Covid finally caught up with me and I'm going to be living like a hermit for the next 2 weeks. It's been a stressful month here so I'm looking to melt my brain (or at least the bits covid hasn't already melted). I'd love to check out your easy watching, good time having, feel good suggestions!

Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes

Runtime: 70 minutes.

Budget: $27,000 USD.

Tomatometer: 98% - 8.3 / 10

IMDB Rating: 7.3 / 10 - 2k ratings

Language: Japanese with English subtitles

Streaming: Vudu (Free with Adds) & Amazon (free with Prime)

This is an engaging & novel sci fi, filmed in one location, a Japanese cafe, using what appears to be a single shot for all 70 minutes.

It has comedy, romance, violence, action, and an utterly novel sci fi concept. All in 70 minutes.

I haven’t watched as many films from this year as I would like. But here’s my current Top 5:

1. Top Gun: Maverick
2. Happening
3. Ambulance
4. The Bad Guys
5. The Black Phone

The ones that will most likely stay in my top 10 at the end of the year are 1-3. Most of my yearly favorite films come out at the end of the year as you can see by this list that only contains two movies released earlier in the year.

And really quickly I’ll give you my most anticipated films for the rest of the year:

1. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Story
2. Avatar: The Way of Water
3. Babylon
4. Amsterdam
5. The Fabelmans

It’s the summer movie season, which means that Oscar season is right around the corner. Here are my current predictions for what gets nominated. Not everything will end up happening, last year I had The Last Duel making several categories and it ended up getting blanked. You can see my previous relatively early predictions here

The Cannes Film Festival happened and it was a total bust. Doesn’t seem like there will be a Cannes breakout this year like last year’s Drive My Car.

Picture:

1. Killers of the Flower Moon
2. Empire of Light
3. The Fabelmans
4. Avatar: The Way of Water
5. Babylon
6. The Whale
7. Poor Things
8. Women Talking
9. Elvis
10. Thirteen Lives

Director:

1. Martin Scorsese - Killers of the Flower Moon
2. Sam Mendes - Empire of Light
3. James Cameron - Avatar: The Way of Water
4. Damien Chazelle - Babylon
5. Sarah Polley - Women Talking

Original Screenplay:

1. Empire of Light
2. Babylon
3. The Fabelmans
4. Thirteen Lives
5. TAR

Adapted Screenplay

1. Killers of the Flower Moon
2. Poor Things
3. Women Talking
4. The Whale
5. The Son

Lead Actor:

1. Austin Butler - Elvis
2. Hugh Jackman - The Son
3. Leonardo DiCaprio - Killers of the Flower Moon
4. Brendan Fraser - The Whale
5. Colman Domingo - Rustin

Lead Actress:

1. Margot Robbie - Babylon
2. Cate Blanchett - TAR
3. Emma Stone - Poor Things
4. Lilly Gladstone - Killers of the Flower Moon
5. Olivia Colman - Empire of Light

Supporting Actor:

1. Paul Dano - The Fabelmans
2. Robert DeNiro - Killers of the Flower Moon
3. Ben Wishaw - Women Talking
4. Colin Firth - Empire of Light
5. Brad Pitt - Babylon

Supporting Actress:

1. Michelle Williams - The Fabelmans
2. Jessie Buckley - Women Talking
3. Sadie Sink - The Whale
4. Laura Dern - The Son
5. Jean Smart - Babylon

Animated Feature:

1. Lightyear
2. Strange World
3. Turning Red
4. Pinnochio
5. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Best Original Score:

1. Empire of Light
2. Avatar: The Way of Water
3. Women Talking
4. Babylon
5. Killers of the Flower Moon

Best Original Song:

1. Hold My Hands by Lady Gaga from Top Gun: Maverick
2. Carolina by Taylor Swift from Where The Crawdad Sing?
3. Nobody Like U by Billie Eillish and Finneas from Turning Red
4. On My Way by Jennifer Lopez from Marry Me
5. Vegas by Doja Cat from Elvis (might be ineligible)

Best Sound:

1. Avatar: The Way of Water
2. Top Gun: Maverick
3. Killers of the Flower Moon
4. Babylon
5. Thirteen Lives

Best Production Design:

1. Babylon
2. Killers of the Flower Moon
3. Avatar: The Way of Water
4. Empire of Light
5. Elvis

Best Cinematography:

1. Avatar: The Way of Water
2. Killers of the Flower Moon
3. Babylon
4. Empire of Light
5. Poor Things

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:

1. The Batman
2. Elvis
3. The Whale
4. Babylon
5. Poor Things

Best Costume Design:

1. Poor Things
2. Killers of the Flower Moon
3. Babylon
4. Empire of Light
5. Elvis

Best Film Editing:

1. Avatar: The Way of Water
2. Babylon
3. Killers of the Flower Moon
4. Thirteen Lives
5. Elvis

Best Visual Effects:

1. Avatar: The Way of Water
2. Top Gun: Maverick
3. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
4. The Batman
5. Thirteen Lives