Theory Thursday: "The Adventures of Tintin" (2011) is Underrated

Scene from The Adventures of Tintin

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 Trailer For "Sully" Braces You For a Familiar Flight

Scene from Sully

With recent news regarding this upcoming Oscar season, it only seems right to start judging which films will be the most talked about in the year to come. Among those that is looking to have at least a faint mention is director Clint Eastwood's Sully. Considering that the director's previous film American Sniper lead to a great deal of controversy despite landing several Oscar nominations (including Best Picture), it's best not to count the veteran out of this race. The first trailer has dropped for the film based on the life of Captain Sully Sullenberger, and it looks to have a familiar template on its mind. The only hope is that it can take flight and produce something greater.

Here's the Important Dates For This Year's Oscar Season

Yesterday saw the announcement of a record-breaking 683 new members of The Academy. Today, the news keeps on coming, and it's big news for those who those who like to mark their calendars. That's right, today The Academy announced the important dates for every upcoming event from the Governors Awards to the voting dates and the ceremony itself. What's most interesting is that things will be happening a little differently this year. In fact, they will be happening a little closer to the chest than normal, and with some interesting results likely to come with. Check out the dates after the jump.

Here's a Look at the 683 New Members of The Academy

Mark Rylance in Bridge of Spies

It has been awhile since we received any significant Oscar-related news. Of course, that is to be expected following the annual ceremony where one season ends and the cooling off period carries into August and September. However, there is some good news regarding new members. According to President Cheryl Boone Isaacs, there are 683 new members who will be joining this upcoming season. It is a record amount and almost double of last year's hefty total. On top of that, Isaacs' plan to overcome the Oscars So White fiasco by having a more diverse group by 2020 is starting to take effect. Read on to discover how exactly that is as well as the name of each and every new member, plus a few credits to help you pick them out of a line-up.

Birthday Take: Kathy Bates in "Misery" (1990)

Kathy Bates in Misery

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.

Review: "The Neon Demon" Confrims Refn's Transition From Vulgar Auteur Into An Endurance Test

Scene from The Neon Demon

In 2011, director Nicolas Winding Refn saw himself in a lawsuit over his film Drive. It was claimed that it was misrepresented as a conventional action movie. To general audiences, it was a travesty of boredom. Five years and two movies later, it's hard to imagine what the audience appalled by atmospheric driving sequences would have to say about The Neon Demon: a film that's rich with provocative, sometimes disturbing, imagery that earned a healthy dose of boos at Cannes and for some reason is seen this past weekend in wide release. While a beautiful example of postmodern art, it's a film whose fans will be greatly isolated from the general consensus due to Refn's cryptic style that turns him from an auteur of masculine aggression simply into an endurance test. There's a lot to like about The Neon Demon. One just has to accept that it's buried underneath Refn's clear and distinct vision that is sometimes unpleasant or pretentious. 

Best Song: "My Heart Will Go On" (1997)

Scene from Titanic

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.

R.I.P. Michael Herr: 1940-2016

Michael Herr

On June 23, 2016, writer Michael Herr died in New York at the age of 76. To film goers, he is likely best remembered as the writer of director Stanley Kubrick's war film Full Metal Jacket. However, it wasn't his only exposure to war themed media. Along with partial credit on writing Apocalypse Now, he also wrote the critically acclaimed book "Dispatches," which served as a quintessential piece of the New Journalism Movement and received rave reviews for its ability to turn his observations about the Vietnam War into a legitimate narrative. Even if his work in the decades to follow are as few as the details about his life, he remains a big influence on those seeking to make journalism and cinema in more visceral and personal ways. He may not have the most extensive resume, but he definitely had a lost of talent at what he did achieve.

The Runner-Ups: Bruce Willis in "Twelve Monkeys" (1995)

Bruce Willis in Twelve Monkeys

Every Oscar season, there are a handful of actors who get tagged with the "snubbed" moniker. While it is always unfortunate to see our favorites not honored with at very least a nomination, there's another trend that goes largely unnoticed: those who never even got that far. The Runner-Ups is a column meant to honor the greats in cinema who put in phenomenal work without getting the credit that they deserved from The Academy. Join me every Saturday as I honor those who never received any love. This list will hopefully come to cover both the acting community, and the many crew members who put the production together.

Birthday Take: Bob Fosse in "All That Jazz" (1979)

Scene from All That Jazz

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: In Defense of Nicolas Winding Refn

Scene from Neon Demon

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. 

"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" Remains a Vital Look at Changing Ideals After 50 Years

Left to right: Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor

On paper, the concept of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? shouldn't have lead to its huge success with 13 Oscar nominations (5 wins) that also marked it as one of the few films to be nominated in every eligible category. Considering that casting real life couple Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor as the tensest party MC's in film history could make it seem at times autobiographical, it's a miracle that director Mike Nichols' debut works as well as it does. While credit largely should go to the playwright Edward Albee (adapted to film by Ernest Lehman) for making such a captivating story, it's a rich story full of brilliant subtext not only about how relationships and lies can corrupt the psyche, but of the conflicting tides of the post-John F. Kennedy era of America where uncertainty and desperation seemed to run rampant. It's not a masterpiece solely because of its powerhouse dynamic. It's a masterpiece because of its ability to capture something personal about the era that has frankly never gone away after 50 years.

"The Hunchback of Notre Dame" Remains Disney's Underrated Masterpiece 20 Years Later

Scene from Hunchback of Notre Dame

There were few studios in the 1990's that had as great of a winning streak as Disney. In 1991, they produced the first ever animated film to get a Best Picture Oscar nomination with Beauty and the Beast. With help of course from Alan Menken in the music department, they released a whole string of now iconic films such as Aladdin, Pocahontas, The Lion King, and Mulan. Along with introducing princesses, it was the last gasp of fresh air for traditional hand drawn animation with some of the most beautiful mainstream cinema outside of Studio Ghibli. However, there is one film that often gets forgotten among the traditional musicals: The Hunchback of Notre Dame. While it gave the world gypsy princess Esmeralda, it gets overshadowed for being the darker tale that the studio has released. After 20 years, it still remains the most underrated of Disney's 90's animated hits - and it's definitely worth giving a second chance.

Super Delegates: Jefferson Smith in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939)

James Stewart

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.

Birthday Take: Martin Landau in "Ed Wood" (1994)

Martin Landau in Ed Wood

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.

"Finding Dory" Breaks Animated Box Office Records on Opening Weekend

Scene from Finding Dory

When it comes to Pixar, there are few films as beloved as Finding Nemo. It isn't just one person's opinion. The film holds a 99% on critics aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes and the film grossed nearly $900 million in 2003, making it the highest grossing animated film at its time. By the looks of this past weekend, its sequel Finding Dory may prove to be a legitimate threat to any and all records that the original achieved 13 years ago. For starters, it broke the single best opening for an animated movie ever, as well as several others. Not too bad for a fish with short term memory loss. Read on to find out more.

Review: "Finding Dory" is a Good Film Until She Finds Everyone Else

Scene from Finding Dory

In 2003, Finding Nemo premiered to the world with a novel premise and one character who stole the show. Played by Ellen Degeneres, her name was Dory and she was a blue tang with short term memory loss. No matter what she lacked in intelligence, her childlike naivety made her to Pixar what Minions became to Illumination Entertainment: an insurmountable icon. Her motto of "Just keep swimming" has become one of the studio's most recognizable lines of dialogue. It's no wonder then that 13 years later that the studio who with the help of a blue tang momentarily had the highest grossing animated film of all time, would return to the sea with Finding Dory and yet another novel premise: who are Dory's parents, and where are they? It's a solid showcase for Pixar's most beloved fish, if only everyone else would just step aside.

Best Song: "You Must Love Me" (1996)

Madonna in Evita

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.

The Runner-Ups: Jean-Luc Godard in "Breathless" (1960)

Scene from Breathless

Every Oscar season, there are a handful of actors who get tagged with the "snubbed" moniker. While it is always unfortunate to see our favorites not honored with at very least a nomination, there's another trend that goes largely unnoticed: those who never even got that far. The Runner-Ups is a column meant to honor the greats in cinema who put in phenomenal work without getting the credit that they deserved from The Academy. Join me every Saturday as I honor those who never received any love. This list will hopefully come to cover both the acting community, and the many crew members who put the production together.

The Top 10 Pixar Directors

This weekend marks the release of Pixar's 17th feature Finding Dory (review coming soon). Following the highly successful Finding Nemo after 13 years, it continues to see Pixar's influence on the zeitgeist being held strong and true. But what about the voices behind these now iconic films? With a strong and diverse roster of talents, it feels important to recognize the voices that brought the works to life. The following is a list of my Top 10 favorite Pixar directors based on how I ranked every entry. While the Top 5 features the familiar heavyweights, the bottom half manages to feature some lesser known talents that will hopefully continue to make quality work and find themselves further up on the list. For those missing, it was an often close competition and hopefully they will pose a threat as the studio enters its third decade of quality animated work.

Why There Needs to Be a Best Voice Actor Oscar Category

Whether or not you believe it, voice acting is a real art form. It's a concept that most people take for granted, especially as many of the most revered titles rely on familiar celebrity voices. However, the construct is very similar to radio in that we never see the speaker. While there's still images that convey a story, the speaking is important in order to convey a deeper soul. For instance, a voice needs to sound somber during a tearful scene or ecstatic during an action sequence. It's a small thing that we take for granted, and have largely ignored. With the release of Pixar's latest Finding Dory, I am going to make my case as to why voice acting should be recognized in its own category. 

Theory Thursday: "Toy Story 2" is Pixar's Best Movie

Scene from Toy Story 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. 

Will "Moana" Make Lin-Manuel Miranda the Latest EGOT Winner?

Scene from Moana

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past year, it is likely that you are familiar with the Broadway smash hit Hamilton, which focuses on the life of Alexander Hamilton through a blend of musical styles such as hip-hop. This past Sunday, it won 11 Tonys, including for its creator Lin-Manuel Miranda. While I don't cover theater, it is likely that Miranda is a name that will become recognizable to audiences by the end of this year if just because of the amount of projects his success has granted him. Among the most promising is Disney's new film Moana, which conveniently enough premiered its teaser trailer during Hamilton's big night. While the question could just be if this movie will be great, there's another question about Miranda becoming an EGOT: an impressive feat that he's one Oscar away from completing. While there's not much to go off of, it does look like there's at least a nomination in his wake.

Best Song: "Colors of the Wind" (1995)

Scene from Pocahontas

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: Gene Wilder in "Young Frankenstein" (1974)

Gene Wilder

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.

The Runner-Ups: Bernadette Peters in "The Jerk" (1979)

Bernadette Peters in The Jerk

Every Oscar season, there are a handful of actors who get tagged with the "snubbed" moniker. While it is always unfortunate to see our favorites not honored with at very least a nomination, there's another trend that goes largely unnoticed: those who never even got that far. The Runner-Ups is a column meant to honor the greats in cinema who put in phenomenal work without getting the credit that they deserved from The Academy. Join me every Saturday as I honor those who never received any love. This list will hopefully come to cover both the acting community, and the many crew members who put the production together.

R.I.P. Peter Shaffer (1926-2016)

Peter Shaffer

On June 6, 2016, writer Peter Shaffer died at the age of 90 while on a trip to Ireland. While he received two Oscar nominations, he may better be remembered for his work on stage with the plays Amadeus and Equus. One of his most impressive feats was his ability to do productions that ranged from serious dramas to comedies such as Black Comedy that featured characters wandering around in the dark. His work continues to remain successful on stage as well as his work on director Milos Forman's adaptation of Amadeus, which won Best Picture. His passing marks the end of an impressive career that spanned many decades and awards that honored his many talents. 

Birthday Take: Natalie Portman in "Black Swan" (2010)

Natalie Portman in Black Swan

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: "The Lone Ranger" (2013) is Underrated

Scene from The Lone Ranger

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. 

When Will There Be More Female Best Director Oscar Nominees?

Kathryn Bigelow

It is likely by now that everyone in America has heard the news. After months of contention and voting, Hillary Clinton has become the presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party. This is pretty big news, especially considering that she will be the first woman to do so, and whose odds of winning seem increasingly likely. It's been an overwhelming moment for women nationwide, who are now believing in the "You can be anything you want to be." narrative more than ever before. However, there's another field that seems to have not embraced female contribution: The Academy Awards. No, this isn't about the Best Actress categories, but more in the Best Director and even Best Picture category. While there have been a few bright spots, the average year sees some absence of a certain gender in these fields. The question isn't when there will be a female directed Best Picture winner. That already happened. What's the bigger question is when will this become the normative. 

Super Delegates: President Andrew Shepherd in "The American President" (1995)

Michael Douglas in The American President

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.

Review: "The Lobster" is the Best Romantic Comedy in Years

Scene from The Lobster

There are few movie genres who are in as much of an existential crisis as the romantic comedy. With limited exceptions, the story rarely is capable of escaping the A to B "boy meets girl" logic that services as the groundwork for the best films going back to the screwball comedies of the 1930's. It could be that love is such an inherent thing that nothing has really changed, possibly in centuries. Then there are films like Greek director Giorgos Lanthimos' English language debut The Lobster, which vitalizes the romantic comedy not by providing a traditional love story, but one that creatively and perversely looks into the very idea of what love is. With a strong cast and the most attention-grabbing plot of 2016, The Lobster is both a phenomenal achievement in story telling as well as the best romantic comedy of the year - possibly even the decade.

Best Song: "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" (1994)

Scene from The Lion King

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.

The Runner-Ups: Jonny Greenwood in "There Will Be Blood" (2007)

Daniel Day-Lewis

Every Oscar season, there are a handful of actors who get tagged with the "snubbed" moniker. While it is always unfortunate to see our favorites not honored with at very least a nomination, there's another trend that goes largely unnoticed: those who never even got that far. The Runner-Ups is a column meant to honor the greats in cinema who put in phenomenal work without getting the credit that they deserved from The Academy. Join me every Saturday as I honor those who never received any love. This list will hopefully come to cover both the acting community, and the many crew members who put the production together.

Theory Thursday: "Hot Rod" is an Underrated Gem

Andy Samberg

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.