As a writer who aspires one day to hear his name called by the Academy, I take special interest in the Screenplay categories. I prefer Original to Adapted, because if there's one thing Hollywood needs more than ever these days, it's original ideas. But the adaptation process is also fascinating in its own way, because … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2019 – Adapted Screenplay
M. Night Shyamalan has come full circle over the last 20 years. He was an instant success with The Sixth Sense, a solid box office machine with Unbreakable and Signs, a Hollywood in-joke after The Village, then poison for a decade with horrible film after horrible film. Then he started to evolve and get his mojo back with The Visit, … Continue reading I’m Campy, Thanks for Asking! – Glass
The Academy tends to favor period pieces with this award, and there's no shortage of options this year. Two films fall under the traditional "European Royalty" subgenre that has seen many a winner, as well as a Western anthology with several different creative outfits. There's also a motif from 75 years ago, and a fantasy … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2019 – Costume Design
This year marks a return to form in the Sound categories. Almost every year there ends up being four films nominated in both fields, along with one outlier. Sometimes you get a 3/2 split, but that's a bit of a rarity. Last year had it's own bit of uncommon happenstance with the two categories having … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2019 – Sound Editing
It's time! It's finally time! Time to debate and debase the thinking of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, because the nominees for the 91st Oscars have arrived! Will I have to scramble to see multiple films I missed over the course of 2018? Will it just be a casual trip to the … Continue reading 3, 2, 1, BLITZ! – 91st Academy Award Nominees Announced!
We've got one last film to review from 2018 before tomorrow's announcement of the Oscar nominees. Stan & Ollie may get shut out of the proceedings entirely, or it could find itself up for a small handful of categories, it's hard to say. So far, it hasn't won anything, but it has gotten some nominations and … Continue reading The Way Nostalgia Should Be Done – Stan & Ollie
It's the eve of the Oscar nominations, which can only mean one thing. The Oscars honor the best in cinema, but before that we have to recognize the worst Hollywood has to offer. Today sees the nominations for the 39th annual Razzie Awards! Now, for the last three years I've made it my personal mission … Continue reading It Certainly Does Suck! – 39th Razzie Nominees Announced!
The annual awards for the Producers Guild of America were held last night, and for the three winners, it could be a boon or a curse, depending on how you look at it, as well as Academy history. Oscar nominations are just two days away, and it's very possible we have some front-runners here, as … Continue reading The Producers, Not the Golf Guys – PGA Awards Announced!
With Oscar nominations coming up on Tuesday, there are two more films from 2018 that I want to see and review during the holiday weekend. It's very possible that with these two in the books, I might be so far ahead of the curve that I'll only have the Short categories to tackle for this … Continue reading Drugs are Bad, Mmkay? – Beautiful Boy
Well folks, I finally did it. As of Monday I have completed the Documentary Feature shortlist. No matter which five films are nominated next Tuesday, I will have seen and processed them. It turns out that the reason I could see them all was through an Academy program called "Oscars Spotlight: Documentaries." It's a new … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Achievement Unlocked!
I Actually Paid To See This 