Every Best Picture Nominee of the 2010's Ranked: #11-14

Scene from The Fighter (2010)

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.

Casey Affleck Bows Out of Oscar Presenter Duties

Casey Affleck

It's a tradition almost as old as The Academy Awards. Every year the acting categories play a cute game in which the Best Actor winner of the previous year awards the Best Actress category of that year (and vice versa). There's been one controversy however present in an era defined by the Me Too and Time's Up movement: what are they going to do about Casey Affleck, last year's Best Actor winner for Manchester By the Sea. He has become a figure of notoriety thanks to his sexual harassment lawsuit that almost cost him the Oscar. Many wanted him to vetoed out of the role. However, today marks a different turn: Affleck himself is stepping down, breaking an Oscar tradition. It may be an expected move amid controversy, but it still is quite an odd development.

Failed Oscar Campaigns: "Manchester By the Sea" (2016)

Scene from Manchester By the Sea

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.

Theory Thursday: Denzel Washington is Winning the Best Actor Oscar for "Fences"

Denzel Washington as SAG Awards

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. 

Constance Wu is Not Wild About Casey Affleck's Oscar Nomination

Constance Wu

For a lot of people, the Oscar nominations announcement was a big deal. It was a moment where La La Land tied with Titanic and All About Eve for the most Oscars. It was the moment that the black LGBTQ movie Moonlight became an Oscar front runner with eight nominations. However, there is one person who isn't happy: Constance Wu. In particular, she isn't too thrilled with the news of Best Actor nominee Casey Affleck (Manchester By the Sea) getting nominated, believing that he doesn't deserve it due to the recent news of his sexual harassment lawsuits. Her frustration is only the latest in a long line of potential trouble for Affleck's Oscar chances, but it nevertheless could sway votes.

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.

Here's the List for This Year's Golden Globe Winners

Scene from La La Land

Yesterday was a big day for movie lovers as The Golden Globes gave out awards to the best in TV and film. While this year's nominees were at times baffling (it's par for the course), the results were surprising often in a good way. With La La Land winning seven awards - the most by one film - it is looking more and more likely that Damien Chazelle's musical will take all of the trophies home come Oscar night. For those who want to know who won, keep reading. It was definitely a year of interesting diversity, and that's the perfect set-up for what this Oscar season needs. The only question is how much overlap we expect to get.

Review: "Manchester By the Sea" is the Best Film of 2016

Scene from Manchester By the Sea

The art of loneliness isn't something that's necessarily cinematic. For starters, inactive characters contradict the capabilities of a medium meant to embody visceral excitement. This may be true, but director Kenneth Lonergan's Manchester By the Sea has managed to find a way around this problem by finding a story that is vastly insular as well as engaging. By focusing on the struggles of two family members as a relative dies, the film manages to find the connective tissue in which everyone feels that struggle of loss. What makes the film even more of an achievement is that Lonergan's script manages to explore the darkness without giving way of the comical asides and vulnerable moments that are found in everyday moment. They aren't flaws of the movie, but instead a reflection of how everyone deals with grief. Thanks to excellent performances by Casey Affleck and Lucas Hedges, the film explodes with life. It may seem unlikely, but it actually is the most human film of the year.

"La La Land" Becomes a Box Office Hit in Limited Release

Scene from La La Land

It's the most wonderful time of year. For movie fans, Oscar season is in full gear and has a variety of options that you can see. With the recent Golden Globes nominations out, there's no shortage of options for your movie buck. In fact, the past month has produced a variety of box office records that are worth keeping an eye on. For starters, Disney's Moana continues to top the charts for a third week. However, it is the limited releases that have had the most interesting numbers. Following an impressive opening by Moonlight a few weeks back, director Damien Chazelle's musical La La Land has not only opened with good numbers, but has become the highest per screen average opening for 2016. In fact, a lot of Oscar-potential movies had a good weekend.

Check Out This Year's Golden Globe Awards Nominations

Scene from Deadpool

This morning, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) released the nominees for their annual Golden Globes ceremony. Along with being one of the first major awards of the season, it is always a curious bunch of nominees to look at. This year proved to be no different, reflecting the best in drama while also giving us some semblance of potential upsets for awards shows to come. The following is a list of the movie nominees, including the good, the bad, and whatever Deadpool's Best Comedy or Musical nominations are supposed to be. Oh well, it wouldn't be awards season without The Academy's drunk cousin giving out nominations to off the wall selections. Read the list after the jump as well as personal commentary on each category.

Check Out the Nominees for the 2016 Spirit Awards

Scene from Moonlight

It's that time of year again. With a little over one month of the year to go, awards season has officially launched with its first major awards ceremony. The Film Independent Spirit Awards have officially announced their nominees in all of the categories with major players like Spotlight, Jackie, and Manchester by the Sea coming out strong. The following is a list of every category and its nominees. What do you think of the results? Make sure to leave your thoughts in the comments and be sure to check out the ceremony on February 25: the day before Oscar Sunday. More information will be given as it develops.

The First "Manchester by the Sea" Trailer Offers a Potential Oscar Favorite

Scene from Manchester by the Sea

We're only days away from the end of summer, and it's time to start getting serious about Oscar season. While September tends to be slower, one cannot leave out potential favorites like The Light Between Oceans. It also means that new trailers are starting to pop up with some frequency, and it seems like the one getting a lot of attention is director Kenneth Lonergan's Manchester By the Sea, starring Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams. With several early screenings suggesting great things for the film, it is likely going to be one to look out for when it's released. The first trailer makes special note of this - with all three of the main stars getting their own Oscar-filled blurb. Thankfully the trailer around it looks just as appealing.