Awards Season, Opinion / 26.02.2017

Well, the time has come. Oscar night is upon us. Many will call this one of the more boring Oscar seasons in recent history, and they have a point. When you have one frontrunner for Best Picture (and the majority of the other categories) all season, it's hardly exciting to watch and discuss. Maybe it's simply because the last few years have been such a rollercoaster, particularly the madness of last year's Spotlight/The Revenant/The Big Short showdown. But, as you'll see from my predictions below, it's hardly all locked...

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Awards Season, Opinion / 25.02.2017

Make no mistake about it. Winning the Academy Award for Best Picture is ultimately a game of skill. Yes, the picture still has to be "good", but that's only half the battle. At some point, you have to become the frontrunner. The likely winner. The unstoppable force. The one piece of cinema Academy voters want to vote for. The winning team everyone is desperate to back. It's when to become the frontrunner that's the tricky part....

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Awards Season, Opinion / 26.01.2017

Well, folks. Things went mostly to plan. When you pick 99 of the 123 nominees (I struck out in the Short film categories, so shoot me), you realise it was one of those predictable years. That's not to say there weren't a few shocks, surprises and snubs. Thankfully, there's far more to be happy about this year than previous years. So, let's get to it. The good There will be those that groaned when La La Land tied with Titanic and All About Eve in earning a record 14 nominations, but you know I...

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Awards Season, Opinion / 24.01.2017

Well it's that time of year again. On the eve of the Academy's big Oscar nominations announcement, I'm laying down my final predictions. There's a lot up in the air here, so take them with a grain of salt. Sometimes I get it right. Sometimes I'm way off. Films have been flying up and down on the buzz-meter the last few weeks. Hidden Figures and Lion are coming on very strong at the end, so it's possible they could both do better than I'm speculating. Silence is the...

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Awards Season / 02.03.2016

The madness is all over for another year. Am I the only one a little glad for that? I cannot remember a previous Oscar race that genuinely exhausted me as much as this year. It was fun. It was surprising. But with so many twists and turns, I started to miss the days where one film sweeps the entire season. I say that now, but the next time it happens, I know I'll moan about how boring an unpredictable race is. Ah, being an Oscar watcher is a...

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Awards Season, Reviews / 29.02.2016

The most exhaustive and confusing Oscar season finally comes to an end today. We've had frontrunners come and go (remember when it was finally going to be Johnny Depp's year?). We've had the precursor awards be even more unreliable than usual. We've had shocks, snubs and surprises. We've had the Academy facing the worst (and deserved) press it's ever received. And going into the ceremony, we still have no solid prediction as to what will walk away with Best Picture and a handful of other categories. You may...

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Awards Season / 28.02.2016

It sucks to be the early frontrunner. Just ask Boyhood, Lincoln or The Social Network. Taking the lead early in awards season often means that film will ultimately lose. So does that mean it's all over for Spotlight? Hold your horses. There's still light at the end of the tunnel. Let's take a look at why it still may win and why it's destined to lose. For: The actor vote. If nothing else, Spotlight is a true ensemble film and a true actor's piece. Even though Ruffalo and McAdams have been singled out, it...

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Awards Season / 27.02.2016

With his follow-up to last year's Best Picture winner, Birdman, Alejandro Inarritu has done it again. What was at first assumed to just be a vehicle for Leo to finally win an Oscar (and put an end to all those fucking memes) has quickly turned into a serious contender to sweep the whole damn ceremony. But The Revenant still has some obstacles to overcome, if it wants to follow the path of Birdman. Let's take a closer look. For: The last frontrunner takes it. It's an almost irrefutable fact the film with the most buzz...

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Awards Season / 26.02.2016

A few months before awards season began, The Big Short wasn't even on anyone's radar. But due to Paramount's shrewd decision to surprise us all and give the film a December release, it has come from nowhere to be a serious awards contender. Does it have the power to continue to surprise and take the big prize of Best Picture? Let's take a look at the case for and against The Big Short. For: That "surprise" PGA win. I put surprise in inverted commas because it wasn't a surprise to yours...

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Awards Season / 14.01.2016

The craziest awards season we've seen in years is potentially about to get even crazier, with the Oscar nominations due to be announced just after midnight tonight (Australian time). With only a month to go, we still genuinely have no idea who will win most categories which is fun in a way. Usually at least we have a fair lock on what will be nominated, but not this year. As I always say, take these predictions with a grain of salt. I'm just going with my gut here, but this year,...

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