Author: Derrick Murray

Awards season is upon us! It technically started with some of the smaller critics awards, and the mainstream season kicked off with the Golden Globes. But given how controversial the Globes are despite their small moves towards change, most of us have all but written off the show altogether. The SAG (Screen Actors Guild) Awards has more merit, and focuses on performances above all else. It should be noted that the nominations are surprisingly close to those of the Golden Globes, which I think says more about the latter than the former, in that they may actually be on the…

The new year is kicking off big with television releases dominating the streaming space. We started the year with a fantastic 4th season of “Cobra Kai,” only to be followed by the much anticipated “Peacemaker” a few weeks later. A spinoff of James Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad,” the series follows film standout Peacemaker (John Cena) in a whole new adventure independent of the crew in the film, but still deeply connected to its events. I’ll be the first to admit that even thought I had a blast with the film, I was skeptical about the success of a spinoff. Not…

If we’re being honest, this category has the potential to sport the widest array of performances. Everything from clear, sure fire bets to win it all in Olivia Coleman, to a surprising turn as a legitimate actress in Kristen Stewart, to newcomers in Alana Haim and yes, all the way to probably underserved by academy darling Nicole Kidman. Needless to say, there is a lot of competition and possible contenders despite some clear front runners. I can’t stress enough how foolish it is to not bet on Coleman. Like the Best Actor category, there are a few key performances that…

I have vivid memories of how I discovered and watched “The Sopranos” all the way through for the first time. 12 years ago I was having a discussion with a co-worker about our shared loved for gangster cinema. As we were ranking films like “Goodfellas,” “The Godfather,” and “The Untouchables,” my co-worker quickly realized that Tony Soprano was nowhere to be found on my list of favorite cinema mob bosses. I think he had half a mind to get me fired when I told him I had never seen “The Sopranos.” He demanded that I get my shit together and…

Similar to the Best Supporting Actress category, these predictions for nominees always present a challenge. What actually qualifies a best supporting role? It seems to rest a lot on the narrative trope that they occupy in any given narrative, but even that isn’t always the standard for criteria. Because it’s such a wide array of performances that encompasses an even wider array of films, it becomes difficult to choose a solid, most likely top five nominees. But of course, we’re going to try and rise to the occasion and see what we can come up with. In another similarity to…

The Best Director category is usually extremely competitive at the Academy Awards, aka the Oscars. It’s also a pretty controversial one, as the Academy has only recently started branching out to nominating and selecting individuals who aren’t old stuffy white guys. While this year will certainly have a few them (as no Best Director list is complete without them), there is a chance that this year continues the trend of attempted diversity, believable or not. There are some definitive front runners and some long shot hopefuls, so let’s get into it. Here are my predictions for the Best Director nominees.…

Joel Coen’s “Macbeth” is the visual representation of something wicked this way comes, and we are here for it.

The supporting actor categories at the Oscars tend to be a rather difficult one to predict. Not because those performers don’t deserve recognition; they most certainly do. But because what constitutes a supporting role is typically hard to quantify and ranges wildly as to what can and can’t be considered. The category can be as short as a few minutes like Anthony Hopkins in “Silence of the Lambs,” to as close to a leading role as you can get with Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit.” The criteria makes it hard to make accurate predictions, but that’s show biz, baby! The…

Of all the categories I plan to predict this year, Best Actor is probably the most competitive. It’s also the hardest for me personally, because I am wrestling with who I think will be nominated and who I think deserves to be nominated. There were a lot of terrific performances this year, and whittling it down to a top 5 has proven to be very difficult. It’s a battle of logic vs. heart, so I’ll do my best to try and keep my list as balanced as possible. There are some definitive front runners that I think the critic community…

For the first time in a long time, I can confidently say that I have seen almost every film that can be considered a front runner for Best Picture in 2022. Unless Hollywood decides to sneak in a white savior biopic, a slavery black trauma-porn period piece, or a Hollywood era circle jerk- we’re in for a rather diverse group of Best Picture candidates. It may be too early to tell, but I think it could be fun to make predictions long before the nominees are announced. I think it could be fun to see how close I am when…