Cinema and Popcorn

Joaquin Phoenix acted alongside Gwyneth Paltrow in the underrated/underseen Two Lovers back in 2008, but the actress' most memorable works remain some late 90's / early 2000's pictures.  Here are my 4 favorite movies with Gwyneth Paltrow: The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)   /    Emma (1996)   /   Se7en (1995)   /    The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

MANK David Fincher's latest sure is stylish and beautiful to look at: the cinemtography, the production design work, the costumes, the editing, the cast... everything! The original score by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross transports you for another era and you almost feel every sound you hear thanks to outstanding sound editing and sound mixing work. BUT Mank feels sterile to me and I believe it's because of the way it is written. Everything seems to keep the distance here, like a painting in a museum, and Mank never feels like a story you want to know. Fine performances from Gary Oldman and Amanda Seyfried try to bring some energy, joy and sass to the screen, but their efforts aren't enough against a scrip, but this duo is what makes Mank afloat to me (with a little help from Charles Dance, who's great in the few scenes he has). Here, you can see Fincher in command of his craft, but he seems to have gone style over substance here - still, Mank is a notorious directi

The last few months kept me busy both at work and trying to keep up with all the Oscar game news...! New category placements, some unexpected contenders emerging thanks to the critics' push or some delayed projects that won't be released in time for the Oscars 2021 game! Titles like Dune , The French Dispatch , Black Widow , West Side Story , In the Heights or No Time To Die are just some of the bigger titles that won't see the light of the day in order to compete for the major cinematic award. Addictionaly, some new titles took the lead after Venice Film Festival and TIFF ( Nomadland 's case), with some more being "revived" thanks to critics prizes - in the case of First Cow and Never Rarely Sometimes Always  - while others are getting a qualifying release and a major campaign as its studio's major push - Minari and Promising Young Woman. Other big buzzy titles like Judas and the Black Messiah and The United States Vs. Billie Holiday are waiting unti

 

It might well be the biggest US film critics association and they're announcing their winners. Ready? BEST FILM: First Cow BEST DIRECTOR: Chloé Zhao , Nomadland BEST FIRST FILM: The 40-Year-Old Version BEST ACTOR: Delroy Lindo , Da 5 Bloods BEST ACTRESS: Sidney Flanigan , Never Rarely Sometimes Always BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Chadwick Boseman , Da 5 Bloods BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Maria Bakalova , Borat Subsequent Moviefilm BEST SCREENPLAY: Eliza Hittman , Never Rarely Sometimes Always BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM: Bacurau BEST NON-FICTION FILM: Time BEST ANIMATED FILM: Wolfwalkers BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Small Axe [all films] SPECIAL AWARD: Kino Lorber , for their creation of Kino Marquee , a virtual cinema distribution service that was designed to help support movie theaters, not destroy them. SPECIAL AWARD: Spike Lee for inspiring the New York community with his short film New York New York and for advocating for a better society through cinema

Boston Society of Film Critics kicks off the critics awards season. It's one of the major critics associations in USA and they often pick very interesting winners. And the big winners are: Nomadland and The Father , with Minari as a solid #3 favorite! Have a look: BEST PICTURE: Nomadland Runner up : First Cow BEST DIRECTOR: Chloé Zhao ( Nomadland ) Runner-up : Kelly Reichardt ( First Cow ) BEST NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE FILM: La Llorona BEST ENSEMBLE CAST: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Runner-up : Minari BEST ACTOR:  Anthony Hopkins ( The Father ) Runner-up : Riz Amed ( Sound of Metal ) BEST ACTRESS: Sidney Flanigan  ( Never Rarely Sometimes Always ) Runner-up : Julia Garner ( The Assistant ) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Paul Raci ( Sound of Metal ) Runner-up : Brian Dennehy ( Driveways ) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Youn Yuh-jung ( Minari ) Runner-up : Amanda Seyfried ( Mank ) BEST SCREENPLAY: I’m Thinking of Ending Things , Charlie Kaufman Runner-up : First Cow , Kelly Reichardt and Jonat

Our last actor - Scarlett Johansson - starred Spike Jonze's masterpiece Her (2013) alongside Joaquin Phoenix . He has been working since 1985, but he managed to build an amazing career! So, here they are - my 4 favorite movies with Joaquin Phoenix (Her is not included since I  can't include the movie that brought him here): Gladiator (2000) / Two Lovers (2008) / The Master (2012) / You Were Never Really Here (2017/18)

Last Four favorite movies with starred the great Christian Bale , so I picked his The Prestige co-star - Scarlett Johansson - to "star" the second post of this rubric. Just have a look: Marriage Story (2019) / Match Point (2005) / Her (2013) / Lost in Translation (2003) [ in no particular order of preference ]

  One of the most underused actresses of her generation, yet one of the most talented... Kirsten Dunst delivers the performance of a career in Lars von Trier's Melancholia . From her breakthrough performance as Claudia in Interview with the Vampire , to her melancholy acting poem in The Virgin Suicides , to her breathtaking charm in Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy or her bubbly sadness in Marie Antoinette - Dunst has hitted diverse acting notes in her filmography so far, but no other work of hers matches her Justine in Melancholia ! As the young melancholic bride who feels something is not right, Dunst promises there will be some magic coming as the movie develops and, in fact, she shines when she turns into a woman who loses herself as the end of the world approaches. Dunst is the human embodiement of depression, serenity and destruction all at the same time. It's such a complex performance, full of layers, full of details... Dunst found Justine's soul and she exposed it t

 A new rubric in this blog: " Four favorite movies with... (insert an actor/actress' name) ". Next post: pick a co-star of one of the movies you picked here and I can't repeat the movie the next post. Today the star is Christian Bale . The Dark Knight (2008) / The Prestige (2006) / The Fighter (2010) / American Psycho (2000) [ in no particular order of preference ]

PALM SPRINGS It's fresh, it's highly original and it made me laugh out loud! And let me say not every movie can make me laugh! Based on a simple time loop concept, Palm Springs grows thanks to its screenplay, but it elevated by Cristin Milioti and, specially, Andy Samberg's performances. Their chemistry feels authentic and they carry the movie in such an effortless way! I can't give you a lot more of details, because I might give some spoilers, but Palm Springs is worth a watch! The performances, the jokes, the pace and... the vibe! It's one of the freshest movies of the year and it's a comedy for the ages you will want to re-watch once in a while (yes, it's this kind of movie). RATING: 4 / 5 Oscar potential categories: Best Original Screenplay EMMA. Even if Emma. was a narrative / character study failure (which it isn't), it would be impossible not watch until the end: the pastel palette cinematography, the costumes and set pieces make Emma. one

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Genre: Drama Directed by: Aaron Sorkin Written by: Aaron Sorkin Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen, Mark Rylance, Jeremy Strong, Frank Langella, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Michael Keaton In theaters: September 25, 2020 (USA, limited); October 16, 2020 (Portugal) When I first watched Aaron Sorkin's The Trial of the Chicago 7 , there was a huge hype surrounding the movie and I loved the movie. But I felt there was too much internet enthusiasm by the time, so I decided I would write my review after a second view after a couple of weeks. After almost 3 weeks between my first and last watch, I can write The Trial of the Chicago 7 is the best movie of the year, so far! It's a superb movie in terms of execution and an important movie in terms of its subject relevance. It's a movie that excels at making the audiences think. What's the truth? Is what we consider "the truth" what bigger entities made us believe to be "the truth&qu

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 Ron Howard's Hillbilly Elegy 's reviews are out! And I think the internet is on fire. They are not catastrophic, but they aren't good either! It seems people praise Adams and, mostly Close, for their performances, but the movie itself lacks depht. The movie was considered a major Netflix's awards contender before its release and an awards vehicle for both Glenn Close and Amy Adams, but I doubt it will score more than a Best Supporting Actress (Close) and a Best Makeup & Hair nominations at the Academy Awards. Even Close, who was considered the frontrunner given how meaty her role is and how overdue for a win she is, might be at risk of not winning (or not being nominated at all). A note to Gabriel Basso, who seems to be received really fine reviews for his performance as the older J.D. Vance. No matter how polarizing the reviews are, the critics seem to agree he's good as the movie's leading man. And while I must wait until Hillbilly Elegy 's available

Another one from the Portuguese shortlist. Just like Pedro Costa's visual masterpiece Vitalina Varela , Ana Rocha de Sousa's Listen also made an impression in this year's film festival circuit - Venice Film Festival, to be more specific.  Have a look at Ana Rocha de Sousa's Listen : " In the London suburbs, Bela and Jota face serious difficulties when "social services" raise concerns about the safety of their three children. The 7-year-old daughter's deafness triggers a process in the system that seems to go on forever. " FLASH REVIEW: Ana Rocha de Sousa makes her directorial debut with Listen . As you watch it, you can see it does feel like a directorial debut, but what might lack in refined directing or personal style, it overcomes with honesty and a raw emotional punch in key scenes. In fact, the director doesn't lack an assured hand - she can be really heavy-handed in a couple of scenes. But you know what? It works! The movie is about a

The Portuguese Academy of Cinema (Academia Portuguesa de Cinema) has announced the finalists shortlist of Portuguese movies to be submitted for the Best International Film Oscar category: Pedro Costa's Vitalina Varela ; Ana Rocha de Sousa's Listen ; João Nuno Pinto's Mosquito ; and Gonçalo Waddington's Patrick . One of them will be the official submission. Four very different movies and I still have one left to watch - Patrick - but I consider 2020 to be one of the strongest years (if not the strongest) in terms of Portuguese final shortlist. Let's have a look at Pedro Costa's Vitalina Varela : A Cape Verdean woman navigates her way through Lisbon, following the scanty physical traces her deceased husband left behind and discovering his secret, illicit life . (source IMDb) FLASH REVIEW: Pedro Costa seems to be back to his previous film Horse Money 's universe - our lead's (Vitalina Varela) fate crosses Ventura's as she discovers about the life of h

The big difference between the Academy Awards and the HFPA 's Golden Globes is that, since Golden Globes voters are members of the press, the Golden Globe nominees always tend to translate the internet's hype. Plus, the fact HFPA separates Drama and Comedy/Musical motion pictures makes it extra-fun to predict. I'm expecting Netflix to do even better than last year: with Mank , The Trial of the Chicago 7 , Ma Rainey's Black Bottom , Hillbilly Elegy or La vita davanti a sè eyeing some above the line categories at the Oscars, I believe the HFPA will go for the streaming giant's awards campaigns and all of its movie's star power. The HFPA was always found of big stars and hit girls/boys, so expect no different this year. Here are my nominees predictions for the upcoming Golden Globes 2021:

First, 2 notes: we don't have the complete Oscar submissions from every country, so the Best International Film predictions might change in case Italy, Portugal and France don't submit the movies I'm expecting they'll submit; and Soul seems to be another Pixar's masterpiece according to early reviews, so my hopes of seeing a hand-drawn animated movie taking this prize are fading (for example, Wolfwalkers ). Here are my predictions:

It looks amazing!

The non-visual craft categories are out! And I'm still predicting a music-themed study about being alive like Soul to do very well in this field. A note to The United States vs. Billie Holiday , which is scored by Kris Bowers (the talented composer responsible for the amazing When They See Us TV series' score) - if the movie keeps a qualifying release, I believe it can pop-up somewhere here. Plus, I'm expecting Andra Day to sing some original new song in the end credits or something... something beautiful and Oscar-worthy. Just to remind you Minari 's composer ( Mosseri ) is a star on the rise and he's the author of The Last Man in San Francisco 's (2019) beautiful (underrated) original score - and maybe he'll enter the Oscar talk since Minari is going to be campaigned as A24's champion!  In the Best Original Song category, you might ask why I've Mulan 's "Loyal Brave True" so low in my predictions, but the fact is AMPAS didn't f

With big productions almost tailor made to score big at the below the line categories at the Oscars - Dune , West Side Story , In the Heights , No Time to Die and The French Dispatch - being delayed for a 2021 release out of Oscars 2021 eligibility period, the below the line categories are strange to predict. Not only there are a lot of indies contending in categories that would be all eyes for bigger and flashier productions, but I believe it will be an even more monotone year than 2019/20 with Best Picture nominees getting nominated across the board. A note to Mank , the upcoming David Fincher film, which I'm expecting to be the biggest contender across the board and it might just sweep - and there's been a while since a movie swept across the board. It's a year that benefits Netflix productions, so I'm also expecting to see other Netflix titles to do pretty well - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom , Da 5 Bloods , The Midnight Sky and even Enola Holmes can shine in the