Artist Profile: Rafael De Soto (1904 — 1992)

Posted on January 15, 2014 by Dazzling Erin

A native of Puerto Rico, Rafael De Soto was training for the priesthood when his natural artistic talent was first noticed by one of his teachers, Father Noel, who arranged for Rafael to take private art lessons with a local artist named Diaz McKenna. After completing his education at the seminary, Rafael decided to become an artist rather than complete his religious training in Rome. After moving to New York City in 1932, De Soto went on to become a prolific cover artist. After retiring from freelance illustration in 1964, De Soto taught art at the State University of New York.

6 Trailers Of 6 Films That Were Ignored By The Academy

Posted on January 15, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

With the Oscar nominations due to be announced tomorrow, this seems like the perfect time to do a special edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Film trailers!

Below, you’ll find six trailers for six films that failed to receive a single Oscar nomination:

1) The Wild Angels (1966)

2) The Big Cube (1969)

3) The Nanny (1965)

4) Fear In The Night (1972)

5) Hell Is A City (1959)

6) Demons of the Mind (1972)

What do you think, Trailer Kitties?

Lisa Attempts To Predict The Actual Oscar Nominations

Posted on January 15, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Because I’m obsessed with awards and I love taking risks, here are my predictions for which films and performers will receive Oscar nominations in the six major categories tomorrow morning. As opposed to my previous post on the Oscars, these are the films that I expect to see nominated (as opposed to who and what I personally would like to see nominated.)

Best Picture

12 Years A Slave

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

Dallas Buyers Club

Gravity

Her

Nebraska

Philomena

Saving Mr. Banks

The Wolf of Wall Street

(Yes, I’m going with a full 10 nominee slate here. Based on the guild nominations, I think that Inside Llewyn Davis will end up being snubbed. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Lee Daniels’ The Butler somehow managed to sneak into the top 10, depending on whether or not liberal Academy members want to reward a film that basically uses the 2008 presidential election as a happy ending.)

Best Director

Alfonso Cuaron for Gravity

Paul Greengrass for Captain Phillips

Spike Jonze for Her

Steve McQueen for 12 Years A Slave

David O. Russell for American Hustle

(When it comes to Best Director, there always seems to be at least one surprise omission and nomination. This year, I’m predicting it will be Scorsese and Jonze.)

Best Actor

Bruce Dern in Nebraska

Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years A Slave

Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips

Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club

Robert Redford in All Is Lost

(Best Actor is usually the easiest category to predict and I don’t think this year will be any different. I would prefer to see Leonardo DiCaprio nominated for Wolf of Wall Street but I have a feeling that the Academy will not be able to resist Tom Hanks essentially playing Tom Hanks.)

Best Actress

Amy Adams in American Hustle

Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine

Judi Dench in Philomena

Emma Thompson in Saving Mr. Banks

Meryl Streep in August: Osage County

(I have a feeling that Meryl will get nominated because she’s Meryl. Sandra Bullock is certainly a contender for her performance in Gravity but I think the Academy is mostly going to view that film as a technical triumph. Amy Adams is popular and has Golden Globe momentum.)

Best Supporting Actor

Barkhad Abdi in Captain Phillips

Bradley Cooper in American Hustle

Michael Fassbender in 12 Years A Slave

James Gandolfini in Enough Said

Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club

(I’d love to see James Franco nominated for his work in Spring Breakers but I think the big surprise here will be James Gandolfini receiving a posthumous nomination for Enough Said.)

Best Supporting Actress

Sally Hawkins in Blue Jasmine

Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle

Lupita Nyong’o in 12 Years A Slave

Julia Roberts in August: Osage County

June Squibb in Nebraska

(Sorry, Oprah.)

So, there you go. There are my guesses. Now, I have to say that I don’t have a great record when it comes to predicting the actual Oscar nominations. That’s because it’s usually a lot more fun to speculate about the nominations than to actually watch them be announced. When you’re speculating, you’re free to come up with all sorts of scenarios that could lead to exciting upsets (like James Gandolfini receiving an honorary nomination, for instance). Perhaps that’s why the actual Oscar nominations always feel somewhat anti-climatic.

We’ll see how right (or wrong) I am tomorrow morning!

Here Are The Totally Predictable and Boring Razzie Nominations

Posted on January 15, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Every year, while the Oscars honor the “best” in film, the Razzies honor the worst. Now, I have to admit that I think the Razzies are overrated and somewhat predictable. They tend to nominate the films that everyone already agrees are bad. There’s a tendency to go for easy laughs and obvious targets. That’s why predictably bad Adam Sandler films will always dominate the Razzies while the films that represent the worst tendencies of Hollywood — like Man of Steel, for instance — will somehow be ignored.

What I’m saying is that next year, we need an alternative to the Razzies.

However, until that day comes, here are the Razzie nominations for this year. Not surprisingly, they nominated Lindsay Lohan, despite the fact that she was actually pretty good in The Canyons. But, it’s the Razzies and Lindsay is an easy target.

WORST PICTURE
“After Earth”
“Grown Ups 2”
“The Lone Ranger”
“A Madea Christmas”
“Movie 43”

WORST ACTOR
Johnny Depp, “The Lone Ranger”
Ashton Kutcher, “Jobs”
Adam Sandler, “Grown Ups 2”
Jaden Smith, “After Earth”
Sylvester Stallne, “Bullet to the Head”/”Escape Plan”/”Grudge Match”

WORST ACTRESS
Halle Berry, “The Call”/”Movie 43”
Selena Gomez, “Getaway”
Lindsay Lohan, “The Canyons”
Tyler Perry, “A Madea Christmas”
Naomi Watts, “Diana”/”Movie 43”

WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Chris Brown, “Battle of the Year”
Larry the Cable Guy, “A Madea Christmas”
Taylor Lautner, “Grown Ups 2”
Will Smith, “After Earth”
Nick Swardson, “A Haunted House”/”Grown Ups 2”

WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Lady Gaga, “Machete Kills”
Salma Hayek, “Grown Ups 2”
Katherine Heigl, “The Big Wedding”
Kim Kardashian, “Tyler Perry’s Temptation”
Lindsay Lohan, “InAPPropriate Comedy”/”Scary Movie 5”

WORST DIRECTOR
The 13 People Who Directed “Movie 43”
Dennis Dugan, “Grown Ups 2”
Tyler Perry, “A Madea Christmas”/”Temptation”
M. Night Shyamalan, “After Earth”
Gore Verbinski, “The Lone Ranger”

WORST SCREENPLAY
“After Earth” – Gary Whitta, M. Night Shyamalan, Will Smith
“Grown Ups 2” – Fred Wolfe, Adam Sandler, Tim Herlihy
“The Lone Ranger” – Ted Elliott, Justin Haythe, Terry Rosso
“A Madea Christmas” – Tyler Perry
“Movie 43” – Written by 19 “Screenwriters”

WORST SCREEN COMBO
The Entire Cast of “Grown Ups 2”
The Entire Cast of “Movie 43”
Lindsay Lohan & Charlie Sheen, “Scary Movie 5”
Tyler Perry & Either Larry the Cable Guy or That Worn-Out Wig & Dress, “A Madea Christmas”
Jaden Smith & Will Smith on Planet Nepotism, “After Earth”

WORST REMAKE, RIP-OFF, OR SEQUEL
“Grown Ups 2”
“The Hangover Part III”
“The Lone Ranger”
“Scary Movie 5”
“The Smurfs 2”