Snitch and Mike's Fearless Oscar Picks

My View:   Snitch (2013) PG-13   When his son is wrongfully convicted of distributing drugs, John Matthews (Dwayne Johnson) makes a deal with the Feds. He agrees to become an undercover informant and gather information on the leader (Benjamin Bratt) of a drug cartel. But, has the love for his son gotten Matthews in a situation that John and his family may not survive? This is an action movie (at least that is what the trailer made it look like) without any action. There are only three action sequences in the film, and in two of them, all Dwayne “The Rock” is doing is driving a big semi.  Not too thrilling. I mean, here is a guy that is as big as a house, and we are supposed to believe that he is just an ordinary guy, a guy that has to act meek to drug dealers. The drug dealer’s dialogue is right out of a Charles Bronson Death Wish movie from the eighties, and Benjamin Bratt’s character speaks as though he is auditioning for a remake of Scarface. Johnson is asked to act way too much in this film and action fans will be bored by the slow moving script.    My Rating: Cable    Snitch Website

Mike's Fearless Oscar Picks

The 85^th annual Academy Awards are on this Sunday, Feb. 24th. Here are my Fearless Oscar picks, along with any picks that I foresee as possible upsets:  I got 11 out of 13 right. 

Correct
Incorrect

Best Picture:    Argo     Argo has been picking up a lot of steam lately, with Ben Affleck (who is not nominated for Best Director) winning almost every major Directing award including the Golden Globes. Lincoln, directed by Steven Spielberg could win this.

Best Actor in a Leading Role:   Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln.     They might as well have a statue with his name on it because this is a sure thing.

Best Actress in a Leading Role:    Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook.      Lawrence was the best one of a cast where all four major roles got nominations. Emmanuelle Riva for the French film Amour could garner enough votes for her outstanding work in the film.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:     Robert De Niro in Silver Linings Playbook.       De Niro gave one of his best performances in recent years. Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln, stood out in a very large cast.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:     Ann Hathaway in Les Miserables.       She wasn’t on the screen longer than ten minutes but boy, did she make an impact. Sally Field in Lincoln is always a good bet because the Academy really likes her.

Best Director:     Stephen Spielberg for Lincoln.        Spielberg is highly respected and for an historical drama, the film did extremely well at the box office. David O. Russell did a masterful job directing the cast of Silver Linings Playbook.

Best Adapted Screenplay:     Argo written by Chris Terrio

Best Original Screenplay:     Django Unchained by Quentin Tarantino

Best Animated Film:      Brave

Best Foreign Language Film:      Amour

Best Documentary Feature:     Searching for Sugar Man

Best Cinematography:      Life of Pi - Claudio Miranda

Best Song:     Skyfall - Adele and Paul Epworth

Until Next Time!