Failed Oscar Campaigns: "The Irishman" (2019)

Scene from The Irishman (2019)

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.

How Peggy Reveals the Brilliance of "The Irishman" Script

Scene from The Irishman (2019)

The greatness of director Martin Scorsese's towering gangster epic The Irishman can be summarized with one performance: Peggy Sheeran. It may not seem like it given that she has considerably less screen time than most characters in Frank Sheeran's (Robert De Niro) life, but the way that writer Steven Zaillian uses her describes something key in the film's overall tragedy. Yes, one can use the crackling dialogue rich with acidic humor and bursts of violence that distract from Frank ever learning a lesson, but that isn't anything new for a Scorsese movie. No, there has to be something there that serves as the piece of Frank that got away, unable to ever be obtained even as he murders for the sake of building a reputation among the local mob. The performances are rich with personality, but one has to wonder what they mean in the long run. Why doesn't Frank's story end when the last of them have said goodbye? It's because their respect was easy to get. His family was a different matter.

"The Irishman" Proves Netflix Isn't Kidding Around This Oscar Season with 26.4 Million Views in the First Week

Scene from The Irishman (2019)

By all accounts, Netflix has been crushing it this awards season. This past week saw the streaming service dominate the Golden Globe nominations with major nominations for Dolemite is My Name, The Two Popes, Marriage Story, and the Martin Scorsese-directed epic The Irishman. All of the films look like their on track to dominate awards season and possibly lead the Oscars. That's not only the critics talking. According to data released by chief Ted Sarandon, The Irishman is a big success because of the availability on Netflix. With a reported 26.4 million households seeing the film in the first week and a potential 48 million projected for the first month, it's a number that looks to prove why Scorsese and Netflix were smart to collaborate on this 3.5-hour film. It may have made the film a bigger hit than a conventional release strategy.

Review: "The Irishman" is the Great Gangster Movie to End All Gangster Movies

Scene from The Irishman (2019)

With The Irishman, director Martin Scorsese has made the gangster movie to end all gangster movies. He has made a career of exploring the criminals who have gotten rich off of shady deals and violent discourse, leaving behind nothing but misery for everyone else. After pushing limits with films like Mean Streets, Goodfellas and The Wolf of Wall Street, he has taken on the elder statesman role in 2019 to discuss how a life of crime may seem rewarding at first but inevitably ends in a sadness that can't be escaped. As much as the 3.5-hour running time feels at times taxing, drawing out small moments that feel interminable, the result is to create an epic about a man learning to realize his own flaws only to realize that they come too late. It's a story about loyalty and aging in the ways that only Scorsese can get away with. While the results are less flashy than his aforementioned masterpieces, this is the final chapter in a cautionary tale that has defined his work from the beginning. With a cast of incredible actors at the top of their game, The Irishman may be overlong, but it's all in an attempt to cheat death. It's horrifying and immersive, leaving the audience with a powerful gut punch that is too bittersweet to forget.

Netflix Launches Website for Where You Can See "The Irishman"

Scene from The Irishman (2019)

For many Oscar fans last year, nothing was more debated than where you could actually see Roma. Given that Netflix maintains a fraught relationship with most major theater chains, it continues to loom large as a problem impacting their current plan to do slow rollouts for several of their Fall 2019 films. Among them is the hotly anticipated Martin Scorsese epic The Irishman, which has gained acclaim as one of the director's finest movies. But, where could you possibly see a film released by the Oscar-winning filmmaker? Up until now, the answer would be to do the familiar hard work of Googling or going to Fandango to find answers. Thanks to Netflix, there's an even easier option out there now.

"The Irishman" Trailer Sets Scorsese Up for Oscar Potential

Scene from The Irishman (2019)

There have been few obvious Oscar campaigns quite like director Martin Scorsese's The Irishman. It was so anticipated that a teaser played during the commercials for the actual ceremony. However, this is the first time that audiences will be privy to what lied in one of the most exciting pairings of the year. Not only is it the return of Scorsese with Robert de Niro, but it also features Goodfellas actor Joe Pesci and his first with Al Pacino. It's a dynamite group that could sell the film without a single piece of marketing. Thankfully, the trailer that premiered lived up to the expectations, taking audiences back to the world of Scorsese gangster films for the first time since The Departed in 2006. If nothing else, it looks to be one of the best excuses to subscribe to Netflix yet.

Failed Oscar Campaigns: "Dick Tracy" (1990)

Scene from Dick Tracy (1990)

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.

R.I.P. Patty Duke (1946-2016)

Patty Duke

On March 29, 2016, actress and singer Patty Duke died at the age of 69 in Couer d'Alene, Idaho from an ruptured intestine. Over the course of her long and storied career, she has achieved a variety of things from being one of the youngest Oscar winners for her role in The Miracle Worker to appearing in edgier adult roles like The Valley of the Dolls. Her work was vast and always challenging, choosing to take on roles that were sometimes confrontational and contradictory to her squeaky clean child star image. She leaves behind an impressive body of work that is unmatched in terms of quality or charisma as well as serving as an advocate for mental illness. 

Nothing But the Best: "The Godfather" (1972)

Left to right: Al Pacino and Marlon Brando

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.

Why "The Godfather Part III" is an Underrated Film After 25 Years

Left to right: Al Pacino and Sofia Coppola in The Godfather Part III

"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in."

It's a line uttered by Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) finding out that he's been wrangled back into the mafia lifestyle. However, it very well may be the motto for director Francis Ford Coppola and writer Mario Puzo, who decided to make The Godfather Part III following what can easily be seen as the franchise's main motivation: Coppola's other failing films. Following the box office failure of One From the Heart, he return to the beloved gangster franchise for a film that even he felt was unnecessary. It seems like almost everyone else feels the same way, as it has become considered a train wreck of a movie; a disgrace to the franchise. In the case of its 25th anniversary, it's time to consider one thing: it's actually good. Maybe not as good as its Best Picture-winning counterparts, but it's still not worthy of its problematic reputation. 

Nothing But the Best: "The Godfather Part II" (1974)

Robert De Niro in The Godfather Part II

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.

Birthday Take: Al Pacino in "Dog Day Afternoon" (1975)

Al Pacino

Welcome to The Birthday Take, a column dedicated to celebrating Oscar nominees and winners' birthdays by paying tribute to the work that got them noticed. This isn't meant to be an exhaustive retrospective, but more of a highlight of one nominated work that makes them noteworthy. The column will run whenever there is a birthday and will hopefully give a dense exploration of the finest performances and techniques applied to film. So please join me as we blow out the candles and dig into the delicious substance.

There's Only Five Days Until Oscar Night!

Ladies and gentlemen, we are officially five days away from this year's Academy Awards! It is an exciting time that is finally coming to a close. As everyone catches up with their last minute viewings and predictions, I thought that I would take a break and commemorate the countdown with a look at my Top 10 favorite acting nominees who have five or more nominations to their credit. After pointing out lists of favorite movies and directors, I figured that it was time to understand me through the performances that shape how I perceive the ceremony and thus better reflect what I look for in performances.