2014 Oscar Predictions: Screenplays Original and Adapted
Click on over to my 2014 Oscar Predictions page to see everything I’m forecasting in the major categories. I’ve focused my 2014 Oscar predictions, until now, on Best Picture, Best Director, and the four acting categories. Today, I begin to unravel some of the secondary categories, starting with 2014 Best Adapted Screenplay and 2014 Best […]
Putting the 2013 Oscars to Bed
Sunday night, the film world spoke, and the big winner at this year’s Academy Awards was … uhh … anyone know? Sure, Argo took home the night’s top prize—Best Picture. It was a win for the ages as no film since 1989’s Driving Miss Daisy pulled off a similar feat without a Best Director nomination. […]
Final 2013 Oscar Predictions
The endless speculation ends Sunday night. It’s been a wild year—fun to follow, frustrating at times. I’m the sure ceremony will feel the same way. I’m less confident in my predictions this year than I have been in any year I’ve been following the Oscars. A few locks—Best Actor, Best Original Song, Best Visual Effects—litter […]
Ranking the 2013 Oscar Nominees
It’s become an annual tradition for me to rip off In Contention’s annual tradition of ranking the Oscar nominees from best to worst. I did it in 2011. I did it in 2012. See my 2013 rankings below. But first, a list of the films I regrettably haven’t caught up with yet: Mirror Mirror, Chasing […]
The 2013 Oscar Nominees
It wasn’t Lincoln‘s field-topping twelve nominations nor Silver Linings Playbook‘s sudden ascension from “happy to be nominated” to “genuine Best Picture threat” that dominated headlines today. 

No, it was the genuinely stunning absence of Argo‘s Ben Affleck and Zero Dark Thirty‘s Kathryn Bigelow from the Academy’s eclectic Best Director lineup that rocked Oscar watchers’ world. […]
2013 OSCAR PREDICTIONS: A Truly Wide-Open Race
As good as 2012 was for films in general, it’s been an even better Oscar race. Unpredictability reigns supreme in a field filled with mostly great films. Phase 2 will kick into gear Thursday morning after Seth MacFarlane and Emma Stone announce the official nominees. It was tough, but here’s what I’ve got: Best Picture […]
The Ten Best Films of 2012
2012 was a really interesting year in film. Many are singing its praises. “2012 is the new 1999,” they say. I’m not going that far. In fact, I’m reserving judgment for a few months more. Too much still needs to be taken in. Too many need a second look. Here’s what I will say: This […]
2013 OSCAR PREDICTIONS: Official and Unofficial Shortlists
With Django Unchained and Les Miserables finally hitting theaters, we can finally remove a certain amount of speculation from the Oscar race. Audiences everywhere will officially have their say over this year’s crop of contenders, which will ultimately mean crossing some names/films of our lists (and maybe adding a name here and there). In other […]
A Golden Morning for Django
Tomorrow, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association will announce what are bound to be some wild Golden Globe nominations. Sure, Argo, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, and the rest of the front of the pack will clean up. But I suspect Quentin Tarantino might have something to say in the morning. I’m looking at several major nominations […]
Argo vs. Zero Dark Thirty
Remember back in October when Ben Affleck’s Argo hit theaters and became the film critics and audiences could actually agree was best? Remember when this historical procedural crossed the $100 million mark at the box office—unfathomable success for a film like this? Remember when Roger Ebert, after viewing the film at the Toronto International Film […]
Argo Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) Ben Affleck’s Argo will make you rethink how much you complain about going through customs at the airport. It seems unfathomable that such a typically mundane and slow-moving event could lead to the tensest bit of American filmmaking so far this year, but that’s what Affleck does with this, his third film. […]
2013 OSCAR PREDICTIONS: Director and Screenplay
This, for me, is probably the most interesting time of the year as far as Oscars are concerned. In the midst of the fall festival season, anything seems possible, but by the time we close the curtain on the Toronto International Film Festival, it’ll be a just handful of films still left as genuine contenders. […]
2012 Fall Movie Preview
When I finally got around to updating the old Oscar predictions, I sort of bemoaned the coming of the fall movie season and all the chaos associated with it. That was perhaps a little facetious because I love this time of year so much. Not just for movie reasons, I should say. With the changing […]
2012 TIFF Titles to Watch: #10-#1
My TIFF preview concludes today with some of film’s heaviest hitters. I hope you enjoyed this series. I’ll be covering the fall fests extensively, so stay tuned! 10.) Frances Ha Program: Special Presentation Distributor: N/A Directed by: Noah Baumbach Written by: Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach Starring: Greta Gerwig, Mickey Sumner Synopsis: Greta Gerwig stars as […]
