Failed Oscar Campaigns: "Dreamgirls" (2006)

Scene from Dreamgirls

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: "Chicago" (2002)

Scene from Chicago

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.

"The Fifth Estate" Debuts to 2013's Record Lowest Box Office Numbers

Benedict Cumberbatch

It looked like 2013 was going to be the year of Benedict Cumberbatch. He has had an enviable run of success this year with the successful Sherlock series as well as being the villain in one of the year's most successful blockbusters Star Trek Into Darkness. As Fall began, he had a plethora of interesting projects that was sure to get him noticed, including a small part in Oscar front-runner 12 Years a Slave, a role alongside Meryl Streep in August: Osage County, and a return to blockbusters with The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug. In fact, it seemed that among all of these impressive roles that one of them would have landed him an Academy Award nomination. As predicted earlier, I assumed it would be director Bill Condon's The Fifth Estate. However, if the numbers are to be trusted, this is probably not the case.

Does "The Fifth Estate" Predict Cumberbatch's Best Actor Nomination?

Left to right: Benedict Cumberbatch and Daniel Bruhl

Hours after posting my piece on one of my most anticipated movies of the year, 12 Years a Slave, a trailer for director Bill Condon's The Fifth Estate is released. The irony lies in how insistent I was that this would be Benedict Cumberbatch's chance at an Oscar nomination. It doesn't seem that far fetched, considering that this almost seems to be similar to The Social Network in terms of relevancy to the modern era and the reliance on computers. What the trailer delivers is a glimpse into Cumberbatch's take on Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks. Is it a look into potentially one of the most celebrated performances of the year?

Is "Breaking Dawn - Part 2" Capable of an Oscar Nomination?

Left to right: Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart

This Friday marks the end of an era for many people. What started as an independent film has grown into an international phenomenon that has broken box office records and has popularized vampires for a new generation. However, with director Bill Condon's The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2, can the series join the pantheon of series finales such as director Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and David Yates' Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 as Oscar nominated films that at very least have gotten recognition for the culmination of work over the past few years?