My Top 25 Favorite Films of the Decade

Scene from The Master (2012)

The following is an excerpt from my new e-book "A Decade Now Available for Streaming: Celebrating the Films That Helped Define the 2010's," which is currently available for $2 on Amazon. It's a celebration of the best films of the past decade, including these 25 films that stand out as something special to me personally. If you want to read more, the e-book goes into detail on 75 more films that defined the decade and made going to the cinema an exciting past time. 

Happy 1,000th Entry!: A Look at My Favorite Films Since 2012

Scene from The Master

Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to announce that this marks the 1,000th entry from The Oscar Buzz. Over the past 3.5 years, I am proud to have covered all things Academy Awards as well as expanding to its history and my own personal tastes. It has been a fun ride, and I hope to continue to provide insightful content for my readers. For now, I thought that I would do as I do with every odd anniversary and celebrate by sharing a little bit more about me through film. In this case, I am going to share my 10 favorite movies since 2012 when this blog first started up. Admittedly, it's hard to narrow down the list, but these 10 films in some ways represent what I look for in films. Some of them extend beyond Oscar-nominated fare. Some of them were ironically inches from winning Best Picture. Whatever the case, these are the ones I enjoy. If you'd like, feel free to share your favorite film of the past few years and why that is in the comments below.

Why Noah Baumbach is the Great American Director of Contemporary Life

Noah Baumbach

It wasn't long ago where I could say that I didn't like the work of director Noah Baumbach. It wasn't a vitriolic hatred. It was one of those apathetic things in which his work just didn't seem appealing. Of course, he had made The Squid and The Whale: a film that is still one of the rawest and truest looks into a divorce. But what else really was there? Greenberg felt like it was a retread to the navel gazing indie movement that Joe Swanberg perfected and most people hated. In fact, he was arguably better on script duties, hitting a home run with his second collaboration with Wes Anderson called Fantastic Mr. Fox, which is still one of the best animated films in recent years. In a way, there was something in that experience that got me to care. You see, it was a film that helped me to understand the appeal of Baumbach. In fact, I may even go as far as to think that he is one of my favorite working American directors now.

Review: "Frances Ha" Will Make You Believe in Modern Love

Left to right: Mickey Sumner and Greta Gerwig

*Note: This review originally appeared on the website CinemaBeach. Not covered is its Oscar chances, which don't feel too good. At most, it could get a Best Original Screenplay nomination, but it seems unlikely.

In 2005, director and writer Noah Baumbach released the highly successful The Squid and the Whale. Dealing with a family’s divorce, he managed to blend despair with comedy in an exciting new way. His stories deal with internal struggle that looks lethargic on screen. Despite this, his strong suit lies in his ability to slowly unravel facts and information through awkward character moments. With his latest film Frances Ha, he attempts to translate that to the life of a young woman whose life falls apart when her best friend moves away. Is he able to capture the magic again, or is it time for his movies to do something external?

A Look at Summer Films with Academy Award Potential

Still from Much Ado About Nothing

With the summer movie season heating up, there is a good chance that The Oscar Buzz may hit a dry spell. True, I once stated that June was the turning point for cinema. It would be that moment in which films suddenly stood a modicum of a chance to burst out onto the scene and get some Oscar attention. While The Great Gatsby showed us some hope, few films seem worthy of an entire entry around the speculation. Films like Star Trek Into Darkness and this week's Fast & Furious 6 at best are Best Sound Editing and Best Special Effects contenders. Still, over the summer months, I have decided to take a look at films that may have potential to break the mold and may be the buzz when nominations are announced next January. Maybe not all of these will be Best Picture material, but if they're even close, we're in for a very interesting ceremony.