The Most Falconful Time of the Year

This weekend, the Golden Globe nominations came bounding down the social media chimneys of the world! Huzzah!!!! I awoke! I am the Film Falcon, and 'tis the season for me to rise, rise, rise...like a phoenix...except more like a falcon....a phoecon, or a falnix, maybe..or whatever.

I come out of hiding each year to bring important film awards season news, predictions, critiques, office pools and discussions. I take over the blog of that Mr. Costal character, whom I suppose most of you have never even heard of.

My job, this year, will be inordinately easy since that  poser Costal doesn't even post anymore. He took a paper-pusher office job 'cuz he's soft. I always found him suspect. When he told me he shamelessly abandoned the Film Institute--and me--and the blog -- and this good thing we got going right here, you know what I says to him, I says, "Your situation. For you, would be concurrently improved if I had two hundred dollars in my back pocket right now."

So then he's all like, "You're a falcon...you don't have back pockets."

And I'm all like "Shut up. Ya suspect!"

He's a bird hater. I think we all know that. And I heard he sleeps in a Cedar Crick t-shirt. Just sayin'. I can fly. I see things.

Anywho...I'm back. You're here. Let's not let pettiness with Cubans hold us down. I want to give you all the tools to prepare yourselves for being true auteurs this season. I want you on top of the best films of the year.

It's an interesting year. The studios are not even hiding the formula. Summer is for blockbusters. Super heroes. Vampire love. That sort of thing. You know, films that actually make money. Oscar movies are meant to win Oscars. They don't need to make money. The money comes from the acclaim. I'll explain more on that later, but part of the way that works is by putting films in theaters as Oscar buzz mounts. The film needs to come out as close to the ceremony as possible. Too close and no one sees the film. Too far and the Academy forgets how good it is.



And therein lies the first problem...almost all the real Oscar contenders are still in the movies. Falcons are not particularly welcome in movie houses. Partially because they still use the term "movie houses." But mostly because they poop EVERYWHERE.

So the Falcon begins his Oscar journey with films he can bring to the nest.

Wanna WATCH ALONG WITH FALCON? Here's the Oscar worthy DVD release run-down. All of the following films are arranged by the dates they are available in Redbox...an OUTDOOR movie machine. Rapture! A falcon-friendly world. All are also Amazon available on the same date. 

Already Available: Mud, Ginger & Rosa, Frances Ha

January 14th: Captain Phillips, In a World, Blue Jasmine, Fruitvale Station, The Spectacular Now, Enough Said

February 24th: Gravity & Rush

The Golden Globes answered fewer questions than usual. 

"American Hustle" & "12 Years a Slave" brought home the bacon. Add "Gravity," and you got the only front runners in a field bunched together to round out the bottom seven. One thing is for certain, though, since the Film Institute started, the hot Oscar movie in December did not win Best Picture in March (see "The Social Network," "The Descendants," "Avatar," "Lincoln," etc.). Also, The Falcon's favorite movie is never the winner, (see "The Social Network," "The Descendants," "Rachel Getting Married," "Inglorious Basterds" etc) but the Falcon ALWAYS picks the winners. Don't believe me...check the blog...and ignore Scruffaluffagus (Weisback).

Please join the conversation. Watch-a-long and let's prove that good cinema is fun!