I got a rather lovely phone call the other day. It was from my sister. We chat all the time, but usually it's me calling her, not the other way around. She and her family had been dealing with a pretty nasty stomach bug for the previous few days, depositing nearly all the liquid in … Continue reading Oscar Blitz 2025 – Animated Feature (VIDEO)
With just over a week to go until the Oscars, the picture of who will actually win the hardware is starting to unfold. I could probably take an educated guess on the winners right now and get at least half of them correct. It's a bit annoying, because it takes so much suspense out of … Continue reading Oscar Blitz 2025 – Best Actress
If you're a regular reader, you might have noticed a bit of an unintentional trend in recent years. As time has gone on, one of the odder changes in how I view films is that I find myself much more aware of runtime. A big part of this is just the fact that I'm a … Continue reading Oscar Blitz 2025 – Documentary Short
I miss acting. Like many people, I once harbored dreams of being a movie star, but I also knew that I'd never be a leading man. That was the realm of beautiful people like Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, and for some reason in the 70s and 80s, Gary Busey. That was never going to be … Continue reading Oscar Blitz 2025 – Best Actor
I've said time and again that the Short Film categories are my favorite part of the Blitz, because it's just so fun to be able to sit in a theatre with other devotees and watch the entire field in one go. It's amazing to see the variety of stories that are told in new and … Continue reading Oscar Blitz 2025 – Live Action Short
Believe it or not, folks, this is the end of my backlog! At long last, every feature I saw for the 2024 canon will get its proper review, and I can move on to 2025 stuff (I already have four new releases in my back pocket, and I plan on two more before the week … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – The True Warriors
By most measures, this year's Oscar Blitz has been smoother than usual. I've kept ahead of schedule on the videos, I don't find myself scrambling for things to write each night, and since I don't have a gig at the moment, I'm not stressing myself out pulling double (or triple) duty. However, there was one … Continue reading DownStream – TUDUM! Part Four – More Animation (and an Apology)
I like to keep things simple. It's not that I can't do complicated stuff, it's just that I choose not to, at least in my free time. My actual work is detailed and heavily complex at times, and thankfully I love it, because it makes it so I barely notice just how hard it can … Continue reading Oscar Blitz 2025 – Makeup and Hairstyling (VIDEO)
I hadn't intended to use the preamble for these category breakdowns as a pretense for personal anecdotes, but sometimes it just works out that way. The annual Oscar Blitz always has a lot of ground to cover, and as I go on, I find myself getting into certain grooves where I'm just able to type … Continue reading Oscar Blitz 2025 – Adapted Screenplay
For years now the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has been attempting to find ways to improve their annual awards ceremony to draw in more viewers. They've tried adding pandering categories, removing categories from the telecast, emphasizing musical numbers (even for songs that aren't nominated), expanding the Best Picture field to 10 films, … Continue reading Oscar Blitz 2025 – International Feature
I Actually Paid To See This 