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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: This drama/comedy has sharper teeth than it does belly laughs. It’s funny but not hysterical but it’s also unexpectedly moving.

Very often, it’s hard to find honesty in a film. Don’t Think Twice isn’t one of those films. The 2016 drama/comedy about a NYC improv troupe who longs to find jobs on Weekend Live (the movie’s version of Saturday Night Light) is not the riotous laugh fest you’d expect a film about an improv comedy troupe to be. Instead, it’s chock full of some of the more difficult moments in life and the stark reality all of the members of the comedy troupe face as they all realize there’s a chance they may never accomplish what they thought they would.Read More →

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In: 2016, Lists, Weigh In

On Sunday, the Oscar winners will be announced. In January, we took a stab at predicting the Oscar nominees and the results were good including predicting 100% of the Best Picture nominees for the second straight year! Last year, we also predicted the winners and nailed 15 of 24 which isn’t terrible, either. Here are this year’s nominees, who will win and who should win:

Best Picture (Predicted 9/9 Nominees)

  • Arrival
  • Fences
  • Hacksaw Ridge
  • Hell or High Water
  • Hidden Figures
  • La La Land
  • Lion
  • Manchester by the Sea
  • Moonlight

Who Will Win?

La La LandRead More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take, Lists, Ranked

On January 30th, Gold became the 181st movie viewed (and reviewed) of 2016. Here is a recap of all of the grades of this year’s movies and the final* 31 movies with grades below (* there’s nothing saying I might go back and see a few more movies from 2016 but we’re calling it unofficially quits on 2016):

For the 7th time, here are the last* 31 movies reviewed in 2016 graded from 0-5 stars:Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: Matthew McConaughey is great… the movie is adequate. What? Did you think I would pan it?

When you have a story “based on true events” starring Matthew McConaughey and it receives a limited release in December, you go in expecting Oscar caliber. The closest thing to Oscar caliber about Gold though is McConaughey’s performance as Kenny Wells, a prospector who has a dream there’s gold in the Indonesian jungle. Even that’s a stretch although McConaughey’s transformation from his normal look to balding and out of shape is almost as impressive as Christian Bale’s transformation for American Hustle a few years ago.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: Michael Keaton keeps turns out one great performance after another. How’d the Academy miss this one?

The only conclusion I can draw from Michael Keaton not being nominated for Best Actor this year is that between Birdman, Spotlight and The Founder, The Founder is probably his weakest performance. Since it came third, the Academy might have suffered fatigue and ignored his excellent performance as Ray Kroc in the story of how McDonald’s became McDonald’s.Read More →

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In: 2016, 2017, Hot Take, Lists, Weigh In

We’re a few hours away from the announcement of this year’s Oscar nominees. Like last year, now would be as good of a time as any to weigh in on who I think will be nominated for this year’s awards. And, for fun, who I’d nominate if my vote was the only one that counted:

Best Picture

My Nominations

  • Jackie
  • Sing Street
  • Hell or High Water
  • Moonlight
  • Fences
  • Arrival
  • La La Land
  • Everybody Wants Some!!
  • The Witch
  • Lion

Who Will Earn the Nominations (From most to least likely):Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: Scorsese’s passion project took 20+ years to make it to the cinema. It’s hard to believe a film of its caliber with a director of Scorsese’s pedigree was this difficult to get financial support. Then again, it won’t make any money at the box office so you’d be hard pressed to fault the studios.

Silence is one of those films that you watch and realize why someone would become so obsessed with getting it made. You also realize, as the film spans 161 minutes and deals with very deep philosophical issues, why many studios wouldn’t give the film the time of day even with an auteur such as Martin Scorsese as the obsessed artist looking to bring the film to life. Silence is beautifully shot and well thought out. It’s a real think piece. It’ll also be lucky to break even despite its somewhat modest (in modern terms) $40 million budget.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: Rogue One falls short of greatness thanks to a lack of story development. It is reliably good though and has the right mix of new (even though it’s really old) Star Wars bits and pieces to edify the audience.

How much you like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is going to come down to what kind of Star Wars fan you are. This is already assuming very few non-Star Wars fans will give the prequel to the original Star Wars (which is actually the fourth chapter of the story) a shot. If you’re more of a fan of the action of the end of A New Hope or the opening scenes of Empire Strikes Back on Hoth and don’t need lightsaber battles to carry you through and couldn’t care less about the origin of most of the new characters introduced, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Star Wars 3.9?) should be very pleasing.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: Believe all of the great things you’ve read or heard about Natalie Portman’s portrayal of Jacqueline Kennedy. The best movie of 2016.

Just two days ago, I wrote how Viola Davis was a shoo-in for a nomination for an Academy Award and should probably win. Since Davis is likely to be nominated for Supporting Actress, I don’t have to eat crow. Natalie Portman’s portrayal of Jacqueline Kennedy in Jackie is the performance of the year. Not just among women, either. Portman breathes life into an iconic character in a way seldom seen on screen. It’s the performance of her career which includes her role in Black Swan where she took home practically every award you could for that performance.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: Proof positive looks can be deceiving. So bad I had to double check the initial release date to see if this wasn’t a January release.

I am not a Ben Affleck hater. However, for those that are, Live By Night will offer enough fuel to burn down Gotham before he dodges one more question about his stand-alone Batman movie coming in a couple of years. The only two things Live By Night has going for it is that it is so entertainingly bad at times it becomes entertaining and the film is visually engaging which is a hat tip to Affleck, the director.Read More →