Topic Of The Day: Matt Damon's Comments On Gay Actors In Hollywood

Hello, Bloggers, welcome to another episode of Topic Of The Day. For today's topic, I will delve into some comments made by Matt Damon that have gotten him some flack and I will address my thoughts on those comments before they get way out of hand. Those are comments that he made in an interview with the Guardian about gay actors being closeted.

Now, I thought what Damon said was taken out of context. On the surface, it seems like he was saying that gays should stay closeted just because they should. But what he was trying to convey was that the less people know about an actor, the easier it is to buy an actor as the character. Like with any other person, an actor's sexuality should be a private matter. Something that they can confess in private to family and friends that they trust. This may sound harsh, but it is really none of our business how they live their lives. Whether it'd be who they date, who they marry, who they have kids with, and even where they get their coffee. We know nothing about these actors we admire and like Damon suggests, the less we know about them, the easier it is to believe them as their characters.

Now, I don't think it is a bad thing for an actor to come out publicly because if you are really proud of who you are, then more power to you. But Hollywood is a pretty dodgy place where if you do come out, it'll be difficult to get leading roles unless Hollywood is willing to progress and at least release stories about a male or female gay protagonist. Don't know when that day will happen, though. I hope it does, but we'll see if it ever comes true.

So those are my thoughts on Matt Damon's comments that I figured I'd share before things potentially get out of hand. While his statement could've been worded a little more properly, I will still go and see The Martian when it comes out. But what are your thoughts? Please let me know in the comments section. Thanks for reading!

2009 Film Guy Awards

2009 was a pretty solid year for film. The Oscars were especially an interesting case as we saw the highest-grossing film of all time lose to one of the lowest-grossing winners, The Hurt Locker. That one is still unseen by me. But while I don't hate Avatar, I'm not too saddened it lost. It won the right awards in my opinion. Plenty of the other nominated films, like A Serious Man, An Education, A Single Man, are still unseen by me. But hopefully, that'll change soon. On my ballot, you'll see that some of the nominated films have a much stronger showing, either win or nominated wise. In particular, Up In The Air which for a movie about a guy who goes around the country firing people, has become one of my favorite movies. This is the 2009 Film Guy Awards. Enjoy!

Best Picture:
The Hangover
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Up In The Air*
The White Ribbon
Zombieland

Best Director:
Jacques Audiard, A Prophet
Michael Haneke, The White Ribbon*
Jason Reitman, Up In The Air
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Marc Webb, (500) Days of Summer

Best Actor:
George Clooney, Up In The Air
Willem Dafoe, Antichrist
Christian Friedel, The White Ribbon
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, (500) Days of Summer*
Tahar Rahim, A Prophet

Best Actress:
Sandra Bullock, The Proposal
Charlotte Gainsbourg, Antichrist
Melanie Laurent, Inglourious Basterds
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Tilda Swinton, Julia*

Best Supporting Actor:
Neils Arestrup, A Prophet
Tom Felton, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Zach Galifianakis, The Hangover
Leonard Proxauf, The White Ribbon
Christoph WaItz, Inglourious Basterds*

Best Supporting Actress:
Vera Farmiga, Up In The Air
Anna Kendrick, Up In The Air*
Mo'Nique, Precious
Natalie Portman, Brothers
Betty White, The Proposal

Best Adapted Screenplay:
District 9
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Precious
Up In The Air*
Watchmen

Best Original Screenplay:
(500) Days of Summer
The Hangover
Inglourious Basterds
Up
The White Ribbon*

Best Film Editing:
(500) Days of Summer*
Avatar
Star Trek
Watchmen
Zombieland

Best Cinematography:
Antichrist
Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Watchmen
The White Ribbon*

Best Original Score:
Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Sherlock Holmes
Up*
Watchmen

Best Costume Design:
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Inglourious Basterds
Sherlock Holmes
Watchmen*
The White Ribbon

Best Production Design:
Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince*
Inglourious Basterds
Watchmen
The White Ribbon

Best Sound:
Avatar
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
The White Ribbon
Zombieland*

Best Visual Effects:
Avatar*
District 9
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Star Trek
Watchmen

Best Makeup:
District 9
Star Trek*
Zombieland

Best Original Song:
“Stu’s Song” from The Hangover
“Help Yourself” from Up In The Air*
“Up In The Air” from Up In The Air

(subject to change)

Predicting The 2015 Film Guy Awards

Hello, Bloggers, with awards season currently upon us, I figured that, just for fun, I'd predict what my final ballot would look like for my own awards at the end of the year. Here are my predictions for the 2015 Film Guy Awards:

(Note: Some of these haven't been released yet or are released yet unseen by me. But like I said, this is just for fun.)

Best Picture:
Carol
Inside Out*
Mad Max: Fury Road 
The Revenant 
Star Wars: The Force Awakens 

Best Director:
J.J. Abrams, Star Wars: The Force Awakens 
Danny Boyle, Steve Jobs 
Todd Haynes, Carol*
Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, The Revenant 
George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road 

Best Actor:
Matt Damon, The Martian 
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant*
Joel Edgerton, Black Mass
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs 
Jack O'Connell, '71

Best Actress:
Cate Blanchett, Carol 
Brie Larson, Room*
Rooney Mara, Carol 
Charlize Theron, Mad Max: Fury Road 
Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina 

Best Supporting Actor:
Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation 
Tom Hardy, The Revenant 
Nicholas Hoult, Mad Max: Fury Road 
Oscar Isaac, Ex Machina*
Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight 

Best Supporting Actress:
Rose Byrne, Spy 
Julianne Nicholson, Black Mass*
Kristen Stewart, Clouds of Sils Maria 
Tilda Swinton, Trainwreck 
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs 

Best Original Screenplay:
Dope
Ex Machina 
Inside Out*
Spotlight 
Trainwreck 

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Carol
The End of the Tour 
The Martian 
Room
Steve Jobs*

Best Cinematography:
Carol
Ex Machina 
It Follows 
Mad Max: Fury Road 
The Revenant*

Best Film Editing:
Dope
Inside Out 
Mad Max: Fury Road*
The Revenant 
Steve Jobs 

Best Original Score:
Ex Machina 
Inside Out
It Follows*
Mad Max: Fury Road 
Star Wars: The Force Awakens 

Best Sound:
Crimson Peak 
The Hateful Eight 
Mad Max: Fury Road*
The Martian
The Revenant 

Best Costume Design:
Carol
Crimson Peak 
Mad Max: Fury Road*
The Revenant 
Star Wars: The Force Awakens 

Best Production Design:
Carol
Crimson Peak 
The Hateful Eight 
Mad Max: Fury Road*
Star Wars: The Force Awakens 

Best Visual Effects:
Ant-Man 
Avengers: Age of Ultron 
Jurassic World 
Mad Max: Fury Road 
Star Wars: The Force Awakens*

Best Makeup:
Crimson Peak 
Mad Max: Fury Road*
Star Wars: The Force Awakens 

Best Original Song:
"Can't Bring Me Down" from Dope 
"See You Again" from Furious 7
"Flashlight" from Pitch Perfect 2*

So those are my predictions as to how my own ballot will potentially play out. Now, we shall wait until February to see whether my predictions are true. Thanks for reading!

Top 10 Best Actresses 30 Or Under Working Today

Hello, Bloggers! Since I recently made my list of the top 10 best actresses working today, it just occurred to me that I didn't have much younger names. So I figured I'd shine a light on actresses that are slowly but surely on their way to being one of the greats. If some of them aren't there already. Just as a heads up, Jennifer Lawrence will not make this list. I like her acting and give her props for what she has already accomplished (1-2 Oscar record by 25, two mega-hit franchises), but there are other actresses that don't seem to get the same kind of props she does. So here is my list of the top 10 best actresses 30 or under working today. (On a side note, I apologize for the lack of diversity.)

10. Elizabeth Olsen: While I found her to be criminally under utilized in both Godzilla and Avengers: Age of Ultron, her debut in Martha Marcy May Marlene proved that she really is something special and she is quite capable of carrying a film. Her filmography may be pretty short, but the more we see of her talent, the better she will get.

9. Emma Watson: I'm sure that after Harry Potter, a lot of us had our worries about how Watson's career would pan out. Thankfully, our worries have been put to rest as she would go on to deliver a portrait of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl (Perks of Being a Wallflower), a hilarious cameo appearance in This Is The End, and deliver an outstanding supporting turn in the Biblical Noah. Next, she will recreate the role or Belle in the upcoming Beauty and the Beast and will hold her own against vets like Ethan Hawke and Tom Hanks in the films Regression and The Circle. 10 points for Gryffindor!

8. Lea Seydoux: Even before her big breakthrough with Blue Is The Warmest Color, she has already been leaving marks whenever she appeared on screen, whether it'd be in Midnight In Paris, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol as the female villain, and even Inglourious Basterds. She may not have gotten the role of Lisbeth Salander, but thanks to her involvement in the upcoming James Bond film and potentially playing the female lead in the X-Men spinoff Gambit, more American audiences should know her name.

7. Carey Mulligan: I have only seen a handful of her work in films like Brothers, Drive, and Shame yet I still think she is someone destined for big things. In Shame, she not only gets to showcase her dramatic chops, but her singing as well while in Drive, she proved she can play the romantic love interest. She's also a charmer on the talk show circuit. So if you give her the right studio property, then audiences will quickly succumb to her charms.

6. Keira Knightley: While Knightley is mostly known for her work in costume dramas, especially the Pirates films, she has certainly shown that she can act outside of a corset. Whether she shows off her singing pipess in Begin Again, totes guns as a bounty hunter in Domino, or plays the determined yet spunky Joan Clarke in The Imitation Game, she always melts into her different characters and genres without having to go through an actual transformation.

5. Anna Kendrick: While Anna Kendrick has made sort of a trademark at playing neurotic deadpan characters, she is always a treat playing that type of character. She is also adept at playing different genres as she has showcased solid comedic timing, her amazing singing voice, and her dramatic talent as well. With an Oscar and a Tony nod already under her belt, one can be sure she'll have some kind of envelope with her name on it in the future.

4. Mia Wasikowska: With a billion-dollar franchise already under her belt with Alice in Wonderland, the success of that films has allowed her to experiment and do smaller films while working with auteur directors in the process like Gus Van Sant, Jim Jarmusch, David Cronenberg, Park Chan-Wook, and pretty soon Guillermo Del Toro with the upcoming Crimson Peak. Not to mention the variety of roles she's nailed ranging from Alice in Wonderland to a scene-stealing vampire, from a wise beyond her years daughter of a lesbian couple to an introverted high school student who experiences a violently sexual awakening. Wonder what's next for this exciting young talent?

3. Emma Stone: While I have expressed my doubts as to whether Stone will go down the way of Alicia Silverstone and slowly fade, her breakout turn in Easy A is still a shining reminder of her stunning talent, especially as a comedienne. There is also her work in Birdman that plays to her strengths as an actress and a comedienne and her earlier work in Zombieland where she got to be a badass zombie killer and her scene-stealing turn in Superbad. With her starring in Damien Chazelle's upcoming musical La La Land and circling Dogtooth director Yorgos Lanthimos' next film where she'll star opposite Kate Winslet and Olivia Colman, she will likely continue to prove me wrong about her becoming a Silverstone.

2. Rooney Mara: All it took was to not only work with David Fincher for a small supporting role in The Social Network, but SLAY the screen in said small role. Since then, she would re-team with Fincher as Lisbeth Salander in the American version of Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and nab an Oscar nod while tackling a variety of films ranging from a Hitchcockian thriller (Side Effects) to a sci-fi dramedy (Her) to a western (Ain't Them Bodies Saints). Next, she'll play Tiger Lily in the upcoming blockbuster Pan and has garnered even more Oscar buzz with Todd Haynes' Carol which won her Best Actress at Cannes for her performance. In the trailers for Carol, she possesses such Audrey Hepburn-esque elegance. Quite a departure from the Goth hacker she has already become famous for playing.

1. Brie Larson: Even before her astonishing leading turn in Short Term 12, I have been a fan of Larson's work. In particular, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World where she proved her ability to sing and disappear into a role, as well as 21 Jump Street where she brought spark to the role of the love interest. Then came Short Term 12 where she demonstrated her ability to carry a film and act dramatic as well as her genuine supporting turn in Trainwreck where she plays the foil to the main character while also becoming her own character. Next up is Room where she has garnered significant awards buzz, the role of Billie Jean King in Battle of the Sexes opposite Steve Carell, and she will dab into the blockbuster genre as the female lead in Kong: Skull Island. It looks like her star is finally beginning to arise and I could not be a happier man.

So those are who I think are the best actresses 30 or under working today. Whether you agree or disagree, please feel free to write your thoughts in the comments section and share your own top 10 list as well. Thanks for reading!

2013 Film Guy Awards Updates

Hello, Bloggers, after viewing and experiencing the brilliance that is Stories We Tell, it not only makes a splash on my 2013 ballot, but it wins Best Picture amongst my other five nominees. Because 2013 was a KILLER year for films (still in awe over how great it was), it feeels cruel to narrow it down to just five. Also, I made some changes to my other categories as Place Beyond The Pines has a strong showing in Best Supporting Actor and Actress with Ben Mendelsohn and Eva Mendes, respectively, making an appearance. I also added Sally Hawkins on my Supporting Actress ballot, taking out previous winner Scarlett Johansson for Her. But Johansson is still a Film Guy nominee and possible winner on an upcoming ballot, so no matter. You can see my updated ballot here.

Best Picture:
Blue Is The Warmest Color 
Frozen 
Her
The Place Beyond The Pines 
Short Term 12 
Stories We Tell*

Best Director:
Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity*
Spike Jonze, Her
Abdellatif Kechiche, Blue Is The Warmest Color 
Steve McQueen, 12 Years A Slave 
Sarah Polley, Stories We Tell 

Best Supporting Actor:
Bradley Cooper, Place Beyond The Pines*
Michael Fassbender, 12 Years A Slave 
James Franco, Spring Breakers
John Gallagher, Jr., Short Term 12
Ben Mendelsohn, The Place Beyond The Pines 

Best Supporting Actress:
Kaitlyn Dever, Short Term 12*
Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine 
Eva Mendes, The Place Beyond The Pines 
Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years A Slave 
Lea Seydoux, Blue Is The Warmest Color 

Best Film Editing:
Gravity*
Short Term 12 
Spring Breakers
Stories We Tell 
Wolf of Wall Street 

Indie Review: Stories We Tell (2013)

                                     

                             
            'Stories We Tell' Uses Real-Life To Define The Meaning of Cinema
 
               Just so you guys know, I rarely ever put the words "phenomenal" and "documentary" in the same sentence because I rarely ever watch documentaries. That is until I saw Stories We Tell. 

     Story:
     Stories We Tell is about the director Sarah Polley and how she uses the pursuit of answers about her past and her family through a series of interviews with family and friends as well as old home movies.

      Ups:
    Interestingly, I can't really convey what I loved about it. Partially because I don't want to give too much away and also because I can't figure it out myself. Yet, I loved that. But I'll say that the beauty of it all is the film's simplicity. It was amazing how Sarah Polley used her own family history to demonstrate how the ordinary  tales of our lives may not seem so ordinary. Like for example, we see the interview subjects talk in great detail about Sarah’s mother and the impact she had on their lives with her energy as well as her mystique. We see that through how those around her describe her as well as through the super 8 home movies she is filmed in.

   Downs:
   NIL.

   Consensus:
   Overall, Stories We Tell is a meticulously crafted documentary that leaves me with no words to describe it and shows how the stories we do tell are shown in both words and visuals. It is not just a film or a documentary, but it is also an experience that uses a simplistic family story to tell the story about all of us. This one, my friends, is what true cinema is about: One that has us asking questions and thinking about our own world and the world around us.

   Would I Recommend It?:
   Absolutely! As soon as you are done reading this review, find it and watch it anyway you can.

Grade: A+

Oscar Watch: Truth (2015)

Hello, Bloggers, welcome to another episode of  my Oscar Watch where I discuss trailers for upcoming Oscar contenders. For this post, I will delve into the upcoming  Dan Rather biopic Truth starring Cate Blanchett and Robert Redford.

http://www.slashfilm.com/truth-trailer-rathergate/

Truth is about the last days of news anchor Dan Rather and producer Mary Mapes and a report that they broadcasted about George Bush back in 2004 that proved to be highly controversial due to their sources being unverifiable.

Just as a heads up, though, I have a feeling that because we also have Spotlight, another movie about journalists in the conversation, I could see people consistently comparing the two as this awards season progresses. But early word suggests that Truth is the "feel-bad" journalism movie of the year so I wouldn't be surprised if they leaned more towards Spotlight. 

But more on Truth. The first thing that caught my eye about this trailer is perhaps Cate Blanchett. As soon as she entered the screen, it was like "Roar!" She already stuck the claws out and owned the screen. I think she is definitely set for a Best Actress nod, but the question is for which movie? This or Carol? 

I'm a little unsure about the film itself because I'm getting Network vibes. So it might be very been there, done that. But what do you guys think? Do you think it looks like a viable Oscar contender? Please feel free to write your thoughts in the comments section and even post whether you think it just looks like a good movie. Thanks for reading!