Cinema and Popcorn

My first official round of Academy Awards 2014 nominees predictions is closed. I know many categories were left to predict, some important ones included (Best Foreign Picture, screenplays or Best Animated Feature), but I'm not a specialist in predicting Best Animated Feature, I've some doubts about how to consider some screenplays original or adapted and countries haven't already made their submissions.  So, it's time to follow press from Venice Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival. It is known that major Oscar players emerge during these cinematic events. So, I'll take one week in order to "study" the reception of the many movies that will screen in both Venice and Toronto, so wish me luck. I must apologize you because I don't have any plans to write a new post this week , but I think reading reviews and living my own life will keep me busy enough. I'm really looking foward movies like Gravity , 12 Years a Slave , Don Jon ...

1. Alfonso Cuarón for Gravity Born:  November 28, 1961 - Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico Previous Oscar recognition in directing: none Oscar snubed directing work(s): 2006 - Children of Men COMMENT : An ambitious sci-fi epic always often features great directing works and early word on Gravity is full of praise to the director's efforts. Cuarón never got nominated in the directing category but the AMPAS has already recognized him in other fields (screenplay and editing), so maybe it's time to give him a nod in one of the biggest categories. Plus, Gravity is one of the frontrunners in the Best Picture race and since Best Picture & Best Director are "twin categories", the future looks promising for the Mexican director. 2. Steve McQueen for 12 Years a Slave Born:  October 9, 1969 - London, England, UK Previous Oscar recognition in directing: none Oscar snubed directing work(s): 2011 - Shame COMMENT : After the great Hunger and S...

BEST ACTOR 1. Robert Redford for All Is Lost Born:  August 18, 1936 - Santa Monica, California, USA Previous Oscar recognition in acting: 1974 - Best Actor for The Sting (nom) Oscar snubed performance(s): 1969 -  Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid COMMENT : Like him or not, Redford has a huge fanbase (and my aunt is just one of those people who's crazy for him!) and he got the biggest raves from his career during this year's edition of Cannes Film Festival thanks to his performance in All Is Lost . It's a "one man show" movie, with Redford being the only person on-screen, but it seems he delivers... Now, let's translate it to Oscar predictions language: we know how much the AMPAS loves to honour members of Hollywood royality once in a while and Redford's last and only nod for acting happened 39 years ago (but, as a director and a producer, he got his last two nods in 1995), so considering how iconic his name is, I believe he may be one of...

Daisy Buchanan: Gatsby? What Gatsby...?

Alfred Borden: The secret impresses no one. The trick you use it for is everything.

" Inspiring if not inspired, Lee Daniels' The Butler is a sort of Readers' Digest overview of the 20th century American civil rights movement centered on an ordinary individual with an extraordinary perspective. (...) And yet, even with all contrivances and obvious point-making and familiar historical signposting, Daniels' The Butler is always engaging, often entertaining and certainly never dull, the latter a fault for which neither the director nor the writer, thus far in their careers, can ever be accused. (...) Aging realistically as a years flip by, Whitaker remains locked within a narrow range due to his character's requisite discretion but creates a finely tuned portrait of a man for whom patience, fortitude and playing by the rules are paramount virtues; by the end, it emerges as a genuinely stirring performance. With her drunk scenes and sporadic venting of frustrations, Winfrey has more dramatic opportunities and is quite enjoyable to watch (...) Per...

BEST ACTRESS 1. Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine Born: May 14, 1969 - Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Previous Oscar recognition in acting: 1999 - Best Actress for Elizabeth (nom); 2005 - Best Supporting Actress for The Aviator ( win ); 2007 - Best Supporting Actress for Notes on a Scandal (nom); 2008 - Best Actress for Elizabeth: The Golden Age (nom); 2008 - Best Supporting Actress for I'm Not There (nom) Oscar snubed performance(s): 2000 - The Man Who Cried ; 2003 - Veronica Guerin ; 2005 - Little Fish ; 2008 - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button COMMENT : It has been a while since I'm Not There (the last "great performance" by Blanchett if you exclude her charming turn in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ) and after a three years of work in money-making movies, Blanchett is finally back to the meaty/complex roles. In fact, it promises to a good year for the Australian actress with the early Best Picture buzz around The Monuments Men a...