Theory Thursday: "Blue Valentine" is Ryan Gosling's Best Film

Scene from Blue Valentine

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. 

Failed Oscar Campaigns: "Manchester By the Sea" (2016)

Scene from Manchester By the Sea

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: "Wonderstruck" is an Inspiring Exploration of Life and Acceptance

Scene from Wonderstruck

Outside of animated movies, it seems very difficult to make a great family movie. The live action format is generally populated with films reliant on cheap jokes and pandering plots. It becomes difficult to see them as being art, or something that encourages kids to see the world in more perplexing manners. Director Todd Haynes has set out with writer Brian Selznick to fix this with Wonderstruck, whose execution is just as hard to summarize as its plot. Even then, it creates the wonder of cinema and youth in a manner that is inspiring. With two intersecting plots, the story challenges basic perceptions of what a family movie can be, and in the process develops a tangible art film for kids. It's heartfelt and moving, as well as smart. There isn't anything like this silent film/70's kids adventure hybrid, and that alone makes it worth checking out.

Review: "Manchester By the Sea" is the Best Film of 2016

Scene from Manchester By the Sea

The art of loneliness isn't something that's necessarily cinematic. For starters, inactive characters contradict the capabilities of a medium meant to embody visceral excitement. This may be true, but director Kenneth Lonergan's Manchester By the Sea has managed to find a way around this problem by finding a story that is vastly insular as well as engaging. By focusing on the struggles of two family members as a relative dies, the film manages to find the connective tissue in which everyone feels that struggle of loss. What makes the film even more of an achievement is that Lonergan's script manages to explore the darkness without giving way of the comical asides and vulnerable moments that are found in everyday moment. They aren't flaws of the movie, but instead a reflection of how everyone deals with grief. Thanks to excellent performances by Casey Affleck and Lucas Hedges, the film explodes with life. It may seem unlikely, but it actually is the most human film of the year.

The First Trailer for "Certain Women" Has a Promising All-Star Cast

Kristen Stewart in Certain Women

Among the best female directors currently working is Kelly Reichardt. If you haven't seen her incredible western Meek's Cutoff, please give it a chance. It paints a realistic portrait of the women's experience through the eyes of Michelle Williams and a small group of travelers. In the years since, she has only continued to explore the complicated nature of humanity that also just happens to feature gorgeous cinematography and elaborate, drawn out stories that are ominous. In her latest, Certain Women, she looks to be telling a more contemporary story with a lot of meditative perks tacked on. From the looks of the first trailer, it may end up being one of the year's sleeper hits.

The First "Manchester by the Sea" Trailer Offers a Potential Oscar Favorite

Scene from Manchester by the Sea

We're only days away from the end of summer, and it's time to start getting serious about Oscar season. While September tends to be slower, one cannot leave out potential favorites like The Light Between Oceans. It also means that new trailers are starting to pop up with some frequency, and it seems like the one getting a lot of attention is director Kenneth Lonergan's Manchester By the Sea, starring Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams. With several early screenings suggesting great things for the film, it is likely going to be one to look out for when it's released. The first trailer makes special note of this - with all three of the main stars getting their own Oscar-filled blurb. Thankfully the trailer around it looks just as appealing.

"Brokeback Mountain" is 10 Years Old, and Still As Important

Left to right: Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain

Over the past 10 years, there have been few films as important as Brokeback Mountain. You can argue that director Ang Lee made better films, whether it's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, or Life of Pi, but none of them have held the same impact that the film, labeled by the public at the time as "the gay cowboy movie," had on society. It wasn't just its subject matter, but how society spoke of the film in the years following. It was a film that transcended just being one of the most successful LGBT movies in history. Its history was a time capsule not only of how we viewed gay culture then, but how society has evolved in the short time since. Still, even as gay characters have started to become more representative in media, there's no denying the impact that Brokeback Mountain had in paving the trail for them. It may not have been the first mainstream film of its kind, but it definitely was the lightning rod that propelled the conversation forward.

Birthday Take: Michelle Williams in "My Week With Marilyn" (2011)

Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn

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.

Failed Oscar Campaigns: Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Left to right: Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal

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.