Dear Oscar

Dear Oscar,

I know that awards season can get really crowded with so many high profile films and contenders vying for your attention. It must get tricky being able to remember films from the beginning of the year when several presumed juggernauts don't even premiere until the end of December. Yes, it must get hard when you have actors losing weight, or donning prosthetics in flashy biopics. Yes, I know it's hard, but before the endless onslaught of awards movies, I ask you to hear me out.

I'm sure you've heard how Rosamund Pike is fantastic in David Fincher's "Gone Girl", a film that has crossed $100 million in just 3 weeks since premiering, and I'm sure a Best Actress nomination would seem fitting as a reward for that film. I'm also sure you've heard Julianne Moore, Jessica Chastain, Reese Witherspoon, Felicity Jones, and Amy Adams are all great in their respective films. It must be hard to see past all of these flashy, very familiar names; some of these women are past winners, or multiple time past nominees. But I'm asking you to look past those names for a moment, to consider Marion Cotillard's groundbreaking work in James Gray's, "The Immigrant".

Most Deserving Oscar Wins of the 2010's

My idol Nathaniel Rogers (who I had the pleasure of interviewing last semester) posted a list yesterday of his favorite Oscar wins from the past few years; the 2010's, which got me thinking about my favorites. Looking back, I see some really.... not so great wins, but among the rubble, there are some truly deserving, rich wins that I applaud the Academy for. Let's take a look, shall we?

Go Into the Woods with a Sneak Peek Featurette

As discussed to almost ad-nausium, the marketing for Disney's "Into the Woods" has been curiously quiet; from that quiet, yet exhilarating teaser dropped back in summer, to the confusing reports of the film's development and Oscar strategy, we don't know a whole lot about it.

In fact, despite being my most anticipated release of the year, I was starting to worry about the film's quality; can it stick the landing? Disney's track record as of late has not been all that promising...

But this morning, a 4 minute featurette was released with new footage (yes! we have some singing finally) and cast interviews that have restored my faith in this adaptation. Though I'm still hesitant, I fully believe there will be more bad, than good to come out of this.

Take a look below.

The Calm Before the Storm: Where are we in the Oscar Race?

"Boyhood", "The Imitation Game", "The Theory of Everything", "Birdman", "Foxcatcher" and "Gone Girl" all look like Best Picture nominees, but who is leading?

The Oscar race is a fickle thing; the slightest bit of negative buzz can all but deter a film on the winning track to implosion. Your buzz can never peak too early, and your release date can't be too far away from the end of the year. Sure, you can skip the festivals (New York, Cannes, Venice, Telluride) but you better have a hell of a box office success story, or Meryl Streep playing a Holocaust victim in a film backed by Harvey Weinstein if you want to secure some major nominations.


At this point last year, we had "Gravity" breaking box office records, and "12 Years A Slave" had won the top prize at the Toronto Film Festival; these were undisputed frontrunners. It was going to come down to these 2 (and it did, with some heat from "American Hustle"). I can honestly say that as of right now, I have no idea what film will win Best Picture; we don't really have a front runner.

Gone Girl Review (SPOILER HEAVY)

For those of you who haven't already read the book or seen the movie, I encourage you stay away from this review until you do both. However, if you can't help yourself, then at least I can say you were warned.

Bill Hader Won't Be Nominated for an Oscar this Year, but He Deserves to Be

The Oscars and comedy do not always get along, in fact, it's safe to say that the Oscars have a habit of merely tolerating comedy in the same way you tolerate that friend you can't stand that's friends with all of your other friends. Sure, you may be seen in the same company as them from time to time, but you keep your distance from them, if you can help it. The same can be said with the Academy recognizing films and performances with comedic roots.

Into the Woods' Dilemma: The Case of the 3 Women

Disney's "Into the Woods" is arguably the biggest question mark in the Oscar race right now, next to J.C. Chandor's "A Most Violent Year". The Rob Marshall directed musical has the prestige to at least be on the Oscar radar (Marshall directed "Chicago", another musical which won 8 Oscars including Best Picture), several Oscar nominated actors in its very starry cast (Meryl Streep, Anna Kendricks and Johnny Depp) and is based on an acclaimed stage play by Stephen Soundheim, who penned the likes of "Sweeney Todd" (the film adaptation was nominated for 3 Oscars, including Best Actor for Depp). But the buzz on the film has been questionable at best; there were those early reports that the source material was facing "conservative changes", later reported to be false by Soundheim himself. Then there was the report that Streep's new song made special for her and the film itself, was cut, following rumors of a month of reshoots.

All this drama has me wondering about A.) The potential quality of the film and B.) The film's role in the Oscar race.