Hugo Thoughts - Dramatic Presentation

Long

This was a difficult year for me.

I did not see either Get Out or The Shape of Water because both "read" as too much category romance for my taste. The Shape of Water is obviously an excellent movie.

Of the four movies I did see, ranking them was extremely tough. It was a good year.

My choice: Thor: Ragnarok (narrowly beating out Blade Runner 2047 and Wonder Woman).

Wonder Woman would have taken it if it hadn't been for the pacing issues at the start.

My prediction: Between Thor: Ragnarok and The Shape of Water - hard to tell.

Short

Short presentation has sucked for me lately. I don't have time to watch the shows I am watching so I'm avoiding subscribing to streaming services, and everything is on streaming services. I've only watched one of the five shows nominated (five? I'll get to that in a second) so that gets my vote unless I can somehow legally track down the Discovery and Black Mirror episodes. The Good Place might be a bit easier, but time is a concern.

The sixth nomination was...a song? I've been reminding people for the last couple of years that dramatic presentation does not have to mean Movie or TV Show (I'd love to see Big Finish get a nod for one of their audio dramas, for example).

It made sense to allow "The Deep" as eligible because it is a song that involves multiple voices and tells a story. The fact that it was included in the packet gives it an advantage.

I don't see it winning, in part because man is that thing going to make most white people who listen to it uncomfortable. But it's nice to see it in there. Maybe we can see more off beat nominations in the future.

My choice: Twice Upon A Time.

My prediction: Twice Upon A Time.

I dunno. I still think shows on an actual network, albeit a "second tier" one, have more viewers than on the streaming services, but I could be wrong. And without having heard the others, this is a very, very shaky prediction.