Cinema and Popcorn

BEST ACTOR Personally, I think this year's Best Actor contender lineup is amazing (just like Best Actress'). From a living legend to Hollywood superstars, to highly respected acting names and newcomers, Best Actor seems to embrace diversity and some high-quality performances featured in Spring and Summer limited releases like First Reformed (starring Ethan Hawke ) and BlacKkKlansman (starring John David Washington ) seem to still up in the game - which is wonderful, since most of Spring and Summer small productions tend to fall into oblivion when Fall film festival begins, no matter how good they are. This way I'm proud to present my predicted nominees shortlist. I must say I would also include Michael B. Jordan for Creed II since he looks ferocious in the movie trailer and he's the hit actor of the year thanks to his scene-stealing turn in Black Panther ... But I guess he can surprise and pop-up in the Best Actor race easily: the man is under the AMPAS radar si...

Yalitza Aparicio - Roma (actress) The star of the highly-personal, critical acclaimed and film festivals' hit  Roma steps into the character who was inspired by the woman who raised Alfonso Cuarón. Critics loved her acting turn (which is, actually, her acting debut) and it seems she managed to carry the whole movie on her shoulders. Ari Aster - Hereditary (director) The genius behind the best horror movie in years! Ari Aster deserves a round of applause and a standing ovation for being able to revitalize the horror genre with the creepy Hereditary as both a screenwriter and a director. Bo Burnham - Eight Grade (director) The American comedian who started his career as a YouTuber and then went to become a professional comedian - Bo Burnham is one of the biggest suprises of 2018 thanks to Eight Grade , the movie he wrote and directed! The tale of an awkward young teenage girl trying to relate to her peers is one of the most unique movies of the year. ...

ROBERT DOWNEY JR. , born April 4, 1965 in Manhattan, New York, the son of writer, director and filmographer Robert Downey Sr. and actress Elsie Downey (née Elsie Ann Ford). He's famous for his portray of the highly charismatic superhero playboy Tony Stark AKA Iron Man and one of the most well-paid actors in the world. At first, he was considered a huge promise in the acting branch but the actor's drug-related problems escalated from 1996 to 2001, which led to arrests, rehab and incarcerations (he got fired from Ally McBeal TV series in 1997). After emerging clean and sober again around 2003, he was decided to rebuild his career. So... Just like I mentioned in a previous poster, let's celebrate 10 years of MCU and the massive worldwide success of Avengers: Infinity War by having a look at its main cast members careers and major acting achievements. The third "victim" is Robert Downey Jr., the man who's the ambassador of Marvel Cinematic Universe, just ...

Looks better than I expected (specially Emily Blunt)! Don't you feel the nostalgia, already?

Funny that a movie no one was really talking about took home the top prize of Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2018 - Peter Farrely's Green Book . While the movie draws some initial comparisons to Driving Miss Daisy , it seems it goes a bit deeper. The story of a friendship between a white chauffeur and a black jazz music star, according to reviews the movie pays respect to both leads' social backgrounds without sacrifing its feel-good vibe. Yeah! A feel-good movie won TIFF (maybe the very first since Slumdog Millionaire ). And guess what? I added Green Book in my Oscar nominees predictions charts at the GoldDerby last Friday! Lucky me! And now, Green Book enters the race for the Academy Award for Best Picture: since 2008,only 1 of the TIFF winners (2011's Where Do We Go Now? ) was not Best Picture nominated, with Slumdog Millionaire (2008), The King's Speech (2010) and 12 Years a Slave (2012) taking home the Oscar for Best Picture at the end of t...

I will write an article about "Academy Awards 2019 Best Actress Race: The Bloodbath" (seriously, I've already started writing it and a study on Robert Downey Jr. too because of "Celebrating The Avengers", but TIFF and Oscar race are priorities now)... I was predicting all these actresses to enter the race and while I was pretty sure Layne would be a revelation (I trust Jenkins) and that Roberts would become an easy frontrunner after seeing Ben is Back teaser (seriously, her expression when she hugs Lucas Hedges is so moving it is Oscar-worthy alone), I was not expecting Moore and Davis to be these well-received! Right now, for Best Actress, I'm considering: Glenn Close ( The Wife ), Olivia Colman ( The Favourite ), Lady Gaga ( A Star Is Born ), Kiki Layne ( If Beale Street Could Talk , not many reviews yet, but early reactions are quite positive), Julia Roberts ( Ben is Back ), Viola Davis ( Widows ), Julianne Moore ( Gloria Bell ), Nicole Kidman (...

GOLDEN LION : Roma , Alfonso Cuarón He will now have to battle all the "Netflix tabu" in order to shine in front of the AMPAS' eyes! This prestige prize only feeds Cuarón's Oscar dreams and it might also be a right push for Netflix to release Roma in theatres and not only on streaming (fingers crossed!!!) Grand Jury Prize: The Favourite , Yorgos Lanthimos The movie is more of a film festival candy than "mainstream awards" cup of tea, but it seems Lanthimos brings his most "conventional" film yet without sacrificing his more grotesque pleasures. The movie is officially on the radar for the main award categories (Best Film/Picture and Best Director) now Silver Lion for Best Director: Jacques Audiard, The Sisters Brothers While The Sisters Brothers doesn't seem like Best Picture and Best Director material for the AMPAS tastes, maybe it can be good enough for Best Adapted Screenplay consolation prize. Audiard is brilliant as a direc...

BEST PICTURE Best Picture... the top Academy Award category! This year is the year of diversity: from comedy to drama, to sci-fi/horror, to musicals, animated features and period pieces... I don't remember an year this rich in terms of Best Picture contenders. With Venice Film Festival happening right now and Toronto International Film Festival about to start, it's time to publish my early predictions for Academy Awards 2019 - Best Picture nominations. I'm sorry I had Venice Film Festival reviews under consideration, but they were simply impossible to ignore! 1. BlacKkKlansman Spike Lee's latest movie met widespread acclaim at this year's edition of Cannes Film Festival (and it took home the Grand Prize of the Jury and it was nominated for the prestigious Palme d'Or) and it is making a lot of money at the box-office, quietly - a total worldwide gross of $55.8M until the first week of September, against a $15M budget. BlacKkKlansman is a smart com...