A Few Words on our Best Actress Contenders

At this point in the game, we have a rousing 17 contenders (that stand a good chance) at being nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role. As we all know, however, there can only be 5, and even though we're going purely on buzz at this point, it's pretty easy (based on Oscar's own predictability) to narrow it down to at least 2 or 3 nominees.

There really aren't a whole lot of contenders (particularly in this category) from films that have premiered thus far to compete against the women who are waiting in the wings. Sure, there's Shailene Woodley from "The Fault in Our Stars", and while critics are banging the drum for her now, will they still be banging when "Big Eyes" premieres? Or when Meryl Streep and the rest of the "Into the Woods" women show up onscreen? It's hard to say.

But as I said before, there's at least 2 or 3 that you can (probably) safely bet on seeing next year at the Oscar telecast.

The Fault In Our Stars: A Flawed Showcase for Shailene Woodley

I've been trying to make up my mind about  the film adaptation to John Green's widely popular novel "The Fault in Our Stars" ever since I saw it Thursday night. Critics are raving (82% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences ate it up ($65 mill worldwide opening weekend), but I've been divided on it since I left the theater. I went in a virgin, for the most part. I knew the film's plot, however, I did not know any of the quotes, character names or ending; the army of white girls surrounding me and my friend knew the story inside and out while we knew close to nothing.

What I did know, however, was that I wasn't going to love the film. The trailer had me rolling my eyes at least 7 times (John Green's writing/representation of teenagers has always had me rolling my eyes; I know no one like the characters he writes). While this wasn't a black and white representation of adolescence romance that had been done to death, it seemed utterly pretentious. And though full of emotion, that's pretty much what I got by the end of the film. However, what saves the film from slipping into complete, and utterly reprehensible territory is the charisma of Shailene Woodley, and her remarkably mature performance.

Quick Thoughts on The Spectacular Now

I remember sitting in the movie theater waiting for Sofia Coppola's, The Bling Ring to start playing. The last trailer to play before the film began was a brief, and familiar trailer for The Spectacular Now starring Project X's Miles Teller and The Descendants' Shailene Woodley. "Perks of Being A Wallflower 2?" my best friend scoffed, completely disinterested. I, however, remained intrigued. I had heard about the film's premiere at Sundance that recalled the days of praise experienced by Like Crazy, a film I loved very much.

In the later days, I ended up reading the novel of the same name that the film was based on, a little crestfallen because like my friend, I expected this to have a similar story to Perks. However, what I didn't realize, was that this wasn't a bad thing. It wasn't until 3 months later (today actually) when I sat down to finally watch this movie I had been meaning to catch up for months, that this film was not only different from Perks of Being A Wallflower, but many of the high school teen romance movies we have come to know (and dread) as an audience.