Open Thread & Random Buzz

What movies are you thinking about right this very second?

I've got four movies playing in my head at the moment, two still imaginary and two just screened. The still-imaginary ones are, first, the Bill Condon / Sir Ian McKellen / Dame Helen Mirren thriller The Good Liar which got strong buzz out of the industry promo event CinemaCon. The second is the film adaptation of Cats which sounds Titanic-like (the boat not the movie) in its possibly epic high profile sinkability. Apparently the cats are not fully mocapped creatures but still look like the actors with fur digitally added but they're cat-sized (but why would they mention the cat-sized bit unless they shared scenes with humans which Nooooo).

As for the real movies that already exist in competed form, Laika has another winner with Missing Link (they've yet to make a stinker!) which we currently have in the 'most likely to be nominated' spot in the Best Animated Feature race. It opens in just one week so more on that one real soon. The other is Sebastian Schipper's Roads which we can't talk about yet because it doesn't premiere until later this month at Tribeca but let it be known that we love it. Oops. We weren't supposed to talk about it! But it's from the German director who made that exciting 'how'd he do that?' entirely continuous shot movie Victoria a couple of years back. This new film Roads could, like Victoria, be categoried in the subgenre of "Protagonist having dangerous and unexpected soul-shaking adventure whilst travelling abroad" movie but its much different so Schipper is no one-hit wonder or one-trick pony. The leads Fionn Whitehead (Dunkirk, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch) and Stéphane Bak (Elle, Farewell to the Night) have terrific chemistry. If you're planning to hit Tribeca, schedule it.

What's on your cinematic mind? 

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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