Can "The Place Beyond the Pines" Get Gosling A Second Oscar Nomination?

It will be impossible to shake me of one fact. Director Derek Cianfrance's 2010 film Blue Valentine is without a doubt one of the greatest films of all time. Aesthetically, its use of the red and blue colors throughout are deeply integral to the mood. Add in great performances by Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, who have both never been better, and you have possibly the best, most accurate portrayal of love in awhile. It may be a more challenging movie, but one I feel is both artistically and narratively successful enough to stand next to the best of them. That is why I am hoping that his follow-up The Place Beyond the Pines will become at very least a Best Picture nominee.

Review: "Spring Breakers" has Poetic Beauty Partying All Over It

Left to right: Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens,
Ashley Benson, and Rachel Korine

When director Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers opened in limited release, nobody expected it to break specialty box office records like the more acclaimed films The Master or Moonrise Kingdom. However, it was only the start of this film's surprise hit status. Starring three Disney starlets, a crazy performance by James Franco, and directed by the guy whose last film was called Trash Humpers, this doesn't seem like a film that deserved a place in this past weekend's Top 10 box office. However, despite polarizing the youthful demographics, the film has been a critical success. How can a film that is essentially extensive partying with nudity and drugs one of the best films of the year so far?

Review: "Room 237" is a Brilliant Love Letter to Why Film Theory Matters

As I am sure many people reading this are, I am a big fan of director Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. When it was announced last year that a documentary titled Room 237 was coming out explaining conspiracy theories, it only restored interest in the film and raises the question on if we are watching movies correctly. What makes The Shining such an important film to earn numerous theories to subtle subtext, and is it possible that this film can manage to win over the Academy and get them to nominate it for Best Documentary?

Is "From Up on Poppy Hill" the First Best Animated Feature Contender?

This week, director Goro Miyazaki's From Up on Poppy Hill receives limited release. For many, Studio Ghibli is the premiere animation studio from Asia, having given us such gems as Princess Mononoke and the Oscar-winning Spirited Away. The only difference is that those were made by Goro's father Hayao. While the studio continues to regale with quality work each year, they haven't had any success with the Academy Awards since 2005's Howl's Moving Castle. Is it possible that as one of the first notable animated features of 2013 that this will be the year that they return to the Best Animated Feature category?