The most crucial dramatic trait for films about exploration is a drawing a strong reaction to the unknown from the audience. Whether it’s a historical story or a fantastical one of fiction, the film has to evoke awe, be that stirring swells of inspiration or jarring feelings of danger. It has to move you, not bore you. If a film can’t achieve that quickened pulse or heavy heart, it’s little better than a travelogue on cable television or a curriculum video they show soon-to-be-bored high school students in Social Studies class.
Read MoreThe 88th Academy Award nominations will be announced tomorrow morning, January 14, 2016, hot off of the weekend's 73rd Golden Globe awards. I've been following the full awards season over on my Awards Tracker page. Using that data as the tea leaves and a truckload of hunches, I'm going to attempt to closely predict the Oscar nominations for the "Big 8" categories for the third year in a row.
Read MoreNot to put on the school teacher hat, but let's pose a few questions and directions. Raise your hand if Johnny Depp has let you down since 2003 when he hit the big time playing Captain Jack Sparrow and became a caricature instead of an actor? Alright. That's most of you. Now, how many times did he let you down? Twice? Five times? More than five? Wow. That's still a lot of hands. Last question, how many of you miss Johnny Depp, The Actor who made us marvel as a serious performer back in films like "Blow" and "Donnie Brasco" Yup, that's everyone. Rest assured, class, "Black Mass" is here.
Read MoreAfter the traditional summer movie season of blockbusters, the following fall movie season tends to be a lull and a letdown before the next round of event films and the awards contenders fill up the months of November and December. September is normally filled with rejects that weren't big enough for summer and not good enough for the holidays. With Halloween capping October, the darker stuff tends to fill that month. That's been the trend but the climate is shifting like the season. It is with great surprise that this fall movie season, on paper, is shaping up to be truly legitimate.
Read MoreThank you for all of your patience with my long month of August travel for work. Things are slowing down and I'll be catching up soon. Looking ahead, the 2015 fall movie season is just around the corner. My full and complete preview will be coming soon, but here's a calendar and checklist of the upcoming season's releases. Print this, slap it on the fridge, or fill you calendar!
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