Let's Talk About These Oscars

Ever since Maggie got the brilliant idea back in 2005 to watch all the Best Picture nominees before the Academy Awards, I've been diligent every year in doing the same thing. 2012 was the only year where I just couldn't muster the heart to watch Les Miserables and Amour. But other than that? I've seen every other nominee for the past 9 years. 2014's nominees are, at times, the same-old, same-old from years past and some of the criticism thrown at the Academy as of late is warranted. I'm going to offer some commentary on the Academy itself, but also throw out my two cents with all the Best Picture nominees.

Most of the criticism this year is mainly focused on how white the Awards are. While that's fair criticism, this issue is a symptom of the problem, not the cause. (as a side note: I would like to point out that last year's Best Picture winner was 12 Years a Slave, something people forget to mention when criticizing this year's list) No, the real problem is that Hollywood has always been a white, male-dominated industry. Most of the nationwide releases each year have white, male protagonists - I mean, I can count on my two hands the number of top-100 grossing movies last year that had a black main character. So, yeah, Hollywood needs to diversify immensely, but that's a whole other issue that I am not as eloquent or educated enough to discuss further.

Most Anticipated 2015: Blackhat

Blackhat (R) - Runtime: 133 minutes
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Viola Davis, Wei Tang
Director: Michael Mann
Writer: Morgan Davis Foehl
Release Date: January 16
Michael Mann has been a consistent director over the past 20 years with great movies like Heat, Collateral and Public Enemies. He hasn't really garnered as much love lately (his last movie to garner any sort of awards buzz was Collateral over 10 years ago. Granted, he's only directed three movies since then, but I've enjoyed most of his movies (except for that mess of a reboot, Miami Vice). With Blackhat he tackles the criminal world, only this time it's through the lens of the cyber terrorist. And not only was this movie good, it managed to be one of the more realistic depictions of hacking in movies.

First of all, Mann is known for creating some stunning visuals in his movie and Blackhat continues that. From what I saw from the trailer I thought the computer sequences where the camera goes inside the computer to trace the virus would be extremely hokey and completely absurd. Not only were these visuals thrilling, but highly informative, if not somewhat realistic. It's fun to see once the guy presses enter to follow the lighted virus flow through the wires and microscopic computer chips. But on the macro level, Mann creates some great wide shots of Hong Kong and other Asian locales. There's a lot of quiet moments in this film and Mann works them to perfection whether if it is to focus on a character's thoughts or grief or to let us soak in the beauty of what we're seeing.

Most Anticipated 2015: Kingsman: The Secret Service

Kingsman: The Secret Service (R) - Runtime: 129 minutes
Starring: Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, Taron Egerton
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Writers: Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn
Release Date: February 13
Matthew Vaughn and Mark Millar team up once again to bring to life one of Millar's graphic novels. And much like Kick-Ass before, Kingsman is an apologetically violent R-rated action movie with some sly comedy mixed in. Colin Firth is top notch as a kick-ass classy James Bond and Taron Egerton makes himself a known entity with his first major role. I begin the hyperbole now: this is going to be one of the best films this year.

Kingsman is a very slick and modern take on the James Bond franchise. You've got suave gentlemen in suits kicking butt, high-tech gadgets, a femme fatale and a opulent villain with a trademark lisp. The Kingsman are a group of wealthy descendants who take up the mantle to keep the world safe, secretly. They work outside of the governmental agencies across the world and can rival even the CIA and MI6 in scope. When one of them goes down following up on a lead, Colin Firth and the rest of the Kingsman train a bunch of recruits to replace one of the spots left vacant. Enter Eggsy, a kid from the street who is the son of a previous Kingsman that died 17 years ago. Firth's character, Harry Hart, has faith that he'll live up to his father's reputation as one of the best agents. Meanwhile, Samuel L. Jackson's Valentine is hatching a plan to basically destory the world. It's diabolical and completely absurd, much like the rest of the movie.

2014 Most Anticipated Roundup

I've been absent for a while - writing up a most anticipated list can just be a time suck. And holidays and family, too! So I've been trying to get my footing for 2015 and so far I've had an awesome 14 days in the new year. I've even managed to see one of my Most Anticiapted 2015 movies already! More on that tomorrow.

In between all that time, I've managed to cross off more movies from my 2014 list and here's a summary of all those that I've seen!

2015's Most Anticipated: The Big Guns

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| Runner-Ups |

Hello Ladies

Here we are. These next five movies are going to be the top 5 movies at the box office next year. They're all franchise movies with high expectations. I want to give Disney here a lot of props - they have 2 movies in the top 5 and 4 in the top 15 on my list. After acquiring Marvel a few years ago, most speculated that they were going to mess with their properties. But they've let Marvel do their own thing while aggressively marketing the movies and reaping the benefits. Then they bought Star Wars and it seems like they're content to let people who know about that universe (specifically J. J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan and Kathleen Kennedy) take control of the direction Star Wars will go. And it looks like that will pay off as well. So despite all my misgivings on the House of Mickey, they've done nothing but make sure that original material gets made while continually nurturing and developing their properties. So color me surprised when I say that Disney is probably the best studio out there right now.

So on to the list - these five movies are all going to be special in their own way and thanks everyone for taking this journey with me. It's been fun once again and I honestly can wait for next year to hit!

2015's Most Anticipated: Neat

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This is just cruel, but already one of my top 50 movies has gotten the push back! Number 47, Kung Fu Panda 3, has been pushed back to March of 2016! Ugh, why must they play games with my brain! Luckily, there has been a couple of weeks in between now and when I made my list and there's been developments about new movies! So yeah, I've got backups. Next man up!

47. Straight Outta Compton
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Orlando Bloom, Keith Stanfield, Jason Mitchell, Corey Hawkins
Director: F. Gary Gray
Writers: Andrea Berloff, Jonathan Herman, S. Leigh Savidge, Sheldon Turner, Alan Wenkus
Release Date: August 14
How could anyone not want to see this? I mean this is a biopic about one of the most infamous and notorious rap groups. They made some great music together and Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg went on to even loftier heights after NWA. I can't wait to see what director F. Gary Gray (Friday) does with this material. Hell, they even got Ice Cube's own son to play his father in the movie! You can't get much more meta than that, folks. So hell yeah I'm excited for this movie. Gonna get me my Beats by Dre headphones and jack up that classic record "Straight Outta Compton"

Now onto the top 10. If you don't know by now what the next top 10 is, well you're in for a treat. Because these next ten movies are like rainbows and lollipops and unicorns to movie fans.

2015's Most Anticipated: Brass Tacks

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A rough sketch of me celebrating getting near the end of this list

Now we're getting down to it! Honestly, these next 15 movies could all be interchangeable. I'm about as anxious as you can get for all of these movies. Sure, I've ranked them, but I think I ranked them based on buzz from the internet - so any list you see on the internet about next year, if it doesn't contain most of these 15 movies, then they're not a legit source. I'm a legit source - I'm too legit to quit, baby. But before I divulge the next five movies, I'd like to present a trailer for number 28, Inside Out:

Oh yes, this will be a opening weekend movie for me. No doubt about it.

2015's Most Anticipated: We're Gonna Need a Bigger Theater

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Zen and the art of awwwwwwww.

Of course after writing up about a movie last night, the studio decides to drop a trailer for the movie today. I mean, what does a no-talent blogger with very little traffic need to do around here to get some respect? Well, here's the new teaser trailer for The Walk (#22):

What a tease, indeed. I had no idea this was going to be in 3D! I sincerely hope that this movie relies more on character than gimmicky 3D effects to tell the story - because it's a good one! I have faith in Zemeckis but this movie has officially been put on notice.

2015's Most Anticipated: Heating Up!

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Everyone, I mean everyone is eagerly awaiting my top 25

It's no secret I'm a huge, huge fan of science fiction. I grew up with it and it's just something I'll always get excited about. I'm what some would call a Dorkus Malorkus. While I enjoy a good apocalyptic movie as everyone else does, I'm waiting for science fiction to start turning a positive direction. It'd be nice to see a future setting in which humanity hasn't nearly wiped itself out or being run by fascist governments. If I'm being too vague, I'd just like to see an Earth where humans did manage to right the ship with climate change and achieved more world peace. I think there's a wealth of ideas and idealistic dreams that can be conjured up in this supposed positive future. Food for thought, y'all.

2015's Most Anticipated: Halfway There!

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This is the end of the back 25 (or is the front 25? This isn't golf, so let's just stick with the former). Just to recap there's been 6 sequels/reboots/remakes (I counted Pan as a remake FYI). The top 25? 12. I said at the beginning of this that this is the year of the fanboy - there's so much to get excited about with all the franchise movies coming out. Whether they turn out to be amazing, well, that's not my concern here. These next five movies showcase three of my favorite directors out there right now and all of them taking on original properties. And they all look fantastic.