UPDATED: September 11, 2015 with updated and new movie inclusions (after original post from the 10th anniversary in 2011) and a new section of faded and relaxed sensitivity. I plan to make this an annual post and study.
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It's that time of year again! With announcement of nominations for the 86th Academy Awards coming early Thursday morning, we've arrived at the peak of awards seasons. The scene has been buzzing all week after the upset-filled popularity contest that was the 71st Golden Globe Awards this past Sunday. At the festivities, plenty of new possible contenders emerged, while a few Oscar races were made even more ironclad.
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Welcome to January and the first major month of the 2014 awards season. Many of the small and regional film critics groups have spoken with their award winners in many categories from the best of the best of film in 2013. Most of those winners have been quiet news, but business picks up when the Hollywood Foreign Press speaks and names their best with the annual Golden Globe Awards. As always, they are the leading precursor to the future Oscar nominations for the upcoming 86th Academy Awards.
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As I say every year, plenty of regular everyday people make New Year's Resolutions, but I think bigger entities, namely movie makers and movie moguls, need to make them too. I volunteer to stand in and make those resolutions in one of my favorite editorials to writes every year. Welcome to my third annual "New Year's Resolutions for the Movie Industry."
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I think all movie fans, even the casual ones, make lists like this in their head after seeing a good trailer or reading a good article. I'm going to spell mine out and dig a little deeper, just as I have the last two years.
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After posting my "10 Best" films of 2013, it's only fair that I also post the worst films of the year.
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For the third year in a row, I've been lucky enough to catch as many of the best and brightest movies of 2013 as possible before the official end of the year today. I managed to keep seeing movies and discovered the beauty of Video on Demand, which expanded my opportunities to review movies running concurrently in theaters. I found greater luck being near the big city of Chicago to win my way into advance screenings through contests and Gofobo events. The best part of all was getting the chance to treat myself and take part in the 49th Chicago International Film Festival, where three of my "10 Best" movies came from. I'm amazed that I was able to see all that I did with a new little piece of entertainment at home.
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A college classmate and Facebook friend of mine posed a particular question to me this past spring. As a devout fan of fun movies, he asked me "what happened to the high school movie?" It was a simple, but intriguing question that I've wrestled over for months now. Most importantly, he was right. Hollywood doesn't make the same high school movies they used to.
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I've had my eyes opened wider within the last two years to the increasing market of films that are using Video On-Demand (VOD) services to broaden their audience reach. So much of it makes sense and yet so few people know this new avenue and market for movies. Let me try to shed some light on it.
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As a movie nerd at heart, the visuals of the city and its skyline that have shown up in popular movies have become my go-to landmarks and conversation starters. I point to a spot, mention the movie, and it all clicks. Since it's been quite a while since I've written a good editorial "10 Best" list, I've decided to make Chicago the subject. Here, with a couple of shameless ties, are my picks for the ten best movies filmed and set in Chicago.
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As always, the end of every year in cinema is backloaded with the Oscar hopefuls, and this year is no different with more movies than I can list (but can partially preview here). Once again, with this being the halfway point, I will cut the traditional "10 Best" list in half with a first half five.
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As the title of this editorial suggests, everyone around Chicago probably has a Roger Ebert story. Here's mine...
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