It's been a month... what have I missed?

I think I'm using the same images with every Oscar post I do.

Alright, I've slacked severely. In the past month, I haven't written a word on my site. Why? Because I just forgot. In the dead heat of the Oscar race, I lost interest. It's a three-horse race between American Hustle, 12 Years a Slave, and Gravity, with each one winning different prizes and hardly moving anywhere, I just lost interest in the Oscars. I love movies all the same, but this year is hopelessly exhausting.

PGA
Best Picture: Gravity AND 12 Years a Slave
Gravity is so close to being a solid lock for Best Picture, but every BP prize it wins in the big shows are ties, as seen with the LAFCA and PGA. Okay. American Hustle is probably the weakest horse in the three horse race, but it's still one of the strongest in the nine horse scheme of things.

WGA
Original Screenplay: Her, Spike Jonze
Adapted Screenplay: Captain Phillips, Billy Ray
The Her love is strong for screenplay, because it also happened to take the Golden Globe prize for screenplay. Even Tina Fey, when heckling the film in her monologue, had to mention that she loved it. It's the weirdest thing of the year, but one of the most lovable. Come Oscar night, I'm crossing my fingers for Her, but American Hustle is still an undeniably strong contender. For Adapted Screenplay, WGA rule shenanigans eliminated 12 Years a Slave, which would have been the clear winner had it been nominated. The clear winner was Terrence Winter for his bonkers The Wolf of Wall Street, but nope, the unspectacular Captain Phillips had to upset. I quote The Wolf of Wall Street in conversation now (...goes up, down, sideways, in circles...), but I can hardly remember a good line from Captain Phillips (They'a R nawt heer to fish). Quotability doesn't determine the quality of a script, but let's leave it at this: I was never bored during The Wolf of Wall Street, but one hour of Captain Phillips put me half to sleep.

DGA
Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
Out of all the nominees, Cuaron was the only true visionary. Simple as that.

BAFTA
Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave
Best British Film: Gravity
Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofer, 12 Years a Slave
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Best Supporting Actor: Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
Best Original Screenplay: David O. Russell, Eric Warren Singer, American Hustle
Best Adapted Screenplay: Jeff Pope, Steve Coogan, Philomena
So this is a truncated list of winners, but these are the 'big' awards. And the BAFTA group is kind of painting an augmented picture, especially since Dallas Buyers Club and Her weren't nominated for anything (lack pf viewership can be easily blamed). So in a year where the love is being shared, do you think the shared love could be changed if Dallas and Her entered the picture? No matter. The Best Picture winner here only took two prizes, the other being Best Actor. And to think we all thought after Telluride, that 12 Years a Slave would sweep the circuits, a la Return of the King!. It's a testament to the quality of filmmaking that sprouted from 2013, where all films were good if they weren't titled Lee Daniels' The Butler, even Captain Phillips has some admirable components. Notice how despite winning Best Pic, 12 lost the screenplay prize to Philomena, a film with a British advantage called Steve Coogan. It won't translate overseas on the 2nd, and despite loving the script to 12 more than Philomena, what Coogan and Pope did was make a safe, solid, sweet, and superb script that got some worthy recognition this year. Gravity took home the most prizes of night, so it is still a formidable contender for the top prize. Hustle took Best Original Screenplay, but Her wasn't nominated, so Oscar night should be more interesting.

Expect my Oscar Opinions series to restart soon, especially since I haven't yet done reviews of best picture nominees like Philomena and Captain Phillips. Stay tuned.

2013 Oscar Nominations: Best Director Nomination Predictions!

I'm a hunter shooting with a crappy gun in the dark when it comes to this category. Really, this category messed with everyone last year, especially since Bigelow and Affleck weren't nominated last year.

1. David O. Russell, American Hustle
The leading best picture contender, and it's pretty much a lock for a nom. Actually the whole top three is.

2. Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
Yo. Seriously. Visual movies are the ones that fit the directing category best, and Gravity is no exception. Actually, I don't know how to rank
the top three, all that matters that they are locks.

3. Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
One of the best directed films of the year, crafted by a true artist. Totally worthy of the director recognition.

4. Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street
He's Scorsese. Not always a winner, but his seventy-one year old energy is
too infectious to ignore in such a stylistic picture.

5. Spike Jonze, Her
Beautifully crafted American masterpiece. Has such a huge fanbase, and the film is amazing. And even if her isn't recognized tomorrow, he is a lock for the screenplay category.

Keep your eyes peeled for Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips), Alexander Payne (Nebraska), and the Coens (Inside Llewyn Davis).

DGA Nominees!

So the nominations are in, and it's fine. Nothing too surprising.

Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips
Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street
Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
David O. Russell, American Hustle

LA Film Critics award winners reward Gravity AND Her!

Great announcements! Gravity got its biggest traction to date, and it may look like that we all have been underestimating what people thought of when it came to Her. This is an odd critics award session, because rewards were all over the place for so many films. I honestly have no idea where this award season is going.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:

Her, runner-up Inside Llewyn Davis

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave, runner-up June Squibb, Nebraska

BEST EDITING:

Gravity, runner-up Upstream Color

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Gravity, runner-up Inside Llewyn Davis

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Tie! James Franco, Spring Breakers (YES!), Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

BEST ANIMATION:

Ernest and Celestine, runner-up The Wind Rises

BEST MUSIC:

Inside Llewyn Davis, runner-up Her

BEST DOCUMENTARY:
Stories We Tell, runner-up The Act of Killing

BEST DIRECTOR:
Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity, runner-up Spike Jonze, Her

BEST ACTOR:
Bruce Dern, Nebraska, runner-up Chiwetel Ejiofer, 12 Years a Slave

BEST SCREENPLAY:
Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Before Midnight (YES!!!), runner-up Spike Jonze, Her


BEST ACTRESS:
Tie!! Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine, Adele Exarchopolous, Blue is the Warmest Color

BEST PICTURE:
TIE!!! Gravity AND Her!


BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM:
Blue is the Warmest Color, runner-up The Great Beauty (YAY!)

NEW GENERATION PRIZE:
Megan Ellison (Annapurna Pictures)

LEGACY OF CINEMA:
The Criterion Collection

SPECIAL CITATION:
Creative team of 12 Years a Slave

2014 Oscar Predictions: Best Director (11/20/13)

1. Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Usually, the year's best picture and best director coincide. Last year, a unique exception, will probably not be repeated. When there is a film getting an overwhelming amount of praise like 12 Years, that could only mean that the film will win and sweep it's visionary director along with it. It also happens that many of the most recent best picture winners are from the the director's third film (Argo, The Artist, The King's Speech).

2. Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
If there was any competition to McQueen, it would most definitely by Alfonso Cuaron. Having directed Gravity with visual excellence and revolutionizing visual effects with his cameraman Emmanuel Lubezki, there is no way that Gravity could be ignored.

3. David O. Russell, American Hustle
O. Russell might be one of the best directors of this decade, with both The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook. Judging by the commercials and clips, the movie looks like great fun, and at the least, fun. Though the film has yet to be seen, there's no harm in counting him in.

4. Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street
Because it's Martin Scorsese. Predictions can change, but right now this picture looks strong and counting him out would be wrong (excuse the rhyme).

5. Joel and Ethan Coen, Inside Llewyn Davis
I'm split between this directing duo and Paul Greengrass for Captain Phillips, but I think the Coens are at an advantage. Those that have seen the film and love it really do love it. It's hard not to count out the Coens, because they have a fanbase within the Academy. I mean, between True Grit and Inception, who should've been nominated?

Keep an eye out for:
Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips
The guys that liked Zero Dark Thirty probably enjoyed this one too. It also stars Tom Hanks and is based off a true story, so that should please the Academy too.

Asgahar Farhadi, The Past
Don't underestimate the 25-man team at Sony Pictures Classics. They know how to get the nominations, as seen by what they've done with Amour. Even A Separation managed a screenplay nomination. This is a tight year, but anything unexpected can happen.

John Lee Hancock, Saving Mr. Banks
This is a real crowdpleaser, and nothing can get the Academy more worked up than a crowdpleaser besides a true story.... it just happens that this film is both! What it doesn't have is name recognition. When you're a director going up against Scorsese and the Coens, you're climbing an uphill slope.

Gravity (2013)- Movie Review

I've always wanted to be a part of an movie 'event'. I've always envied the youth that lined the block on the opening weekends of Jaws and Star Wars, those that witnessed Apocalypse Now on the grand Cannes stage. Despite seeing Avatar twice in one week, I feel that I've finally seen a future classic while it was a new film. This masterpiece is Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity, one of the greatest sci-fi films ever made, and easily one of the best films of the year.

In 2006, Cuaron released the uber-realistic sci-fi Children of Men, a film where a yet-to-be-born child is the ray of light in the soon-to-be-extinct dark world. With the help of Emmanuel Lubezki, Children of Men had incredible, almost dreamlike shots stretching into ranges of up to four minutes. Since seven years have passed between Men and Gravity, expectations have been unrealistically high.

Gravity premieres in Venice... It's out of this world!

With seven years since Cuaron's last film, the extremely good Children of Men, I was worried that Gravity had the potential to be... bad. My fears are gone, since reviews for his latest seem to be even better than Children of Men!

Robbie Collin, The Telegraph
★★★★★...With nothingness pressing in on all sides, in a place where the grip of someone else’s hand is all that keeps you from the void, life really does seem like a miracle. (link to review)

2014 Oscars: Best Director predictions (7/10/13)

In a perfect world, Richard Linklater would have this category locked up. Which is truly unfortuante, for his chances of winning anything for his work on Before Midnight are slim. Alas, we still have five contenders that I imagine will do well as nominees.

1. Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street
It is truly miraculous to see one of the best directors ever to still be working. Wolf of Wall Street looks hilarious and exciting, and has Scorsese written all over it.

2. George Clooney, The Monuments Men
When ex-nominee/ex-Batman is directing with an ensemble cast like this, he is bound to get a nomination, maybe a win.

3. Joel and Ethan Coen, Inside Llewyn Davis
The Coen Bros. received nominations for their work on True Grit. With their latest pic a film stronger than True Grit, they will probably also be nominees.

4. Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
With Foxcatcher being my predicted Best Picture w
inner, I might as well predict the director as a nominee. Maybe he will win, maybe he won't.

5. Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
Do I think Gravity will even receive a Best Picture nomination? No. But Cuaron has a visual style that has been well known due to his work with Children of Men. This time, he will receive that elusive nomination. With the film also opening the Venice fest, we will see soon enough how good his latest is.

Check back soon for more predictions!

Gravity trailer!

Out of this world!