A Part of Your Parade: Why 'Boyhood' Deserved to Win Best Picture

On Sunday night, Birdman took home Best Picture along with 3 other Oscars. The win was not a major surprise since it had picked up a lot of pre-Oscar awards from the important Screen Actors, Producers and Directors Guilds. But many Boyhood fans like myself had hoped that Boyhood would still take home Best Picture with Birdman taking Best Director-that way both films took him the two top prizes and in categories where they both shined.

The thing is, I can't be too mad that Birdman won Best Picture because I really liked that film and thought it was worthy of its nominations. But, like with most Oscar victories, it's not really a matter of which nominee is better than the others (too subjective) but it's a matter what statement the Academy wants to make by choosing the winner. And like with most baffling Oscar nominations, wins and snubs, the questions is: what is actually being rewarded here?

For '50 Shades of Grey' BDSM Means Boring Dumb Sexy Magic

So the big news this week was that 50 Shades of Grey's box office totals went down 70% in its 2nd weekend. This isn't that surprising. This movie represents the kind of fad that's a fad until it isn't. The speculation was high before its release and pop culture enthusiasts were curious about what it would be like. I think the problem was that the speculation was more fun than the actual movie.

But I went to see the movie and to be honest, it wasn't that bad. No, it's nowhere near a good movie but you could tell that they tried or wanted to try. I just don't think the material they had to work with was strong enough to support a mainstream film. It's the age old question: if good books can make bad movies, can bad books make good movies?

87th Academy Awards: Predictions, Surprises & Snubs

It's Oscar time, people! It's been a strange year because there were so many great films in the running that the list of films and performances  that were not nominated is about as long as the ones that were. Here are some of my picks for this year's Oscar winners.

Best Picture: 
American Sniper, Birdman, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Selma, The Theory of Everything and Whiplash
Winner: Boyhood
The Dark Horse: Birdman
Like last year, it's a pretty tight race between Boyhood and Birdman. Boyhood seems like the favorite--and I'd still put money on it--but Birdman has picked up a lot of key awards from the guilds (producers, directors and screen actors). Boyhood got the BAFTA and the Golden Globe-Best Drama. Birdman famously lost the Golden Globe-Best Comedy/Musical to Grand Budapest. That film could surprise and pull a win. Wouldn't that be something? In the end, I think Boyhood will take it.

Major snub: I think a lot of people were surprised not to see Foxcatcher since that got a lot of nominations, including Best Director. I would have liked to see Nightcrawler, Wild and Gone Girl here as well.

A Brief Love Letter to Keira Knightley and All Other Actresses Who Get Nominated for Playing "The Girl"

When I wrote my Oscar predictions blog a few months ago, I expressed some disdain for the fact that Keira Knightley, one of my top favorite actresses, was in the running for an Oscar nomination for a film where she is "The Girl" to an "Important Man." She did get the nomination (her second after 2005's Pride and Prejudice as Lead Actress). And I finally saw her nominated performance in The Imitation Game.

Don't get me wrong; her performance was fine. She is a brilliant actress and her performance as Joan Clark was typically nuanced. But let's take a look at Keira's career. After Pride & Prejudice, she starred in Atonement, Never Let Me Go, The Duchess, Last Night, Anna Karenina, Begin Again, Laggies and A Dangerous Method. All of these are infinitely more interesting than The Imitation Game. The Imitation Game is such a standard biopic. It's entertaining and solid but that's it. Considering how varied and risky her movie choices have been, it's frustrating to see her being rewarded for playing a character whose sole purpose is to make the prickly insufferable genius guy more human. 

2015 Golden Globes Predictions

Today is the Golden Globes! Look, Hollywood Foreign Press Association is not the most credible group. Their nominees are usually more star-studded than necessary and they usually have a few randomly out of left field nominations that do not make a lick of sense. But that's what we love about them, right? So here are the film nominations and my predictions for each category.

Boyhood

Best Picture - Drama 
Boyhood (will win/should win)
Foxcatcher
The Imitation Game
Selma (could win)
The Theory of Everything 
This is a respectable list (I've only seen 2 of them--sorry!) and I think there are legions behind each of them. But the wonderful Boyhood is at the top of the list. From its unique production to its lifelike execution, the film is a major achievement. Selma could sneak in because it's so talked-about and relevant.
What's missing? Gone Girl and Nightcrawler, people! Hello!

Julianne Moore, Still Alce

Best Actress - Drama
Jennifer Aniston, Cake
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice (will win)
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl (should win)
Reese Witherspoon, Wild (could win)
I will practice believing that Rosamund Pike will win this award but I am definitely wrong. Look, it's not that I don't want Moore to win; she's a heavily nominated actress putting out consistently great work so I'm glad she's having her moment. But Pike's performance was unforgettable. Witherspoon is also having a mini-comeback so she could pull a surprise win. But the award is Moore's to lose.
Who's missing? Scarlett Johansson in Under the Skin was a far-fetched choice but the 4 time GG-nominee deserved a slot.

The Hot Shots of 2014

Man, 2014 was a pretty interesting year. From the Oscars to Serial, some exciting and great things happened. Here's a look at some Hollywood people who had a rocking year.

Amy Adams
The actress scored her 5th Oscar nomination for American Hustle and is finding herself in the awards discussion again for Tim Burton's Big Eyes. But Adams was involved in 2 news stories which showed what an awesome, classy lady she is. First she gave up her first class airplane seat to a man in uniform (and only got caught because a journalist happened to see her). Then when the Today Show tried to get her to talk about the Sony hack, she expressed her reluctance to spread gossip and got unceremoniously booted from the show when she stood her ground. Adams also got good notices for her stint as SNL host. Basically, I love this lady and her 2014 was a good reason why.

Blackish
With networks trying really hard to land a really great sitcom, ABC's Blackish is clearly the winner of the 2014 pilot season. Fresh, funny and poignant, the show chronicles the lives of an upper middle class black family in a predominantly white neighborhood. The show does a good job of balancing everyday family sitcom hijinks with exploring modern America race issues. The cast, especially Tracee Ellis Ross and the four kids, is remarkable. The show arrived with a unique--and fully formed--point of view and is a great addition to the family sitcom genre.

Sony Pulling 'The Interview' Affects Lizzy Caplan the Most

I'm not a fan of Sony pulling The Interview. While I can understand the fear of putting movie goers in danger, it sets a dangerous precedent. And I am convinced that that Sony and the movie theater companies were more afraid that scared moviegoers would steer clear of the theater right in the middle of the lucrative holiday movie season. The Interview was not supposed to be a blockbuster. The $44 million budget would have easily been recuperated during the long Holiday season as the go-to R rated bro comedy of the season. Also, the film would have made its profits from VOD/Redbox as well as television deals with channels like FX.

But now that the movie is cancelled, it's going to be a major loss for the production company especially considering marketing expenses (though releasing it amid the controversy would have made it a guaranteed hit). But it's okay for Sony--they will make back that money easily with their next franchise entry or what have you. I'm sure they fully analyzed their losses and will plan accordingly.