Tag Archives: 2013

2014 Oscar Predictions

The 2014 Oscars are right around the corner, so here are my thoughts on who I want to win (SHOULD WIN) and who all signs point towards winning (WILL WIN) for the 6 main Oscar categories.

BEST PICTURE

For all intents and purposes, this is a two horse race between “12 Years a Slave” and “Gravity”. “American Hustle” has an outside chance of squeaking in, but the Academy will probably choose between the visually stunning “Gravity” and the historically important “12 Years”. Regardless of who wins Best Pictu12_Years_a_Slave_film_posterres, both films will win multiple awards Sunday night. “Wolf of Wall Street” and “Captain Phillips” were my top two favorite films from 2013, but they are either too controversial or too under-publicized to stand a chance here. Also if “12 Years” wins, it will be Brad Pitt’s first Oscar win, so that would be cool.

Should Win: Captain Phillips

Will Win: 12 Years a Slave

Best Director

I personally feel Paul Galfonsoreengrass was snubbed for “Captain Phillips”, but it wouldn’t have mattered much, because it is pretty much a lock that Alfonso Cuarón will win for “Gravity”. If you watch any of the behind the scenes for the film, he had so much to do with creating the most visually stunning film ever (Avatar be darned). Steve McQueen could win for “12 Years a Slave” because of the emotional toll of that film, but honestly this would be an upset if anyone other than Cuarón wins.

Should Win: Alfonso Cuarón

Will Win: Alfonso Cuarón

Best Actor

This is by and far the tightest race in any category in Oscar history. Tom Hanks didn’t receive a nomination foractor “Captain Phillips”, yet he wasn’t snubbed; that’s how great this year’s nominations are. The leaders, however, are Matthew McConaughey for “Dallas Buyers Club”, Chiwetel Ejiofor for “12 Years a Slave” and Leonardo DiCaprio for “The Wolf of Wall Street”. Christian Bale (“American Hustle”) and Bruce Dern (“Nebraska”) both gave great performances, but it would still be a small shock if they won. McConaughey has done an amazing job turning his career around from the awful rom-coms and was phenomenal in “Dallas”. Ejiofor had such a large range of emotions in “12 Years”. And DiCaprio went all in with “Wall Street” and may deserve to win simply because he has been snubbed by the Academy for near 2 decades now. It will be close, but in the end I think the actor with the most physically demanding role will win, and that goes to McConaughey, who lost 38 pounds.  

Should Win: Leonardo DiCaprio

Will Win: Matthew McConaughey

Best Supporting Actor

Much like Best Picture, this is pretty much going to come down between 2 nominees: Jared Leto (“Dallas Buyers Club”) and Barkhad Abdi (“Captain Phillips”). 2-time nominated guys Bradley Cooper (“American Hustle”) and Jonah Hill (“Wolf of Wall Street”) will have to try their luck again actor2another year, and despite being memorizing in “12 Years a Slave” Michael Fassbender has denounced the Academy after getting snubbed for “Shame” several years back, effectively knocking him out of contention. Between Leto and Abdi, Leto has the slight edge because his role was extremely demanding in several categories (he played a cross-dresser, lost 40 pounds and got his arms and legs waxed). As fantastic as Leto is, however, I personally would love to see Adbi win, giving “Phillips” it’s likely only win of the night. Plus he had never acted before this role; the guy was driving limos. That would be a crazy rags-to-riches story.

Should Win: Barkhad Adbi

Will Win: Jared Leto

Best Actress

Like many non-Academy members, I did not see Cate Blanchett in “Blue Jasmine”, but the buzz around Hollywood is she is a lock to win. She has essentially swept every award this year. Sandra actressBullock (“Gravity”) and Judi Dench (“Philomena”) both gave great performances, but this just isn’t their year. And if Meryl Streep wins for “August: Osage County” I am pretty sure everyone watching the TV will groan and throw up. The only person who can challenge Blanchett is Amy Adams, and it is for the same reason DiCaprio stands a chance: she’s a 5-time nominated, no time winning actor. The Academy may feel bad if Adams goes home empty handed for a fifth time, and as much as I would love the overrated “Hustle” to not win a single award on Sunday night, I think Adams deserves a trophy for once.

Should Win: Amy Adams

Will Win: Cate Blanchett

Best Supporting Actress

I am going to begin by saying Jennifer Lawrence doesn’t deserve her nomination and was nominated for the same reason Meryl Streep was: because of her name being credited in a movie. That being said, everyone in Hollywood does not agree with me, as Lawrence has won the BAFTA and Golden Globe this year for “American Hustle”. She has two real competitors: June Squibb (“Nebraska”) and Lupita Nyong’o (“12 Years a Slave”). I thought Squibb was the best part of “Nebraska”; she was funny, angry and honest, often all at once. Nyong’o did a good job stirring up emotion in her role, and stands the best chance of beating Lawrence from sweeping the Big 3 awards. I really don’t know how this one will go; my gut says Lawrence, my logic says Nyong’o and my heart says Squibb. As long as Lawrence doesn’t win I’ll be happy, but deep down I fell I’m going to be disappoinlupita-jennifer-600x450ted come Sunday night.

Should Win: June Squibb

Will Win: Jennifer Lawrence…or Lupita Nyong’o, I really truthfully haven’t a clue.

Top 10 Worst Movies of 2013

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2013 was a year with a lot of good movies. There weren’t too many bad movies.  But boy oh boy when a movie was bad, it was bad. Here are my “top” 10 worst films from the year 2013. Hopefully I feel a little better after writing this list because Lord knows I suffered watching these films.

220px-The_Purge_poster10. The Purge

A movie that has its plot revolve around a 24 hour period where all crime is legal should not be as boring as this movie was. It honestly had some painfully dumb characters, even by horror film standards. I wish I could purge this from my memory (see what I did there?).

220px-A_Good_Day_to_Die_Hard9. A Good Day to Die Hard

The name of this movie should have been “A Good Day to Die”. Period. That’s it. Somehow the makers of this film managed to ruin one of the most iconic characters in the most famous film franchises in one movie. The acting in the movie was bad. The writing was worse. And the direction was even worse.

220px-The_Family_2013,_Poster8. The Family

Robert De Niro has sleepwalked through a lot of movies in the past decade, but this was almost insulting. He clearly didn’t care, and somehow managed to make a mob movie boring. It was just an unnecessarily violent film, and not in a fun way.

220px-Percy-Jackson-Sea-poster7. Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

An extremely bland film, especially considering it is about mythical gods and monsters. The books were good; this franchise is not.

220px-Pain_&_Gain_film_poster6. Pain & Gain

Probably my biggest disappointment of 2013. The actors are all A-list, and tried their best. The true story it is based on, bodybuilders kidnapping rich members of the gym at which they work, is crazy. But director Michael Bay isn’t funny, no matter how hard he tries. The tone of the film was all over the place, none of it landing anywhere fun.

220px-A_Haunted_House_Poster5. A Haunted House

I didn’t loathe this movie, and they made it without the intention of winning awards, but that doesn’t change the fact that this movie is bad. Lazy and outdated jokes and a horrible story arch made it hard to enjoy.

215px-Identity_Thief_Poster4. Identity Thief

A movie with Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy, two masters of deadpan, should be great. But this is never funny enough to be a dumb comedy or smart enough to be a sharp satire. It is no surprise the writer of this movie also wrote the third Hangover film. And speak of the devil…

220px-The_Hangover_Part_33. The Hangover: Part III

I don’t think a film has ever been so lazy in its execution, and made it so obvious the actors didn’t care about being on set. The writers tried hard to get away from the formula of the first and second film, but what it turned into was a black action comedy that was neither exciting nor funny.

220px-Grown_Ups_2_Poster2. Grown Ups 2

Adam Sandler just keeps getting worse. Every time I walk into a new Sandler film, I think to myself: “maybe this time will be different. Maybe Sandler will actually respect his audience”. Nope. Rob Schneider refused to be in this movie. Rob Schneider. Rob. Schneider. God, I hated this movie.

And Grown Ups 2 would have been number one, if not for a film that was just an insult to all of Hollywood and the human race in general. That’s right; the number one worst film from 2013, the king of crap, the film that was a slap to the face of movies in general is…

215px-Movie_43_poster1. Movie 43

They made this movie after guilt tripping and tricking dozens of actors into filming it over four years. Even if the film was funny, which it is by no conceivable measure, it still would be awful because of the choppy editing and lack of any coherent story. Words just honestly can’t describe how bad and unfunny this movie is. It insults anyone who enjoys laughter or who has talent and is trying to break into the film industry. It truly is one of the worst films of all-time. No exaggeration.

Well, I feel better. I hope that you had the fortune of never seeing any of these films, but if you did, hopefully this eased some of your pain a little bit, too. Reviewing and watching movies is one of the most enjoyable things on God’s green earth, but it doesn’t come without its share of pain. Like spending two hours watching movies such as these.

I want to thank everyone who read this and read my reviews in 2013, and here is to a great year of cinema in 2014.

Top 10 Films of 2013

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There were plenty of good films in 2013, and a few great ones. Here are my top 10 films of 2013. If you disagree with my rankings, or even hate one of the movies on here, then too bad, they’re my opinions. Welcome to the internet, my friend.

Honorable mention goes to “Gravity”, which was number 11 on my list and was one of the most visually stunning films in the history of cinema.

220px-Saving_Mr__Banks_Theatrical_Poster10. Saving Mr. Banks

The movie about how Mary Poppins got made into a movie turned out to be as entertaining as it was emotional. Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson both nail it as Walt Disney and P.L. Travers respectively, and the songs were infectious.

220px-This-is-the-End-Film-Poster9. This Is the End

A very fun time at the movies. Huge credit to Seth Rogen who not only gave a funny performance, but wrote a hilarious script and gave a solid directorial debut alongside Evan Goldberg.

worlds end8. The World’s End 

In a year filled with apocalypse films, this British comedy from Simon Pegg and Nick Frost was as entertaining as a sci-fi as it was as a comedy. Edgar Wright’s direction was quick paced and electric and it had some great social satire.

220px-Monsters_University_poster_37. Monsters University

Disney-Pixar nailed it again with this prequel, and while it may not be as memorable as the Toy Story sequels or even the first Monsters Inc., “University” had some great laughs for both kids and adults and was gorgeous to look at.

220px-Iron_Man_3_theatrical_poster6. Iron Man 3

Immensely entertaining and featuring a very witty script from Shane Black (who also did a great job directing), this third Iron Man may not have been as good as the first film but it was pretty darn close, and was by and far better than this year’s other Avengers film, Thor 2.

12_Years_a_Slave_film_poster5. 12 Years a Slave

Great performances highlight this brutal look into American history. Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender knock their performances out of the park and while this film is by no means entertaining, it is very good and the ending will leave not a dry eye in the house.

Dallas_Buyers_Club_poster4. Dallas Buyers Club

Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto carry this movie to the heights it reaches as AIDS victims who open a pharmacy full of unsanctioned drugs. Both of these men transcend acting and become their characters, and the film was as fun as it was honest.

Prisoners2013Poster3. Prisoners

Unbelievably intense, this film had great performances from its star cast, including Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal. It had several twists and turns and the ending had me on the edge of my seat and my eyes locked on the screen. I don’t think my heart has ever pounded so hard in my chest while watching a movie.

WallStreet2013poster2. The Wolf of Wall Street

Just a great film. Leonardo DiCaprio was nothing short of brilliant in his role, and the fact that this movie is based on a true story just makes it even better. Some of the best writing I have ever seen in a film. It is just an all-around crazy ride that you need to see to believe.

Captain_Phillips_Poster1. Captain Phillips

The moment the credits began to roll after this movie I knew I had just watched the top film of 2013. Tom Hanks killed it in the title role, including some of the best acting I have ever seen in the film’s climax. Meanwhile newcomer Barkhad Abdi was menacing as the pirate leader and Paul Greengrass’ direction was incredibly intense. The final ten minutes left me in shock and I couldn’t shake the movie off.