February 09, 2020

Final 92nd Oscars Predictions

February 09, 2020/ Matt

And just like that, it’s time close the book on the cinematic year of 2019 with this evening’s presentation of the 92nd Annual Academy Awards! Here at CineMunch settled on what we would say is the definitive ranking of 2019's best films (and whaddaya know, one of our faves might just win the top Oscar, too!), so it's time to double down on some final predictions.

Last year’s race saw the more traditional (*cough* regressive) Green Book triumph over Roma, which was fighting to be the first foreign language film to snag Best Picture at the Oscars. A similar narrative looks set to unfold this year as World War I epic 1917 is your frontrunner, while a critically popular foreign film is nipping at its heels in South Korean phenomenon Parasite - which may have just enough passion within the industry to accomplish what Roma wasn’t able to a year ago.

Beyond 1917 vs Parasite in the top two races, there’s a healthy mix of sure-things (you can go ahead and engrave the statues for all four of this year’s acting winners right now) and wide-open races (particularly Original Song and Animated Feature). Each of this year’s nine Best Picture nominees stands a good chance at bringing home some hardware (except The Irishman - sorry, Marty!), but it will undoubtedly be 1917 walking away with the most trophies. We’re firmly in the Parasite camp over here and are thrilled it’s guaranteed at least one win (in the newly renamed International Film category), but we’re also hoping the shortened awards season results in a few surprises throughout the night.

So settle in, mix yourself a cocktail or four (in lieu of our traditional Oscar Menu, we’ll be feasting on a resplendent cheese plate and sipping cheap wine), and follow along with our predictions below!

2020 Golden Globe Awards Predictions

January 05, 2020/ Matt

The marathon of awards season kicks off in earnest tonight with the presentation of the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards!

Hollywood's best and brightest (or in some cases just newest) stars of ALL the screens will gather Sunday night dressed in their second finest frocks for the second most important red carpet of the year. The awards will be handed out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, whose membership numbers only around 90, so their choices do make for the occasional head scratch, eyebrow raise, or spit take. Tom Hanks will receive this year's Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in film, and Ellen DeGeneres will take home the Carol Burnett Award for lifetime achievement in television.

Read on for my sure-to-be-inaccurate predictions, and tune in starting at 8pm ET on NBC as Ricky Gervais returns as host for this year’s drunken soiree!

CineDrunk: Favorite Actress Showdown - Part Three

June 13, 2015/ CineMunch

The finale has arrived! Who will emerge victorious as CineDrunk's favorite actress?

If you missed our previous podcasts in this series, check out Part 1 and Part 2. You can find the all-important Gin Gin Mule recipe in Part 1, which is sure to enhance the listening experience.

In this episode, we pit the actresses we like to call Blockbuster Beauties (i.e., those who can or could open a movie/command a good paycheck, and/or have been part of a franchise at some point) against the Indie Queens (reliable actresses known for choosing interesting work).

To recap our criteria: each actress must be alive, still (more-or-less) working in cinema, and have at least one Oscar nomination to her credit. Keep in mind this showdown was recorded in one sitting, so we're super tipsy by this point. Cheers, and thanks for listening!

BLOCKBUSTER BEAUTIES

Sandra Bullock
Angelina Jolie
Michelle Pfeiffer
Natalie Portman
Julia Roberts
Sigourney Weaver
Reese Witherspoon
Renee Zellweger

INDIE QUEENS

Juliette Binoche
Patricia Clarkson
Toni Collette
Viola Davis
Laura Dern
Laura Linney
Frances McDormand
Marisa Tomei

Also listen, rate, and subscribe to CineDrunk on iTunes.

January 15, 2015

2014 Oscar Nominations Reactions

January 15, 2015/ Matt

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!