If I had two wishes for tonight’s Academy Awards ceremony–you don’t get three, contrary to popular belief, as the Ravioli Genie informs the protagonist of Le génie de la boîte de raviolis, a charming short currently playing before Best Animated Feature nominee My Life as a Zucchini–I know exactly what they’d be. One, I’d wish for host Jimmy […]
Danny Baldwin’s 2017 Oscar Picks and Predictions Read More »
Curious name, “A War.” The setting of Tobias Lindholm’s miniature combat film is very specific—Afghanistan’s Helmand Province, where a group of Danish soldiers try to keep the peace—and yet that title, with its assertive indefinite article, suggests a deliberate distancing, presenting instead a military operation that might stand in for many battles and maybe all
Rest assured: this is the only Oscar predictions post you’ll see on Critic Speak all year. While the rest of the Internet film community becomes obsessed with statuettes come November, writing almost exclusively about precursors and frontrunners and “Oscar buzz” for the next four months, we pride ourselves on keeping the focus on real criticism.
Our 2014 Oscar Picks and Predictions Read More »
Rest assured: this is the only Oscar predictions post you’ll see on Critic Speak all year. While the rest of the Internet film community becomes obsessed with statuettes come November, writing almost exclusively about precursors and frontrunners and “Oscar buzz” for the next four months, we pride ourselves on keeping the focus on real criticism.
Our Oscar Picks and Predictions Read More »
And the nominees are… “Kings Point” (Sari Gilman, USA) – It’s been a strong year for movies about what happens to us when we grow old, between “Amour,” the live-action short “Henry,” and this documentary short in which director Sari Gilman follows five residents of the eponymous Florida retirement community where her grandmother lived. It’s
Review: The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2013 – Documentary Read More »
And the nominees are… “Adam and Dog” (Minkyu Lee, USA) – You’d never guess that this, the most aesthetically beautiful of this year’s nominees, was animated entirely in Photoshop, as the images have the appearance of a stunning blend of oil paints and watercolors. The world created in “Adam and Dog”—a painterly, ‘Scope version of
Review: The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2013 – Animation Read More »
Hello and welcome back to Box Office Beat, the column in which I predict the upcoming weekend’s box office results. Most moviegoers’ eyes will be on the Oscars this weekend, so there isn’t much happening in the way of new wide releases; just two films open and both would be very lucky to come near
Box Office Beat: Weekend of February 22 Read More »
And the nominees are… “Death of a Shadow” (Tom Van Avermaet, Belgium) — The 20-minute length doesn’t allow for much explanation of the mechanics behind the intriguing science-fiction-like concept, which involves the collection of the shadows of the dying, so we basically just accept it and focus on the characters’ emotions. These ring true through
Review: The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2013 – Live Action Read More »
Jimmy Fallon, the amiable host of “Late Night” on NBC is the leading contender to front the 2013 Oscars ceremony, with his former “Saturday Night Live” boss Lorne Michaels producing, reports the Los Angeles Times. That would represent a major play by the Academy to attract a younger audience for the telecast, which is popularly chastised
Jimmy Fallon may host 2013 Oscars Read More »
