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So, About Those 2015 Oscar Nominations…

So, About Those 2015 Oscar Nominations…

What in the name of Dick Poop just happened?!?!?!? It was a wild morning that saw the announcement of the 2015 Oscar nominees, and I just can’t get past Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs’ all-time great mispronunciation of a name. Congratulations to Mr. Turner cinematographer Dick Pope on your Oscar nomination. I’m sorry you’ll live […]

The 20 Best Performances of 2014

The 20 Best Performances of 2014

It was a great year for acting, and I still haven’t seen some of the year’s most acclaimed performances. If David Oyelowo (Selma), Julianne Moore (Still Alice), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game), J.K. Simmons (Whiplash), Timothy Spall (Mr. Turner), Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Beyond the Lights), or anyone else bowls me over the way they have so […]

The Best Films of 2014

The Best Films of 2014

It seems you’re supposed to open your end-of-year favorite films list with an assessment of the movie year as a whole, but I’ve never really been interested in that. Good, bad, or somewhere in between—I have no idea what I’d say about 2014 other than I love the 20 films I’m writing about today and […]

2015 Golden Globes Nominations Predictions

2015 Golden Globes Nominations Predictions

The ultra-prestigious and never ridiculous Hollywood Foreign Press Association is on the cusp of announcing its nominees for the 2015 Golden Globes. We should take these nominations very seriously, as the many, many dedicated and serious-minded members of this fine organization consider only the artistic merits of each film, performance, and craft achievement in a […]

Wild Review

Wild Review

RATING: (3.5 STARS) One of the most successful prestige films of 2013 was Jean-Marc Vallée’s Dallas Buyers Club, a mostly artless attempt to prove that white guys have feelings too. It was well-acted, though, and ultimately won three Oscars, but my frustrations with the film, its screenplay, and its non-descript direction all led to major […]

2014 TIFF Preview

2014 TIFF Preview

The 2014 Toronto International Film Festival is fast approach, and as I usually do, I’ve combed through every lineup and pulled out the 50 most exciting films for my 2014 TIFF preview. I won’t be attending the fest, but I’ll be waiting with bated breath for news about the quality of these and other great […]

2015 Oscar Predictions: First Guesses Before Fall Fests

2015 Oscar Predictions: First Guesses Before Fall Fests

It’s 2015 Oscar predictions time, so let’s dig the prognosticator’s hat out of the attic, dust it off, and take a look at the landscape of the 2015 Oscar race. If I’m being honest, though, I almost didn’t want to get involved with 2015 Oscar predictions at all. Last year’s Oscar season and the nonsense […]