Get an LGBT Role for an Oscar Win

The Oscars is going to be held this Monday morning, Manila time and there are some interesting things I've noticed if some of them win.

If Rami Malek wins Best Actor and Mahershala Ali wins Best Supporting Actor (they are actually the strongest bets) - it will be the first time - I think - that the award went to actors playing famous gay musicians in real life.

Malek as Freddie Mercury and Ali as jazz pianist Don Shirley.

Actors playing gay roles have been Oscar bait for a very long time - Sean Penn (Milk), William Hurt (Children of a Lesser God), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) - are the memorable ones I can think of - all for Best Actor.

Christopher Plummer (Beginners) is the one I can think of - off the top of my head - that won a recent Best Supporting Actor award.

Just imagine if Olivia Colman (Queen Anne and her lesbian dalliances) wins Best Actress - I think it will be the first time - three of the four winners played gay roles!

Interesting!

Finally, Oscar Glory for Glenn Close? Amy Adams, Next?

Glenn Close should finally win her long delayed Oscar this Monday for Best Actress - a case of an Oscar win for the wrong movie - but anyhow - better late than never.

If Close does win, this would put Amy Adams as the actor (still active in the business) with the most Oscar nominations - six - with no win - yet.

Anyhow, Amy is only 44 so she will still get many chances to snag an Oscar.

She appears to be the 'Meryl Streep' of her generation - six nominations in 14 years. Meryl though already had nine nominations in her first 14 years. But still - Amy is within striking distance.

Interestingly, Amy did not get nominated in two movies which I really loved her the most - Enchanted and Arrival. We wuz robbed!

The International Flavour of Oscar's 2019 Best Director Nominees

Our very own Brillante Mendoza and Lav Diaz are actually voting members of the directors branch of the Academy awards (Oscars).

That means they can nominate for the Best Director award this year.

It would be interesting to ask them the directors they nominated (but I think they are not allowed to reveal that - maybe anonymously).

However, their presence - and the invitation of a more diverse voting panel - shows - at least for Best Director.

Only two Americans were nominated - Spike Lee and Adam McKay. The other three are foreigners.

Alfonso Cuaron is Mexican, Pawel Pawlikowski is Polish while Yorgos Lanthimos is Greek.

And they are all international festival directors (Cannes, Berlin, Venice) - as are Mendoza and Diaz.

A case of - birds of the same feather vote for each other?

By the way, Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born) and I don't think those two guys would vote for him anyway. Handsome actors doing directorial jobs (Ben Affleck) are usually snubbed. Gwapo na kasi sila - spread the wealth na raw.......

Oscar 2019 Best Picture is Up for Grabs

This is the first time - in a very long time - that I've seen the guilds so fractured in voting for the Oscar Best Picture.

The producers chose Green Book, the directors chose Roma (but of course, because of Alfonso Cuaron), the writers chose two movies which are not even nominated for Best Picture, while the cinematographers and editors chose The Favourite and Bohemian Rhapsody.

The biggest branch - the actors - picked Black Panther.

There is no general consensus that's why it is going to be a thrilling ride this Monday.

How would the other guilds vote?

Well, the music branch will most likely choose either A Star is Born or Bohemian Rhapsody.

The costumers and set designers would most likely choose The Favourite.

The visual effects branch will most likely opt for Black Panther.

And there's more - the BAFTA - the British voters - chose Roma for Best Picture and The Favourite for Best British film.

But obviously, when push comes to shove, the British might vote for one of their own - The Favourite.

The Latino voters may opt for Roma - since the movie is in Spanish and set in Mexico.

The LGBT voters can opt for Bohemian Rhapsody, The Favourite, Green Book or A Star if Born, courtesy of Lady Gaga - who has a considerable LGBT following.

Finally, the African-American voters can pick either BlackKklansman or Black Panther.

I have a feeling this would be the year where the winner won't get 50% of the total 7000 Academy voters because there's a movie that represents each of the diverse backgrounds of the voters.

As for me, it's a toss between Roma or Bohemian Rhapsody - the art house favorite or the public's favorite?

Should I be snooty or should I go pedestrian this year......

OPM Top 10 Countdown: February 22, 2019

Maris Racal's "Love is Easy" stays at #1 in Fabelousity's OPM Countdown this week, its second week at the top.  It's her first #1 song in my OPM countdown.

#1 Love is Easy        (#1) *1 week
      Maris Racal

#2 Pangako              (#2)
      Kyle Echarri

#3 Lumang Tugtugin (#3)
      Iñigo Pascual

#4 Takipsilim (#4)
      Autotelic

#5 Cha-Ching!   (#5)
      Unique

#6 Down for Me (#6)
      Julie Anne San Jose / Fern

#7 Fake Love (#7)
      Kyline Alcantara

#8 No Apology     (#8)
      Karencitta

#9 Mindgames (NEW)
      Earl of Manila

#10 Kiss Me Kiss Me (NEW)
        Sarah Geronimo

Maris Racal

Maris Racal has one #1 hit in Fabelousity's OPM countdown.

2019 - Love is Easy (#1) * 2 weeks

Tom Bateman

In the tradition of checking out my yearly hunks, Tom Bateman becomes the first fabelous hunk of 2019. He stars in the movie Cold Pursuit, playing the main villain who is not some ugly monster but a dapper and strikingly handsome drug dealer.  Bateman plays the role in kind of a twitchy, cold-blooded manner which veers from being an asshole to a husband who's henpecked by his wife.

Movie Review: Liam Neeson in Cold Pursuit Dark Comedy

I don't know if it's bad for his career or not but Liam Neeson has cornered the brooding middle-aged hero out for revenge movie cachet - and has turned out profitable movies with barely there plotlines.

Taken, Taken 2, Taken 3, Non-stop, The Commuter - are just a few that I remember - and I did enjoy them immensely - the perfect popcorn movies which you can just lie back and watch the bad guys get their comeuppance.

In the end of all those movies - the last man standing is Mr. Neeson and his brooding angry face.

And that's exactly what he does in his latest movie, Cold Pursuit - a movie with such a high death toll - I don't think anyone was left standing alive in the end!

It is pretty entertaining though - the script is a bit of a laugh - and had really racist overtones (Why don't you let the Indian do it? - and this coming from an American Indian!)

Or what about that Thai lustful lady - I've seen that portrayal many times before and it's amazing they still allow it to be done in this day and age!!

And there are even gay mercenaries - with a very cute man to man kissing scene - ooooohhhhh - fancy murderous queers to spice up the killing spree!

The cold winter backdrop and multiple snow scenes sets the perfect mood for the somber theme - but this is still a dark comedy so just laugh even if it seems uncomfortable to do so.

There are major holes in the movie though (where did Laura Dern, Neeson's wife go or why did she suddenly disappear?) but since this is not Tarantino or the Coen brothers - it would be best to just sit back, relax, and soak in the bloody mayhem.