Could Emmy Be Bigger Than Oscar?
The day after watching 12 Years a Slave win Best Picture at the 86th Academy Awards, I sat down to watch the season finale of True Detective. The show had unfortunately aired against the Oscars, and I made the choice to watch some solid movies be declared “the best” in one category or another. The irony of it all: The real “best” everything was airing on HBO that night. This isn’t a new phenomenon. We’ve been talking about how television is better than film for years now. It’s something that started with The Sopranos and The Wire going on right up until Breaking Bad, Mad Men and True Detective. The storytelling is richer on TV these days and the productions more cinematic. Even the pop programs like Scandal, Arrow and Vampire Diaries are more entertaining than any comparable film....
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Final Oscar Predictions: GRAVITY Wins 6. SLAVE for Picture. Is Leo Tonight’s Big Spoiler?
It’s just a few short hours until the Oscars happen and oh what a race it’s been. American Hustle, Gravity and 12 Years a Slave looked locked in a 3-way race for a time after the nominations, Globes and Critics Choice Awards, but now the race has settled to this: 12 Years a Slave will win Best Picture, Gravity will win Best Director and American Hustle will win… nothing. Nada. Zero. Hustle looked like it could steal the Best Picture award away from 12 Years a Slave, but in my final Oscar predictions, I now see very few opportunities for a Hustle win in any category. Look for American Hustle to join the ranks of The Turning Point, The Color Purple and Gangs of New York as one of the most nominated movies without a win. On the flip side, Gravity could become one of the winning-est movies to not win Best Picture, with 6...
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Why Horror Films Need Their Own Oscars
With the main exceptions of The Silence of the Lambs and The Exorcist (which in my opinion should have won the Oscar it was up for), horror films are nearly always ignored come awards season. This is no longer a disappointment to me. In fact, it makes perfect sense given what these awards have become compared to horror’s B-genre classification. Horror used to be considered only a notch below comedy. But, the comedy genre (when done artfully, intelligently or heartwarmingly enough) can actually still get elevated by Academy recognition—think Little Miss Sunshine or even this year’s American Hustle. I have no valid argument to put forth in a debate about whether horror films deserve mainstream industry accolades. I do, however, think they deserve to be considered in a similar way—why can’t an awards show exist that understands the genre...
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The Contenders: 5 Outstanding Documentaries Competing At The 67th BAFTA Awards
The 67th BAFTA Awards arrives this year with a full list of great nominees. Only one week after the Oscar ceremony, the British capital will celebrate the big day of cinema. This edition brings us five outstanding works that will compete in the Best Documentary category. From the most horrific side of the history of Indonesia to one of the biggest media scandals in the XXI century, it won’t be easy for the jury to decide who the Bafta mask will go to. The Act of Killing It was also nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the Oscars 2014; however, its anonymous co-director turned the invitation down. “The Act of Killing” explores not only the impunity enjoyed by a group of small-time gangsters that killed thousands of people during the 60s in Indonesia, but it also shows the emotions...
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Academy Awards: Who Created Oscar?
The Academy Awards are one of the biggest nights in Hollywood. All of the biggest stars and celebrities come together, the television cameras roll, and the air is electric. And all of this commotion is for the sake of just one 13.5 inch man named Oscar. For many celebrities and filmmakers, taking home one of those gold statuettes represents the ultimate in filmmaking achievement, and it is no surprise that the wins and losses of the night provoke such extreme emotions. But what is the story behind Oscar himself? The history of the Oscar statuette is long and surprising, and involves fame, humor, and mystery (this is Hollywood, after all). We will take a brief look at Oscar’s life, and how he came to be what he is today. The First Academy Awards Today, the Academy of Motion Picture...
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The Contenders: It’s A Three-Way In The Best Picture Oscar Race
For the first time in my Oscar watching years (17!), something strange is happening in the Best Picture race: There’s a legit three-way race for the top prize between American Hustle, 12 Years a Slave and Gravity . While most of the acting prizes have settled, with the exception of Jennifer Lawrence vs. Lupita Nyong’o, and Alfonso Cuaron looks locked in for a Best Director win, the Best Picture far from over at the moment. So here’s what happened. The Golden Globes gave American Hustle and 12 Years a Slave a boost, followed by another Best Picture prize for Slave at the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards. All well and good, but The Social Network and Saving Private Ryan were in the same position as 12 Years a Slave when they lost Best Picture. Critical darlings don’t seem to have as much luck in the long run, especially ones that sweep...
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