News: And the Train Kept A-Rolling. Globes Keep Things As They Are.

     The Golden Globes were held last night, and every single winner matched up with the odds-on-favorite winners come Oscar night. "The Social Network" winning Best Picture (Drama), Best Director, and Best Screenplay, Colin Firth winning Best Actor (Drama), Natalie Portman winning Best Actress (Drama), Melissa Leo winning Best Supporting Actress, and Christian Bale winning Best Supporting Actor are all to be expected at the 2010 Oscar ceremonies. In the television department, while I haven't seen too many of the shows, I was glad to see Steve Buscemi win an award. Buscemi is one of my favorite character actors (even going back to his work on the Nickelodeon show "The Adventures of Pete and Pete), and it was about time someone gave him an award for his great work (although I have not seen "Boardwalk Empire" yet). I also must mention what a great job Ricky Gervais did as the show's emcee. Gervais is my favorite comedian in the business today (if you haven't seen the original "The Office" or the show "Extras", do what ever you have to to watch these shows), and I was glad to see he did not use kid gloves on the self-adoring Hollywood types. Any actors, such as Tom Hanks and especially Robert Downey Jr., who can handle being poked fun at, need to learn to let their narcissism go, and how to take themselves (and their egos) less seriously. Anyway, if you want to check out at list of the winners click here. Also, the night before was the critics choice awards, who also put their patented stamp on this years inevitable winners, so if you want to check that out, click here.

Top 100: 30-21

     After a week's hiatus, this week I move past the final quarter mark of my countdown as we approach the end (if you missed them, check out the previous weeks: 100-91, 90-81, 80-71, 70-61, 60-51, 50-41, 40-31). It's a huge week for comedy, as four of my absolute favorites from the genre pop up. These are movies that will keep you laughing through multiple viewings. I also have the only 100% silent film on my list this week, which is also my only film from the 1920's (making the oldest film on my list). In terms of genres, I also reach my all-time favorite horror film, my all-time favorite Christmas film, my all-time favorite super hero movie, and my all-time favorite war film. Looking through the decades, this week's ten are fairly spread out through the timeline, with the 1980's making the most appearances (3). No director makes more than one appearance this week, with the exception of Mr. Frank Capra, an auteur who pretty much created his own genre (pejoratively referred to as "Capra-corn"). There are also some one-time appearances from some very famous directors, in what I consider to be their very best work. Now on to the countdown!

News: Directors Guild Helps Clarify Competitive Director's Race

     The Directors Guild of America (DGA) today came out with their nominations (click here to take a look) for their five best directors of the year. There are a lot of big name auteurs in this year's race, which makes it one of the most interesting races of the season, and probably one of the hardest to predict. Coming into today, there where about 7 or 8 names that all seemed very credible competitors, but after the DGA's nominations I think is more of a six-way race. Of course, there are many more members of the DGA than the smaller, more exclusive, directors branch of the Academy, so I may be premature in narrowing the race down to six. Personally, with the recent box office success of 'True Grit", and the fact that many of the members of the DGA may not have had the opportunity to see the movie before they sent in their ballots, I think when it comes down to Oscar time the Coen brothers will end up replacing Christopher Nolan in the Best Director category, but they may just be me. Either way, it will be interesting to see, because as you may have guessed by the name of this blog, outside of Best Picture, Best Director is my favorite category.

News: Take a Look at Your Best Picture Nominees

     Earlier this week, the Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced their nominations for Best Picture (click here to see their choices). These nominations are pretty important because they usually closely match the eventual Oscar Best Picture nominations. For instance, last year 8 out of the 10 the PGA nominees matched up with the eventual Oscar nominations. This year, I think their is a good chance for a complete 10/10 match up, as the the only film that appears to have a chance at a Best Picture nomination that missed the PGA's group is the independent "Winter's Bone" (the PGA tends to only nominate bigger production). The Writer's Guild of America (WGA) also announced their nominees this week, but because of their ridiculous rules that makes almost every film ineligible to be nominated, their awards are fairly meaningless. The final critics awards, the National Society of Film Critics, also came out this week (click here for their winners and nominees), with both some expected and surprising choices. Next week will bring an onslaught of guild awards, including the Directors Guild of America who will help shape the most competitive category this year, so stay tuned for continuing coverage of this year's awards season.

News: Delays

     Unfortunately, this has been a tough week for me being able to get to the computer and write. I unwillingly wasted two whole days of my life that I will never get back waiting around a courthouse for jury duty. Then, for some reason, blogspot was not allowing me to write anything for awhile. I don't mean to bore you with the details of my personal life, but since this is around the time I have been posting ten more movies from my Top 100 countdown, I just wanted you to know it will be delayed a bit this week. I will try to get it up quickly, but if I don't get it done in a day or two, I might just wait to next week. If that happens, I apologize ahead of time, but if you missed any weeks, this is a good opportunity to catch up. Thank you for your patience.

Review: Black Swan

     What is the difference between an artist and a technician? Does being a perfectionist kill the irrational emotional edge that can move an audience? To be a great artist, is it necessary to be part mad, letting life take you where ever it will and experiencing everything it has to offer, good and bad? Or can a naive talent imitate emotional gravitas in a way that feels authentically moving? These are some of the interesting questions that Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan" explores in this ballet/supernatural thriller (not one of the most obvious combinations).

     Coming off 2008's "The Wrestler", where Aronofsky took a look at the unglamorous life of an aging wrestler, he now turns his eye into the extremely competitive world of ballet. Very few people have the talent, dedication, and will to sacrifice that it takes to make it in the world of ballet (as is true of most any artistic venture or competitive athletic profession). For those that do meet the prerequisite, to make your stamp as one of the all-time greats, in addition (as I hinted at before), you need some intangible quality that creates an unbreakable menage a trois between the audience, the music, and the performer. It is a hard thing to quantify, but whether you have the trained eye of a decades-long professional, or if you have never seen a performance in your life, it is not hard to spot someone who has "it". Most people with that special "it" are likely born with the lack of inhibition that makes them great artists, but it is possible to learn how to "lose yourself", and this is the task set for the heroine in "Black Swan".

News: Happy New Year!

     I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy 2011! Around this time, it is customary to look back at the year before and analyze the good and the bad, as many critics release "top ten list" as well as some dubious awards. Unfortunately, since I do not live in New York City or Los Angeles, there are still some big name movies of 2010 that have yet to come to local theaters, which means that I will be delaying my own "Top 10" of 2010. The last well reviewed Oscar contender comes to my area around mid-February, so I will probably compile my list around then. Until then, have a great New Year and here's to a great year at the movies in 2011!