AMERICAN PASTORAL and THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA are great but I believe THE HUMAN STAIN may have been his greatest masterpiece. Even if you saw and hated the movie the book is well worth your time.

Two out of three of Simon’s best friends were minorities and in a movie low on stakes the main “drama” was that Simon’s selfishness was getting in the way of their budding romance. They were not minor or token characters. There are a lot of complaints to be made about this movie, even though I enjoyed it overall despite its softness, but lack of…[Read more]

I tried to find this dessert hummus at the grocery store to no avail last weekend. Will try Trader Joe’s and Sprouts this weekend to see if they have it.

Will Sandra Oh ever be an Oscar nominee?

Raspberry

I just learned about company that sells brownie, vanilla and snickerdoodle flavored hummus. Have you ever had dessert hummus? If so, what flavor and was it any good?

1) The Godfather Parts 1 & 2 (I am counting them as one)
2) Vertigo
3) Citizen Kane
4) Double Indemnity
5) Singin’ in the Rain

SQ

The joke may or may not be reducing those shows, that is debatable, but what it is definitely doing is implying that ABC is chock-a-block with minority programming when that is not the case.

See it. Or at least stream it. It seemed to get some surprisingly great word of mouth out of SXSW. Even some very strong reviews.

SQ

I like pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin empanadas, and pumpkin cake but I do not like pumpkin coffee and especially dislike pumpkin beer. I am indifferent toward pumpkin soup.

Do you like a Bloody Mary? If so, is it only a morning drink or an all hours cocktail?

Paddington 2 A-
Black Panther A-
Game Night B
Love, Simon B
Ferdinand C-

SQ

“Field of Dreams” for best picture. It is not a bad picture exactly but it slipped into the best picture race with just an adapted screenplay nom backing it up, when the Academy could not find space for great films like “Do the Right Thing”, “Henry V”, “Sex, Lies and Videotape” and “Crimes and Misdemeanors”.

SQ

Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Sandra Bullock, Gravity
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Natalie Portman, Jackie
Sally Hawkins, Shape of Water
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
Reese Witherspoon, Wild
Marion Cotilliard, Two Days, One Night

Jonathan Hawkes, Winter’s Bone
Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Christopher Plummer – Beginners
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
JK Simmons, Whiplash
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri

Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Sally Field, Lincoln
Viola Davis, Fences
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
June Squibb, Nebraska
Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

City of God
In America
Cold Mountain
21 Grams
Finding Nemo

SQ

1) Being John Malkovich
2) The Talented Mr. Ripley
3) Topsy-Turvy
4) The Hurricane
5) The Matrix

SQ

Joaquin Phoenix, “The Master”
Timothee Chalamet, “Call Me By Your Name”
Matthew McConaughy, “Dallas Buyers Club”
Jesse Eisenberg, “The Social Network”
Daniel Day Lewis, “Lincoln”
Bruce Dern, “Nebraska”
Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Bradley Cooper, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Chiwetel Ejiofor, “12 Years a Slave”
Casey Affleck,…[Read more]

I know Marcia Gay Harden has always said the Oscar hurt her career in movies and she has had a higher profile in theatre and television since her win.

1) Jerry Maguire
2) Collateral
3) Risky Business
4) American Made
5) Rain Man

SQ, for Al Pacino

1) Richard III
2) Rebecca
3) The Entertainer
4) Sleuth
5) Hamlet

SQ

1) The Last Detail
2) Chinatown
3) Terms of Endearment
4) Easy Rider
5) One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

SQ