Picking and choosing race wars in Hollywood

John Krasinski and academy president Cheryl Boone-Isaacs announce the 2015 white best actor nominees Courtesy of Indiewire

“The ‘struggle for civil rights’ crossed the finish line and lost its moral power when demands switched from equal rights to equal results." - Larry Elder

Everyone has the equal right to get nominated for an Academy Award. It doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed a nomination.

For the second year in a row, the oh-so-powerful and PC barometer known as social media continued its e-march against the clearly racist voting body of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences after their list of acting nominees including not one non-Caucasian in four categories.

Of course, this called about continued strides to be made in the academy to have their nominees better reflect the varied persons of all nationalities who make up the population of the United States.

At face value, diversity is a great thing. On the other, I don’t think it’s responsible for a non-profit organization known for preserving the art and science of film to change its already democratic and fair practices by succumbing to peer pressure because people think it’s faulty for some lack of diversity.

While the four acting categories, out of 24 total categories, have come under scrutiny, people have neglected the great accomplishments of two men who aren’t white, but because they aren’t black people don’t care.

'The Hateful Eight' is Tarantino's best in years

The Hateful Eight (2015, directed by Quentin Tarantino. U.S.A. English, Color, 187 minutes [roadshow version])

Admittedly, I haven't been a fan of Quentin Tarantino's most recent films. 

Though a majority of film buffs think his 2007 effort "Death Proof" is his worst film, I think that B-movie throwback to kick ass racing chicks is one of his best. It was with that film a new wave of Tarantino came into play: the direct homage.

Following "Death Proof" was the Nazi revenge tale "Inglourious Basterds" and then the slave revenge talker "Django Unchained". I wasn't a huge fan of the latter selections, finding them overly talky and extremely violent lackluster efforts as Tarantino pays homage to the similarly-titled 70's films he took the plots that he replaced with his stylized conversations. 

Anyone can rehash something and add tons of violence to it, but who cares? 

When I saw the trailer for "The Hateful Eight" came out, I didn't even watch it, but commenters on IMDb said it would be another movie filled with tons of talking and some violence. That sounded accurate, and I wasn't terribly motivated to see it.

The commenters were right, so right, and in the best (worst?) possible way.

'Fifty Shades,' Wiz Khalifa Tunes among 74 Vying for Oscar

AMPAS

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 74 songs from eligible feature-length motion pictures released in 2015 are in contention for nominations in the Original Song category for the 88th Academy Awards®. The original songs, along with the motion picture in which each song is featured, are listed below in alphabetical order by film title and song title: "Happy" from "Altered Minds" "Home" from "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip" "None Of Them Are You" from "Anomalisa" "Stem To The Rose" from "Becoming Bulletproof" "The Mystery Of Your Gift" from "Boychoir" "I Run" from "Chi-Raq" "Pray 4 My City" from "Chi-Raq" "Sit Down For This" from "Chi-Raq" "Strong" from "Cinderella" "So Long" from "Concussion" "Fighting Stronger" from "Creed" "Grip" from "Creed" "Waiting For My Moment" from "Creed" "Don't Look Down" from "Danny Collins" "Hey Baby Doll" from "Danny Collins" "Dreamsong" from "The Diary of a Teenage Girl" "It's My Turn Now" from "Dope" "Ya Rahem, Maula Maula" from "Dukhtar" "Earned It" from "Fifty Shades of Grey" "Love Me Like You Do" from "Fifty Shades of Grey" "Salted Wound" from "Fifty Shades of Grey" "Hands Of Love" from "Freeheld" "See You Again" from "Furious Seven" "Brother" from "Godspeed: The Story of Page Jones" "As Real As You And Me" from "Home" "Dancing In The Dark" from "Home" "Feel The Light" from "Home" "Red Balloon" from "Home" "Two Of A Crime" from "Hot Pursuit" "Til It Happens To You" from "The Hunting Ground" "I'll See You In My Dreams" from "I'll See You in My Dreams" "The Movie About Us" from "Ingrid Bergman – In Her Own Words" "Bhoomiyilenghanumundo" from "Jalam" "Koodu Vaykkan" from "Jalam" "Pakalppaathi Chaari" from "Jalam" "Yaathra Manoradhamerum" from "Jalam" "Lost In Love" from "Jenny's Wedding" "True Love Avenue" from "Jenny's Wedding" "Hypnosis" from "Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet" "Juntos (Together)" from "McFarland, USA" "The Light That Never Fails" from "Meru" "The Crazy Ones" from "Miss You Already" "There's A Place" from "Miss You Already" "Johanna" from "Mortdecai" "Little Soldier" from "Pan" "Something's Not Right" from "Pan" "Paranoid Girl" from "Paranoid Girls" "Better When I'm Dancin'" from "The Peanuts Movie" "Pink & Blue" from "Pink & Blue: Colors of Hereditary Cancer" "Flashlight" from "Pitch Perfect 2" "Birds Of A Feather" from "Poached" "Still Breathing" from "Point Break" "Manta Ray" from "Racing Extinction" "Cold One" from "Ricki and the Flash" "Torch" from "Rock the Kasbah" "Someone Like You" from "The Rumperbutts" "Aankhon Me Samaye Dil" from "Salt Bridge" "Bachpana Thaa" from "Salt Bridge" "Kanpne Lage Tum" from "Salt Bridge" "Kyaa Bataaun Tujhe" from "Salt Bridge" "Le Jaaye Jo Door Tumse" from "Salt Bridge" "Na Jaane Kitni Door" from "Salt Bridge" "Sookha Hi Rang Daalo" from "Salt Bridge" "Feels Like Summer" from "Shaun the Sheep Movie" "Phenomenal" from "Southpaw" "Writing's On The Wall" from "Spectre" "Squeeze Me" from "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water" "Teamwork" from "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water" "Who Can You Trust" from "Spy" "Came To Win" from "Sweet Micky for President" "Mean Ol' Moon" from "Ted 2" "Love Was My Alibi" from "The Water Diviner" "Fine On The Outside" from "When Marnie Was There" "Simple Song #3" from "Youth"

During the nominations process, all voting members of the Music Branch will receive a Reminder List of works submitted in the category and a DVD copy of the song clips.  Members will be asked to watch the clips and then vote in the order of their preference for not more than five achievements in the category.  The five achievements receiving the highest number of votes will become the nominations for final voting for the award.  A maximum of two songs may be nominated from any one film.

To be eligible, a song must consist of words and music, both of which are original and written specifically for the film.  A clearly audible, intelligible, substantive rendition of both lyric and melody must be used in the body of the film or as the first music cue in the end credits.

The 88th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 14, 2016, at 5:30 a.m. PT at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

The 88th Oscars^® will be held on Sunday, February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre^® at Hollywood & Highland Center^® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.  The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

'Carol', 'Outlander' lead Golden Globe nominations

1. Chloe Grace Moretz helped announce the nominees for the 73rd Golden Globe Awards on Dec. 11. Getty

Best Motion Picture – Drama

Carol

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant

Room

Spotlight

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

Cate Blanchett, Carol

Brie Larson, Room

Rooney Mara, Carol

Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Bryan Cranston,                Trumbo

Leonardo Dicaprio, The Revenant

Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs

Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

Will Smith, Concussion

Best Motion Picture – Musical Or Comedy

The Big Short

Joy

The Martian

Spy

Trainwreck

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Jennifer Lawrence, Joy

Melissa Mccarthy, Spy

Amy Schumer, Trainwreck

Maggie Smith, The Lady in the Van

Lily Tomlin, Grandma

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Christian Bale, The Big Short

Steve Carell, The Big Short

Matt Damon, The Martian

Al Pacino, Danny Collins

Mark Ruffalo, Infinitely Polar Bear

Helen Mirren, "Trumbo" lead 22nd SAG movie nominations

SAG-AFTRA

With no film taking a massive lead in nominations for the 22nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, the bio-pic "Trumbo" crept in with a leading three nominations. 

The cast was nominated for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture, with Bryan Cranston earning a lead male actor nod as the titular, blacklisted Hollywood writer, and Helen Mirren getting a supporting female actor mention.

In addition to her leading female actor nod for her work in "Woman in Gold," Mirren received three nominations overall, the most of any performer this year.

"Trumbo" competes against "Beasts of no Nation," The Big Short," "Spotlight," and "Straight Out of Compton" for the film cast prize.

While Mirren leads among all in film categories only, Idris Elba picked up three bids as well as a cast member in "Beasts of No Nation", a supporting film bid for the same role, and as a lead in the miniseries/TV movie category for "Luther."

Winners will be announced live on TNT and TBS on Jan. 30, 2016 at 8 p.m.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

BRYAN CRANSTON / Dalton Trumbo – “TRUMBO” (Bleecker Street)

JOHNNY DEPP / James "Whitey" Bulger – “BLACK MASS” (Warner Bros. Pictures)

LEONARDO DiCAPRIO / Hugh Glass – “THE REVENANT” (20th Century Fox)

MICHAEL FASSBENDER / Steve Jobs – “STEVE JOBS” (Universal Pictures)

EDDIE REDMAYNE / Einar Wegener/Lili Elbe – “THE DANISH GIRL” (Focus Features)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

CATE BLANCHETT / Carol Aird – “CAROL” (The Weinstein Company)

BRIE LARSON / Ma – “ROOM” (A24)

HELEN MIRREN / Maria Altmann – “WOMAN IN GOLD” (The Weinstein Company)

SAOIRSE RONAN / Eilis – “BROOKLYN” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

SARAH SILVERMAN / Laney Brooks – “I SMILE BACK” (Broad Green Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

CHRISTIAN BALE / Michael Burry – “THE BIG SHORT” (Paramount Pictures)

IDRIS ELBA / Commandant – “BEASTS OF NO NATION” (Netflix)

MARK RYLANCE / Abel Rudolph – “BRIDGE OF SPIES” (DreamWorks)

MICHAEL SHANNON / Rick Carver – “99 HOMES” (Broad Green Pictures)

JACOB TREMBLAY / Jack – “ROOM” (A24)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

ROONEY MARA / Therese Belivet – “CAROL” (The Weinstein Company)

RACHEL McADAMS / Sacha Pfeiffer – “SPOTLIGHT” (Open Road Films)

HELEN MIRREN / Hedda Hopper – “TRUMBO” (Bleecker Street)

ALICIA VIKANDER / Gerda Wegener – “THE DANISH GIRL” (Focus Features)

KATE WINSLET / Joanna Hoffman – “STEVE JOBS” (Universal Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

BEASTS OF NO NATION (Netflix)

THE BIG SHORT (Paramount Pictures)

SPOTLIGHT (Open Road Films)

STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON (Universal Pictures)

TRUMBO (Bleecker Street)

24th Philadelphia Film Festival, Day 11: Final day, final nerves!

It was the last day for this year's Philadelphia Film Festival, and boy what a day it was.

I was ready to sit through films 17-20 for this year's outing, but for reasons beyond my control I was not totally ready for it.

I started off with "Kilo Two Bravo", a BAFTA-nominated film about the true story of a group of British soldiers trapped in an abandoned mine field near the Kajaki Dam in Afghanistan. Michael Lerman, artistic director of the festival, said it was "10 times" more intense than the similar-ish "The Hurt Locker". That is no joke.

With the wrong step anyone could be blown up in this small piece of desert. Let me tell you, I was so pent up waiting for a bomb to go off at any second I wanted to leave the theater. "Kilo Two Bravo" is incredibly tense it was almost uncomfortable, but how could you look away!? You needed to know what was going to happen to this group of (mostly) GQ-wannabe guys. The ending was incredibly hooky, full of title cards on the real soldiers and a horribly Hallmark-esque song playing underneath it. There was a few shots before the end that would have been the most perfect ending, but it went for cheese factor instead.

After self-diagnosing myself with PTSD from "Kilo Two Bravo", I enjoyed a great train ride on the Empire Builder courtesy of the documentary "In Transit".

24th Philadelphia Film Fest, Days 2 and 3: Having a 'Cannes' do attitude

This may be only the second time of sitting in theaters for hours a day watching movies, a.k.a., enduring the best of a film festival. And for me, Philadelphia's annual fest devoted to international and local cinema is the only place I do it... for now.

But the some feeling kicks in days before it starts: do I really have the energy to endure four movies a day for the first few days of the fest? In my head I say no, but by the third movie of each day my body is programmed to endure it. It also doesn't mean that I don't feel like nodding off during the third movie, either. Whoops.

So with day one of the festival off to a smashing start with "Anomalisa", I grabbed my badge and tickets (for select screenings not covered with my badge) and headed downtown for day two, Oct. 21.

24th Philadelphia Film Fest, Day 1: "Anomalisa" shines as opener!

Yay, the Philadelphia Film Festival has officially started!

After weeks since announcing the fest's lineup the anticipation can finally start to dissipate as local cinephiles can start their marathon moviewatching.

The festival's opening night activities appeared to go off without a hitch, and what a fabulous event that sounded like. The red carpet, the party, and all sorts of luxuriation that comes with it.

It started off with two screenings of "Anomalisa", the award-winning, stop-motion animation film from Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson, at the Prince Theater at 6 and 8:30. There seemed to be a flood of interest for the 8:30 screening since it was announced that Kaufman and Johnson would be in person to have a Q&A segment after that showing of their film, and they would be honored with the fest's artistic achievement award. Of course there were email updates saying this screening was sold out, rush tickets were available and blah blah blah.

'Spotlight'ing the 'Truth': Journalism in Cinema, 2015

Boston Globe/Entertainment One

Who knew 2015 would become a hit year for journalism in cinema?

It started off with the little seen Jonah Hill pic "True Story", and now two more films about the truth-seeking industry are being released in the heat of Oscar season: "Spotlight" and "Truth".

Both films take place around the same time, early- to mid-2000's, but they couldn't be anymore different. "Spotlight" is an underdog story of sorts about a group of watchdog journalists at The Boston Globe taking down the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, and "Truth" is a group of television legends at CBS covering up their "errors" in a report about Pres. George W. Bush's time in the National Guard.

Neither of these holds a flame to the paramount journalism film "All the President's Men", but damn if they aren't good. And how suiting is it for Robert Redford to star as Bob Woodward in "ATPM" and now portray Dan Rather in "Truth"? Redford is definitely an iconic part of the world of journalism, and that's not even his profession.

At the core of both of these films is the hunt for facts, the hallmark of journalism.

Movie Review: Boredom Kills Sex Drive of "Fifty Shades".

"Christian, blindfold me from this stupid movie you've put me in!"

Fifty Shades of Grey (2015, directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson. U.S.A., English, Color, 125 minutes) I have never read a single sentence in any of the three books from the erotic bestselling trilogy known as "Fifty Shades", and I really don't need to. The story about the sadomasochistic entanglement between the naïve Anastasia Steele and the billionaire Christian Grey seemed like schmaltz that taps into the deep sexual desires of women all over.

Seeing as I hate schmaltzy relationships and my sex life is fine, I wasn't the demo for these books anyway.

The latest literature phenomenon after "Twilight" about abusive relationships disguised as love had women glued to their books and e-readers as they thumbed through pages of bondage and dark sexual encounters.

It seemed inevitable that it became adapted for the big screen, and now that it's here I wish there was something that would have made seeing it worthwhile.