Film critics Carrie and Chad on who will – and who should – win the 88th Academy Awards
The 88th Academy Awards air this Sunday, February 28th on ABC at 5:30pm PST (as always, red carpet coverage begins much earlier, if you want to dish on fashion highs and lows). Spinning Platters film critics Carrie Kahn and Chad Liffmann share their predictions – and hopes – for the major categories. Follow along and see how we – and you – do on the big night! Continue reading “Film Feature: Carrie and Chad Pick the 2016 Oscars”
Spielberg + Coens + Hanks = Better than your average storytelling.
The lawyer who became a negotiator. The negotiator who united three empires.
Thomas Newman seems to be doing his best musical imitation of John Williams throughout the former’s original score for Bridge of Spies. The reason I started with this opinionated tidbit is because it’s probably the weakest part of the movie. The score isn’t among Newman’s finest (American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Finding Nemo) and it’s far from capturing the spirit of Williams’ finest (Star Wars, Munich, Lincoln, basically everything…ever). The music in Bridge of Spies is the weakest, though still serviceable, mixed result in a movie production full of interesting mixes. Bridge of Spies represents the first time the Coen brothers have written for Spielberg, the first time Spielberg has employed a composer other than Williams for a feature film in lord knows how long, and judging by the number of production companies listed in the beginning, probably the first time Spielberg has needed the aid of a half dozen independent companies to help a production out. Sure, it’s also the fourth collaboration between Spielberg and Hanks, so there’s that. However, point being that Bridge of Spies had a lot of award-winning talent working together, and the results are infectious, if not odd, but totally worth our while. Embracing the tonal patchwork that comes from great minds working together, Bridge of Spies is a tense, fascinating true story of courage during the Cold War.
