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2024 Oscar Nominated Shorts

It's been another year of tracking down all the Oscar nominated Shorts! Thanks to my pals over at r/oscarsdeathrace as always for helping me fill in the gaps with finding these films online. I've broken them down into each category and ranked them from best to worst. Have you seen any of these? Tell me what you think! Best Animated Short Film Our Uniform - The clear favorite for me. I loved how unique the animation was in this! And at 7 minutes, it's the shortest watch of the bunch. Very easy to enjoy. A Ninety-Five Senses  -There's a lot of feelings packed into 13 minutes. The animation is very unique and fun to watch. Not a fan of Tim Blake Nelson's hillbilly voice performance though. B War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko -  This is the most emotional I've been over an animal death for a while, but I suspect the music used is giving this a lot of goodwill. Animation is cool, though. C+ Pachyderm -  The animation was not very pleasing to look

2024 Academy Award Winners

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I LIVED for the I'm Just Ken performance. It might be the best Oscar  Thankfully I missed the majority of the opening monologue which I'm sure was far too long. I went 20/23 with my picks, which I think is a new record for me. Below are the winners + my thoughts. Best Picture American Fiction Anatomy of a Fall Barbie The Holdovers Killers of the Flower Moon Maestro Oppenheimer Past Lives Poor Things The Zone of Interest Very happy with this win! I'm glad Emma Thomas' dream came true! Best Director Jonathan Glazer – The Zone of Interest Yorgos Lanthimos – Poor Things Christopher Nolan – Oppenheimer Martin Scorsese – Killers of the Flower Moon Justine Triet – Anatomy of a Fall Finally!!!! Best Actress Annette Bening – Nyad Lily Gladstone – Killers of the Flower Moon Sandra Hüller – Anatomy of a Fall Carey Mulligan – Maestro Emma Stone – Poor Things You could tell by Emma's face that even she was shocked she won this. I wonder if the Killers of the Flower Moon team reg

Series Review: True Detective: Night Country

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True Detective has been a highly polarizing show on HBO. The first season was near perfect and the subsequent anthologies have created endless dialogue about how "they're never as good as the first." Despite the very high expectations everyone puts on this series, I've enjoyed every season of True Detective that's been put out. The newest season - subtitled Night Country has been a ratings hit for HBO, and a very hot topic online. No major spoilers here - I will say, I don't know what some of y'all were bitching about, because I thought the ending was pretty satisfying.  Our detectives this season are the hardened Liz Danvers (Jody Foster) a police chief who fucks and Deputy Evangline Navarro (Kali Reis) who cannot shake a previous case. When a group of scientists are found frozen in a pile outside their small town of Ennis, Alaska. Dangers and Navarro find themselves working together again.  Night Country likely could've stood on its own without bei

2024 Oscar Predictions: Who Will Win; Who Should Win

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We're a week away from the Oscars so it's time to get predicting! Here's who I think will win on Movie's biggest night, and in some cases who should win instead. Best Picture American Fiction Anatomy of a Fall Barbie The Holdovers Killers of the Flower Moon Maestro Oppenheimer Past Lives Poor Things The Zone of Interest Who will and should win: Oppenheimer Oppenheimer has all the momentum now. I'd be shocked if something else won. Best Director Jonathan Glazer – The Zone of Interest Yorgos Lanthimos – Poor Things Christopher Nolan – Oppenheimer Martin Scorsese – Killers of the Flower Moon Justine Triet – Anatomy of a Fall Who will and should win: Christopher Nolan Like the film itself, he has all the momentum and it's quiet shocking he doesn't have an Oscar yet. Best Actress Annette Bening – Nyad Lily Gladstone – Killers of the Flower Moon Sandra Hüller – Anatomy of a Fall Carey Mulligan – Maestro Emma Stone – Poor Things Who will: Lily Gladstone Who should

Review: Dune: Part II

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Official synopsis:  Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) unites with Chani (Zendaya) and the Fremen while seeking revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Director Denis Villenueve's first Dune entry was a welcome surprise for me. I've never read the books, nor seen any of the older versions. I loved the film and am perfectly fine to have this as "my" Dune experience so to speak. So to say I was excited for part II is an understatement. After may delays, Part II is finally here and is absolutely worth the long wait. Dune: Part II is stunning to look at. The cinematography, the VFX, all of it is rich and beautiful. The way they chose to introduce the new antagonist in a black and white scene (shot in infrared) was very cool. But Dune is more than what we see, the actors are the beating hearts. Chalamet continues to prove every day that he's leading man material. Paul is in an impossible situation and Chalamet makes you feel it. His chemistry with Z

2024 Blind Spot Series: Daughters of the Dust

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Official synopsis: A languid, impressionistic story of three generations of Gullah women living on the South Carolina Sea Islands in 1902. I wanted to add more films directed by women to my Blind Spot list this year, and when doing so Daughters of the Dust was an easy inclusion. It's one I've thought about for a while, and thankfully Mubi is streaming it for all to see. Daughters of the Dust is a gorgeous film. It's poetry in motion with its stunning cinematography and costumes. The film feels like an extended dream sequence. The style reminded me a bit of Picnic at Hanging Rock in that aspect. (I preferred this film far more) Gullah culture is something I'm well versed in, so I can't speak to any smaller intricacies involved, especially with the language used.  Admittedly, there were times my attention wavered, but a lot of that had to do with the very annoying blizzard happening outside my windows, and my kid kicking a soccer ball around the house because of said

Review: The Zone of Interest

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Official synopsis:  Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel) and his wife Hedwig (Sandra Huller) strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden beside the camp. With this, I've officially seen all 10 Best Picture nominations. This one has been quite elusive, which is why I went to see it right away, knowing it probably won't hang around my theater for long.  Everything you've heard about this film's sound design is true. What the editors and mixers did with this was incredible. Scary, depressing, but incredible work. The technical elements of this film are the strongest, but it struggles with the story. I give writer/director Jonathan Glazer a lot of credit because this is a very different take on a WWII movie, but I struggled to understand the point of it all when it was over. I expected the Höss'  to be challenged a bit more. To maybe struggle with their decision to be so flippant about the death happening right outside their fancy