my picks for tonight’s 97th Academy Awards (the Oscars for 2024’s films) (winners indicated)
I correctly guessed 12 out of the 23 categories, which is exactly as well as I did last year. (Five of my “should win”s did win!) At least I’m consistent.
Adrien Brody
OFCS 2024 awards winners announced
Anora and The Substance are the big winners; Ava DuVernay, Barbara Crampton, and Nicolas Cage are honored with Special Achievement Awards…
The Brutalist movie review: red, white, and brutal
Stark and unsentimental, as stubborn and as challenging as its protagonist, and as monumental as his works. Adrien Brody’s performance is extraordinary, full of flinty anger and palpable melancholy.
AWFJ 2024 EDA Awards winners announced
The Brutalist, Conclave, and The Substance are the big winners…
curated: Wes Anderson’s Christmas ad for H&M is also quite amusing
And, of course, very Wes Anderson.
InAPPropriate Comedy (redband trailer)
I don’t understand. Where’s the comedy?
Midnight in Paris (review)
Midnight in Paris becomes the butt of its own gentle joke… perhaps the most Woody Allen joke ever, one that wraps up a paralyzing self-awareness in a redemptive self-deprecation to, finally and splendidly, laugh with great good humor at itself.
why ‘Big’ is depressing; should Roger Ebert retire?; streaming-only Netflix; more: leftover links
Plus: Could Wikileaks have stopped 9/11?; PBS isn’t as progressive as we thought; Hugh Jackman on Wolverine 2; more…
what would Mark Twain do?; Michael Moore joins the Oscar board; Sam Worthington, comic book king?: leftover links
Every week my browser gets cluttered up with tabs for stuff that I stumble across and figure I might be able to use as a Question of the Day or a WTF Thought for the Day or grist for some other post. And inevitably, I end the week with most of that material unused. But … more…
new this week in U.S., Canadian, and U.K. theaters: ‘Despicable Me,’ ‘Predators,’ ‘The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,’ more
U.S. AND CANADA/OPENING WIDE Despicable Me: “It’s so fluffy I’m gonna die!” is my new go-to phrase for when I’m excited about anything. If you can’t make it to the multiplex, try: • The Incredibles (2004): the last great animated movie about supervillains (and the superheroes who thwart them). • 101 Dalmatians (1961): For one … more…
