01/14: Awards Month & New Films to Look Out For - Did I Miss Anything?

January has been a very busy month. I had been out of town most weekends so I wasn't able to watch as much movies and television shows. This month marked the start of the mid-season replacements. There's definitely a lot more to catch up on. One of the shows I'm looking forward to is True Detective. Have you seen it? Awards season is now upon us, and while I don't really follow awards show (primarily because I have not seen all awards contenders, so I can't fully make a personal opinion about who should win and so forth), I have been seeing snippets of it, thanks to Tumblr and fellow bloggers. Very happy that Leo got nominated though; I saw Wolf of Wall Street recently and it was amazing! Sundance was also this month, so there's a lot of films to look forward to. 

About Time | A.C.O.D. | Blade Runner | Broken Flowers | Cashback | Dan in Real Life | Electrick Children | Enough Said | Frances Ha | Free Birds | Get Him to the Greek | Her | Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit | Kramer vs Kramer | Liberal Arts | Parental Guidance | Saving Mr. Banks | The Book Thief | The Daytrippers | The Departed | The Wolf of Wall Street | Violet & Daisy | Your Sister's Sister

A.C.O.D. - I like Adam Scott and while he should do more light drama/comedic flicks, this isn't one of his best works. Amy Poelher stood out in this one, though.

Broken Flowers - It's a bit mediocre, but Bill Murray is always great.

Cashback - It's a romance story set in an insomniac's world and in a supermarket.

Dan in Real Life - It's a nice family drama, but the ending seemed rush and uneventful (and very unbelievable).

Electrick Children - It featured a wonderful performance by Julia Garner.
Free Birds - Just horrible.

Get Him to the Greek - Funny, but not as fun as its predecessor.
Her - Now I know why people are clamoring for Scarlett Johansson's voice acting.

Kramer vs Kramer - Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep were fantastic. I was rooting for Hoffman in the custody case, but I couldn't help but feel bad for Streep's character. She was an independent woman who got tied down when she got married - Hoffman's character forced her to become a stereotypical wife. I might write a proper review for this one later on.

Liberal Arts - Just shows that this is the talented Olsen, and Zac Efron's presence might be unnecessary but welcomed.

Parental Guidance - What was this about? Teach children how to be children? It tried to be fun but it just wasn't. 

Saving Mr. Banks - It made me want to watch Mary Poppins after.

The Book Thief - It's not striking, but the actors were amazing.

The Daytrippers - It's good, although it doesn't say much about the characters. The twist was definitely a surprise.

The Wolf of Wall Street - HILARIOUS. One of Scorsese's best. 

Violet & Daisy - Alexis Bledel was a miscast, but Saorsie Ronan and James Gandolfini were great.
Your Sister's Sister - Rosemarie De Witt may be the only actress who looks pretty even she cries. 

If you missed/have not caught up with the various awards nights, check out Sati's recap of the Golden Globes, Critics Choice and SAG awards. 

 Karamel Kinema has written a wonderful piece about the red carpet couture  at the Golden Globes. 

Speaking of Karamel Kinema, she and Nostra from My Filmviews have started the Life, Love and the Movies blogathon. Reading the other entries doesn't only give you insight of how other bloggers came to love movies, but in a way, it's bits of themselves.

Alex's In Character feature is one of my favorites in his blog. In line with awards season, here's In Character: Oscar Nominees Edition.

Dan has written an interesting and thought provoking piece about film criticism. 

There's something new to learn every day. Chris explains what scene chewing is. 

Each writer's style symbolizes his/her voice. Ryan discusses why he writes the way he does.