In returning to my "Movie Classroom" series of interactive whiteboard video reviews with new vigor, new skills, and new tools, I wanted to bring back and upload my old video attempts to my Every Movie Has a Lesson YouTube channel. In a massive file drop, I recently uploaded 29 of my past Movie Classroom videos from 2014, including winners like Whiplash and Birdman. Head over and reminisce on some fine films and commentary by yours truly.
Read MoreLet'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!
Read MoreAlright, folks! I've done all of the research I can. I've read all of the tea leaves and broken down every race. I've made my detailed picks in seven columns and editorials over the past week. Here's my master list. In the three years of writing these Oscar nominations and following the data on my website, my prediction score has improved every year. Last year, I correctly guessed 20 of 24 awards up from 19 and 17 from the two years before. I'm gunning for another 20+ night again.
Read MoreIn this seventh and final post, we've come to the big one, folks. Here's my analysis and breakdown of the race for Best Picture. This is a close one, so read on! Let's do this! I've said it all season. Stick with me and I will win you your Oscar pool.
Read MoreIt'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!
Read MoreIt's time to begin making my formal and official Oscar predictions. In this first post, we look at the visual and artistic technical categories that include cinematography, production design, costumes, makeup/hairstyling, editing, and visual effects. Let's do this!
Read MoreThe Oscar nominations for the 87th Academy Awards were announced this morning. Directors J.J. Abrams and Alfonso Cuaron mapped out the little categories and then actor Chris Pine and Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs drops some bombs this morning. As always, there are plenty of surprises and plenty of snubs. Through it all, the frontrunners have already emerged and this race is taking shape, so much so that I could probably name the eventual winners already today.
Read MoreWith the 87th Academy Award nominations being announced tomorrow morning, I'm cutting it close with my predictions of who and what names will hear their named called. I've been following the full awards season over on my Awards Tracker page, where I've been following the trends and reading the tea leaves. Using that data and a batch of hunches, here are my savvy predictions for tomorrow's nominations in the eleven major categories.
Read MoreMore 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.
Read MoreGetting into the numbers, I reviewed twenty four-star films and twelve five-star gems. That means my final "10 Best" list are all champs with two that had to be bumped to lead the next ten. From there, my four-star reviews were ranked from 12-20 and then honorable mention. In keeping with the hook of my website, each of my "10 Best" are presented with their best life lesson and linked full reviews. Enjoy!
Read MoreHere are my picks for the "Best of 2014 (so far)" with a halfway count of the five best instead of the full ten. It must be said, that I have far from seen every possible 2014 film entry. Plenty of mainstream and arthouse films have eluded me and my busy schedule, but there is enough to talk about here. As always, in matching with the theme of my website, I couple the best-so-far selection with the film's best life lesson. Enjoy!
Read MoreAnderson's hot streak at winning me over has now extended to two films in a row with "The Grand Budapest Hotel." Richly detailed in every sense of possible style, this is a superbly entertaining little caper film that should yield more success for Wes Anderson and earn even more new fans. I know it's just March, but I'm going to go out on a limb right now and say that this is the best written film you will see all year. The script is brilliant beyond measure and a star-studded cast rarely misses a beat to make those words shine and leap off the page and screen.
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