Composing Greatness: #6. Thomas Newman - "Finding Nemo" (2003)

Scene from Finding Nemo

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.

A24 A-to-Z: #17. "A Most Violent Year" (2014)

A Most Violent Year

In case you didn't know, A24 is one of the great purveyors of modern cinema. Since 2013, the studio has found a way to innovate independent cinema by turning each release into an event. As a result, A24 A-to-Z will be an ongoing series that looks at every release from the studio by analyzing its production history, release, criticisms, and any awards attention that it might've received. Join me on a quest to explore the modern heroes of cinema by exploring every hit and miss that comes with that magnificent logo. They may not all be great, but they more than make A24 what it is and what it will hopefully continue to be for ears to come.

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.

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.

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.

The First "Finding Dory" Trailer Remembers Something Special

Scene from Finding Dory

It's hard to remember the impact that Pixar's fifth film Finding Nemo had upon release. Its aquatic journey brought to life one of the studio's most successful films to date with memorable performances by Ellen Degeneres And Albert Brooks. The film even became the first for the studio to win Best Animated Film at The Oscars. It will be 13 years later when they launch their latest sequel Finding Dory, which focuses on crowd favorite Dory as she goes about finding her mother. From the look of the first trailer, it's probably going to be more of the same madcap silliness that was present in the first film, just more Dory-centric somehow.

The Oscar Buzz Celebrates Its Third Anniversary!

Alejandro Gonzalez-Inarritu

Looks like we've made it through another year. Today marks the third anniversary since the launch of The Oscar Buzz. So much continues to happen in each year that makes me grateful to have this as an outlet. One of the highlights was expanding my coverage to include occasional dives into Oscar history as well as various think pieces that has inspired more frequent audience participation. I hope in the year ahead to achieve the same amount of success, increasing the output along the way. To commemorate this anniversary, I keep true to past years by establishing a theme. This year, I have chosen to tackle the "triple threat." More specifically, I am going to list 20 great films in which there is someone involved who acted, directed, and wrote at least a portion of the script. It's a lot harder than you'd think.

Will "This Is 40" Be Able to Add Comedy to the Best Picture Race?

Left to right: Iris and Maude Apatow, Paul Rudd, and Leslie Mann

With the upcoming release of director Judd Apatow's midlife crisis comedy This Is 40 set to open in theaters next week, there is one thing that is peculiar. While it hasn't been nearly as massive as others, many have argued that Apatow's latest stands a chance at a few Oscar nominations. As absurd as it sounds, this isn't that far fetched, considering his influence on the comedy community (he did direct this bit for the Oscars). However, is the film capable of even placing this late in the race, especially since it didn't get a Golden Globe nomination?