Carey Mulligan's Quest For Oscar Nomination #2

by Christopher James

Carey Mulligan patiently waits for her second Oscar nomination for Promising Young Woman.Carey Mulligan has repeatedly proved that she is one of the most talented actors in Hollywood. Yet, she has still not received an Oscar nomination since her breakout performance in 2009’s An Education. With great reviews and a Best Actress win from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Mulligan’s performance in Promising Young Woman could (finally) be the ticket to a second nomination...

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What's your favorite Christmas song?

by Cláudio Alves

The first time I remember hearing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" was in The Holiday. That 2006 picture has become something of a Christmas mainstay over the years and, while I'm not its biggest fan, I can't help but feel grateful for it. After all, it introduced me to my favorite Christmas song. Written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane in 1943, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" has cinematic origins despite some of its best-known version having little to do with cinema. Long before Sam Smith, Florence Welch, Frank Sinatra, or Ella Fitzgerald sang the holiday classic, this was Judy Garland's song…

Just as the tune is my favorite Christmas song, the film for which it was made, Meet Me in St. Louis, is probably my favorite holiday movie too...

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Review: Monster Hunter

by Tony Ruggio

2020 has been a prolific year for monster movies, be they funny and romantic (Love & Monsters), purely for kids (A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting), or in the case of Monster Hunter, mindless action. Paul W.S. Anderson (Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil) returns to the other genre that made him, the genre he never really left: video game adaptations. He and wife Milla Jovovich are the king and queen of them, if there can be such a thing for the seemingly accursed genre.

Folks, including myself, keep saying they’re the next big thing in Hollywood after superhero movies, and while valiant attempts have been made, even when talented people are aboard (Jake Gyllenhaal in Prince of Persia, Justin Kurzel and Fassy/Cotillard in Assassin’s Creed), they don't pan out. Like all the rest, Monster Hunter ain’t exactly the ticket to Hollywood genre royalty...

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Holiday Movie Drinking Game Guides

by Christopher James

Kate Winslet is ready for some holiday drinking games. Are you?This Christmas is going to be different for a lot of people. One of my favorite Christmas traditions was taking my Mom to the movies at our local movie theater, Lodi Stadium 12. The theater had come a long way from having a bedbug infestation in the early 2010s to now having a bar in the area that used to be the party room and fancy reclining seats (hold the bedbugs). One of my favorite memories was the two of us ordering glass after glass of wine during our sold out showing of Collateral Beauty (it wasn’t sold out for long, people trickled out every 10 minutes). For those of you enjoying a socially distant or virtual Christmas, a holiday movie drinking game may be just what you need in order to get through the holiday.

Without further ado, here are some drinking guides to some Christmas classics…

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Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) and Filipinos at the Oscars

by Juan Carlos Ojano

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the Coen Brothers’ western epic True Grit, an adaptation of the 1968 novel of the same name. The film stars Oscar nominees Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and Josh Brolin. However, at the center of the film is then-13 year old Hailee Steinfeld. She plays Mattie Ross, the strong-willed daughter of a man murdered by a notorious outlaw (Brolin). She then hires Rooster Cogburn (Bridges) to hunt down the outlaw. Steinfeld’s performance received critical acclaim at the time and she became the ninth youngest nominee ever for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars. She was 14 years and 45 days of age at the time of nominations.

Another remarkable record is that she became the first actor of known Filipino descent to be nominated for an acting category at the Oscars (her maternal grandfather Ricardo Domasin was half-Filipino), a fact that was given media attention in the Philippines at the time. She is part of a small group of nine Oscar nominees who are of Filipino descent. Here are the rest...

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