Worst. Nominations. Ever. Look, maybe I'm exaggerating with that statement, but in all the years I've been paying way too much attention to the Academy Awards, I cannot ever remember being this downright disappointed by the final nominations. You come to expect a few surprises, and of course a few painful snubs, but this year, it seems like the snubs are too damn hard to swallow, no matter how many times I remind myself it's just an awards show. At the end of the day, great films, and the...
Awards Season / 14.01.2015
Fearless Oscar nomination predictions
It only feels like yesterday that awards season began, and yet here we are on the cusp of the Academy announcing their anointed ones for 2015. There's still a lot up in the air, and I wouldn't say I'm entirely confident with a lot of these categories, but alas, onwards and upwards with this year's predictions. Best Picture American Sniper Boyhood Birdman Foxcatcher Gone Girl The Grand Budapest Hotel The Imitation Game Selma The Theory of Everything Whiplash I'm well aware Selma has oddly been left out of the Producer's Guild Awards, and it's very rare for a film to...
Awards Season / 31.12.2014
The 1st Annual Jammies – celebrating the best (and worst) of film in 2014
After talking about award shows incessantly for the last 20-odd years, it seems strange that the idea to create my own awards has never crossed my mind. So here we are with the 1st Annual Jammies - The Jam Report's very own end-of-year awards, honouring the best, and worst, in cinema for 2014. Now I know what you're thinking, and no, this won't just be another boring old Best Actor, Actress, Director type awards. I wanted to do something different, and maybe a little less stuffy, so I've created...
It's all over for another year, and what a year it's been. The closest Oscar race in years, with some of the best films we've ever seen in the running. And yet, somehow it all pretty much went to plan. There's always a slight tinge of disappointment when this happens. We all want the deserving frontrunners to win, but we all secretly hope for a few shockers in the mix too, and this year, well they just weren't there. To predict 22 out of the 24 categories correctly...
Well folks, it's time. After going back and forth on pretty much every category this year, I must lay down my final predictions, and ultimately stand by them. Go hard or go home, that's how it must be done. As always, I must state that no matter how hard anyone tries to convince you, nobody knows anything with how the night is going to play out. We can predict these things until we're blue in the face, but anything can happen at the Oscars, and this year that...
Awards Season / 02.03.2014
The case for 12 Years A Slave
The film to dominate this awards season has really been 12 Years A Slave. While there hasn't been a clear frontrunner, Steven McQueen's powerful film has been the closest to claiming that title. It doesn't have the most nominations, which admittedly is unusual for a frontrunner, but it has the most prestige about it, and seems to be the stand-out choice this year. Can it make history and claim the big prize? Here's why it could happen. It's time. That's the campaign slogan the studio has been running with...
Awards Season / 27.02.2014
The case for Gravity
Alfonso Cuarón's masterpiece Gravity has dominated the nominations this year, leading the pack with 10 nods. Unless some sort of insane backlash occurs, it will likely take away all the tech awards like Cinematography, Sound and Visual Effects, but can it break the curse and become the first sci-fi film to win Best Picture? Here's why it could drift off into space with the big prize. The chance to make history. The Academy Awards are very traditional, there's no denying that. Each and every year, they can tend to...
Awards Season / 25.02.2014
The case for Dallas Buyers Club
As we continue through this strange new world where Matthew McConaughey is a serious revered actor (go back and watch Fool's Gold, and tell me he seemed like a future Academy Award winner...
Awards Season / 19.02.2014
The case for Captain Phillips
Next cab off the rank in the Best Picture race is Captain Phillips. Is anyone crowing for the Captain to sail away with Best Picture? Maybe not, or at least not publicly, but it still holds a strong chance and here's why. The snub of Tom Hanks. Out of all the crazy snubs at the nomination announcement, the one that stood out for most Oscar observers was the ludicrous snub of Tom Hanks for Best Actor, who was seen as a sure thing, even in a crowded category. The...
Awards Season / 13.02.2014
The case for American Hustle
This Oscar race, I thought I'd do something a little different. I found that, for the first time in a long while, all the films nominated for Best Picture really are brilliant movies, and in their own way, each of them somewhat deserves to win Best Picture. So, I thought it best to lay out my thoughts on each one, and make a case for why it should win Best Picture. Being fair, and so as not to reveal my final predicted winner just yet, I will do...