This Day in Oscar History: March 3 (2015)
Here's what happened today in Oscar History.
Born
Died
Released
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Film Preview: The Gunman (2015)
Poster
Poster #1
Additional posters can be found below.
Trailer Link
Release Date:
March 20, 2015
Synopsis:
From IMDb: "A former Special Forces soldier and military contractor suffering from PTSD tries to reconnect with his long time love, but first must go on the run from London to Barcelona and across Europe in order to clear his name."
Poster: B- / D / C- / D (3)
Review: (#1) While I like the general layout and visual flow of the design, I'm not sure it's that entirely original or inventive. (#2) Plain and boring. (#3) What worked with the first design is lost in the second, which has less interesting colors and cuts off part of Javier Bardem's body, which is the reason the first design works as well as it does. (#4-#6) These character posters are superfluous, have no design connectivity to the other posters and abuse an awful, trite color scheme.
Trailer: B-
Review: As much as Penn has delighted us in the past, this trailer suggests a film that has too many pedestrian elements and focuses more heavily on action than on other elements necessary for a film to stand above the fray.
Oscar Prospects:
Sean Penn is always in the conversation, though the film releasing so early in the year is unlikely to result in any awards traction.
Revisions:
(March 1, 2015) Original
Additional Posters
Poster #2Poster #3Poster #4
Poster #5Poster #6
Oscar Preview: Weekend of Feb. 27-Mar. 1, 2015
We had one films release this past weekend with the potential for Oscar nominations.
Maps to the Stars
Later this week, I should be posting the final Oscar Preview covering the 87th Oscars, looking back at the best and worst of the precursors. Before then, let's look at what came out this weekend. Maps to the Stars seems to be the only potential contender released this week and it doesn't seem to have as much strength as it might of last year.
The David Cronenberg film has earned plenty of plaudits since its festival release and until it was shifted into 2015, Julianne Moore was receiving a lot of chatter about her performance, possibly yielding two nominations, one in lead for Still Alice (which she ended up winning for), and one in support. The film's difficult style, one that doesn't tend to appeal to mass audiences or even to Academy member (according to critics anyway), may have been the ultimate reason for its shift to 2015 and will likely be the reason it doesn't show up at the end of the year.
The Morning After: Mar. 9, 2015
Welcome to The Morning After, where I share with you what movies I've seen over the past week. Below, you will find short reviews of those movies along with a star rating. Full length reviews may come at a later date.
I spent much of the weekend out of town and wasn't able to get to my deepening queue. Hopefully, next week end.
This Day in Oscar History: March 2 (2015)
Here's what happened today in Oscar History.
Born
Died
Released
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Weekend Preview: Mar. 6-8, 2015
Below are five previews for films opening next weekend.
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Film Preview: These Final Hours (2015)
Poster
Trailer Link
Release Date:
March 6, 2015
Synopsis:
From IMDb: "A self-obsessed young man makes his way to the party-to-end-all-parties on the last day on Earth, but ends up saving the life of a little girl searching for her father. Their relationship ultimately leads him on the path to redemption."
Poster: A- / C / C- / C- / C-
Review: (#1) While it doesn't appear that the producers wanted to ultimately go this route, it remains the most inventive and visually interesting of all of the designs. (#2) This is the best of the rest, a not particularly enthralling design that uses the fire motif in the most appealing and least corny or haphazard way. (#3-#5) There's not a lot of variance between design 2 and the remaining three, each focusing on different ways to differentiate themselves, including different fonts and backgrounds, none of which seem to improve on the prior.
Trailer: B-
Review: As far as apocalyptic dramas go, this one doesn't quite set what's actually happening that will destroy all of Australia, but it does seem clear that it may be localized. There's some standard survivalist drama here, which doesn't make it seem that exciting, but appearances can sometimes be deceiving.
Oscar Prospects:
None.
Revisions:
(Mar. 1, 2015) Original
Additional Posters
Poster #2Poster #3Poster #4
Poster #5
Film Preview: Bad Asses on the Bayou (2015)
Poster
Trailer Link
Release Date:
March 6, 2015
Synopsis:
From IMDb: "Frank Vega and Bernie Pope return, this time to Louisiana in an attempt to find a kidnapped friend."
Poster: F
Review: Parody really needs to be more humorous. This just looks like a cheap attempt to capitalize on a thin narrative hook.
Trailer: F
Review: Poor Danny Trejo. He's become such a cult personality that he's constantly being suckered into dismal genre fare and this appears to be nothing different. What makes it more certain that you're looking at rudimentary comedy and cheesy writing, apart from the trailer itself, is the co-starring Danny Glover who hasn't done much of worth since the Lethal Weapon franchise collapsed.
Oscar Prospects:
None.
Revisions:
(Mar. 1, 2015) Original
Film Preview: Unfinished Business (2015)
Poster
Poster #1
Additional posters can be found below.
Trailer Link
Release Date:
March 6, 2015
Synopsis:
From IMDb: "A hard-working small business owner and his two associates travel to Europe to close the most important deal of their lives. But what began as a routine business trip goes off the rails in every way imaginable - and unimaginable - way, including unplanned stops at a massive sex fetish event and a global economic summit."
Poster: C / C- / B- (3) / D+ (3)
Review: (#1) Five scenes, each less amusing than the last. Sure, the fact that it's a raunchy comedy is apparent, but there's nothing particularly inventive on display. (#2) This one doesn't even try to suggest much of a comedy, sticking with a simplistic and forgettable design concept. (#3-#5) These character posters aren't original, but they are the most inventive of the film's designs, which gives them a slight boost in terms of memorability. (#6-#8) These character designs, however, aren't even remotely exciting. They are forgettable, unwatchable and deserve little attention.
Trailer: C+
Review: Raunchy comedies are struggling to find new ways of exploring the same comic material, namely people who've never done anything so bizarre getting out there and doing it for the sake of money. If it were a critique on capitalism, consumerism or wealth-derived happiness, it might have some merit, but the trailer doesn't suggest that's likely.
Oscar Prospects:
None.
Revisions:
(Mar. 1, 2015) Original
Additional Posters
Poster #2Poster #3Poster #4
Poster #5Poster #6Poster #7
Poster #8
This Day in Oscar History: March 1 (2015)
Here's what happened today in Oscar History.
Born
Died
Released
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This Day in Oscar History: February 28 & 29 (2015)
Here's what happened today (February 28) in Oscar History.
Born
Died
Here's what happened today (February 29) in Oscar History.
Born
Ceremonies
Trailer Watch: Insurgent, updated (2015)
New Trailer (#3) / New Posters (#11-#16)
The Divergent Series: Insurgent, updated
Preview Link: CLICK HERE for link to the trailer, more posters (if available) and other commentary not featured here.
Oscar in Box Office History (Week 9, 2015)
Every week, we'll take a look back 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 years into the box office past to explore how Oscar's nominees were doing at the box office that weekend historically. All data is taken from Box Office Mojo. The first section under each year is the positioning of all Oscar nominees during that weekend at the box office. The second section is an alphabetical list of those films and the categories in which they were nominated. And to start each week off, we'll be looking at the films releasing over the weekend that have the best chance of getting Oscar nominations and specifying the categories where we think they have the best chance at this stage of the game. Please let us know if you like our new feature or if you want to see more information and we'll see what we can do!
This Year: Potential Oscar Nominees Releasing This Weekend
None
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- Last Chance To Visit Academy’s Acclaimed Hollywood Costume Exhibition, Closing March 2 February 26, 2015
- Watch ABC's "The Oscars® Backstage" To Stream Live On Facebook For The First Time February 20, 2015
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- Time Inc.'s 'People' Partners With The Academy To Host 3rd Annual Oscar® Fan Experience February 19, 2015
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