Tag: Oscar
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My Oscar Picks – 2025
The above AI generated image was created by WordPress tools using the following description. “Create a meticulously detailed and high-resolution featured image for my blog post. The image should prominently showcase a glamorous Oscar statuette elegantly positioned on a luxurious red carpet. Surround the statuette with elements that symbolize the…
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My Oscar Picks – 2024
Predicting (hate that word) what the Academy will choose is risky business. But those of us who follow cinema closely can’t help ourselves. The Academy is all about proclamation. Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Sound, etc. But can there really be a Best of anything in art? The full Academy…
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My Oscar Picks for 2022
The 94th Academy Awards of Motion Pictures is Sunday, March 27, 2022. The ceremony has changed formats many times over recent years in response to cultural, social and ratings issues. Cries are always many, “It’s too damn long; lose the hosts; bring back the hosts; show more clips; stop reminding…
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My 2018 Oscar Picks
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will hold it’s 90th awards ceremony this Sunday. Controversy within the industry continues. Most organizations are slow to change and this one is no different. Changes were made to the voting members to include more minorities and women. I’m hopeful that as…
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My 2017 Oscar Picks
Ladies and gentlemen, the post you’ve all been waiting for. My picks to win the 89th Academy Awards. This year’s nominees gives us hope that the Academy has at least made some effort to look across the wonderful diversity that makes up the filmmaking community. The Academy released a list of…
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My 2016 Oscar Picks
The Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will will hold their 88th award ceremony Sunday, February 28th. I will not be discussing the over indexing of whiteness among the nominees, except to say it is something that certainly needs to be addressed. My interest here lies in the films, filmmakers and artists that were nominated by the Academy.…
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My Annual Oscar Picks – 2014
It’s that time again. The Academy hands out their picks for best of every category. They can select 10 films for best picture, but apparently could find only nine worthy of the crown. The pictures span history, deep drama, AIDS, hijacking, swindle and a celestial exploration of the human spirit,…
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Your Favorite Film of 2013 – Poll
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has the ability to nominate ten films for best picture in any given year. In the 1930’s and 1940’s eight to twelve films were nominated, but in the 1950’s there was a conscious decision to limit it to five. In 2009 that…
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My Oscar Picks for 2013
The 85th Academy Awards ceremony is only a day away. So many terrific films and excellent performances this past year has caused me lots of back and forth in filling out my ballot. In my opinion there are only two slam dunks; Daniel Day-Lewis for actor and Anne Hathaway for…
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Silver Linings Playbook – Film Review
As with so many films that examine mental illness through the lens of their characters, Silver Linings Playbook ends up like most, with the crazies saner than the non-crazies. I was hoping David O. Russell would push the envelope a bit and give us a fresh look, but the film…
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Zero Dark Thirty – Film Review
2012 will be remembered as the year the movies took back their time slot. The year the industry remembered they have a super power; making big, ambitious, thought-provoking pictures and damn the running time or who might be protesting. Six major feature films released in the fall/winter season topped the…
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My Oscar Picks for 2011
This Sunday, February 27, 2011 will be the 83rd annual Oscar awards presentation. An art form with a storied past, and I believe a bright future. Although India churns out many more pictures than the U.S. each year, the art of the film and the studio are uniquely American. I’m…
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2010 Academy Awards – Vote Your Favorites
For years I ran an office pool on the Oscars and did very well. I’ve since dropped the gambling which was a smart move because over the last few years my predictions have not matched well with the Academy members. As we approach the March 7th awards show it’s worth…
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My Oscar Picks – 2009
I used to be much better at picking the winners than I am these days. I would see every film, some more than once, then sit down and agonize over who would win. Frankly I was pretty good at it in the ’90’s. One year I only missed four or…
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The Reader – Film Review
The Reader is a grave, intellectual odyssey of shame and awakening set in post WWII Berlin. At the outset is the story of a young boy, Michael Berg (David Kross) who has a chance meeting with a much older woman, Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet). Michael is ill and Hanna comforts…
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Frost/Nixon – Film Review
On the first day of government class as a freshman in college, my professor entered the room pushing a television on a small cart and carrying a stack of magazines. He introduced himself and said that if anyone had not yet purchased the textbook to save their money. For those…
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Academy Splits Oscar into 13 Pieces
Photo Credit: The New York Times The 80th annual Academy Awards ceremony aired last night, hosted for the second time by Jon Stewart. It was more informal and well down on the energy scale than in years past. Mr. Stewart did a great job at bringing his signature lines and…
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My Oscar Picks on My 50th Post
This my 50th post! I started this blog last October as an experiment in social computing. Since I work in the Internet space, I thought it would be good research as we look at launching community for our brand. I’m really into it now. It’s very early Sunday morning February…
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Michael Clayton – Film Review
What struck me most about Michael Clayton is how all the players on this project came together as an ensemble, and took this film to a much higher level than might otherwise have been achieved. This is an extreme example of the whole being greater than the sum of its…