more like uuuuuuggggggggghhhhhcademy awards

Hobbit is the new Sith

But, on the other hand - yay for Bill Corso getting a makeup nom.   There's a surprising amount of love for Foxcatcher across the board, a lot more than I would have expected.

I missed you guys there. I came with my wife and kids. We were on the right side about the middle.

Anyways, I'm surprised about Hobbit not making the cut. I have to admit that the first time I saw HFR was at the last bake-off. At the time I had not even seen Desolation of Smaug so seeing the HFR footage out of context was a bit disorienting. However this year, having already seen Five Armies, I really enjoyed the HFR much to my surprise. But I didn't know how much I liked it until the other reels started playing. Coming out of Hobbit, which looked so clear and bright and crisp, Maleficent looked dark and blurry and shallow in comparison. In fact, none of the films really came close to looking as bright and deep as Hobbit. The 3D in Hobbit just worked so well. But it was funny that there were no questions after their presentation. They were actually walking off the stage when, I think it was that lady they called Teresa, asked a question that brought the Hobbit presenters back onto the stage. She must have been the designated "first question" person for the night.

And quite honestly, not to disappoint the old timers, (of whome I'm one) I felt really let down with the print of Interstellar that was screened. I immediately noticed the graininess and dust and scratches. I guess it's been a while since I've seen a non-digital presentation in a theater. I know the presenter said it added character, but to me it just looked dirty. I'm afraid I don't have the sentimental love of film that others do. Although I'm sure that comes mostly from never shooting with it. (Motion pictures that is. I've spent many a hours in a dark room before developing stills)

As far as X-Men, it earned its spot with the spontaneous applause after the Quicksilver scene. I thought it was cool when they described how they animated the stadium being flown around. They decided to animate it based on how Magneto would actually be able to control it. They built the interior metal "rebar" structure and then hung the body of the stadium over it as a cloth sim. As they animated the metal skeleton, the stadium would flex around it. Then they had the surface procedurally crack as the "cloth" flexed past certain parameters. I found that particularly cool.

The highlight for me was Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. The opening shot to the closing shot. The detail and subtlety that can be achieved in CG characters now blows me away. To be able to push in that close into the eyes and it holds up completely is incredible. Although, the presentation was ruined a bit that they didn't announce the reel was in 3D. It followed several non-3D movies so it wasn't until it was 20 seconds or so into the reel when it started looking like a double image and then we were fumbling to put on our glasses. Maybe it was noted on the program which reels were in 3D, but as I arrived at the last minute, I didn't get a program.

All in all, it was another fun experience, this time one I got to share with my teenage boys.

BTW, I don't know who in that room could afford a new Ferrari, but my son enjoyed walking by it in the parking lot on our way out.