10 Highlights from This Year's Academy Awards Ceremony

The four acting Oscar winners

With the ceremony behind us, it's time to remember everything that happened at this year's Academy Awards. For many, it marked one of the most exciting races in recent years. In fact, the year was not without some big surprises. For starters, the racially charged evening by host Chris Rock is likely to split many viewers. Even then, it's still great to know that this year wasn't the least bit dull. In the annual two part wrap-up, I will be recounting the highs and lows of the ceremony. In this article, I will be highlighting the positive, of which there's plenty to choose from.

Why this Years' Academy Awards Ceremony Was One of the Best

Chris Rock

Every year, there has been enough tension between the day that the Oscar nominations are announced and when the winners finally give their speeches. It is a fun time to speculate, especially if you're a prognosticator who enjoys nitpicking statistics or at any point believing that The Big Short was a front runner of any kind. The race itself was exciting, but this was likely undermined by what everyone else wanted to talk about: Oscars So White. For the second year in a row, every acting category was jam packed with white faces that would eventually lead to notorious boycotts from black celebrities, specifically that of Jada Pinkett Smith and Al Sharpton. This raised a question: how do The Oscars go on? Thankfully Chris Rock was there, and he turned  in one of the best awards ceremonies in years. It was controversial, sure, but Rock and producer Reginald Hudlin turned in a 3.5 hour production that not only addressed the elephant in the room, but reminded audiences as to why The Oscars are so integral to Hollywood, and international representation.

Here is the Official List of Every 2016 Oscar Winner

The cast and crew of Spotlight winning Best Picture

There you have it, everyone. Another Academy Awards ceremony is in the books. With a competitive, unpredictable year, it was nice to know that the winners this were just as random as the moments leading up to it. But, who won all of the awards? Who won the most? Spotlight walked away with the Best Picture, but very little else, while Mad Max: Fury Road left with six. If you wish to know who won in every category, click the jump to see the results. Also, I will answer the proverbial question that comes with each post-ceremony recap: how did I do? To say the least, it wasn't my best year even if I'm not mad at who won.

Failed Oscar Campaigns: "Blood Diamond" (2006)

Scene from Blood Diamond

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.

Best Song: "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" (1981)

Scene from Arthur

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.

My Official Oscar Predictions for 2015

Scene from Spotlight

This is it, everybody. Tomorrow is the big day when The Academy Awards reveal who is going to come away champion. It has been an exciting, unpredictable season that will hopefully produce some out of the box results. From some bizarre Oscar nominees (Mad Max: Fury Road specifically) to a tough three way battle for Best Picture, this is a year that will be hard to call, especially with the results changing every other week. While you have seen my extensive coverage of this year's season, the following is my personal picks for winners. I'm confident that unlike the past few years, I will not be doing nearly as well (I really don't want The Revenant to win big). So take my picks with a grain of salt, and feel free to place your bets in the comments section. Come back on Monday for full post-ceremony coverage.

Ranking the Oscar-Nominated Coppolas

Left to right: Nicolas Cage, Sofia Coppola, and Francis Ford Coppola 

With The Oscars only two days away, it feels like a good time to look back on the rich tapestry that is Oscar history. While many will be thankful to have one Oscar win, there seems to be a new set of standards if your last name is Coppola. Along with spouses such as David Shire, Spike Jonze, and Patricia Arquette winning awards, the direct family seems to have a certain precedent for winning big ever since Francis Ford Coppola hit the scene with his screenplay win for Patton. While to rank every person related to the Coppolas would be an exhaustive mess, the following is an attempt to rank the direct family, of whom continues to churn out worthwhile talent (looking forward to Gia Coppola's inevitable nomination). While there's no bad family member, it will definitely look pretty bad if one of them doesn't have an Oscar come Thanksgiving.

Best Original Song Nominee Anohni is Boycotting the Oscars

There is a lot to look forward to on Oscar Sunday. While it has been a tumultuous period leading up to the ceremony, there's no denying that it is at least one of the more exciting, unpredictable years for the ceremony. Still, with most people focusing a lot of attention on the Oscars So White movement, there are those that don't even recognize that this year's nominees also features the first time that a transgender performer was nominated for Best Original Song. Anohni (of Antony and the Johnsons) was nominated for her song "Manta Ray" from Racing Extinction; a documentary highlighting the struggles of endangered species. The only catch is that you're not likely to see her at the ceremony because she's boycotting. She's doing so for reasons that make plenty of sense, though.

Theory Thursday: "Chariots of Fire" is the Worst Best Picture Winner Ever

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. 

The First "The Light Between Oceans" Trailer is a Compelling, Twisted Drama

Scene from The Light Between Oceans

It may seem premature to begin talking about any new Oscar season, especially since we're only days away from this year's ceremony. However, there's a new trailer that's been released for The Light Between Oceans, which is the latest film from director Derek Cianfrance. With stars Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander, it's the latest from this ambitious filmmaker whose past films Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines explored humanity and relationships in new and fascinating ways. With his latest looks to be just as promising, especially with a bizarre premise in which a loving couple find a baby floating in the water.

Ranking the Oscar Winning Performances of Katharine Hepburn

Katharine Hepburn in Summertime

As Oscar Sunday lingers closer, it's time to look at the rich history and commemorate each passing day with something unique and special. For today's entry, it feels important to mark the 4 days left by honoring the only actress in Oscar history to have 4 acting wins: Katharine Hepburn. With a total of 12 nominations, she is widely considered one of the best actresses in classic film history for her strong and independent women characters and her charming and distinct voice. Her legacy lives on and while she may not have won for her most iconic films (The African Queen, The Philadelphia Story), she left behind an enviable body of work the likes of which are hard to ignore. The following is a ranking of her 4 wins.

Rooney Mara Expresses Her Regret Over Whitewashed "Pan" Role

Rooney Mara

Save for Chris Rock's highly anticipated opening monologue, it seems like the Oscars So White debate has finally mellowed out after initial cries from Jada Pinkett Smith boycotting the ceremony to other celebrities saying problematic things. Basically we're at the point where you're either defending the Oscars as not being the problem, or blaming it as the pinnacle of what's wrong with film in 2016. However, there's been one recent viewpoint that's been expressed that seems prescient. Nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Carol, Rooney Mara had an interesting year last year for a different reason. She was attacked in playing a Native American in director Joe Wright's box office bomb Pan. When asked recently how she feels about the Oscars So White issue, she spoke the familiar cry of equality while also preaching a certain level of regret. 

R.I.P. Douglas Slocombe (1913-2016)

Douglas Slocombe

On February 22, 2016, legendary cinematographer Douglas Slocombe died at the age of 103 in London, England following complications from a fall. Over the course of 40 years, he participated in making dozens of films ranging from comedies by the Ealing Studio to his final works with Steven Spielberg on the first three Indiana Jones films. What he leaves behind is an impressive body of work that challenged the visual appearance of film and made it into something far more beautiful. While his eyesight diminished following complications in the 80's, he continued to be an active and lively speaker until his death, proving just how passionate and dedicated to film he truly was.

Nothing But the Best: "The Deer Hunter" (1978)

Scene from The Deer Hunter

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.

Ranking the Performances from the "Big Five" Oscar Winners

Scene from The Silence of the Lambs

With Oscar Sunday mere days away, it feels like as good of a time as any to do a commemorative countdown. In this case, we are five days away from finding out if The Revenant can beat Spotlight for Best Picture or Brie Larson can beat Saoirse Ronan for Best Actress. So, how do you commemorate five days left? Why, by honoring "The Big Five": an honor held by only three films that have won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay (and strangely enough, nothing else). It's rarer than you think. For the sake of an expansive list, I have decided to rank the six performances in order of quality to highlight not only what makes a great performance, but what can enhance a great film.

Nothing But the Best: "It Happened One Night" (1934)

Scene from It Happened One Night

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.

Ranking Leonardo DiCaprio's 6 Oscar Nominations

Leonardo DiCaprio

There are only six days until this year's Academy Awards. There's a lot of speculation as to who is likely to win in every category. However, the one that seems to be getting the most traction is Leonardo DiCaprio for Best Actor in The Revenant. Considering how long people have argued that the charismatic 41-year-old actor has deserved an award, some see it as an overdue legacy award. But does he deserve it for this film? With six days to go and since he has earned six Oscar nominations (five for acting), it feels like an appropriate time to rank his performances based on what should've gotten him this honor.

Best Song: "Fame" (1980)

Scene from Fame

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.

Birthday Take: Ellen Page in "Juno" (2007)

Scene from Juno

Welcome to The Birthday Take, a column dedicated to celebrating Oscar nominees and winners' birthdays by paying tribute to the work that got them noticed. This isn't meant to be an exhaustive retrospective, but more of a highlight of one nominated work that makes them noteworthy. The column will run whenever there is a birthday and will hopefully give a dense exploration of the finest performances and techniques applied to film. So please join me as we blow out the candles and dig into the delicious substance.

A Look at the 11 Youngest Oscar Nominees Throughout History

Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense

The time is upon us. We are officially in the single digits of the Academy Awards countdown. Leading up to the big day, I will be sharing random goodies that will be meant to highlight various Oscar trends. Yesterday was a ranking of every nominated film with more than 10 wins. In honor of today marking only 9 days to go, I have decided to pay tribute to the little guy. By that, I mean the kids who have populated the Oscar circles with their own impressive performances. The following is a list of the 11 youngest performers, for whom cinema would be  greatly different without.

Birthday Take: John Travolta in "Saturday Night Fever" (1977)

John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever

Welcome to The Birthday Take, a column dedicated to celebrating Oscar nominees and winners' birthdays by paying tribute to the work that got them noticed. This isn't meant to be an exhaustive retrospective, but more of a highlight of one nominated work that makes them noteworthy. The column will run whenever there is a birthday and will hopefully give a dense exploration of the finest performances and techniques applied to film. So please join me as we blow out the candles and dig into the delicious substance.

Theory Thursday: Witches Are the Best Supernatural Archetype

Scene from The Witch

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. 

Ranking Oscar-Nominated Films With More Than 10 Wins

Ladies and gentleman, the time is upon us. In only a short 10 days, this year's Academy Awards ceremony will be held and we'll know for sure who is this year's Best Picture. Will it be The Revevenant? The Big Short? Spotlight? Who knows for sure. With that said, it's time to countdown to the big day by highlighting the final moments of double digits for Oscar prognosticators. Kicking things off will be films that won 10 or more Oscars. Which of the few is better than them all? You'll have to read on to find out.

Nothing But the Best: "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991)

Anthony Hopkins

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.

Best Song: "It Goes Like It Goes" (1979)

Scene from Norma Rae

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.

Failed Oscar Campaigns: "Inside Llewyn Davis" (2013)

Oscar Isaac

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.

Check This Out: FIDM's 24th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibit

Scene from Cinderella

If you're anyone who likes film, you are aware of how essential a good outfit is. Every year, the Best Costume Design category features some of the biggest and brightest outfits ranging from period pieces to more contemporary fare. If you're at all interested in seeing the outfits from various films of this past year (as well as all of the Oscar-nominated ones) and you live in the Los Angeles area, then I've got some good news for you. They are currently being shown at The Museum of Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM). If that wasn't enough, it's currently free to the public at this very moment.

Review: "Hail, Caesar!" is a Kaleidoscope of Wonder

Scene from Hail, Caesar!

One of the big reasons that directors Joel and Ethan Coen continue to resonate is because they are not limited to a genre in the ways that others are. If they want to make a heist film, they make The Ladykillers. If they want to make a stoner film, they make The Big Lebowski. Their credentials feature an endless barrage of genre-shifting cinema that somehow manages to remain consistently entertaining. With their latest Hail, Caesar!, they seem to take that advice too literally and end up producing a comedy that isn't just a period piece, but a western, musical, bible epic, noir, and even an earlier period piece. To simply explain the film to someone is to suggest that what Hail, Caesar! is is actually films within films (though not in the Inception way) in their loving ode to the power of film and why they are just as tangible to audiences as religion.

Theory Thursday: Benedict Cumberbatch is Overrated

Benedict Cumberbatch in Zoolander No. 2

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. 

Nothing But the Best: "Cimarron" (1931)

Scene from Cimarron

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.

Birthday Take: John Williams in "Superman" (1979)

Scene from Superman

Welcome to The Birthday Take, a column dedicated to celebrating Oscar nominees and winners' birthdays by paying tribute to the work that got them noticed. This isn't meant to be an exhaustive retrospective, but more of a highlight of one nominated work that makes them noteworthy. The column will run whenever there is a birthday and will hopefully give a dense exploration of the finest performances and techniques applied to film. So please join me as we blow out the candles and dig into the delicious substance.

At 40 Years Old, "Taxi Driver" is Still a Fascinating Look into Loneliness and War

Robert De Niro

Nowadays, it's easy to think of director Martin Scorsese as a visionary whose every film and every lecture and interview are worthy of dissection. However, it's harder to remember a time when he wasn't the king of gritty New York dramas where faith and violence were battling themes. Even then, there was a time when it didn't even look like he would make it out of the 70's. With a drug addiction to his credit and a screenplay by an equally depressed writer named Paul Schrader, Taxi Driver is the ultimate homage to loneliness and delusion in a New York that has since been gussied up. The film is a time capsule of 70's cynicism as well as featuring one of the most breathtaking performances of Robert De Niro's career as Travis Bickle: a Vietnam War veteran who drives to escape his sleeping problems. The times may have changed, but the impact of Taxi Driver remains just as immediate as it did 40 years ago.

A Ranking of Every Clooney/Coen Brothers Films

George Clooney in Hail Caesar

This past weekend, directors Joel and Ethan Coen released their latest film Hail, Caesar! into theaters with an all star cast and an impressive love letter to classic cinema. It also marked the fourth collaboration with actor George Clooney, who ranks among the duo's best repeat offenders. With a collaboration record going back 16 years, they have definitely created some of the best farcical entertainment of the millennium. But which is the best of the bunch? The following is a ranking of their work together, which will hopefully have a few visitors in the years to come.

Best Song: "Last Dance" (1978)

Scene from Thank God It's Friday

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.

Failed Oscar Campaigns: "Concussion" (2016)

Will Smith in Concussion

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.

Nothing But the Best: "Platoon" (1986)

Scene from Platoon

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.

Top 10 Actors Who Have Worked with The Coen Brothers Multiple Times

From Hail, Caesar! poster

If there's one thing that directors Joel and Ethan Coen love, it's a strong ensemble. With today's release of their latest Hail, Caesar!, it feels important to remember the many actors that they have worked with to make such iconic cinema for over 30 years. The following is a ranking of the Top 10 repeat offenders all between their debut Blood Simple and 2013's Inside Llewyn Davis. While this list is subject to change as more members join their weird little stable, the following reflects an insurmountable group by which The Coen Brothers would be nothing without. Along with ranking, the list will include their greatest credit, for which it would be impossible to not see them as when talking about their greatest work.

Irish Immigrant Movie "Brooklyn" to Be Made into TV Spin-Off

Scene from Brooklyn

There is a good chance that you have seen director John Crowley's sweet new film Brooklyn. In fact, you probably have if you are an Oscars purist who wishes to see everything that was nominated in a given year. With three nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actress for star Saoirse Ronan, the film has proven to be an endearing crowd favorite as it follows a young Irish girl traveling to America in the 1950's. However, there's one thing that is likely to please fans of the film: there is a planned TV series to spin-off pretty soon. From the same production company that brought us the film comes a series that is expected to follow a memorable supporting character as she deals with her own life in New York. The one catch? Ronan has not yet announced any plans to be involved with it.

Theory Thursday: "A Serious Man" is The Coen Brothers' Best Movie

Michael Stuhlbarg

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. 

Birthday Take: Michael Cimino in "The Deer Hunter" (1978)

Scene from The Deer Hunter

Welcome to The Birthday Take, a column dedicated to celebrating Oscar nominees and winners' birthdays by paying tribute to the work that got them noticed. This isn't meant to be an exhaustive retrospective, but more of a highlight of one nominated work that makes them noteworthy. The column will run whenever there is a birthday and will hopefully give a dense exploration of the finest performances and techniques applied to film. So please join me as we blow out the candles and dig into the delicious substance.

Check This Out: The Return of TCM's 31 Days of Oscar

If you're like me, you are obsessed with watching as many of the Oscar nominated and winning films throughout the award's history. With The Oscars coming very soon, it only feels right then to check out TCM's annual 31 Days of Oscar event. Every year, the classic films channel dedicates the month leading up to movie's biggest night by showing films related to a theme, often in regards to Oscar-nominated screenplays or performances from a given year, as well as a few Best Picture winners. So, what is going on this year? The following is the list of every Best Picture movie and what day you can catch them on TCM (check local listings for more information). In case you wish to see what else will be playing this month, please visit their homepage and check it out for yourself.

Nothing But the Best: "The Broadway Melody" (1929)

Scene from Broadway Melody

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.