Here's a Look at the 683 New Members of The Academy

Mark Rylance in Bridge of Spies

It has been awhile since we received any significant Oscar-related news. Of course, that is to be expected following the annual ceremony where one season ends and the cooling off period carries into August and September. However, there is some good news regarding new members. According to President Cheryl Boone Isaacs, there are 683 new members who will be joining this upcoming season. It is a record amount and almost double of last year's hefty total. On top of that, Isaacs' plan to overcome the Oscars So White fiasco by having a more diverse group by 2020 is starting to take effect. Read on to discover how exactly that is as well as the name of each and every new member, plus a few credits to help you pick them out of a line-up.

Review: "The Neon Demon" Confrims Refn's Transition From Vulgar Auteur Into An Endurance Test

Scene from The Neon Demon

In 2011, director Nicolas Winding Refn saw himself in a lawsuit over his film Drive. It was claimed that it was misrepresented as a conventional action movie. To general audiences, it was a travesty of boredom. Five years and two movies later, it's hard to imagine what the audience appalled by atmospheric driving sequences would have to say about The Neon Demon: a film that's rich with provocative, sometimes disturbing, imagery that earned a healthy dose of boos at Cannes and for some reason is seen this past weekend in wide release. While a beautiful example of postmodern art, it's a film whose fans will be greatly isolated from the general consensus due to Refn's cryptic style that turns him from an auteur of masculine aggression simply into an endurance test. There's a lot to like about The Neon Demon. One just has to accept that it's buried underneath Refn's clear and distinct vision that is sometimes unpleasant or pretentious. 

Theory Thursday: In Defense of Nicolas Winding Refn

Scene from Neon Demon

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 First "Neon Demon" Trailer is a Beautiful, Bloody Vision

Scene from The Neon Demon

Director Nicolas Winding Refn is one of the more interesting directors working today. While he has never sacrificed his style, the bright and popping imagery mixed with violence helped to make his 2011 film Drive a cult favorite. However, his follow-up Only God Forgives received a brutal lashing for being darker and more violent. Still, it reflected Refn's one gift as a filmmaker: he could turn the grotesque into art like nobody else. With his first film since then called The Neon Demon releasing its first trailer, it looks like it'll be more of the same deranged Refn charm. Thankfully, that's enough to get me in the door.

Review: "Only God Forgives" is an Unforgivable Mess

Left to right: Yayaying Rhata Phongam and Ryan Gosling

In 2011, director Nicolas Winding Refn gained an unprecedented amount of overnight success. With the help of Ryan Gosling, he created a beautiful, poetic look at Los Angeles in a genre-bending tale of violence known as Drive. While it bombed at the box office and failed to garner much respect at the Oscars, it did end up as one of the most iconic depictions of cool for the modern generation with an equally infectious Cliff Martinez score. With Refn's follow-up and the second collaboration with Gosling, is it possible for the duo to strike lightning twice, or is Drive one of those rare success stories?

Is "Only God Forgives" Too Violent for an Oscar Nomination?

Ryan Gosling

For people speculating the Oscars, it has been a rough summer. With exception to Fruitvale Station, there haven't been any definite selections. Maybe it is from the bloated output of franchise sequels and remakes. It could just be a lackluster year where Steven Spielberg correctly identified the collapse of blockbuster entertainment. Still, as July starts to wind down, we enter a more enticing season of original fare including The World's End, Elysium, and director Nicolas Winding Refn's follow-up to the iconic Drive known as Only God Forgives with Ryan Gosling. Opening this Friday, is this film able to break the trend of Gosling films getting ignored, or will this just be reprise of Drive?