Reviews / 11.12.2015
The ten best films of 2015
"They don't make films like they used to...
Opinion / 12.08.2015
A tribute to the ultimate sad clown
It's been a year since we lost one of the greatest talents the world has ever known. Even after twelve months, it still doesn't quite seem real. Just remembering learning the news and being forced to hold in the grief over a full day of work (it was announced at 9am Sydney time) still seems like some horrible dream we're all going to wake up from. We know he's gone, but it's not a notion one can easily accept. I started writing this piece a few days after he died,...
Reviews / 06.08.2015
Why ‘Fantastic Four’ is the biggest piece of garbage you will see in a cinema in 2015
I was going to write a proper film review of the reboot/re-launch/re-imagining/re-whatever of Fantastic Four. Instead, I've decided to just rip this film apart. I'm not being a jerk. This film has it coming. A review can only be written on a film where at least something works. Nothing works in this film. Nothing. It is the most inexplicably terrible piece of cinema I have had the displeasure of watching this year. It's not often that I advise people not to see a film. Films are subjective, so...
When I do my predictions next year, if I say anything along the lines of it being an "unpredictable year", you have my permission to promptly slap me in the face. Despite all the discussion about how the winner of each category was so wildly difficult to nail down, everything pretty much went to plan, besides perhaps one major shocker. I am being completely genuine when I say that I was totally surprised to keep placing a tick next to prediction after prediction on my list. In the end, I walked away with three...
Well, the day has arrived. After what feels like a longer-than-usual awards season, and an enormous amount of back-and-forth on these predictions, the time has come to lock them in. I haven't been this doubtful about the majority of my predictions in many years. There's been a few tricky categories over the past couple of seasons, but nothing like this year. Even at this late hour, I have absolutely no idea what will win Best Picture. I think my 'for and against' series of posts made my mind...
Awards Season / 22.02.2015
The case for and against ‘Whiplash’
We've arrived at our final nominee under The Jam Report's spotlight, and it's potentially the real dark-horse of this year's race. Whiplash has received enormous critical acclaim since it debuted at Sundance last year. It has racked up five nominations, and could potentially win three or four of those awards on the night. With so much focus on films like Boyhood, Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel, could it be we're not paying attention to the little film that could cause a massive upset? Why it could win Best Picture: The nominations. Unlike Birdman and The Theory of Everything, Whiplash...
Awards Season / 22.02.2015
The case for and against ‘Selma’
Ah, Selma. Almost completely snubbing this brilliant piece of cinema is one of the most shameful moments in recent Oscar history. The Academy seemingly came so far last year, and this year, they've regressed right back to their tired old ways. It seems the film had too many strikes that it couldn't overcome. A female director? A black female director? A predominantly black cast? A movie that casts shade on white people? No, no, no, no. Pathetic, isn't it? I don't like to cry things like racism easily, but...
Awards Season / 21.02.2015
The case for and against ‘The Imitation Game’ and ‘The Theory of Everything’
Now before anyone starts calling me lazy for combining these two films into one post, let me explain. As I was writing the points for both The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything, I realised that they had almost identical reasons for why they will and won't win Best Picture. It seemed redundant to repeat myself in a separate post for each, so here we are with a combined result. Two critically acclaimed British films starring four critically acclaimed British actors. Can the Academy Awards possibly resist? Why it could win...
Wes Anderson has never been an Academy favourite. Critically beloved films like The Royal Tenanbaums, The Life Aquatic and Moonrise Kingdom were all but ignored at the Oscars, so it was starting to seem like he was one of those directors they'd just never fall for. That all changed this year with his quirky and utterly charming film The Grand Budapest Hotel. Despite being released almost 12 months ago (an Oscar rarity), it was still showered with nominations, but can it take out the top prize? Why it could...
Awards Season / 19.02.2015
The case for and against ‘Birdman’
Swooping in out of seemingly nowhere, we have Alejandro González Iñárritu's divisive Birdman; our new frontrunner, and the next film under The Jam Report's microscope. That bird was always waiting in the wings, just threatening to steal the race, and it appears to have made its move at just the right time. However, let's not count our Birdmen before they've hatched, and frontrunners can still be shot down at the very last second. Why it could win Best Picture: The last frontrunner takes it. No film likes to be the so-called...