Theory Thursday: "Mirror Mirror" is Underrated

Scene from Mirror Mirror

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: "Money Monster" is a Tense and Often Enjoyable Financial Thriller

George Clooney

Nowadays, the issue of money has become a big issue on film. Last year saw the Oscar-winning film The Big Short tackle the housing collapse, while Martin Scorsese tackled corporate greed a few years prior with The Wolf of Wall Street. With Money Monster, director Jodie Foster makes her return to cinema after three years with a tense political thriller that is meant to explore the themes of greed from a more universal standpoint. The story focuses on a TV personality (George Clooney) who becomes victim to an investor (Jack O'Connell) who lost thousands due to his bad advice. What happens from there is a mixture of soapbox politics, sly dark humor, and tense action. It may not be the most succinct statement of our financial times, but it continues the trend of being highly entertaining. 

A Closer Look at the Best Supporting Actress Nominees

Continuing this year's sense of ragtag nominees in the supporting categories is the Best Supporting Actress category. Where the lead categories feel like competitive locks with numerous outcomes, this category feels less assured. It isn't that any of their roles are necessarily lackluster, but more that all of them, save for Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle) come to this film without any strong bias backing them. With three of them being first time nominees, it makes the race a little more interesting and raises curiosity on if they can transcend the rookie chances and beat the veterans.

Review: "August: Osage County" Has a Lot of Great Performances... and Meryl Streep

Left to right: Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, and Julianne Nicholson

The appeal of director John Wells' August: Osage County is that it pits many talented actresses against each other in a fight over family dysfunction through varying generations. Lead by Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep, this adaptation of the Tracey Letts' play is an effective slice of drama that lets characters shine and even tear into each other with a vibrant, hostile script that makes one hot weekend in Osage County into a pivotal point in the Weston family's life. It may at times suffer from overacting, but at its core, it is an engrossing family case study.

Is "August: Osage County" Capable of Being a Last Minute Best Picture Contender?

Left to right: Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts

*Note: Due to unforeseen circumstances, I was unable to write up a piece on director John Wells' August: Osage County during its premiere week.

With the Oscar nominations exactly one week away, it is an exciting time at The Oscar Buzz to look at all of the nominees. While I have covered majority of the big contenders over the past few months, the one that I forgot to write a piece on is August: Osage County, which looks to be a haven for potential actor nominations, specifically for that of Meryl Streep in the Best Actress race. The truth is that as the literal last film of 2013 to come out that had any awards potential, it does seem strange that it hasn't quite caught any buzz yet.