Near Misses: Emma Thompson in "Saving Mr. Banks"

by Cláudio Alves

As we know, the precursors don't always matter. Many an actor was Oscar-nominated without a SAG, Golden Globe or BAFTA nod to recommend them. Of course, for every surprise inclusion, there's a shocking snub to contend with. There are those performers that seemed like near locks up until nomination morning. When they failed to stick the landing, predictors were surprised and fans thrown into paroxysms of outrage. These near misses can be precious jewels of acting that were unforgivably shortchanged, while, other times, we can count ourselves spared a nomination for mediocre work.

In 2013, Emma Thompson was nominated for the SAG, the Globes, the BAFTA, the Critics Choice Award and even won the National Board of Review prize for her performance as P.L. Travers in Saving Mr. Banks. The Academy, however, ignored her. Compared to some of the actual Oscar nominees, Thompson's work is, at the very least, an impressive achievement and deserving of recognition…

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Year in Review: Horror Actoring of 2019

by Jason Adams

Since it's the second to last day of 2019 and we already named our "10 Favorite Horror Actresses of 2019" last week I figured I'd give us a last second bonus and shed some affection on the best fellas of the year. I know, I know, we're all all more inclined towards favoring the actresses... well, so's the genre to be frank. Horror really does favor female stories and experiences, and it was I will admit much easier to come up with last week's list. Besides the magnificent duo that anchors my favorite movie of the year I had to dig a little deeper for this one. But once I began rifling around I managed to uncover some gems...

Willem Dafoe & Robert Pattinson in The Lighthouse 

When forced to choose between the two (and no thanks to Awards Season I have had to here and there) I tend to choose Dafoe, but only because his magnificent to-the-moon work is more straightforward... as straightforward as anything is in this topsy-turvy madhouse of a movie, at least. Pattinson's work is trickier -- his accent and behavior is all supposed to be wobbly, as his character's unformed; a liar trying to pour himself into a new shape. But make no mistake these are the two best male performances of 2019 slapping against each other in slippery tandem.

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Why Pedro Almodovar will be nominated at the Oscars

by Murtada Elfadl

Pedro Almodovar will be nominated for best director at the Oscars. Currently Bong Joon Ho, Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino lead the pack. Noah Baumbach, Greta Gerwig, Sam Mendes, Todd Phillips and Taika Waititi are fighting for the 4th spot. The 5th is booked for Almodovar. He might not appear on any director shortlist before January 13th, but his name will be called on the day when it most matters. There are 3 reasons why he’ll be nominated...

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President Cinephile

It's hard not to miss President Obama on a public daily basis these past few years given the current hellscape but it's especially hard to not miss him on a personal level when he reminds us that he is genuinely into cinema. I mean how many US Presidents would even see movies that don't even crack a million at the box office like Transit and Diane, and movies from other countries and all genres. And the rest of his list: Atlantics, Parasite, Booksmart... The good taste!

Next up are my favorite movies and TV shows of 2019. Of course, there’s also American Factory, a film from our own production company, Higher Ground, that was recently shortlisted for an Oscar. Here’s the full list: pic.twitter.com/PEcgwotcxm

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) December 29, 2019

We also had to draw attention to a few official responses from those included...

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Podcast: Loving "Little Women"

In this hour long conversation Nathaniel and Murtada welcome special guest Kim Rogers (no relation to Nathaniel) from Head Over Feels to discuss Greta Gerwig's reworking of the classic oft-adapted Little Women starring Saorsie Ronan. Compare and contrast conversations to the 1994 version can't be helped but our opinions differ here and there on the 2019 film's sucess in various areas. We discuss the ambiguous ending, Eliza Scanlan versus Claire Danes, Florence Pugh playing Amy the whole way through and more. Spoilers, obviously, for this 151 year-old story. 

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you? 

Little Women