That's My Dad.

Best Picture

Personal Pick: Django Unchained

Actual Guess: Argo

Best Actor

Personal Pick & Actual Guess: Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln

Best Actress

Personal Pick: Quvenzhane Wallis for Beasts of the Southern Wild

Actual Guess: Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook

Best Supporting Actor

Personal Pick & Actual Guess: Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained

Honorable Mention & Tie-breaker: Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln

Best Supporting Actress

Personal Pick & Actual Guess: Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables

Best Director

Personal Pick & Actual Guess: Steven Spielberg for Lincoln

Honorable Mention: David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook

Best Foreign Film

Personal Pick & Actual Guess: Amour

Best Animated Feature 

Personal Pick: Wreck-It Ralph

Actual Guess: Brave

Best Documentary Feature 

Personal Pick & Actual Guess: Searching for Sugar Man

Best Original Screenplay

Personal Pick & Actual Guess: Django Unchained

Best Adapted Screenplay

Personal Pick & Actual Guess: Lincoln

Honorable Mention & Tie-Breaker: Argo

Best Cinematography

Personal Pick: Skyfall

Actual Guess: Life of Pi

Best Film Editing

Personal Pick & Actual Guess: Argo

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - 

Tragically unaffecting and emotionally gimmicky, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a poorly crafted melodrama, both from a directorial and actors standpoint, that makes for an intellectually gutted rendition of its source material; investing in exterior emotions rather than those internal. (4/10)

That’s My Dad’s 2012 Oscar Predications - 

Best Picture - 

My Personal Choice - The Tree of Life

Who Will Win - The Artist

Best Actor - 

My Personal Choice - Brad Pitt for Moneyball

Who Will Win - Jean Dujardin for The Artist

Best Actress - 

My Personal Choice - Michelle Williams for My Week With Marilyn

Who Will Win - Viola Davis for The Help

Best Supporting Actor - 

My Personal Choice - Christopher Plummer for Beginners

Who Will Win - Christopher Plummer for Beginners

Best Supporting Actress - 

My Personal Choice - Jessica Chastain for The Help

Who Will Win - Octavia Spencer for The Help

Best Director - 

My Personal Choice - Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life

Who Will Win - Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist

Best Original Screenplay - 

My Personal Choice - Midnight in Paris

Who Will Win - Midnight in Paris

Best Adapted Screenplay - 

My Personal Choice - Moneyball

Who Will Win - The Descendants

Best Foriegn Film - 

My Personal Choice - A Separation

Who Will Win - A Separation

Best Cinematography - 

My Personal Choice - The Tree of Life

Who Will Win - The Tree of Life

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My Week With Marilyn - 

An absolutely magical introspection into the human condition of one of the most intricate figures in film: Marilyn Monroe. With an impeccable British ensemble, luscious cinematography, pitch-perfect direction and an awe-inspiring, methodical and eternal performance by Michelle Williams, “My Week With Marilyn” attests as one of the most understated gems of art-house cinema in 2011. (9/10)

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Returning with his third mix-tape and the finale to his trilogy of previous releases House of Balloons and Thursday, R&B project The Weeknd is back with his most mature, well-produced and daring release: Echoes of Silence.

This, without question, could be The Weeknd’s most recommendable release yet by a long-shot. Where House of Balloons was an experimental R&B release, there was a slight requirement to keep an open mind and a bit of patience to appreciate the complexities of the album. On Echoes of Silence, we’re given a perfectly structured mix-tape where old and new fans can fall into The Weeknd’s immersion and intoxication almost immediately.

The mix-tape opens with “D.D.”, a phenomenal cover of Michael Jackson’s classic pop track “Dirty Diana”. Comparisons between The Weeknd and Jackson have always floated around, but this cover blows all possibilities way out of the water. The Weeknd gorgeously updates the 80’s hit, honoring it with a bold musical treatment by building bigger, darker and sadder beats along with a production style that’d give Nine Inch Nails a run for their money. It almost seems like The Weeknd even goes so much to improve on Jackson’s version by giving a focus on the storytelling where Jackson only used it as a vehicle for his abundant style. The Weeknd keeps both style and substance intact, and then some. It’s such an accurate cover, I could put money on the fact that if you played it for your parents, they’d think it was an unreleased Michael Jackson B-side or a remix of the original.

The rest of the album glides through with all of the elements The Weeknd is known for while also presenting a lot of new themes and ideas. The romance found in the lyrics is devastatingly sadder, mournful and gorgeously decaying. The drugs, the nightlife, the alcohol, are now a realized evil. There is an overshadowing darkness that gives everything the past two Weeknd releases were about a mirror to show how horrifying the party really was. By being the most mature mix-tape out of the three, Echoes of Silence makes sure not to make past releases seem inferior. Instead, it gives all of the Weeknd’s work a certain closure, making the themes come full circle and seem like it had been liked this all along; right from the release of House of Balloons. It was almost like reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the succession between the two series are similar.

This release alone not only works as the most successful Weeknd release that can be appreciated individually, but also credits the past two releases dramatically and places it in a more interesting context.

House of Balloons welcomes to the party of your life while warning you of the dangerous and intimidating high you’re about to encounter. Thursday explores the experience and provides the wishful thinking associated with that high. Echoes of Silence is what it feels like the morning after. The painstaking reality, the pain, the sadness, the sorrow, the regret of everything you just went through. You want to experience this. I don’t suggest you wait. It’s a critical musical experience for our generation for this year.

This album was my dad. (10/10)

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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - 

An industrial, slick and restrained spy thriller that proves as a great addition to the genre, featuring a remarkable ensemble performance with the likes of Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy and a superb directorial effort by Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In). (9/10)

Art-house Recommendation: A Serious Man (2009)

Undeniably the Coen Brothers most subtle, layered and mystifying film to date, A Serious Man is just as off-beat as is dark of a comedy. Complemented with pitch-perfect cinematography and a set of remarkable art-house styled performances, especially lead actor Michael Stuhlbarg, the film serves as an urgent inspection on the human condition in the oddest of places: modern jewish culture. With a stirring amount of thought offered, sincerely from the first frame to the very last, A Serious Man can be the most exciting watch in the most unorthodox of ways. (10/10)

Top 20 Films of 2011 (1-10)

1. The Tree of Life

2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

3. Drive

4. Beginners

5. Moneyball

6. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

7. A Separation 

8. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

9. 50/50

10. The Artist

The Artist - 

Welcome to the year’s most celebrated film in cinema: The Artist.

In case you haven’t heard about this film, The Artist is a silent black-and-white film telling a very classic Hollywood tale of the death of the silent era and the birth of the talkies.

If there’s an undeniable attribute of The Artist, it’s how many bold statements it makes towards Hollywood, decline in mainstream media and the art of cinema and storytelling, among various other aspects.

The Artist worships everything Hollywood has ever culturally stood and how it directly the human spirit at a vulnerable time in it’s history. Of course, expectedly, the film celebrates and glosses up a long lost age of glamour in popular culture, not to mention art style. A daunting task The Artist takes on is recall classically structured stories and the way they play out. You don’t even have to bother to check for authenticity, this thing plays out like something Cecil B. Demille would have made. For a film like this, that’s the biggest compliment imaginable.

Another great value of the film is how it speaks to its current surroundings in 2011 cinema. The Artist presents cryptic layers of psychological and artistic frustrations it seems to have with the characters moving from the silent era to the “talkies”, but, in modern context, The Artist addresses current films growing consistently shallow for entertainment while neglecting the concept of telling a wholesome story. It’s cheesy when it comes down to it, but no color, language or explosions are ever required to win the hearts of audiences in a theater.

Yet The Artist makes such a bold mark in modern cinema, it’s hard to call it a masterpiece when it’s core story leaves much to be desired. Classics like Sunset Boulevard or Singin’ in the Rain applied more vigor towards building a well-rounded tale of the human spirit, where The Artist falls short and feels a little too gentle for its own good.

When all is said and done, The Artist is a cinematic achievement and one specifically built to charm Hollywood and, almost definitely, the Oscars.

This film was my mom. (8/10)

A Separation - 

Just before you dismiss the category of “foreign film”, this film is an exception worth turning heads for. Revolving around an intimate and challenging subject matter of human relations, A Separation is a dark and unusually thrilling story about a divorce in a family and the massive ripples it creates within a small circle of searingly complex characters. Through it all, A Separation is the most gripping, emotionally and psychologically intense drama and Iranian film not only released from 2011, but for many years to come. (10/10)

That’s My Dad Recommends:

The Muppets - If there’s anything needed to be said about this reboot, it’s that The Muppets (much like Betty White) is definitely worth the comeback. Written by Jason Segal, the Jim Henson gang returns with a renewed and refined polish for a new generation without sacrificing a lick of authenticity. It’s refreshing to see such a shamelessly gleeful film done with such dedication to its own humor. With a slew of celebrity and puppet guest appearances, musical numbers brimming with the series’ signature dry humor and its fearlessness in making a retro-grade comedy, there is no doubt in the fact that The Muppets is the boldest G-rated film of the year. (4/5)

The Descendants - Director Alexander Payne (“Sideways,” “Election”) is one of the few great humanistic American directors; think Noah Baumbach’s style, tone down the outlandishness and add a dash of Jason Reitman. The Descendants is a tragedy: two parts drama, one part dark comedy. The film fixates on the death of Matt King’s (played by George Clooney) wife and the ripples it creates within his family. It’s a well-developed and highly interesting story worth your time thanks to a stellar cast and an affectionate director. Clooney, as suave as he is, cuts the crap and delivers a surprisingly raw performance to his utmost ability. And for once, a film has been made with stereotypical post-modern adolescent characters and there was intent behind their personalities. The film approaches these characters with a purpose of solving them out instead of letting them be; that’s something worth applauding in my book. If there are 1,001 ways to die, there a million of ways death can effect the people around them. The Descendants is a well-crafted drama that reminds us of just that. (4/5)