Tag Archives: Octavia Spencer

Dolittle (2020) Movie Review

In one way or another, the movie Dolittle broke me. Coming home from the theater and sitting down to write this review, my mind still cannot think clearly after witnessing a film that my eyes actively rejected. Robert Downey Jr., coming off of his triumphant tenure as Iron Man in the Marvel films, leads an all star cast—a cast which includes Antonio Banderas, Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, Ralph Fiennes, Jim Broadbent, and Octavia Spencer, among many others—in what can only be described by technical definitions as cinema.

It might be important to note that the 1967 Doctor Dolittle, which starred Rex Harrison and was made with a lofty budget, was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards and won in two other categories (despite how atrocious it is). It might be just as important to note that Continue reading Dolittle (2020) Movie Review

Luce (2019) Movie Review

Luce Edgar (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) is a specimen of excellence, a future model citizen. A high schooler on his way to a prominent career in whatever he pleases, Luce is charismatic, intelligent, athletic, a quiet leader, and an ace debater. He has the ability to convince others that what he is saying is correct. The audience included, perhaps.

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When history teacher Harriet Wilson (Octavia Spencer) presents to Luce’s parents (Naomi Watts and Tim Roth) a paper Luce wrote in the voice of Frantz Fanon, an anti-colonial revolutionary that argued for the necessity of violence to fight colonialization, his ideal character comes into question.

To Harriet, Luce may be Continue reading Luce (2019) Movie Review

2018 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Supporting Actress

I don’t want to say Best Supporting Actress is already a two-horse race. But Best Supporting Actress is already a two-horse race.

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The Nominees:

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2018 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Supporting Actress Nominees

The Best Supporting Actress race is setting out to be a battleground. It’s a battleground with two major players, sure, but the upset potential is reading pretty high.

But let’s not put the cart before the proverbial horse. Before we talk about the battle, we have to determine who’s in the fight.

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The Nominees:

Continue reading 2018 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Supporting Actress Nominees

The Shape of Water (2017) Movie Review

Guillermo del Toro, with his latest The Shape of Water, weaves, in effect, a fairy tale monster movie. Imbued with the shadowy lighting and terse patriotism of the Cold War 1950s, in which nationalistic patsies are led by men in trench coats who speak in passwords, the film sets itself in an industrial government building that hides away U.S. military secrets.

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Working in this industrial warehouse, underneath the shadowy government officials and their shills and patsies, is the mute Elisa (Sally Hawkins). With the camaraderie of Zelda (Octavia Spencer), who fills the space where Elisa’s words cannot reach, they clean the facility. This includes cleaning up the blood after a new arrival to the facility causes Continue reading The Shape of Water (2017) Movie Review

2018 Golden Globes Predictions – Best Supporting Actress

This year, the two supporting acting categories are steeped with talent. Thankfully, both categories also have a few clear favorites that will rise to the surface and make my job a little easier. In my mind, Best Supporting Actress is already in the books. Then again, apparent certainty can blind one to other variables, so maybe take a grain of salt or two on this one.

Academy Awards Predictions 2017 – Best Supporting Actress

Best Supporting Actress: another clear frontrunner already solidified for this 2017 Academy Award. The wiggle room for an upset is razor thin. As with all other acting categories, the SAG awards will influence the category, so nothing is set in stone yet. However, even if the SAG is an out-of-left-field upset, I still don’t see how this clear favorite could lose.

That clear favorite…

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Best Supporting Actress:

Continue reading Academy Awards Predictions 2017 – Best Supporting Actress

Hidden Figures (2016) Movie Review

There is something cautionary about a film that opens with a scene that outlines a superficial context by having every line of dialogue out of the characters’ mouths point to the obvious mores of the day, to the point where a character has to exclaim what year it is to highlight the already obvious irony of their immediate situation.

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It is this retrograde rose-tinting of history that plagues Hidden Figures. Morality films such as these often fall into this pitfall, where characters are hyper aware of their situation as if they themselves are looking back as we are. The film is designed around Continue reading Hidden Figures (2016) Movie Review

2017 Academy Awards Nomination Predictions – Best Supporting Actress

The 2017 race for Best Supporting Actress is possibly the most clear cut category in the bunch. The same five actresses have been nominated for both the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild awards. And these actresses will find themselves vying for the same Oscar statuette, unless something crazy happens.

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Best Supporting Actress

Continue reading 2017 Academy Awards Nomination Predictions – Best Supporting Actress

2017 Golden Globes Predictions – Best Supporting Actress

I like the Golden Globes Best Supporting Actress race. It is full of talent. It is full of competition. And there is no clear winner, per se. That said, let’s get to predicting!

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Best Supporting Actress

Continue reading 2017 Golden Globes Predictions – Best Supporting Actress