Cinema and Popcorn

Genre: Comedy; Drama Director: Ben Affleck Writer: Alex Convery Starring: Matt Damon, Jason Bateman, Ben Affleck, Viola Davis, Chris Messina, Chris Tucker & Julius Tennon People who go watch Air expecting a groundbreaking sports drama will have a letdown, but Air is a solid real-life story put on-screen and told in a very straightfoward way. It's the "boy next door" of sports drama, but it doesn't mean it has nothing special: there's something very charming about this movie. The ensemble cast is great, the pace is great and the script is excellent - I was never truly impressed, but I was never bored... in fact, it is one of the most engaging "simple" comedy/dramas in recent years. Air is made of great direction decisions. Ben Affleck has offered us some impressive heavy work in Gone Baby Gone , The Town and Argo , but he's equally effective and narrative-focused with the lighter material Air is made of. In fact, I believe Affleck relies most...

Is Ben Affleck 's " Air " the first Oscar contender of the upcoming season?  Early reactions have been quite enthusiastic about Affleck's latest directorial effort - a crowd-pleaser that has actually a higher message to deliver. Amazon has decided to give it a wide theatrical release in the U.S. while Warner Bros. was granted the international distribution rights, which means Air is no lesser picture at the eyes of studios. In fact, Amazon Studios has failed to generate a big awards contender ever since Manchester By the Sea back in 2016 - of course Ladj Ly's Les Misérables (2020), Cold War (2019) and The Salesman (2017) were Best Foreign Language Academy Awards nominees (with The Salesman even winning), but afar from these three and I Am Not Your Negro and The Big Sick (both scored 1 Oscar nom), Amazon Studios hasn't had a big awards hit a long time ago. Is it a bad sign for Ben Affleck's Air ? Or is it a good sign for Amazon? Air closed this year...

The theatrical run of The Way Back was deeply affected due to the COVID-19 outbreak, which made theaters across the globe to close just a week after the release of the movie. It's now available digitally and I had the pleasure to watch: and what a pleasant surprise! It's Ben Affleck 's best work to date! Here he channels his superstar charisma and his own personal life's ghosts for the most effective performance of his career. I don't know how the coronavirus pandemic will affect the way movies will build Oscar buzz, but with some major cinematic events closed and many delayed releases and many people staying at home these days, I would say it can work as an advantage for The Way Back and Affleck. For me, he's the first real contender for the Best Actor Oscar race and, personally, my fingers are crossed for him! NOTE : a The Way Back review will be posted soon