3 days until Oscars: 3 Academy Awards record no one will ever break

There are dozens of official Oscar records, by age, number of nominations/wins, for movies, for individuals, etc. Some are recent, some are really old. I find reading articles about those record very entertaining and I know some of them well. Even though, I believe most of them will never be broken due to simple fact that these years are alot more competitive compared to past. However, there are 3 records that will NEVER, EVER be broken. So they are:

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4 days until Oscars: Actors who can still win their 4th acting Oscar

Katharine Hepburn is the only person to win 4 Oscars in an acting category. Out of 12 total nominations she scored 4 lead actress nod becoming a record holder for most acting win. She is closely followed by 5 actors with 3 wins, of whom 2 are passed away. The rest three (pictured above) still stand a chance to break a record.

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5 days until Oscars: 5 essential thoughts on Oscar race

5 days left until the big night. I had different plans for today's post, but changed my mind, because of the toughest Oscar race I can remember. I've been predicting The Academy awards for more than 7 year (most of it just sitting home, writing down my choices in my textbook). There has not been an year more unpredictable, even when The Hurt Locker won over Avatar or No Country for Old Men over There Will Be Blood. 

Accordingly, I have enormous amount of thoughts on future winners, especially in Best Picture and Directing nominations. Here they are:

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6 days until Oscars: 6 Best Losing Performances

There are exactly 1,322 loser and 344 winner acting performances in 86 years of Oscars. Nevertheless the winners deserved the glory or not, there always have been losing performances that were no less equally good to have their name on that envelope. So, before we add up 16 more losers and 4 winners to these numbers, here is my 6 best performances that lost their battle to other nominees.

The honorable mentions, in alphabetical order:

Bette Davis (All About Eve, 1950) - lost to Judy Holliday in `Born Yesterday`

Robert De Niro (Taxi Driver, 1976) - lost to Peter Finch in `Network`

Al Pacino (Dog Day Afternoon, 1975) - lost to Jack Nicholson in `One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest`

Kate Winslet (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004) - lost to Hilary Swank in `Million Dollar Baby`

So, my top 6 losing performances are:

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A week before Oscars: 7 things I want to see next Sunday

In a week all comes down to 24 category winners, their momentum and then it all starts again - the endless Oscars Race. I'd not be lying if I say that we are facing one of the toughest competition this year, because, you know, it's Birdman v. Boyhood. The first one swept all major Guilds, while the other one took Golden Globe and BAFTA home. So, it's not easy to predict. 

Except winners, there are some many things to love about the Oscars - the red carpet, the ceremony, all those jokes and fun and the idea of celebration. So, here are my 7 reasons I want to watch The Academy Awards this year.

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Musings on trailer of Crimson Peak

Guillermo del Toro's Crimson Peak is one of my most anticipated films of 2015. Few days ago, it's first trailer premiered introducing main characters and general plot of the film. Amazingly, it all looked perfect: from Tom Hiddlestone to production design.

Synopsis: Set in Cumbria, in a crumbling mansion in a largely rural and mountainous region of northern England in the 19th century, young author Edith Cushing (Wasikowska) discovers that her charming new husband Sir Thomas Sharpe (Hiddleston) is not who he appears to be.
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Movie Review: Fifty Shades of Grey [2015]

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Fifty Shades of Grey
Directed by: Sam Taylor-Johnson
Written by: Kelly Marcel (screenplay) | E.L. James (novel)
Runtime: 125 mins
Cast: Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Marcia Gay Harden, Eloise Mumford
Nominations: none

RRR: 5.3/10 Letter-grade: C-

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I never thought of either reading or watching Fifty Shades of Grey and especially in cinema. Couple of days ago I received two invitations on its premiere from local theater chain called Rustaveli/Amirani Movie Theaters. So, I though, why not? Accordingly, I went to the screening totally blind, knowing nothing but its erotic nature and the fact that over 100 million copies were sold. So, obviously, my review will not discuss how well adapted the film is, it's merely a collection of my thoughts on so many things happening in film.

Fifty Shades of Grey has two main characters: Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) and Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan). As in most love stories, they belong to two different social classes - the girl being a poor, beautiful student, while the boy is a rich, powerful, handsome billionaire. They meet each other by chance and fall in love. For now you might think that you've seen it hundreds of times and you are definitely right about it. Most things in this movie is so well known and familiar that it bores you. Accordingly, if you continue watching it as another complicated love story, you might walk out of theater or order a cup of coffee to keep yourself awake. What I tried is to look at this story in a different perspective, something alike to Nymphomaniac or even more, Blue Is the Warmest Color (the comparison does not necessarily mean they are equally good). At the end of the day, not many films, at least in Hollywood, talk about BDSM or dominant/submissive sex experience.

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Mixed thoughts on casting of Marvel's new Spider-Man

Some arguably good news hit the internet that The Spider-Man is brought to Marvel, which means we probably are not getting another boring installment of this very old superhero franchise. No, really people, it's like the 6th one. Just, please, don't call it The Amazing Spider-Man 3 - just drop any kind of adjective from its title.

The only news that could make it a definite "YAY" is that probably Logan Lerman will be Peter Parker. I am thrilled because I can watch ANY film just because of him (seriously, I watched Fury). Even though, it's not my original idea, I still take credit for naming Logan the best possible Spider-Man in history.

I also have some ideas, who might play other characters in franchise, so let's start:

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BAFTA winners

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Movie Review: Jupiter Ascending [2015]

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Jupiter Ascending

Directed by: The Wachowskis

Runtime: 125 mins

Cast: Channing Tatum, Mila Kunis, Eddie Redmayne, Sean Bean, James D'Arcy, Douglas Booth

Nominations: none, but I'd give all the Razzies

RRR: 3.6/10 Letter-grade: D

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When it comes to creation of cult movies, The Wachowski siblings are among few directors who created something so outstanding that it still defines the genre - I mean The Matrix Trilogy. Then it was Cloud Atlas with rave reviews and my personal favorite. Logically, I expected something very extraordinary, that would blow my mind in any ways their films do. Honestly, the casting of Jupiter Ascending should be giving a clear vision of what would the movie look like. 

Movie starts with introducing Russian immigrant Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis) waking up at 4:30 in the morning, rushing to her job which merely includes cleaning toilets of rich people. She's obviously hating her life, because there is nothing happening until some unearthly creatures try to assassinate her at the hospital. Being saved by ex-military member named Caine Wise (Channing Tatum) she learns that one of the members of galaxy's most influential families wants her dead. Balem (Eddie Redmayne) has inherited Earth after his mother's mystical death. His other sibling Titus (Douglas Booth) wants to take over control on our planet, because it is such a treasure. The reason why Jupiter needs to be killed is that she is a reincarnation of Balem's mother and accordingly the sole owner of the planet, meanwhile Titus is trying to save her, marry her and claim the title. For that reason, he sent Caine as a savior. 

And here starts Miss Jones's voyage through galaxies to meet her "family" and prove that she owns the Earth, in order to keep it safe. As visually spectacular Jupiter Ascending is, as messy the story seems. It's two hours of Jupiter's stupid decisions, number of drama scenes between Wise and her, tons of fights and flights. 

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Movie Review: Force Majeure [2014]

This film can not be discussed without spoilers

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Force Majeure
Directed by: Ruben Östlund
Country: Sweden
Runtime: 119 mins
Cast: Johannes Kuhnke, Lisa Loven Kongsli, Vincent Wettergren, Kristofer Hivju
Nominations: Golden Globes [Foreign Film]

RRR: 8.2/10 Letter-grade: B+

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Force Majeure is a Swedish film shortlisted by The Academy in best foreign film nomination. It's director Ruben Östlund's fourth full feature film, were he tells about a family of four that is about to fall apart, because their perceptions of each other were actually far from reality.

Thomas and Ebba with two children are having a vacation in French alps. On a fine morning, while they are having their meal on veranda, allegedly controlled avalanche cascades towards the hotel. They all panic but behave differently. Ebba grabs kids to cover them, Thomas, to the contrary rushes inside, leaving hopeless family members behind. This is when his, as a family patriarch's status is questioned leading the relationships to unwilling direction.

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Poster: Magic Mike XXL

Magic Mike XXL is one of most anticipated films of 2015. This is its first official poster, what do you think?