If I Were King of the Oscars… 2012

It’s time for my nominations! Hopefully, you’ve had a look at my top ten already. Now, it’s time for my favorites in every other category. I posted this last year, so even though the Oscars are long gone, I’m doing it again.  As usual, some of these the Academy got right, others not so much. Here is what my personal ballot for 2011 would look like. A lot of the same movies pop up, but I assure you, I honestly thought about what was best in each category. I didn’t just fill it out with my top 5 films, trust me.

Bryan’s Top Ten Movies of 2011

As is becoming tradition, I don’t complete my top ten list until a few months into the new year. This is mostly because I’m trying to see everything I missed. This list is late for that reason of course, but also because I was having my friends at Outpost Media put together a video companion (which I think came out looking sweet, many thanks to them). I thought it might be fun. So watch the video, then read on for more context or read first then watch or whatever you feel like doing. Just enjoy.

Brainstorm – “Take Shelter” Review

I’m going to sound like a broken record, but you need to see the criminally under-seen Shotgun Stories. Take Shelter is writer/director Jeff Nichols’ follow-up and it is as assured a piece of cinema you’ll find all year. I want to say an instant classic, but time will bear that statement out, not my raves. It’s taken me a few weeks to write this, but the movie has so many ideas to volley in my brain, I’m glad I waited. It’s the kind of movie you’ll want to instantly devour a second time, not because you missed something but because it truly immerses you into the psyche of the main character while still leaving you with many disturbing questions.

Opening Weekend: Chance

Anna Faris takes a chance on her exes. Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz take a chance on their dream house. Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine take their chances against evil. There’s a chance Michael Shannon is losing his mind. Joseph Gordon-Levitt has a 50/50 chance to beat cancer. And there isn’t much chance of me ever seeing Bunraku, Margaret, or Courageous.

Fall Preview: 25 Films I Can’t Wait to See #5-1

And so we reach the end. Here are the final five, with trailers.