Failed Oscar Campaigns: "mother!" (2017)

Scene from mother!

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.

With "A Rainy Day in New York" Being Shelved, is this the End of Woody Allen's Career?

Woody Allen

Whether or not you like him, there is one thing apparent: Woody Allen is one of the most prolific filmmakers of the past 50 years. With limited exceptions, he has stuck a movie-a-year release schedule since the 1970's and has earned four Oscars for his writing and a Best Picture win for the romantic comedy Annie Hall. With all of this said, he has once again fallen under fire for an old scandal regarding sexual allegations against his daughter Dylan Farrow. With the Me Too and Time's Up movements causing The Academy to kick out other members with notorious reputations Harvey Weinstein and Roman Polanski, one has to wonder if Allen's days are numbered. Considering that Amazon has shelved his next film, A Rainy Day in New York, and his previous film, Wonder Wheel, was a legitimate Failed Oscar Campaign contender, it does seem like maybe just maybe this is the end of his career.

A Roundup of Movie Trailers for Oscar Season Hopefuls

Margot Robbie in Mary Queen of Scots

With the end of August upon us and the Venice Film Festival currently going on, it's time to get prepped for the 2018 Oscar season. That means that there'll be a lot of returning goodies (see this post for all of the details) and a lot of prognostication as the season heats up. But before the summer ends officially, it's as good of a time as any to look back at the trailers that premiered in the past few months and have already promised to make this Oscar season a fascinating and exciting one. The following is a rundown of the films that have already staked their claim in the race, making it difficult for the films that still need to make their presence known, such as Adam McKay's Dick Cheney biopic Backseat. But for now, these are the films that may be worth keeping an eye on, at least until the film festivals say otherwise.

It's Almost Time for Oscar Season Coverage to Begin!

Scene from A Star is Born (2018)

Tomorrow marks the end of August and the summer movie season. For those who enjoy Oscar culture, it's the perfect time to begin warming up for another fun season full of big contenders. Who knows what lies ahead in September and onward, and what already has made a strong case for itself. Still, there's a lot to look forward to with The Oscar Buzz, as per usual. While it's been a bit too quiet around here (I apologize), I hope to begin picking up the slack as the season gets more interesting and the prognostication becomes more serious. But before things get too serious, what is there to look forward to? It's time to start the guessing game with a round of goodies coming as soon as this weekend.