Every Best Picture Nominee of the 2010's Ranked: #70-74

Scene from Joker (2019)

As 2019 reached its end, another decade of cinema had passed. It's amazing to think about how things have evolved since 2010 when the biggest controversies were about recognizing genre movies. Things look different now, especially as genre films like The Shape of Water and Parasite are winning Best Picture and the voting body looks incredibly different with each passing year. With this period in the books, it feels like a good time to celebrate their accomplishments by ranking all 88 titles nominated for Best Picture from worst to best with the goal of seeing which films are more likely to stand the test of time. Join me every Saturday and Sunday as I count them down, five at a time. It's going to be a fun summer looking back on what was, especially as we prepare for the decade ahead and an even more interesting diversity that we haven't even begun to think of.

Composing Greatness: #12. The Freshman Class of the 2010's - "Lion" (2016)

Scene from Lion (2016)

Welcome to Composing Greatness: a column dedicated to exploring the work of film composers. This will specifically focus on the films that earned them Oscar nominations while exploring what makes it so special. This will be broken down into a look at the overall style, interesting moments within the composition, and what made the score worth nominating in the first place. This will also include various subcategories where I will rank the themes of each film along with any time that the composer actually wins. This is a column meant to explore a side of film that doesn't get enough credit while hopefully introducing audiences to an enriched view of more prolific composers' work. This will only cover scores/songs that are compiled in an easily accessible format (so no extended scores will be considered). Join me every Sunday as I cover these talents that if you don't know by name, you recognize by sound.

Failed Oscar Campaigns: The Weinstein Company

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.

Here's My Official Predictions For This Year's Oscar Winners

This is it. At 4 PM PST (check your local listings for more information), the 89th Academy Awards will officially be underway with Jimmy Kimmel hosting. It will finally answer the questions that many have been pondering over. What will won't La La Land win? Will Casey Affleck or Denzel Washington take Best Actor? Will Arrival get anything? All of these questions will be answered in what will hopefully be a great ceremony. While we wait to find out what goes down this year, it's time to lock down predictions for this year's Academy Awards. I have mine right after the jump. Feel free to add your own predictions in the comments, and I shall have recap coverage out on Monday. Enjoy your Oscar Sunday, and do it right.

Ranking This Year's Best Picture Nominees

There is officially two weeks left to go before Oscar Sunday. With everyone clamoring to see all of the nominees beforehand, it only seems right to start calculating which ones are standing out above the rest. In this piece, I will be exploring the Best Picture field by ranking the really strong group of nominees. So, which ones stand out as favorites? They're all pretty good this year, and even the bottom half have strong moments. The following is my personal ranking from best to worst, and I look forward to any comments regarding your favorites and whether or not the class of 2016 Best Picture nominees has anything exceptional about it.

Review: "Lion" is a Powerful Film About Finding Faith in Loneliness

Dev Patel

Many films capture the feeling of loneliness with poetic and often abstract imagery, but few show it as anything but a means to an end. Yes, the feeling of abandonment is a frustrating circumstance, and one that creates complex emotional responses. In director Garth Davis' Lion, he sets out to tell one story of persistence causing loneliness to end on a happy note. The story may play the conventional fields, but predictability isn't the point. Lion is a story of hope that asks us, even without saying, to have faith in the impossible - for it is where the greatest challenges lie. With a phenomenal performance by Dev Patel, this is a film that not only captures the heartbreaking loneliness in lengthy detail, but also the ability to cope and live a normal life within the situation. It may not be the most groundbreaking film, but it may be among the year's most heartwarming, innovative experiences. 

Check Out 2017's Academy Award Nominees Here

The moment is finally here. After months of speculating, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) have announced the nominees for this year's Oscars ceremony. The announcement was held this morning with a special video production to make this year extra special. With La La Land leading the pack, it was an exciting year full of diversity both in genres as well as race. So, who made the cut? The following is a rundown of every category and every nominee, including additional thoughts for each field regarding how exciting this year's Oscar race is. So without further ado, a look at the Oscar nominees of 2017, celebrating the best and brightest in film.