Failed Oscar Campaigns: "The LEGO Movie" (2014)

Scene from The LEGO Movie

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.

Composing Greatness: #2. Thomas Newman - "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994)

Scene from The Shawshank Redemption

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.

After 10 Years, "The Dark Knight" Continues to Be a Milestone in Superhero Cinema

Scene from The Dark Knight

It's sort of a cliche, but it's hard to describe the impact of director Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight without stating the obvious: it started with a bang. The camera entered the world of Gotham by zooming in on a window shattering, on the other side is a group of men in clown masks running through the plan, which is essentially a game of last man standing. With each piece of the puzzle unlocked, another person dies. Nobody knows who the mastermind is, nor will they really until it's too late. It's a world that superhero cinema wasn't used to, as even Nolan's previous D.C. movie Batman Begins didn't think to go this dark, finding a world where order was finally meeting chaos, as portrayed by a 28-year-old actor who unfortunately had died earlier in 2008 only to deliver (to date) the only superhero performance that was so revered that it got a posthumous Oscar win. The Dark Knight was a behemoth in 2008 and set the template for a new era of "dark and gritty" cinema that followed. It was unafraid to take risks, and in the process solidified the mythos of Nolan's godlike hold on the blockbuster. It changed cinema, plain and simple.

Theory Thursday: "Lucy" (2014) is Underrated

Scene from Lucy

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. 

Theory Thursday: "The Bucket List" is Underrated

Scene from The Bucket List

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. 

Super Delegates: John Quincy Adams in "Amistad" (1997)

Anthony Hopkins in Amistad

Welcome to Super Delegates, a bi-monthly column released on Tuesdays and are done in part to recognize politics on film, specifically in regards to Oscar-nominated works. With this being an election year in the United States, it feels like a good time to revisit film history's vast relationship with politicians of any era and determine what makes them interesting while potentially connecting them to the modern era. The series plans to run until the end of this 2016 election cycle, so stay tuned for every installment and feel free to share your thoughts on films worthy of discussion in the comments section.

Nothing But the Best: "Million Dollar Baby" (2004)

Scene from Million Dollar Baby

Welcome to the series Nothing But the Best in which I chronicle all of the Academy Award Best Picture winners as they celebrate their anniversaries. Instead of going in chronological order, this series will be presented on each film's anniversary and will feature personal opinions as well as facts regarding its legacy and behind the scenes information. The goal is to create an in depth essay for each film while looking not only how the medium progressed, but how the film is integral to pop culture. In some cases, it will be easy. Others not so much. Without further ado, let's start the show.

Nothing But the Best: "Driving Miss Daisy" (1989)

Left to right: Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman in Driving Miss Daisy

Welcome to the series Nothing But the Best in which I chronicle all of the Academy Award Best Picture winners as they celebrate their anniversaries. Instead of going in chronological order, this series will be presented on each film's anniversary and will feature personal opinions as well as facts regarding its legacy and behind the scenes information. The goal is to create an in depth essay for each film while looking not only how the medium progressed, but how the film is integral to pop culture. In some cases, it will be easy. Others not so much. Without further ado, let's start the show.

20 Years Later, Fincher's "Se7en" is Still a Sick, Sad Masterpiece

Scene from Se7en

There was a time when the name of director David Fincher didn't mean much to people. While he had done various jobs in the 80's on franchise films for Star Wars and Indiana Jones, his only real claim to fame was shooting music videos and disturbing anti-smoking ads. In what is now a reverse career trajectory, Fincher made his cinematic debut with the conflicted Alien 3 - of which he disowned, and vowed never to make another movie. Thankfully for us, he came back a few years later and changed the crime drama with one of the most astounding, shocking, and smart stories of the 90's. 20 years later, Fincher continues to shock with films like Gone Girl, but it is his sophomore film that proved once and for all that he was an aggressive, voyeuristic force to be reckoned with.

Nothing But the Best: "Unforgiven" (1992)

Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven

Welcome to the series Nothing But the Best in which I chronicle all of the Academy Award Best Picture winners as they celebrate their anniversaries. Instead of going in chronological order, this series will be presented on each film's anniversary and will feature personal opinions as well as facts regarding its legacy and behind the scenes information. The goal is to create an in depth essay for each film while looking not only how the medium progressed, but how the film is integral to pop culture. In some cases, it will be easy. Others not so much. Without further ado, let's start the show.

There's Only Five Days Until Oscar Night!

Ladies and gentlemen, we are officially five days away from this year's Academy Awards! It is an exciting time that is finally coming to a close. As everyone catches up with their last minute viewings and predictions, I thought that I would take a break and commemorate the countdown with a look at my Top 10 favorite acting nominees who have five or more nominations to their credit. After pointing out lists of favorite movies and directors, I figured that it was time to understand me through the performances that shape how I perceive the ceremony and thus better reflect what I look for in performances. 

Does "The Avengers" and "The Dark Knight Rises" Stand a Chance Against the Academy?

Left to right: Christian Bale in The Dark Knight Rises
and Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans in The Avengers

This past summer has not given us that many big budget Oscar contenders. At most, we have people speculating on whether director Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises will pull a Return of the King and sweep this year's ceremonies. Meanwhile, there is also some buzz that maybe if director Joss Whedon's The Avengers can stand to steal some thunder from the caped crusader. With the release of Whedon's blockbuster hit, it is time to consider the odds on if it stands a chance against The Dark Knight Rises. Either way, is it possible that blockbuster entertainment can compete against prestige art house films like The Master?