Updates and FIRST ROUND OF OSCAR PREDICTIONS

Greetings, everyone. It certainly has been awhile.

I apologize for not posting anything on here for nearly a year but life kind of grabbed my throat and wouldn't let go. I had the duties of my then-job, a dour mood that didn't help things, I was writing for a different website that's way more professional that this, getting a new job in my hometown, moving back to my hometown, dealing with the responsibilities of the new job, and getting a puppy. In other words, non-paying blog writing took a vacation from my mind and a bunch of other things took priority. But I found my inner Mickey Goldmill shouting at me to "get back in there and write! Write you son-of-a-bitch! Don't lay down! Write one more!"
Normally, I don't listen to the voices in my head too much but it seemed like a good idea... this time at least.
So, I'm going to try and write more frequently on here with movie reviews and whatever pops into my mind. Don't worry about that last part, I won't scribble down my manifesto about whatever inner ramblings are going on in my head.

Right now this is what I have planned:

• Movie reviews. Duh. Much like in past, I'm not paid to go to movies so when I see a movie, the money comes out of my own pocket. So, I'm not going to go out of my way to see the sure-to-be top notch films that come out in January. 
• I will have a Best and Worst for 2016. But given that a lot of awards potential films don't reach my neck of the woods til January, they won't be out until February. 
• Given the massive amount of deaths that took place last year, I will come out with my own tribute to those who died that made a massive impact on me.  
• Inspired by a friend of mine, I am going to attempt to watch 365 films this year and do mini-reviews for them. Current releases will get separate reviews as well. I certainly hope this works out but life doesn't always comply so who knows what'll happen. 
• I make no promises about this next one. I really want to try and convert my reviews to a video format. It's something I've been wanting to do for a while and at least do one this year. 
• I'll come out with my own little movie awards. I did one a few years ago and I wanted to do one last year but it just didn't work out. 
• I will continue to do my Oscar predictions. As many of you know, the Oscars are my Super Bowl. 

Speaking of which....

Here are my predictions as of right now. Like in previous years I make these predictions based on my own weird system. I'm going to reserve predictions for the movies Silence, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and Patriots Day in certain categories seeing as it seems they weren't released to voters earlier like others. Also, given how many films didn't make the shortlist for Best Foreign Language Film that became a bit harder. 

Best Picture:
Arrival

Fences

Hacksaw Ridge

Hell or High Water

Jackie 

La La Land

Lion

Loving

Manchester by the Sea

Moonlight

(Silence)

Best Director:
Damien Chazelle - La La Land

Mel Gibson - Hacksaw Ridge

Barry Jenkins - Moonlight

Pablo Larrain - Jackie

Kenneth Lonergan - Manchester by the Sea

(Martin Scorsese - Silence)

Best Leading Actor:

Casey Affleck - Manchester by the Sea

Andrew Garfield - Hacksaw Ridge

Ryan Gosling - La La Land

Viggo Mortensen - Captain Fantastic

Denzel Washington - Fences

(Andrew Garfield - Silence)

Best Leading Actress:

Amy Adams - Arrival 

Isabelle Huppert - Elle

Ruth Negga - Loving

Natalie Portman - Jackie

Emma Stone - La La Land

Best Supporting Actor:

Mahershala Ali - Moonlight

Jeff Bridges - Hell or High Water

Ben Foster - Hell or High Water

Lucas Hedges - Manchester by the Sea

Dev Patal - Lion

(Issey Ogata - Silence)

Best Supporting Actress:

Viola Davis - Fences

Naomie Harris - Moonlight

Nicole Kidman - Lion

Octavia Spencer - Hidden Figures

Michelle Williams - Manchester by the Sea

Best Original Screenplay:

Hell or High Water

La La Land

Little Men

The Lobster

Manchester by the Sea

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Arrival

Hidden Figures

Lion

Moonlight

Nocturnal Animals

(Silence)

Best Animated Picture:

Finding Dory

Kubo and the Two Strings

Moana

The Red Turtle

Zootopia

Best Art Direction/Production Design:

Arrival

Hacksaw Ridge

Jackie

The Jungle Book

La La Land

(Silence)

Best Cinematography:

Arrival

The Childhood of a Leader

Jackie

La La Land

Moonlight

(Silence)

(Rogue One: A Star Wars Story)

Best Costume Design:

Doctor Strange

Florence Foster Jenkins

Jackie

La La Land

Love & Friendship

(Silence)

Best Film Editing:

Arrival

Hacksaw Ridge

Jackie

La La Land

Moonlight

(Silence)

Best Hair/Makeup:

Florence Foster Jenkins

A Man Called Ove

Star Trek Beyond

Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing:

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

Allied

Hacksaw Ridge

The Jungle Book

La La Land

(Rogue One: A Star Wars Story)

(Patriots Day)

(Silence)

Best Visual Effects:

Arrival

The BFG

Doctor Strange

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

The Jungle Book

(Rogue One: A Star Wars Story)

Best Original Score:

Hidden Figures

The Jungle Book

La La Land

Lion

Moonlight 

(Rogue One: A Star Wars Story)

Best Original Song:

"Audition (The Fools Who Dream" - La La Land

"Can't Stop the Feeling" - Trolls

"City of Stars" - La La Land

"Drive It Like You Stole It" - Sing Street

"How Far I'll Go" - Moana

Best Documentary:

13th

Cameraperson

Life, Animated

O.J.: Made in America

Tower

Best Foreign Language Film:

Land of Mine - Denmark

A Man Called Ove - Sweden

Paradise - Russia

The Salesman - Iran

Toni Erdmann - Germany

Thank you all for reading this and I hope this new years brings all of you a lot of laughter and joy.