De Palma's Domino Falls Shortly

by Jason Adams

Last year marked the 50th anniversary of director Brian De Palma making feature-length films -- I've never seen 1968's Murder à la Mod, which was thought lost until it popped up as an extra on Criterion's Blow Out disc in 2011 (can we all just agree that Criterion is nuts, you guys), but I think it's safe to guess that there's something worth seeing in it because even at his worse (and he's had plenty of those moments) Brian De Palma always gives us something to stare at... 

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Black Widow's Support

"Get me the best supporting cast possible!"To be honest we never thought a solo Black Widow movie was going to happen but the success of Black Panther and Captain Marvel has definitely convinced Marvel Studios that the future is with diversity (It took them long enough and will be embarassing forever that they couldn't be bothered to risk a female superhero until after DC proved the 'no-duh' appeal of female leads via Wonder Woman). Regardless of their motivations and sluggishness the Black Widow standalone is definitely on the fast-track now with new casting announcements.

So far we've got the always reliable David Harbour (thank god that Stranger Things woke people up to his talent!), the fast-rising Florence Pugh (so excellent in Lady Macbeth two years back and currently headlining Fighting With My Family), and there are rumors that Rachel Weisz is also coming on board. The cast sounds very promising...

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April Foolish Predictions #1: Animated Feature

[drumroll] It's Time! Our annual April Foolish Oscar Predictions have begun.

Please bear in mind that, though the predictions may actually seem foolish and will surely be out of date within a few weeks (if not sooner as more concrete news about the film year emerges), we are actually pretty good at this. Before each category we'll tell you what we generally score this far in advance. And if you think it seems low, that just proves to us that you haven't actually written down your predictions during the first week of april, not changed them with every scrap of news you heard, and then checked that hard copy nearly a year later to see how well it held up!

First up is Best Animated Feature where our traditional prediction score this early is 3/5. But 2019 might well hold more suprises than usual...

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Soundtracking: Rock 'n' Roll High School

by Chris Feil

This day and age the jukebox musical has moved firmly into passé territory, a product that plays squarely to a built-in audience usually of the nostalgic variety. It’s hard to imagine anything shaking the subgenre up when it’s now become a factory for your dad’s favorite bands to make a little extra cash. But the jukebox musical didn’t start with your dad’s regular bands, it started with your dad’s cool bands. Reader, how is the Ramones’ Rock ‘n’ Roll High School celebrating it’s 40th anniversary?!

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Showbiz History: Star Wars' Oscar Ceremony & Matthew Goode's Birthday Suit

8 random things that happened on this day in history (as it relates to showbiz). Happy April 3rd!

1882 Jesse James is Assassinated by the Coward Robert Ford (Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck recreating that for you above circa 2007).

1930 The 2nd Oscars are held with Broadway Melody taking Best Picture. (No film won more than 1 Oscar at that ceremony but that's less crazy than it sounds since there were only 7 categories then.)

1942 Zoltan Korda's The Jungle Book opens in movie theaters. It certainly won't be the last film adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's wild boy and jungle animals adventure but it receives the most Oscar nominations of any of them by far in four categories (Cinematography, Production Design, Visual Effects, and Original Score)

After the jump the historic 50th Oscar ceremony. So much good trivia awaits you...

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