Review: "The Hate U Give" is a Vital Conversation Starter

Scene from The Hate U Give

The world of America in 2018 is an unfortunately hostile place. With a sweltering sense of injustice in the world, it's hard to make sense of what the value of a human life can be. For director George Tillman Jr.'s The Hate U Give, he not only tackles one of the most upsetting conflicts of the modern age - police shooting innocent victims - but manages to dive further into the social ramifications as to why that is. It's a story whose imagery is already hot-wired into our subconscious, leaving us to ask ourselves the moral questions as Tillman presents these uncomfortable scenes with a purpose and vigor. It's a drama that goes beyond understanding racial profiling and gets to the heart of how hard change is, though it can still be achieved. The film doesn't have an easy answer on the search for empathy, but it's the type of rallying cry that is needed in this day and age, and helps to elevate this teen drama into something more powerful and timeless.

Best Song: "Remember Me" (2017)

Scene from Coco

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.

Best Song: "Glory" (2014)

Scene from Selma

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.

Failed Oscar Campaigns: "Selma" (2014)

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 Rundown of What We Know About the 2015 Oscars Ceremony So Far

While everyone knows who the nominees for this year's show is, what are the chances that they know who will likely show up? This entry will serve as a compilation of everything that has been announced so far regarding the Oscars ceremony including presenters, performers and who is in charge of writing Neil Patrick Harris' opening song. While there is likely more information to come, this is what is known with a little over two weeks to go. If nothing else, there's a lot of great entertainment to look forward to this time around.

A Few Thoughts on "Selma" as the First Trailer is Released

Left to right: David Oyelowo and Carmen Ejogo

As the race burns on, there's a few names that randomly pop up as late entries. Among them is director Ava DuVernay's Selma, which chronicles the events surrounding Martin Luther King Jr.'s (David Oyelowo) march through Selma, GA back in the 60's. It is an important event and one that seems very opportune for a biopic. With the release of the first trailer for Selma, I figured that I would share some truths: I have already seen this film at an advanced preview. What I say should be taken as opinion, but reflective of how I feel that it will do in the race based on the compiled version, which admittedly was still going through edits at the time about a month ago.