Tag Archives: Oscars

All Movie Reviews, Love It, Short Films

Mindenki (Sing) (2016) Short Film Review

Zsofi (Gasparfalvi Dorka) is a new student at school, and her experience is less than comfortable. The hall monitors hover over class authoritatively. The teacher barely stops to introduce Zsofi. And the teacher of Zsofi’s favorite subject, choir class, pulls her aside and tells her to mime the words instead of sing them.

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Mindenki is a film about the simple cruelty of childhood, coming mainly in the form of a choir teacher. Rarely does cinema capture Continue reading Mindenki (Sing) (2016) Short Film Review →

A Movies, All Movie Reviews, Drama, Long Reviews (>400 Words), Love It

Moonlight (2016) Movie Review

Moonlight begins with a beautiful steadicam shot that literally revolves around a denied drug deal. One of the dealers involved, Juan (Mahershala Ali), gets cut off by a child being chased by bullies. Chiron, or “Little” (Alex Hibbert), finds comfort in Juan as a father figure that he does not have elsewhere in his life.

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Little, quiet though he is, shows a conflicted desire to fit into the Continue reading Moonlight (2016) Movie Review →

2017 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies, Movie News

2017 Oscar Movie Season Preview

The first weekend of September 2016 has brought us two major disappointments (The Disappointments Room and When the Bough Breaks) and one movie with some early Oscar buzz. Clint Eastwood’s biopic Sully is earning attention, particularly for Tom Hanks’ usual strong performance. With Summer behind us and the mediocre lot of September ahead, I feel the need to look a few months down the line at some movies that promise to be some of the best of the year.

Oscar-nominated movies can come around at any time during the calendar year. We will more than likely see Continue reading 2017 Oscar Movie Season Preview →

All Movie Reviews, Animation, Love It, Short Films

Piper (2016) Short Film Review

Piper is the latest in a long line of pre-feature Pixar short films. This particular animated short debuted ahead of Finding Dory, and, while Finding Dory is an all right time at the movies, Piper may blow it out of the water (apologies for the pun).

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The film is simple enough in narrative with a sickeningly adorable conceit: Continue reading Piper (2016) Short Film Review →

2016 Academy Awards

Will Leonardo DiCaprio Finally Win His Oscar?

It seems that the entire world is on his side. But is the Academy on his side?

Leonardo DiCaprio being “continuously” snubbed from an Oscar win at Best Actor has essentially become a meme at this point. And I’ll be the first to admit that Continue reading Will Leonardo DiCaprio Finally Win His Oscar? →

2016 Academy Awards

Breaking Down the 2016 Oscar Best Picture Race

2016 is proving to be a hard year to predict the Academy Award Best Picture race. The seeming frontrunners going into the Golden Globes were Spotlight and The Revenant. The Revenant came out of the Globes on top, while also picking up awards for Best Director and Best Actor for Leonardo DiCaprio (this appears to finally be his year for the Oscar, barring something crazy happening at the SAG awards, but that is an entirely different article).

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The first wrench thrown at the Oscar race came during the Producers Guild Awards, where  Continue reading Breaking Down the 2016 Oscar Best Picture Race →

2016 Academy Awards, All Movie Reviews, Award Ceremonies, Short Films

2016 Academy Award Nominated Animated Short Films Review

The five nominated short films in the animated category are diverse in animation style and narrative content, but they all have clear ups and downs. Below are my mini reviews for these five mini movies.

Sanjay’s Super Team

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Sanjay’s Super Team, from Pixar, opens on a dichotomy of old and young ideals in an Indian household.

The animation sports the usual Continue reading 2016 Academy Award Nominated Animated Short Films Review →

2016 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies, Movie News

2016 Academy Award Predictions: All Categories

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 →

2016 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

2016 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Production Design

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.

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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 →

2016 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

2016 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Original Song

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.

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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 →