Philomena

Is Philomena philomenal?

Philomena Lee’s journey is one of those small, true stories that inspire good movies, showing up in theaters just in time for the holidays.

Philomena, based on the 2009 investigative book by BBC correspondent Martin Sixsmith,The Lost Child of Philomena Lee, focuses on the efforts of Philomena Lee (Judi Dench) to find her Irish son who was given away for adoption in the United States.

As you can expect, her journey with the writer, Martin (Steve Coogan), takes a few poignant turns.

Simply put:  Philomenal. A true story. A truly affecting film.

Award potential: Dench is a delight and she has a good shot at a Best Actress nomination, if not an Oscar win. Cate Blanchett will take that award.

The movie has a small chance at Best Picture and Best Actor for Steve Coogan – but it has a very good shot at Best Screenplay. 

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks.

Alan's Golden Globe Nominee Predictions - 2014

The Golden Globes are voted on The Hollywood Foreign press, which is 90 foreign journalists who choose to live in Southern California — so who knows what they think? Apparently, I sorta do. I have an 87% accuracy rate in the past, so here goes.

Best Motion Picture (Drama)

12 Years A Slave

Captain Phillips

Gravity

Saving Mr. Banks

The Butler

Watch out for: Blue Jasmine, Dallas Buyers Club,

Best Picture (Comedy or Musical)

American Hustle

August: Osage County

Inside Llewyn Davis

Nebraska

The Wolf Of Wall Street

Watch out for: Her

Best Actor In A Leading Role (Drama)

Chiwetel Ejiofor,12 Years A Slave

Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club

Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips

Robert Redfort, All Is Lost

Forest Whitaker, The Butler

Watch out for: Michael B. Jordan, Fruitvale Station

Best Actor In A Leading Role (Comedy or Musical)

Bruce Dern, Nebraska

Leonardo DiCaptio, The Wolf of Wall Street

Oscar Issac, Inside Lllewyn Davis

James Gandolfini, Enough Said

Joaquin Phoenix, Her

Watch out for: Christian Bale, American Hustle

Best Actress In A Leading Role (Drama)

Bereinice Bejo, The Past

Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Sandra Bullock, Gravity

Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks

Judi Dench, Philomena

Watch out for: Kate Winslet, Labor Day

Best Actress In A Leading Role (Comedy)

Amy Adams, American Hustle

Julie Delphy, Before Midnight

Greta Gerwig, Frances Ha

Julia Louis Dreyfus, Enough Said

Meryl Streep, August; Osage County

Watch out for: Melissa McCarthy, The Heat

Best Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role

Daniel Bruhl, Rush

Michael Fassbender, 12 Years A Slave

James Gandolfini, Enough Said

Tom Hanks, Saving Mr. Banks

Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Watch out for: Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips

Best Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role

Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle

Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years A Slave

Julia Roberts, August: Osage County

June Squibb, Nebraska

Oprah Winfrey, Lee Daniel’s The Butler

Watch out for: Octavia Spencer, Fruitvale Station

Best Screenplay

August: Osage County

Before Midnight

Inside Llewyn Davis

Saving Mr. Banks

The Wolf of Wall Street

Watch out for: Philomena, 12 Years A Slave, Nebraska, Her

Best Director

Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

Steve McQueen, 12 Years A Slave

David O. Russell, American Hustle

Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street

The Coens, Inside Llewyn Davis

Watch out for: Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips and Spike Jones, Her

Best Animated Motion Picture

Frozen

Monsters University

The Wind Rises

Watch out for: The Croods, Ernest & Celistine

The nominations will be announced on Thursday, Dec. 12, at 7 a.m. CST on NBC. The 71st annual Golden Globes, hosted for the second consecutive year by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, will air Sunday, January 12, 2014, on NBC.

Alan's SAG AWARD Nominee Predictions for 2014

The SAGS are not the Oscars, but last year, 14 of the 20 SAG nominees went on to reap Oscar bids. In 2012, it was 17 out of 20. Below, my fearless predictions for Wednesday's nominees in all the film categories.

 Best Performance By A Female Actor In A Leading Role

Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Sandra Bullock, Gravity

Judi Dench, Philomena

Meryl Streep, August; Osage County

Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks

Watch out for: Amy Adams, American Hustle

  

Best Male Actor In A Leading Role

Chiwetel Ejiofor,12 Years A Slave

Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club

Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips

Robert Redford, All Is Lost

Bruce Dern, Nebraska

Watch out for: Forest Whitaker, The Butler

It’s the toughest category. Sorry Leonardo DiCaprio Michael B. Jordan and Joaquin Phoenix

Best Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role

Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle

Lupita Nyongo, 12 Years A Slave
Julia Roberts, August: Osage County

Octavia Spencer, Fruitvale Station

Oprah Winfrey, Lee Daniel’s The Butler

Watch out for: June Squibb, Nebraska

Best Performance By A Male Actor In A Supporting Role

Michael Fassbender, 12 Years A Slave

Harrison Ford, 42

John Goodman, Inside Llewyn Davis

Tom Hanks, Saving Mr. Banks

Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Watch out for: Jake Gyllenhall, Prisoners

Best Performance By A Cast Ensemble (Not Best Picture)

12 Years A Slave

American Hustle

August: Osage County

Lee Daniel’s The Butler

The Wolf Of Wall Street

Watch out for: Saving Mr. Banks and Blue Jasmine


Sasha Alexander and Clark Gregg will reveal the 20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® nominations on Wednesday, Dec. 11  on TNT at 8 a.m. (CT)  and webcast live on tntdrama.com and tbs.com. 

A Thanksgiving Feast: 10 Oscar-Caliber Films Out Now

Be grateful: It should be pretty easy to avoid a turkey at the movies this Thanksgiving weekend. You’ll have to wait for Her, Inside Llewyn Davis, Saving Mr. Banks, American Hustle The Wolf of Wall Street and August Osage County, but unlike the past few years, several Oscar-caliber movies are out before Thanksgiving.

The Prestige Picture: 12 Years A Slave

It’s one of the most engaging films of the year. Expect nominations and front-runner status for Best Picture, Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Music Score…and the list goes on. It scored seven noms at the Spirit Awards this month.

The Crowd Pleaser: Gravity

In space, no one can hear you scream, but on January, 21^st Century Fox will be screaming about nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Film Editing and more. Don’t bet on Original Screenplay.

 The First Class Drama: Captain Phillips

Oscar voters will certainly cast a Best Actor nomination for Hanks. It has strong potential for Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay and more.

The Underdog: Dallas Buyers Club

Matthew McConaughey is getting a lot of recognition lately — for being nearly unrecognizable in Dallas Buyers Club. Expect nominations for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and perhaps, but not looking likely just yet, Best Picture.

The Seriously Funny One: Nebraska

Director Alexander Payne (Sideways, The Descendants) directs this black and white road trip drama starring Bruce Dern as a father who's convinced he's won a million dollar magazine sweepstakes. Dern will be a contender for Best Actor and June Squibb will be a likely Best Supporting Actor nominee. If a full ten films get nominated, Nebraska will likely be one of them — it's up for Best Picture at the Spirit Awards.

The WWII Film With The John Williams Score: The Book Thief

The film is getting mixed reviews, but being a World War II film-based off of a popular novel- endorsed by a former President is a real trump card for an Oscar nomination. If the film gets a nod, expect ones for Geoffery Rush and Emily Watson too. Either way, bet on a 49^th nomination for John Williams.


 

The One With Lots Of Famous People: The Butler

Forest Gump, I mean, Forest Whitaker, winner of the Best Actor Oscar for The Last King of Scotland, carries this movie through decades of history and he will get a nomination for Best Actor. I predict a snub for Best Picture and another snub for Oprah Winfrey, but experts think she’s a strong possibility for Supporting Actress.

The One From Summer: Fruitvale Station

The powerful story of Oscar Grant III, a Bay Area man who decides to make a change to his life on December 31, 2008. Octavia Spencer will be nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Potential nominations for Michael B. Jordan and Best Picture. 

The Lone Nomination: All Is Lost

Robert Redford plays a sailor who finds himself staring his mortality in the face, and he’ll likely face Oscar front-runner status for Best Actor.

The Whole Family: Monsters University

Oscar has its eye on this one. But lucky for you, Pixar’s well-reviewed sequel and likely Best Animated Film frontrunner is already available on DVD.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Catching Fire’s new director Gary Ross (I Am Legend, Seabicuit) has raised the bar on the whole series much like Alfonso Cuarón did for the Harry Potter films.

Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence has upped her game too. She plays her warrior princess character, Katniss, with more expression than she did in the first film and the whole cast is spotless. Like The Avengers proved, having accomplished actors in a fantasy film makes all the difference.

This new installment turns up the heat on the series with multiple action scenes, more costumes, new characters — and more importantly, genuine dollops of suspense. Who’s coming after the heroes? Who’s really an ally? That stuff kept me in the game.

Simply put: If you liked the first one, the odds are in your favor on Catching Fire.

Award potential: None, but it’s a real crowd pleaser.

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks. Thank you, someone, for not making this a 3D event.

12 Years A Slave

“I want to live.”

I’m not sure 12 Years A Slave tells me anything that I didn’t know about slavery in the U.S., but it quite a stunning experience to see it. This film is difficult to watch — and impossible to turn away from.

Chiwetel Ejiofor stars as Solomon Northup, a New York State citizen who was kidnapped and made to work on a plantation in New Orleans in the 1800’s. It’s a true story that is based on Northup's memoir. The fearless Michael Fassbender plays one of his many owners.

Director Steve McQueen (Shame) is most successful with his long, unbroken shots that bring us into slavery more than previous movies ever have.

12 Years A Slave shows us both beautiful moss and bodies hanging from the trees, and intelligently showcases the hypocrisies of the time. It’s quite an achievement.

Simply put: One of the most engaging films of the year. 

Award potential: This is the kind of film that merits accolades. Expect nominations and front-runner status for Best Picture, Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Music Score and the list goes on. 

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks.

Dallas Buyers Club

Matthew McConaughey is getting a lot of recognition lately — for being nearly unrecognizable in Dallas Buyers Club.

McConaughey plays real-life Texas cowboy Ron Woodroof, whose free-wheeling life was overturned in 1985 when he was diagnosed as HIV-positive and given 30 days to live. Jared Leto plays Rayon, a HIV-positive transgender woman who helps Ron smuggle medication.

Dallas Buyers Club takes audiences to a time that hasn’t been seen much on film — the worst of the AIDS crisis, where the disease was a death sentence, and the public's fear was at its height. Time has transformed AIDS from a fatal to a chronic disease and it has given us the opportunity to examine what now seems like one of the most powerful stories of the ‘80s.

There might be some storytelling faults that keep this from being the “movie of the year,” but there is hardly an untrue note and McConaughey and Leto pull off the two strongest male performances of the year.

Simply put: It aims to be one of this year’s important movies - I bought it.

Award potential: McConaughey and Leto are frontrunners for actor and supporting actor in every film award this year. Dallas Buyers Club, the film, is not a frontrunner, but I think it will be one of the 7, 8, 9 or 10 Best Picture Oscar nominations.

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks.

5 Films that you can enjoy while you're waiting for a new season of Downton Abbey

 

Impatient for Downtown Abbey’s new season that doesn’t premiere in the U.S. until January 5, 2014? Get your fix with these five films that even the Dowager Countess of Grantham would approve of.

1. Gosford Park (2001)
Gosford Park is a 1930’s period film, written by Julian Fellowes, the creator of Downton Abbey, and directed by the legendary Robert Altman. Upstairs guests and downstairs servants are assembled for a hunting party weekend when one of the group is murdered. It’s a high-class whodunit with a dream ensemble cast including: Helen Mirren, Kristin Scott Thomas, Emily Watson, Clive Owen, Ryan Phillippe — and Maggie Smith as Constance, a dependent countess with a quip for every occasion.

2. The Remains Of The Day (1993)
If you think Mr. Carson is uptight, then it’s time to meet Mr. Stevens. Anthony Hopkins (Mr. Stevens) and Emma Thompson (Miss Kenton) star in this moving story of a butler's steely devotion to his master (Christopher Reeve) and the high-spirited young woman who threatens to crack his reserve. The Remains of the Day received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenplay and more.

3. Cranford (2007)
Cranford, a BBC mini series, is a charming period drama set in northwest England in 1842. Dame Judi Dench leads a cast of quirky, snarky and lovable characters who live in a place governed by etiquette, custom and above all, an intricate network of ladies. Jim Carter, Downton’s Mr. Carson, appears in many episodes.

4. Anna Karenia (2012)
Set in late-19th-century Russia high-society, the aristocrat Anna Karenina (Keira Knightley) enters into a life-changing affair with the affluent Count Vronsky (Jude Law). Michelle Dockery, Downton’s Lady Mary Crawley has a role as Princess Myagkaya. 

5. The Secrets of The Manor House Series
Secrets of the Manor House, a PBS documentary series, looks at many ancient British houses, and how mounting financial, political and social pressures brought momentous changes to both the wealthy and their servants. The Secrets of Highclere Castle explores the home that is the setting to Downtown Abbey, The Secrets of Althorp –The Spencers navigates viewers through the childhood home and final resting place of Diana, Princess of Wales and The Secrets of Henry VIII's Palace: Hampton Court Secrets of Chatsworth visits the Tudor palace. All are perfectly charming. All are worth ten bucks.

 

Diana

An air of respectful caution hangs over Diana, although Naomi Watts does her best to bring some complexity to the story of the Princess of Wales as she tries to redefine her public and private life after splitting from Charles. How British of this film to be so, so…constrained.

The good news is that it’s better than a Lifetime movie. The creators stayed clear of melodrama, sensationalism and “car-crash cinema” and they have an intriguing story to tell about Diana’s personal relationships with both Hasnat Khan and Dodi Fayed.

The bad news, is that’s it’s not as good as The Queen, the 2006 Helen Mirren film about Queen Elizabeth II that had a lot more to say about “the people’s princess.”

Simply put: I love any biopic, but most viewers will find this a royal bore.

Award potential: Taking on the most recognized woman in the world is a thankless task. Don’t bet too much money on Naomi Watts scoring a Best Actress nomination, this film’s only shot at award season.

The ten buck review: Not worth ten bucks.