Top 10 Moments of the 87th Academy Awards

/
Top 10 Moments of the 87th Academy Awards

And that's a wrap!

A truly unpredictable awards season boiled down to two seemingly atypical choices for the Academy in Birdman and Boyhood, and, in the end, it was the film that most spoke to artists and those in the industry that prevailed, as Birdman was selected best of the year. Much like last year, most of the front-runners walked away victorious, but that didn't seem to help us with our predictions. Matt went 17/24 while Nathan ended with 13/24.

It was an inflated telecast that certainly dragged in spots (who on Earth only scheduled the show to take three hours? They had to know that was never going to happen), but many of the winners (and even some of the presenters - not sure what was up with Terrence Howard) gave emotional, candid speeches that enlivened the proceedings. And our Oscar menu never let us down. Never have we been happier to have three drink options. 

Before we put the 2014 film year to bed for good, let's count down our top ten favorite moments from the 87th Annual Academy Awards.

Read More

Final 2014 Oscar Predictions

/
Final 2014 Oscar Predictions

Greetings, Oscar geeks! It's been a thrilling and unpredictable year with lots of films and performances worth celebrating (see our top ten lists for the year here and here, and find out who among the nominees we'd vote for if we had a ballot). There are a handful of categories that seem locked up (congrats in advance Julianne Moore, J.K. Simmons, and Patricia Arquette!), but the vast majority of these races are true nail-biters. Including Best Picture!

Hunker down, pour yourself a beverage (we'll be starting with the Lemon Thyme Gin Sparkler), and follow along with our sure-to-be-inaccurate predictions below! For more detailed analysis have a listen to our final predictions podcast or click on each category header to be taken to that page.

Read More

If We Had a Ballot 2014

/
If We Had a Ballot 2014

What follows is a hypothetical scenario in which we are Academy voters who commit the ultimate sin of showing you our completed ballots.

Note: Like many Oscar voters, we could go through the motions of voting in all 24 races, but, for the sake of honesty (and what we hope the real voters practice), we'll abstain from the categories where we have yet to see all the nominees. So no Animated Feature, Foreign Film, or Documentary Short.

Check out who or what we're rooting for after the jump!

Read More

CineDrunk: Final 2014 Oscar Predictions

/

Oscar weekend is here! Listen in as we drunkenly babble on about our predictions and personal favorites in all 24 Oscar categories. With little consensus and lots of unpredictability, it's going to be an exciting year!

 
budapestdrink
 

2014 Oscar Nominations Reactions

/
2014 Oscar Nominations Reactions

They've arrived! Nominations morning is to Oscar nerds what Christmas morning is to an optimistic young child. Both enthusiastically hop out of bed in a world where all things are theoretically possible and everything is awesome (or not if you're The Lego Movie, apparently). Though, as always, the Academy is like the distant relative who never looked at your Christmas wish list and ends up giving you things you don't actually want and forgetting to get you some of the things you wanted most.

In the end, a Wes Anderson movie that was released last March and a daring artistic vision from Alejandro G. Iñárritu lead the pack with nine nominations for The Grand Budapest Hotel and Birdman, respectively - and our frontrunner is still probably an intimate film by Richard Linklater that began production over a decade ago. The Academy may have made some poor choices, but those facts are still kind of incredible when you stand back from the noise and ponder that that is what this year's race has boiled down to. Though The Imitation Game might still render all that uniqueness moot and barrel right down the middle towards a consensus victory. We'll know soon enough.

The CineDrunk crew hashed out our initial thoughts in a brief podcast below, recorded right after the nominations were announced. If you'd like to see what my final predictions looked like click here. Check out the full list of 2014 Oscar nominees and commentary after the jump!

Read More

Final 2014 Oscar Nomination Predictions

/
Final 2014 Oscar Nomination Predictions

The time has come for final predictions! The 87th Annual Academy Awards nominations will be announced this morning in two batches beginning at 8:30am ET (you can view both announcements live at the Oscars website or the second announcement on most major news programs at 8:38am ET). For the first time, the nominees will be announced live in all 24 categories.

2014 started slow, but proved to be a formidable year in film. The Oscars don't always reflect that quality in their choices, but here's hoping their nominations come close! There are lots of tight races with lengthy lists of viable contenders and films whose names won't get called this morning. As usual there are some sure-things (Boyhood, Birdman, and The Imitation Game are likely to do well) and some not-so-sure-things (I'm most interested in seeing how films right on the bubble will fare: Foxcatcher, Nightcrawler, Gone Girl). If you've got a favorite, it's best for sanity's sake to assume they won't get in, so you can be pleasantly surprised when they do.

The titles of each category link to that field's specific page with further commentary. Follow along down the rabbit hole after the jump!

Read More

CineDrunk: The Road to Oscars 2014 - The Golden Globes

/

That smell in the air, of faintly ego-driven but all-around giddy anticipation? It's awards prognostication season. And it's in full swing.

In our latest podcast, we analyze the Golden Globe nominees ahead of this Sunday's broadcast (Amy Poehler and Tina Fey hosting again!) and next Thursday's Oscar nominations. You'll hear our personal favorites, as well as our predictions for both the Globes and the Oscars. You'll also learn which one of us has a killer Estonian accent.

To honor the glut of gingers who entered the Oscar fray this year (Julianne Moore, Eddie Redmayne, Jessica Chastain, etc.) we sipped on the following:

Ginger Gold Rush

1½ oz ginger liqueur
1 oz Bourbon
½ oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
Brandied cherry

Place cherry in bottom of martini glass. Shake ginger liqueur, Bourbon and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker over ice. Strain into the glass. Sip or slurp a little, and channel your inner ginger.

Because we just can't get enough awards talk, this podcast is a two-parter. We've noted important time marks below so you can skip to whatever category tickles your fancy. Happy listening!

PART 1

00:00 - Intros and Ginger Gold Rush description
03:00 - Best Supporting Actor
08:44 - Best Supporting Actress
18:12 - Best Director
25:42 - Best Screenplay
31:41 - Best Foreign Language Film
33:32 - Best Animated Feature
35:12 - Best Original Score & Best Original Song

PART 2

00:00 - Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy
08:41 - Best Actor in a Drama & Best Actor Oscar prospects
17:58 - Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy
22:28 - Best Actress in a Drama & Best Actress Oscar prospects
33:01 - Best Picture Musical/Comedy
37:50 - Best Picture Drama & Best Picture Oscar prospects


Also listen and subscribe via iTunes.

CineDrunk Episode 9: Prestige Season Begins

/

Courtesy Penderyn Distillery

With prestige movie season in full swing, we thought it time to debrief on what Fall Season Part 1 had to offer. Join us as we get into the Welsh spirit with a drink called the Red Dragon (recipe below) and discuss the following films:

  • The Skeleton Twins
  • Pride
  • Whiplash
  • Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
  • Fury
  • Nightcrawler


What are your fall favorites thus far? Do you agree with our analysis? Let us know in the comments, and check out our newly updated Oscar Predictions!

Red Dragon
(adapted from a recipe by Penderyn Distillery)
makes two cocktails

3 oz gin
3 oz Cointreau
2 oz blood orange juice
2 oz lemon juice
1 shot grenadine

Shake all ingredients with ice. Pour over ice. Feel yourself flush with Welsh pride.
 

Fall Movie Preview: Our Most Anticipated Films

/
Fall Movie Preview: Our Most Anticipated Films

Now that we've returned from a little post-Labor Day getaway, it's time to accept that facts are facts. It's fall, y'all, and summer's not coming back.

While we may miss the sunny weather, carefree spirit, and hot garbage smells of the past few months, we're entering an even more exciting time for cinephiles: prestige film season! It's a problem that seems to get worse every year: studios release their awards ponies later and later in the year, until the last trimester is so full of must-sees that no one has time to see or make sense of them all. And when it comes time for awards voters to vote? It's that much harder to remember anything before early September. Final trimester films get the votes, and the cycle continues.

Despite our qualms about studios' release date shenanigans, a bevy of (mostly) quality movies is a bevy of (mostly) quality movies. AND WE SHALL SEE THEM ALL.

After the jump, check out our most-anticipated films for the remainder of 2014, and let us know what films are on your list!

Read More