Cinema and Popcorn

Genre: Musical; Drama Director: Steven Spielberg Writers:  Tony Kushner ( screenplay by ) & Arthur Laurents ( based on the stage play, book by ) Starring: Rachel Zegler, Ansel Elgort, Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez, Mike Faist and Rita Moreno If you think the 1961's adaptation of the Broadway musical West Side Story is perfect and untouchable, then go watch Steven Spielberg's adaptation: it is even better! The director might be well-known for sci-fi and war movies, but it seems Spielberg always wanted to direct a musical... and the result is one of the best cinematic experiences I've had all year!  West Side Story has all the show of a huge blockbuster, but the intimacy and emotional punch of one of the finest indies at the same time. This one is to see, hear and cry in a theater, not at home via a streaming platform. It is cinema at its purest and at its finest! The real thing about West Side Story is how actual it actually (still) feels! Racial issues, the American...

Genre: Drama Director: Jane Campion Writers: Jane Campion ( screenplay by )  &  Thomas Savage ( based on the book by ) Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons  and Kodi Smit-McPhee Jane Campion has already made a masterpiece piece before - 1993's The Piano - and one of the most lyrical cinematic pieces too - 2009's Bright Star , but what she achieves in The Power of the Dog is something in between an emotional thriller and visual poetry. Still, the emotional beats, the character development, the performances, the cinematography, the score... The Power of the Dog is something rare, something beautiful, some kind of cinematic gem. The movie follows Phil and George Burbank, the young wealthy owners of a ranch, as their fates cross with Rose, a depressive widow who raises a young man by herself. I won't give away the plot, but George and Rose get married and they move to the family's house, where Phil also lives. Things get tense as Phil terr...

Golden Globes are tomorrow (I mean, it's already "today" in Portugal) and predicting the Golden Globe nominees are real fun! First, I expect to see the clear awards frontrunners to make the Best Motion Picture shortlists both in Drama or Comedy/Musical and they are: The Power of the Dog (Netflix), Belfast (Focus Features), King Richard (Warner Bros.), Dune (Warner Bros.), West Side Story (20th Century Studios) and Licorice Pizza (MGM). Second, the HFPA claims to be "renovated", so I believe they will pick more POC actors for the nominees shortlist in order to make the change they claim to be more "visible". And the same can be applied to female directors' projects. Third, they love musicals! And I am expecting a huge response to West Side Story since it is a movie that's aware of the racial issues of the Latinos community and it stars a killer POC cast. Plus, tick, tick... BOOM! and Cyrano have nice shots and maybe In the Heights might ...

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE The most fun about Best Original Score category is that it doesn't have a direct connection with Best Picture, like Best Editing, for example. Of course the branch has its darlings like Alexandre Desplat and Hans Zimmer who can pull nod after nod (no surprise, because both are amazing!) - and I am predicting them to be back to the race this year with The French Dispatch and Dune , respectively. After his first nomination for Phantom Thread , will Jonny Greenwood be able to nab TWO Oscar nominations? The hype sure is all around his work in The Power of the Dog and Spencer , but I feel the latter is the weakest of the two (since Campion's film has all the Best Picture buzz, which elevates it). And could Aaron and Bryce Dessner land a first Oscar nomination? The buzz around Cyrano is on the rise and the score is simply beautiful! It's a musical with an original score... no adaptation or whatever! An original musical like this is rare these days, so I be...

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS This year's Best Supporting Actress race features some of the very best performances of the year regardless of being lead or supporting, male or female: Ruth Negga ( Passing ), Kirsten Dunst ( The Power of the Dog ), Aunjanue Ellis ( King Richard ), Ann Dowd ( Mass ) and Jodie Comer ( The Last Duel ) are some of the year's best acting turns (from what I've already watched). West Side Story , Belfast , The Tragedy of Macbeth and Nightmare Alley remain unseen by me (unfortunately), but there's no way to deny the universal acclaim of the performance, with Blanchett being (oddly) the least praised of the bunch. So, for #1, there's Ariana DeBose , the Broadway actress who took on the iconic Anita role in Steven Spielberg's  West Side Story and she's collecting rave reviews from critics. She's not famous (yet), but the nature of the role plus the level of acclaim she has been getting make me believe she's the frontrunner right now...

BEST ACTRESS "The bloodbath". Best Actress 2022 race is simply a warzone for predictions folks. I believe there are 5 spots for 10 legit contenders plus Jennifer Hudson ( Respect ), who didn't make my shortlist. The safer player here is Kristen Stewart , who portrays Princess Diana in Pablo Larraín's Spencer - her performance was met with universal critical acclaim and she's having a killer early awards season, with tribute prizes, critics groups nominations and tons of Oscar buzz as the only "serious" candidate for a win (since Venice Film Festival, actually). But what about general audiences aren't embracing the movie as critics? Still, a nomination seems locked for her (and she's in the right moment of her career after raved turns in small indies post- Twilight career phase). Next, it comes Nicole Kidman who plays Lucille Ball in Aaron Sorkin's Being the Ricardos ... and while the movie is not being received with rave reviews from crit...

NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW Best Film: Licorice Pizza Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza Best Actor: Will Smith, King Richard Best Actress: Rachel Zegler, West Side Story Best Supporting Actor: Ciarán Hinds, Belfast Best Supporting Actress: Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard Best Original Screenplay: Asghar Farhadi, A Hero Best Adapted Screenplay: Joel Coen, The Tragedy of Macbeth Breakthrough Performance: Alana Haim & Cooper Hoffman, Licorice Pizza Best Directorial Debut: Michael Sarnoski, Pig Best Animated Feature: Encanto Best Foreign Language Film: A Hero Best Documentary: Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) Best Ensemble: The Harder They Fall Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Bruno Delbonnel, The Tragedy of Macbeth NBR Freedom of Expression Award: Flee Top Films (in alphabetical order) Belfast Don’t Look Up Dune King Richard The Last Duel Nightmare Alley Red Rocket The Tragedy of Macbeth West Side Story Top 5 Forei...

This Oscar predictions season is going wild: so many good contenders for few slots available... AND there have been weekly changes in my predictions, the way that I can't keep the writing pace and my predictions of today wouldn't make sense when compared with my predictions 1 month ago. That's why I'm going to publish my Academy Awards 2022 nominees predictions for EVERY ABOVE THE LINE CATEGORIES today (acting categories coming later).  So, let's get started: BEST PICTURE So, first, let's make something clear: every member of the AMPAS (from all the branches) gets a ballot and ranks their top choices for best picture, then a film has to get 5% of first-place votes to qualify for a Best Picture nomination. Considering the Academy has announced that the best picture race will return to 10 nominations this year - which eliminates the unpredictability of the number - we have to consider "Which movies can be the clear favorite ones?". Which means that a mov...

Genre: Drama Director: Ridley Scott Writers: Becky Johnston  ( screenplay by ) & Roberto Bentivegna ( screenplay by ) / Sara Gay Forden ( based on the book by ) Starring: Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jared Leto, Salma Hayek, Jeremy Irons and Jack Huston Ridley Scott's House of Gucci movie trailer sold me some kind of "movie madness", but the real movie feels tepid overall, warm at sometimes, when it could be some kind of hot or explosive.   Not great, not bad, not that good... House of Gucci is "just" decent when it could have been great. Still, it has some aspects that make it totally worth a watch, with Lady Gaga's dynamite performance as Patrizia Reggiani being the movie's secret ingredient. The movie follows Patrizia Reggiani (Gaga), who meets (and then marries) Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), a member of the wealthy Gucci family that holds a fashion empire and then (basically) Patrizia's ambitions start a family war that leads to...