The Film: In the 1960s, the legendary Sidney Poitier was at the top of his game. Always an incredible screen presence, he delivered unforgettable performances in films like “A Raisin in the Sun,” “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” and “Lilies of the Field,” which earned him his one and only Academy Award and made him the first African-American to win one for Best Actor. However, the most lauded film he would work on that decade was “In the Heat of the Night,” which garnered five Oscars that included Best Picture. Here he gives us another powerhouse performance in a film that still resonates with audiences over 50 years later, making it a great choice for entry into the prestigious Criterion Col
The 25th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards has just concluded, and unlike last year where we pretty much knew every film winner beforehand, tonight saw plenty of surprises. The first shock of the night came when Emily Blunt received Best Supporting Actress for her role in "A Quiet Place," a role that she did not get a subsequent Oscar nod for. The second surprise of the evening came with Rami Malek winning Best Actor for "Bohemian Rhapsody" over frontrunner (at least after the snubbed Ethan Hawke) Christian Bale for "Vice." Finally, the evening concluded with the most random and perhaps most shocking twist of all: "Black Panther" winning Best Cast despite having no individual nominations, re
The nominations for the 91st Annual Academy Awards have been announced, and as usual, there were plenty of surprises to be found this morning. What wasn't a surprise, however, was that "Roma" and "The Favourite" tied for the most nominations with ten each, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress (x2 for "The Favourite"), and Best Original Screenplay. Not far behind were "A Star is Born" and "Vice" with eight each. As far as surprises go, where to begin? "Roma" made a surprise appearance in Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress after having been mostly absent there the entire season. However, on the flip side, the film was shockingly left out of Best Fi
The Film: Very few directors have had the stunning sort of success that Damien Chazelle has achieved with just his first few films. After a small, well-received debut feature in 2009, he hit it big with “Whiplash,” which won three Oscars and earned Chazelle a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. His very next film, the musical masterpiece “La La Land,” garnered six Oscars, which included Best Director for Chazelle, making him the youngest recipient in the history of the award. At this point, some directors might be content to rest on their laurels, but this was simply not the case for Chazelle. Instead, his ambition and scope only became greater, choosing to tackle the epic story of Neil
The 30th Annual Producers Guild of America Awards have just concluded, with the rather shocking result of "Green Book" taking the top prize for Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures, defeating presumed frontrunner "Roma." So what does this mean for the awards race? Is "Green Book" the upcoming Best Picture winner at the Oscars? Quite frankly, it now feels like a tossup between the two films. "Green Book" could steal Original Screenplay away from "The Favourite" (typically a Best Picture winner needs to win Director or its respective Screenplay category), while taking Best Supporting Actor for Mahershala Ali, for a total of three wins on the big night. Or the PGA and the Academy might simply
The Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards have just concluded, with plenty of wild surprises in multiple categories throughout the night. As expected, Alfonso Cuaron's "Roma" was the big winner, taking Best Picture, Best Director (Cuaron), Cinematography (Cuaron), and Best Foreign Language Film. "Vice" followed close behind with three, including Best Actor (Christian Bale), Best Actor in a Comedy (Bale), and Best Hair & Makeup. As far as surprises go, both Screenplay categories went to unexpected recipients. Paul Schrader took Original Screenplay for "First Reformed" over presumed frontrunner "The Favourite," while Barry Jenkins took Adapted Screenplay for "If Beale Street Could Talk" ov
Earlier this morning, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) announced their nominations, with the entirely expected result of "The Favourite" leading the way with a whopping 12 nods, including Best Film, Director, Actress, Supporting Actress (x2), Original Screenplay, and Outstanding British Film. The next closest films had seven nominations, and included "Roma," "A Star is Born," "Bohemian Rhapsody," and "First Man." Major surprises included yet another snub for Ethan Hawke, who has been the clear, overwhelming frontrunner in the Best Actor category throughout the critics awards, as well as the omission of Regina King, who has been dominating the Best Supporting Actress ca
Today, the Directors Guild of America announced their nominees for 2018, and to be quite blunt, at least one very obvious mistake was made. In an extremely unfortunate choice on the part of the DGA, they have opted to snub Yorgos Lanthimos for his outstanding direction of "The Favourite" in favor of lesser work like Adam Mckay's "Vice" and Peter Farrelly's "Green Book." This, in turn, has killed any chance "The Favouirite" had of winning the Best Picture Oscar, for only once in about the last 50 years has a Best Picture Oscar winner failed to get a nomination here (Bruce Beresford, Driving Miss Daisy"). With pretty much no competition left in the way, Cuaron is the easy pick here. He's alrea
Earlier today, the Writers Guild of America announced their nominees for 2018. As previously announced, the current frontrunner for the Best Original Screenplay Oscar, "The Favourite," was deemed ineligible due to their inexplicable and embarrassing rules, but as for what remains, just about everything that was expected to be here has made the cut. The biggest omission of note is Paul Schrader's "First Reformed," which had practically been running neck-and-neck with "The Favourite" in the Original Screenplay category, but with its failure to get a nomination here, Schrader's Oscar chances have been drastically reduced, leaving the latter in prime position. What we're left with in the WGA's O
The 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards have just wrapped up, and with plenty of surprises to spare. The "big" winner of the evening was "Green Book," which won three awards that included Best Picture (Comedy/Musical), Best Supporting Actor (Mahershala Ali), and Best Screenplay, while "Roma" (Best Foreign Language Film and Best Director) and "Bohemian Rhapsody" (Best Picture (Drama) and Best Actor (Drama)) were not far behind with two. Both awards for "Bohemian Rhapsody" were a rather big surprise, with both heavily expected to go to Bradley Cooper's "A Star is Born," while Best Picture (Comedy/Musical) and Best Screenplay were expected to go to Yorgos Lanthimos' "The Favourite." Ali winning Bes
The Producers Guild of America has announced their nominations for 2018, giving us a better idea of what to expect when it comes to the upcoming Best Picture lineup at the Academy Awards. Most of the usual suspects have made the cut, including "Roma," "The Favourite," "Green Book," and "A Star is Born." However, several less popular films have also made the cut, including "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Crazy Rich Asians," and "A Quiet Place," naturally upsetting those who were hoping to see award season favorites like "First Reformed," "Eighth Grade," and "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" join the others. So what do these nominations tell us? For starters, the latter group mentioned above now have pretty mu