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Showing posts from February, 2017

Oscar Preview Part II: Thoughts and predictions

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The Oscars are tomorrow and despite my best efforts, I was not able to watch all of the Best Picture nominees in time for Sunday's award show. Based on my impressions and from the general consensus, the two films I didn't catch -- Hidden Figures and Lion -- seem to be after thoughts compared to the heavily favored fare of La La Land, Moonlight and ..... is there a third runner up? Let's take a look at those Best Picture picks.. La La Land -It's the favorite, it's deserving and will probably win. Moonlight -Definitely the critic's choice and absolutely deserving of all its accolades. Unlike many critically lauded films that have gone on to win awards, Moonlight is different in that it's a watershed movie and totally unforgettable. That stark, beautiful movie poster is going to be just as bootlegged and influential as Al Pacino's Scarface artwork is someday. Fences - Fences strikes a happy medium between La La Land and Moonlight and

Oscar Preview Part I: My favorite 20 films of 2016

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With the Academy Awards airing next weekend, I've decided it's finally time I've gotten around to posting a list of my favorite films from 2016. I still haven't watched every movie that came out last year (and I probably never will) and I'm sure some films I missed deserve to be on here. I'll try harder next time.  1. La La Land (Damien Chazelle) A sweet escape -- great music, excellent photography and gushing delight. Gosling and Stone have infectious onscreen chemistry and this simple love story/musical hybrid is a cinematic treat. 2. Nocturnal Animals (Tom Ford) Tom Ford drips style in every frame. A dark feature where Ford embraces his inner Hitchcock/DePalma that jettisons his debut A Single Man . Nocturnal Animals is a harrowing film with excellent performances from leads Adams and Gyllenhaal, but most especially the two supporting roles from Shannon and Tyler-Johnson.  3. O.J.: Made in America (Ezra Edelman) Made in America tra

Listen to Marlon: White guilt at the Grammys

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Save for folding laundry while watching Adele's sublime George Michael tribute, I didn't tune into the Grammys this year. Three-plus hours of James Corden is a bit more than I can bare and I find it harder to identify with the show and its nominees in general. I would argue that compared to the Grammys, Pitchfork's Top 100 Albums and Top 50 Songs of the year lists are probably the best, if not still inherently flawed, outlet for a musical yearbook. The Grammys attempt to pander to the "youth culture" by nominating artists such as Drake and Justin Bieber for Best Album -- but in the end this is an award show as stuffy and old-fashioned as the Oscars. Now old-farts themselves, The Rolling Stones have never won for Best Album and have only been nominated once! Elton John has never won! The notion that these outdated award shows with their antiquated trophies and banal categories are still given credence to artistic validation is absurd. They are a "sa