Writing Consistently

"Write until it becomes as natural as breathing. Write until not writing makes you anxious" - Christina Katz

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Best Picture

We finally arrive at the end of the journey. At first, I had intended to make this, together with the previous posts, as a continues daily post, but as I was getting 4 days of holiday and going to Delhi to celebrate the Holi, sadly I had to delay this particular post for a few days. No worry though, now that the holiday is over, I eventually have the chance to finish this year's Oscar overview right on time before the ceremony is about to be held. So here we go!

Best Picture: . Call Me By Your Name (2017) . Darkest Hour (2017) . Dunkirk (2017) . Get Out (2017) . Lady Bird (2017) . Phantom Thread (2017) . The Post (2017) . The Shape of Water (2017) . Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

From five predecessor awards prior to the Oscar – the Golden Globe (Musical or Comedy and Drama), the Critic’s Choice, the PGA Awards, the SAG Awards, and the BAFTA – three films have been named “Best Picture”. Lady Bird (above) won the Glode – Musical or Comedy, The Shape was the Critic’s Choice and won the PGA Awards, while Three Billboards (featured image) won the Globe – Drama, the SAG Awards for Best Ensemble Casts, and the BAFTA. Additionally, the latter had also won the BAFTA for Best British Film, alongside its Best Film Award.

If we want to narrow it down, from that statistic alone, we can safely assume that the winner will be either The Shape (below) or Three Billboards. But of course, it is not as simple as that.

I had mentioned several times that this year’s Oscar race is one of the most diverse competition that I have ever seen in the recent years. Unlike 2012 or 2013 season when we saw Argo (2012) and 12 Years a Slave (2013) became the frontrunners and won everything on their way into their Oscar, this year’s diversity makes it difficult for us even to pick for the nominations, let alone predicting the winner. If you have been following the Academy Awards for the last few years, there has always been this diversity in the awards distribution prior to the Oscar. Let’s see the stats here.

Just like what we have seen there, the frontrunners on those list didn’t always end up winning at the Oscar. The freshest memory was, of course, last year’s ceremony gaffe, when Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, who curiously become the presenter again this year for the very same category, wrongly named La La Land the Best Picture over Moonlight.

That shock, together with the attached statistic above, indicate that everything is possible and each film has their own chance of becoming the best at the Oscar ceremony.

For now, we can safely presume that the three aforementioned films will have the highest chance of getting the golden statuette, but people have also speculated that Get Out (above) could become the dark horse in this competition. This blockbuster has proved to be the favourite for its screenplay after winning two awards, the Critic’s Choice and the WGA Awards. It’s not an impossible task for it to make a shock at the Academy Awards. But will that two script-related awards be enough for Get Out to get the Oscar? We’ll see it, soon.

By those facts and stats, this year’s Best Picture Oscar race will absolutely be one of the most exciting competition we have ever seen. I just simply can’t wait.

Image source: IMP Awards, Ollie Charles, IMP Awards, Trailer Addict

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Directing

Best Director: . Christopher Nolan - Dunkirk (2017) . Jordan Peele - Get Out (2017) . Greta Gerwig - Lady Bird (2017) . Paul Thomas Anderson - Phantom Thread (2017) . Guillermo del Toro - The Shape of Water (2017)

Similar to last year's Academy Award for Best Director race, this year's ceremony seems follow the same path as there is one name who keeps getting the recognition from the predecessor awards prior to the Oscar. Last year we saw La La Land's (2017) helm, Damien Chazelle won every award, including the Oscar. At the age of 32, he was the youngest winner of this category. While his year we have The Shape of Water's director, Guillermo del Toro, who has almost duplicated Chazelle's feat. He will highly likely get his golden statuette in the upcoming ceremony.

However, rumour has it that there will be quite a shock in this year's Oscar. Especially after Harvey Weinstein's sexual scandal was unfolded in October 2017. The event has ignited the Time's Up movement, focusing on sexual assault, founded by the Hollywood celebrities. That, people said, might have change the mind of the Academy Awards voters. With the presence of Greta Gerwig, the only female nominee in Best Director, there's a chance that Gerwig could pull it off at the very last minute.

As it is for myself, I will be feeling glad should the award go either to del Toro or Gerwig. But deep down, I'm rooting for the earlier. Well, let's just hope for the best. Whoever wins it, I'm sure they deserve it.

Image source: People

Trivia: Greta Gerwig is the fifth woman who have ever nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director.

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Four Acting Categories

Since the inception of the Critic’s Choice Awards in 1995, never before a group of four actors in four different acting categories has clean swept the top five biggest awards in the film industry in the same award season. The closest feat was in 2006 season when Forest Whitaker, Helen Mirren, and Jennifer Hudson had taken all the five awards that year in Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress, respectively. That was three, but never four. This stat, however, is about to be changed in the upcoming Oscar ceremony. Will it be or will it be not?

Best Actor: . Timothée Chalamet – Call Me By Your Name (2017) . Daniel Day-Lewis – Phantom Thread (2017) . Daniel Kaluuya – Get Out (2017) . Gary Oldman – Darkest Hour (2017) . Denzel Washington – Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017)

Best Actress: . Sally Hawkins – The Shape of Water (2017) . Frances McDormand – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) . Margot Robbie – I, Tonya (2017) . Saoirse Ronan – Lady Bird (2017) . Meryl Streep – The Post (2017)

Best Supporting Actor: . Willem Dafoe – The Florida Project (2017) . Woody Harrelson – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) . Richard Jenkins – The Shape of Water (2017) . Christopher Plummer – All the Money in the World (2017) . Sam Rockwell – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

Best Supporting Actress: . Mary J. Blige – Mudbound (2017) . Allison Janney – I, Tonya (2017) . Lesley Manville – Phantom Thread (2017) . Laurie Metcalf – Lady Bird (2017) . Octavia Spencer – The Shape of Water (2017)

The four actors, in four different categories, who have been succesfull in this year’s award season are Gary Oldman, Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell, and Allison Janney. Their journey, however, is not as smooth as people would have expected. Except maybe for Oldman, who has always been a frontrunner since the very first time his film was screened last October.

At the end of 2017, it was their closest rival who took home some awards. Hawkins, Dafoe, and Metcalf, all were getting nods from the critics. But when the year came to its end, the fortune slowly shifted. McDormand, Rockwell, and Janney started to grab the attention after winning at the Golden Globe, together with Oldman. They duplicated the result at the Critic’s Choice Awards and the SAG Awards. Lastly, the four artists also took home the awards at the BAFTA.

Those results could be a positive signal for the four actors as they all one big award shy from creating history. But some people have speculated that there's still a chance where that won't be materialised. Their closest rival could get into their way at the very last minute. When McDormand (above, right) said, "...but there's a lotta young ones comin' up and they need door stops, too, let's think about that..." at the SAG Awards, that might have changed the Academy voters to choose the young guns against her. Moreover she had won Oscar for her incredible performance in Fargo (1996). Although the probability is very thin, because McDormand, too, was sublime in Three Billboards, the speech from her might change the outcome for the upcoming award.

In the two supporting categories, the race is very interesting, too. Especially in the Best Supporting Actor. Thanks to the two nominations for Three Billboards casts, Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell, that has added some complexity into this category. Most of the people have predicted that the Oscar should go to Rockwell's hand. But the two noms might backfire to either, or at least one, Harrelson or Rockwell. I mean, yes, Rockwell was good, very good, but let's not forget that Harrelson was also giving his best on that film. The splitting from the voters who think that both have given stellar performances could end up to either Harrelson win over Rockwell or neither of them. The closest rival would be Dafoe in The Florida Project. But the fact that the only nomination this film get is from this category, make it quite clear that the film itself is not Academy's favourite. Well, who knows, right?

While in its counterpart category, it is Laurie Metcalf who is predicted to make a shock at the Oscar, denying Allison Janney (above) for her Oscar. So apparently, the battle in this category is the battle of the mothers. As the two strongest competitions here, Janney and Metcalt, were both portraying a mother of a unique daughter in their respective film. I'm very excited to see who will finally take home the award at the Oscar.

Last, but not least, the Best Actor category. I'm pretty sure that the Oscar in this category will go to Gary Oldman (featured image). Not that I doubt the other four actors could upset him, but this year's Oscar is really his. I mean, look at his incredible transformation and powerful performance as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour. No one would have thought it was Oldman, thanks to the makeup artists. But it's not only about the appearance, you see. It is his amazing portrayal that makes his performance great. His closest rival, is probably Timothée Chalamet in Call Me By Your Name. Although he delivered such a good performance, but I think it's still not as strong as Oldman's.

In the end, despite being speculated by some of the critics that there will a lil bit of shock, especially in the three earlier categories, I will still taking the safe bet and predict Oldman, McDormand, Rockwell, and Janney to get their Oscar.

Image sources: Daily Mail, Independent, Daily Mail

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Original Screenplay & Adapted Screenplay

The five films in the Best Original Screenplay category is one the most fantastic group of films that I have ever seen in the recent years. The competition amongst the five, despite being dominated by two films, Get Out and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, is so intense. The creativity and the originality of these films are top-notch, you can’t even sort them at too far distant for each of their quality is almost equal.

The aforementioned films had each won two trophies from four predecessor awards. Get Out was the Critic’s Choice and got the highest prize from Writers Guild of America (WGA) Awards. While Three Billboards won at the Golden Globe* and the BAFTA. However, there is one thing that should be noted. It is the fact that Get Out’s win at WGA was somehow imperfect as The Billboards was not nominated by the Guild. Had it had been nominated, there is a high chance that the latter would have taken the award instead. But the current situation really has added a certain complexity into this particular category.

Best Original Screenplay: . The Big Sick (2017) . Get Out (2017) . Lady Bird (2017) . The Shape of Water (2017) . Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

In the Best Adapted Screenplay, however, the competition is not as fierce as that of its counterpart category. For we have a frontrunner that has taken almost all awards there were. Call Me By Your Name. Not only that it was the Critic’s Choice, but it also had taken the WGA Awards and the BAFTA, too. Should nothing odd happen, I’m pretty sure that it will get the Oscar.

Best Adapted Screenplay: . Call Me By Your Name (2017) . The Disaster Artist (2017) . Logan (2017) . Molly’s Game (2017) . Mudbound (2017)

P.S. The Golden Globe honoured the screenplay as a whole, with no distinction between original and/or adapted screenplay

Trivia: Logan (2017) it the first superhero film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Image source: IMDB

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Cinematography & Production Design

Best Cinematography: . Blade Runner 2049 (2017) – Roger Deakins . Darkest Hour (2017) – Bruno Delbonnel . Dunkirk (2017) – Hoyte van Hoytema . Mudbound (2017) – Rachel Morrison . The Shape of Water (2017) - Dan Laustsen

Borrowing one statement that I had found somewhere in the internet, the battle in the Best Cinematography is between Deakins and Dunkirk. Which is understanable because the two DPs of these films have shot such an immense and powerfull cinematography to their respective artworks, much better than that of the other nominees. Although, from this award season results, it is safe to presume that the highest award will go to the hands of the great Roger Deakins. It is Roger Deakins’ 14th Oscar nomination.

Best Production Design: . Beauty and the Beast (2017) . Blade Runner 2049 (2017) . Darkest Hour (2017) . Dunkirk (2017) . The Shape of Water (2017)

When I saw the The Amphibian Man from The Shape for the very first time, I thought it was a part of a makeup or a custome. Turns out, it’s more of a production design; and for that reason, the film has been succeeded in this year’s award season, and will likely get the golden statuette at the Oscar.

I think it’s pretty clear that I will be cheering for Blade Runner in Best Cinematography and The Shape in Best Production Design.

Trivia: Rachel Morrison is the first woman in Academy Award history to be nominated for Best Cinematography.

Image source: IMP Awards

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Film Editing & Visual Effects

Similar with the two Sound categories, the competition in the Best Film Editing is virtually and visually cutthroat, once again, between Baby Driver and Dunkirk. Not that the others are bad, but the editing of these two films are sublime and almost flawlesss. I remember that a few weeks ago, I watched this 2017 film and for the first 20 minutes, I was feeling dizzy due to its bad editing, especially the transition in between the cuts. I know it’s not my place to criticize the efforts of the editor, but that’s the truth, anyway. By having that experience, though, I had been more convinced that editing film is not an easy job. I’m sure of that.

Best Film Editing: . Baby Driver (2017) . Dunkirk (2017) . I, Tonya (2017) . The Shape of Water (2017) . Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

While for the Best Visual Effects, there’s not really a frontrunner with outstanding, jaw-dropping visual, like Life of Pi (2012), Gravity (2013), or The Jungle Book (2016) who were practically taking home every awards there were in their respective award seasons.

The most promising frontrunner is War for the Planet of the Apes, that had taken home awards from the Critic’s Choice for Best Visual Effects and from the Visual Effects Society for Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture. The film missed the BAFTA after losing to Blade Runner 2049. This feat, however, is similar with what had happened to its prequels, Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) that also won on the two aforementioned awards, but lost at the BAFTA to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011) and Interstellar (2014). The latter also won the Oscar that year, while at 2012, the award went to Hugo (2011). Apparently, the Academy wasn’t really fond of Planet of the Apes franchise; and this might have been a bad omen for the War.

Best Visual Effects: . Blade Runner 2049 (2017) . Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) . Kong: Skull Island (2017) . Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) . War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)

I’ll choose Dunkirk for Best Film Editing and War for the Planet of the Apes for Best Visual Effects. With the possibility from Baby Driver and Blade Runner 2049 or Star Wars: The Last Jedi to make a shock at the last minute.

Image source: 20th Century Fox

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Costume Design & Makeup and Hairstyling

“In an industry becoming more digital every day, nothing can replace the hands that make our costumes, stitch by stitch.” – Chris Pine

“Every button and bead agonize over until the gown flows, the colour peaks, the slipper fits, and the past comes alive.” – Jennifer Lopez

These two are one of my favourites, outside from the main categories. Because I always love seeing how the costume and makeup could transform the actors into their character, both practically and virtually. Yes, visual effects is good, but these two are incredible in their own way.

Best Costume Design: . Beauty and the Beast (2017) – Jacqueline Durran . Darkest Hour (2017) – Jacqueline Durran . Phantom Thread (2017) – Mark Bridges . The Shape of Water (2017) – Luis Sequeira . Victoria & Abdul (2017) – Consolata Boyle

Best Makeup and Hairstyling: . Darkest Hour (2017) . Victoria & Abdul (2017) . Wonder (2017)

The frontrunners from these two categories are Phantom Thread and Darkest Hour. While the latter will highly likely get the Oscar, for it has won the Critic’s Choice and the BAFTA, the earlier, however, was snubbed at the Costume Designers Guild (CDG) after losing to The Shape of Water in the Excellence in Period Film category. This year’s race is somehow similar with that of last year’s.

Jackie (2016) was a frontrunner after winning at the same two abovementioned awards, but it lost to Hidden Figures (2016) in the CDG, both are also period films. However, the Oscar winner was Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016), which lost to Doctor Strange (2016) in Excellence in Fantasy Film. So it will be very interesting to see how this year’s race will end up.

Trivia: This is Jacqueline Durran's first two-Oscars-nomination in the same year. She has won once previously for her work in Anna Karenina (2012).

Image source: Paste Magazine

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Original Score & Original Song

“Great music does more than enhance a film, it cements our memories in the film-going experience. I mean, imagine The Godfather without its iconic theme; or Breakfast at Tiffany’s without the music of Henry Mancini; or the wondrous theme and music of John Williams in Star Wars; and here are the nominees for the Best Original Score.” – Julie Andrews

Best Original Score: . Dunkirk (2017) – Hans Zimmer . Phantom Thread (2017) – Jonny Greenwood . The Shape of Water (2017) – Alexandre Desplat . Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) – John Williams . Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) – Carter Burwell

After practically taking home three awards from the Golden Globe, the Critic’s Choice, and BAFTA for his work in The Shape, Alexandre Desplat will highly likely win his second Oscar after winning his first for The Grand Budapest Hotel in 2015 Oscar.

Best Original Song: . “Mighty River” from Mudbound (2017) . “Mystery of Love” from Call Me By Your Name (2017) . “Remember Me” from Coco (2017) . “Stand Up for Something” from Marshall (2017) . “This Is Me” from The Greatest Showman (2017)

The Globe opted for The Greatest Showman’s “This Is Me” while the Critic’s Choice was Coco’s “Remember Me”, but seeing from the popularity, I think the latter will get the Oscar, giving Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez their second win after Frozen's fenomenal song, "Let It Go".

Trivia: Jonny Greenwood is one of a few rock musicians who has ever been nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Original Score.

Image source: Disney-Pixar's Coco

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Sound Editing & Sound Mixing

These two technnical categories often cause a confusion to people who hear their names for the very first time. I’m still having difficulties to distinguish the two of them up until now though. However, that is understandable, because not only that these categories sound similar, but also the nominees are often overlap, and sometimes similar, on both sides. Just like what happens to this year’s Oscar.

Best Sound Editing: . Baby Driver (2017) . Blade Runner 2049 (2017) . Dunkirk (2017) . The Shape of Water (2017) . Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

Best Sound Mixing: . Baby Driver (2017) . Blade Runner 2049 (2017) . Dunkirk (2017) . The Shape of Water (2017) . Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

Because I’m not an expert in either sound editing or sound mixing, I will just direct you to read some of the explanation regarding these two categories in here, here, or here. But if you’re too lazy to open the links, I’ll tell you shortly about it. I’m taking this knowledge from one of the articles there.

First, please keep it in mind that, just like the alphabet, the E comes first before the M, so sound editing usually occurs before sound mixing. Second, and last, sound editors will assemble WHAT the audience hears, while sound mixers will determine HOW they hear it.

Among the five films, I only missed The Last Jedi, but I think that won’t really be the case because the competition will be, prediction site said, only between Baby Driver and Dunkirk. As it is for me, I predict the latter to win on both categories. But it doesn’t rule out the opportunity for Baby Driver, or maybe even Blade Runner 2049 to make a shock at the Academy Awards.

Trivia: These films in the two categories matched five out of five for the first time ever.

Image source: Joamos

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Animated Feature, Documentary - Feature, and Foreign Language Film

The films listed in these categories are much more popular than those of the previous ones. As most of the them are easily found to be screened on the cinema. Especially films in the first category. While for the last two, well, rumor has it that some of the cinemas in the US and other countries usually have them screened. Although maybe the audience is not as much as that of animated feature film.

Best Animated Feature: . The Boss Baby (2017) . The Breadwinner (2017) . Coco (2017) . Ferdinand (2017) . Loving Vincent (2017)

Best Documentary – Feature: . Abacus: Small Enough to Jail (2016) . Faces Places (2017) . Icarus (2017) . Last Men in Aleppo (2017) . Strong Island (2017)

Best Foreign Language Film: . A Fantastic Woman - Chile (2017) . The Insult - Lebanon (2017) . Loveless - Russia (2017) . On Body and Soul - Hungary (2017) . The Square - Sweden (2017)

As per writing this post, I had only managed to watch The Boss Baby, Coco, and Loving Vincent for Best Animated Feature; Loveless, On Body and Soul, and The Square for Best Foreign Languange Film; and nothing for Best documentary feature.

Seeing from the awards parade prior to today, without a doubt, Coco will definitely win at the Oscar. For it has practically taken home all of the awards in the existence. So for that I will choose this film for my prediction. While for the two remaining categories, I'll keep the slot empty for now. Maybe I will decide which films I'll pick for my Oscar prediction after I have the chance to watch them all, or at least, see most of them, like 4 out of 5. I hope.

Trivia: Coco is the first-ever film with a nine-figure budget, with a cost of $175–200 million, to feature an all-Latino cast. It also has become the highest-grossing film of all-time in Mexico.

Image source: MovieWeb

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Short Films

Best Live Action Short Film: . DeKalb Elementary (2017) . The Eleven O’Clock (2016) . My Nephew Emmett (2017) . The Silent Child (2017) . Watu Wote/All of Us (2017)

Best Animated Short Film: . Dear Basketball (2017) . Garden Party (2016) . Lou (2017) . Negative Space (2017) . Revolting Rhymes (2016)

Best Documentary – Short Subject: . Edith+Eddie (2017) . Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405 (2016) . Heroin(e) (2017) . Knife Skills (2017) . Traffic Stop (2017)

Similar with 2017, I’m starting this countdown to the Academy Awards from the least popular categories. Last year I started from documentaries – both Feature and Short Subject – on the first day and followed by short films on the next one. As for this year, I start it from the latter and I’m including the nominated films from Best Documentary – Short Subject into this group, too, because of the similarity that these three categories are sharing: to be “not more than 40 minutes, including all credits.”

The reason behind their unpopularity is simply because there aren’t many theatres screening these films on their schedules. For Best Animated Short Film, however, there might have been a chance that the films were screened in theatre alongside the animated feature films. Just like what had happened to Lou where it was released theatrically and screened prior to the screening of Cars 3 (2017). But for the rest films, the chance is very thin for them to be screened on cinema.

Among the fifteen nominees here, I have only seen two films, Dear Basketball and Lou, both of which are in the Best Animated Short Film. I know it will be difficult for me to predict which one is the best amongst them as I haven’t seen all of the films, but if I have to choose between these two, I think I will put my money on Dear Basketball. Despite being visually less vibrant than Lou, but the story is more profound, in my opinion.

While for the two other categories, as, at the time of writing this post, I have never watched any those films, I don’t think I can make any decent. So, I’ll just leave them without giving you any prediction. If you have watched them and already have your own personal favourite, you can tell me. I’ll be glad to hear it from you.

Trivia: Dear Basketball was written by the, now retired, famous basketball player, Kobe Bryant. He is the first NBA player to receive an Academy Award nomination.

Image source: Ballislife.com

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Predicting the Oscars

Last year, for the very first time, I had decided to follow the race of the film awards season. As there are so many award ceremonies out there, I opted to cut the number of that down to maximum of five names. Those that I consider as the top five film industry awards. The Academy Awards, the BAFTA Awards, the Critic’s Choice Awards, the Golden Globe Awards, and the Association/Guild Awards (e.g. the PGA, the DGA, and the SAG).

Upon following their ceremonies and results, I had made some Excel files containing the full list of the winners from each of the category. I started from the Oscar and I have been using Wikipedia and Oscar's official website as my source. While for the rest of the awards, the same case was also applied. Despite have been doing for more than 12 months, I still haven’t finish it the complete list yet. Simply because I was, and am, too lazy to do so.

Together with the Excel files, I had also made some posts on this very blog of mine and on my Facebook account. I was using #oscarwithacg as the hashtag on both platforms. Although you probably will not be able to see it on my Facebook as I set my post privacy there to be “Friends”. They were written accordingly to the distinction and the uniqueness of each category. If you have spare time, you can check them here. Before coming into these two not-really-useful achievements, however, the journey of myself finding the passion for the films and the awards season wasn’t really an interesting one to read. But at least, I already have something to tell. So, fasten your seat belt, folks!

I have been knowing about the Academy Awards since 2009 when Slumdog Millionaire (2008) won the Best Picture in the 81st edition. But I wasn’t really into it back then because I haven’t yet become a moviegoer myself. I only knew some of the winners in the famous categories like Best Picture, Best Director , and both Best Actor and Best Actress because the news that I read only showcased these categories, mostly. I didn’t bother myself to check the remaining categories on Wikipedia because I was too lazy and because I didn’t want to spend my time in cyber café only to browse for that information. I went there only to use Facebook, Twitter, and watching some badminton videos on YouTube.

The case was pretty much similar in the upcoming years as I, yet again, didn’t acquaint myself with the information of the fresh-from-the-oven films at that time. But it would eventually change in a few years. After I watched Schindler’s List (1993) and The Shawshank Redemption (1994), I started to open my mind and began to find my interest towards this industry.

The first Oscar ceremony that I remember observing was the 86th edition. At that time, the frontrunner was 12 Years a Slave (2013), which eventually took home the Oscar, and the other contenders, who could possibly tackle 12 Years, were American Hustle (2013) and Gravity (2013). At that time, I had only watched the latter and I would watch 12 Years a few days after the ceremony. While for the rest, well, even up until now, there are still two names from this category that I still haven’t watched yet. Nebraska (2013) and Philomena (2013).

One year after that, I still hadn’t had my mind occupied with these Oscar-related-things. All I know was that Birdman (2014) won for the Best Picture and that’s it. At first, I thought it was a superhero movie, which waspartially right, but eventually I knew that it is more of a satirical superhero story rather than a real one. In the end, I fell in love with the film. Although it had taken me almost two years since its released date.

The 86th Annual Academy Awards was also become the very first Oscar ceremony that I had watched entirely. Although I don’t really remember the exact date when I was watching it. The show was hosted by Ellen DeGeneres and after seeing her opening monologue, I decided to watch the rest of it. I wasn’t disappointed. After I watched the awards, I had force myself to watch more and more films, especially those that were nominated at the Oscar. I had also intended to watch another Oscar ceremony, which I did. I watched the 2012, 2013, and 2015 Oscar within the next few months, but I forget which that I saw first.

One year after, I watched the 2016 Oscar and I predicted The Revenant (2015) to win the Best Picture. But deep inside my head, I had had the thought of Spotlight (2015) winning the award, and it eventually did. At that time, though, I was only seeing the Oscar without looking at the precedent awards. I was saying to myself, “If I want to follow and predict the Oscar better, I should follow the other awards prior to its ceremony.” So, I went on to read the Wikipedia and ultimately chose the aforementioned four awards to be featured on my award winners list alongside the Oscar’s. Not long after that, I also found this award prediction site, called GoldDerby. Among so many sites, this one was quickly becoming my favourite because of its complete and simple feature. Before making any predictions, I always check this site first.

From that moment on, I am becoming more confident in predicting the Oscar winners. Despite being unable to watch some of the nominated films, but I can safely assume that one particular film will most likely win the golden statuette. Simply because I have known that that film had won several awards prior to the Oscar’s ceremony. On some cases, however, thing does not always go as simple as that. Some odd scenario might happen, without no one seeing it. Just like what had happened at last year’s Oscar when La La Land (2016) was mistakenly named the Best Picture over Moonlight (2016) by Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.

Nonetheless, this thing that I have been doing for the last 12 months or so has been making me happy, no matter what. It makes me happy because not only that I know some unimportant facts that might be unknown by most people, which my friend, Mahardika, calls as #AsupanIlmuGakPenting , but also because some of my friends had jokingly complimented me for what I have been doing.

“No wonder it took you six years to graduate from college. You were busy doing this.”

Yes, it had taken me six years to finish my undergraduate study, instead of four.

“You should make another thesis out of these.”

Those are the two examples of how my friend was reacting when I showed them the list for the very first time. They were joking, I know, but at the same time I could feel that they were also amazed by me. Yes, I am bragging. *cough*

So, which films are you predicting to win Best Picture at the Oscar?

Image source: The Independent

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Tāj Mahal, Not Tāj Māhāl

If you had read my previous post, you must have known that I had mentioned the name of Shah Jahan’s most famous work, Taj Mahal, in the opening line. The reason behind it is no other than the fact that I have been exposed to its name for the last few days. Not only that some of my Indonesian friends were visiting it last week, and some others are planning to do so, but also because some of my students were correcting me when I was in their class.

“I’m planning to visit Tāj Māhāl on this summer holiday.”

“Sir, it’s Tāj Mahal, not Tāj Māhāl. It’s written like this, Sir: ताजमहल.”

“Ah, yes, you’re right.”

Those are the stories behind it and I had intended to make a post out of it. But upon writing its draft on a piece of paper last week, another idea came into my head and I voluntarily decided to change the topic. I know it might be not that important for some of you, but I guess a little bit of new knowledge won’t hurt, will it?

So how do we distinguish it?

It’s a little bit difficult to know the difference if you only see its written form, but I will try to explain it to you as short and simple as I can.

The “A” on both the “Tāj” and the “Mahal” is pronounced differently. The earlier is pronounced like you say the word “tas”, means bag in Indonesian. While the latter is pronounced like you say “(bola) békel”. So, it’s pronounced “Tāj Mahal.” For the record, I am still looking for the match pronunciation for it in the English words. If you can come up with any idea, please let me know.

Just as I had written earlier, the Hindi word for it is ताजमहल (Tāj Mahal), with matra “A” (ा) after the “Ta” (त), but without any matra after “Ma” (म) and “Ha” (ह). While most of us, especially Indonesian, pronounce it ताजमाहाल (Tāj Māhāl), with matra “A” after each of the aforementioned Hindi letters. The reason for it is because the word “Mahal” is written similarly with the Indonesian word “mahal”, means expensive. I think that is the only logical reason behind the word mispronouncing.

However, to keep using the letter A with macron, Ā/ā, every time you write the name “Taj Mahal”, be it in a computer or in a smartphone, is not convenient, to say the least. As you will have to setup your keyboard first so that it will finally appear in the input option of the keyboard or you can simply just copy-paste it from Wikipedia. Just like what I did when I was working on this post.

If people were to ask me how to write it, then I will simply write it as “Taj Mahal”, but if they are asking me how to pronounce it, correctly, well then I will say “Tāj Mahal.”

Featured image: Taj Mahal, taken by @ahramuzakkiy on his visit to the monument.

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Topic of the Week, Depression, and Social Media

I had this idea of making a weekly post about something that has happened to me or to the people around me in a particular week, entitled “Topic of the Week”, that might probably interest some of you, my beloved reader. Before I made the draft of this writing, I had intended to write about Taj Mahal. For not only that some of my Indonesian-who-are-currently-in-India friends were visiting the mausoleum a few days ago, but also yesterday I was corrected by some of my students after I had said, “I’m planning to visit Taj Mahal –in Indonesian pronounciation, that is– on this summer holiday”, and they said, “Sir, it’s Tāj Mahal, ताजमहल, not Tāj Māhāl, ताजमाहाल”. They showed me the correct Hindi writing for the monument, ताजमहल, and after that all I could do was saying, “Ah, yes, you’re right”.

Let’s go back to the main topic, shall we?

The idea itself came from one of my friends, Martin, who has had this challenge-and-experiment to declutter himself from the shackle of social media. The thought of it has somehow moved me, because in his writing he had meticulously explained his point of view in a way that did not offend any groups of people. For we often find some people who write not only to express their opinion towards something, but they also want to show people that their standpoint is the most important one, and sometimes it sounds provocative. In Martin’s writing, however, I didn’t find any of that unpleasant reading experience. In fact, as a frequent social media user myself, I had found that the writing was meditative and I liked that.

After I read it, I had managed to reduce my frequency of utilising the social media. After that, too, Martin and I have had this conversation about several things, especially about this social media addiction. Although I think the word "addiction" itself is somehow too strong to be used, but I hadn’t found any more suitable word to replace it. So for now, we’re going to stick with it.

I had told him that I use about three to four hours of my daily time only to wandering around on social media. I had also told him that some of my friends are even spending most of their time by doing activities on social media. They are using Facebook almost 24/7 and from what I have been observing, they have their reason for doing that. Let me tell you a lil bit about it.

Some of them are currently dealing with depression and suicidal thought, and I can obviously understand that as I am also having the same issue.

“I’m having ups and downs, depression and so on, and I have to be honest that using social media is one (of the) thing that can suppress that suicidal feeling.”

I told him that and later added, probably this is the reason why we are really that active on social media.

It’s not that we don’t want to socialise in real life, but based on something that I had experienced, interaction on social media has given me a better remedy than that of real life. For example, when I said, “I think I am depressed, people in real life, most of them, will mock me without even asking what happened?. While those on social media, most of whom I have never met in person, are always be the most supportive people in every possible way. Virtual though the support might have sound, but if you’re also having this irksome occurrence, you will find that their support is one of the most pleasing thing you could possibly get.

But why don’t you use your time doing something else? Something more productive, like reading, writing, or watching films?

Trust me, most of us have been doing exactly that, but sometimes, we get bored, too. We end up using Facebook, all over again, or like in one of my friends’ case, having yet another dose of antidepressant.

One interesting thing is, that although we are depressed and/or suicidal, most of us, excluding me, of course, are one of the most productive groups that I have ever found. For most of them are able to deal with their problems in their own way. Yes, we are using a lot of social media because we are depressed, but they, I'm excluded, are doing something good with it.

One of my friends is an aspiring artist with incredible talent who always post their amazing oeuvre to their social media and their friends always give them compliment for their stunning works. The other friend is a college student who always give us report of his mind-blowing project in his campus, and the last report I had received was that his campus was showing an interest to fund the project. They are struggling, without most of people knowing it, with their depression, and yet, they still manage to restrain it, in a great manner. When I asked one of them, “How can you still be able make these beautiful artworks, while also dealing with your awful depression?”

“Because it makes me happy.”

I want people to know that even though we look fine, on our appearance or happy-go-lucky attitude, but please keep it in mind that we all are struggling our own battle, and if you see some of us are not okay because of their addiction to social media, please also note that they only do it because it makes them happy. The more we listen, read, and see, the better the point of view we will get from people around us. After reading this I hope that you will do, too.

Featured image source: Telegraph

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Suatu Senja di Kota Shimla

Dari kami berlima, tiga teman perempuan saya memilih untuk duduk dan berjemur menikmati mentari senja Shimla yang cukup hangat. Tak jauh dari situ, satu orang teman laki-laki saya duduk membelakangi matahari. Ia terlihat bercakap dengan seorang laki-laki lain yang sepertinya adalah seorang turis lokal. Sementara saya memilih untuk duduk sendiri di sebuah bangku kosong, tak jauh dari tempat mereka berempat, yang tidak disinari matahari dan juga tidak menghadap ke jalan utama.

Di sebelah kanan saya, terdapat sebuah bangunan tua berwarna dominan putih dengan warna ornamental merah, yang melindungi saya dari terpaan cahaya matahari sore. Cat-catnya banyak yang sudah terkelupas karena dimakan usia. Di sebelah kiri saya, saya bisa melihat dengan jelas keempat teman saya. Ketiga perempuan itu duduk bersama, dan terlihat sedang berbincang, di salah satu kursi gazebo yang langsung mendapat pancaran sinar matahari. Sementara teman lelaki saya juga terlihat masih asyik mengobrol dengan teman barunya.

Di depan, saya memerhatikan kedua kaki saya yang saya sandarkan pada sebuah pagar besi berwarna cokelat. Di bawah pagar tersebut, terdapat sebuah tangga menurun, yang terhimpit oleh bangunan-bangunan (gambar di bawah), yang selama saya duduk di bangku kayu berkerangka besi ini, berulang kali dilewati para kuli angkut yang membawa banyak barang di atas punggung mereka, dengan tali yang ditautkan pada kepala mereka.

Saat barang-barang tersebut telah diantarkan ke pemiliknya, yang bangunan miliknya berada tidak jauh dari tempat saya menyaksikan pemandangan tersebut, mereka beristirahat sejenak dan bercengkerama dengan sesamanya. Peluh membasahi wajah mereka, tetapi mereka tetap mampu tertawa dalam terlihat sangat bahagia dalam kelelahan mereka. Dengan sebuah buku catatan kecil dan bolpoin di dalam tas, saya memutuskan untuk mengabadikan momen-momen ini dalam sebuah tulisan.

Saat saya mulai menulis beberapa kalimat untuk tulisan ini, di atas bangunan berwarna putih tadi, saya melihat sepasang burung merpati yang sepertinya juga sedang menikmati suasana senja di kota Shimla (gambar di awal).

Shimla, 9 Januari 2018.

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Call Me by Your Name

It took me about three good weeks to actually finish this romance novel from André Aciman, which is a pretty good achievement, for me, at least, remembering that last year, it had taken me almost five months to devour VanderMeer’s first installment of the Southern Reach Trilogy, Annihilation*. I had watched the film adaptation a few days before I started to read the novel, and one of my friends, Tanu, said that the he wouldn’t watch the film unless he has finished the book first. For people said, including him, that the end of the story is altered on the film.

Driven by curiosity of how dissimilar the end might have been, and the fact that after arriving in Delhi from Shimla I had had run out my internet pack quota, I realised that I had nothing else to do with my phone except to read and/or taking picture. But there wasn’t anything decent to snap in the city, as we were only waiting inside the bus, at the bus station, due to tiredness. So, I decided to read instead.

Looking back to the past three weeks, I had actually finished the first quarter of the book while I was in Delhi and I had intended to finish it in three days, but as you all know, like most people do –or was it just me?– the plan didn’t go as I had intended to. But in the end, I eventually finished the book before January ends, which is good, nonetheless.

If you love the film, then you will definitely love the novel, too, because in my opinion, the story within the book is narratively better than that of the picture. If I have to choose between the two, I will undoubtly choose the novel over the film.

Speaking about the distinction, in the novel, the story was a first person narrative, while in the film, that way of storytelling was changed, and that, borrowing my friend’s, Fajar, words, “It was a bold move”. Even the alteration on some of the characters, scenes, and most importantly the end of the film, had given a better, sad-but-realistic end, that resonated with a lot of people, and cinematically, that what makes the film good.

Now I lost my track of whether I am giving a book or a film review.

One of the disadvantages you will probably get from reading a book that had been adapted into a picture, which you had watched prior to read the novel, is that you will never be able to imagine the character within the story as freely as if you had never watched it before. For you will always be thinking of the personae that you had seen from the film. It was the second novel, after The Reader, that I had read after I had watched its film adaptation and, just like what had happened before, the same case still applied to me. While I read Call Me by Your Name, every time I saw “Elio”, all I could imagine was Timothée Chalamet, and when I saw “Oliver”, all I was thinking was Armie Hammer.

Maybe I should change the way I read one particular book, especially novel. So that before watching an adaptation film, I should prepare myself by reading the book first. But I am not an ardent reader myself, and most of the interesting books that I have been wanting to read had been adapted into pictures, and I had watched most of them, too. So I almost never have that luxury to imagine the character inside the novel without being spoiled by the interpretation of that by the filmmaker.

There's this thing that has been haunting my mind for quite a while. I don't know whether it is a fact or a coincidence, that a good novel I had read, which are not many, have always delivered a good film. I am thinking that a good novel will always make a good film adaptation, but after several thoughts, I figured that there are some bad pictures adapted from a good novel. So it is actually more complicated than that. It not only needs a good source of materials, but it also neeeds the cold hands of the scripwriter, the craftsmanship directiong of the helm, and the expertise of the actors who portray each and every characters.

After all, at the very least, both the book and the film are a bloodily good work effort from each of their creator. I recommend you all to read the novel and watch the film.

Later!

*Its film adaptation is going to be released on the first quarter of 2018.

Image source: Goodreads

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Short Winter Vacation

Before coming to India, I didn’t know that there is this city called Shimla, in Northern part of the country. All I know were only the famous cities like Agra, Delhi, Mumbai, and so on. Understandable, I guess. As maybe because the most famous tourist attraction this country has is the beautiful and grand Taj Mahal, in the city of Agra. Or is it? I used to think naively like that, but after my coming here, slowly but surely, my way of thinking is changing.

It was my friend, Eka, who introduced me to the capital city of Himachal Pradesh, Shimla. As a Bollywood-movie-lover herself, she told me that one of the main reason she had wanted to go to India was because she wanted to visit this beautiful city. After that conversation, I figured that the city was featured in some of the famous Bollywood movie that I had watched, like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) and 3 Idiots (2009). But I didn’t remember this fact at all as it has been a long time since the last time I watched, or maybe I was just not seeing the detail that much when I watched them.

After hearing that, I browsed on some information regarding the city. Turned out, the city is, indeed, beautiful. Not only that it has picturesque scene, with snow on winter season, but it also has this European architecture on its buildings. This due to its history as the summer capital of the British India during the colonization.

My friends, including Eka, and I, were so excited to visit this city on the winter holiday. So, we planned it meticulously before we went. The bus reservation, the booking of the hotel, the places we wanted to visit while we would be staying in the city, etc. We had to be sure that everything is taken care of very carefully. Especially because we were going on a holiday with a very limited budget. After a long discussion and calculation, we eventually managed to fix the plan, even to the tiniest detail. After the holiday came, we finally went to Shimla.

Here are some pictures of our shorts visit to the city:

The Ridge, Shimla.

Himachal Pradesh State Library (centre).

Christ Church, Shimla.

Mall Road, Shimla.

The Great Himalayas from the distance.

Narkanda, Himachal Pradesh.

Shimla in the evening.

Shimla Railway Station.