Sunday, February 26, 2017
THE BEST AND WORST OF 2016: IN DEFENSE OF A LACK OF CERTAINTY
When someone is honestly 55% right, that's very good and there's no use wrangling. And if someone is 60% right, it's wonderful, it's great luck, and let him thank God. But what's to be said about 75% right? Wise people say this is suspicious. Well, and what about 100% right? Whoever says he is 100% right is a fanatic, a thug, and the worst kind of rascal.
--attributed to An Old Jew of Galicia
The above quote appears at the beginning of The Captive Mind by Czeslaw Milosz. And as a reformed film scholar and occasional movie critic this quote is a solemn reminder of the duties of a critic (and as a citizen, but we'll limit our brief discussion here to the film critic). Not as the final arbiter of the good and the bad, the quality and the dreck (though there is an element of that, too). No, it is as a guide to the audience, a gentle (or not so gentle) prodding either toward or away from the film under discussion.
I cannot possibly know what you will or will not respond to, and I can only relate what I have responded to, for good or for ill. And, to that end, it is my sincere hope that this simple missive may inspire you to see a film you might have otherwise dismissed or to seek out with more vigor a film you wanted but failed to see. And if I disliked a particulate favorite movie of yours, please keep in mind that there's no accounting for taste. Especially mine.
All that said, I feel comfortable stating that my opinions are 60% right. Of course there are many people to thank, but I won’t bore you with all that here. If you’re reading this, please accept my thanks. I’m grateful to all of you for different reasons and in different ways. But I can safely say that your presence in my life has not left me unchanged. And I mean that in a good way.
Finally, thanks to my always supportive family. I’m lucky to have you.
Brian Pope
February 26, 2017
THE BEST OF 2016
(in alphabetical order)
(in alphabetical order)
ARRIVAL
THE HANDMAIDEN
HELL OR HIGH WATER Two
Texas brothers rob banks that stole their family home from them, but the road
to hell is paved with good intentions. Writer
Taylor Sheridan and Scottish director David Mackenzie beautifully evoke the
post-financial crisis desolation and desperation.
I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO Raoul Peck’s documentary based in part on the unfinished novel Remember This House by provocateur James Baldwin traces the fight for racial equality in the 1960s but ties in, and is just as urgent and vital, to today.
I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO Raoul Peck’s documentary based in part on the unfinished novel Remember This House by provocateur James Baldwin traces the fight for racial equality in the 1960s but ties in, and is just as urgent and vital, to today.
THE LOBSTER
LOVE & FRIENDSHIP Even
Whit Stillman’s most “modern” films have always felt like the product of a bygone
era. So it should surprise no one that
his most entertaining and insightful film in years is this crisp, clear
adaptation of the relatively obscure Jane Austen novella “Lady Susan.” Kate Beckinsale has never been better.
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA Writer/director
Kenneth Lonergan has a distinctly Irish sense of tragedy, and this devastating
drama is no exception. The filmmaker
refuses easy sentimentality and pat catharsis and instead grapples with
inconsolable grief. Casey Affleck, Lucas
Hedges and Michelle Williams are exceptional.
MOONLIGHT
NOCTURNAL ANIMALS
ZOOTOPIA
Runners-Up of 2016
(in alphabetical order)
(in alphabetical order)
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC
EVERYBODY WANTS SOME!!
FENCES
HIDDEN FIGURES
LION
Honorable Mentions:
THE WORST of 2016
(in alphabetical order)
(in alphabetical order)
THE BIRTH OF A NATION
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR Is this a superhero movie or a philosophical
treatise? Either way, it lost me at
hello. And yet it kept on talking for
over two hours. Put a sock in it.
HACKSAW RIDGE A thick pudding of jingoism sprinkled with just enough Christian palliative to provide cover for the last hour's non-stop pornographic violence. Sanctimonious, self-righteous and shamelessly manipulative.
HACKSAW RIDGE A thick pudding of jingoism sprinkled with just enough Christian palliative to provide cover for the last hour's non-stop pornographic violence. Sanctimonious, self-righteous and shamelessly manipulative.
Saturday, February 25, 2017
THE POPE’S 2016 OSCAR® PREDICTIONS
It’s time once again to match wits with the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Below
are my predictions the 2016 Oscars®.
Best
Picture:
ARRIVAL
FENCES
HACKSAW
RIDGE
HELL OR HIGH
WATER
HIDDEN
FIGURES
LA LA
LAND
LION
MANCHESTER
BY THE SEA
MOONLIGHT
Unless
something very drastic happens, LA LA LAND will win Best Picture. Aside from the unintentionally risible HACKSAW RIDGE it’s the weakest option. But
Hollywood does love to congratulate itself.
MOONLIGHT would be my first choice.
Followed by HELL OR HIGH WATER.
Should
Win: MOONLIGHT
Will Win: LA LA LAND
Overlooked: ZOOTOPIA
Best
Director:
Damien
Chazelle, LA LA LAND
Mel
Gibson, HACKSAW RIDGE
Barry
Jenkins, MOONLIGHT
Kenneth Lonergan,
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
Denis
Villeneuve, ARRIVAL
Damien
Chazelle will win for LA LA LAND, because he loves old school Hollywood
musicals. And Hollywood loves
itself. Enough said. A better choice would be Barry Jenkins for
MOONLIGHT.
Should Win: Barry Jenkins, MOONLIGHT
Will Win: Damien Chazelle, LA LA LAND
Overlooked: David Mackenzie, HELL OR HIGH WATER
Best
Actress:
Isabelle
Huppert, ELLE
Ruth
Negga, LOVING
Natalie
Portman, JACKIE
Emma
Stone, LA LA LAND
Meryl
Streep, FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS
I wasn’t
able to see ELLE, so I can’t comment on Isabelle Huppert. Generally speaking this is a weak
category. As such, Emma Stone will win
for LA LA LAND, because Hollywood. Ruth
Negga was wonderful in LOVING. But it
was such a subtle performance in such a small movie, it doesn’t stand a chance.
Should
Win: Ruth Negga, LOVING
Will Win: Emma Stone, LA LA LAND
Overlooked: Amy Adams, ARRIVAL
Kate Beckinsale, LOVE & FRIENDSHIP
Kate Beckinsale, LOVE & FRIENDSHIP
Annette Bening, 20TH
CENTURY WOMEN
Taraji P. Henson, HIDDEN FIGURES
Taraji P. Henson, HIDDEN FIGURES
Best
Actor:
Casey
Affleck, MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
Andrew
Garfield, HACKSAW RIDGE
Ryan
Gosling, LA LA LAND
Viggo
Mortensen, CAPTAIN FANTASTIC
Denzel
Washington, FENCES
Up until about a month ago, most
would have said Casey Affleck was a lock for MANCHESTER BY THE SEA. Now, thanks to tons of bad press and a
less-than-pleasant demeanor, his chances have dropped. I still think his performance was the year’s best,
very closely followed by Denzel Washington for FENCES. I suspect Washington will win.
Should
Win: Casey Affleck, MANCHESTER BY THE
SEA
Will
Win: Denzel Washington, FENCES
Best
Supporting Actress:
Viola
Davis, FENCES
Naomie
Harris, MOONLIGHT
Nicole
Kidman, LION
Octavia
Spencer, HIDDEN FIGURES
Michelle
Williams, MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
Viola
Davis will finally win an Oscar® for her heart-wrenching work in FENCES. And although Davis deserves it, Michelle
Williams’ devastating performance in MANCHESTER BY THE SEA or Naomie Harris’
fearless turn in MOONLIGHT would have won in any other year.
Should and
Will Win: Viola Davis, FENCES
Best
Supporting Actor:
Mahershala
Ali, MOONLIGHT
Jeff
Bridges, HELL OR HIGH WATER
Lucas
Hedges, MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
Dev
Patel, LION
Michael
Shannon, NOCTURNAL ANIMALS
The
Golden Globes gave the award to Aaron Taylor-Johnson in NOCTURNAL ANIMALS, but
the Academy didn’t nominate him. The SAG
Awards recognized Mahershala Ali for MOONLIGHT.
So the question now is whether Michael Shannon’s nomination will change
the calculus. Shannon is wonderful, as
always, but likely won’t pull enough support from Ali to change things.
Should and
Will Win: Mahershala Ali, MOONLIGHT
Overlooked: Ben
Foster, HELL OR HIGH WATER
Sunny Pawar, LION
Sunny Pawar, LION
Best
Adapted Screenplay:
Luke
Davies, LION
Eric
Heisserer, ARRIVAL
Barry
Jenkins, Tarell Alvin McCraney, MOONLIGHT
Allison
Schroeder and Theodore Melfi, HIDDEN FIGURES
August
Wilson, FENCES
Eric
Heisserer’s adaptation of Ted Chiang’s slim story “Story of Your Life” raises
stakes and expands action without dwarfing its more meditative theme, but Barry
Jenkins’ adaptation of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s unproduced play turns inner city
angst into a lyrical tone poem. He
should and will win.
Should and
Will Win: Barry Jenkins, Tarell Alvin
McCraney, MOONLIGHT
Overlooked: Tom
Ford, NOCTURNAL ANIMALS
Best
Original Screenplay:
Damien
Chazelle, LA LA LAND
Yorgos
Lanthimos and Efthymis Filippou, THE LOBSTER
Kenneth
Lonergan, MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
Mike
Mills, 20th CENTURY WOMEN
Taylor
Sheridan, HELL OR HIGH WATER
Damien
Chazelle’s lead-footed venture into Hollywood nostalgia has a good chance to
win, despite being the weakest script in the bunch. Kenneth Lonergan’s devastating drama is the
only one that has a chance against it. Taylor Sheridan’s modern western about desperate,
misguided desperados is a very worthy entry.
However, THE LOBSTER is easily the most outlandish and original
screenplay this year but will have to settle for the nomination. The safer bet is LA LA LAND; the more
interesting bet is MANCHESTER BY THE SEA.
For fun I’ll go with the interesting bet. (For those who listened to the On The Page®
podcast, I have changed my prediction; I just couldn’t bring myself to let LA
LA LAND win on paper. Even if it does in
“real” life.)
Should
Win: Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthymis
Filippou, THE LOBSTER
Will Win: Kenneth Lonergan, MANCHESTER BY THE
SEA
Overlooked: Jared Bush & Phil Johnston, ZOOTOPIA
Best
Animated Film
KUBO
AND THE TWO STRINGS
MOANA
MY
LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI
THE
RED TURTLE
ZOOTOPIA
I
did not see MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI or THE RED TURTLE, alas. Of those I did see KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS
boasts the most artful animation; however, it suffers in its voice work. MOANA is terrific in a traditional way, with
classic animation and a marvelous musical score. Yet ZOOTOPIA combines clever animation with a
sharp script. The timely, resonant
message is icing on the cake. It
deserves to win and shall.
Should
and Will Win: ZOOTOPIA
Best
Foreign Language Film
LAND
OF MINE (Denmark)
A
MAN CALLED OVE (Sweden)
THE
SALESMAN (Iran)
TANNA
(Australia)
TONI
ERDMANN (Germany)
If
the Academy is feeling political they may give the award to THE SALESMAN. However, TONI ERDMANN made several critics’
Best of Year lists, so let’s go with that.
Will
Win: TONI ERDMANN (Germany)
Best
Documentary Feature
FIRE
AT SEA
I
AM NOT YOUR NEGRO
LIFE,
ANIMATED
O.J.:
MADE IN AMERICA
13TH
I
only saw I AM YOUR NEGRO, and it was remarkable. A must see.
However, I have heard that 13TH is equally compelling. Because 13TH was directed by Ana
DuVernay, who was snubbed for Best Director for SELMA some years back, there’s
a chance the Academy could try to make amends here. However, despite its imposing length, more
people probably saw O.J.: MADE IN AMERICA.
It will likely win.
Should
Win: I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO
Will
Win: O.J.: MADE IN AMERICA
Best
Cinematography
Grieg
Fraser, LION
James
Laxton, MOONLIGHT
Rodrigo
Prieto, SILENCE
Linus
Sandgren, LA LA LAND
Bradford
Young, ARRIVAL
Grieg
Fraser won the ASC award but that doesn’t always mean the Academy will think
similarly. Fraser deserves the Oscar®,
but I fear it will go to Linus Sandgren as part of the LA LA LAND
nostalgia-fest.
Should
Win: Greig Fraser, LION
Will
Win: Linus Sandgren, LA LA LAND
Best
Film Editing
Tom
Cross, LA LA LAND
John
Gilbert, HACKSAW RIDGE
Joi
McMillon, Nat Sanders, MOONLIGHT
Jake
Roberts, HELL OR HIGH WATER
Joe
Walker, ARRIVAL
Did
I mention how much Hollywood loves itself?
Even when there’s an hour-long dull stretch through the middle of a
movie? Despite that fact Tom Cross will
win for LA LA LAND. A better choice
would be Jake Roberts for the lean and mean editing of HELL OR HIGH WATER.
Should
Win: Jake Roberts, HELL OR HIGH WATER
Will
Win: Tom Cross, LA LAND
Best
Costume Design
Colleen
Atwood, FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM
Consolata
Boyle, FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS
Madeline
Fontaine, JACKIE
Joanna
Johnston, ALLIED
Mary
Zophres, LA LA LAND
Normally
one would look to a period piece for the winner of the costume award. The most obvious choices would be FLORENCE
FOSTER JENKINS or ALLIED. Personally I
prefer Madeline Fontaine’s subtle work, but I suspect Mary Zophres will ride
the LA LA LAND wave. Hollywood, thou art
a narcissist.
Should
Win: Madeline Fontaine, JACKIE
Will
Win: Mary Zophres, LA LA LAND
Best
Production Design
ARRIVAL
FANTASTIC
BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM
HAIL,
CAESAR!
LA
LA LAND
PASSENGERS
The
Coen Brothers’ HAIL, CAESAR! was a puzzling concoction, but its production
design was immaculate. I hope I’m wrong,
but LA LA LAND is the likely victor.
Should
Win: HAIL, CAESAR!
Will
Win: LA LA LAND
Best
Original Score
Volker
Bertemann, Dustin O’Halloran, LION
Nicholas
Britell, MOONLIGHT
Justin
Hurwitz, LA LA LAND
Mica
Levi, JACKIE
Thomas
Newman, PASSENGERS
Bertemann
and O’Halloran’s sinuous LION score should prevail. However, nostalgia will have its revenge (again!)
as Justin Hurwitz’s tepid music for LA LA LAND carries the day.
Should
Win: Volker Bertemann, Dustin
O’Halloran, LION
Will
Win: Justin Hurwitz, LA LA LAND
Best
Original Song
“Audition
(The Fools Who Dream),” LA LA LAND
“Can’t
Stop the Feeling,” TROLLS
“City
of Stars,” LA LA LAND
“The
Empty Chair,” JIM: THE JAMES FOLEY STORY
“How
Far I’ll Go,” MOANA
Lin
Manuel Miranda knows how to write musical numbers, and his rousing “How Far
I’ll Go” from MOANA deserves the prize.
Once again, however, Hurwitz will triumph with his morose “City of
Stars” from LA LA LAND, because, hey, it’s a musical. (Psst, Academy members, so is MOANA.)
Should
Win: “How Far I’ll Go,” MOANA
Will
Win: “City of Stars,” LA LA LAND
Best
Sound Mixing
ARRIVAL
LA LA LAND
HACKSAW RIDGE
ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY
13 HOURS
Whether deserved or not the nominated “musical” inevitably gets the
sound mixing award. Hence, LA LA LAND’s
win. ARRIVAL is head and tentacles
better.
Should
Win: ARRIVAL
Will
Win: LA LA LAND
Best
Sound Editing
ARRIVAL
DEEPWATER
HORIZON
HACKSAW
RIDGE
LA
LA LAND
SULLY
There’s
a good chance this will continue LA LA LAND’s landslide. However, this may be the chance the Academy
needs to give HACKSAW RIDGE some undeserved love.
Me? I prefer ARRIVAL.
Should
Win: ARRIVAL
Will
Win: HACKSAW RIDGE
Best
Visual Effects
DEEPWATER
HORIZON
DOCTOR
STRANGE
THE
JUNGLE BOOK
KUBO
AND THE TWO STRINGS
ROGUE
ONE: A STAR WARS STORY
I
only saw KUBO and ROGUE ONE. Of the two
I preferred ROGUE ONE. Just about
everyone I know who saw it loved THE JUNGLE BOOK. What the heck. It’s worth a shot.
Should
Win: ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY
Will
Win: THE JUNGLE BOOK
Best
Makeup
A
MAN CALLED OVE
STAR
TREK BEYOND
SUICIDE
SQUAD
This
seems like a particularly weak year in the category. I only saw STAR TREK BEYOND, so let’s go with
that.
Should
and Will Win: STAR TREK BEYOND
Best
Documentary Short Subject
EXTREMIS
4.1
MILES
JOE’S
VIOLIN
WATANI:
MY HOMELAND
THE
WHITE HELMET
No
clue, so I’ll guess.
Will
Win: EXTREMIS
Best
Animated Short Subject
BLIND
VAYSHA
BORROWED
TIME
PEAR
CIDER AND CIGARETTES
PEARL
PIPER
I’m
guessing.
Will
Win: PIPER
Best
Live Action Short Subject
ENNEMIS
INTERIEURS
LA
FEMME ET LE TGV
SILENT
NIGHTS
SING
(MINDENKI)
TIMECODE
I’m
guessing again.
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