Your Official 2016 Oscar Nominees (And How My Predictions Stacked Up)

January 14, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Awards Tagged Academy Awards, Academy Awards Nominations, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant Leave a comment

I feel like Denzel Washington at the Globes. I have a speech prepared but I forgot my reading glasses. I guess I’ll thank my family for giving me the courage to predict the Academy Award nominees. And, of course, I’d like to thank the Academy. But in all seriousness, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences unveiled their glorious Oscar nominees for 2016 and the results were staggeringly close to our predictions. Seriously, someone should employ me full-time to do this or something. There were some surprises in store, such as Carol being shut out of more than a few major categories, and some nice inclusions, like Tom Hardy getting tapped for his aces performance in The Revenant and Lenny Abrahamson for his truly superb direction in Room. I left the Spotlight team out of the spotlight and paid dearly for it as both Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams eeked their way into nods. Over on the script side, frequent favorites Quentin Tarantino and Aaron Sorkin found themselves shut out for The Hateful Eight and Steve Jobs respectively. In the end though, with The Revenant and Mad Max: Fury Road leading the nominees in terms of sheer volume, my two favorite films of 2015, I have to applaud the academy. You’ve done us right boys. Now take us home. Read More

‘MAD MAX: FURY ROAD’ Sweeps the 2015 Seattle Film Awards

January 13, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Awards Tagged Alex Garland, Benicio Del Toro, Denis Villenueve, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mad Max: Fury Road, Mya Taylor, Nina Hoss, Phyllis Nagy, Spotlight, The 2015 Seattle Film Awards, The Look of Silence 2 Comments

This morning, the Seattle Film Critics’ Survery unleashed their winners and it was Mad Max: Fury Road who took the proverbial cake and ate it too. Curated by Should I See It‘s Mike Ward, the full press release is included below:

“George Miller’s post-apocalyptic epic Mad Max: Fury Road steamrolled the competition, and was named the Best Picture of 2015 by Seattle’s film community. The film nearly swept the competition, earning 10 out of a potential 11 award wins in the third annual Seattle Film Awards survey. Read More

Silver Screen Riot’s Official 2016 Oscar Nomination Predictions

January 13, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Awards Tagged Academy Awards Nominations, Awards, Mad Max, Oscars, Spotlight, The Martian Leave a comment

Every year, us adamant movie bloggers have a tradition of predicting not only the winners of the Academy Awards but the actual nominees. Does it sound like sheer insanity? Of course it does! It’s tilting at windmills. Nothing more. Nonetheless, we labor to push the proverbial rock up the hill eternal, shooting blindly into the dark. This year there’s so many variables that predicting the nominations has been more difficult than ever. The only sure things at this point seem to be Spotlight and The Big Short for Best Picture, Leonardo DiCaprio for Best Actor, Brie Larson for Best Actress, Sylvester Stallone for Best Supporting Actor and a handful of technical nods for the likes of Mad Max and The Martian. Read More

2015 Silver Screen Riot Awards

January 3, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Awards, Lists Tagged Silver Screen Riot Awards 1 Comment

2015 has come and gone as has most of our recap coverage for the year. The one remaining elephant in the room is the 2015 Silver Screen Riot Awards where we pick and choose from the elite and populist alike to make our selection for best director, performer, cinematographer, screenplay, documentary, foreign film, action movie, horror movie and comedy. You’ll see a winner and a runner-up as well as a list of honorable mentions that are sorta ranked but without too much scrutiny paid to that ranking. Our awards (thankfully) don’t come with all too much description (read: none) but you’ll find some nice pictures in place of the words that probably would have gone unread. Because it’s been a long week and we know you’ll probably just scan for the winners anyways. So, concluding 2015 once and for all, here it is: the 2015 Silver Screen Riot Awards. Read More

The Deepest Cuts: ‘THIRST’ (1979)

October 21, 2015 by Madelyn Sutton Posted in Retrospectives Tagged Horror, The Deepest Cuts, Thirst 70 Comments

The Deepest Cuts is a weekly invitation into some of the sleaziest, goriest, most under-explored corners of horror and cult film online. Every title will be streamable and totally NSFW. Whether it’s a 1960s grindhouse masterpiece, something schlocky from the 90s, or hardcore horror from around the world, these films are guaranteed to shock, disturb, tickle, or generally blow your mind.

I hate to make generalizations, but having seen a number of amazing, totally fucked up horror movies from Australia, I can’t help but think there’s something up down under – and I’ll tell you right now, whatever it is, I’m into it. After watching 2009’s The Loved Ones (a viewing inspired by the 13 Most Disturbing Horror Movies of the Last 13 Years list) I was looking for some righteous Ozploitation to stream, and I found it, in spades, in Thirst.

The Deepest Cuts: ‘THE BURNING’ (1981)

October 7, 2015 by Madelyn Sutton Posted in Retrospectives Tagged Horror, The Burning, The Deepest Cuts, Tom Savini Leave a comment

The summer camp slasher happens to be one of my favorite sub-subgenres, for a number of reasons: the woods are inherently creepy, particularly after dark; the lone nut seeking bloody vengeance is a great set-up for suspense; and then you’ve got all the sweaty group dynamics that develop among pubescent youths in short shorts, left to their own arts-and-crafts-related devices. And while Friday the 13th and Sleepaway Camp, just to name the most popular two, are undeniable gems, The Burning gives them both a bloody-good run for their money.

The Deepest Cuts: ‘SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE’ (1982)

September 23, 2015 by Madelyn Sutton Posted in Retrospectives Tagged Horror, Slumber Party Massacre, The Deepest Cuts 2 Comments

Movie nerds of a certain age will recall fondly the days of wandering the aisles of their local video store, pondering the VHS tapes on the “Staff Picks” shelf and pining for a glimpse into that forbidden zone, the “adults only” back room. In the horror section, some of the cover art is planted so firmly in the horror fan’s psyche, it’s a wonder the films themselves aren’t viewed more often, from the painted decomposing, disembodied hand ringing the doorbell on the cover of House, or the demonic-looking monkey-and-cymbals toy of Monkey Shines. One of the most memorable, for me, has always been Slumber Party Massacre. With a title like that, and the image of scantily-clad teens cringing up at an drill-wielding killer, all in colors reminiscent of a Babysitter’s Club cover design, it should be immediately obvious that Slumber Party Massacre is not your typical slasher film.

The Deepest Cuts: ‘I DRINK YOUR BLOOD’ (1970)

September 16, 2015 by Madelyn Sutton Posted in Retrospectives Tagged Horror, I Drink Your Blood, The Deepest Cuts Leave a comment

True surprises are rare for the horror aficionado, but every once in a great while, a film comes along that shows you that they really can do more and go further. I Drink Your Blood is just one of these films. It’s a totally batshit, schlocky masterpiece that must be seen to be believed.

The Deepest Cuts: ‘SHIVERS’ (1975)

September 10, 2015 by Madelyn Sutton Posted in Retrospectives Tagged David Cronenberg, Horror, Shivers, The Deepest Cuts

One of the threads running through horror history is that of the intellectual or artistically-minded auteur who turns away from their earliest works, claiming to always have wanted to do other work. Wes Craven is perhaps the prime example of this, whose bitterness toward the genre was always palpable in Q&As; one of his peers, David Cronenberg, similarly avoids discussion of his first films. However, his debut feature, Shivers, like that of Craven (The Last House on the Left), is a fantastic entry in the genre – and it features a parasite that is both fecal and phallic. Clearly, it’s a must-see.

Animating The Imagination: The Dark Fantastic Legacy of Wendy Froud

September 9, 2015 by J Simpson Posted in Editorials, Festival Coverage, Retrospectives Tagged Brian Froud, Jim Henson, Labyrinth, Retrospectives, The Dark Crystal, The Empire Strikes Back, Wendy Froud 1 Comment

A short line of blackclad fantasy lovers wrapped around the block, waiting for the Mission Theater to open its orange cathedral doors. The sun is shining in Portland’s chic Pearl District. The air is warm and dry. In short, a perfectly idyllic late summer/early fall day in Portland. Read More