Cinema and Popcorn

A new rubric here at Cinema and Popcorn: "The Underrated" aims to analyse a movie, a performance or a directing/screenplay work that didn't get the award recognition it deserved by the time it was released. It will be composed by a small review and then an award analysis. The first object of analysis of this rubric: Vicky Cristina Barcelona , an ideal movie for sunny (almost Summer) days, I watched yesterday. Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) Directed by Woody Allen The curious case of Vicky Cristina Barcelona ... When Woody Allen presented us the love triangle(s) of Vicky Cristina Barcelona , I must confess I thought it was one of the sexiest movies in year, but also one of the most Woody Allen-esque movies of his filmography in years! And yet, the movie failed to get the recognition I think it deserved by the time...   The idea of ensembling Javier Bardem, Scarlett Johansson, Penélope Cruz and then fresh Rebecca Hall for a sunny Summer in the beautiful city o

So, I decided to stop the "Best of the Decade" posts for a while and I decided to take some time studying the upcoming productions (and some which have already been released) with some award potential. Of course, not every contender will be a Best Picture player and the COVID-19 outbreak might well affect the way audiences contact with Oscar hopefuls. What's going to happen to film festivals? Will there be generated some "Oscar talk" if audiences fail to generate box-office impressive enough in order to start a blockbuster's awards campaign? What about the streaming giants distribution strategies for Oscar qualifying purposes? A lot of question marks... But, hey, here are some Oscar-looking contenders for us to keep under the radar in the next months (in alphabetical order):

To be honest, I had a lot of fun looking back to past decades and selecting the biggest movie stars... So... I did it again, this time for the 70's! Of course I wasn't even born at the time, but I recall some stories of my parents telling me how much they loved some movies that were released in their teens. And, of course, because of social isolation due to COVID-19 outbreak, I've been able to watch a lot of movies these days! It's not always about delivering the best performance in order to be considered one of the greatest actresses of a decade - it also takes the ability to open a big production movie, to turn a small indie into a box-office hit or work with some of the most prestigious directors/auteurs these days. That's how I made this list: performances + prestige movies + box-office numbers! And we've got our 70's decade's biggest female movie stars:

To be honest, I had a lot of fun looking back to past decades and selecting the biggest movie stars... So... I did it again, this time for the 70's! Of course I wasn't even born at the time, but I recall some stories of my parents telling me how much they loved some movies that were released in their teens. And, of course, because of social isolation due to COVID-19 outbreak, I've been able to watch a lot of movies these days!  It's not always about delivering the best performance in order to be considered one of the greatest actresses of a decade - it also takes the ability to open a big production movie, to turn a small indie into a box-office hit or work with some of the most prestigious directors/auteurs these days. That's how I made this list: performances + prestige movies + box-office numbers!  And we've got our 70's decade's biggest male movie stars: