COOP COOPER is an independently syndicated film critic with a split personality. His “Southern Side” prints mainstream reviews that appear in various print publications across the mid-south. His “Dark Side” from Los Angeles befouls the site with reviews of horror and grindhouse flicks. Welcome to the site where COOP’s two halves (and his contributors) review and debate the latest film/DVD releases…

The 2011 Academy Awards have passed and now it is time for most of the public to finally see the darned movies that won. The majority of the films projected to receive Oscar nominations release in theaters at the very end of the year as to remain fresh in the mind of the voters. Much of the general public completely miss the films in theaters either due to lack of buzz or by the fact that many people (especially in rural areas) rarely make it to the movies anymore. Luckily the DVD, internet and pay-per-view movie market is there to pick up the slack and now you can see many of the current Academy Award winners and nominees on video. No matter your preferred method of movie-viewing (Netflix, Redbox, Blockbuster Online, etc…), you should be able to find nearly all of the below films… READ ARTICLE AT THE CLARKSDALE PRESS REGISTER WEBSITE

Once again, my friendly competitor (and uncle), Jay, has revealed his 2010 Oscar picks. What’s interesting this year is how vastly he and I differ in our prediction strategies. Looks like it’s going to be a real competition this year! En garde, Jay!…

No nonsense this year. I have not the taste nor the stomach for it. I just hope that James Franco understands the folly of hosting during his own nomination. The acid may dissolve him permanently due to overexposure and he shows no signs of relenting. Don’t push our buttons too hard, Frank…

Besides that, Hi …

Every year there are several acclaimed films that really rub me the wrong way. It’s not that I don’t agree they are all good, some are and some aren’t, but something about them bugged me and no one can convince me otherwise.

I plan on getting some hate mail for these because they are all popular choices for critics as well as the general public. Hopefully many of you will agree with me on one or more of these because let’s face it, it’s awards season and I’ve got a bad feeling that Inception isn’t going to win a thing despite being the best movie of the year. That sad realization makes this list feel like sweet justice…

Wow, shooting even a short film takes a lot out of you. Especially if you’re handling the writing, producing, directing, etc… It distracts you from things, such as the website you’ve been building for the past few years.

No, the Small Town Critic site is not defunct, just transitioning to encompass all of my projects, including movie reviews, short films, festival screenings, screenwriting seminars and whatever else I’ve got going on.

To get things on track for the New Year (2011? When did that happen?), here are my top 10 movie pics of the last year…

Coop’s most recent MICRO REVIEWS (via Twitter):

I got to conduct some great Q & A’s for some terrific films at the FEEL GOOD FILM FESTIVAL this past weekend. I met some truly gifted filmmakers and inspirational people.

I’d like to thank these special guests for affecting me the most: Cheryl Hines for her big intro, Shirley Jones for classing up the joint with her presence, Marty Ingles for reminding us what this festival is really about, Leeza Gibbons for singling me out with a nice compliment, writer/director Lexi Alexander for the lively discussion, producer/actor Googy Gress for his sincere enthusiasm, the League of S.T.E.A.M. for entertaining us all weekend and motivational speaker/actor Nick Vujicic for the sheer inspiration he gave to us all with his fantastic short film The Butterfly Circus (watch here!).

I’d also like to give big high-fives to all of the coordinators and volunteers for making the festival such a fun and engaging experience. I had a great time bonding with you all.

Finally a big congratulations to producer/actor Joe Russell and writer/actress Casey Strand from the short film “Strawberries” whose engagement I helped orchestrate during one of the more memorable Q & A’s.

I wish I had seen them all but of the ones I did see, here are the films that I felt were the best (in no particular order)…

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.

There’s a-doin’s a-transpirin’ over at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The first announcement came that they would be nominating 10 films instead of the traditional 5 for Best Picture in Feb. 2010. I like this idea. Think about what it means, not only for the films, but for the Academy as well. It will give some much-deserved exposure to those films that were ‘on the bubble.’ Many of those films were worthy of nomination in the top 5 anyway, but weren’t for some reason or another. Nominating wild cards will (hopefully) make the event…

As Hollywood gears up for the big event on Sunday, here’s your chance to participate in the biggest entertainment awards show of the year. Click Here to download and print Coop’s “Custom Oscar Ballot.” Fill out the ballot, tune in on February 22 at 5 Pacific/7 Central on ABC and follow along to see if [...]

My big annual Academy Awards predictions article will post tomorrow at noon, so to get you primed for it, here is a couple of montage videos that honor all of the past Best Pictures winners.
Tune back in tomorrow (Feb. 20, 2009) at 12pm Pacific Time to read my Oscar predictions and don’t forget to download [...]

With the Academy Awards taking place next weekend, I’m going to take this opportunity to list ten reasons we Americans look forward to watching the ceremony. Forget that we’ll never get to hold that golden, bald trophy or that many of us haven’t seen any of the nominated films. The “Oscars” offer more to viewers [...]

I wish they were by me. Anyway, they got announced this morning so let’s take a look at the nominees. There were a few surprises. I can’t believe Christopher Nolan didn’t get a Best Director Nomination for “The Dark Knight.” At least Tom Cruise isn’t on there for “Tropic Thunder.” Stay tuned for my big “Academy Awards” article that I do every year for this event. I will post it a few days before the event. Meanwhile, observe the Academy’s picks and make your predictions!…

Holy Hannah!!! Click here to read my report on the matter BEFORE the award announcment, then Coop’s opinion on the entire Golden Globes proceedings last month.
Ok, not only did Anne LOSE to Kate Winslet, a feat that could’ve been ignored (although a HUGE upset) except for one thing… Hathaway was IGNORED for the entire ceremony [...]

You heard me… (UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM!!!)
By the way, hey Coop… “To the last, I grapple with thee; From Hell’s heart, I stab at thee; For hate’s sake, I spit my last breath at thee.” – Khan from “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan”
I hear Khan stole that from from a jerk named [...]

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

It’s rare when a film like this comes along. Sweeping character epics like “Forrest Gump” and “The Shawshank Redemption” saturated the film market in the 1990’s. “Benjamin Button” continues that tradition by taking a bizarre F. Scott Fitzgerald short story and turning it into a grand, beautiful work of cinema.
On [...]

I’m one of those naysayers who thinks the Golden Globes (handed out by the less-than-scrupulous Hollywood Foreign Press Association) are no longer valid or coveted. Due to the writer’s strike last year, no one attended and it made for an exceptionally shallow and pointless televised ceremony. When the stars actually attend the ceremony they usually [...]