2016 Golden Globe Winners

Oh, The Golden Globes. You are at times predictable in your love of star power over substance and other times, completely fucking out of nowhere like you were tonight. Seriously, I did a terrible job with my picks. No one was working as hard as the censor guy tonight though, I swear he had to do it once every 3rd speech. Ricky Gervais, who is normally very hit and miss for me was an absolute hit tonight as a host. He gave zero fucks. There was also some great presenting duos like Mark Wahlberg with Will Ferrell and America Ferrera with Eva Longoria. And some not so great ones like Amy Schumer with Jennifer Lawrence and Jamie Alexander with Amber Heard. Here is a list of the nominees again. (I swear I'm going to do my predictions earlier next year, my last three posts are all awards season stuff) The winners are in blue, my thoughts are in green. I went

Best TV Series - Comedy or Musical
Casual 
Mozart in the Jungle 
Orange Is the New Black 
Silicon Valley 
Transparent 
Veep 
I started off wrong tonight, (and continued with this streak)  I have no idea what Mozart in the Jungle is, and apparently it's on its 2nd season. 


Best Actress in a TV Series - Comedy
Rachel Bloom- Crazy Ex Girlfriend 
Jamie Lee Curtis- Scream Queens 
Lily Tomlin - Grace and Frankie 
Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Veep 
Gina Rodriquez - Jane the Virgin 
I should've known to go with Bloom, as the first time nominee in a new show, but I thought Gina would repeat. I should've known better. I have no idea what this show is either. Apparently it's on the CW.


Best Actor in a TV Series - Comedy
Aziz Ansari - Master of None
Gael García Bernal - Mozart in the Jungle
Rob Lowe - The Grinder
Patrick Stewart - Blunt Talk
Jeffrey Tambor - Transparent
I thought Tambor had it. I love Gael though, so I'm happy for him. Even though they censored him during his speech for some reason. Seriously, why? It didn't seem like he was up there going "FUCK YEAH!" over and over.


Best TV Limited Series/Motion Picture
American Crime 
American Horror Story: Hotel 
Fargo 
Flesh and Bone 
Wolf Hall 
Fucking Wolf Hall... Actually I haven't seen it, for all I know it's pretty good. The cast certainly looks it. 

Best Actress in a Limited Series/TV Movie
Kirsten Dunst - Fargo 
Lady Gaga - American Horror Story: Hotel 
Sarah Hay - Flesh and Bone 
Felicity Huffman - American Crime 
Queen Latifah - Bessie 
So I saw this monstrosity from a mile away. But at least it provided me with two hilarious moments while Gaga's star powered ass robbed Kirsten Dunst. The first was Patrick Wilson's "bitch, please." face below, and the gif up top was Gaga bumping into Leo's seat, and THAT look on his face. Even he knew an actual actress should've won. Gaga in AHS reminds me of that one theater geek in high school that tried way too hard in every play. 

Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Limited Series or TV Movie
Uzo Aduba - Orange Is the New Black 
Joanna Frogatt - Downton Abbey 
Regina King - American Crime 
Maura Tierney - The Affair 
Judith Light - Transparent 
I don't watch the Affair, but I liked Maura when she was in Rescue Me. I wish they would've done more for her. I'm surprised Uzo didn't take this. 


Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Limited-Series or TV Movie
Alan Cumming - The Good Wife
Damien Lewis - Wolf Hall
Ben Mendelsohn - Bloodline
Tobias Menzies - Outlander
Christian Slater - Mr. Robot
I actually got this one right! I knew Mr. Robot would be a hit tonight.


Best Actor in a Limited Series/TV Movie
Idris Elba - Luther 
Oscar Isaac - Show Me a Hero 
David Oyelowo - Nightingale 
Mark Rylance - Wolf Hall 
Patrick Wilson - Fargo 
I didn't see Show Me A Hero so I was surprised that Isaac won, but no complaints here. 


Best TV Series, Drama
Empire 
Game of Thrones
Mr. Robot
Narcos
Outlander
I'm so happy for this show. You should really check it out if you haven't yet. 


Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama
Jon Hamm - Mad Men
Rami Malek - Mr. Robot
Wagner Moura - Narcos
Bob Odenkirk - Better Call Saul
Liev Schreiber - Ray Donovan
I knew this was going to be the only place Mr. Robot missed, but well done for Jon Hamm. He played such an iconic character, he deserves the Globe on his way out. 


Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama
Caitriona Balfe - Outlander
Viola Davis - How to Get Away With Murder
Eva Green - Penny Dreadful
Taraji P. Henson - Empire
Robin Wright - House of Cards
I thought this was Viola's but I'm happy for Henson. Her speech was hilarious, AND she passed out cookies. 

Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
The Big Short 
Joy 
The Martian 
Spy 
Trainwreck 
Jason Statham in the above gif though. He was the best part of Spy. I'm okay with The Martian's win here. Out of the 5 nominees, it was my favorite and it WAS hilarious. In a perfect world, The Kingsman: Secret Service would be here to win, but apparently the Globes didn't find "If you save the world, we can do it in the asshole" funny.


Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Jennifer Lawrence - Joy 
Melissa McCarthy - Spy 
Amy Schumer - Trainwreck 
Maggie Smith - The Lady in the Van 
Lily Tomlin - Grandma 
Ugh. Lawrence, I love your work, I do, but I'm over you tonight. You are officially too much. You weren't funny with Schumer and you were a poor sport for having to *gasp* stand next to Katy Perry because she was in the right in that little twit feud with your buddy Taylor Swift. 


Best Motion Picture - Drama
Carol 
Mad Max: Fury Road 
The Revenant 
Spotlight 
Room
What does this do for Spotlight? It seemed the front runner going in. I'm fine with The Revenant winning. I think Spotlight has a broader audience but they are both A+ films for me. 


Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Cate Blanchett - Carol 
Brie Larson - Room 
Rooney Mara - Carol 
Saoirse Ronan - Brooklyn 
Alicia Vikander - The Danish Girl 
I thought Saoirse had the edge in this two woman competition, but now it seems Brie does. I'm fine either way, both women gave amazing performances in amazing films. 


Best Actor in Motion Picture - Drama
Bryan Cranston - Trumbo 
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant 
Michael Fassbender - Steve Jobs 
Eddie Redmayne - The Danish Girl 
Will Smith - Concussion 
Yay Leo. Everyone stood up for him, even they know he's over due for that eventual Oscar. He gave an excellent speech too.


Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Jane Fonda - Youth 
Jennifer Jason Leigh - The Hateful Eight 
Helen Mirren - Trumbo 
Alicia Vikander - Ex Machina 
Kate Winslet - Steve Jobs 
This was a big surprise. I'm not sure if it changes the game in this category though. It might have just been the HFPA wanting her and Leo to have matching globes. 

Best Actor in Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Christian Bale - The Big Short 
Steve Carell - The Big Short 
Matt Damon - The Martian 
Al Pacino - Danny Collins 
Mark Ruffalo - Infinitely Polar Bear 
I'm okay with this, even though I would've loved the underrated Ruffalo winning. 


Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Paul Dano - Love & Mercy 
Idris Elba - Beasts of No Nation 
Michael Shannon - 99 Homes 
Sylvester Stallone - Creed 
Mark Rylance - Bridge of Spies
I'm bias, I haven't liked Stallone in a thing. Give me Dano or Shannon.


Best Animated Film
Anomalisa
The Good Dinosaur
Inside Out
The Peanuts Movie
Shaun the Sheep Movie



Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
Room
Spotlight
The Big Short
Steve Jobs
The Hateful Eight
This was another surprise, though I really shouldn't be surprised by Sorkin winning anything. 


Best Original Score – Motion Picture
Carol
The Danish Girl
The Hateful Eight
Steve Jobs
The Revenant
So Quentin Tarantino got up to accept this award, clearly drunk, and said Ennio Morricone never wins anything despite him winning 2 Globes in the past. Nice. 


Best Original Song – Motion Picture
"Love Me Like You Do"  - Fifty Shades of Grey
"One Kind of Love" - Love and Mercy
"See You Again"  - Furious 7
"Simple Song #3"  -Youth
"Writings on the Wall" - Spectre
I can't believe this shit song won. 


Best Foreign Language Film
The Brand New Testament - Belgium, France and Luxembourg
The Club - Chile
The Fencer - Estonia
Mustang - Colombia
Son of Saul - Hungary


I finish this post off with a gif of Oscar Isaac and his sexy beard. 

2016 Golden Globe predictions: Who will win, who should win.

Before the big day tomorrow here are my predictions for who will win, and in some cases, should win instead.

Best TV Series - Comedy or Musical
Casual 
Mozart in the Jungle 
Orange Is the New Black 
Silicon Valley 
Transparent 
Veep 
Who will win: Transparent
Who should win: Veep
Transparent is an important show that I can see taking a win, however Veep, an actual comedy would be my pick.


Best Actress in a TV Series - Comedy
Rachel Bloom- Crazy Ex Girlfriend 
Jamie Lee Curtis- Scream Queens 
Lily Tomlin - Grace and Frankie 
Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Veep 
Gina Rodriquez - Jane the Virgin 
Who will win: Gina Rodriquez
Who should win: Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Gina is still on her high from her Globe win last year, I can see them awarding her again. Since Veep is my favorite comedy, I always go with JLD.

Best Actor in a TV Series - Comedy
Aziz Ansari - Master of None
Gael García Bernal - Mozart in the Jungle
Rob Lowe - The Grinder
Patrick Stewart - Blunt Talk
Jeffrey Tambor - Transparent
Who will and should win: Jeffrey Tambor
It's hard to say who really "should" win, I don't watch any of these shows. I love Aziz, Stewart, and Bernal. Can't stand Rob Lowe, but Tambor seems like a safe bet.


Best TV Limited Series/Motion Picture
American Crime 
American Horror Story: Hotel 
Fargo 
Flesh and Bone 
Wolf Hall 
Who will win: American Horror Story: Hotel
Who should win: Fargo
Fargo is an excellent series, but I'm sure the HFPA will want another reason for Gaga to get up on stage.


Best Actress in a Limited Series/TV Movie
Kirsten Dunst - Fargo 
Lady Gada - American Horror Story: Hotel 
Sarah Hay - Flesh and Bone 
Felicity Huffman - American Crime 
Queen Latifah - Bessie 
Who will win: Lady Gaga
Who should win: Kristen Dunst.
HFPA love them some star power, and Gaga has that, even though everyone else in this category is a more accomplished actress. 


Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Limited Series or TV Movie
Uzo Aduba - Orange Is the New Black 
Joanna Frogatt - Downton Abbey 
Regina King - American Crime 
Maura Tierney - The Affair 
Judith Light - Transparent 
Who wil and should win: Uzo Aduba


Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Limited-Series or TV Movie
Alan Cumming - The Good Wife
Damien Lewis - Wolf Hall
Ben Mendelsohn - Bloodline
Tobias Menzies - Outlander
Christian Slater - Mr. Robot
Who will and should win: Christian Slater
The Globes like to give Freshman shows love, especially popular ones, so I see Mr. Robot winning quite a few things.


Best Actor in a Limited Series/TV Movie
Idris Elba - Luther 
Oscar Isaac - Show Me a Hero 
David Oyelowo - Nightingale 
Mark Rylance - Wolf Hall 
Patrick Wilson - Fargo 
Who will win: Idris Elba
Who should win: Really, any of these would be a worthy winner. 
I don't think Elba will win in Supporting Actor, so he could win here. 


Best TV Series, Drama
Empire 
Game of Thrones
Mr. Robot
Narcos
Outlander
Who will and should win: Mr. Robot
Mr. Robot is excellent TV and I still can't believe it's on a Network like U.S.A I think HFPA will rightfully award this new series.


Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama
Jon Hamm - Mad Men
Rami Malek - Mr. Robot
Wagner Moura - Narcos
Bob Odenkirk - Better Caul Saul
Liev Schreiber - Ray Donovan
Who will win: Jon Hamm
Who should win: Rami Malek
Hamm will finish his victory tour for Mad Men, though I'd love to see Rami rewarded.


Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama
Caitriona Balfe - Outlander
Viola Davis - How to Get Away With Murder
Eva Green - Penny Dreadful
Taraji P. Henson - Empire
Robin Wright - House of Cards
Who will and should win: Viola Davis
She came off a big win at the Emmys and I expect her to continue here.


Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
The Big Short 
Joy 
The Martian 
Spy 
Trainwreck 
Who will win: The Big Short
Who should win: The Martian
Yeah, yeah, the Martian isn't a comedy. Whatever, it's still the best film out of this bunch.


Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Jennifer Lawrence - Joy 
Melissa McCarthy - Spy 
Amy Schumer - Trainwreck 
Maggie Smith - The Lady in the Van 
Lily Tomlin - Grandma 
Who will win: Amy Schumer
Who should win: Lily Tomlin
I can't see anyone other than Amy winning this, and I'd be happy with that too. She was hilarious in Trainwreck, even though it doesn't hold up as well on a 2nd viewing, but I really enjoyed Tomlin in the underrated Grandma.


Best Motion Picture - Drama
Carol 
Mad Max: Fury Road 
The Revenant 
Spotlight 
Room
Who will win: Spotlight
Who should win: Any
I haven't seen Carol, but the other 4 nominees are great. I think Spotlight has a more wide range appeal, which puts it out in front of the rest.


Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Cate Blanchett - Carol 
Brie Larson - Room 
Rooney Mara - Carol 
Saoirse Ronan - Brooklyn 
Alicia Vikander - The Danish Girl 
Who will win: Saoirse Ronan
Who should win: Saoirse, or Brie.
Like I've said before, I think this race comes down between these two ladies, and I think Saoirse as a slight edge because she didn't have to compete with such a strong supporting player like Larson did with Tremblay in Room.


Best Actor in Motion Picture - Drama
Bryan Cranston - Trumbo 
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant 
Michael Fassbender - Steve Jobs 
Eddie Redmayne - The Danish Girl 
Will Smith - Concussion 
Who will and should win: Leonardo DiCaprio.
If anyone else wins this besides him, they better walk the Globe over to Leo and present it to him themselves. 


Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Jane Fonda - Youth 
Jennifer Jason Leigh - The Hateful Eight 
Helen Mirren - Trumbo 
Alicia Vikander - Ex Machina 
Kate Winslet - Steve Jobs 
Who will win: Jennifer Jason Leigh
Who should win: Alicia Vikander
HFPA love Tarantino. Ex Machina is my favorite film of the nominees here and Vikander was great in it. 


Best Actor in Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Christian Bale - The Big Short 
Steve Carell - The Big Short 
Matt Damon - The Martian 
Al Pacino - Danny Collins 
Mark Ruffalo - Infinitely Polar Bear 
Who will win: Steve Carell
Who should win Mark Ruffalo
I'd love Ruffalo to win this, he was wonderful in Infinitely Polar Bear. I'm afraid not enough saw it though. 


Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Paul Dano - Love & Mercy 
Idris Elba - Beasts of No Nation 
Michael Shannon - 99 Homes 
Sylvester Stallone - Creed 
Mark Rylance - Bridge of Spies
Who will win: Stallone
Who should win: Paul Dano.
They'll go with star power again, though Dano is the best in my opinion. I'd be happy with Shannon winning too.


Best Animated Film
Anomalisa
The Good Dinosaur
Inside Out
The Peanuts Movie
Shaun the Sheep Movie
Who will win: Inside Out
Who should win: No idea. All I see is "meh"


Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
Room
Spotlight
The Big Short
Steve Jobs
The Hateful Eight
Who will win: The Hateful Eight
Who should win: Spotlight
Tarantino usually does win here, I'd love to see Spotlight or Room take it though.


Best Original Score – Motion Picture
Carol
The Danish Girl
The Hateful Eight
Steve Jobs
The Revenant
Who will win: Carol
Who should win: The Revenant


Best Original Song – Motion Picture
"Love Me Like You Do"  - Fifty Shades of Grey
"One Kind of Love" - Love and Mercy
"See You Again"  - Furious 7
"Simple Song #3"  -Youth
"Writings on the Wall" - Spectre
Who will and should win: One Kind of Love
It's ineligible at the Oscars, so it'll probably win here.


Best Foreign Language Film
The Brand New Testament - Belgium, France and Luxembourg
The Club - Chile
The Fencer - Estonia
Mustang - Colombia
Son of Saul - Hungary

Who will win: Son of Saul
Who should win: No idea.
I don't know enough about any of these nominees. Son of Saul is just one I've heard about the most.  

2016 BAFTA Nominations

Oh BAFTA, you usually make me happy with your random nominations. So what happened to the Supporting Actor category? Actually, there are a few surprises here. Here's a list of the 2016 BAFTA nominees. My thoughts as always follow in green.

BEST FILM
The Big Short 
Bridge of Spies
Carol
The Revenant 
Spotlight
I haven't seen Bridge of Spies or Carol. I'm sure all of these will be in the Oscar line up too, though there are better films out there than a few of these. (Room, Brooklyn, Star Wars, for example)


OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
45 Years
Amy
Brooklyn
The Danish Girl
Ex Machina
The Lobster


OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
Alex Garland - Ex Machina
Debbie Tucker Green - Second Coming
Naji Abu Nowar - Theeb
Sean McAllister - A Syrian Love Story
Stephen Fingleton - The Survivalist


FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
The Assassin 
Force Majeure
Theeb
Timbuktu
Wild Tales


DOCUMENTARY
Amy
Cartel Land
He Named me Malala
Listen to me Marlon
Sherpa


ANIMATED FILM
Inside Out
Minions
Shaun The Sheep
I'm so over Inside Out at this point. I hate that it's completely mediocre and has zero competition this year. (Aside from Anomalisa, which isn't nominated here. No idea if it's released in the UK yet or not)


DIRECTOR
The Big Short -  Adam McKay
Bridge of Spies - Steven Spielberg
Carol -  Todd Haynes
The Martian - Ridley Scott
The Revenant -  Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Like I said in my Big Short review, I love that Adam McKay is getting recognized for all of this. He did a tremendous job. Ridley Scott is a surprise. I assumed he'll still miss at the Oscars.


ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Bridge of Spies
Ex Machina
The Hateful Eight
Inside Out
Spotlight
Bleh. Inside Out again. I love that Ex Machina and Spotlight got in here.


ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Big Short
Brooklyn
Carol
Room
Steve Jobs
I think this will be the Oscar line up too.


LEADING ACTOR
Bryan Cranston - Trumbo
Eddie Redmayne - The Danish Girl
Leonardo DiCaprio -  The Revenant
Matt Damon -  The Martian
Michael Fassbender - Steve Jobs
I can't argue with these. DiCaprio is the clear winner though.


LEADING ACTRESS
Alicia Vikander -  The Danish Girl
Brie Larson -  Room
Cate Blanchett -  Carol
Maggie Smith -  The Lady in the Van
Saoirse Ronan -  Brooklyn
They actually put Vikander in Lead where she belongs! And of course they found a place to nominate Dame Maggie.


SUPPORTING ACTOR
Benicio Del Toro -  Sicario
Christian Bale -  The Big Short
Idris Elba -  Beasts of No Nation
Mark Ruffalo -  Spotlight
Mark Rylance -  Bridge of Spies
This category sucks outside of Del Toro and Ruffalo. Paul Dano, Michael Shannon, and Jacob Tremblay (since they're not campaigning him as a lead) should be here. I really thought BAFTA would show Dano some love here, they did previously for There Will Be Blood.


SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Alicia Vikander - Ex Machina
Jennifer Jason Leigh -  The Hateful Eight
Julie Walters -  Brooklyn
Kate Winslet -  Steve Jobs
Rooney Mara -  Carol
For some reason Rooney is in supporting but Alicia wasn't for The Danish Girl? They really wanted Dame Maggie in there.


ORIGINAL MUSIC
Bridge of Spies
The Hateful Eight 
The Revenant
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
They must have more relaxed rules on music because I'm pretty sure Star Wars won't qualify at the Oscars, which is a shame. I love the other nominees (that I've seen) though.


CINEMATOGRAPHY
Bridge of Spies -  Janusz Kamiński
Carol -  Ed Lachman
Mad Max: Fury Road -  John Seale
The Revenant - Emmanuel Lubezki
Sicario -  Roger Deakins
Roger Deakins needs to win all the cinematography awards this year.


EDITING
The Big Short 
Bridge of Spies
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant


PRODUCTION DESIGN
Bridge of Spies
Carol
Mad Max: Fury Road 
The Martian 
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
This is the one place I think Crimson Peak deserves to be, and they missed here. That's a shame. 


COSTUME DESIGN
Brooklyn 
Carol
Cinderella
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road


MAKE UP & HAIR
Brooklyn 
Carol
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant 
I love that Mad Max is hitting all these categories. The Revenant is a great inclusion too. Those bear wounds...


SOUND
Bridge of Spies
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens


SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
Ant-Man 
Ex Machina
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
It's bullshit that Age of Ultron isn't here. I know people didn't love it, but visually, that film was stunning. Just look at the Vision for fuck's sake.


BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
Edmond 
Manoman
Prologue 


BRITISH SHORT FILM
Eelephant
Mining Poems or Odes
Operator
Over 
Samuel-613


THE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
BEL POWLEY
BRIE LARSON
DAKOTA JOHNSON
JOHN BOYEGA
TARON EGERTON
I can't argue with any of these. (Well, except Dakota Johnson) the rest are great.

Indie Gems: 16 Years of Alcohol

This is a story about hope.

That's what Frankie (Kevin McKidd) tells us at the beginning of the film, though the scene that's set is bathed in an erie red glow as a seemingly innocent man is getting the crap kicked out of him for no reason suggests otherwise.

Frankie had a normal childhood until he saw his father cheat on his mother. Then he turned to alcohol and it's all gone down hill from there. He roams the night with his buddies and apparent Clockwork Orange enthusiasts as they start fights for no reason. Frankie meets Helen (Laura Fraser) one day and after a falling out with his boys, starts to make an attempt at bettering himself.

I threw this in my Netflix queue long ago because Iain De Caestecker had a small part. (He plays Frankie as a child) I didn't realize that this has a bit of a reputation for being "terrible" and "misrepresenting Scottish art house flicks." Neither of which I saw at all. Sure, the Clockwork Orange themes were very heavy handed, but I still enjoyed watching Frankie's journey from complete asshole to hopefully only semi asshole. The film incorporates the use of still photographs during some scenes, it mostly works and only occasionally feels a bit pretentious.  But what I appreciated the most about this is it had every opportunity to be brutal,but only skirted that line. This could've been a bloody mess.

So while this is apparently not a good representation of Scotland's offerings in the art house genre, I thought it was good enough and I'm glad I watched it. After all, it's still a little film that deserves a look.

Grade: B-

"Stand in the corner and face the wall for being a fucking idiot" - Frankie (Kevin McKidd)

Thursday Movie Picks: Downstairs People

The first theme of 2016 from Wandering Through the Shelves is "Downstairs people." It's apparently a Downton Abbey reference, but since I've never actually watched that show and only make fun of it when it gets all these award nominations, I had to Google the actual definition which is "movies about live domestic workers." I foresee this as being a really heavy topic, so I'm going to for light hearted this week.

1) Batman Begins

At first, I was going to choose Iron Man and praise Jarvis, but since he's now a computer program, I have to go with Alfred. Alfred is the best damn butler anywhere. He never loses his temper with Bruce, he's always calm. You couldn't find a better dude. He's also the only one of my picks that gets paid for his services. 

2) A Little Princess

Sarah turns from a rich girl in a boarding school to a live in servant after her father "dies" in the war. Yet, she still holds on to the stories he's told her. And she can do a mad pull up after hanging off the side of a building. In the rain.

3) Cinderella

Cinderelly, Cinderelly, night and day as a family slave. She could leave. Really, should just run away, but she doesn't. She does the work, and it all works out for her in the end. All without showing malice towards her evil step mother and sisters too. I probably would've poisoned them. 

Review: The Big Short

No one is watching this?

It all starts with Michael Burry,(Christian Bale) a hedge fund manager crunching numbers and realizing that the housing market is going to crash. He tries to bet against the banks and takes out bonds so that he'll make a ton of money when the housing "bubble" pops. Jared Vennett(Ryan Gosling) a bank investor overhears this from a Wall Street friend, and while trying to get in on it himself, he accidentally dials the firm of Mark Baum (Steve Carrell) and his colleagues Danny, (Rafe Spall) Porter, (Hamish Linklater) and Vinnie. (Jeremy Strong) They decide to go in with Jared, even though they don't trust him. Meanwhile, small time investors Charlie Gellar (John Magaro) and Jamie Shipley (Finn Wittrock) stumble upon Jared's paperwork and attempt to do the same thing with the help of their former banker friend, Ben. (Brad Pitt)

99 Homes tackled the housing market from the realtors and people directly effected by that earlier this year. Now we see the opportunists who tried to get ahead of it before it happened. This can be a hard film to love because it's about something terrible that happened and most of the guys are truly okay with it as long as they're making money. But the lightheartedness and Adam McKay's direction make this an easier pill to swallow. 

I have to talk about Adam McKay first, because I love that he directed a film like this. I'm a huge fan of his comedies. I could quote Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and Step Brothers for days. This is a guy who works with comedians with strong improve backgrounds. He lets them do their thing, but that's not the type of film The Big Short is. He can't rely on shooting several different versions of the same joke. He adds some subtle comedic elements when he switches to a still shot of a character's reaction or uses pop culture to explain some of the heavier parts of economics. (Margot Robbie in a bubble bath) I'm just happy for the guy. He deserves all the success that The Big Short is getting. 

The film has a great ensemble. I still don't think Ryan Gosling has the best comedic timing but he plays a convincing asshole and Christian Bale delivers in his very small part. The star is Steve Carrell. His character has some serious anger issues and eventually feels the weight of what he's doing. His chemistry with Strong, Spall, and Linklater is excellent and it's those four who drive the film.

My only huge gripe is that there isn't a strong female presence. Marisa Tomei and Adepero Oduye both had small blink and you'll miss it parts which is a shame for actresses of their caliber. 

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B

Memorable Quote: "Everyone is walking around like they're in a fucking Enya video." - Mark Baum (Steve Carell)

gif cred: sati

Review: The Hateful Eight

Not a warning, not a question, a bullet.

John Ruth (Kurt Russell) is a bounty hunter taking in a woman, Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to hang. There's a terrible blizzard outside, his driver O.B (James Parks) comes across a man out in the snow that Ruth has met before, Major Marquis Warren.(Samuel L. Jackson) They pick up another man, Chris Mannix (Waltson Goggins) also stranded.. There they encounter Bob, (Damian Bichir) Joe Gage, (Michael Madsen) Oswaldo Mobray, (Tim Roth) and Sandy Smithers (Bruce Dern) Some of these men are not who they say, and O.B is the only decent one. 

This film has opened a lot of dialogue for debate lately. Mainly with the treatment of Daisy's character. I read a lot of great pieces on the subject of that recently, from Sati's to Sasha's. That was the only part of the film I spoiled for myself. I have to say it did make me uncomfortable. My husband and I had an interesting discussion about this. I thought Daisy need more back story. We're told over and over that she's the worst. Ruth almost seems to take it personally. It made me wonder if Daisy killed someone close to him, but we never find out what exactly she did. She's just part of a gang, like others in this film are. My husband says "murder is murder" and we don't know how Ruth treats his other bounties, maybe he cracks them in the mouth several times as well. I don't agree with "murder is murder" but the point is, I think Daisy needed to be fleshed out more. Sure she says awful things and eggs Ruth on, but seeing her get punched in the face repeatedly still made me uneasy, especially since he's not exactly smacking around anyone else.

I'm still a Tarantino fan no matter what, even though this film is definitely on the low end of my personal "favorite" list. The first two hours move by very slowly, while the 3rd flies by. It's almost jarring how differently the story moves. I loved the mystery the film provided, and the score was very wild. It reminded me a bit of Suspria's. And of course, there was a few instances of the over the top, almost comical violence that Tarantino is known for. 

The acting in this film is really wonderful with Leigh and Goggins being the stars for me. This is a very charismatic cast which is definitely needed when the film moves at a snail's pace for the first two hours. 

Recommended: Yes. It's Tarantino, and you know you want to see it for yourself.

Grade: C+

Memorable Quote: "Tell 'em Daisy sent ya." - Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh)