We’ve knocked down the acting and writing categories. We’ll do Best Director and Best Picture later this week. But let’s do ALL OF THE OTHER CATEGORIES right now! Let’s party!
Continue reading “FBC OSCAR COVERAGE 2022, PART VIII: Predicting The Winners (Part 4)”
Paul Thomas Anderson hasn’t made a bad movie, and I don’t think he could if he tried. Well, I mean maybe if he tried. He could keep the camera out of focus or give all the actors shrooms or make a shot-for-shot remake of Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice. And Licorice Pizza, Anderson’s ninth film (and the third nominated for Best Picture) is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a bad movie. It’s anchored in two amazing lead performances (neither of whom have acted before) and has very funny and touching moments and definitely has a light and easy feel with which Anderson drives the film effortlessly.
But Licorice Pizza does have one big problem. Perhaps, more accurately, the movie has two problems rolled into one. The first has to do with the core of the relationship between the film’s two main characters. And the second is the film’s (and filmmaker’s) complete lack of interest in even wanting to address the first problem. If this sounds layered and confusing, it shouldn’t surprise you.
After all, it’s a Paul Thomas Anderson movie.
Continue reading “FBC OSCAR COVERAGE, PART VII: Grappling With Licorice Pizza’s Age Gap”
We’ve done screenplays and supportings, let’s move on to the leads!
Continue reading “FBC 2022 OSCAR COVERAGE, PART VI: Predicting The Nominees (Part 3)”
It’s no surprise to anyone who knows me that I’m a BIG Batman fan. In fact, I’ve been one for as much of my life as I can remember. From being a little kid in the ’70s & ’80s watching Superfriends while eating a bowl of cereal. Watching the old Adam West Classic 1966 TV series, to running home from high school just so I can make it home in time to catch Batman the animated series. Up until yesterday, if anyone had asked me what I think the best Batman movie ever made was, I would’ve said the 1989 film BATMAN directed by Tim Burton. He was the first filmmaker to capture the dark knight that my friends and I had been reading about in the comics. But last night, after the DC special “FAN-FIRST” private screening of the Matt Reeves film “THE BATMAN“, my world was completely rocked.
Continue reading “WHY “THE BATMAN” IS THE BEST BATMAN MOVIE EVER MADE”
With Matt Reeves’ The Batman headed to theaters this weekend, we welcome Robert Pattinson into the role of Bruce Wayne. I think Bobby Patts is going to do a good job and am excited to see it. But instead of looking forward to this new film, I decided to look back.
Let’s reflect on the dozen theatrical releases of Batman and see how they shape up. Will this new Pattinson Bats (Pats Bats?) be remembered like Keaton or Bale? Or will we be yearning for the days of bat-nipples?
Continue reading “The Official Batman Movie Rankings”
Ok, we know the nominees. Let’s do some of patented predictions!
Continue reading “FBC 2022 Oscar Coverage, Part IV: Predicting The Winners (Part 1)”
With his nomination for West Side Story, Steven Spielberg joined Billy Wilder at third place for the most Best Director nominations of all time with eight. He’s four behind the great William Wyler, but it’s who is just one ahead of him that I find more interesting: Martin Scorsese.
I don’t think Spielberg has much of a chance to win this year, which means he will have lost that category six times. Now, to put that in perspective, that is a very impressive number especially when you consider that he has more LOSSES than some of the greats like Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford, Robert Altman, Francis Ford Coppola, Clint Eastwood, etc.) have total nominations.
Here’s what I find interesting about Scorsese having more nominations: while he is an amazing and influential filmmaker, Steven Spielberg is the greatest director of my lifetime. And to be in his sixth decade of moviemaking with only two Oscars and eight nominations is kind of an insult to the man. And I know it seems crazy to be so revered and decorated AND underrated at the same time, but Spielberg has been redefining the concept of success in the art of film his entire career.
Continue reading “FBC 2022 OSCAR COVERAGE, PART III: Where Does West Side Story Rank In The Spielberg Pantheon?”
When the dust settled and I saw that I was 39-for-50 on my Oscar nomination predictions, some things were very easy to understand. I mean, I really didn’t think the Academy was going to nominate Nicolas Cage for his role in Pig, even though that was the best performance of the entire year. And it made sense that there were slight underperformances from films like West Side Story and Belfast, even though they both each had seven nominations and each film was nominated for Best Picture and Best Director.
But two things stood out in a huge way: the fact that the film I consider the frontrunner in many categories dominated the nominations even more than I thought possible, and that a little film from Japan made a whole lot more noise than I thought it possibly could have.
In short, I love the Oscars. Let’s dive into the nominations.
Continue reading “FBC 2022 OSCAR COVERAGE- PART II: NOMINATION RECAP (or, The Power Of The Power Of The Dog)”
When the last football game was played on Sunday and we knew who would be competing in the Super Bowl, a wonderful thought occurred to me and I was instantly overjoyed: IT’S OSCAR SEASON, BABY! I no longer have to care about football, because movies are back and we are in the full swing of awards season!
Continue reading “FBC 2022 Oscar Coverage- Part I: Predicting The Nominees”
My list of 2021 movies that I want to see is almost as long as the list of movies I have seen, but at some point you just need to say, “Here is what I’ve seen and loved.” And there was a lot to love about movies in 2021.
So, as we’re now starting to experience a proper winter, here are 10 films (no ranking) that you should seek out and find. Let’s get to it.
Continue reading “10 Great (But Maybe Not The Best Films ) Of 2021”
Fancy Boys Club 