Final 2014 Oscar Predictions
We’re almost there. And thank God, because I can’t anymore. This will likely be the last year I spend time writing and talking about the Oscars regularly. Too much noise. I’ve been defeated. Anyway, it’s a hell of a good year to go out with some pretty brilliant titles leading the charge for gold. I […]
Final 2014 Oscar Nominations Predictions
No intro; this rundown is long enough. I’m really excited to see how things shake out tomorrow. Here are my best guesses. Best Picture American Hustle Captain Phillips Dallas Buyers Club Gravity Her Nebraska Saving Mr. Banks 12 Years a Slave The Wolf of Wall Street Hustle, Phillips, Gravity, Nebraska, 12 Years are your locks. […]
Revisiting My Most Anticipated 2013 Movies
I was writing up my most anticipated movies of 2014 when I realized I couldn’t quite remember what topped (or even placed) on my 2013 list at this time last year. Revisiting the list, as I’ll do below, simply confirms my suspicions that this exercise is a little foolhardy. There’s no predicting what you’ll respond […]
2014 Oscar Predictions: What’s Changed?
Click on over to my 2014 Oscar Predictions page to see everything I’m forecasting in the major categories. In the mean time, I’m running down what’s changed over the past few months, since I last updated by 2014 Oscar Predictions just days after the most recent Oscar ceremony. I’ve also listed the few films from […]
The Best and Worst Cannes Openers
Playing the opening night of the Cannes Film Festival is a big deal for any film. It’s arguably the glitziest red carpet this side of the Oscars, and whether the film screening is part of the Competition or not, the honor of opening Cannes is one a director can hang his or her hat on […]
The Great Gatsby (2013) Review
RATING: (3 STARS) You either get Baz Luhrmann or you don’t. He’s a filmmaker set in his ways, and if painterly sets, opulent costumes, sweeping camerawork, glitz, glamour, and some truly odd musical cues are your thing, you probably get Luhrmann and his movies. I definitely get Luhrmann (count me in the borderline invisible minority […]
Top 10 Leonardo DiCaprio Performances
It’s kind of amazing that everyone’s favorite heartthrob circa 1997, the guy who gave us Jack Dawson himself, has turned into one of cinema’s most fascinating, exciting, and reliable actors. While a gold statue has still managed to elude him, Leonardo DiCaprio has a resume many actors would kill for. He’s Scorsese’s new golden boy […]
2013 Summer Movie Preview: Part 1
Last year, celestial angels with trumpets rang in the summer movie season. It was going to be the best ever—The Dark Knight Rises, Prometheus, The Avengers, The Bourne Legacy, an original Pixar movie, and more. Even if the season didn’t end up meeting expectations, there was lots of good stuff out there. This year, it’s […]
The 2013 Cannes Lineup
Looking over the 2013 Cannes lineup, which was announced this morning, it’s hard to identify the “big story.” The Competition lineup contains a good mix of the expected and some pleasant surprises (Roman Polanski’s Venus in Furs being the most high-profile of those surprises). No stunning omissions or head-scratching inclusions. Just a rock-solid-sounding group of […]
Projecting the Cannes 2013 Lineup
Now that the 66th annual Cannes International Film Festival (May 15-May 26, 2013) has its jury president (Lincoln director Steven Spielberg), speculation over what films will compete for the 2013 Palme d’Or has intensified. I’ve identified 30 titles that seem like plausible Cannes selections. It’s impossible to say whether any or all will be ready […]
13 Films for 2013
Oh, to be where we were a year ago. Surveying the upcoming movie calendar on January 1, 2012 was like a second Christmas. Tarantino, PT Anderson, Wes Anderson, Spielberg (with Day-Lewis), Affleck, Soderbergh (times two), The Hobbit, Nolan’s follow-up to The Dark Knight, The Avengers, and the most loaded Cannes lineup in years. Sure, not […]
