Casting Robert Downey Jr. as Dr. Doom and the Ouroboros of MEGA-tainment

July 31, 2024 by Matt Oakes Posted in Editorials, Film Editorials Tagged Dr. Doom, Marvel Cinematic Universe, MCU, Robert Downey Jr. 8 Comments

The recent announcement that Robert Downey Jr. will don the mantle of Dr. Doom after years of embodying Tony Stark/Iron Man sent shockwaves through the entertainment sphere. Unveiled at Nerd Mecca (Comic Con’s Hall H), the news was met with wild enthusiasm from attending fans. Soon, a torrent of think-pieces flooded the media, from entertainment outlets to daily news channels, all asking, “What does this mean?” And for good reason. This move is more than just a casting choice; it’s a microcosm of a broader insidious trend where creativity is sacrificed at the altar of commerce. Where the comforting allure of nostalgia trumps all. While looking backwards to carve a path forward may seem like a reliable strategy, nostalgia-plays inherently bank upon a limited resource. We will eventually run out of cameos and callbacks, especially if modern entertainment is already so focused on looking back. This ouroboros-like cycle, where the industry repeatedly consumes its past until past and present become intertwined, has significant implications for our broader cultural dynamics and the future of entertainment as well as society. Read More

“NOMADLAND” Named Best Picture of 2020 by Seattle Film Critics Society

February 15, 2021 by Matt Oakes Posted in Awards Tagged Nomadland, Seattle Film Critics Society Leave a comment

Seattle, WA – The Seattle Film Critics Society (“SFCS”) announced the winners in 20 categories for the 2020 Seattle Film Critics Society Awards on Monday, February 15, 2021.

Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland proved the big winner this year, landing five awards, including Best Picture of the Year. The film, documenting one woman’s turn to a modern-day nomadic lifestyle following the 2008 economic recession, also earned Zhao the Best Director award and a win for Best Film Editing. Frances McDormand was named Best Actress in a Leading Role, while Joshua James Richards’ work behind the camera secured a win for Best Cinematography. Read More

2019 Silver Screen Riot Awards

January 13, 2020 by Matt Oakes Posted in Awards Tagged Awards, Silver Screen Riot Awards Leave a comment

It’s that time of year where awards start getting slung left and right, where the same names begin to crop up over and over, and bloggers get tired of the awards dance and prognostication before it’s even really begun in earnest. As is tradition over here, we try to shed light on the best of the year, and not just those popular names on cycle wash with the Silver Screen Riot Awards, recognizing perhaps not the objective best (because there is no such thing) but my personal favorites from the year. And the award goes to… Read More

Seattle Film Critics Society Deservingly Awards ‘PARASITE’ Best Picture, ‘UNCUT GEMS’ Takes Two Awards

December 16, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Awards Tagged Awards, Seattle Film Critics Society, SFCS Leave a comment

“PARASITE” NAMED BEST PICTURE OF 2019 BY SEATTLE FILM CRITICS SOCIETY

Seattle, WA – The Seattle Film Critics Society (“SFCS”) announced the winners in 20 categories for the 2019 Seattle Film Critics Society Awards on Monday, December 16, 2019.

Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite proved the big winner this year, landing five awards, including Best Picture of the Year. The South Korean film, which takes a multi-layered look at class and greed in modern-day society, also earned Bong the Best Director award and Best Screenplay, which he shares with co-writer Han Jin-won. Parasite was also named Best Foreign Language Film and the film’s ensemble was honored with the Best Ensemble Cast award. Read More

Seattle Film Critics Society (That’s Me!) Announce 2019 Nominees

December 9, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Awards Tagged Seattle Film Critics Society Leave a comment

MARTIN SCORSESE’S “THE IRISHMAN” EARNS MOST NOMINATIONS FOR THE
2019 SEATTLE FILM CRITICS SOCIETY AWARDS

“The Irishman” scores 10 nominations, while Bong Joon-ho’s acclaimed “Parasite” follows with 9.

‘Twas a year of heavy hitters at this year’s Seattle Film Critics Society with The Irishman, Parasite, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood scooping up a metric buttload of nominations. Full press release below: Read More

Predicting Winners at the 2019 Oscars (Plus What Should Win, And What Shoulda Been There)

February 19, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Awards Tagged Awards, Oscars Leave a comment

I can’t recall a year where A) I cared less about the Oscars as a ceremony, B) I felt so unsure about their results, and C) I found so many of the nominees to be utterly unmoving. While a few of my very favorite films of the year scored big with nominations, most notably The Favourite with a tidy 10 noms, this year’s slate of Oscar films felt decidedly like a step backward. After the whole kerfuffle with instituting a new category that would award the Best Popular Film and then removing it, the Academy seemed to move forward with instead just nominating said “popular” films into their Best Picture category, with 2018’s domestic box office champion Black Panther scoring a Best Picture nomination in addition to a bevy of below-the-line nods as well, and critically-divisive Bohemian Rhapsody, which has been lambasted with claims of “Fake News” since its debut, collecting a heap of nominations to call its own. Read More

Official 2018 Academy Awards Prediction

February 28, 2018 by Matt Oakes Posted in Awards Tagged Academy Awards, Oscars Leave a comment

Each and every year, us film bloggers fold ourselves into a pretzel trying to prognosticate the winners of these awards downwind a country mile with nothing but the occasional whiff of “Actual Oscar Ballot”. Personally, I’ve kind of fallen out of the habit of tracking these things – but have relished the opportunity to be a voting member of our local Seattle Film Critics Society Awards – as they “sprint” (read: crawl) down the five-plus month track to the end all be all of awards’ ceremonies – The Oscars. Read More

2017 Silver Screen Riot Awards

January 23, 2018 by Matt Oakes Posted in Awards, Lists Tagged Barry Keoghan, Birdboy, Get Out, Jodran Peele, Michele Pfeiffer, paul thomas anderson, Raw, Robert Pattinson. Frances McDormand, Silver Screen Riot Awards, The Work 3 Comments

With the announcement of the Academy Awards nominees, we’re finally in the race to the finale of this year’s award’s seasons. Seeing that Mr. Oscar tends to get it wrong so much of the time (although this year’s nominees were fairly great across the board), we have an annual tradition of issuing our own awards to recognize the best storytelling and performances throughout the year. Since we’re not tied to any silly number of nominees, we went ahead and listed every one that we thought deserving of a mention, even if the list well exceed more than 5 or 10. You won’t find a Best Picture category here as I think that is properly summarized by our Top Ten Films segment, which I would urge you to visit if you haven’t already. With that out of the way, the SSR Award goes to… Read More

Second Opinion: ‘DON’T BREATHE’

August 26, 2016 by Jason Jean Posted in Editorials, Film Editorials 1 Comment

It dawned on me nearly immediately while watching Fede Alvarez‘s new horror film, Don’t Breathe, that from this point forward, whenever I hear associates bemoan the lack of good feminine roles in Hollywood, I’m holding up the horror genre as one of the few places in the system that actually nurtures and supports strong female leads. These hardworking actors, deemed, unfortunately, scream queens, make a tidy living in a film class thought more of as performance art than actual art. There are juicy roles available for any actress willing to dive into the grime and swim with the hatchet murderers and zombies.

Official 2016 Oscar Predictions

February 26, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Awards Tagged Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn, Mad Max: Fury Road, Room, Spotlight, The Big Short, The Martian, The Revenant Leave a comment

When discussing 2015 and its ilk of Oscar wannabes, most rallied around a similar sentiment: what an odd and unpredictable year for awards. At one point or another, as many as five of the eight Best Picture nominees (The Big Short, Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, Room, Spotlight, The Revenant) could have been considered the front-runner with the vast majority of the race seemingly coming down to a Big Short vs. Spotlight showdown. Huge box office tolls and unprecedented last minute momentum moved The Revenant into the pole position at an opportune time, seemingly hucking Spotlight from the, ahem, spotlight. And right when it needed it most. These tectonic shifts have made pining down the Best Picture winner a particularly challenging game this year with an unlikely chronology of match-ups apparently leaving the battle to be waged between Adam McKay‘s financial meltdown dramedy and Alejandro González Iñárritu‘s survivorman epic. That being said, one shouldn’t discount Tom McCarthy‘s Spotlight which could just pull a last minute KO. Now if only George Miller‘s supreme Mad Max: Fury Road had the same surprise comeback potential… Read More