Composing Greatness: #43. John Williams - "The Adventures of Tintin" (2011)

Scene from The Adventures of Tintin

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.

Theory Thursday: "The Adventures of Tintin" (2011) is Underrated

Scene from The Adventures of Tintin

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 Directors Project: #4 - Steven Spielberg

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.

A Case for C.G.I. Actors Getting Their Own Oscar Category

Andy Serkis

It is a question that gets lobbied around a lot, especially in the same vein as Best Stunt Performer. As technology has become more embraced by the film community, it seems strange that the Academy doesn't embrace this change. Maybe it could be that the special effects are in some respects "invisible" and aren't immediate. In some cases, the performers are "invisible" as well underneath computer generated imagery that replaces the trips and wires with glorious creations. In the case of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Andy Serkis is replaced by a towering brute named Caesar. Serkis has made a career out of being "invisible" and has thankfully gotten a reputation as being skilled at it simultaneously thanks to roles in Lord of the Rings as Gollum, or in King Kong as... you know who. However, the thought that his work will go unnoticed seems barbaric in a lot of circles. It is a discussion that may likely be risen this weekend once again when one of the most acclaimed films of the summer is released. Should there be a Best C.G.I. Performance Oscar category initiated?

Can "The World's End" Do the Sci-Fi Comedy Category Justice at the Oscars?

Top to Bottom: Paddy Considine, Simon Pegg, and Martin Freeman

There is this weird disconnect between Academy Awards and comedy that seems unfair. While it has improved slightly in the past decade, stories that deal with less conventional methods are most likely reduced to little or no awareness at all. Even with director Edgar Wright's latest film The World's End planning to hit the scene in America this Friday, there is little chance that it could break the mold and become one of the first British comedies not named Four Weddings and a Funeral or The Full Monty to get into the Best Picture race. Of course, summer blockbusters in general don't stand a chance, though they seem more forgiving in the Best Original Screenplay categories.