Every Best Picture Nominee of the 2010's Ranked: #65-69

Scene from American Sniper

As 2019 reached its end, another decade of cinema had passed. It's amazing to think about how things have evolved since 2010 when the biggest controversies were about recognizing genre movies. Things look different now, especially as genre films like The Shape of Water and Parasite are winning Best Picture and the voting body looks incredibly different with each passing year. With this period in the books, it feels like a good time to celebrate their accomplishments by ranking all 88 titles nominated for Best Picture from worst to best with the goal of seeing which films are more likely to stand the test of time. Join me every Saturday and Sunday as I count them down, five at a time. It's going to be a fun summer looking back on what was, especially as we prepare for the decade ahead and an even more interesting diversity that we haven't even begun to think of.

Theory Thursday: Paul Greengrass is Overrated

Matt Damon in Jason Bourne

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: Barkhad Abdi in "Captain Phillips" (2013)

Barkhad Abdi

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 Closer Look at the Best Adapted Screenplay Nominees

Closing out our dissection of the big Oscar categories, here is a look at the Best Adapted Screenplay nominees. Much like the Best Original Screenplay selections, this year's batch features an impressive and diverse group of nominees that reflect the best in bring a film's story to life. Some are vivacious with profane bliss (The Wolf of Wall Street) while others explore slaver (12 Years a Slave) and long term guilt (Philomena). It is an interesting group and while less interesting than its counterpart category, it is as open a race.

A Closer Look at the Best Supporting Actor Nominees

Much like the Best Actor race, this year's Best Supporting Actor nominees feel like a broad mix of talents that each highlight a different portion of charismatic performances. From transsexual (Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club) to boat hijacker (Barkhad Abdi - Captain Phillips) to a crack smoking broker (Jonah Hill - The Wolf of Wall Street), this feels like a crazy selection just on paper. However, the lack of one performance standing out makes it an exciting year that keeps the category from feeling as closed off as some of the others. 

A Closer Look at the Best Picture Nominees

Much like every other Academy Award enthusiast out there, there is great pride in reaching the point when the nominees go from being names to actual discussion pieces. For me, that includes watching every Best Picture nominee before the big day and being able to dissect my overall thoughts on the categories. What films were fueled more by bias than actual quality? There were a few this year. However, upon reflection, I noticed that I have ran into a strange issue this year: I don't consider too many to be "overrated" when it comes to this category. In fact compared to last year, which I still believe was far more interesting, this line-up is rather excellent and diverse. I still loathe the nine nominees of the 5-10 sliding scale, but with that aside, this is another excellent year for the category.

A Look at the Oscar Nominees of 2014 and the Many, Many Surprises

This morning, the Oscar nominations were announced and there was more than a fair share of surprises. With plenty of snubs to go around, the final cut is an impressive mix that much like the Golden Globes, shows that there isn't a definitive front runner as initially predicted all the way back in September. However, there's a strange emergence of competition that seemed unlikely as well. Here is a look at the Oscar nominations for 2014 and brief thoughts on every category. To say the least, my Oscar predictions were far from perfect.

My Final Predictions on the 2014 Oscar Nominees

We are officially less than a week away from hearing the Oscar nominations for this year's ceremony. With Chris Hemsworth scheduled to announce them on Thursday, January 16 with Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) Cheryl Boone Isaacs, it is as good of a time as any to predict who will make the final cut. As mentioned earlier this week, the race looks quite different than it did at the start, and that is quite exciting. The follow is my predictions for each category, save for Best Animated Short and Best Live Action Short. Check them out and feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section. 

Reevaluating My Pre-Oscar Season Predictions

Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave

It is an exciting time for Oscar fans. On Thursday, January 16, the nominations come out and we will know for sure what films made the cut. It has been a strange, rocky road that has revealed some favorites and some upsets. For those familiar with The Oscar Buzz, I published my initial predictions before the Oscar season went underway. With a little over a week before the final votes come in, I decided to revisit my predictions and see what ended up making the cut and what turned out to be surprises. The following is a re-editing of my predictions to match the conversations and my overall understanding of how I think that the race will go.

The 2014 Golden Globe Nominations Are In and They Look Better Than You Think!

It is strange to admit, but it looks like this year's Golden Globes will not be nearly as much of an embarrassment as they have been in the past. After a brief glimpse, the year of movies has produced one of the strongest, least embarrassing line-ups with no confusion in the Best Comedy or Musical category. While there are some egregious omissions and some surprises, it looks to be a decent start to awards season. On the down side, my favorite whipping boy won't have too many complaints this year, which may be the biggest tragedy of all. So here are my thoughts on the awards as well as predicting the winners in each of the categories. There will also be links where applicable to posts I have written regarding the nominees.

Note: If you wish to see my thoughts on the TV portion, stay tuned to my Optigrab blog later this evening for a full post on it.

Review: "Captain Phillips" Survives Thanks to Hanks and Abdi's Amazing Performances

Tom Hanks

When it was first announced, director Paul Greengrass' latest Captain Phillips sounded like another broad action movie that would tinker with the true events and give us Hollywood's depiction of tragedy. However, once news began spurting from the New York Film Festival, the language changed to being about the incredible performances by Tom Hanks and Barkhad Abdi. Even then, the film's major hurdle was managing to turn the life of a boat captain who gets messed up with some Somali pirates into an intense, psychological journey. The result leans more towards success than failure most of the time.

Is "Captain Phillips" Going to Hijack Some Oscar Nominations?

Tom Hanks

Upon initial viewing of the trailer for director Paul Greengrass' Captain Phillips, the gut reaction that it was just another average thriller with very little offering. While Tom Hanks has been churning out promising work as of late (see last year's Cloud Atlas), I had my money set on Saving Mr. Banks as Hanks' return to the Oscar race. However, over the course of time and with several reviews pouring out, including The Daily Mail claiming that "Tom Hanks is at the top of his game." At very least, this has become the surprising must-see that may just prove to be one of the unexpected upsets that I just didn't see coming.