Failed Oscar Campaigns: "Get Out" (2017)

Scene from Get Out

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 Trailer for "Accidental Love" Reminds Us How Much Better Russell Has Become in 7 Years

Left to right: Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Biel

After years of delays and long ago being disowned by the creator, director David O. Russell's Accidental Love (formerly Politics of Love and Nailed) is finally seeing the light of day. Last that we heard, a studio was working on a cut that wouldn't be approved by the filmmaker and that the film would be released earlier in the year as to not compete with Russell's recently made film called Joy. Today marks the first footage released from the trailer and things are beginning to make sense. At least in the realm of explaining his disowning of the project.

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.