Tag / Flight

by admin

You Ought To Be In (18) Pictures

Movie_Reel_22Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime.  The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since.  So, given those guidelines, it is time to look at all of the actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of July 1st.

Today, we continue with the 3 actors that have starred in 18 movies that I have seen, down 2 from the total of 3 years ago.

Kirsten Dunst

After a 3 year hiatus, Kirsten Dunst returned to my attention in 2014 with the short film Aspirational.  She followed that up in 2015 with the underrated Bachelorette.

Meg Ryan

A one-time favorite, Meg Ryan has been missing from my screen since 2009’s Serious Moonlight, which I saw in 2010.

Denzel Washington

A one picture jump for Denzel Washington, thanks to his starring role in Flight, which I saw in 2014.

by admin

2014: The Year In Movies

Movie_Reel_222014 was a bit of an improvement over recent years in movie watching for me.  I managed to watch 78 movies last year, 16 more than 2012 and 2013 and my highest total since 2011, although it was my third consecutive year under 100.  Again, many things contributed to this, chiefly the insane amount of TV I’ve been watching and the awful amount of time I spend either at work or getting to and from work.

Here’s a look back at the first 50 movies I did manage to watch last year and what recollection, if any, I have of them. The films are listed in the order I saw them.

Repeaters (2010)
If Groundhog Day took place in a rehab and affected 3 people more messed up than Bill Murray.

Smashed (2012)
I have very little recollection of this film.

Your Sister’s Sister (2012)
2 messed up sisters and a mourning man share tequila and secrets.

Lovelace (2013)
Amanda Seyfried portrays the first lady of porn, Linda Lovelace.

Columbus Circle (2012)
A thriller about a shut-in who witnesses a murder and needs to leave her comfort zone.

A Good Day To Die Hard (2013)
The latest installment brings Bruce Willis to Russia.

The Five-Year Engagement (2012)
Jason Segel and Emily Blunt are engaged forever as life keeps getting in the way of them actually getting married.

Hell Baby (2013)
A comedy about a possessed woman who is about to give birth to Satan’s spawn.

Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World (2012)
2 lost souls find each other as the world is literally coming to an end.

Would You Rather (2012)
A sadistic host tortures his dinner guests for his own pleasure.

The World’s End (2013)
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by jim

Oscar Night

As they finish polishing up the statues for tonight’s awards ceremony, it’s time to finish up our predictions with a look at the acting categories and the big one:

Best Picture

Amour

Argo

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Django Unchained

Les Miserables

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Silver Linings Playbook

Zero Dark Thirty

The early money was on either Lincoln or Zero Dark Thirty taking home the big prize, but Argo has been raking up Best Picture wins starting with the Golden Globes and has momentum on its side.

Best Actor

Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook

Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln

Hugh Jackman, Les Misérables

Joaquin Phoenix, The Master

Denzel Washington, Flight

While Lincoln may have fallen out of favor in the Best Picture race, this is still Daniel Day-Lewis’ trophy to lose.

Best Actress

Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty

Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook

Emmanuelle Riva, Amour

Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Naomi Watts, The Impossible

In my mind, this comes down to Jessica Chastain or Jennifer Lawrence. Not having seen either performance, my gut tells me that the backlash against Zero Dark Thirty hurts Chastain here and that Jennifer Lawrence brings home the Oscar.

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by jim

People Who Will Get Played Off Before Their Speech Ends

With the Academy Awards scheduled for Sunday night, here’s my predictions for the non-acting awards.  I likely have seen very few of these movies, so I will mostly be going on gut feel and word of mouth.

Best Original Screenplay

Amour, Michael Hanake

Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino

Flight, John Gatins

Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola

Zero Dark Thirty, Mark Boal

I haven’t seen any of these films.  Personally, I would like to see Quentin Tarantino win, but I don’t see that as a possibility given the n-word backlash he saw after the movie came out.  Zero Dark Thirty has the upper hand, I think.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Argo, Chris Terrio

Beasts of the Southern Wild, Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin,

Life of Pi, David Magee

Lincoln, Tony Kushner

Silver Linings Playbook, David O. Russell

Silver Linings Playbook and Argo are the two films here that I really want to see, with Lincoln coming in a distant third.  I’m not sure if SLP will do as well in the “big” categories as people are expecting, but I think it will pick up some hardware here.

Best Animated Feature

Brave

Frankenweenie

ParaNorman

The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Wreck-It Ralph

Again, I haven’t seen any of these and I’m likely not going to.  That said, Wreck-It Ralph looks to be the most fun out of these entries.  Not to imply at all the Academy puts any consideration to fun.

Best Cinematography

Anna Karenina, Seamus McGarvey

Django Unchained, Robert Richardson

Life of Pi, Claudio Miranda

Lincoln, Janusz Kaminski

Skyfall, Roger Deakins

My feeling is that this comes down to either Django Unchained or Skyfall, and I think James Bond loses this battle.

Best Costume Design

Anna Karenina, Jacqueline Durran

Les Misérables, Paco Delgado

Lincoln, Joanna Johnston

Mirror Mirror, Eiko Ishioka

Snow White and the Huntsman, Colleen Atwood

I’ve actually seen 2 of these films.   My thought is that it will come down to Lincoln or Les Misérables, and who doesn’t like a musical?

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