Topic Of The Day: 5 Actors On Han Solo Shortlist

The search for the next Han Solo is slowly coming to an end. They have announced 5 actors that are supposedly on the final shortlist and I have to say, it isn't a shabby list. Two of the names I haven't seen on screen, but that might change.

                               

One name on the list is Alden Ehrenreich from Hail, Caesar! and Beautiful Creatures. He's a terrific young actor and he was one of the best things about Hail, Caesar!. Because of how humorous he was in that film, I'm curious as to whether he can pull off the rather cocky humor required for Han Solo. 

Next is Blake Jenner from Glee. I haven't seen Glee so I can't really comment on his acting abilities. But something about him as Han Solo doesn't quite gel with me and I can't figure out why.

Next is Irish actor Jack Reynor from Transformers: Age of Extinction. He's also done some smaller indie films from Ireland like What Richard Did from Lenny Abrahamson who just guided Brie Larson to a Best Actress win for Room. I haven't seen his work, but I think he could snag the role. One reason is because he bears a slight resemblance to a young Harrison Ford. He's also likely within their price range since, judging by who they have on their shortlist, they want an unknown for the role. 

    

Lastly are my top two picks for the role: Taron Egerton and Jack O'Connell. If it were between those two, it would probably be O'Connell. While Egerton's slate is looking full with the upcoming Kingsman sequel and a Robin Hood origin film, O'Connell's slate is looking more free. Apparently, he was closer to landing a role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. So couple that with his open schedule and likely affordability since he isn't quite established yet, I can definitely picture him snagging the role.

What do you guys think? Do you like the list of actors being considered? Please be sure to write your thoughts in the comments section. Thanks for reading!

Consider John Goodman for Best Supporting Actor for "10 Cloverfield Lane"

It is already March and we've just put the 88th Academy Awards behind us. But I have already found a performance that should be remembered come awards time. That performance is by John Goodman in the sci-fi thriller 10 Cloverfield Lane. 

10 Cloverfield Lane itself is a solid tension-filled thriller that even exceeds its spiritual predecessor Cloverfield. While the people sitting behind me were like "This is boring" because it is mostly about three people trapped in a bunker, it is more focused on asking the question of "If you were trapped underground with someone you didn't know, what would you do? Would you take your chances trying to survive outside or stay inside where you will be safer with strangers?"

As great as the film is, most of the reason that it works so incredibly well is John Goodman as the owner of the bunker the characters stay in named Howard. Lately, Goodman has appeared in 5 minute role after 5 minute role, nailing it every time. But here, he is given a larger role to really sink his teeth into. Goodman successfully captures different invisible layers to his character: black comedy, reclusive mystery, and forceful, brooding menace. He appears fatherly and welcoming yet may or may not be crazier than the evil outside.

While the Internet has moaned about Leonardo DiCaprio not having an Oscar, and understandably so, take a look at John Goodman. The guy has been around since the 80's and works consistently, yet no recognition for his film work. He's gotten accolades for his work on TV's Roseanne. But never for his work in film even though he recently appeared in two Best Picture winners in a row: The Artist and Argo. I think it's time he joined the Oscar club. Despite his performance in 10 Cloverfield Lane being incredibly good, he has an even bigger hurdle to overcome: it's a sci-fi movie. But if they were to play up some kind of "he's never been nominated" angle, then he could overcome that and not just the genre and early release date.

Oscars 2017: Early Best Actress Predictions

Best Actress might once again be competitive this year considering the many legitimate names we might have in the mix. While it is too early to tell who will get in the Final Five, it's still so much fun to figure out head on who will make the cut. Let's take a look:

1. Viola Davis, Fences: Depending on if the film is ready on time for this year's awards season, I can very well picture a scenario where Viola Davis wins Best Actress. She's already got an Emmy  and two Tonys under her belt while she came very close to winning this category at her last outing with The Help. So, she's likely holding an IOU right about now. Also, she won a Tony for the role she will be playing in Fences. So she'll have no problem owning it on screen. Complete your Triple Crown, Queen Viola!

2. Amy Adams, Story Of Your Life/Nocturnal Animals: She certainly won't be winning for Batman v. Superman which'll be out in a few weeks. But she might at least be nominated for one of the two other films she's got lined up for this year. She does have a 0-5 record so they do like the girl. If Viola Davis doesn't quite pan out, we shall see if Adams becomes aggressive to finally win.

3. Jessica Chastain, The Zookeeper's Wife: On paper, this seems like a no-brainer. A previous two-time nominee doing a Holocaust movie. We'll just have to wait and see how the film is received.

4. Emily Blunt, The Girl On The Train: This must happen. Blunt. Must. Finally. Happen!!!

5. Alicia Vikander, The Light Between Oceans: Fresh from her Oscar win, Vikander has another prestige picture lined up that looks like it could have her back at the ceremony. It also helps that she might have yet another banner year with the Bourne sequel coming out over the summer as well.

Waiting On The Wings:

Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins: Because she's Meryl. Duh.

Emma Stone, La La Land: The film did just get an awards season release in December.

Ruth Negga, Loving: Will she overcome the fact she's an unknown?

Jennifer Lawrence, Passengers: She has already become an Oscar perennial with 1 win and 3 other nominations under her belt. Will she score a 5th for what looks to be this year's Martian (a movie with bankable movie stars in space)?

Rooney Mara, Una: She does have 2 nominations to her name and she plays the title character in a film based on a play. So it could be a strong acting showcase for her.

Marion Cotillard, Five Seconds of Silence: Oscar winner + Zemeckis +World War II= third overall nomination, first for an English language performance?

Oscars 2017: Early Best Supporting Actress Predictions

The 89th Academy Awards are not for a long while. But it's still so much fun to predict them early on. The first category I will try and predict is Best Supporting Actress and I'm going to go through the actress categories first because those are fun to predict. Let's take a look:

1. Annette Bening, 20th Century Women: Director Mike Mills recently guided overdue veteran Christopher Plummer to an Oscar win for Beginners. Depending on which category Bening goes in, she should be building a case for an eventual win since she is currently 0-4.

2. Laura Linney, Sully: Supportive wife alert! If the Supporting Actress category has taught us anything, they LOVE the supportive wife role. If you ask Jennifer Connelly and Alicia Vikander, they'll tell you. If you add Linney's current 0-3 record and the fact she is working on a Clint Eastwood biopic, she's got the right recipe for Nomination #4. However, we'll see how big her role is.

3. Rachel Weisz, The Light Between Oceans: Weisz is set to have a banner 2016: She's got the dystopian sci-fi The Lobster, Deep Water with Colin Firth, Complete Unknown opposite Michael Shannon, the British Holocaust drama Denial, and of course, The Light Between Oceans. Judging by the trailer, where she plays the grieving mother of a child believed to be dead, she looks like she'll have some pretty heavy 'clip' scenes. Plus, she's already got an Oscar under her belt in this category. That never hurts.

4. Kristen Stewart, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk: I have a feeling some are fighting a gag reflex as I bring up the possibility of the moniker "Academy Award nominee Kristen Stewart." But i'm telling you guys that it's coming. She received strong critical notices for Clouds of Sils Maria last year and this year, is working with the likes of not just Ang Lee but Woody freaking Allen. I'm telling you, it's coming. It just depends on how big a role she has.

5. Laura Dern, Wilson/The Founder: After surprising us all with her nomination in this category for Wild, Laura Dern is obviously still fresh in voters minds and has both Wilson opposite Woody Harrelson and the biopic The Founder opposite Michael Keaton where he plays the founder of McDonald's. Which could she get in for or will she cancel herself out?

Next In Line:

Lupita Nyong'o, Queen of Katwe: Which category will she go in, I wonder?

Rosamund Pike, A United Kingdom: See Lupita Nyong'o above.

Michelle Williams, Manchester By The Sea: Previous nominee in a critically acclaimed film bought at Sundance.

Jennifer Jason Leigh, LBJ: Afterglow nomination for playing a former First Lady, perhaps?

Aja Naomi King, Birth Of A Nation: Received standout notices for her performance. If the other actors have a hard time making it in, she could be the benefactor amongst the ensemble.

Oscars 2017: Films That Could Prevent #OscarsSoWhite From Trending

As we all know, for the second year in a row, the Oscars have underwent harsh criticism for its lack of diversity in the nominees. Even if they nominated Creed and Straight Outta Compton, they still recognized the white talent involved. But thankfully, we have a boatload of films that have potential to put that tired hashtag I've become tired of seeing and talking about to bed. Let's take a look:

First off is Birth Of A Nation. That one might already be a safe bet to be in the Best Picture race. It's about racism, Fox Searchlight bought it for a huge sum of $17.5 million which means it'll likely be their top contender, etc. The racial drama Loving about the real-life interracial Loving couple that got imprisoned for attempting to get married was picked up by Focus Features and will likely be their top prospect, I would imagine, after this whole controversy.

Next up is Lion which is based on a true story about an Indian boy who sets off to find his adoptive family. It's being produced by Harvey Weinstein and stars Dev Patel alongside Oscar club members Rooney Mara and Nicole Kidman. It's getting a timely Thanksgiving release date and if Harvey's past movies that came out around that time are any indication (The Imitation Game, Silver Linings Playbook, etc.), it's possibly going to be his top dog in this race.

Now, this next one I would take with a grain of salt. That film is Queen of Katwe starring Lupita Nyong'o and David Oyelowo. While it is based on a true story (which they love) about a female chess prodigy from Africa, the reason I would take it with a grain of salt is because female-driven stories tend to have a more difficult time breaking through into Best Picture. Plus, the fact that this about a black female with a mostly black cast and is even directed by Mira Nair, a woman of color, means that they have hurdles to overcome. Not trying to seem cynical. I'm just saying to be careful when putting this on your predictions.

David Oyelowo's other film that he has lined up is A United Kingdom opposite Rosamund Pike where he plays a prince from Botswana who becomes married to a British white woman. It is also directed by Belle's Amma Asante who is also a woman of color. With her and Mira Nair likely getting in the conversation, they'll have more opportunities to make history by nominating the first black woman and/or the first Indian woman, respectively, for Best Director. But as of right now, A United Kingdom doesn't have a U.S. distributor. So if it hits the festival circuit, we'll see what happens.

Ang Lee has accomplished the rare feat of winning two Best Director Oscars only for his films not to win Best Picture. Maybe that could change with his latest film, the war satire Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk starring Steve Martin, Vin Diesel, Kristen Stewart, Chris Tucker, and newcomer Joe Alwyn.

While Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu won two back-to-back directing Oscars, why not put a spotlight on his fellow Hispanic directors?! One who could get it is director J.A. Bayona from Spain who has the fantasy A Monster Calls under his belt. While the word 'fantasy' might encourage caution due to their bias against the genre, could it be this year's Pan's Labyrinth, perhaps? Also, the Jackie Kennedy biopic Jackie by Chilean director Pablo Larrain and starring Natalie Portman could get a release if it is completed by the end of this year.

Brad Pitt has been something of a good luck charm as a producer, winning Best Picture for 12 Years A Slave and getting two subsequent nominations for Selma and The Big Short. He could find hid way back into the awards race as he partners with A24 Films which is coming off 3 recent Oscar wins for the upcoming coming-of-age story Moonlight about a young man who grows up in drug-ridden Miami. The cast includes Naomie Harris, singer Janelle Monae, and Mahershalal Ali aka Boggs from The Hunger Games.

Going back to women directors, director Niki Caro has guided some of her ladies like Keisha Castle-Hughes, Charlize Theron, and Frances McDormand to the Oscar ceremony. She could certainly strike again as she has the Holocaust drama The Zookeeper's Wife with Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain under her belt. Maybe she could not only guide Chastain to another nomination, but get recognition for her efforts as well.

So they definitely have opportunities to break this hashtag this year. It's just a question of whether their buzz can maintain and/or grow by the time voting hits. Whether you agree or disagree, please feel free to write your thoughts in the comments section. Thanks for reading!

Review: Zootopia (2016)

                               

               
                        'Zootopia' Made Me Wild With Emotions
 
       Before I saw the film, I got back a less than stellar grade on my essay for class. I was immediately discouraged but then I said to myself: "Well, it wasn't for a lack of trying." Now, it reminds me of the message that Zootopia has which is to try your best even if your goal doesn't always work out.

     Story:
    Zootopia follows the story of a bunny named Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) who decides to join the police department of the metropolitan city Zootopia despite those around her not having much belief in her due to her stature. But Hopps gets the chance to prove herself once she solves a mystery along with a sly fox named Nick (Jason Bateman).

     Ups:
   I'll start off with the voice actors. I really loved Ginnifer Goodwin as Judy Hopps, a small bunny trying to make her dream of making the world a better place come true. Goodwin is very believable as a character who is very optimistic yet still tries to fight through another day. I also loved Jason Bateman as Nick. Even when his character makes a funny grin, I would be in stitches. Both he and Goodwin have great chemistry and I would hope to see them reteam in a sequel.
 
   I also would love to give a shoutout to Idris Elba as Hopps' chief officer Bogo, a buffalo who is very straight-laced and his cynicism and doubts about Judy making it in the force create some funny humor. Jenny Slate is also a delight as the sheep assistant mayor Dawn Bellwether. J.K. Simmons even has a role as the lion mayor of Zootopia which is perfect casting. The whole cast was great.

    Next, I want to dive right into the film's message. As I said in my first paragraph, it deals with the message of always being willing to try. Even if you reach for a goal that doesn't quite pan out, you can say that you tried, dust it off and come up with a way to try again, or aim for a different goal that may lead to something better. I thought the message was perfectly realized and it doesn't just shine through the character of Judy, but mostly Nick. I won't give away how he learns the message, so I'll leave it at that.

    The message of trying is handled well thanks to its screenplay. But not only does the screenplay find room for its message, along woth the traditional humor of an animated film, but it draws a unique metaphor for prejudice. We see characters being cast aside for their various attributes, from their stature to their categorization as predator or prey, and it is like the way people are treated for their skin color, gender, or even their sexuality. Since the film is also a mystery, I really enjoyed trying to solve it myself and watching the two main heroes being taken on this adventure.

     Downs:
    NIL.

     Consensus:
    Overall, Zootopia is a jam-packed adventure that is packed with the traditional mix of humor and heart in a Pixar movie.

Grade: A

Topic Of The Day: Let's Put #OscarsSoWhite To Bed

Up until the actual Oscar ceremony, I've talked quite extensively about this whole #OscarsSoWhite controversy. But now that the ceremony has taken place, I want to, for the last time, touch upon that ridiculous hashtag and say why we should put it to bed. Shall we?

Now in Chris Rock's opening monologue, and throughout the show, he touched upon how much black talent got ignored. But what about talent of other ethnicities? How about Asians or Latinos? Where was the outrage over their omissions? Also, since the word diversity was constantly brought up, it doesn't just refer to race but also gender and even sexuality. But we did see certain groups be recognized. 

For example, we saw Margaret Sixel, a female editor, win Best Film Editing which is a category that is typically a boy's club. Bear Story, the Animated Short winner, was done by Chilean filmmakers, making it the first Oscar win for the country of Chile. Amy, the Best Documentary winner, was directed by an Indian Brit named Asif Kapadia. Documentary Short winner A Girl On The River: The Price of Forgiveness was directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Cheenoy, a Pakistani woman. Mexicans Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu and Emmanuel Lubezki won consecutive Oscars for The Revenant. Even if I hated the song, it was neat to see an openly gay man, Sam Smith, win Best Original Song. Heck, we even had Alicia Vikander from Sweden as our Best Supporting Actress winner. 

So I wish that when looking to diversity, people would just stop thinking in a black and white manner. Yes, there was terrific work by black talent last year. But we should look at the great work by other ethnic or sex-oriented groups as well as black talent. It makes those that have boycotted the ceremony seem like they should be entitled to get nominated just for their skin color and we don't want that.

Anyways, we did see diversity be represented on Sunday night. But unfortunately, it seems that people just weren't looking hard enough. What do you guys think? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section on how far this #OscarsSoWhite controversy is getting and let's hope that for next season, we never have to see that hashtag appear. Thanks for reading!