Soundtracking: Connie and Carla

by Chris Feil

These days, the act and art of fandom is self-reverentially chasing its own tail. But tell that to quietly minted cult classic Connie and Carla, one of our few musicals ABOUT musicals. Or at least about the love of the art form. In this jukebox musical repurposing other musicals, Broadway fandom shines because of its capacity for endless streams of references and ouroboros devotion.

It’s flop status ensured that the film got buried fast but it is primed for a revival to a new generation of musical lovers...

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Carol Channing (1921-2019)

by Nathaniel R

RASPBERRIES!

Carol Channing shouted that inexplicable fruit slang out with such gleeful fervor in Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), that this fruit couldn't stop quoting it as a child. It is with a heavy heart that I share the news that Ms Channing has died just two weeks shy of her 98th birthday. Still, Carol wouldn't approve of a heavy heart. She lived a long full life and if she saw anyone frowning, she'd undoubtedly shake out that round white wig in a joy frenzy while shouting something insane to change the mood of the room...

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Mary Poppins vs. Mary Poppins Returns: Supporting Characters

by Lynn Lee

Among the sharper observations I’ve seen regarding Mary Poppins Returns is that it is to Mary Poppins what The Force Awakens was to Star Wars: A New Hope.  In each case, the sequel feeds shamelessly off fans’ nostalgia by recreating every beat of the original film – the plot arc, the character dynamics, even the distinctive look of the original, tweaked to reflect the changing mores of the past several decades.  In short, it’s the same movie, just repackaged.

Setting aside whether it needed to be made at all, does Mary Poppins 2.0 improve at all on the original formula?  In The Force Awakens, the one real added value was the new characters.  In many ways they felt like rebooted archetypes from A New Hope, yet for the most part they also felt fresh and intriguing.  Is the same true for Mary Poppins Returns?  Let's do a side-by-side comparison...

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Final Supporting Actor Predictions

by Nathaniel R

In a year of what appears to be abizarre cakewalk to an immediate second Oscar for leading man Mahershal Ali in Green Book, Best Supporting Actor is likely to be a bit dull this season. Nevertheless predict we must.

It's safe to say given the televised precursor wins and the strength of his film in the Best Picture race that Mahershala Ali is locked up for at least a nomination for his uneven leading performance despite this being a supporting category and despite his film being under constant attack. Adam Driver's film BlacKkKlansman has also been a consistent performer and Richard E Grant in Can You Ever Forgive Me? appears to be the only real threat to Mahershala Ali's Oscar at this point given widespread enthusiasm about his performance (that is IF his campaign can pick up any steam in the final stretch)...

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Which of these animated films take the fifth spot in the Oscar race?

by Nathaniel R

Our final Oscar predictions continue with Animated Feature. Though we've learned never to wholly trust consensus in this race (that shocking omission of The Lego Movie!) we're assuming that Spider-Verse, Incredibles 2, Isle of Dogs and Ralph Breaks the Internet will be nominated. One spot is free. 

In Ye Olden Times (i.e. a couple of years ago before Oscar opened this category up to all voters, instead of just animators) we'd assume that that would be it for the mainstream titles and we'd also get Early Man (animators love Aardman films) or Japan's Mirai in there. But under the new rules we have to assume that The Grinch is a strong possibility since it's a massive hit (#7 of the whole year). But will anyone really put it at #1 on their ballots with Incredibles 2 (even more successful and more beloved) right there for the taking? Ruben Brandt Collector is memorable and stands out from the foreign pack in aesthetics but a qualifying release only was a bad move on Sony Pictures Classics part and it likely won't have been widely seen enough to garner many votes. Early Man didn't have the impact that Aardman films usually have (it's the lowest grossing of their features) so we're going with Mirai since it hails from a respected filmmaker, it honors Japan's robust industry, and it was boosted by that Golden Globe nod.

Related:
Animated Oscar chart | Reviews of Other Longshot Contenders Not Listed Above: MFKZ, Tito and the Birds, On Happiness Road, The Night is Short Walk on Girl, and Lu Over the Wall