Who will, could and should win the 2018 Academy Awards
William Bennett/Staff
With the general consensus that there were no major snubs in this year’s Academy Awards nominations, category predictions become all the more interesting.
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‘The Shape of Water’ is slightly out of depth, despite gorgeous imagery
The film’s narrative challenges its apparent attempt at seriousness, but there’s no question as to whether “The Shape of Water” is visually stunning.
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‘Gifted’ repackages familiar sentiments, remains heartwarming through its cast
Even though “Gifted” merely repackages familiar sentiments, the characters delivering them are interesting enough to maintain our engagement.
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‘The Shack’ is well-intentioned but tiresome faith-based drama
At the end of the day, “The Shack” is perfectly average fare. It’s definitely not trying to be a stand-alone masterpiece, but as a book-to-movie adaptation, it doesn’t translate well onto the big screen.
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‘Hidden Figures’ offers crowd-pleasing story of empowerment
The first scene of “Hidden Figures” doesn’t look great for Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, three female African-American mathematicians working for NASA in the early 1960s. Vaughan is doing some quick repairs on the baby blue Chevy Impala they share, which rests inanimate on a lonely stretch of
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Tris in turmoil in latest action-packed ‘Divergent’ film
Following the successful film release of “Divergent” (2014), Veronica Roth’s book series sees its second film debut with the sequel “Insurgent.” Picking right up where the first film ended, director Robert Schwentke (“Red”) takes the viewer on a journey as he explores the world of post-apocalyptic Chicago. While also delving
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The funk won’t stop in ‘Get on Up’
Director Tate Taylor’s new biopic, “Get on Up,” displays James Brown (Chadwick Boseman) as fans fondly remember — dancing, dynamic and dripping sweat. It also weaves a narrative about the side of Brown which few understood, depicting glimpses from his life that range from 1939 as a dirt-poor child in
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‘Fruitvale Station’ strikes a chord
Ryan Coogler's film offers a raw depiction of real life events
“Fruitvale Station” is particularly close to home for East Bay residents, evoking familiarity with the eponymous BART stop or the tragic incident that took place on New Year’s Day of 2009. In his first feature-length film, East Bay native Ryan Coogler presents a haunting, tense and striking dramatization of the
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Best Supporting Actress: Is Octavia Spencer really safe for the Oscars?
Yesterday I covered the Best Supporting Actor Oscar lineup, which seems like the most predictable acting category this year (see why in Tuesday’s post). Let’s continue our Oscar coverage with Best Supporting Actress. Here’s a little bit of fun trivia: this is the fourth consecutive year that this category sees
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