For me, this is a very special edition of my "Guest Critic" series. It is a return for two very special little boys who have grown up before my eyes. Hop in to get reacquainted with Patrick and Nate!
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Thank 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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The end of June marks the halfway point of 2015. This website makes it a point each year to measure the calendar year's offerings so far of what has been the best with the goal of building a year-end "10 Best" list. This is as good a place as any to honor the fine efforts that have graced the screen this half-year. Here are the "Top 5 (so far)."
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Boy, I'm just going to come out and say it. Contrary to prior expectations, there is not much worthwhile left in the 2015 summer movie season. May and June were loaded and delivered a plethora of hits. Outside of some noteworthy big hitters, the slates for July and August don't look all that strong. Here's a complete preview of the final two months and second half of the 2015 summer movie season.
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Let's look at the best films set in and about Hawaii, its people, citizens, and history. To make this list, the film has to actually be about and predominantly set in Hawaii. Any movies that start or end somewhere else, where Hawaii is purely a side trip or vacation, are not good enough. Here are the top ten as they stand before the arrival of "Aloha" this weekend. Can that film crack this list? We shall see.
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If you are a casual follower of the movie industry, there's a good chance that you've probably heard of, but don't know much about, the Cannes International Film Festival. You probably have seen the fashion report on E! and a few red carpet interviews on Entertainment Tonight or Extra. First off, you've got to say it right to sound cinephile-cool. "Cannes" pronounced "CAN" and not "CANS". That will help right off the bat. In this column, I'm presenting this article on the facts and history of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival to help the unfamiliar and uninformed movie fan sound like one of the 1% of cinema aficionados.
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It's business time! The wait is over from the very slow winter and spring seasons! The massive movie slate of the summer of 2015 has been touted on this website for over a year. We knew these big hitters were coming and they are finally here. Let's see how many box office records fall. If you thought "Furious 7" was a big hit, then you've seen nothing yet. The summer is where the big boys play. To split the long season up, here is my complete preview for the early summer months of May and June and their prospective film releases. As always, dates change and shift all of the time. Here's what we have to look forward to! Enjoy!
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Folks, I have to come right out and warn you that this going to more of a blog post than a movie review, but it will count for both. I just watched Noah Baumbach's new film "While We're Young" and I learned a lot about myself, but not all in a good way. Through the title of this website, I say that "every movie has a lesson." That's my hook and that's the lens I see movies with and I stand by it. Seeing this film tonight was the kind of challenging and humbling experience I need as an amateur movie critic from time to time.
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Normally ever year, there's a few more movies during the spring season to sink our teeth into that the winter season before it. Normally, there's little more buzz and hype because the slow opening of the year is over, the awards season is done, and summer is around the corner. This year, I don't think that can be said. Read on and see if you can find something to spark your interest.
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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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Once one awards season ends, another one begins! The winners from last night's 87th Academy Awards can bask in the glow of immortality for a while. Meanwhile, business in Hollywood will quickly shift and move on to the 88th Academy Awards that will happen in February 2016. Before the year of 2015 is out, we will soon learn and adopt another crop of competitive films to equally revere and nit-pick. Here are 16 films to watch for the 2016 Oscars.
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Alright, 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.
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