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I picked categories to predict that I thought I could actually attempt; goodness knows I never know anything about the shorts races, the doc races, or all the international contenders. But here, with a smattering of commentary, are my predictions for tomorrow's nominations:  BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: All Quiet on the Western Front Avatar: The Way of Water Empire of Light The Fabelmans Top Gun: Maverick BEST MAKEUP: All Quiet on the Western Front The Batman ( Whale is probably winning this one come March, but I think Matt Reeves' superhero flick should get it for The Penguin alone) Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Elvis The Whale BEST SCORE Babylon The Banshees of Inisherin Black Panther: Wakanda Forever The Fabelmans Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio BEST ORIGINAL SONG:  "Nothing is Lost (You Give Me Strength)" from Avatar: The Way of Water "Lift Me Up" from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever "Naatu Naatu" from RRR "Hold My Hand" from Top Gun: Mave...

Why beat around the bush! Let's dive right in... BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: ( Call Me by Your Name , The Disaster Artist , Logan , Molly's Game , Mudbound ) I think Disaster Artist's nod here is more because it's a great concept, but the movie is pretty predictable as far as buddy pictures go. It's Franco who should've been up for playing Wiseau, but if the accusations against him are true, I'll feel a lot better letting this snub slide. All the nerds rejoiced when we heard Logan announced, but Call Me by Your Name is the clear winner here. It's slyly subtle dialogue hooks you in, and devastated you/makes you cheer in equal parts. Molly's Game is unbridled Sorkin goodness, and pretty underrated if you ask me, but CMBYN will walk away with the trophy. BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: ( The Big Sick , Get Out , Lady Bird , The Shape of Water , Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri ) These movies are being recognized for being outstanding, fresh exam...

#OscarsSoDiverse? I'm hoping the Oscars will set the correction straight on this one, hopefully rewarding the actions of people of color like Barry Jenkins, Ruth Negga and Mahershala Ali. That's just amidst others, Ali and Fences frontrunner Viola Davis are on their way to supporting actor glory. Octavia Spencer and Denzel Washington, already Oscar-winners, are poised to be nominated once again! But the film that I predict will get nominations in the double digits goes beyond color to deliver one of the century's finest musicals; I've called it since I saw it on December 27th that La La Land will make a clean sweep, hold for Ryan Gosling, who'll deservedly lose to Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea . Check out the rest of my picks for this coming Tuesday morning in all the major categories. BEST DIRECTOR: Chazelle is the clear frontrunner, but it'll be nice to see Jenkins, who might be only the fourth black director nominated in this category. Let's ho...

Here we are folks! Just a couple of days away from this year's Academy Awards. In the past few years I've tried to tell myself there was drama between the big category (Best Picture) to hype myself up for the show...but deep down I've pretty much known every year what was going to win, and which of my other movies in that category it would trump. The King's Speech quietly swept away Social Network's Oscar. The Artist silently pranced with jazz hands away with the top prize, leaving The Descendants in the dust. Last year Birdman swooped in and clutched it right out of Boyhood's fingers. But this year: I have an idea...but I am genuinely unsure of how things are going to play out. The way I see it, there are three contenders. There's The Revenant ,  The Big Short and Spotlight . And then there's the race of Supporting Actress: will Oscar veteran Kate Winslet scoop up her second trophy, or will breakout newcomer Alicia Vikander steal it with her stellar sup...

The Oscar nominations are coming right around the corner! After a surprising Golden Globes, where The Revenant had a near sweep of three of the night's biggest awards, really anything could happen! Interestingly enough, Revenant isn't even up for a Best Cast nomination at the SAGs. No movie since the SAG's inception in 1995 ( Braveheart ) has won without a  Best Cast ensemble. Then again, eccentric choices like The Birdcage and The Full Monty have won, so it's anyone's guess. My choices for Best Picture are equally eccentric: you have fantastical blockbusters like Fury Road and Martian  here, along with solid indies ( Carol and Brooklyn ) and movies with big stars and small-ish budgets ( Spotlight and The Big Short ). I lost my bananas last year when The Lego Movie  only got a sole nomination for "Everything is Awesome!!!" I won't be that surprised if Inside Out doesn't make it with the big dogs, but I will lose what is left of my faith in the Osca...

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: (Edward Norton, Ethan Hawke, J.K. Simmons, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Duvall) Should Win: J.K. Simmons or Edward Norton. Simmons, similar to his band teacher Fletcher, has been dominating this category since day one. It's his to lose, but I wouldn't be sad if Edward Norton pulled a huge upset. His Mike was an endlessly interesting actor with a massive ego. Will Win: J.K. Simmons. BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: (Patricia Arquette, Meryl Streep, Laura Dern, Keira Knightley, Emma Stone), Should/Will Win: Patricia Arquette. Laura Dern was delightful in Wild , but Arquette had the strongest role out of all these ladies as a very human mother. When you can make the audiences sympathize with you after you refuse to see your kid off to college, you deserve an Academy Award. BEST ANIMATED MOVIE: ( Big Hero 6 , How to Train Your Dragon 2 ,   The Lego Movie ,  The Boxtrolls , Song of the Sea , The Tale of the Princess Kaguya ) Should Win: I've only seen How t...

Well, take my predictions with a grain of salt, because I will be the first to admit that I had a hard time with Sunday's Golden Globes. Though it was called a night full of upsets, it was still depressing to read my scorecard of 10 out of 25 right, and I got four wrong alone in the movie category! Grand Budapest Hotel beating Birdman ?!? How to Train Your Dragon 2 defeating The Lego Movie ?!? It was a weird, weird night, but all that matters to me is that Boyhood came out on top, winning three awards for Patricia Arquette, director Richard Linklater and best picture!!! This leads me to believe exactly what I thought back in July... Boyhood will sweep the Oscars! Though I'm predicting Birdman will lead in nominations due to its innovative nature, probably at least 10. Theory and Imitation will do well technically since they're period pieces, then expect to see Boyhood with a respectable six or seven. Below I have my full listing of the nine major nominees, and little note...

With the Oscars being tomorrow, there's no better time than to choose and decide which films will take home the gold, and which were unjustly snubbed! I choose the films that SHOULD win a miniature statue, and the ones that WILL, for better or worst, take the trophy. BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: (Blue Jasmine, Nebraska, Dallas Buyers Club, Her, American Hustle)   Should Win: Nebraska. Her has the flashiest concept, and very well written, quirky dialogue coming out of a mousy Amy Adams and a mustachioed Joaquin Phoenix. But everything in Payne's Nebraska felt real to me, and his filmography deserves a third writing Oscar for Bob Nelson's genuinely rural sounding work. Will Win: Her. Spike Jonze is up for three awards; producing this film, writing "The Moon Song" and penning this script. This'll be the one he gets the Academy Award for. BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: (12 Years a Slave, Philomena, The Wolf of Wall Street, Before Midnight, Captain Phillips) Should/W...

It's been a hectic last few weeks, but just yesterday when coming up blank on ideas to post on this blog, I thought I was going to be attending a screening of "Evil Dead" with some friends, but that didn't pan out.  Not to fear, I looked at the calendar and realized that it was April 25th!  This date might not mean anything to you, but to me it's one of three very essential dates: my stab in the dark at what might be nominated for Best Picture come January.  I partake in this every 4/25, every 9/1 and every post-Golden Globes day.  It's stupid, but sometimes the little things are what keep you going in life! BEST PICTURE NOMINEES 2013: (I do it out of 10, even though the range could be 5-10 films nominated, though ever since this bizarre system came into fruition its been 9) The Great Gatsby (actually on the list last year, but it was delayed til summer '13) The Wolf of Wall Street ( a safe Scorsese bet) August: Osage County...

It's that time of year again, the Oscars are less than a week away!  I have to admit choosing the "will wins" have been particularly difficult to choose.  So let me not dilly dally, time to discuss what will win the coveted Oscar on February 24th: ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: ( Lincoln, Life of Pi, Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Silver Linings Playbook) Should Win: "Lincoln"'s poetic and difficult, 19th century jargon really deserves it.  It flowed so beautifully, and was the only movie this year that made me feel that way.  Just listen to Tommy Lee Jones bashing a congressman who's anti-13th amendment! Will Win: "Pi," "Playbook" and "Beasts" all had wildly original premises, and executed perfectly, but "Lincoln" should have this award.  Look for "Playbook" to pull an upset though; Russel won a BAFTA for it. ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: ( Moonrise Kingdom, Django Unchained, Flight, Zero Dark Thirty, Amour) ...

It''s that time again to take another ridiculous stab in the dark to see which movies are going to be nominated for that big gold trophy that will ultimately make their careers peak early.  My April 25th predictions can be seen here , and I was definitely off on at least half of the predictions.  The blockbuster films "Brave" and "Prometheus" both debuted to positive, but not Oscar-status reviews; "To Rome with Love" fell a little flat by Woody Allen standards, and "The Great Gatsby" got pushed to next summer.  Here are the 5 films I stand by that I'm pretty sure will get nominated from April 25th: The Dark Knight Rises (can Bane get a supporting Oscar?) Life of Pi (the trailer has cemented its status as one of the best movies to look out for) The Hobbit (despite Jackson turning this into a trilogy) Django Unchained Moonrise Kingdom Les Miserables (after the role of Catwoman people are starting to really pay attention to M...

A wide variety of films are up for Best Picture this year, including one that got some pretty bad reviews, cough cough, "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close."  I take a look at what will win and (IMO) what should win: BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: (The Ides of March, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Hugo, The Descendants, Moneyball) WILL WIN: While "TTSS" got this award at the BAFTAs, last year's winner Aaron Sorkin has got it again this year for "Moneyball." SHOULD WIN: Moneyball.  It deserves it because it made an odd topic like baseball statistics seem interesting, and the character development is top-notch. BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: (The Artist, Midnight in Paris, Margin Call, A Separation, Bridesmaids) WILL WIN: Midnight in Paris. SHOULD WIN:  Midnight in Paris.  It really doesn't get any more original from the mind of Woody Allen, who most likely won't even be there to accept it. BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: (Christopher Plummer, Nick Nolte, ...

It is the day before the Oscar nominations are being announced!  I'm excited for tomorrow, I'll post the nominees as tradition since 2010.  Another tradition I have to uphold is predicting the Oscar nominees for the best movie of 2011 right before they come out.  This year it's going to be a lot trickier, so I'll do it like this: THE SHOO-INS: The Descendants The Artist (and the winner) Hugo The Help (a BAFTA nomination for Best Picture helped its outlook) and Midnight in Paris Like I said, this is where it gets harder.  Though there won't be 10, many are saying 7 or 8, there is always that possibility the Oscars will throw us a curve-ball.  So, if there are: 6.  War Horse 7.  Moneyball 8.  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 9.  Bridesmaids/Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (if they're going all out they'll want to include a blockbuster favorite) 10.  The Tree of Life  So, in hopes I don't lo...