Let's Talk About the Best Actor Race (Spoiler alert: it's not that interesting)

Ryan Gosling, La La Land

Does anyone even care about men these days?! When it comes to the Academy Awards this season, it looks like the answer is "oh, right, they give awards to men too..." While Viola Davis and Amy Adams and Emma Stone and Ruth Negga and Natalie Portman and many, many more are duking it out, it looks like the Best Actor category is without a frontrunner. A few frontrunners could pop up at any time; the Oscar season is long and fickle enough that things can change at any moment.

And I don't want to imply that this year's Oscar race is completely devoid of possible nominees and winners. Despite Bryce Dallas Howard not being forced to wear high heels in Jurassic World 2, Hollywood sexism isn't over so the majority of the films being talked about are heavily male-driven. It's just that no one has really stood out with an "it's his year" film like Emma Stone or Viola Davis.

Could Amy Adams Win an Oscar This Year? Can She?! Please?!?!

Five time Academy Award nominee Amy Adams is once again in the Oscar conversation this year. She has two well-received films working their way around the various festivals: Arrival, directed by Denis Villenueve (Sicario), and Nocturnal Animals, by Tom Ford (A Single Man). Though each film has their set of detractors--and Nocturnal Animals is turning out to be quite polarizing--I think Adams has obviously been praised to high heaven. Of the two films, most Oscar pundits are putting their Amy Adams eggs in the Arrival basket. Adams is on many lists of probably Oscar nominees for Best Actress, especially regarding her Arrival performance. I could see a nomination for either film (or perhaps some category fraud if they put her in Supporting Actress for Nocturnal Animals). But for now, let's pretend that Arrival will be the big Oscar movie for her.

But can she win? That's the question. For one thing, Amy Adams is well-liked enough in the industry that murmurs of "it's her year" are probably being heard around Hollywood. I'm not sure the murmurs will morph into the banshee call that preceded Leonardo DiCaprio's Oscar win earlier this year. Amy Adams is talented obviously, and she's on the border of "oh yeah that girl" and true blue household name. However, Amy Adams has had the bad luck of being nominated alongside surefire winners, at least most of the time. Please read Amy Adams: Always the Oscar Bridesmaid, which further explores that idea.

My Top 10 Greatest Bollywood Films from the 21st Century

While writing my Top 10 Greatest Films from the 21st Century list, I realized I hadn't put any Indian films on it. Rather than try to restructure that list, I decided to give Bollywood its own top 10 list. I tried to include films of different genres, styles, and directors. Like the last list, I looked at both artistic merit and historical impact. So please enjoy! 

10. Band Baaja Baaraat (Maneesh Sharma; 2010)
On paper, this wedding rom-com might seem like a forgettably pleasant diversion. Thanks to Habib Faisal's script, Namrata Rao's editing, stars Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh, and Aseem Mishra's camerawork, the execution is an incisive and glamorous look at young Delhi residents following their goals. Band Baaja Baaraat is an excellent expression of how the typical Bollywood formula can come to life through innovative filmmaking.

My Top 10 Greatest Films from the 21st Century

For some unknown reason, I wasn't asked to join the BBC that compiled the 100 greatest films of the 21st century. So I decided to write my own list. This list is pretty Hollywood centric, and maybe that's a bad thing. But I really wanted it to reflect films that are important to me. Thee films maybe aren't my most favorite movies (though some of them are), but they are what I consider to be important in showcasing the best in terms of visual storytelling, themes, and historical relevance.

10. Her (Spike Jonze, 2013)
This melancholy, understated romance explores themes of isolation, human connection, and the effects of technology on human life. Boosted by expert performances, the script is warm and affectionate and the cinematography is striking. Spike Jonze is an incredibly heartfelt director, milking outlandish scenarios for what they say about modern human life.