This is it. The big kahuna burger. The film from 2015 that will (theoretically) be remembered for ages. The Best Picture of the year.
This is a hard year to predict the most coveted award of the night. Eight films were selected and each one has its merits. There are standout favorites, but Continue reading 2016 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Picture
In film, a score is the mood. It is the suspense in a horror or thriller. It is the lightness of a feel-good period piece. It is the driving pulse of a drama.
The category of Best Original Score is always hard to narrow down. Similar names pop up through the years, but that doesn’t mean these usual suspects have an upper hand on any given award season. Following trends in other award shows is usually the best way to see who is going to win the Academy Award.
This year, there is a clear favorite, and his chances have been raised by Continue reading 2016 Academy Awards Predictions – Original Score
This is one of my personal favorite categories. Cinematography is the infrastructure of the art of cinema. When a film is beautiful you just know. There’s just something about it that strikes you. That’s probably cinematography awing you with miraculous shots.
2015 was no slouch when it came to cinematography. Lush films dominated the year. Every film in this category is beautiful. But, of course, there can be only one.
That one is Continue reading 2016 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Cinematography
The foreign language feature category–as it often ends up being–is a two-horse race in 2016. Son of Saul is a clear favorite, its chances heightened from its Golden Globe win. But Mustang, the second most recognizable foreign film of the bunch, is a heavily praised Turkish language film from France that could steal the gold.
Continue reading 2016 Academy Award Predictions – Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy released their list of Oscar nominees this morning, and, as per usual, it is cause for many a reactionary blog post. This post is not unlike the rest.
Here are my reactions to some of the nominations (and notable absences from them).
The Revenant has the viscera of a Braveheart or a Gangs of New York, with the now familiar touch of director Alejandro G. Inarritu. His style shows through with an even stronger flourish than that of his previous film Birdman, as it links itself more naturally with the thematic elements that are in play in the film.
The film centers on Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio), a hunter on a fur trading expedition who seeks vengeance after becoming severely wounded and left for dead in the 19th century wilderness.
The only true way to describe this film is to call it Continue reading The Revenant (2015) Movie Review
The Oscar shortlisted short film Stutterer begins with a tight extreme close up of a man’s mouth as he attempts to speak on the phone about an issue with a bill. The man’s speech impediment is insufferable, but his thoughts are lush and elegant.
The man, Greenwood (Matthew Needham), works–understandably–best with the written word. He has a flourishing Continue reading Stutterer (2015) Short Film Review
The award season is beginning to ramp up as we head into the Holiday. As such, Oscar buzz is beginning to bubble up. Which animated films will get the nomination for best animated feature? Here are my predictions:
Continue reading Academy Awards 2016: Best Animated Feature Nominee Predictions
It’s a long way to Academy Award night, but there are plenty of films already vying for Hollywood’s top honor. As it stands now, Spotlight might be the film to beat, but many films could make a viable run for the award in the coming months.
Nominees: Continue reading Academy Awards 2016: Best Picture Nominee Predictions
Listen to Me Marlon opens on a digital rendering of Marlon Brando’s face as he laments that the process may signal the end of great acting as we know it. We cut back to this face intermittently throughout the film, it serving as a motif for the disparity between Brando and, really, the world.
The film is a series of recorded audio tapes that Brando recorded himself. Tapes that have not been heard by the public until now. We also get Continue reading Listen to Me Marlon (2015) Movie Review
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