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

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

2015 Golden Globe Awards Predictions

/
2015 Golden Globe Awards Predictions

Fill your ice cube trays and get out your cheese boards; the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards are here! Airing Sunday on NBC at 8pm ET and handed out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), the Globes mix movie stars, TV actors, and a healthy dose of drunkenness in what usually amounts to the year's most enjoyable night of live television. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler (hooray!) return as hosts for the third (and likely final) time, and George Clooney will receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award from Julianna Margulies (ER reunion!) and Don Cheadle.

For the more studious ones in our readership (you're show-offs, but we love you), there's still time to listen to our latest podcast, featuring a detailed analysis of the film categories. Then shake up a cocktail and enjoy the main event, and follow along with us all evening on Twitter @CineMunch. Matt's final predictions in all fields are after the jump.

Read More

CineDrunk Podcast: Episode 1 - The Grand Budapest Hotel

/

We here at CineMunch like to eat, drink, and discuss movies, and now you can join in the fun! Our new podcast, CineDrunk, is just what it sounds like:

CineDrunk (noun): A podcast in which CineMunch and guests craft a signature cocktail or four to go with a particular film or theme for that week's episode. Said drinks are ingested before and during our discussions, which are now available for your listening pleasure!

As always, we encourage you to play along and will provide our drink recipes here on the blog. 

This week we focused on director Wes Anderson and his newest film, The Grand Budapest Hotel, now in its fifth week of release. We named our accompanying concoction the "Eau de Pálinka".

The "Eau de Pálinka" Martini

1 oz dry gin
1 oz dry vermouth
1 oz blue plum brandy (or other flavored brandy)
4-5 dashes lemon juice

Mix in cocktail shaker filled with ice, shake, and strain into martini glasses. For our second round of martinis we added 1/2 oz St.-Germain elderflower liqueur (and lessened the vermouth by 1/2 oz).


Listen to the full podcast below. And please drink semi-responsibly.