Cinema and Popcorn

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS If Best Actress is the year's bloodbath, Best Supporting Actress is a much softer battlefield. Solid contenders, but there's no sense of "anyone can make it". Before Colman placement in the leading category, the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress was hers to take... Now, it is anyone's game. From the respected Regina King ( If Beale Street Could Talk ) to breakthrough performer Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie ( Leave No Trace ), this field offers diversity and actresses at the various states of their careers. A note about Nicole Kidman , who is said to deliver an Oscar-worthy performance in Boy Erased - I believe she is more likely to get the Oscar nomination in the Best Actress category for Destroyer , given the kind of rave reviews she got and how transformative her performance is, but if AMPAS members consider they don't have room for her when they can recognize Kidman in Supporting Actress, her presence in this category...

BEST ACTRESS I would name this year's Best Actress race as the most competitive one I can remember. Best Actress Oscar race AKA Best Actress Bloodbath is fueled by out-of-this-world acting turns: Lady Gaga ( A Star Is Born ), Glenn Close ( The Wife ), Viola Davis ( Widows ), Julia Roberts ( Ben is Back ), Carey Mulligan ( Wildlife ), Melissa McCarthy ( Can You Ever Forgive Me? ), Thomasin McKenzie ( Leave No Trace ), Nicole Kidman ( Destroyer ), Emily Blunt ( Mary Poppins Returns AND A Quiet Place ), Yalitza Aparicio ( Roma ), Elsie Fisher ( Eight Grade ), Natalie Portman ( Vox Lux ), Kiki Layne ( If Beale Street Could Talk ), Amandla Stenberg ( The Hate U Give ) and Olivia Colman  ( The Favourite ). Enough? It was extremely difficult to pick 10 so I could write my predictions... I still think any of these contender can pop-up during award season or even nab a surprise Oscar nomination given the level of acclaim of their performances combined with the movies' r...

Genre: Drama; Biography Directed by: Damien Chazelle Written by: Joseh Singer (based on the book by James R. Hansen ) Starring: Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Ciarán Hinds, Patrick Fugit and Corey Stoll In Theaters: October 12, 2018 (USA) Forget the American flag controversy: First Man is much more than the space mission, it is a tale of grief and a tale of a dreaming and it is worth every penny you pay for the ticket!   Some people who watched the movie mentioned they "felt nothing", complained about "not interesting enough" or "there's no real thrill in it, we all know Armstrong made it to the moon" - but First Man must be seen as a character study rather than a thriller. It spends a lot of time exploring the years of the Gemini program and you only start having a glance about the Apollo missions when the movie almost enters the last act. Personally, there were times I forgot it was about Neil Armstron...

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR While Best Actor race and (specially) Best Actress bloodbath seem to be extremely competitive this year, Best Supporting Actor is a softer topic. A category that is often connected to the Best Picture category, 3 out of my 5 predicted nominees are part of my Best Picture top contenders ( Green Book , A Star Is Born and Black Panther ) while the other 2 are from a critical darling with no substantial Best Picture buzz YET ( Can You Ever Forgive Me? ) and a movie that remains to be seen ( Vice ). And while most Oscar predictions folks seem to be predicting Timothée Chalamet as a top Best Supporting Actor contender, I still not buy it, specially after the tepid critical and audience receptions the movie received - Chalamet is said to be great, but still... And since Lucas Hedges has entered the race for another addiction drama ( Ben is Back , which is said to be better than  Beautiful Boy ), then Chalamet got direct competition! Here are my prediction...

CHRISTOPHER MICHAEL PRATT , born June 21, 1979 in Virginia Minnesota, U.S. dropped out of community college halfway through the first semester and worked as a discount ticket salesman and daytime stripper. Then, he ended up homeless in Maui, Hawaii, working the minimal hours to afford food and supplies. Then, he became a waiter and then... he became Chris Pratt, the actor! 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. Here's a small study on Chris Pratt's fresh career in 5 movies / moments: PARKS AND RECREATION (2009-2015, TV series) I don't have TV series under consideration here at Cinema and Popcorn, but there's no way to deny the impact of Parks and Recreation TV series in Pratt's career. Set for a guest role, Andy Dwyer, Pratt's talent and "likeability"...

Genre: Romance; Drama; Musical Directed by: Bradley Cooper Written by: Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper and Will Fetters , based on 1954 and 1976 screenplays Starring: Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga and Sam Elliot In Theaters: October 5, 2018 (USA) It took me days since I watched A Star Is Born to write this review. I was overwhelmed at the time but I feared it could be just "fresh fireworks"... but almost one week later, I remind A Star Is Born as one of the best movies I've seen this year, so far. More than a drama-musical, this remake of a classic tale of a huge fading star who takes on a yet unknown promising artist is a small portray of the stages of stardom that might relate to both music, television or cinema industry.   Bradley Cooper is the leading man here both in front and behind the camera: it is his directorial debut from a screenplay he also co-wrote and it features his best acting performance to date. Cooper is amazing as the troubled Jackson whose...

I guess... Glenn Close's Oscar chances might well be in trouble. It seems so astonishing! I've already heard Kidman is spectacular in Destroyer , but this kind of spectacular as the trailer suggests?! GOD!!!

Gotham Independent Film Awards 2018 nominations are out! And it seems The Favourite reigns, but First Reformed also shares the title of "most nominated".  A shortlist full of pleasant surprises: The Rider is nominated for Best Feature; Bo Burnham ( Eight Grade ) and Ari Aster ( Hereditary ) are competing for Breakthrough Director;  Lakeith Stanfield is nominated for Best Actor for Sorry to Bother You ; Leave No Trace scores 2 important nominations ( Ben Foster for Best Actor and Thomazin McKenzie for Breakthrough Actor); and the entire Best Actress lineup (Pfeiffer, Close, Collette, Hall and Hahn)! And all three The Favourite actresses are going to be recognized! It seems Olivia Colman promises to keep the crown during the awards season. Here's the nominees list: BEST FEATURE First Reformed The Favourite Madeline’s Madeline If Beale Street Could Talk The Rider BEST DOCUMENTARY Bisbee ‘17 Hale County This Morning, This Evening Minding the Gap...