Anomalisa begins on chatter over a black screen. This chatter is clearly multiple people, but the voices are distinctly similar to each other. This fades in on a lush cloudscape with an airplane emerging out of the grey. Inside the plane is Michael Stone (David Thewlis), a man famous for writing a book about good customer service.
Michael lives in a world of isolation. On a trip to give a self-help speech, he is completely Continue reading Anomalisa (2015) Movie Review
Recently, the new Suicide Squad trailer dropped. And, I have some thoughts.
To begin, I’ll say that the first Suicide Squad trailer, which came out of Comic Con, didn’t do it for me. I simply was not excited to see this movie from the trailer alone.
This new trailer changed that. I did a Continue reading Suicide Squad (2016) Trailer 2 Review
World of Tomorrow, the Oscar-nominated short film from Don Hertzfeldt, follows the journey of a young girl Emily (Winona Mae) as she is shown through the memories of the future by her clone (Julia Pott).
The short is a densely-packed 15 minutes that meanders through complexities of time travel, artificial sentience, and love. The simplicity of the Continue reading World of Tomorrow (2015) Short Film Review
Below are my predictions for who I believe will win the Academy Award in each of the 24 Oscar categories.
Note: This list will be updated as articles for each category get published. Those articles also may be updated if the odds within the individual category change.
Continue reading 2016 Academy Award Predictions: All Categories
For whatever reason, this appears to be the hardest category for me to settle on. You have Stockhausen nominated again after his win last year for The Grand Budapest Hotel. You have the nominee leaders The Revenant and Mad Max: Fury Road in the mix. But The Martian and The Danish Girl can’t be counted out, either.
If Mad Max: Fury Road sweeps the technical awards (which I have a strong feeling it will), then Continue reading 2016 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Production Design
Sometimes, the two-horse races at the Academy Awards are just as hard to call as the categories that are simply up in the air. This race is one of those cases.
I’ll begin with a dark horse selection. “Simple Song #3,” from the Michael Caine vehicle Youth. It is a beautiful song, but it is failing to supplant the buzz of two other songs in the category.
These songs are Continue reading 2016 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Original Song
Star Wars vs. Mad Max. The action franchise duel of the year. Who will win? Do any other film stand a chance?
In response to the latter, probably not. Some are pulling for Ex Machina, and, although the film is beautiful, it is a long long shot that it will pick up the award in this category. And The Revenant may pull an upset, but the real battle remains between Continue reading 2016 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Visual Effects
Best Sound Mixing will fall the same way of Best Sound Editing in 2016. This knocks Bridge of Spies out of the running, I’m afraid. The remaining four are a mixed bag, and each one has its shot.
There is a stereotype that the biggest, loudest movie of the year is the shoe-in for the two sound categories. This isn’t always the case. But this year it might be.
The competition, I feel, is between Continue reading 2016 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Sound Mixing
The two sound categories at the Oscars may appear synonymous. And, yes, the two categories often go to the same film. I think this year will end up going that route, as well. But, of course, anything is possible.
All five of the films in Best Sound Editing feature superior sound work. As a result, I feel that the award will go to Continue reading 2016 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Sound Editing
The Best Adapted Screenplay category is not an easy one to call in 2016. There is a leader of the pack, but beyond that film it is really anybody’s game.
The frontrunner as of now is Continue reading 2016 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Adapted Screenplay
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