58%… That’s how I scored in my predictions. Now that may not sound great (I’ve certainly scored better averages), but I’m pleased with this stat for a few reasons…

1. I scored 100% correct in the top 8 categories: Leading Actor, Supporting Actor, Leading Actress, Supporting Actress, Cinematography, Editing, Directing and Best Picture. Granted, these were pretty predictable but there was a 50/50 chance of someone else winning in most of those categories.

2. Often, my 2nd choice won the award. I figured “The Young Victoria” would probably win for Costume Design but decided (wrongly) to take a chance on “Coco Before Chanel”. I figured…

In what looks to be one of the most predictable Oscar races of all time, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has made a few changes to their nomination format, but those changes have not ramped up the suspense in many of the categories. For the first time, 10 movies have been nominated for “Best Picture”. While that sounds unorthodox, I believe it’s a perfectly altruistic and fair move to some of those great films that don’t usually get a lot of attention come awards season. Many voters (and the media) have jumped on highly influential bandwagons to champion a select few of the nominees, so the chances for an upset or two seem few and far between. However, in the Academy Awards, upsets do happen and with the changes to the voting system this year, things could get interesting…

A note from Coop: Jay has once again thrown down the gauntlet to declare his annual Oscar picks. With my own queued up and ready to go (you can go ahead and download my picks ballot, but my reasoning behind my choices won’t be posted for another couple of days), he gets first crack at doing the convincing. To download his ballot, go here.

Below are some jpegs of his picks. For a clearer, more readable version, go to the link above to either view or download the ballot…

Tis’ the season to see folly.

It never fails. Every year about this time movie studios all along the San Andreas are clamoring to unload their homogenized, “release delayed”, unscreened, should’a-gone-straight-to-DVD dreck onto a movie going public so starved for any semblance of post-tryptophanian entertainment that it doesn’t seem to mind plopping down ten bucks a pop for the cinematic equivalent of a Zippy the Pinhead comic. B-movie sequels, RomCom bomb-athons and shameless hyperfad exploitationals clog our collective movie-going consciousness, leaving us longing for the unrivaled artistry and emotive tour de force of “Dracula vs. Billy the Kid”…

The 7^th year of the annual Oxford Film Festival in Oxford, Mississippi kicked off the night of Thursday the 4^th by taking over half of the Malco Oxford Studio Cinema and roping an area off for the media, filmmakers and other assorted guests. While I had attended screenings at large festivals during my tenure in Los Angeles, I was only moderately enthused about covering a local one. I figured I’d see a few underwhelming indie flicks and slink on back home to Clarksdale for some light writing and shut-eye. Boy was I ever wrong.

WARNING: Shameless self promotion ahead…

The Oxford Film Fest – which takes place in the friendly town of Oxford, Mississippi – begins tonight (2/4/10) and yours truly will be hosting the Q & A for the Mike McCarthy cult hit Cigarette Girl at 10pm tonight and 9:45pm Friday night.

You might remember me reviewing Cigarette Girl at it’s Memphis premiere where I heralded its importance as a symbol of modern cinema born from the ashes of the Memphis urban landscape. Its stylistically gorgeous production design and its bold originality made it one of my favorite cinematic experiences of 2009.

Here’s a movie with an ambitious story and message that almost pulled it off.

Denzel Washington plays a cat-eating, machete-wielding post apocalyptic badass named Eli who walks the Earth (like Caine in “Kung Fu”) and carries a book that is supposed to save the remainder of the planet’s population 33 years after nuclear war. He runs afoul of Carnegie (Gary Oldman), the honcho of a wild west-style town who has been searching for the book for years with plans to use it to control the masses rather than save them. When he learns that Eli possesses it, he stops and nothing to get it…

With vampires en vogue at the moment, Hollywood has been struggling to figure out how to cash in on the latest horror movie craze. Understanding that not all viewers are enraptured by the “Twilight” phenomenon, studios have been struggling to develop vampire-themed properties that show potential for larger appeal. “Daybreakers” attempts a big-budgeted stab at making vampires marketable to the action-horror crowd, but the filmmakers don’t seem to realize when they’re flogging a dead horse…

“Up in the Air” first received a limited release in November to overwhelming critical acclaim. Soon after, it racked up multiple award nominations, including 6 potential Golden Globes. On Christmas Day it released wide to audiences with very little advertising or fanfare, but after finally getting an opportunity to see this film, I can confirm the hype is grossly understated.

Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) lives out of a suitcase 322 days out of the year. He travels around the country firing people for a living and…

Like any other venerable, once-popular property, Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes was bound to get a Hollywood redo sooner or later. Since I never much cared for the stuffy, British “Sherlock” films of the past, I welcomed the idea of a more stylized, updated version of the eccentric detective. Despite my usual dislike of the overrated English director, Guy Ritchie (better known as Madonna’s ex-husband), I felt his modern panache would mix well with the Victorian Era mystery genre. While all the right ingredients seemed present, the end result…

The most highly anticipated film of the year, “Avatar” marks director James Cameron’s first feature film since 1997’s “Titanic.” The notoriously meticulous filmmaker has painstakingly prepared this film, utilizing the largest motion picture budget to date. An estimated $300 million went into the making of this science fiction epic which boasts revolutionary 3-D imagery and supposedly “photo-real” special effects. Given Cameron’s exceptional track record for delivering some of the most successful mega-budget blockbusters of all time, “Avatar” has a lot to live up to…

In 1994, the long-standing South African Apartheid had dissolved; the country held its first multi-racial elections and Nelson Mandela became the first black African president of the nation. Knowing full well the transition of power would cause bitterness and distrust among the country’s affluent and powerful Caucasian minority, Mandela wisely realized that the two cultures must find common ground in order for the shattered country to unite. One unlikely way he chose to achieve this goal was to vocally and fervently support the country’s flagging rugby team. Lead by team captain Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon), the South African “Springbok” (antelopes) rugby team was so hated…

On Saturday December 5^th, Producers Jay Carl Nelson and Brett Magdovitz returned to Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale to screen the new trailer for their projected feature film “Mud Dog Blues” to the public. “Mud Dog” co-star and 12 year-old son of Nelson, Chase Dean Nelson also accompanied the producers to promote the project. The film will star GregAlan Williams (“Remember the Titans,” “Boston Legal,” “Baywatch” and “The Sopranos”), country music superstar Billy Dean, and Bigg Vinny the “Mac” from the band Trailer Choir. As the film’s promotional literature describes it:

This Project is a heartfelt family film about the “Blues” and the “Mississippi Delta”. Eleven year old Jake Bonham is the son of one of the wealthiest families in all of the South, but Jake…