My 86th Academy Awards Predictions

Well these awards definitely snuck up on me this year, because of the extended voting season it felt like the show wouldn’t be here anytime soon, but here we are the day before we find out who the Academy felt had the best performances this year. Last year, I had my best Academy predictions year ever getting all but 2 and a half categories correct. Let’s hope I can do the same the same, if not better this year. Well, let’s get to it!

2014 Oscar Nominee Predictions

I am in dangerous new territory here. Last year was my first time putting together a list of who will win the Oscars to pretty great success predicting all but 2 and a half categories (who could possibly foresee a tie in sound editing?) correctly. I want to follow up that success by doing something I have never done before; predict who will be nominated for the Academy Awards in the major categories.

Review: ' 12 Years a Slave' Has Made Me A Fan

I really wanted to hate this film. To my core I truly wanted to be angry that another film remembering how black people have suffered and bringing back those emotions of anger, suppression, inferiority, and whatever else depressing emotion that comes with this era in American history.

My Top 10 Films of the Year List…so far

Taking a page from my favorite director, Quentin Tarantino, I have decided to give my favorite 10-ish films from the first 9 and a half months of 2013. It has been a pretty good year so far and it was a bit tough finding a top 10 but I was able to do so. However, I couldn’t leave my list at just 10 (who can) so I decided to put in a few honorable mentions that nearly cracked my top 10 as well. With Oscar bait season upon us let’s see how my list holds up by the end of the year.

'Fruitvale Station' Review: An Emotional Triumph of a Film

Fruitvale Station, this past Sundance Film Festival, became the fourth film and only the second African-American film to win both the coveted Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award for a Dramatic Film in Sundance's 29 year history (The other films to do so are Three Seasons in 1999, Quinceanera in 2006, and Precious back in 2009). So it takes a truly special film to pull off a feat such as this.

Summer Movie Hit List: 'Iron Man 3'

It is finally summer at the movies this weekend and the box office is going to be heating up very quickly this weekend with the release of Iron Man 3. Over the next few weeks, or so, I will be discussing the films that I am truly excited about (Star Trek into Darkness, Man of Steel), films that have my attention (Now You See Me, The Bling Ring), and head scratching ‘why-did-they-make-this-into-a-franchise-films’ (Hangover Part III; SPOILER: Money!).I will give you my two cents on what I think the story is about and if I think it is worth spending hard earned cash on or just wait till it is on HBO.

It is a little bit weird to be excited for Iron Man 3 because its predecessor is such a train wreck of a film compared to the first Iron Man. One of the biggest problems I had with the sequel is the change of actor in the same role of Rhodey from Terrence Howard to Don Cheadle. This is a pet peeve of mine and it bugs me so much that I wrote an entire post about it here. The movie loses some of its magic for me when an actor previously in the role is changed. I invested in the way Terrence Howard played the role and to be uprooted and taken out of the narrative because of a side-kick character is disheartening, but I digress. On its own, Iron Man 2 is probably a good movie but compared to Iron Man the movie is inferior work, and many viewers agree. However, The Avengers became a blockbuster and the ultimate superhero movie, in terms of box office, and breathed new life into each of the Avengers. Now, Iron Man 3 is clearly the most anticipated movie of the summer, and arguably of the year. And based on the trailer, critics, and that massive overseas box office haul ($198 million) it appears that Iron Man 3 brings the goods as well.

Iron Man 3 has the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist taking on an extremely dangerous foe that goes by the name The Mandarin. The Mandarin seems like the villain who is going to take the arrogant superhero to his knees. There are many shots in the trailer of Iron Man falling out of the sky and laying in the street down and out. It seems like this foe is going to be the ultimate test both physically and mentally for Iron Man and it is going to be exciting.

Iron Man 3 can finally be seen in the States this Friday, May 3. If you have been living under a rock and have missed the trailer here it is below: 

Top 20 List of Shows: Where did 'Game of Thrones' and 'The Walking Dead land?

So, I have done the nearly impossible! It took me a while but I have accumulated all of the TV shows that I am currently invested in watching or watch when new seasons begin and also narrowed down my top 20.