Mary Poppins Returns - 4 nominations

Costume Design - Sandy Powell
Original Score - Marc Shaiman
Original Song - "The Place Where Lost Things Go" - Music by Marc Shaiman; Lyric by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman
Production Design - John Myhre (Production Design); Gordon Sim (Set Decoration)

Mary Poppins has indeed returned to help her former charges, Jane and Michael Banks - siblings who she nannied in their childhood, and has arrived to care for Michael's three children as the now adult siblings brace to lose their home.  Aided by her friend and chimney sweep, Jack, Mary makes everything spit-spot during a time of turmoil in their lives as only the magical Mary Poppins can do.

I understand those who cling to their childhood rendition of Mary Poppins brought to life by Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke (who has a wonderful cameo in this film).  I understand the defensiveness and the reluctance to sully a film that means so much to people.  I understand, but I cannot join in this sentiment.

I loved every minute of this film, and actually, it's because I love the original so much that I feel so strongly about this version.  Every minute was a tribute to the original.  Every song could be matched to a song from the original.  Every feeling could be matched to a feeling from the original.  And every lesson matched a lesson learned from the original.  This film is a stand alone success, but it's greatness is magnified when compared with the first.  The costumes and the production design updated but captured the serious and the whimsical, and I was magically immersed through their excellence.

I do not expect any Oscars to be awarded to this film.  But you'll do yourself a favor if you decide to see it.

Hear the song:

Sicario - 3 nominations

Cinematography - Roger Deakins
Sound Editing, Alan Robert Murray

Music (Original Score), Jóhann Jóhannsson

Emily Blunt plays FBI Agent Kate Macer who has been recruited to a special task force to fight the drug war in Mexico, particularly focusing on a specific Cartel who has perpetrated evil and disgusting acts of violence across both borders.  She works with Alejandro (Benicio del Toro) who is the team leader and has a personal history of his own with this despot.  The movie is extremely engaging, yet extremely depressing as you begin to process the scope of the problem and the seemingly insurmountable challenges in conquering this threat.  I'd like to particularly note the work of Daniel Kaluuya who plays Blunt's FBI partner as I thought he was excellent in the role.

The cinematography is indeed impressive when one considers the amount of footage shot inside tunnels compounded with the multiple kinds of landscapes and settings in the film.  As a shoot-em-up, the sound editing nomination aligns with the other nominees, but might not have the same complexity as the other nominees to bring it to the top.  As always, Johann Johannson produced an excellent score, and you'll possibly remember him for his nomination for last year's, The Theory of Everything, for which I frankly thought he would win.

Sicario is unlikely to win any awards at this year's ceremony, and yet it is very much worth a watch.

INTO THE WOODS - 3 nominations

Actress in a Supporting Role - Meryl Streep (isn't it nice for her to finally be nominated?)
Costume Design - Colleen Atwood
Production Design - Dennis Gassner (Production Design), Anna Pinnock (Set Decoration)

I love musicals.  I love love love musicals, and I already knew the entire score of Into the Woods before I went to the film.  Needless to say, no one wanted to sit next to me for fear that I would sing out loud along with the actors.  (That may or may not have happened.  You have no proof.)  But I really really hate when Hollywood takes a favorite musical and turns it into a crappy movie.  And that's why Rob Marshall and I are still friends - this was a darn good adaptation.

If you're not familiar with the Sondheim favorite, the first half of the show takes beloved fairy tales and weaves the characters together.  The central storyline follows a baker and his wife (James Corden and Emily Blunt) who want to have a child and asks them to find four key elements - the cow as white as milk (Jack and the Beanstalk), the shoe as pure as gold (Cinderella), the hair as yellow as corn (Rapunzel), and the cape as red as blood (Little Red Riding Hood), so that the evil witch (Meryl Streep) will remove a curse that keeps the couple from having a child.

As fairy tales always do, everything works out in the end, until... until Sondheim, reminds us that fairy tales aren't real and that life is complicated.  Some of Sondheim's best lyrics are in these songs, and unfortunately, when you take a three hour musical and turn it into a two hour movie, some of the best ones are cut for time.  But at least, if you're going to cut beloved songs, the movie makers decided not to include a new song that was written for the screen.  (good call, movie makers)

Here's my biggest disappointment with regard to Into the Woods - the cast was terrific (with a slightly miscast Johnny Depp) but I am unhappy that Emily Blunt was overlooked for the Supporting Actress category.  She was a true standout in the cast and her exclusion is just wrong.

The production design and the costume design were both wonderful.  The very fertile opportunity to design costumes for a bunch of fairy tales was not missed.  Cinderella's shoes alone had me at "I Wish."  Great job to the costume and production teams.  (I wear a size 6 shoe, if you're wondering what to do with the leftovers.)

I wish, more than anything, more than life... that you will see the film!

See the trailer: