Director Face/Off: Wes Anderson Vs. Richard Linklater (Part One – Reusing Actors)

June 10, 2015 by Lillian Angelle Posted in Retrospectives Leave a comment

Wes Anderson and Richard Linklater –prominent writer/directors, Texas natives (both have roots in Houston) and coincidentally my two favorite humans. Their latest films were nominated for Best Motion Picture this year and, delving further, their careers have evolved at very similar rates, humbly paving the quaint dirt road that was the indie film scene in the ‘90s with Slacker and Bottle Rocket. Onward, they transitioned to tastemakers, acquiring cult followings with Dazed and Confused and The Royal Tenenbaums. With each film Anderson and Linklater make, their toolbox gets a little bigger without compromising their eclectic and pridefully offbeat styles, one vastly different from the other, yet hauntingly similar. Which leads to the question, who does it better?

Girl Crush of the Week: Lisa Rowe

June 9, 2015 by Jill Landon Posted in Retrospectives 2 Comments

There are certain female characters in certain movies that makes us all sparkly-eyed with love–and not for their cleavage, their tans, or their LiteBrite smiles. These aren’t your blonde bombshells and your Standard Hollywood Love Interests. No, these are the women in film that women adore–for their spunk, their sass, their I-just-DGAF attitudes. Sometimes they’re “hot,” and sometimes they’re “not,” but what they’ll always be is memorable. These are our Girl Crushes of the Week.

I don’t remember the first time I saw Girl, Interrupted, the 1999 psychological drama based on Susanna Kaysen’s memoir of the same name, but I do remember that it came, for me, in a time of great Winona Ryder obsession. This was around seventh grade, and while part of me definitely hankered for bedazzled Abercrombie jeans and a T-Mobile Sidekick like all the popular girls, there existed a small yet ardent flame inside me that ignited whenever I watched Winona onscreen. Her dark, emotive eyes, the secondhand clothes, the insistence on shunning both what was trendy and what would give you a tan–this was an actress who spoke to the weird girls, the shy ones, the artists. Like a vegetarian dog offered raw meat for a change, my soul immediately perked up for Winona and proceeded to go crazy. I was a goner from my first Winona film, Beetlejuice, a grand slam for fans of Tim Burton, but which was a little too oddball-horror for my emo-teen aesthetic.

SIFF 2015 Releases Line Up

April 29, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Film Editorials

This morning, the Seattle International Film Festival lifted the proverbial (and literal) curtain to unveil its impressive 2015 lineup. Arguably overstuffed to the point of popping, this year’s fest will feature an even 450 films including 193 feature length, 70 documentaries, 19 archival films, 164 short films and 4 secret films. Of those 450, 49 are world premieres (23 features and 26 shorts) while 51 are North American premieres (33 features, 18 shorts) and 18 are US premieres (7 features, 11 shorts). As is SIFF tradition, the films are relegated to 10 different (exclamation-filled) “Moods” including: Creative Streak, Face the Music, Love…,Make Me Laugh, Open My Eyes, Provoke Me!, Sci-Fi & Beyond, Show Me the World!, Thrill Me! and To the Extreme. So no matter what mood you’re in, there’s got to be at least one of the 450 that will tickle your fancy.

Of SIFF 2015’s impressive Gala selection, we over at Silver Screen Riot are well ahead of the curve, having already seen a bulk of SIFF’s centerpiece material. Paul Feig‘s Spy is set to open the fest on Thursday, May 14 in Seattle’s McCaw Hall and though we weren’t the biggest fan at its SXSW premiere, it’s very much crowd-pleasing comedy fare. More impressive is James Ponsoldt‘s The End of the Tour, which will play at the DAR Rainier Chapter House as SIFF’s Centerpiece Gala. Having seen 77 films this year to date, The End of the Tour is sitting at my top spot if that’s any indication of me feelings for the film. Closing out the festival is Patrick Brice‘s absolutely hysterical The Overnight which plays Sunday, June 7, the same day that the Golden Space Needle Awards are held.

Others that we’ve seen and would heartily recommend include the twisted Americana fairytale Lamb, Jason Schwartzman‘s other hysterical comedy 7 Chinese Brothers, Joshua Oppenheimer‘s Indonesian genocide doc follow-up The Look of Silence, Kodi Smit-McPhee/Michael Fassbender neo-western Slow West, Leslye Headland‘s surprisingly sweet shock-comedy Sleeping with Other People, NZ splatterhorror Deathgasm, 80s action figure throwback Turbo Kid, family road trip film Manson Family Vacation and Jemaine Clement as a semi-depressive comic book artist in People, Places, Things.

Of those that we’ve not yet seen but immediately caught our interest are: Norway’s Sundance (’14) little-seen but widely-loved Blind, Kevin Bacon-starring SXSW horror hit Cop Car, critically lauded Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys biopic Love and Mercy, Sundance breakout and audience/jury winning Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Room 237 director Rodney Ascher‘s follow-up doc The Nightmare, SXSW ’15 demons-in-the-woods horror flick The Hallow, Daft Punk-inspired 90s Parisian DJ drama Eden and “girl hunts down the pimp that broke her heart” dramedy Tangerine.

Be sure to check back often for SIFF15 updates and our thoughts on the films we see. For now, check out the entire lineup below with links to reviews we’ve written and asterisks on those of interest (growing list.)

————————————————————————————————————————————

1001 Grams
2045 Carnival Folklore
31⁄2 Minutes
54: The Director’s Cut
7 Chinese Brothers
808
Accused
Alleluia
All Things Must Pass*
Alyam, Alyam
Angkor’s Children
The Apu Trilogy: Song of the Little Road The Apu Trilogy: The Unvanquished
The Apu Trilogy: The World of Apu
The Astrologer
Atlantic.
The Automatic Hate*
Banana
Beach Town
Beats of the Antonov
Before We Go
Behavior
Being Evel
Best of Enemies
Beti and Amare
Beyond Zero: 1914-1918
Big Father, Small Father and Other Stories The Birth of Saké
Black Girl
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution A Blast
Blind
Blue Blood
The Blue Hour
The Boda Boda Thieves
Bodyslam: Revenge of the Banana Bonifacio
The Boss, Anatomy of a Crime Boulevard
Breathe Umphefumlo
A Brilliant Young Mind
Cartel Land
Cartoonists: Foot Soldiers of Democracy Caught
The Cave of Silken Web
Cave of the Spider Women
Challat of Tunis
Charlie’s Country
Chatty Catties
Cherry Tobacco
The Chinese Mayor
Chuck Norris vs. Communism
Circle
City of Gold
Ciudad Delirio
The Coffin in the Mountain
Color of the Pomegranates
The Connection
Cooking Up a Tribute Cop Car
Corn Island
Corrections Class Cub
The Cut
The Dark Horse
The Dark Mirror
Dearest
Deathgasm
Décor
Diner
Do I Sound Gay?
Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten:
Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll Dreams Rewired
Dukhtar
Eden*
Eisenstein in Guanajuato
Electric Boogaloo: The Wild Untold Story of Cannon Films
Elephant Song
The End of the Tour
Excuse My French Experimenter
The Farewell Party
Fassbinder – To Love Without Demands A Few Cubic Meters of Love
Fiddlesticks
The Fire
Flowers
Footloose
The Forecaster
For Grace
Fourth Man Out
Frame by Frame
Free Fall
Front Cover
The Games Maker
Gazelles
Gemma Bovery
Gente de Bien
Gentle
Ghadi
The Glamour & The Squalor
Glassland
The Golden Era
The Golden Hill
Goodnight Mommy
Good Ol’ Boy
Graziella
The Great Alone
The Grump
Güeros
Guidance
H.*
Haemoo
The Hallow*
Handmade with Love in France Happy 40th
A Hard Day
Heaven Knows What
Hedi Schneider is Stuck
Henri Henri
The Hollow One
How To Win At Checkers (Every Time)
I Am Michael*
I Am the People
I Kissed A Girl
I’ll See You in My Dreams
Inside Out*
In the Grayscale
In Utero
The Invisible Boy
Itsi Bitsi
Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet
Key House Mirror
Kid Kulafu
The Killing Fields of Dr. Haing S. Ngor
King Georges
Krisha*
Kurmanjan Datka Queen of the Mountains
The Lamb
Lamb
License To Operate
Listen to Me Marlon
The Little Death
Little Forest – Summer / Autumn
Little Forest – Winter / Spring
Liza, The Fox-Fairy
The Look of Silence
Love Among the Ruins
Love At First Fight
Love & Mercy*
Love, Theft and Other Entanglements Magicarena
The Malagasy Way
Manglehorn
Manson Family Vacation
Mardan
Margarita, with a Straw
Marshland
A Matter of Interpretation
Maya the Bee Movie
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl*
Meeting Dr. Sun
Meet the Patels
Me Him Her
Messi
Mirage
Molly Moon
Morbayassa
Most Likely to Succeed
Mountain Spirits
Mr. Holmes*
Murder in Pacot
The Muses of Bashevis Singer
My Skinny Sister
Name Me
natural history
The New Girlfriend
The New Man
Next Time I’ll Aim For the Heart Next to Her
The Nightmare*
NN
Not All is Vigil
The Old Dark House
One Million Dubliners
Our Summer in Provence
Our Terrible Country
Out of Nature
Overheard 3
The Overnight
Paco de Lucía: A Journey
Paper Planes
Paper Tigers
Paradise in Service
Paris of the North
Partners in Crime
The Passion of Augustine
People, Places, Things
Personal Gold: An Underdog Story Phoenix
Pilchuck, A Dance with Fire Pioneer Heroes
The Price of Fame
The Primary Instinct
Que Viva Mexico
Racing Extinction
Rebel Without a Cause*
Red Rose
The Red Shoes
Results
Revivre
A Rising Tide
Romeo is Bleeding
The Royal Road
Run
The Russian Woodpecker
The Sacred Arrow
Satellite Girl and Milk Cow
Saved From the Flames – A Trip to the Moon and Other Trips
Through Time and Space A Second Chance
The Second Mother
Senza Nessuna Pietá
Seoul Searching
Sergio Herman, F**KING PERFECT Set Fire to the Stars
Shaun the Sheep*
Sherlock Holmes
Sherry & The Mystery of Palo Cortado
Short Skin
Shrew’s Nest
Sleeping with Other People
Slow West
Snow on the Blades
The Son of the Sheik
Spanish Affair
Spy
Steak (R)evolution
Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine*
Strangerland
Sugarcane Shadows
The Summer of Sangaile
Sunshine Superman
Sworn Virgin
Tab Hunter Confidential
Tangerine*
The Teacher’s Diary
Tea Time
Temporary Family
That Sugar Film
Theeb
These Are the Rules
Those People
Three Windows and a Hanging
Tig
Time Out of Mind
The Tournament
Trudell
Turbo Kid
Uncertain
Uncle Kent 2
Under Construction
Unexpected*
The Valley
Valley of the Sasquatch Venice
Very Semi-Serious
The Village
Villa Touma
Vincent
Virgin Mountain Virtuosity
War of Lies
Waterline
West of Redemption
Wet Bum
When Animals Dream
When Marnie Was There
Where I Am King
The Wolfpack
Xenia
Yosemite

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Oscar Wrap Up: Winners 'n' Thoughts

February 23, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Awards Tagged Birdman, Oscar Predictions, Oscar Results, Oscars, Oscars 2015, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Whiplash

Well, as I predicted, this year was a big bust for me. My prognosticating digits went down the toilet with a paltry 16-8 (my worst year in half a decade, especially in light of my 22-2 numbers of last year) but at least I knew going into the ceremony that I was taking some gambles. Boyhood barely got a sniff at Oscar gold and Whiplash managed to steal fire in a few slots (taking home the third most awards with three total wins) but the big winners of the night were Birdman (4) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (4).

As for the actual entertainment value of the show, this critic would give it a resounding “meh.” It had its moments – Graham Moore‘s stirring speech, “Glory”, Jack Black‘s musical interruption, hammered Terrence Howard, the realization that Common’s real name is Lonnie Lynn – but its pitfalls were ever more memorable – including an impressive but overlong and unnecessary Sound of Music tribute, Neil Patrick Harris‘ wet blanket of a magic trick, John Travolta latching onto Idena Menzel‘s face like an Alien facehugger. Can we just not invite him back?

And though NPH was an all-around bust of a host, this year’s ceremony did manage to award some of the best films in a long while. Consider this year’s trio of Birdman, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Whiplash and compare to last year’s Gravity, 12 Years a Slave and Dallas Buyers Club. I know which threesome I would pick up at the video store.

As for our Oscar contest, this year’s winners were r0ckwithme and FilmActually‘s Shane Slater. Congrats! You win prizes!

You’ve likely already seen the winners list but below are the trophy-takers in bold and my incorrect predictions in red. Here’s hoping that next year I have much better numbers on the board.

BEST PICTURE
Boyhood
The Imitation Game
Birdman
The Theory of Everything
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Whiplash
Selma
American Sniper

BEST DIRECTOR
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Reese Witherspoon, Wild
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Emma Stone, Birdman
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods
Laura Dern, Wild

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Edward Norton, Birdman
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
Robert Duvall, The Judge

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
Dan Futterman and E. Max Frye, Foxcatcher

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Graham Moore, The Imitation Game
Anthony McCarten, The Theory of Everything
Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
Jason Hall, American Sniper
Paul Thomas Anderson, Inherent Vice

FILM EDITING
American Sniper
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Whiplash

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Ida (Poland)
Leviathan (Russia)
Tangerines (Estonia)
Timbuktu (Mauritania)
Wild Tales (Argentina)

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Big Hero 6
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Boxtrolls
Song of the Sea
The Tale of Princess Kaguya

ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hees, The Bigger Picture (National Film and Television School)
Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi, The Dam Keeper (Tonko House)
Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed, Feast (Walt Disney Animation Studios)
Torill Kove, Me and My Moulton (Mikrofilm in co-production with the National Film Board of Canada)
Joris Oprins, A Single Life (Job, Joris & Marieke)

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis, Aya (Chasis Films)
Michael Lennox, director, and Ronan Blaney, Boogaloo and Graham (Out of Orbit)
Hu Wei and Julien Féret, Butter Lamp (La Lampe au Beurre de Yak)(AMA Productions)
Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger, Parvaneh (Zurich University of Arts)
Mat Kirkby, director and James Lucas, The Phone Call (RSA Films)

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Citizenfour
Last Days in Vietnam
Virunga
Finding Vivian Maier
The Salt of the Earth

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Perry Films, Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Wajda Studio, Joanna
Warsaw Film School, Our Curse
Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica, The Reaper (La Parka)
Weary Traveler, White Earth

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman
Dick Pope, Mr. Turner
Robert D. Yeoman, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ryszard Lenczewski and Łukasz Żal, Ida
Roger Deakins, Unbroken

ORIGINAL SCORE
Johann Johannsson, The Theory of Everything
Alexandre Desplat, The Imitation Game
Alexandre Desplat, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Hans Zimmer, Interstellar
Gary Yershon, Mr. Turner

ORIGINAL SONG
Gregg Alexander, Danielle Brisebois, Nick Lashley, and Nick Southwood, “Lost Stars” (Begin Again)
John Legend and Common, “Glory” (Selma)
Shawn Patterson, Joshua Bartholomew, Lisa Harriton, and The Lonely Island, “Everything Is Awesome” (The Lego Movie)
Diane Warren, “Grateful” (Beyond the Lights)
Glen Campbell, “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” (Glen Campbell … I’ll Be Me)

COSTUME DESIGN
Colleen Atwood, Into the Woods
Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive, Maleficent
Milena Canonero, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Jacqueline Durran, Mr. Turner
Mark Bridges, Inherent Vice

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Adam Stockhausen and Anna Pinnock, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Suzie Davies and Charlotte Watts, Mr. Turner
Dennis Gassner and Anna Pinnock, Into the Woods
Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis, and Paul Healy, Interstellar
Maria Djurkovic and Tatiana Macdonald, The Imitation Game

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard, Foxcatcher
Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White, Guardians of the Galaxy

VISUAL EFFECTS
Interstellar
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
X Men: Days of Future Past
Captain America: The Winter Soldier

SOUND EDITING
Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman, American Sniper
Martín Hernández and Aaron Glascock, Birdman
Brent Burge and Jason Canovas, The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies
Richard King, Interstellar
Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro, Unbroken

SOUND MIXING
American Sniper
Birdman
Unbroken
Interstellar
Whiplash

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2015 Oscar Predictions (Or the Unexpected Virtue of Winning Your Oscar Pool)

February 22, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Awards Tagged Birdman, Boyhood, Oscar Predictions, Oscars, Oscars 2015

It’s that magical time of year when film come to a head, colliding in a battleground of prestige, vying for golden statuettes that boast careers and fatten paychecks. This year’s Academy Awards nomination met with controversy out of the gate – most notably for the exclusion of noted female and African-American directors, actors and screenwriters – but that hasn’t stalled the herds of celebrities literally waiting in the wings to reward each other and today is the biggest and easily the most important of the awards season. So don your fanciest dress, pop your priciest wine and set out the stinkiest cheeses because today months and months of speculation and prognostication end to the tune of shiny statues. Read More

The Annual Silver Screen Riot Oscar Contest

February 18, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Awards Tagged Academy Awards, Awards, Contests, Oscars 2015

This year’s Oscars are as close to a crap shoot as they’ve been. Sure, it’s a two horse race but it’s a two horse race separated my inches and honestly at this point, I’m not sure which camp I’ll be backing Oscar night. If you don’t already know what I’m referring to, you’re probably in trouble. That doesn’t mean that I won’t give you guys a shot at predicting the Academy Award winners all over again. After all, it’s 2015. Another year, another chance to show your dominance.

As I’ve done in the past, the winner will receive a DVD/Blu-Ray of the film that wins Best Picture – though I’ve been known to be accommodating in the past if that is not your preferred option. Second place will receive a DVD/Blu-ray of one of last year’s Best Picture nominees (select options). Please note that I’ll only be taking the major 21 non-short categories into account, with shorts only functioning as tie-breakers. So even if you get 20/24, you still might end up being 17/21 depending on which categories you fell short in.

This is the first time in a while that I think I might crash and burn (last year I went a mighty 22/24, the same the year before) and might be marking up a score card under 20. Expect my predictions the morning of the Oscars. Meaning, no, you won’t be able to mimic my predictions for this contest. The contest is officially open.

The Rules

You must submit your predictions Saturday, February 21st at Midnight Sunday, February 22nd at 4 PST before the Oscar ceremony starts.
In order to be eligible to win, you must like Silver Screen Riot on Facebook. If you don’t already, click here to do so now.
Only one submission per person.
Only submissions placed via page comment (at the bottom of this page) will count. Do not post on the Silver Screen Riot Facebook wall or send me an email or message. Your predictions are only valid if they’re in the right spot.
Vote for every category in order to win. While it’s all well and good to only care about the primary battlefields, if you only submit predictions for Best Performers and Pic/Director, you’ll miss out on all the other categories and will have a small shot at winning.
The shorts DO NOT count towards your final tally and will only be accounted for in the case of a tie-breaker. So while it might not matter in the end, if it comes down to a tie, the person with the most wins in shorts will take home gold.
In case of a super-way tie (after shorts), the person who predicted first will win, so get your submissions in early.
REMEMBER: Please be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook in order to be eligible to win.

The Prizes

First place will win a DVD or Blu-Ray of the film that wins Best Picture
Second place will receive a DVD or Blu-ray of their choice from last year’s Best Picture nominees (select options)

The Nominees

Best Picture
“American Sniper”
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
“Boyhood”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“The Imitation Game”
“Selma”
“The Theory of Everything”
“Whiplash”

Actor
Steve Carell in “Foxcatcher”
Bradley Cooper in “American Sniper”
Benedict Cumberbatch in “The Imitation Game”
Michael Keaton in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Eddie Redmayne in “The Theory of Everything”

Supporting Actor
Robert Duvall in “The Judge”
Ethan Hawke in “Boyhood”
Edward Norton in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Mark Ruffalo in “Foxcatcher”
J.K. Simmons in “Whiplash”

Actress
Marion Cotillard in “Two Days, One Night”
Felicity Jones in “The Theory of Everything”
Julianne Moore in “Still Alice”
Rosamund Pike in “Gone Girl”
Reese Witherspoon in “Wild”

Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette in “Boyhood”
Laura Dern in “Wild”
Keira Knightley in “The Imitation Game”
Emma Stone in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Meryl Streep in “Into the Woods”

Animated Feature
“Big Hero 6” Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli
“The Boxtrolls” Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable and Travis Knight
“How to Train Your Dragon 2” Dean DeBlois and Bonnie Arnold
“Song of the Sea” Tomm Moore and Paul Young
“The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” Isao Takahata and Yoshiaki Nishimura

Adapted Screenplay
“American Sniper” Written by Jason Hall
“The Imitation Game” Written by Graham Moore
“Inherent Vice” Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson
“The Theory of Everything” Screenplay by Anthony McCarten
“Whiplash” Written by Damien Chazelle

Original Screenplay
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo
“Boyhood” Written by Richard Linklater
“Foxcatcher” Written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness
“Nightcrawler” Written by Dan Gilroy

Cinematography
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Emmanuel Lubezki
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Robert Yeoman
“Ida” Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski
“Mr. Turner” Dick Pope
“Unbroken” Roger Deakins

Costume Design
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Milena Canonero
“Inherent Vice” Mark Bridges
“Into the Woods” Colleen Atwood
“Maleficent” Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive
“Mr. Turner” Jacqueline Durran

Director
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Alejandro G. Iñárritu
“Boyhood” Richard Linklater
“Foxcatcher” Bennett Miller
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Wes Anderson
“The Imitation Game” Morten Tyldum

Documentary Feature
“CitizenFour” Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky
“Finding Vivian Maier” John Maloof and Charlie Siskel
“Last Days in Vietnam” Rory Kennedy and Keven McAlester
“The Salt of the Earth” Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and David Rosier
“Virunga” Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara

Documentary Short Subject
“Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1” Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry
“Joanna” Aneta Kopacz
“Our Curse” Tomasz Sliwinski and Maciej Slesicki
“The Reaper (La Parka)” Gabriel Serra Arguello
“White Earth” J. Christian Jensen

Film Editing
“American Sniper” Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach
“Boyhood” Sandra Adair
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Barney Pilling
“The Imitation Game” William Goldenberg
“Whiplash” Tom Cross

Foreign Language Film
“Ida” Poland
“Leviathan” Russia
“Tangerines” Estonia
“Timbuktu” Mauritania
“Wild Tales” Argentina

Makeup and Hairstyling
“Foxcatcher” Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier
“Guardians of the Galaxy” Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White

Original Score
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Alexandre Desplat
“The Imitation Game” Alexandre Desplat
“Interstellar” Hans Zimmer
“Mr. Turner” Gary Yershon
“The Theory of Everything” Jóhann Jóhannsson

Original Song
“Everything Is Awesome” from “The Lego Movie”
Music and Lyric by Shawn Patterson
“Glory” from “Selma”
Music and Lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn
“Grateful” from “Beyond the Lights”
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from “Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me”
Music and Lyric by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond
“Lost Stars” from “Begin Again”
Music and Lyric by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois

Production Design
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
“The Imitation Game” Production Design: Maria Djurkovic; Set Decoration: Tatiana Macdonald
“Interstellar” Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
“Into the Woods” Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
“Mr. Turner” Production Design: Suzie Davies; Set Decoration: Charlotte Watts

Animated Short Film
“The Bigger Picture” Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hees
“The Dam Keeper” Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi
“Feast” Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed
“Me and My Moulton” Torill Kove
“A Single Life” Joris Oprins

Live Action Short Film
“Aya” Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis
“Boogaloo and Graham” Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney
“Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak)” Hu Wei and Julien Féret
“Parvaneh” Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger
“The Phone Call” Mat Kirkby and James Lucas

Sound Editing
“American Sniper” Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Martín Hernández and Aaron Glascock
“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” Brent Burge and Jason Canovas
“Interstellar” Richard King
“Unbroken” Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro

Sound Mixing
“American Sniper” John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and Thomas Varga
“Interstellar” Gary A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten
“Unbroken” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and David Lee
“Whiplash” Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley

Visual Effects
“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick
“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Erik Winquist
“Guardians of the Galaxy” Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner and Paul Corbould
“Interstellar” Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher
“X-Men: Days of Future Past” Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie and Cameron Waldbauer

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Please remember to submit predictions in the comments section below and good luck!

2015 Oscar Nominations Fail to Excite

January 15, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Awards Tagged Oscars 2015

In a move that inspires little other than a deep sigh, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science unleashed the 2015 Oscar nominees to a thud. With snubs that ran the category gambit – David Fincher‘s Gone Girl was almost entirely ignored, Dan Gilroy’s transcendent Nightcrawler received a single nomination (Best Original Screenplay), Ava DuVernay’s Selma went almost entirely without recognition (although received a Best Pic nomination), The Lego Movie wasn’t nommed for Animated – and unfettered celebration for the likes of Morten Tyldum’s by-the-books The Imitiation Game, which nabbed 8 mighty nominations, while Clint Eastwood’s jingoistic portrait of a trigger-happy, home-bred Americano in American Sniper scored 6.

Listed below are the nominees with those that I called highlighted in red. But first, a run down of how many noms each film scored:

Nomination Run Down

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) – 9 nominations
The Grand Budapest Hotel – 9 nominations
The Imitation Game – 8 nominations
American Sniper – 6 nominations
Boyhood – 6 nominations
Foxcatcher – 5 nominations
Interstellar – 5 nominations
The Theory of Everything – 5 nominations
Whiplash – 5 nominations
Mr. Turner – 4 nominations
Into the Woods – 3 nominations
Unbroken – 3 nominations
Guardians of the Galaxy – 2 nominations
Ida – 2 nominations
Inherent Vice – 2 nominations
Selma – 2 nominations
Wild – 2 nominations

Best Picture

American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

Best Director

Alejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman)
Richard Linklater (Boyhood)
Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game)
Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher)

Best Actor

Steve Carell (Foxcatcher)
Bradley Cooper (American Sniper)
Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game)
Michael Keaton (Birdman)
Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything)

Best Actress

Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One Night)
Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything)
Julianne Moore (Still Alice)
Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)
Reese Witherspoon (Wild)

Best Supporting Actor

Robert Duvall (The Judge)
Ethan Hawke (Boyhood)
Edward Norton (Birdman)
Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher)
J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

Best Supporting Actress

Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)
Laura Dern (Wild)
Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game)
Emma Stone (Birdman)
Meryl Streep (Into the Woods)

Adapted Screenplay

Jason Dean Hall (American Sniper)
Graham Moore (The Imitation Game)
Paul Thomas Anderson (Inherent Vice)
Anthony McCarten (The Theory of Everything)
Damien Chazelle (Whiplash)

Original Screenplay

Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo (Birdman)
Richard Linklater (Boyhood)
E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman (Foxcatcher)
Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler)

Animated Feature Film

Big Hero 6
The BoxTrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

Documentary (feature)

CitizenFour
Finding Vivian Maier
Last Days in Vietnam
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga

Film Editing

Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach (American Sniper)
Sandra Adair (Boyhood)
Barney Pilling (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
William Goldenberg (The Imitation Game)
Tom Cross (Whiplash)

Cinematography

Emmanuel Lubezki (Birdman)
Robert D. Yeoman (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Ryszard Lenczewski and Lukasz Zal (Ida)
Dick Pope (Mr. Turner)
Roger Deakins (Unbroken)

Original Score

Alexandre Desplat (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Alexandre Desplat (The Imitation Game)
Hans Zimmer (Interstellar)
Johann Johannsson (The Theory of Everything)
Gary Yershon (Mr. Turner)

Original Song

“Lost Stars” from Begin Again
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me
“Everything is Awesome” from The Lego Movie
“Glory” from Selma
“Grateful” from Beyond the Lights

Sound Mixing

American Sniper
Birdman
Interstellar
Unbroken
Whiplash

Sound Editing

American Sniper
Birdman
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar
Unbroken

Visual Effects

Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
Interstellar
X-Men: Days of Future Past

Costume Design

Milena Canonero (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Mark Bridges (Inherent Vice)
Colleen Atwood (Into the Woods)
Anna B. Sheppard (Maleficent)
Jacqueline Durran (Mr. Turner)

Production Design

The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Into the Woods
Mr. Turner

Makeup & Hairstyling

Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy

Foreign Language Film

Tangerines
Ida
Leviathan
Timbuktu
Wild Tales

Documentary Short Subject

Crisis Veterans Hotline: Press 1
Joanna
Our Curse
The Reaper (La Parka)
White Earth

Animated Short Film

The Bigger Picture
The Dam Keper
Feast
Me and My Moulton
A Single Life

Live Action Short Film

Aya
Booglaoo and Graham
Butterfly Lamp (La Lampe au Beurre de Yak)
Parvaneh
The Phone Call

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Winners Announced for 2nd Annual Seattle Film Awards

January 14, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Awards Tagged Awards, Oscars 2015, Seattle Film Critics

Courtesty of www.shouldiseeit.net, included below is the full press release for the 2014 Seattle Film Critic Awards, the winners list and the full run-down of nominees. As a voting member of the critical community, I’m thrilled to see my own preferences align with that of the Seattle film critic populace, going toe-for-toe with our number one pick from our Top Ten Films of 2014 list. The following release was authored by Should I See It?’s very own Mike Ward.

“Seattle, Wa. – Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s dramatic satire Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) was named the Best Picture of 2014 by the Seattle film community, as part of the 2015 Seattle Film Awards, honoring the best films of the previous year. Leading the pack with 11 nominations, Birdman walked away with five wins overall.

Designed to resemble a film shot with one continuous take, voters recognized the skill of the film’s innovative editing tricks and techniques, naming it the winner of Best Film Editing. Emmanuel Lubezki earned a second consecutive Best Cinematography win from Seattle critics (Gravity won last year), while Antonio Sanchez’s percussion-heavy score, disqualified by the Academy for blending classical music with original compositions, was named Best Original Score.

While no actors from the film won individual acting awards, Birdman’s cast featuring Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts, Andrea Riseborough, and Zach Galafianakis were awarded the Best Ensemble Cast award, while three of the four winning acting performances represented the lone victory of their respective films.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s blistering performance in Nightcrawler won Best Actor honors, while J.K. Simmons in Whiplash and Jessica Chastain in A Most Violent Year earned Best Supporting Actor and Actress, respectively. Rosamund Pike’s lead turn in David Fincher’s Gone Girl earned her a Best Actress win, while Gillian Flynn’s self-authored adaptation of her own best-selling novel landed a win for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel landed four wins for Production Design, Makeup & Hairstyling, Costume Design, and Best Original Screenplay. The film came into the Seattle Film Awards with 10 total nominations.

On the heels of its winning Best Picture (Drama) at the Golden Globes on Sunday evening, and viewed by many as a frontrunner for Best Picture at the Oscars in February, Boyhood earned Richard Linklater a win as Best Director.

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s inventive The LEGO Movie won Best Animated Feature Film, Steve James’ tribute to Roger Ebert, Life Itself, was named Best Documentary Feature, while Indonesian action sequel, The Raid 2 was a surprise winner for Best Foreign Language Film.

The winners for the 2^nd Annual Seattle Film Awards are listed below:

Click here to see the full list of nominees.

THE 2^nd Annual SEATTLE FILM AWARD WINNERS:

BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

BEST DIRECTOR: Richard Linklater, Boyhood

BEST ACTOR: Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler

BEST ACTRESS: Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness – The Grand Budapest Hotel

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: The LEGO Movie (Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, directors)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: The Raid 2 (Gareth Evans, director)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: Life Itself (Steve James, director)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN: The Grand Budapest Hotel

BEST FILM EDITING: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING: The Grand Budapest Hotel

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG: “Lost Stars” – Begin Again (Gregg Alexander, Danielle Brisebois, composers)

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: The Grand Budapest Hotel

BEST SOUND DESIGN: Godzilla

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes

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2015 Oscar Nominee Predictions

January 11, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Awards Tagged Awards, Birdman, Boyhood, Gone Girl, Nightcrawler, Oscars 2015, Selma, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything, Whiplash

2014 has been one big toss up for Oscar contenders. With the release of nominees from the Golden Globes (winners now), SAGs, the PGAs, the ADGs, the ASCs, the WGAs and the BAFTAs as well as AFI Top Ten, LAFCA, NYFCC and more things have been shaping up into more and more of an unconventional top crop for contenders. Front runners Boyhood, The Imitiation Game, Birdman, The Theory of Everything, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Selma look to nab nominations across the board while darker films like Nightcrawler, Gone Girl and Whiplash are looking more and more likely to be amongst the conversation as serious players.

However hazy some of the later-down-the-list nominees might be, the front runners and potential winners are looking more locked up than they do most year before the nominations are even announced, with few big battleground categories. You could assuredly put your money on a Richard Linklater win for Best Director, Michael Keaton for Best Actor, Julianne Moore for Best Actress, JK Simmons for Best Supporting, and Patricia Arquette for Best Supporting Actress. Wes Anderson‘s script for Grand Budapest Hotel looks like a shoe-in win while Gillian Flynn hopes to score Oscar gold for Gone Girl.

I would bet money on a second Emmanuel Lubezki win in a row (Gravity, now Birdman) for Best Cinematography, even though it’s looking like a crowded field. This happens to be the case with many of the technical fields. Just too few slots for too many contenders. Those categories that I really feel like I’m just taking a shot in the dark at are Best Song, Sound Editing/Mixing and Best Visual Effects (which could go many, many ways.)

Otherwise, I’m just hoping that my Best Picture contenders are on the money since if things go the way I’m thinking they will, we’ll have one of the best Best Picture collections in recent history.

BEST PICTURE
Boyhood
The Imitation Game
Birdman
The Theory of Everything
Selma
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Gone Girl
Whiplash
Nightcrawler

BEST DIRECTOR
Richard Linklater “Boyhood”
Alejandro G. Inarritu “Birdman”
David Fincher “Gone Girl”
Ava DuVernay “Selma”
Wes Anderson “Grand Budapest Hotel”

BEST ACTOR
Michael Keaton “Birdman”
Eddie Redmayne “The Theory of Everything”
Jake Gyllenhaal “Nightcrawler”
Benedict Cumberbatch “The Imitation Game”
David Oyelowo “Selma”

BEST ACTRESS
Julianne Moore “Still Alice”
Reese Witherspoon “Wild”
Rosamund Pike “Gone Girl”
Felicity Jones “The Theory of Everything”
Jennifer Anniston “Cake”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
JK Simmons “Whiplash”
Mark Ruffalo “Foxcatcher”
Edward Norton “Birdman”
Ethan Hawke “Boyhood”
Robert Duvall “The Judge”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette “Boyhood”
Emma Stone “Birdman”
Keira Knightley “The Imitation Game”
Jessica Chastain “A Most Violent Year”
Meryl Streep “Into the Woods”

BEST EDITING
Whiplash
Boyhood
Birdman
Gone Girl
Interstellar

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Wes Anderson “Grand Budapest Hotel”
Alejandro Inarritu et al “Birdman”
Richard Linklater “Boyhood”
Dan Gilroy “Nightcrawler”
Ava Duvernay, Paul Webb “Selma”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Gillian Flynn “Gone Girl”
Graham Moore “The Imitation Game”
Nick Hornby “Wild”
Damien Chazelle “Whiplash”
Anthony McCarten “The Theory of Everything”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Fource Majeure
Ida (Poland)
Leviathan (Russia)
Wild Tales (Argentina)
Tangerines (Estonia)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Birdman
Mr. Turner
Grand Budapest Hotel
Unbroken
Interstellar

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Grand Budapest Hotel
Interstellar
Into the Woods
Birdman
The Theory of Everything

BEST SOUND MIXING
Into the Woods
Interstellar
Whiplash
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers 4

BEST SOUND EDITING
Whiplash
Into the Woods
Interstellar
Birdman
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Into the Woods
Grand Budapest Hotel
Mr. Turner
The Imitation Game
A Most Violent Year

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Gone Girl
Interstellar
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Theory of Everything
The Imitation Game

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Citizenfour
Life Itself
Jodorowsky’s Dune
The Overnighters
Last Days in Vietnam

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The LEGO Movie
Princess Kaguya
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Boxtrolls
Big Hero 6

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Interstellar
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
Godzilla
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
The Theory of Everything
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Foxcatcher

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Glory” (Selma)
“Mercy Is” (Noah)
“Opportunity” (Annie)
“Yellow Flicker Beat” (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part I)
“Miracles” (Unbroken)

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Has the Summer of 2014 Been the Best in Years?

July 10, 2014 by Matt Oakes Posted in Film Editorials Tagged 22 Jump Street, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Edge of Tomorrow, Godzilla, X-Men: Days of Future Past

Quite simply: yes. We’re not even mid-way into July and we’ve already seen the meteoric rise of many masterclass takes on the summer tentpole. With the nearly perfect Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the breathtaking X-Men: Days of Future Past, Tom Cruise‘s thrilling sci-fi actioner Edge of Tomorrow, Phil Lord and Chris Miller‘s hysterical 22 Jump Street, Dreamwork’s stunning and heart-breaking animated follow-up How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Gareth Edward‘s crazily awesome Godzilla, the season’s blockbusters have been just that: blockbusters.

We’re not even half way into the season and we’ve got more certifiable showstoppers than ever before. And we’re not just talking superhero movies, a facet that has made 2014 stand out even more. We’re talking a wide array of films with varying perspectives and takes on what is great about a summer blockbuster. They’ve topped the charts and for good reason: they’re quite simply good movies on a bigger scale, and we’ve only yet mentioned the hundred million dollar ones.

On the indie side, we’ve seen Bong Joon-ho‘s wildly unconventional Snowpiercer, David Michod’s deeply unsettling The Rover and Jim Mickle‘s unpredictable Cold in July, each made in the traditional of big screen excellence but seen by a smaller, more niche audience and using with a smaller change purse to make it happen. But even this independent cinema has unleashed a pantheon of unforgettable big screen debuts this summer season, each in the tradition of the summer tentpole.

And when we do add superhero movies into the mix, even the overrated Captain America: The Winter Soldier was solid as was The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (a vast improvement over the original). Plus we haven’t even gotten to Guardians of the Galaxy that’ll debut the beginning of August and has the potential to be a breakout hit.

And sure the vastly inferior Transformers: Age of Extinction and Maleficent may have shown them all up in the box office ring but we have to take into account that old habits die slow. People take time to learn what’s good for them. The aforementioned blockbusters are Filet Mignon, it just so happens that people are used to eating hamburger. But so long as we continue to praise these movies and show up to buy tickets for them, things may just continue to trend in a positive direction. I’m no box office guru but I know that at the theater, your money is your voice. Make sure that you’re speaking up for the ones that matter.

Taking into account this fact, just compare with me the quality of 2014 Summer’s blockbuster to recent summer seasons past and you’ll see just how easily it eclipses anything from the past few years. Last year held the decent to middling to just plain bad; Iron Man 3, Fast and Furious 6, Man of Steel, R.I.P.D., Star Trek into Darkness, Pacific Rim, The Heat, The Hangover 3, After Earth, White House Down, The Lone Ranger, Red 2. Sure I purposely left some of 2014 lesser films out of my analysis for the sake of making my argument but look at how many clunkers we have above. Just one after another.

Blow for blow, 2014 trumps 2013 at every turn. And though 2012 had Dark Knight Rises, Avengers and the like-it-or-hate-it Prometheus, it was also filled with crud like The Amazing Spider-Man, The Expendables 2, Snow White and the Huntsman, Total Recall, Battleship and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Save for one or two exceptions (nearly all from the superhero camp), it was once again a summer left in the wash.

2011 had more Transformers, another unwanted Pirates of the Caribbean movie, Cars 2, the water-dump Green Lantern, the brutally bad The Hangover: Part 2as well as the truly awesome Mission Impossible 4, the conclusive Harry Potter installment, the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Cowboys and Aliens and the very solid Fast Five. It also introduced us to Thor and Captain America but it still doesn’t compare to 2014 in terms of originality and vision. Superhero movies and sequels do tend to dominate these summer months but you’re gonna have to spend your hard-earned dollar on things like Edge of Tomorrow if you want to see the summer movie zeitgeist head in a positive direction. It means you taking a risk, or at least reading critical response to movies and knowing what you’re getting into. The good stuff is out there, you just have to be able to not be seduced by the golden arches every time round.

What I’m trying to say is: in terms of the big picture, 2014 is the year of the summer blockbuster puttering back to life and don’t let the big box office performance of Trans4mers or Maleficent tell you otherwise. If you’re still amongst the naysayers calling 2014 a bad year for movies, remove your head from your ass and actually head to the theater. I could recommend ten movies playing right this second that would simply wow you (just take a look at top tier of the 131 2014 films I’ve reviewed so far this year for proof of that). Summer 2014 really has been a showstopper and one that you probably oughta stop talking smack about. But with less and less people going to the movies, the onus is those who do care about the future of cinema to step up and gently herd the box office in the right direction. Spend your money wisely, unless you’re content seeing Transformers 29: Attack of the Robot Nazi Ninjas.

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