"The Awkward Moment" is an oasis of fun in a dreary winter cinema landscape. This is one of those rare romantic comedies that can actually appeal to both genders. Set your date night up now. With its wide release coming on January 31st, ladies and gentleman, your Valentine's Day weekend must-see movie has arrived two weeks early.
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The film is up for four Oscars: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, and Best Actress. In profound fashion, it deserves every single one of those nominations in each respective category. "Philomena" may be a smaller British film, but it is a touching story that deserves to be seen by larger audiences.
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Earlier today, with all eyes on Hollywood (or probably just on Chris Hemsworth reading the names), the final nominations were announced for the 86th Academy Awards. As with any year, there were a fair share of locks, snubs, and surprises.
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It's that time of year again! With announcement of nominations for the 86th Academy Awards coming early Thursday morning, we've arrived at the peak of awards seasons. The scene has been buzzing all week after the upset-filled popularity contest that was the 71st Golden Globe Awards this past Sunday. At the festivities, plenty of new possible contenders emerged, while a few Oscar races were made even more ironclad.
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Welcome to January and the first major month of the 2014 awards season. Many of the small and regional film critics groups have spoken with their award winners in many categories from the best of the best of film in 2013. Most of those winners have been quiet news, but business picks up when the Hollywood Foreign Press speaks and names their best with the annual Golden Globe Awards. As always, they are the leading precursor to the future Oscar nominations for the upcoming 86th Academy Awards.
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Especially in the cases of movies based on true stories, we too often play "armchair quarterback." We think we know the truth or can spot a lie when, very likely, we weren't part of the actual events. We call out movies for their believability and realism on two ends of a spectrum. On one end, we accuse them of exaggerating and stretching the truth of a real story. Our answer for that is a dismissive "come on" and "no way." On the other hand, we will chastise them for being sanitized, sugarcoated, and not real enough when necessary. For those, we still answer with a different, but similar "come on" and "no way."
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Well, movie fans, the changing of the calendar might bring new hope and enthusiasm in our personal lives, but, let me tell you, this is, annually, the worst season for movies. Enjoy the Christmas leftovers while you can, because these are the annual dog days of winter at the multiplex. The awards season with the upcoming Golden Globes and Academy Awards keeps a few things shiny, but the months of January and February are predominately the dumping grounds for movies that weren't deemed good enough for Oscar or hit-worthy enough for kids and families on holiday break.
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On January 6th, I will be a special guest on the show as we discuss our best and worst films of 2013. Hear us go toe-to-toe to either champion or poo-poo certain films from last year.
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As I say every year, plenty of regular everyday people make New Year's Resolutions, but I think bigger entities, namely movie makers and movie moguls, need to make them too. I volunteer to stand in and make those resolutions in one of my favorite editorials to writes every year. Welcome to my third annual "New Year's Resolutions for the Movie Industry."
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I think all movie fans, even the casual ones, make lists like this in their head after seeing a good trailer or reading a good article. I'm going to spell mine out and dig a little deeper, just as I have the last two years.
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After posting my "10 Best" films of 2013, it's only fair that I also post the worst films of the year.
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Before my full 2014 Winter Movie Preview arrives, here's a bare-bones calendar and checklist of this season's upcoming releases. As always, keep in mind that releases dates shift all the time.
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