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.

Theory Thursday: Benedict Cumberbatch is Overrated

Benedict Cumberbatch in Zoolander No. 2

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. 

Johnny Depp Reportedly Doesn't Want to Win an Oscar

Johnny Depp in The Pirates of the Caribbean

By now, you likely have your own opinions on Johnny Depp as an actor. You either buy into his ability to camouflage into character at the drop of the hat, or find that he often chews scenery a little too heavily. For whatever it's worth, he remains an impeccable presence, and one that was destined for a comeback with Black Mass, in which he plays mob boss Whitey Bulger. Some are even questioning if an Oscar nomination for his role is in there near future (I'm not) since it is a return to form. I hate to break it to you prognosticators, but Depp is the latest actor to come public on not caring about having an Oscar. It's not entirely for the reasons you'd think.

Review: "Black Mass" is a Cliche Gangster Film with Squandered Potential By All

Johnny Depp

There is one notion that I have that has flickered in recent years: Johnny Depp is a great actor. Not in the sense that his every film he makes is a masterpiece, but that he brings something authentic to each role. Where I've seen a handful of beloveds unable to immerse themselves in a role, it is rarely true with Depp. He can be eccentric or menacing when the role calls for it. With director Scott Cooper's Black Mass, I was hoping that audiences would get to pick up on that, especially after a long stretch of clunkers best immortalized with this year's Mortdecai. However, it is only fuel for their fire. While it isn't entirely his fault, a lot of the blame for why Black Mass is an abysmal, cliche-ridden movie falls on his shoulders. He crumbles underneath with one of his least inspired performances to date.

A Look at the Hits and Misses of TIFF

Scene from Anomalisa

As the annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) wraps up, it's time to take account of the big news that has come out of it. Following the brief but memorable news that came out of Telluride, TIFF marks one of the annual high points in Oscar Season. It is a time when films begin to make a name for themselves, helping to shape the race with a few outsiders that likely weren't considered before. While I will try not to address a lot of films that I discussed in the Telluride piece, I do feel the need to make a few highlights as to what significant film news we have heard, and what we can expect in the months going forward.

What the Telluride Festival Told Us About Oscar Front Runners

Scene from Suffragette

This past weekend was the Telluride Film Festival. While it doesn't have the immediate ring as that of Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) or Cannes, it has come to be its own predictor of the Oscar season ahead. As we enter the season, it's time to start looking at all of the possibilities out there and guessing just where everything will fall. If the news out of Telluride is any indication, we may be in for a hefty, exciting season full of returning favorites and a few new faces that may just well steal the show. The following is a quick rundown of the various films that have Oscar potential and what we have learned from the general buzz that has come from the festival.

The "Black Mass" Trailer Looks Like Depp is Trying to Impress Us Again

Johnny Depp

Here is a fact that many likely will find odd: Johnny Depp has earned three Oscar nominations - all between 2004 and 2008. For modern audiences, it is probably hard to believe that the actor behind critically panned movies like Mortdecai and Transcendence used to be one of the most interesting and rebellious mainstream actors out there. He even got an acting nomination for The Pirates of the Caribbean as Captain Jack Sparrow. While I don't feel his passion is entirely gone, there is a need for us, as well as him, to reassess his current acting career. With director Scott Cooper's Black Mass, it looks like if nothing else, he is back to giving a role that shows the edgier and more interesting side of Depp. The only question is if it will be enough.