The next category is the polar opposite of Best Actor – it has five remarkable and brilliant performances, by five extraordinary ladies, each one would be an easy and deserving winner in any other year. They are absolutely splendid, each and every one of them, and are amongst these actresses finest work. It is a…
Ranking the 88th Academy Award Nominees: Best Actor in a Leading Role
So I have decided to do something different this year, in lieu of actual predictions, I am going to rather rate and rank the nominees, category by category, in the four acting categories and the Best Director and Best Picture categories, as I watch them and complete each category. Instead of simply predicting winners based…
The Revenant (2015)
It was just over a year ago when I have what I consider to be my cinematic rebirth, when I saw a film that completely changed my perception on what cinema should and can be. That film was Birdman or (the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), which has now risen to third place on my list…
Wrinkles (2011)
Merely yesterday, in my review for Shaun the Sheep Movie, I mentioned that there exists a legion of people that believe animated films are not serious, and are simply just there to entertain children. Considering I wrote that in a review for a film aimed mostly at children, it applies to a vast majority of…
Trumbo (2015)
I love a good Hollywood biopic, especially about fascinating figures of the cinematic world. One of the most fascinating people to ever work on motion pictures was Dalton Trumbo, the genius screenwriter who was blacklisted for his membership in the Communist Party. The story of Dalton Trumbo was one that was tailor-made for the exact…
Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015)
Somebody once told me they didn’t like animated films because they were “for kids” – and I have never been more disturbed by a statement in my life. In one statement, it is possible for someone to completely deride the efforts and achievements of people who create something out of absolutely nothing. There are certainly…
Hard Eight (1996)
There is not a shortage of times where I have expressed my absolutely admiration and adoration for Paul Thomas Anderson. I believe him to be possibly the greatest living filmmaker, and someone that matches the talents of all the greatest filmmakers in history. A cinematic chameleon, Anderson is able to twist and manipulate any genre…
The Danish Girl (2015)
There exist very few genres that can be either wonderfully fascinating or dreadfully boring like the historical drama. A great many historical dramas have become masterpieces and staples of cinema, while many others have become overwrought, dreadfully laborious films that are made just for the sake of making the film, and audiences are falsely lured…
Adam’s Apples (2005)
There is nothing quite like a dark comedy made well. Very often, filmmakers attempting a dark comedy will often try to make otherwise serious fare outrageous and inappropriately funny, and very often are unable to find the balance between the serious and the comedic. However, and I don’t mean to discredit American filmmakers, but it…
45 Years (2015)
Excuse me while I just have a moment of complete adoration and awe of this film. I was honestly not expecting much from this film – it just seemed so small and unassuming, and something that would be good and well-made, but not necessarily notable or significant. However, 45 Years is a film that approaches…
The Postmodern Pelican 