Gnever say Gnever. Even Justin Bieber knows that. On Sunday night, the box office news that broke beneath all the Oscar talk and celebrating was that “Gnomeo & Juliet” had taken first at the box office despite having been out for two weeks already. Well, turns out that the complete reports for the weekend put […]

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t relieved that Oscar season is over. All the hype and excitement and almost 24 hours after the ceremony it disintegrates into “time for a break.” That’s why you won’t see my early 2012 Oscar predictions this week. I have some, but seriously, enough already. This year was […]

Well, fans of Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” can boast that their favorite film of 2010 tied for the most Oscars at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards, but the more meaningful hardware went to “The King’s Speech,” which won where it counts: Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, Best Actor and of course, Best Picture. It wasn’t the […]

Well, the moment some of you have been waiting for, my Best Picture prediction. But rather than give it to you plain and simple, I will explain to you how you can impress your present company during the ceremony. There should be a few telltale signs of how the big categories will turn out. I […]

Some things don’t belong together. Most people, I think, would put human defecation and married couples rekindling their romance in that category. Just don’t tell the Farrelly Brothers that, because such things are their bread and butter and they’ve slathered it up again for “Hall Pass.”

One of the fiercest duels at the Academy Awards on Sunday night will be for Best Director. The category probably has the most prestige of any Oscar presented and usually serves as an indicator of Best Picture. The tale behind last year’s battle, two filmmakers (Kathryn Bigelow and James Cameron) at one point married to […]

Our last winter weekend has arrived and thank goodness. No films have been very good thus far in 2011. A couple have been decent-to-good like “The Green Hornet” and “The Eagle” (most would disagree with me on the latter it seems), but nothing has surprised in a pleasant way. This weekend last year, “Shutter Island’ […]

And this is where the Oscars officially become a popularity contest. They should really rename these categories “Best Performance by an Actor/Actress in a Leading Role Who Deserves an Award.” No, the “deserves a reward part” doesn’t necessarily mean for that performance, but for their career. That’s especially the case for Best Actor, because there […]

I don’t know whether to consider this first teaser for “The Hangover: Part II” a trailer or a public service announcement that comedy’s biggest sequel in recent memory is coming in a few months. If you didn’t know that Memorial Day weekend would bring us the sequel to cinema’s most successful R-rated comedy ever, then […]

One of the most influential last names in movie comedy that gets the least recognition is “Farrelly.” Maybe its because Bobby and Peter’s films have gotten progressively less popular with fans and critics in the 15-plus years they’ve been making them. Maybe it’s because their motto is probably something along the lines of “goofiness and […]

Think your parents are/were overprotective? Not after “Dogtooth.” Giorgos Lanthimos’ film, the first Greek film to be nominated for an Oscar in more than 30 years, imagines the pinnacle of what sheltering and censorship of children would be like to an absurd degree. A strange and ruminating film that is as fascinating as it is […]

In years such as this one, we’re reminded that “supporting actor” and “supporting actress” are mere distinguishing titles, because quite often we find that the supporting actors overshadow the leads or have a stronger voice in the film. A couple heavy contenders in these categories fit that bill, but rather than complain about not having […]

“Exit Through the Gift Shop” might be the only documentary where the documentarian is more fascinating than the film — and the film is quite fascinating. A documentary about street art and the shadowy enigmatic figures that create it sounds interesting; a documentary about street art made by one of those shadowy figures sounds captivating.

Three-day President’s Day totals were surprisingly low this weekend. Although last year combined Valentine’s and President’s Day weekends into one, this year still did about 30 percent less business. Unless you were a kids’ film (“Gnomeo & Juliet”), you finished way below expectations.

Currently, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognizes two specific kinds of films as worthy of their own category: Foreign language film and animated film. Perhaps one day we’ll see a Comedy/Musical category or Independent category to give some recognition to films who never have a chance with the big boys/heavy-hitters, but that’s […]