Here's the List for This Year's Golden Globe Winners

Scene from La La Land

Yesterday was a big day for movie lovers as The Golden Globes gave out awards to the best in TV and film. While this year's nominees were at times baffling (it's par for the course), the results were surprising often in a good way. With La La Land winning seven awards - the most by one film - it is looking more and more likely that Damien Chazelle's musical will take all of the trophies home come Oscar night. For those who want to know who won, keep reading. It was definitely a year of interesting diversity, and that's the perfect set-up for what this Oscar season needs. The only question is how much overlap we expect to get.

Failed Oscar Campaigns: "Black Mass" (2015)

Johnny Depp

As awards seasons pick up, so do the campaigns to make your film have the best chances at the Best Picture race. However, like a drunken stupor, sometimes these efforts come off as trying too hard and leave behind a trailer of ridiculous flamboyance. Join me on every other Saturday for a highlight of the failed campaigns that make this season as much about prestige as it does about train wrecks. Come for the Harvey Weinstein comments and stay for the history. It's going to be a fun time as I explore cinema's rich history of attempting to matter.

A Look at the Oscar Chances for "Deadpool"

Scene from Deadpool

It has happened again. Deadpool has gotten another award nomination, this time by the Writers Guild of America (WGA). It is an honor that comes as a big surprise to those who wish to write off the superhero satire that broke the fourth wall as well as box office prognostication; creating a belief that an R-Rated superhero movie could be commercially viable. It is far from the first nomination to happen. This upcoming Sunday will see it go up against awards heavyweights like La La Land and Florence Foster Jenkins for Best Comedy or Musical, as well as an acting nomination for lead star Ryan Reynolds. It's a bizarre trajectory, especially for a film released back in February of 2016. However, there is one question to ask ourselves: is Deadpool capable of being an Oscar contender? There's not enough to say it is official, but the Golden Globes and WGA nominations help to spread certain doubt.

Review: "Hacksaw Ridge" is an Awe-Inspiring Look at Faith During War

Scene from Hacksaw Ridge

The events of Mel Gibson's aggressive personal life are likely well known by this point. It's full of a hostility that has kept him from being nearly as big of a star as he was even 15 years ago. Yet with his latest directorial film Hacksaw Ridge, he creates the perfect allegory for redemption. What's more impressive is that he does it without sacrificing the things that make his cinema singular (violence). Mixing war with faith, he explores how a man excised from his community based on his beliefs regains their trust through hard work. There's an earnestness here that is striking amid the graphic decapitations of the war scenes. This may be a story about having faith in time of crisis, but it's also a story about how Gibson regained our trust while producing his best film as a director. 

R.I.P. Debbie Reynolds (1932-2016)

Debbie Reynolds

On December 28, 2016, actress and singer Debbie Reynolds died at the age of 84 in Los Angeles, California after suffering from a stroke. Over the course of her lengthy career, she has entertained audiences both on the silver screen as well as on TV. Best known for her role in Singin' in the Rain, she is known for performing complicated song and dance numbers effortlessly. However, she was a charismatic woman whose talents ranged into theater, film preservation, and even running an organization for mental health issues. No matter what the cause, she dedicated herself to making the world a better place. She leaves behind an impressive body of work that transcends media that will entertain audiences for generations to come.

Nothing But the Best: "Spotlight" (2015)

Scene from Spotlight

Welcome to the series Nothing But the Best in which I chronicle all of the Academy Award Best Picture winners as they celebrate their anniversaries. Instead of going in chronological order, this series will be presented on each film's anniversary and will feature personal opinions as well as facts regarding its legacy and behind the scenes information. The goal is to create an in depth essay for each film while looking not only how the medium progressed, but how the film is integral to pop culture. In some cases, it will be easy. Others not so much. Without further ado, let's start the show.

Failed Oscar Campaigns: "Tangerine" (2015)

Scene from Tangerine

As awards seasons pick up, so do the campaigns to make your film have the best chances at the Best Picture race. However, like a drunken stupor, sometimes these efforts come off as trying too hard and leave behind a trailer of ridiculous flamboyance. Join me on every other Saturday for a highlight of the failed campaigns that make this season as much about prestige as it does about train wrecks. Come for the Harvey Weinstein comments and stay for the history. It's going to be a fun time as I explore cinema's rich history of attempting to matter.

Theory Thursday: "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" is the Worst Christmas Movie Since 2000

Scene from How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Welcome to a weekly column called Theory Thursdays, which will be released every Thursday and discuss my "controversial opinion" related to something relative to the week of release. Sometimes it will be birthdays while others is current events or a new film release. Whatever the case may be, this is a personal defense for why I disagree with the general opinion and hope to convince you of the same. While I don't expect you to be on my side, I do hope for a rational argument. After all, film is a subjective medium and this is merely just a theory that can be proven either way. 

Review: "Manchester By the Sea" is the Best Film of 2016

Scene from Manchester By the Sea

The art of loneliness isn't something that's necessarily cinematic. For starters, inactive characters contradict the capabilities of a medium meant to embody visceral excitement. This may be true, but director Kenneth Lonergan's Manchester By the Sea has managed to find a way around this problem by finding a story that is vastly insular as well as engaging. By focusing on the struggles of two family members as a relative dies, the film manages to find the connective tissue in which everyone feels that struggle of loss. What makes the film even more of an achievement is that Lonergan's script manages to explore the darkness without giving way of the comical asides and vulnerable moments that are found in everyday moment. They aren't flaws of the movie, but instead a reflection of how everyone deals with grief. Thanks to excellent performances by Casey Affleck and Lucas Hedges, the film explodes with life. It may seem unlikely, but it actually is the most human film of the year.

Review: "Jackie" Turns a Familiar Moment Into an Original, Heart-Wrenching Drama

Natalie Portman

Throughout history, public leaders have been turned into mythic giants with infallible gifts. They lead their countries through hard times often at the risk of legacy-ruining scrutiny. While time has a habit of only enforcing this mindset more, it does feel important to remember the one truth: they were just humans. Never has that been more apparent in late 20th century American history than on November 22, 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. It's a moment that history won't let anyone forget, even as it's over 50 years old. Yet there's one side that's often overlooked that was there that day. His wife Jacqueline Kennedy was by his side, but whose story has rarely been given attention. Director Pablo Larrain's Jackie uses this construct to explore more universal themes with a script whose prose reads as a long essay on the grieving process. With poetic language and even more beautiful cinematography, the film sparks with life in one of the most original biopics to come out this past year.

Review: "La La Land" Will Make You Believe in the Power of Movie Musicals Again

Emma Stone

There are few cities in America quite as depressing on film as Los Angeles, California. The place best known for film noir has given its fair share of famous sad endings including in Chinatown where things end horribly, ending with the line "Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown." It's the land of disaster despite bordering the land of glitz and glam. There are few places deserving of a modern musical quite like L.A., especially in a year that many would consider depressing. Yet it doesn't take long for director Damien Chazelle to invade the city of opportunity and turn one of the most dreaded activities - rush hour traffic - into the elaborate song and dance number "Just Another Day of Sun." Before the number is halfway through, it will be hard to believe that this is the land that's inspired misery. In fact, it's the land of opportunity, and something that La La Land takes full advantage of in glorious technical detail that reminds you that films could be fun and that musicals aren't just silly; they're cathartic experiences.

A Look at How Cinema Has Made John F. Kennedy the "Absent President"

Scene from Forrest Gump

What do we mean when we talk about President John F. Kennedy in film? Had the answer applied to any other leader of the free world, the answer would be simple. These were men who lead the country through historical periods and should be honored with a noble retelling of their legacy. But over the past 25 years especially, has there been a president more undermined by cinema's potential than Kennedy? With the recent release of director Pablo Larrain's Jackie, it feels like an important time to analyze why one of the most revered presidents of the late 20th century is largely absent, even in his own filmography. It's not likely because he didn't mean anything, but that he has become symbolic of something greater than his career.

An Open Letter From The Oscar Buzz

Scene from The Life of Emile Zola

As you likely have noticed, output on here has been a little low in recent weeks. I have stated before that this is in large part because of my return to school, which has sucked up plenty of my free time. However, I do think that I still owe everyone an apology for not producing more content, specifically on weekends where I would have had ample time to make up any missing assignments. The missing entries weren't done out of spite, but more the fact that life has been a bit hectic in recent weeks. While school is over, the holidays are literally a week away and that is sure to eat up more of my time. So, what am I going to do out of compensation? I'm probably not going to make up the missing work, but I will do my best to do a little extra in the days ahead.

Check Out This Year's Best Original Song Shortlist

Scene from Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

One of the best parts of awards season is seeing what makes the short lists for each category. There's probably none as usually more interesting than the Best Original Song field. It is where even the mediocre films get to shine - that is if they have a good song or two. This year looks to be no exception. With a list that includes 91 titles, it's time to start thinking about how the category is going to look and which five will make it to the finals. Sure, Moana and La La Land seem like obvious bets, but what other music is worth remembering? Check out the list for yourself and feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.

"La La Land" Becomes a Box Office Hit in Limited Release

Scene from La La Land

It's the most wonderful time of year. For movie fans, Oscar season is in full gear and has a variety of options that you can see. With the recent Golden Globes nominations out, there's no shortage of options for your movie buck. In fact, the past month has produced a variety of box office records that are worth keeping an eye on. For starters, Disney's Moana continues to top the charts for a third week. However, it is the limited releases that have had the most interesting numbers. Following an impressive opening by Moonlight a few weeks back, director Damien Chazelle's musical La La Land has not only opened with good numbers, but has become the highest per screen average opening for 2016. In fact, a lot of Oscar-potential movies had a good weekend.

Check Out This Year's Golden Globe Awards Nominations

Scene from Deadpool

This morning, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) released the nominees for their annual Golden Globes ceremony. Along with being one of the first major awards of the season, it is always a curious bunch of nominees to look at. This year proved to be no different, reflecting the best in drama while also giving us some semblance of potential upsets for awards shows to come. The following is a list of the movie nominees, including the good, the bad, and whatever Deadpool's Best Comedy or Musical nominations are supposed to be. Oh well, it wouldn't be awards season without The Academy's drunk cousin giving out nominations to off the wall selections. Read the list after the jump as well as personal commentary on each category.

Best Song: A Fond Farewell (For Now)

Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's

Welcome to Best Song, a new weekly column released on Sunday dedicated to chronicling the Best Original Song category over the course of its many decades. The goal is to listen to and critique every song that has ever been nominated in the category as well as find the Best Best Song and the Best Loser. By the end, we'll have a comprehensive list of this music category and will hopefully have a better understanding not only of the evolution, but what it takes to receive a nomination here. It may seem easy now, but wait until the bad years.

Tom Hardy to Get a Tattoo of Leonardo DiCaprio After "The Revenant" Bet

Tom Hardy

Last year was a massive moment for Tom Hardy's career. In the first half of the year, he starred in the critically acclaimed and box office hit Mad Max: Fury Road. Then in the Fall, he starred alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in the wilderness epic The Revenant. The film also was met with great reviews and an impressive box office haul that landed Hardy a Best Supporting Actor nomination. This may sound like a good thing, but there is one catch. Because of that win, Hardy has to get an embarrassing tattoo of his costar. If nothing else, this may be one of the strangest side effects of being an Oscar nominated talent. If nothing else, it's very amusing.

"The Founder" is Now Playing at One Theater in Hollywood

Scene from The Founder

It has been a long, long time since we last heard from director John Lee Hancock's The Founder. In that time, the story of Ray Croc (Michael Keaton) taking control of McDonald's was set for an August release, but was pushed back to December (and subsequently January 2017). In that time, a whole Oscar conversation has changed. The Birth of a Nation and Rules Don't Apply are all but out of the race. Jackie and La La Land look to be big contenders. Martin Scorsese randomly decided to release a movie this year. Even Big Mac creator Jim Delligatti died in that time. So, what's going on with The Founder? Well, the good news is that you can see it, right now. The issue is that it's not exactly at a theater near most people.

Jimmy Kimmel Will Host the Academy Awards Ceremony 2017

Jimmy Kimmel

With every year comes another set of important questions. For the Oscars, it's largely a mix of who will win and who will be nominated. While that's all important, the awards ceremony is its own big event worthy of discussion. And so, the question comes once again: Who will host The Oscars? After months of speculation, the answer has finally arrived, and it's not a terrible choice. In fact, it's actually pretty good. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the stage the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Mr. Jimmy Kimmel.