Every Best Picture Nominee of the 2010's Ranked: #25-29

Scene from Roma (2018)

As 2019 reached its end, another decade of cinema had passed. It's amazing to think about how things have evolved since 2010 when the biggest controversies were about recognizing genre movies. Things look different now, especially as genre films like The Shape of Water and Parasite are winning Best Picture and the voting body looks incredibly different with each passing year. With this period in the books, it feels like a good time to celebrate their accomplishments by ranking all 88 titles nominated for Best Picture from worst to best with the goal of seeing which films are more likely to stand the test of time. Join me every Saturday and Sunday as I count them down, five at a time. It's going to be a fun summer looking back on what was, especially as we prepare for the decade ahead and an even more interesting diversity that we haven't even begun to think of.

Composing Greatness: #1. Oscars 2020 Edition - "Marriage Story"

Scene from Marriage Story (2019)

Welcome to a very special edition of Composing Greatness. In this limited series, I will be looking at the five scores nominated for this year's Best Original Score category. To avoid favoritism, the list will be done in alphabetical order of composers and feature the same guidelines as the original series. This is meant to explore the music behind the great films of 2019, and provide insight into what makes each of them special and whether or not they deserved to be nominated at all. Join me all week as I listen to the music, leave some thoughts, and hopefully sway you to check out these wonderful, wonderful scores.

Composing Greatness: #15. The Freshman Class of the 2010's - "BlacKkKlansman" (2017)

Scene from BlacKkKlansman

Welcome to Composing Greatness: a column dedicated to exploring the work of film composers. This will specifically focus on the films that earned them Oscar nominations while exploring what makes it so special. This will be broken down into a look at the overall style, interesting moments within the composition, and what made the score worth nominating in the first place. This will also include various subcategories where I will rank the themes of each film along with any time that the composer actually wins. This is a column meant to explore a side of film that doesn't get enough credit while hopefully introducing audiences to an enriched view of more prolific composers' work. This will only cover scores/songs that are compiled in an easily accessible format (so no extended scores will be considered). Join me every Sunday as I cover these talents that if you don't know by name, you recognize by sound.

Review: "Marriage Story" Creates One of the Most Empathetic Divorce Story Ever

Scene from Marriage Story

From under a hushed voice, Marriage Story opens with Charlie (Adam Driver) and Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) shares lists of things that they like about each other. As a montage of their life starts to clue the viewer in, there's a sense of happiness in between both of them. It's a way of appreciating the joys that they brought to each other's life, as well as the odd eccentricities that they tolerate as a charming foible. This is director-writer Noah Baumbach's introduction to the world, and the montages create an innocence in such ideas as Charlie being too energy conscious. These details play out in a way that slowly begins to suggest to those familiar with the concept as a form of therapy. As the scene cuts to the current action, Charlie and Nicole are in marriage counseling, holding letters full of compliments that they'll share with each other.

That's where the issue starts. For all of the nice things that the audience has heard, neither has told each other. It's a world of implied joy hidden under something far more complicated. It's not just a case of romantic burnout. It's one where careers have pulled them to different coasts and suddenly the charming foibles they once forgave now are like nails on a chalkboard. It's understood why the couple wants to break-up, but what makes Baumbach's new film a masterpiece is that he's empathetic to both sides, never allowing the viewer to perform vindictive acts of taking sides. This isn't one where Charlie is a rage monster or Nicole too overbearing. It's merely a story of tragic reality. Sometimes life sends people in different directions, and in this case, divorce is most tragic not because of the people involved, but the circumstances they're placed into.

Review: "The Report" Does a Decent Job of Telling Harsh Truths

Scene from The Report (2019)

It's Fall 2019, and writer/director Scott Z. Burns is concerned about America's well-being. Two months after collaborating with Stephen Soderbergh on the Panama Papers drama The Laundromat, he takes to something even more pressing and controversial. The Report finds Adam Driver starring as Senator staffer Daniel Jones as he discovers some dark secrets in the wake of the World Trade Center attacks. Apparently, the War on Terror isn't off to the friendliest of starts with suspects being waterboarded, tortured, and placed in confined spaces while soldiers blare Marilyn Manson tracks. Jones is one of the few in Washington D.C. with a conscience to stand up against the system, and it's here that the procedural begins to take form. The results are engrossing yet uncomfortable, managing to reflect a taboo subject with such visceral force that it's equal parts shocking and too much. 

"The Report" Trailer Classifies Adam Driver as an Oscar Front-Runner

Scene from The Report (2019)

Things are starting to heat up for Adam Driver. Two days ago, he appeared in the trailer for Netflix's Marriage Story. Today he makes his appearance in one of Amazon Studios' biggest pushes for Oscar glory with The Report. Considering that he's coming off of an Oscar nomination for BlacKkKlansman, he may be looking at something unprecedented: a possible double nomination. Both of his Fall 2019 performances promise to be big pushes this season, and The Report's early buzz has argued that it's among his finest work. With the drama being a post-9/11 look at national security, it's going to be a buzzy topic and one that could electrify conversation. Thankfully the trailer already looks to have done all but solidify him as a force to be reckoned with this season.

Netflix Doubles Down on Baumbach with Two Excellent "Marriage Story" Trailers

Scene from Marriage Story

For the second time, Netflix looks like they're trying to get a director and writer Noah Baumbach into the Oscar race. In 2017, they released the successful The Meyerowitz Stories, which found one of Adam Sandler's most acclaimed performances in years. However, it wasn't meant to be as The Academy outright ignored it. Well, Baumbach has returned to a familiar well for his next film for the streaming service: Marriage Story. It's the story of romance in a relationship that may be falling apart. Seeing as it features Adam Driver in one of his first post-Oscar-nominated roles (Best Supporting Actor - BlacKkKlansman), it looks like this film will have an easier time getting into the conversation. Thankfully, if the trailers and release look like any indicator, it will be even easier for Baumbach and the supporting cast to join in on the fun as well. 

Review: "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" Has A Few Moments of Brilliance Worthy of Its Subject

Jonathan Pryce

For director Terry Gilliam, the film The Man Who Killed Don Quixote has long been a quixotic task that there was a documentary made about its failure... in 2002. The film's mythic failure to ever be made properly makes the final product feel all the more like a miracle. After several false starts and financial conflicts, the film finally hit the big screen last year with a premiere at Cannes and a slow rollout internationally. While it was made, the thought of seeing it publicly was put into question due to Gilliam's bad luck. In that sense, the film is a success for even landing stateside on V.O.D. platforms. Thankfully, it's mostly an entertaining romp that pays homage to one of literature's greatest "heroes." Oddly enough, it also pays tribute to Gilliam's tendency for self-indulgence in both good and bad ways. It's more than a miracle that it got made, but it feels like another niche release from the kooky auteur.

Composing Greatness: #1. Oscars 2019 Edition - "BlacKkKlansman"

Scene from BlacKkKlansman

Welcome to a very special edition of Composing Greatness. In this limited series, I will be looking at the five scores nominated for this year's Best Original Score category. To avoid favoritism, the list will be done in alphabetical order of composers and feature the same guidelines as the original series. This is meant to explore the music behind the great films of 2018, and provide insight into what makes each of them special and whether or not they deserved to be nominated at all. Join me all week as I listen to the  music, leave some thoughts, and hopefully sway you to check out these wonderful, wonderful scores.

Theory Thursday: "Inside Llewyn Davis" is Oscar Isaac's Best Performance

Scene from Inside Llewyn Davis

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: "BlacKkKlansman" is a Giant Gut Punch of Profound Film Making

Scene from BlacKkKlansman

By the age of 61, most storied filmmakers have done their best work and are in the "safe" era of their careers. Not Spike Lee. While his career has never been nothing short of abrasive and confrontational, his latest BlacKkKlansman is a film that comes like a foot knocking down a door. Much like the general discourse, he's mad at the problematic race relations of the modern era and wants to have a blunt discussion of why we should be angrier about it. Over the course of his film, he has created one of the most delightful, uncomfortable, prophetic, energetic, scary films of his career. Even from its title, which alludes to the Ku Klux Klan characters at the center of the story, it doesn't come subtle. But on the bright side, Lee is one of the few old hats that are angry with a purpose, and it's so nice to have a film this immediate to prove the value of art to change discourse, provided everyone stops and listens.

The First "BlacKkKlansman" Trailer Shows Spike Lee at His Most Urgent

Scene from BlacKkKlansman

There's a lot that's currently going on over at the Cannes Film Festival. Among the most noteworthy is the praise around director Spike Lee's latest BlacKkKlansman. He's a director whose praise has ebbed and flowed over the years, hitting a recent standstill with movies that haven't quite captured the zeitgeist. However, there's a good chance that his latest will in which two police officers go under cover to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). It's a film that promises to capture the heated race relations of modern America and possibly bring out a side of Lee that has made him a cinematic icon for over 30 years. The first trailer definitely helps to suggest that it's got a lot to say, and it's going to do so very angrily. 

A24 A-to-Z: #18. "While We're Young" (2015)

Scene from While We're Young

In case you didn't know, A24 is one of the great purveyors of modern cinema. Since 2013, the studio has found a way to innovate independent cinema by turning each release into an event. As a result, A24 A-to-Z will be an ongoing series that looks at every release from the studio by analyzing its production history, release, criticisms, and any awards attention that it might've received. Join me on a quest to explore the modern heroes of cinema by exploring every hit and miss that comes with that magnificent logo. They may not all be great, but they more than make A24 what it is and what it will hopefully continue to be for ears to come.

Failed Oscar Campaigns: "Silence" (2016)

Andrew Garfield

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.

Martin Scorsese's "Silence" Remains Quiet at the Box Office

Andrew Garfield in Silence

Few names will get serious movie fans to the theaters quite like Martin Scorsese. For several decades now, he has produced some of the most acclaimed films in American cinema history. Even controversial efforts like The Wolf of Wall Street still manage to later be revered as classics. So, how did his latest film Silence do? For starters, it is a departure from most of the films that he's ever done both stylistically and literally. Focusing on Jesuit priests in 17th century Japan, the film has been hailed as a perfect culmination of the director's themes. However, movie goers didn't care as much for it and what may be his most personal film is quickly becoming one of his few box office bombs.

Review: "Silence" is a Powerful Yet Challenging Look at Faith

Scene from Silence

In a recent interview, director Martin Scorsese claimed that he doesn't see new movies because "The images don't mean anything." This statement has likely been said by many elder statesman of the arts, but few have the continuing reputation of the 74-year-old acclaimed filmmaker whose work continues to be provocative and inspiring. In his latest Silence, he takes a passion project that he's been working on for 28 years and turns to story of Portuguese Jesuit priests in 17th century Japan into one of his most personal, wrenching, and challenging films to date. It may isolate those expecting films like The Aviator or more recently with The Wolf of Wall Street; but for those willing to give Scorsese's most artful film to date a chance, it may end up being one of the most rewarding, frustrating masterworks he's ever created where almost every frame is rich with detail and meaning that makes Scorsese's disinterest in modern cinema not a moment of delusion, but a call for everyone to try harder.

The First Trailer for "Silence" is a Gorgeous Reminder of Scorsese's Brilliance

Andrew Garfield

It must be great to be Martin Scorsese. With an infinite amount of acclaim and consideration as America’s best living director, he has capabilities that almost nobody else does. In the case of his latest film Silence, he managed to announce its release date rather recently and make it one of the year’s most anticipated films. To make matters more humorous, he threatened not to release the trailer if Hillary Clinton lost the presidential election (spoiler alert: she did). Two weeks later, the silence around Silence has broken, and it’s time to revel in the first look at a master’s latest film.

Martin Scorsese Joins the Oscars 2016 Race as "Silence" Gets a Release Date

Scene from Silence

If you're an Oscar fan, you'll know how busy the Christmas season is. In the few weeks leading up to December 25, these heavyweight films will be opening: La La Land, Miss Sloane, Collateral Beauty, Fences, The Founder, Rogue One, and A Monster Calls. That doesn't include any potential shifts or changes that will likely come between now and then. However, the one major news that should be met with equal excitement and dread of having to cram yet another movie into the holiday season comes from director Martin Scorsese. With many speculating when his latest Silence was going to be released, it officially has a late December release. Speaking as it's worked out nicely for him before with The Aviator and The Wolf of Wall Street, one can only imagine that this is a good sign of things to come.

Theory Thursday: In Defense of Nicolas Winding Refn

Scene from Neon Demon

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. 

Failed Oscar Campaigns: "Inside Llewyn Davis" (2013)

Oscar Isaac

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.