Less odd a collection than in previous years, the 2017 Oscar-nominated Animated Shorts are, nonetheless, all over the place thematically, artistically, and in the audience they cater to. The animated shorts nominee formula (one beautifully made film, one from Disney/Pixar, … Continue reading 2017 Oscar Nominated Shorts: Animation
88th Annual Academy Awards My Predictions (what will win) & My Predilections (what should win) Prognosticators and columnists in the major entertainment rags are all abuzz as a result of such a wide variety of films taking home different awards. … Continue reading Jason’s 88th Annual Academy Awards Predictions & Predelictions
“Cartel Land” Directed by Matthew Heineman Another Oscar-nommed documentary feature, “Cartel Land” is chock full of information about how the actions of Mexico’s drug cartels are regarded and dealt with, both within the municipalities they lord over, and by … Continue reading “Cartel Land”
“What Happened, Miss Simone” Directed by Liz Garbus As I’ve stated before, as a rule, feature documentaries fall in to one of the following three categories: Historical Journalism Political/Social Statement Pop Culture/”Whatever happened to?” Investigation When it comes to Oscar … Continue reading “What Happened, Miss Simone?”
“Theeb” (Jordan) Directed by Naji Abu Nowar “Theeb”, Jordan’s Oscar-nominated entry for the Best Foreign Language Film award, is an often exciting, yet ultimately unsatisfying, coming of age thriller set during the Ottoman occupation of Jordan in World War I. … Continue reading “Theeb” (Jordan)
Reviews ranked from Best to Worst from my POV: “Aya” (France/Israel): directed by Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis What starts as a cute little film about a whimsical act becomes something MUCH more intimate. I could’ve watched another hour of … Continue reading “2015 Oscar Nominated Live Action Shorts”
Directed by Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne Positives first: 1) Cotillard is excellent. 2) The script throws us in to the second act in the first line of dialogue, which I found refreshing… …until you realize that there is really nowhere … Continue reading “Two Days One Night”
Directed by Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmoreland First of all, bring about 27 boxes of Kleenex to the theater. Secondly, it’s a testament to the performance of Julianne Moore that you’ll be sobbing within eight minutes of the start of … Continue reading “Still Alice”
Directed by Richard Linklater I’m fully prepared for every friend I have who is a parent to hate me, but I found “Boyhood” tedious as hell. It’s a brilliant accomplishment, no doubt, done with loving care and skill. The performances … Continue reading “Boyhood”
Directed by Damien Chazelle This is a wonderful film about the nature of passion versus perfection and those who possess the former and obsessively live in the race for the latter. Miles Teller, as our protagonist, is both cute and … Continue reading “Whiplash”
The No Spoiler Critic 