I didn’t do my Critics choice predictions on here, but I’m pretty pleased with their choices. My predictions didn’t fully align, but the CCA has been trying harder and harder to seem like an Oscar precursor by getting it right, so they tend to vote for things that are likely to be nominated, and not necessarily their passion picks. For example, if you follow critics at all, you might have noticed how much most of them adore Challengers. It did not get a Best Picture nomination, over films that are far more divisive among critics, but far more likely to get the Oscar nomination. That is why the inclusion of The Substance so broadly, in Picture, Director, Actress, Supporting Actress, Screenplay, and beyond was such a bold choice. Also, Hugh Grant for Heretic? That’s a big nomination for him. Marianne Jean Baptiste regained what she lost by missing on the Golden Globes. Clarence Macklin is back, as is the love for Sing Sing in general. Everything seemed to line up for them.
TV Shows Watched: Jurassic World: Chaos Theory: S2E9 (Netflix) with audio description, Creature Commandoes: S1E3 (MAX) with audio description, Cruel Intentions: S1E7 (Amazon) with audio description, You Would Do It Too: Season Finale (Apple Plus) with audio description, This Is Not Hollywood: S1E1 (Hulu) with audio description, 100 Years Of Solitude: S1E1 (Netflix) no audio description, and Frasier: S2E? (Paramount Plus) with audio description.
Podcasts: None
YouTube: None.
Movies Watched: The Wild Robot (Screener) with audio description, Fly Me To The Moon (Apple plus) with audio description, That Christmas (Netflix) with audio description.
Sticking with that awards season format…
Best Episode Watched: Cruel Intentions- A tough choice today, but as this is one episode away from its season finale, you can see how the show is starting to really veer from. The film and make changes that could allow for a second season. I hope it gets one. I’ve been loving this show.
Runner up: Creature Commandoes- GI Robot is the most entertaining, and he was heavily featured in this episode.
Best Performance: Sean Gunn- Again (creature Commandoes)- His voice work on GI Robot makes it work. There’s an earnestness in his voice when he says he wants to kill Nazi’s, and then when he’s asked what he would want to do if he had no primary directive, he kinda heartbreakingly just wants to be reunited with the members of his squad, who are clearly long dead.
Runner Up: Zack Burgess (Cruel Intentions)- This is really where Lucian starts to reckon with the concept of actually possibly loving someone, while also being a terrible person, and thinking about how these two halves of himself collide. I know how it ended in the movie, but I don’t know if his character will meet the same fate.
Best Audio Description: This Is Not Hollywood- It is a narrator over an English dub, so it compliments nicely. The dub cast here for this Italian import is doing some really nice work, and (I Believe) Tanzy Alexander is doing some nice work on narration. There’s a mystery here that will evolve over the season, but I’m excited that this is the second audio described new International show I’ve seen Hulu drop with audio description, and I really want to put that right up here at the tippy top to encourage more of it. if we watch it, they will come.
Runner Up: Cruel intentions- It’s just a little thing, but I ind of appreciate that this show has this constant tone, and they’ve been pointing out the shows heavy use of “fade to black”. It is something we don’t really need, but visual directorial and stylistic choices need to appear more in audio description, and the fades throughout the episode are a nice beginners guide of sorts.
Worst Episode: You WOuld Do It Too- Not because it was bad, but because this is trying for a second season? I was hoping they’d wrap, as I thought this would have been a strong limited, but they left that door wide open, which was disappointing. That’s the only reason it is here.
Worst Performance: I I don’t really have one. If I were to do anything, it would be the fact that I know Sean Gunn is voicing Weasel. Not because he’s doing a bad job, but because Pete Davidson could have easily made some random noises into a microphone. They paid Viola to voice her character, to keep this loosely connected to the DCEU, so why did we recast Weasel?
Worst Audio Description: 100 Years Of Solitude- Honestly, the fact that Netflix made (what I hear was a very well funded) 16 episode limited series, presented in two parts, of a classic novel and dubbed it, but didn’t audio describe it is the fail here. It is a well recognized work, and I was actually looking forward to this. i just assumed it would be something too big for Netflix to not put audio description on, but they proved me wrong. I have to learn to never assume Netflix will make it make sense.
And, a very special version of this award…
Best Moment Of Audio Description: While I did not get audio description from Netflix today on their newest international hit, I did get two international shows with English Audio description. one of them was from Hulu, and following La Machina earlier this week, tht is two international, non-English shows they have put audio description on. They used to be awful with their acquired international “Hulu Originals”, with the second season of Extraordinary failing to be audio described in America (unless it eventually got it), to The Last Days of The Space Age not having audio description, despite being an Aussie import. In case the tides are turning, I support it.