Tweetweek: Nick in New Zealand, Amy in OscarLand and More...

pic.twitter.com/sSkwf9u5I9

— Nick Davis (@NicksFlickPicks) December 15, 2016

Before you click ahead to see this week's collection of tweeted amusements, take a moment to appreciate the perfection of this visual postcard from our podcast mate Nick Davis. He's on vacation in New Zealand doing Holly doing The Piano on THE beach where it happened. His all time favorite film so I mean. It couldn't be more perfect, except that he neglected to contact Janet Patterson about a hoop skirt. After the jump Babs, Florence Foster Jenkins, Passengers, Jackie, Natalie Portman and more...

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Review: "Rogue One - A Star Wars Story"

by Chris Feil

For even the Star Wars agnostic, you have to admit there is a certain appeal to Rogue One. Dubbed with the "A Star Wars Story" moniker, here is the most significant divergence from the main series yet: not only does it step away from the Skywalker family tree, but the pulsing trailers have promised a look and mood mostly its own. The final film is maybe less of a sidestep than we'd been promised but is still at its best when it sets itself aside from the saga.

Detailing the stealth mission to steal the Death Star blueprints before the events of A New Hope, the film has a host of new characters to go with its different vibe... 

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Podcast: Manchester by the Sea & Reader Questions

Katey, Nick, Joe and Nathaniel answer reader questions and discuss the new Kenneth Lonergan weepie

Index (43 minutes)
00:01 Manchester by the Sea
12:30 Separating art from artists
24:00 Director nominations and Ruth Negga in Loving
26:28 Things you should see that won't be nominated
31:00 Almodóvar's Julieta which we'll discuss later
34:30 Nomination Announcement Memories
37:20 Did we see these movies or not? 
39:00 How did Nick, Nathaniel, Joe, and Katey meet?

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments. Next podcast: La La Land and Lion

Manchester by the Sea

Oscar's Visual Effects Race, Round Two

The Academy has spoken and they've axed half of the semi-finalist for visual effects so we're down to just 10 films competing for the five nominations. It's the only bad news Deadpool has received all week after great showings at the Globe and Critics Choice and the only good news Passengers has gotten considering its excoriating reviews. The list is now like so...

• Alice Through the Looking Glass
• Arrival
• The BFG
• Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
• Captain America: Civil War
• Deadpool
• Deepwater Horizon
• Doctor Strange
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
• Independence Day: Resurgence
• The Jungle Book
• Kubo and the Two Strings
• Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
• Passengers
• Rogue One 
• Star Trek Beyond
• Suicide Squad
• Sully
• Warcraft
• X-Men Apocalypse

But nothing has changed really since this race is surely a battle to the finish between Doctor Strange and The Jungle Book. One assumes the disturbing CGI humans in Rogue One won't help it win.

The Oscar Week

In this weekly feature from Murtada we will follow the Oscar contenders and examine how their many interviews and appearances impact their chances. This week we check in with Ryan Gosling, Viola Davis, Pedro Almodovar and Annette Bening.

Ryan Gosling

Gosling is trying to catch up with co-star Emma Stone who’s been promoting La La Land while he was away shooting Blade Runner 2049. He also trying to catch up with Casey Affleck and Denzel washington who’ve established themselves as the frontrunners in Best Actor. Last week he got his hands and footprints immortalized. This week he gets his first solo magazine cover - he's been in a couple with Stone - of the season in GQ. Gosling thinks the his appeal and the popularity of the Hey Girl meme are because … he’s Canadian?

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