Best Song: 50 Songs That Should've Been Nominated

Scene from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

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.

Theory Thursday: "The Great Gatsby" (2013) is Underrated

Scene from The Great Gatsby

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: "Big Eyes" is an Intriguing Biopic on Artistic Ownership and Manufacturing

At its core, Big Eyes is very much a film that director Tim Burton cannot make. While he has played around in the real world before, he has always embraced the kitsch side of everything, choosing to illuminate visuals with sickly colorful landscapes. Ed Wood worked because it mixed this with a director with dreams outside of his talent. Big Eyes is a film predominantly rooted in the real world, which doesn't seem to interest Burton anymore. For those that are complaining that it lacks style because of this, look at it another way. This is Burton showing actual interest in his work. Why else would he tackle a biopic about Margaret Keane (Amy Adams), who is as far from eccentric as his catalog gets? It is a film that shouldn't work but kind of does, and that's the fascinating hat trick.

A Look at Lana Del Rey's Songs for "Big Eyes"

Okay, I will be upfront about something. I am a big fan of Lana Del Rey. As those who followed last year's race with me, I spoke highly of "Young and Beautiful" from The Great Gatsby. She simply has a cinematic quality to her music from the orchestration to the tortured voice. While this post should serve me as a reminder that soon and very soon I should actually look into the Best Original Song race, I want to focus for now on the two songs that were recently made available that will be featured in director Tim Burton's latest film Big Eyes. If nothing else, I would like to give them notice and hear what you think of them.

Review: "The Great Gatsby" is a Great Looking Luhrmann Film but a Decent Fitzgerald Adaptation

Leonardo DiCaprio

One of the most iconic tales in American literature is F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby." Symbolizing the American dream and the right to throw lavish parties, the story has withstood the test of time, many adaptations, and has even entered the lexicon of high standards for the medium. Yet, there seems to be little in the way of producing a top notch adaptation, which may be to the book's credit, though also can be seen as a challenge. Still, is it possible that director Baz Luhrmann has found the formula and made the ultimate adaptation with a star-studded cast?