Posts tagged John Legend
MOVIE REVIEW: La La Land
MOVIE REVIEW: La La Land

In front of and behind the camera, you will find creative people that deftly understand and properly tap into the spirit and flavor of the classic genres and eras they are blending.  Breathing jazzy life into a Hollywood musical set in the present day of Priuses and iPhones, Damien Chazelle’s follow-up to “Whiplash” is a modern cinematic masterpiece.  It is the kind of film where you will remember where you were when you first saw it.  You will not find a more jubilant, romanticized, or flat-out entertaining film this year.

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Chicago Film Festival, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, 2016, Film Festival, MOVIE REVIEW, 5 STARSDon ShanahanDavid Wasco, Crazy Stupid Love, Gene Kelly, life lessons from movies, Justin Hurwitz, movie review, Mary Zophres, La La Land, John Legend, film review, Damien Chazelle, Best of 2016, Don Shanahan, Chicago International Film Festival, Ryan Gosling, Donald Shanahan, Movie musicals, 2016 Holiday Movies, 52nd Chicago International Film Festival, Movies about Los Angeles, Every Movie Has a Lesson, film commentary, life lessons, Festival review, Festival coverage, Oscar contenders, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, J.K. Simmons, film festival, life lessons from film, Movies about Hollywood, Whiplash, Oscar hopefuls, Emma Stone, Life lessons, Linus Sandgren, musicals, Los Angeles Comments
EDITORIAL: Final 2015 Awards Tracker and Oscar Reactions
EDITORIAL: Final 2015 Awards Tracker and Oscar Reactions

Let's put a bow on the 2014 Oscar race.  Last night, I correctly predicted 16 of the 24 winners.   In my final update of this year's Awards Tracker, here are the final tallies, Oscar winners, and my reactions.  The Oscar winners in each category are in bold.  See you next year for another data session and awards season!

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2014, 2015, Column, Editorial, SPECIALDon ShanahanBirdman, Boyhood, Whiplash, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Interstellar, American Sniper, Eddie Redmaybe, Julianne Moore, J.K. Simmons, Patricia Arquette, John Legend, Common, Glory, Selma, Everything is Awesome, The LEGO Movie, Gone Girl, The Imitation Game, Graham Moore, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Ida, Citizenfour, Feast, Best Animated Short, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects, Best Original Score, Best Original Song, Best Original Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Directing, Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary Short Subject, Best Animated Short Film, Best Animated FeatureComment
OSCAR PREDICTIONS 2015: The music and sound categories
OSCAR PREDICTIONS 2015: The music and sound categories

It's time to begin making my formal and official Oscar predictions.  In this second post, we look at the musical and sound categories that include original score, original song, sound editing, and sound mixing.  Let's do this!

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2014, 2015, Column, EditorialDon ShanahanBest Sound, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, Best Original Score, Best Original Song, Movie music, Whiplash, The LEGO Movie, Selma, John Legend, Common, The Lonely Island, American Sniper, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Birdman, Under the Skin, Unbroken, Don Shanahan, Donald Shanahan, Every Movie Has a Lesson, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation GameComment
COLUMN: Who will win/should win the 2015 Golden Globes?
COLUMN: Who will win/should win the 2015 Golden Globes?

More and more each year, the Golden Globes have become more an a popularity contest than a true precursor to the Academy Awards.  What you're watching on TV is a party thrown by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in an effort to be loved and share some love.  To its credit, the awards show still garners legitimate attention and ratings.  The winners do get a pretty positive rub and the marketers gain a few more "Winner of..." graphics to put in the newspapers next to their films.  Let's take a look at the film categories and pick some winners.

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2015, 2014, Column, EditorialDon ShanahanGolden Globe Awards, 72nd Golden Globe Awards, 2015 Golden Globe Awards, Hollywood Foreign Press, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Boyhood, Selma, The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything, Eddie Redmayne, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Oyelowo, Ava DuVernay, Richard Linklater, Into the Woods, Emily Blunt, Big Eyes, Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Whiplash, J.K. Simmons, Jake Gyllenhaal, Birdman, Michael Keaton, Emma Stone, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Ralph Fiennes, The LEGO Movie, Julianne Moore, Still Alice, Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl, Patricia Arquette, Carmen Ejogo, Wes Anderson, Antonio Sanchez, Hans Zimmer, John Legend, Common, GloryComment