R.I.P. Peter Fonda (1940-2019)

Peter Fonda in Easy Rider

On August 16, 2019, actor and director Peter Fonda passed away at the age of 79 in Los Angeles, California. Over a career spanning 57 years, he became known for his work in the late-60s counterculture movement, specifically with the monumental film Easy Rider. His career is full of moments where he not only created provocative films but also managed to be outgoing and forward-thinking at every turn. He was an integral figure in helping to popularize the New Hollywood movement and has remained active in roles both traditional and experimental ever since. No matter what he's playing, he was a true original who carved out his own path and left behind some of the most unique and heartfelt work of his generation. 

R.I.P. Milos Forman (1932-2018)

Milos Forman

On April 13, 2018, director Milos Forman died at the age of 86 in Danbury, Connecticut. Over the course of his career, he is best remembered for two Best Picture-winning films: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus. Beyond that, his career encapsulated stories about people trying to understand what freedom truly mean, which he understood as a Czechoslovakian immigrant. His films tended to feature naturalist approaches to stories, capturing a documentary-like look to stories no matter how fictional. He was also great with actors, managing to earn major awards for actors ranging from Jack Nicholson to Woody Harrelson and Jim Carrey. His legacy can be found in his provocative cinema whose messages still feel immediate. He will be greatly missed, even if his influence isn't likely to go away any time soon.

A Look at the Brilliance of the Ballgame Scene in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"

Scene from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

For an actor like Jack Nicholson, there's an embarrassment of riches to be found in his filmography for "best performance." Who could argue with The Last Detail, Chinatown, The Shining, or even later in The Departed? It's tough to narrow it down. However, to understand what made him an essential icon, one doesn't have to look further than "The World Series scene" of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest to understand what has kept him an indelible part of pop culture. It's by no means a scene that forwards the story, yet reflect the dovetailing effect of the late Milos Forman's ability to direct a scene with nothing more than a hand raise. It's one of Nicholson's finest scenes, and evidence of the magic that came from a director who took a psych ward and turned it into a grander metaphor for society. When Nicholson's scream breaks the sound barrier, it unleashes the purest joy of cinema, and it's all so simple.

Composing Greatness: #22. John Williams - "The Witches of Eastwick" (1987)

Scene from The Witches of Eastwick

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.

Jack Nicholson Will Return to Acting with "Toni Erdmann" Remake

Jack Nicholson

Among the many world cinema movies making the rounds this awards season is director Maren Ade's Toni Erdmann. It's a story that follows a father trying to befriend his hard working daughter. It's a film so beloved that it not only made many critics Best of 2016 lists, but will be competing for the Best Foreign Film Oscar. Even then, there's been talk beyond this of the film getting a much maligned Americanized remake. While this news still feels premature, there is one piece of good news to come from this story. After seven years off of the scene, three-time Oscar winner Jack Nicholson will officially be returning to acting for the film. It's the type of news that should be met with overwhelming excitement, and will hopefully show why Nicholson is one of the all time greats.

Theory Thursday: "The Bucket List" is Underrated

Scene from The Bucket List

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. 

Theory Thursday: Jack Nicholson Deserved an Oscar Nomination for "The Departed"

Jack Nicholson in The Departed

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. 

R.I.P. Hector Babenco (1946-2016)

Hector Babenco

On July 13, 2016, director Hector Babenco died at the age of 70 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. With a career spanning over 40 years, he leaves behind an impressive body of work that includes the Oscar-nominated films Kiss of the Spider-Woman and Ironweed. After getting his start in Latin American cinema, he would go on to work with actors like William Hurt, John Lithgow, Raul Julia, Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, Tom Berenger, Daryl Hannah, Aidan Quinn and Kathy Bates. While he doesn't have the most memorable resume, his films explored love and identity in strange and interesting places. With a career that continued until his death, he was passionate and capable of making great things.

Theory Thursday: "Easy Rider" is Overrated

Scene from Easy Rider

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. 

Ranking the Performances from the "Big Five" Oscar Winners

Scene from The Silence of the Lambs

With Oscar Sunday mere days away, it feels like as good of a time as any to do a commemorative countdown. In this case, we are five days away from finding out if The Revenant can beat Spotlight for Best Picture or Brie Larson can beat Saoirse Ronan for Best Actress. So, how do you commemorate five days left? Why, by honoring "The Big Five": an honor held by only three films that have won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay (and strangely enough, nothing else). It's rarer than you think. For the sake of an expansive list, I have decided to rank the six performances in order of quality to highlight not only what makes a great performance, but what can enhance a great film.

My 10 Favorite Double Digit Oscar Nominees

Chris Rock

Ladies and gentlemen, we are officially getting close to one of the biggest days in every Oscar season: the nominations! That's right. In 10 days, we will be informed on every nominee for this year's festivities. While I intend to make a predictions list, I am choosing to celebrate the last 10 days of uncertainty by paying tribute to a different kind of double digits. That's right, I'm going to pay tribute to the nominees and winners of Academy Award history who have earned 10 or more moments of recognition. While it was hard to whittle down the list (sorry Edith Head fans), these are the ones that I like the most and feel are more than deserving of their legacies. This category will look at everyone beyond acting that has been nominated, so expect a nice and diverse crowd.

Nothing But the Best: "Terms of Endearment" (1983)

Scene from Terms of Endearment

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.

Nothing But the Best: "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975)

Scene from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

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.

Nothing But the Best: "The Departed" (2006)

Left to right: Leonardo DiCaprio and Jack Nicholson

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.

Birthday Take: James L. Brooks in "Terms of Endearment" (1983)

Left to right: Jack Nicholson, Debra Winger and Shirley MacLaine

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.

Birthday Take: Jack Nicholson in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975)

Jack Nicholson

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.

There's Only Five Days Until Oscar Night!

Ladies and gentlemen, we are officially five days away from this year's Academy Awards! It is an exciting time that is finally coming to a close. As everyone catches up with their last minute viewings and predictions, I thought that I would take a break and commemorate the countdown with a look at my Top 10 favorite acting nominees who have five or more nominations to their credit. After pointing out lists of favorite movies and directors, I figured that it was time to understand me through the performances that shape how I perceive the ceremony and thus better reflect what I look for in performances. 

Review: "Room 237" is a Brilliant Love Letter to Why Film Theory Matters

As I am sure many people reading this are, I am a big fan of director Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. When it was announced last year that a documentary titled Room 237 was coming out explaining conspiracy theories, it only restored interest in the film and raises the question on if we are watching movies correctly. What makes The Shining such an important film to earn numerous theories to subtle subtext, and is it possible that this film can manage to win over the Academy and get them to nominate it for Best Documentary?

Top 20 Highlights of the 85th Academy Awards

Seth MacFarlane

Now that the Oscars are over for another year, it is time to look back and remember what was great about the ceremony. I know, I have already written up a brief recap about the events, and with majority of things officially over with, I too must wrap up coverage. I assure you, this will be the last for the 2013 Oscar season. However, keep in mind that I plan to continue to post weekly on films that could possibly get nominated next year, even if the logical ones are months away. To wrap up this season, here is a look at 20 memorable moments from the 85th Academy Awards Ceremony hosted by Seth MacFarlane.

A Few Thoughts on the 85th Academy Awards Ceremony

Ladies and gentlemen, it has come to a close. The 85th Annual Academy Awards were announced tonight and there was plenty of cheers and jeers. For those that took my votes, you lucked out big time. True, my 9 out of 24 meant that it was my lowest predictions year on record, but that doesn't mean that there were some great surprises sprinkled throughout. True, my Joaquin Phoenix (The Master) appreciation wasn't enough to overcome the towering Daniel Day Lewis (Lincoln), but on the bright side, I can go with the delusional logic that at least I predicted Argo for Best Picture. While this isn't a recap of the winners (which I assure you will come later in the week) or a highlights, it is an initial collective of thoughts on the ceremony. What went right, wrong, and how I feel things could have been different.