Fandor Breaks Down Major Oscar Races: Who Really Deserves to Win?

Kevin B. Lee of Fandor.com has published his video essay on the major acting races. I've got to to say, watching Lee break down the performances, right down to the screen time, had me reevaluate my own choices for who deserves to win the Oscar... especially in the case of Supporting Actor. Even if you disagree with his preferences, you can't deny he presents very persuasive reasons for his case(s).

I would even recommend watching his entries from last year's race, which you can find on his Youtube channel.

Check out the analyzations below.

New Godzilla Trailer

I have to admit, even I'm starting to want to go and see this.

Godzilla opens everywhere May 16th. The film stars Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Academy Award Nominee Ken Wantanabe, Juliette Binoche, Academy Award Nominee Sally Hawkins and Bryan Cranston.

7 Days Till Oscar: Rating the Best Picture Nominees' Trailers

That's right ladies and gentlemen, we're 7 days away from the biggest night in film: the 88th Academy Awards. Oscar season always seems like a never-ending circus, and it certainly feels like this season especially has been going on forever. Bur fret not! Soon I'll be able to officially move into the 2014 film season once this madness is over (and once 2014 delivers me a movie worth seeing, though admittedly I have not seen The Lego Movie yet, and probably should).

In any event, until that time comes, I've got to keep you interested in the dog and pony show currently coming to its much needed end: 2013's awards season. Next weekend, I'll be publishing my acting ballot, complete with my personal choices and winners if I were to have the ability to cast a vote. Today, however, I've decided I would rank the Best Picture nominees by their trailers (which in some cases are better than the actual movies themselves).

So, without further adieu, your 2013 Best Picture nominees ranked by yours truly!

Final Say of Lupita vs JLaw? Plus Director & Supporting Actor

My sentiments exactly. Grantland's Wesley Morris and Chris Connelly discuss the 2 woman race that's been building all year.

Below is the breakdown of Best Director & Supporting Actor 

Lupita Nyong'o vs. Jennifer Lawrence: Who Will Be This Year's Best Supporting Actress Winner?

Over the past few months, there's been talk of movement in the acting races. You'll recall that before last Sunday's BAFTA's, there was internet chatter over whether Amy Adams and Leonardo DiCaprio could overtake frontrunners Matthew McConaughey in the lead actor and actress categories. But now that Blanchett has collected yet another trophy (has she lost one this entire season?), and Chiwetel Ejiofor picked up one in McConaughey's absence, it seems a bit silly that we even considered for a second that anyone else could win in the year of Jasmine and Ron Woodroff, 2 critically acclaimed and very popular performances; one given by an actress returning from a bit of a hiatus and another given by an actor who continues to reinvent and push himself.

Looking back, however, it seems as if the true race to win was not between Blanchett and Adams, nor McConaughey and DiCaprio (with some heat from Ejiofor), but between Lupita Nyong'o and Jennifer Lawrence.

New Trailer for Unbroken, Directed by Angelina Jolie

It's been quite awhile since we've had an Angelina Jolie; she'll headline this year's Maleficent in the titular role, her first live action role in almost 4 years.

In 2011, Jolie stepped into the director's chair, directing the foreign language film "In The Land of Blood and Honey". The film received tepid reviews and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Language film.

Jolie, however, is back in the director's chair, however with a brand new film, guns blazing. It's called Unbroken, and though we haven't truly put an end to 2013's award season, it's stirring up 2014 awards chatter.

Not only is Jolie's name reason to pay attention, but Oscar nominated cinematographer Roger Deakins is shooting it, and boy does it look gorgeous. Universal is promoting it, and it managed to nab a huge TV spot during the Olympics; you couldn't buy better publicity. The fact it's being released in the Oscar friendly month of December (on Christmas Day) doesn't hurt either.

Is Unbroken on your "One to watch" list? Take a look below, watch the trailer, and see for yourself.

BAFTA Winners: 12 Years A Slave Comes Out on Top

What started out as a night for Gravity, ended with a startling comeback for 12 Years A Slave. It's Best Picture hopes just got that much better. 

It seemed like Gravity was getting ready to sweep in a style evident of past winner "The King's Speech" when it won the first 2 big awards it was up for. Then, American Hustle came back swinging hard with wins for actress Jennifer Lawrence and the film's screenplay. 

12 Years A Slave, however, seemed like it was going home empty handed. Had that tie with Gravity at the PGA simply been a coincidence? 

No. In another comeback story, almost exactly like the one at this year's Golden Globes, 12 Years A Slave nabbed the BAFTA's top honor, in addition to an award for leading man Chiwetel Ejiofor. With only a few weeks left till the Oscars, things are looking really good for the film that's momentarily on top in a very competitive race.

It can't be ignored, however, that there was obvious love for Gravity, which won 6 awards. American Hustle won 3 (1 of which, I feel was goodwill for actress Jennifer Lawrence losing to Emmanuelle Riva last year. The win, however, shouldn't be ignored, though the Oscar is still Lupita's to lose); Hustle is still a threat to 12 Years A Slave, but considerably less of a threat than Gravity is... though it now seems that with the PGA and BAFTA behind it, 12 Years A Slave is looking like our Academy Award Winner for Best Picture. 

In the acting races, Cate Blanchett continued her overwhelming (but deserving) dominance by winning Best Actress. That last minute surge for Amy Adams seems to have been just an internet trend; she will most certainly be the bridesmaid (yet again). 

Speaking of a last minute surge, it certainly seemed that Leonardo DiCaprio was on his way to picking up his first BAFTA and challenging the frontrunner Matthew McConaughey (who was not nominated here) for the Oscar. But the BAFTA's choice to go with Ejifor tells me that this is McConaughey's time to win. 

In Supporting Actor, Barkhad Abdi from Captain Phillips won with frontrunner Jared Leto being absent (the BAFTA's clearly did not like Dallas Buyers Club). While I certainly believe Leto has this all sewn up, if this season has taught me anything, it's that no one is safe. Abdi might swoop in Tilda Swinton style with some last minute support and win... but it's more than likely Leto will waltz his way to his first Oscar. 

See the complete list of winners below. You can see the updated awards tally for the entire season here.

Links Links Links

• Sasha Stone of Awards Daily explains 5 different ways the BAFTA's can change the Oscar race, most notably in Best Picture & Actor. Do Gravity and Matthew McConaughey really have this all tied up? 
• Speaking of changing tides, doesn't it feel like Amy Adams is having a last minute charge to the podium over frontrunner Cate Blanchett? Jeffs Wells of Hollywood-Elsewhere certainly seems to think so.
• Probably the most talked about piece of news, Oscar nominated Actress Ellen Paige (Juno, Inception) came out the other night. Watch her beautiful speech at the HRCF's Time to Thrive conference here. The Film Experience's Nathaniel Rogers seems to think that this is going to open up phase 2 of her very promising career as an actress. 

More stories below.

Happy Valentine's Day: Revisiting My Favorite Romance Movies

Valentine's Day is a day for couples to smother each other in Hallmark cards, candy hearts, and floral arrangements. It's also a day for cynical singles to whip up their best "I don't care about this holiday" jokes. But for me, Valentine's Day is simply a movie marathon, consisting of some of my favorite romantic movies.

I'm not a fan of a lot of "rom coms" or romance movies, because there's a gigantic disconnect between the way relationships are, and the way Hollywood portrays them; it immediately takes me out of the film. Not saying every love story has to be absolutely 100% realistic in its depiction, but to be more about the idea of what a relationship should be, instead of depicting the relationship that [should] be blossoming onscreen (whether it be good or bad) is completely counterproductive; these days, romances onscreen oftentimes seem so formulaic.

But for every few bad movies, there have been some truly great films about relationships or love. Shakespeare In Love, last year's Blue Is the Warmest Color, Like Crazy, Love Actually, Sleepless in Seattle, the list goes on. I'm going to talk about 2 of my absolute favorites which I watch every year, that I think deserve even more praise than they got in their respective release years.

Melissa McCarthy "Tammy" Teaser Lands

After making us laugh till we nearly passed out last year for some of the best line readings ever in The Heat, Melissa McCarthy is back with, "Tammy".

The film stars Melissa McCarthy as the title character, who learns that her husband has been cheating on her. She decides to take a road trip with her alcoholic grandmother (Susan Sarandon), which of course leads to mischief (would it be a Melissa McCarthy movie without mischief?).

From the trailer (which you can watch below) it definitely seems McCarthy is returning with guns (figuratively) blazing; she knows how to make us laugh for sure. But seeing as the film is being directed by husband Ben Falcone (Bridesmaids, Enough Said), I'm hoping we get to see more of what we saw from her in Bridesmaids (which landed her an Oscar nomination!!! One of my favorite nominations ever); I hope the film can balance broad comedy with a good, complex character.

The film opens July 2.

Watch the trailer after the jump.

What Could the BAFTA's Do For the Oscar Race? My Predictions

The BAFTA's are the last precursor award we hear from before the Oscars. Unlike the past few years where Best Picture has been prematurely decided before we even hear from the first voting body. 2010 was The King's Speech, 2011 was The Artist, and 2012 was Argo. This year, 3 films have been clearly in the lead: 12 Years A Slave, Gravity and American Hustle, with Her and Captain Phillips nipping at their feet.

Gravity and 12 Years A Slave, however, have the most heat, with American Hustle lurking in the background, looking to swoop in. As I've discussed before, Gravity has the box office and star power, 12 Years A Slave has the prestige and the "important" narrative, with American Hustle having not only the actors behind it, but the fact it's a "lighter" choice than the others.

Here is a breakdown of the last few months in terms of awards (in case you haven't been looking at my awards tally tab):

Toronto Audience award- 12 Years A Slave
New York Film Critics- American Hustle
National Board of Review- Her
Los Angeles- Her & Gravity
Southeastern Film Critics- 12 Years A Slave
Golden Globes- 12 Years A Slave
Critics Choice- 12 Years A Slave
Producers Guild- 12 Years A Slave & Gravity
Screen Actors Guild- American Hustle
Directors Guild- Gravity
Eddies- American Hustle & Captain Phillips
Writers Guild- Captain Phillips & Her
Scripters- 12 Years A Slave

Where will the BAFTA's figure in to all of this?

Worst Oscar Winners: Best Supporting Actress

Hey everyone! I'm back with another entry in the Worst Oscar Winners Series! Last month we did Best Actress. I decided I'd just finish up the actresses and do the Worst Supporting Actress winners.

This one was actually really difficult. A lot of the winners in this category over the years have had really great winners; even the winning performances I didn't necessarily like winning, I enjoyed, so deconstructing them in a negative context was tricky.

A lot of the winners in this category are lead performances that have slightly less screen time than the traditional "leads" but are leads nonetheless. Category fraud is very popular in the supporting categories, but it's especially popular in the Supporting Actress category.

So here you have it, the top 10 worst Supporting Actress winners.

BAFTA Voter Speaks Up: Hope For American Hustle?

If you thought that American Hustle's chances in the Best Picture race were slim to none against PGA winners 12 Years A Slave and Gravity, you were wrong; it is still very much the 3 way race it's kind of been for the last month or so.

Emma Watson and Ethan Hawke Team Up for 'Regression'

After working with A-list directors Sofia Coppola and Darren Aronofsky, the blossoming starlet has added a project directed by Oscar winner Alejandro Amenábar. 

Ever since the Harry Potter series wrapped up, Emma Watson has been a busy bee in terms of work. After critically acclaimed performances in tiny indies (Perks of Being A Wallflower, The Bling Ring), Watson seems to be moving onto the bigger projects.

Next month, she'll be playing a supporting role in Darren Aronofsky's epic, "Noah" and according to IMDB she's playing the lead in Harry Potter director David Yates' film entitled "Your Voice in My Head", a film about author Emma Forrest's struggles with bipolar disorder. And of course, there's still that rumored adaptation of Beauty and the Beast directed by Guillermo Del Torro in which Watson is supposedly playing Belle.

But today, it was announced that the actress would be starring alongside Academy Award nominee Ethan Hawke (Before Midnight, The Purge) in a film entitled "Regression".

Dylan Farrow's Open Letter Specifically Names Cate Blanchett

I don't know if any of you have been keeping up with the recent explosion of bad press Woody Allen has been receiving lately, but it seems to be consuming the movie related news cycle as of late. An open later, penned by Allen's adopted daughter Dylan, was posted by The New York Times just the other day (you can read it here if you so choose).

For those of you who don't know, Dylan Farrow had accused her adoptive father of molesting her at some point. The allegations came shortly after a dramatic divorce between Mr. Allen and Mia Farrow. The allegations were explored shortly after they surfaced, with the courts ruling that (in a nutshell) Dylan Farrow had "difficulty determining fact from fantasy", and that no such molestation happened.

The open letter addresses (for the first time that I'm aware of) what happened from Dylan's point of view, in addition to her feelings and the repercussions of what transpired. It's a brave piece for someone in her position to publicize; Woody Allen is a revered public figure, and the backlash this situation received in the past has exploded ten fold with the publication of this letter. The fact we live in an internet age doesn't help at all.

In the letter, Farrow points a finger at actors and actresses who have worked with Woody, most notably, Cate Blanchett:

"What if it had been your child, Cate Blanchett? Louis C.K.? Alec Baldwin? What if it had been you, Emma Stone? Or you, Scarlett Johansson? You knew me when I was a little girl, Diane Keaton. Have you forgotten about me?"

In doing so, Farrow is not only asking the public not to support Allen, but she points the question to the people who help bring his work to life. She also addresses the fact that Blue Jasmine (the film in which Blanchett and Allen have collaborated on) is an Academy Award Nominee for Allen's writing.

So, what does this all mean for The Academy Awards? And more specifically, Cate Blanchett?

London Film Critics Circle Winners

Film of the Year:

• 12 Years A Slave

British Film of the Year:

• The Selfish Giant

Foreign Language Film of the Year:

• Blue Is the Warmest Color

Documentary of the Year:

• The Act of Killing

Director of the Year:

• Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

Breaking News: Academy Award Winning Actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman Found Dead in his Apartment

It breaks my heart to report that everyman actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman was found dead this morning inside of his Manhattan apartment.

The actor recently appeared in the latest Hunger Games installment, Catching Fire, and was set to reappear in the subsequent sequels Mockingjay Parts 1 & 2.

Hoffman won his first Oscar for his leading performance as  author Truman Capote, and received 3 more nominations in the Supporting category.

Apparently Hoffman was found with a heroin needle in his arm; drug overdose is suspected to be the cause.

Hoffman was 46 years old and appeared in over 60 films, including Almost Famous, Boogie Nights, The Master and Charlie Wilson's War.

You can read more about the developing story here.

Her and Captain Phillips are Triumphant at the WGA

The Writer's Guild announced their slew of winners last night, awarding the Best Screenplays of the year. Spike Jonze's Her continued its winning streak and won in the Original Screenplay category, while Captain Phillips won Adapted Screenplay.

Like SAG, DGA and PGA, WGA is made up of voters in the writer's branch of the Academy (though there are more in the branch than they're are in the guild), so who they vote for is important. However, it's also important to remember that when choosing winners, the entire Academy votes, not just the respective categories.

So then, does this mean Her and Captain Phillips win screenplay Oscars as well?