Weekly Witch Hunt: Harry Styles 'Sign of the Times' & Moonlight

We decide what artistic endeavour passed approval to earn the Scorcher label from the past seven days & what also had the dishonour of being that week's Torture...

Now there will be some people who look at my choices this week and wonder how on earth the roles aren't reversed.  I can understand those reactions but I will stand by my ruling and go on record as saying that they are deserving of their placement.

The Scorcher

What is this a former member of a boy band's first solo single being nominated for Scorcher of the week?  While boy bands are not my forte I can say hand on heart that this song has struck a chord with me.  'Sign of the Times' reminds me of Suede and has a certain 70's sensibility about it.
The format is nothing new and a cynic would say that the writers have used a tried and tested formula for success.  That may well be the case and if so then mission accomplished because they have created a song that I find myself singing along to whenever I hear it.
Harry Styles might not be everyone's cup of tea but there is no denying that this is one catchy tune.

The Torture
 

How can I include last year's best picture winner at the Academy Awards for Torture of the week?  Well one reason is because my expectations for this film were raised to a rather high level due to all the positive reports surrounding this movie.  The synopsis had intrigued me and the casting of Mahershala Ali had also piqued my interest.
Overall I was left feeling disappointed with the final outcome.  Yes it is a well-made film and the acting is reasonably good.  It just didn't inspire me or leave any lasting impression.  I can't say it was an enjoyable watch either; most of what happens is quite tragic and by the end you can't say anyone is in a better place although there is a certain amount of closure for Chiron I guess.
The whole way through I kept thinking how did this beat some of the competition to win best film?  The only film that I haven't seen from the nominees is Fences so I am unable to comment on that one.  From the other nominees however I felt there were at least four that would have been more deserving winners.
I love Ali as an actor and he is magnificent in his very limited role here; and that in itself is an issue, he is onscreen for roughly quarter of an hour at best.  Once more I questioned the wisdom of his award win when compared to Dev Patel or Jeff Bridges in their respective roles.
I can't help thinking that the #OscarsSoWhite controversy of 2016 had something to do with this movies success at those awards.  It would be a shame if true; but no more of a shame than some of the people who deserved the accolades in 2016 that missed out on even being nominated.
So yes this is a movie that failed to live up to my expectations and had me baffled when I consider all the love it did receive.