12 Years A Slave: The Film of the Year

12 Years A Slave is the most acclaimed film of the year. It has scored 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 97 on Metacritic, and so far has the most precursor award nominations of any film released this year. In addition, it has grossed almost $30 million against a $20 million budget, having just expanded into wide release; to say it's the Oscar favorite is an understatement, and it will certainly be facing off against critic favorite/box office behemoth Gravity for much of the awards season.

I was blown away by Gravity, completely and utterly in awe of the technical achievement, and the beautiful performance that Sandra Bullock gave. Up until 12 Years, it was my pick for Best Picture.

A lot of people are turned off at the subject matter: "Another slavery movie?", "Another period film?", "Ugh, typical Oscar movie", "It looks boring" are among the comments I've heard from being asked about the film. Many movies about slavery have never really gotten into the cold hard facts: It was a horrible experience, that was completely life altering in every way imaginable. Never has a film so accurately displayed the horrors of slavery, never has a film grabbed me and forced me to examine what it was showing, and never has a film blown me away quite in the way 12 Years A Slave did. Make no mistake, just because the film is set in the mid 1800s, does not mean the film is any less important. In fact, I'd say that 12 Years A Slave is one of the most important films to ever be made, of any year.

Film Independent Spirit Award Nominations

The Independent Spirit Awards (nicknamed the Indie Spirits) have risen in prominence in the last few years since their inception back in 1984 (the first ceremony took place a year later). These awards often honor a lot of the smaller films that oftentimes don't find a place in the major awards race (Globes-SAG-BAFTA-Oscar), but have been known to honor those that are destined for Oscar glory. They're a nice award because sometimes, by honoring a lesser known nominee, they spark a flame in that particular nominee's campaign. Sometimes it begins and ends with the Spirits, but sometimes, they can find themselves seated at the Oscar ceremony, awaiting their name to be called.

Either way, the Spirits announced their nominations this morning, and Oscar frontrunner 12 Years A Slave led the pack with 7 nominations, with Alexander Payne's Nebraska trailing not too far behind with 6.

Take a look at the list of major nominees (and my thoughts) below (for the full list of nominations and breakdown by studio, you can go here, where Awards Daily's Sasha Stone has done a good job of compiling everything you need to know). The Independent Spirit Award winners will be announced sometime next year during the telecast; the date has yet to be announced)

Catching Fire: Midnight Premiere

My college sponsored a trip the other night to a midnight screening of Catching Fire (you can read my reaction/thoughts on the film here). Coincidently, it was my friend Andrea's birthday, and she had been looking forward to Catching Fire being released, so we all nabbed tickets before they sold out and went in celebration of her birthday. I documented the night (and Andrea's reaction) for a class assignment for my Online Journalism class.

You can watch the video (made, filmed, and edited by yours truly) here [Blogger is being difficult and not letting me post the video to my page, sorry for the inconvenience] set to The Way by Ariana Grande (feat. Mac Miller). Enjoy :)

First American Hustle Screenings: Jennifer Lawrence is on Track for Oscar nomination #3

That's right! The biggest question mark in this year's Oscar race has finally been unveiled. Kris Tapley of incontention.com reports that after many test screenings and editing sessions, Sony Pictures held a screening of the film for various press members, among them are SAG members who will be voting on this year's nominations in just a few weeks.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Review

The Hunger Games Trilogy is one in many popular young adult novel series (including Harry Potter and Twilight) to receive the book to film adaptation treatment. The first film became an instant box office success last year, riding on the impressive popularity of the novels. It also made a star out of Jennifer Lawrence, then an Academy Award nominee who would later win for her performance in David O’Russell’s Silver Lining’s Playbook. When it was announced that the sequel, Catching Fire, was on track to be released, expectations were raised instantly, but after watching the film, I can tell you all expectations were shattered; not only does Catching Fire raise the bar for the series as a whole, but it is one of the best films of the year. 

Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson as Katniss and Peeta (courtesy of ryanseacrest.com)

Precursor Buzz: Could Scarlett Johansson get an Oscar Nomination for "Her"? & Other Recipients.

Scarlett Johansson has had an interesting career ever since her she burst onto the scene. She gained indie cred and acclaim with roles in "North" and "Ghost World", but her breakout role in Sofia Coppola's "Lost In Translation". She unexpectedly won the BAFTA award for Best Leading Actress (though she missed out on the Oscar), and turned in another acclaimed performance in the little seen "Girl With The Pearl Earring", and again in Woody Allen's "Match Point".

Sky Ferreira Live Blog

Hey everyone! As I mentioned a few days ago I'd be live blogging the Sky Ferreira concert tonight. This is Sky's first tour, in support of her long awaited album which is finally here. It peaked at #8 on iTunes, with little to no promotion from her label, which she has notoriously been struggling with to release an album for almost 5 years now. 

For those of you that don't know, Sky Ferreira is not just a musician, but also a model and an actress. She uses her modeling and acting career as a way of funding her music. She has stated that she does this to have as much creative control over her music as possible, which is another reason why she's clashed with her label in the past. 

Sky has modeled for Forever 21, Marc Jacobs, Vogue, Elle, and a number of other high profile magazines and retailers. In addition, she has acted in a number of independent films, most notably Putty Hill, which was screened at a number of film festivals, including the Berlin Film Festival. She and the film received good notices from critic Roger Ebert. Recently she appeared in a short film called IRL, directed by Grant Singer (who she has collaborated with on many of her music videos). She's set to star in Eli Roth's horror film, "The Green Inferno", which is about a group of students on a trip to protect a group of natives in the Amazon, however, they are taken hostage by those same natives. 

Anyway, enough background, I've babbled enough. I'm waiting right now for my friend to come pick me up so we can start driving into the city. The liveblog will begin below with various updates throughout the night. Enjoy! :)

The Academy VS. Comedy: Clueless and Alicia Silverstone's Missed Oscar Nomination

There's a common idea amongst people who aren't heavily involved with the Oscars that Drama films are the only type of films that can go the distance, and get any sort of major recognition. As someone who is pretty observant of Oscar season, I have to agree with that statement, it really is hard for a lot of not drama films to get any sort of recognition, especially when the film in question is a Comedy. It's even harder for the actors in those films to get recognition themselves. Sometimes The Academy likes to spread the wealth; the Dramas will dominate the acting and directing categories, but a film like Bridesmaids will appear in the Best Original Screenplay category. There are those rare instances, however, when a performance is so popular and beloved, it is recognized. Bridesmaids, again, landed a nomination for it's brazen but brilliant funny woman Melissa McCarthy. That same year, Octavia Spencer won the same award for a performance that did have its dramatic moments, and was in a dramatic film, but was comedic by definition. However, Kristen Wiig was (undeservedly) left out in the Leading Actress field for her work in the same film McCarthy was nominated for. So you see, Oscar picks and chooses where certain films are allowed to get nominated.

Trailer for Darren Aronofsky's, "Noah" starring Russel Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson, and Anthony Hopkins

Darren Aronofsky is one of the most exciting auteurs of our time. He built indie cred with his most harrowing adaption of "Requiem For A Dream" starring Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelly. He also re-ignited Mickey Rourke's career with his critically acclaimed film, "The Wrestler" but it was his last film, "Black Swan" starring Natalie Portman (who won an Oscar for her performance) that won Aronofsky an attention from a wider audience. The film grossed $329,398,046 on a budget of just $13 million. To say it was a success was an understatement, and Aronofsky was rewarded with an Oscar nomination for Best Director.

So how does one follow up with an incredible success like Black Swan? At first, Aronofsky was attached to direct the latest Wolverine film starring Hugh Jackman. However, he eventually passed up on the opportunity, and decided instead to helm, "Noah", his epic retelling of the famous bible story.

Sorry! Also, Sky Ferreira and some other cool stuff

I haven't been posting as frequently as I'm known for, which I apologize for. I'm swimming in a pool of school assignments as the semester is drawing to a close. However, this Friday I'll be attending Sky Ferreira's concert in Philly in support of her upcoming album (which you can check out here if you haven't already), and will be live blogging the event here for you to all keep up with and check out.

And so I don't deter too far off of my blog's usual topic of film and the Oscars, I have some interesting stories happening right now, so check em out!

• The much hyped up Disney film, "Maleficent" starring Oscar winner and Hollywood Queen Angelina Jolie dropped a trailer today. Jolie stars as the iconic villain who put a curse on Sleeping Beauty (played in the film by Elle Fanning). The film is set to be released in May 2014, and tells the story of Maleficent, instead of the story we remember from the classic Disney film. You can read more about the film and watch the trailer here. 
• Jennifer Lawrence has apparently lost her Oscar! Maybe the Academy had second thoughts and deservingly gave it to Jessica Chastain or Emmanuelle Riva 
• American Hustle releases a new buzzy teaser. The amount of excitement I have for this film is officially reaching ridiculous heights. Watch it here. 
• Sasha Stone of Awards Daily reports that Oprah Winfrey is set to receive the Montecito Award from the Santa Barbara Film Festival. Is this the first of many awards for Oprah's supporting work in Lee Daniels' The Butler? Read here
• Kris Tapley of Incontention assesses the very weak field of Animated Films vying for an Oscar this year, and bangs the drum for Christian Bale's work in Out of the Furnace, which if partnered with his work in American Hustle, could help boost him to another Oscar nomination.

Frances Ha: The Answer to Lena Dunham's Girls

Greta Gerwig as Frances (courtesy of IMDB.com)

Greta Gerwig isn't a household name. Her most recognizable acting credit to this day remains her supporting role as Natalie Portman's best friend in the romantic comedy, "No Strings Attached. She was also in the little seen, "Arthur" with Russell Brand and lesser seen, "To Rome With Love". A lot of Gerwig's roles haven't given her room to flex her acting muscles. Her best chance came in the form of 2010's, "Greenberg" which won Gerwig a few random critics awards nominations, but no one really stopped and took notice. Her few supporters on the internet gave her the title of "Indie Queen". But unlike the past recipients of this title (i.e. Jennifer Lawrence, Elizabeth Olsen, Felicity Jones) who have broken through to the mainstream, Gerwig very much remains in the indie world.

Frances Ha, much like its star (Gerwig), didn't really catch on outside of the critics' circles (and even then it was talked about and forgotten instantly). But that's not due to a lack of quality, in fact, the film is Gerwig's best work to date, and succeeds in part to Gerwig's completely devotion and understanding to the character. Not only is she the star, but she helped write the screenplay along with real life boyfriend Noah Baumbach.