La La Land (2016)

I was interested in seeing this film because not only am I a sucker for a good musical, but I'll admit to being a big fan of Ryan Gosling as well as Emma Stone and I was intrigued to see what the director of Whiplash would do with a musical picture to make it fresh and unique. The premise of the story is that Stone is a young actress who has moved to LA to wait tables while auditioning to try and 'make it', while Gosling is a jazz purist  who plays the piano in bars to make a living and dreams of opening his own Jazz bar. Or to put it succinctly - "Two young artists meet and fall in love while chasing their dreams". The musical flows thematically from first love to heartbreak and every other emotion between, with great music throughout.

BAFTAs 2017: full list of nominations

Amy Adams' two films Nocturnal Animals and Arrival are the closest competitors with nine apiece, and she will face her own battle in the category for Leading Actress for the latter, against Emily Blunt, Meryl Streep and Natalie Portman.

Arrival takes nine nominations, which shows that this visually ravishing sci-fi drama about Amy Adams’ linguistic professor trying to understand aliens might well make much more of an impression on Bafta voters than on the electors of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Aloha (2015)

Cameron Crowe is one of my favorite directors. He never fails to put a smile on my face, even if it's my 15th time watching the same film of his (Jerry Maguire). But with 'Aloha', it doesn't seem like his film at all. In fact, at times the film seems as though it's 3 different projects jumbled into one. Aloha was one of my most anticipated films this year, and with a cast that includes the likes of Bradley Cooper, Rachel McAdams, and Emma Stone, I didn't think there was any way this film would let me down. Boy, I was wrong. The trailer was fantastic. It had great music, great character drama, and a beautiful landscape, that's the makings of a great Crowe film. Unfortunately it was a bland and forgettable as a film can be. If you cant get a good film with all of the great things on your side, than there's something going on here.

I heard there was some serious behind the scene issues with Aloha. Ones that took Crowe out of the promoting of the film and even Sony's lack of marketing for the project. I mean there was only one trailer, ONE. I never bought into the Emma Stone-Bradley Cooper fling. I saw a reviewer talk about how her character thinks she's in a Will Ferrell comedy at first until toning it down later on, and that's completely true. The two seem like they are playing characters from different movies and somehow their dialogue matched up.

2015 SAG Awards Winners

The winners of the SAG Awards are being announced at the annual awards show, held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. See below an updated list of winners.

THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Winner: EDDIE REDMAYNE, “THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING” (Focus Features)
STEVE CARELL, “FOXCATCHER” (Sony Pictures Classics)
BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH, “THE IMITATION GAME” (The Weinstein Company)
JAKE GYLLENHAAL, “NIGHTCRAWLER” (Open Road Films)
MICHAEL KEATON, “BIRDMAN” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Winner: JULIANNE MOORE, “STILL ALICE” (Sony Pictures Classics)
JENNIFER ANISTON, “CAKE” (Cinelou Films)
FELICITY JONES, “THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING” (Focus Features)
ROSAMUND PIKE, GONE GIRL” (20th Century Fox)
REESE WITHERSPOON, “WILD” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Winner: J.K. SIMMONS, “WHIPLASH” (Sony Pictures Classics)
ROBERT DUVALL, “THE JUDGE” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
ETHAN HAWKE, “BOYHOOD” (IFC Films)EDWARD NORTON, “BIRDMAN” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)MARK RUFFALO, “FOXCATCHER” (Sony Pictures Classics)