'We All Paid $13 To Stare At Literally Nothing'
Call it Oscars Armageddon -- our final, fiercest battle of derby season. HuffPost editors Michael Hogan and Chris Rosen and I have clashed over predictions often during the previous months, but no one is vanquished -- yet.
I had my opinionated first-grader examine all nine posters for the Best Picture category and give her take on what she thought they were about (and yes, one of them starred fairies).
Here are some more digestible categories. We're calling them the Fauxscars, and we're hoping that the phrase "Fauxscar Bait" catches. We're looking forward to you explaining that expression to Helen Mirren.
As we walk out of the theater, we discuss what we just saw on the big screen: the plot, the acting, the costumes. But on occasion, we also dream of travel.
Gone are the days when a sick day meant staying home to watch soap operas and daytime talk shows. Here are 10 of our favorite series to binge on next time we have a few hours -- or a few days -- to veg in bed.
While this could nominally be considered an action film -- because of a couple of shoot-outs and car chases -- Snitch is more a dramatic thriller with violence thrown in.
Though DreamWorks Animation's The Croods may sound crude, based on the enthusiastic response that this film got during its world premiere last week in Berlin, this animated comedy has a sweet & sophisticated side.
We can hope our favorite movie will come away with the big prize, but in the long run, some of the best pictures ever made did not receive Best Picture Oscars.
What is social media opinion about the Best Picture nominees? In other words, which film would win the Oscar Award for Best Picture if Twitter had a vote?
Michael Haneke's Amour, a French-language film nominated for five Oscars, chronicles an aging French couple struggling with the wife's slew of physical and mental health problems.
I greatly enjoyed the movie when I saw it last fall. However, the question that arises whenever a film like this, ostensibly based on true events, hits the public sphere is exactly how true "true" is, and how much license should we allow creative-types to, well, create.
Kirby Dick spoke with me about The Invisible War's success, the courage of the soldiers who shared their stories, and what it will take to make sure these victims are no longer invisible to the press, the public and those in power.
In the March issue of GQ, the great Mark Harris debunks one of the most prevalent theories in Hollywood today: that movies stars are dead, replaced by recognizable characters like superheros, YA heroines and even pirates. As Harris writes: "We still need movie stars. And perhaps more surprisingly, we still have movie stars -- lots of them, and arguably a more talented and interesting variety than at any time in the past thirty years. But they play by new rules, and they have to navigate an industry that often seems hostile to their very existence."
Sarandon doesn't seem to follow any particular formula when she chooses her projects, which is part of what makes her so cool (and has probably helped her enjoy such a long career in fickle Hollywood). She appears to just go for whatever she wants, without worrying about any pre-calculated "image" or "career strategy."
Three major releases prominently featured sexually active disabled people. The explicit erotic scenes offered this year between nondisabled and disabled people mark a welcome step forward in how disability and sexuality are portrayed in popular culture
The play definitely has the feel of witnessing something from years gone by, when famous comedic teams head-lined the stage and screen and physical humor was the rage. It is no wonder theater companies turn to this show instead of pulling out an old chestnut when looking to add a farce to their line-up.
The film is a life lesson about the transformative power of art (arts education has never been more endangered than it is today) and a timely snapshot of the new face of homelessness in America, its "children."
Gimme Shelter is a Greek tragedy with a rock 'n' roll chorus and a triple injection of hubris. It was commissioned by the Rolling Stones to capture the last few stops of their infamous 1969 U.S. tour, which ended in the tragic free concert at Altamont Speedway where there were four deaths.
Sometimes the success of a great film relies on the best pairing of idea and director. The same goes for business. It's part of the role of the studio executive and the VC to ensure that the right leader is in place to execute the right idea smoothly, on budget, and on time.
| Best Actor | Chance of winning |
|
|---|---|---|
 |
Daniel Day-Lewis
Lincoln
|
99.1% |
 |
Hugh Jackman
Les Miserables
|
0.7% |
 |
Bradley Cooper
Silver Linings Playbook
|
0.1% |
