Every Best Picture Nominee of the 2010's Ranked: #40-44

Scene from The King's Speech (2010)

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.

Review: "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" is a Fun and Off-Beat Kaleidoscope of Western Skewering

Scene from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Over the course of a career spanning close to 40 years, co-directors Joel and Ethan Coen have done wonders to not only create captivating westerns, but have reinvented the very idea of Americana in the process. Some of their most successful movies, whether it be Miller's Crossing or the more candid True Grit, have all helped to redefined an essential part of the American mythology. So, what else do they have to say in 2018? With anthology film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, it looks like there's quite a bit actually. Ranging from slapstick to some pitch black drama, The Coen Brothers' take on the west is far more nihilistic these days. It may be among their weaker films, especially with each segment tending to bounce around from tone and style so radically, but it's also further evidence that the old west is still special to them and that they have stories to tell, even if they're not their own.

The First Trailer for "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" Saddles Up Another Wacky Coen Brothers Film

Scene from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

There are few directors who have the unpredictable track record of brothers Joel and Ethan Coen. It seems like every time they release a dark and gritty movie like No Country for Old Men, it's immediately followed by a farcical gem like Burn After Reading. Even their most recent film, Hail Caesar!, is a Hollywood satire that has a subtext about the power of a metaphorical religion within the studio system. So, where do you go from a film that encapsulated every genre possible and turned it into one of their silliest films yet? Well, you go back to the genre that earned you some clout. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs started out as a TV series for Netflix, but comes to audiences now as an anthology film about a cowboy going on wacky adventures. If the first trailer is any sign, it's a different take on the genre than something like True Grit. Much like Hail Caesar!, it's downright farcical.

Theory Thursday: "Inside Llewyn Davis" is Oscar Isaac's Best Performance

Scene from Inside Llewyn Davis

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. 

Review: "Suburbicon" is Messy and Mean-Spirited Satire With Fleeting Moments of Inspiration

Scene from Suburbicon

When one thinks of the 1950's American suburbs, there's a certain image that comes to mind. It's the land of TV shows like Leave It To Beaver, where conflicts are so pedestrian that one would be forgiven for thinking that baby boomers were wimps. It's an image that has been satirized both loving and mawkishly, and director George Clooney is the latest to throw his name into the ring with a film that not only subverts the suburban mentality, but attempts to explore it through a modern political prism. The film isn't as funny as its Joel and Ethan Coen script (also co-penned by Clooney and frequent partner Grant Heslov) would suggest, but it's one of the year's more interesting messes that attempts to take fake conservatism down a peg with a liberal agenda that is as obvious as it is prescient in 2017. The film is a mess, but at least Clooney keeps it interesting.

Theory Thursday: Javier Bardem is the Best Villain Actor Working Today

Scene from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

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. 

The Runner-Ups: Fred Melamed in "A Serious Man" (2009)

Scene from A Serious Man

Every Oscar season, there are a handful of actors who get tagged with the "snubbed" moniker. While it is always unfortunate to see our favorites not honored with at very least a nomination, there's another trend that goes largely unnoticed: those who never even got that far. The Runner-Ups is a column meant to honor the greats in cinema who put in phenomenal work without getting the credit that they deserved from The Academy. Join me every other Saturday as I honor those who never received any love. This list will hopefully come to cover both the acting community, and the many crew members who put the production together.

Failed Oscar Campaigns: "Inside Llewyn Davis" (2013)

Oscar Isaac

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.

Review: "Hail, Caesar!" is a Kaleidoscope of Wonder

Scene from Hail, Caesar!

One of the big reasons that directors Joel and Ethan Coen continue to resonate is because they are not limited to a genre in the ways that others are. If they want to make a heist film, they make The Ladykillers. If they want to make a stoner film, they make The Big Lebowski. Their credentials feature an endless barrage of genre-shifting cinema that somehow manages to remain consistently entertaining. With their latest Hail, Caesar!, they seem to take that advice too literally and end up producing a comedy that isn't just a period piece, but a western, musical, bible epic, noir, and even an earlier period piece. To simply explain the film to someone is to suggest that what Hail, Caesar! is is actually films within films (though not in the Inception way) in their loving ode to the power of film and why they are just as tangible to audiences as religion.

A Ranking of Every Clooney/Coen Brothers Films

George Clooney in Hail Caesar

This past weekend, directors Joel and Ethan Coen released their latest film Hail, Caesar! into theaters with an all star cast and an impressive love letter to classic cinema. It also marked the fourth collaboration with actor George Clooney, who ranks among the duo's best repeat offenders. With a collaboration record going back 16 years, they have definitely created some of the best farcical entertainment of the millennium. But which is the best of the bunch? The following is a ranking of their work together, which will hopefully have a few visitors in the years to come.

Top 10 Actors Who Have Worked with The Coen Brothers Multiple Times

From Hail, Caesar! poster

If there's one thing that directors Joel and Ethan Coen love, it's a strong ensemble. With today's release of their latest Hail, Caesar!, it feels important to remember the many actors that they have worked with to make such iconic cinema for over 30 years. The following is a ranking of the Top 10 repeat offenders all between their debut Blood Simple and 2013's Inside Llewyn Davis. While this list is subject to change as more members join their weird little stable, the following reflects an insurmountable group by which The Coen Brothers would be nothing without. Along with ranking, the list will include their greatest credit, for which it would be impossible to not see them as when talking about their greatest work.

Theory Thursday: "A Serious Man" is The Coen Brothers' Best Movie

Michael Stuhlbarg

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. 

Nothing But the Best: "No Country for Old Men" (2007)

Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men

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.

Review: "Bridge of Spies" is Spielberg's Global Love Letter to Humanity in the Time of War

Tom Hanks

Over the course of 40 years, director Steven Spielberg has made a career out of chronicling the American way. From the government offices of Lincoln to the beaches of Jaws, he has found new ways to explore patriotism within the country's rich history - often in relation to big, awe-inspiring set pieces. In his latest film Bridge of Spies, he turns in a film that combines his sense for adventure with his maturing sense for drama in what can be described as Mr. Smith Goes to Berlin; a Cold War film in which James Donovan (Tom Hanks) fights for what's right, even as his patriotism turns him into a notorious figure among his fellow citizens. The film is a tale of humanity for the 21st century, turning Communism not into an evil; but a complicated web in which harmless individuals get stuck. Is it bad? Maybe a little. However, this film chooses to ask us why we shouldn't give them the justice they deserve.

The First "Hail Caesar!" Trailer Has Way Too Many Recognizable Faces to Fail

George Clooney

Among the directors that I anticipate every new release the most with, directors Joel and Ethan Coen are at the top. For starters, their track record is very impressive with most of their great work still coming out (though that's not to discredit everything else from the past 30 years). With their last film, Inside Llewyn Davis, they brought another masterpiece to the world in the disguise of a folk singer with a cat. This time around, they give us a loving ode to Hollywood's golden era with an all-star cast in the film Hail Caesar. While it's been awhile since they tackled the moving pictures (1991's Barton Fink), it's nice to see them return with a more slapstick attitude about it. At least, that's what's implied by the first trailer.

It's the Return of the Great Spielberg-Hanks Team in First "Bridge of Spies" Trailer

Tom Hanks

Believe it or not, but the last time that director Steven Spielberg worked with Tom Hanks, it was The Terminal in 2004. For a team that brought us some of the best modern cinema with Saving Private Ryan and Catch Me If You Can, it seems like wasted potential, even if both have done pretty well for themselves in the 11 years between projects. However, it looks like they're back with a Cold War thriller called Bridge of Spies that has both of them ready to play hard ball with history and present another intense war film. If the first trailer is any indication of what's to come, it may easily rank among the director and the actor's best work.

The Second "Unbroken" Trailer Gives Us a Look at Lot of Potential Greatness

Jack O'Connell

Among the many films coming out this Christmas, there isn't a single one with as much Oscar buzz as director Angelina Jolie's Unbroken. While this isn't her first directorial effort (In the Land of Blood and Honey), it looks like her sophomore effort has a lot more going for it. It feels focused and takes a rather interesting angle on a familiar subject. With the second trailer recently released, the film feels more confident than ever to be one to look out for. It may feature a lot of familiar footage, but it introduces new scenes and a whole lot of reasons to care about the film.

The Directors Project: #2 - Joel and Ethan Coen

Scene from Cinema Paradiso

With the many lists and essays written on the subject of film, there has been one thing that The Oscar Buzz has tried to understand: Who is my favorite of the film world? For 10 weeks this summer, I will be exploring this with a countdown of the Top 50 names based on a numerical ranking of ratings from various sources, the following is a list of directors who rank above everyone else. With occasional upsets, this is intended as both a discussion opener as well as a better understanding of me as a film critic and fan. Please enjoy and leave any comments you have regarding the entry's selection.

Review: "Inside Llewyn Davis" is a Brilliant Love Letter to Performers

Oscar Isaac

Originally published at CinemaBeach.

There are tragic realities to those pursuing music as a career choice. While a small chunk succeeds, there are those that toil in struggle the entire time. This wouldn’t seem apparent in most films, but then again Joel and Ethan Coen aren’t most filmmakers. Their melancholy stories chronicling American culture through the decades are full of humor, absurdity, and a sense of punishment. Their latest, Inside Llewyn Davis, has all of these elements in spades, and with music collaboration from T. Bone Burnett, this tale of the 60’s folk scene is full of catchy songs and the most egotistical loser of the year. That is to say that it is the Coen Brothers operating at their best.