Nomination voting begins today on the 68th annual Emmy Awards. We've FYC'ed a few shows already so please do chime in on those pieces for Girls, Shameless, Crazy Ex Girlfriend, and UnREAL. Agree? Disagree? (More FYCs to come in this first week of voting.) Since the television Academy is notoriously stubborn about repeating themselves, regardless of the quality variations in particular seasons and shifting MVPs for given shows, our wildest dream each year is that each person with a ballot will think carefully before writing down names that they've already honored. Some deserve to be back. But never all of 'em.
If you had a vote which perennial nominee would you replace with which never nominated treasure?
Even if voters prove traditionally lazy and complacent this year, they'll still be forced to make a few changes: Mad Men, The News Room, Nurse Jackie, and Parks and Recreation are no longer with us which forces vacancies in Drama Series, Drama Lead Actor, Drama Supporting Actress, and Comedy Leading Actress. Meanwhile this Emmy season is the last for Downton Abbey and The Good Wife which will help with shuffling next year.
Manuel here. During last night’s joyous Tony Awards, many of us got the first look at a Disney film that is sure to crash what’s looking like an already crowded Best Animated Feature race. Between Kung Fu Panda 3, Zootopia, Finding Dory, and the upcoming Sausage Party, Trolls and The Secret Life of Pets, there’ll be no shortage of films to round out a competitive category. And that’s even before we begin taking seriously the foreign productions which often leapfrog over the American CGI spectacles to worthwhile nominations (fingers crossed for Kubo and the Two Strings and The Red Turtle). Enter Moana:
As is become custom with female-driven Disney properties, the marketing team at the Mouse House is looking to play another bait and switch—remember how all those early Frozen teasers looked like Ice Age ripoffs by focusing on playful scenes of what we all assumed would be that annoying snow man? or those Tangled ones which put Flynn Ryder at the center of the action, barely making mention of the film's fairy tale leanings? This first teaser is all about Maui (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) while giving us very little sense of what the first ever Polynesian Disney princess story will be about.
We’ll wait for a full on Yes No Maybe So when the full trailer drops, but in the meantime, enjoy the teaser where you can see that Ron Clements and John Musker (they of Aladdin and The Little Mermaid fame) have stayed true to the Disney formula and given Moana a delightfully adorable pet.
Immediately, I'm already won over by the beautiful use of color—those sky blues and ocean hues look sumptuous to say the least. Also, I can't be the only one having Hercules flashbacks with that tattoo intro bit but anything that reminds me of those hilarious muses is fine by me.
But perhaps I'm burying the lede here: Moana may be the film that gets Lin-Manuel Miranda his EGOT. After winning two (more) Tonys last night for Hamilton, having won Grammys for both his Broadway shows, and an Emmy for the "Bigger!" Tonys opening number a few years back, Miranda may nab his first Oscar nomination (even a win?) for the music he's written for this Disney flick. It'd be a heck of a way to cap off a great year for the ever entertaining Broadway superstar and perhaps a way to further welcome him to Hollywood ahead of his next big film project, a little movie called Mary Poppins Returns.
A lot of us needed that awards show last night - a celebration of passion, talent, and love for community - given the horrific events of the weekend.
In the opening number the musical acting nominees joined James Corden on stage (from left to right: Benanti, Corden, Krakowski, Miranda, Goldsberry, Levi, and Danielle Brooks
The Tonys were particularly defiantly joyous Sunday evening with an exuberant production, which featured a fun curveball of having each performing cast do a miniature version of a classic showtune outside the theater before or after they performed their shows number onstage inside. Other highlights included: Audra McDonald doing a high kick while pregnant; James Corden's bit with the Tony accountants; Frank Langella being more concerned with the tragedy in Orlando than his Tony; and a hilarious view of the nominees through the prism of their guest star work in the Law & Order franchise. Poor Danny Burstein! Or, rather, 'well employed Danny Burstein' who guest starred on Law & Order so many times it was like watching a man age in time lapse photography...
While The Conjuring 2 didn't quite equal its predecessor it came close which is saying a lot in this summer of underperforming sequels. It also helped that it's budget was only $40 million so it's already well on its way to profit. Contrast that to Warcraft's $160 million budget with a $24 million opening. Ouch. Still its foreign performance (nearing $300 million) should help it turn a profit. But one is reminded of The Golden Compass, another would be franchise that chose to end on a cliffhanger rather than telling a full story. Despite doing well overseas it never got a sequel. Maybe let your audience decide if they like your movie before ending with "to be continued..."?
None of the new limited releases did particularly well including our beloved The Fits which earned $16K in just 4 theaters. Even Love & Friendship & The Lobster appear to have peaked last weekend but we'll see if they can hold screens or expand again next week.
Expect a ton of the current movies to lose all oxygen next weekend when probable behemoth Finding Dory swims into town.
arrows indicate gaining or losing screens
TOP TEN WIDE 🔺01 The Conjuring 2 $40.3 NEW 🔺02 Warcraft$24.3 NEW 🔺03 Now You See Me 2 $23 NEW ▫️04 TMNT: Out of the Shadows$14.8 (cum. $61) 🔺05 X-Men Apocalypse$10 (cum. $136.3) ) Review, Podcast 🔻06 Me Before You$9.2 (cum. $36.8) Review 🔻07 Angry Birds$6.7 (cum. $98.1) 🔻08 Alice Through the Looking Glass$5.5 (cum. $62.4) 🔻09 Captain America: Civil War$4.3 (cum. $396.8) Review 🔻10 The Jungle Book$2.7 (cum. $352.6)
TOP TEN LIMITED Under 1000 screens. Excluding previously wide. 🔺01Love & Friendship$1.5 (cum. $9.5) Review, Podcast ▫️02 The Lobster$991K (cum. $5.1) Reviewish, Podcast 🔺03Maggie's Plan$690K (cum. $1.1) Review 🔺04 Te3n$284K NEW 🔺05Weiner$166K (cum. $760K) Review 🔻06 The Man Who Knew Infinity $161K (cum. $3.1) 🔻07The Meddler$135K (cum. $3.9) Review 🔺08The Wailing$133K (cum. $551K) 🔺09 Sing Street$69K (cum. $2.9) Review, Who's the MVP?, Podcast 🔻10A Bigger Splash$60K (cum. $1.8) Reviewish, Podcast
WHAT DID YOU SEE THIS WEEKEND? I caught Warcraft (don't judge) and The Conjuring 2 (fun scares and Patrick sings!!!!!) and the Lupita Nyong'o Tony-nominated play Eclipsed(heartwrenching). Busy weekend.
Emmy nomination voting begins Monday. For the next week we'll be sharing FYCs of some kind. Here's Kieran...
William H. Macy and Joan Cusack aside, “Shameless" has been criminally overlooked by the Television Academy for six years. No nominations for Emmy Rossum (praises sung here) who has been giving the best performance of her career. Nothing for Cameron Monaghan, who has given us one of the most raw and unvarnished portrayals of queer adolescence ever seen on television. Nothing for the series itself, whose balance of drama and comedy and depiction of what American poverty really looks like remain unmatched. In an age where it seems difficult to tell stories about family without a larger, high-concept twist, “Shameless” remains overlooked and underestimated, despite its aforementioned merits.
This past season, Jeremy Allen White’s portrayal of Lip, the genius eldest son of the Gallagher clan took a huge leap forward in what had already been five years of impressive work. Even amidst somewhat ridiculous plot points (Lip’s been evicted and must serve as a bartender/rentboy at a sorority house on his college campus. What’s a young, strapping cishet male to do?!) White managed to eke out his best work on the series to date as Lip’s arc slowly revealed itself in the latter half of the season. He manages to strike the perfect balance between wry and vulnerable as the character evolves and sees his brave face and defense mechanisms crashing around him...
Monday, June 13, 2016 at 11:00AM 
Nomination voting begins today on the 68th annual Emmy Awards. We've FYC'ed a few shows already so please do chime in on those pieces for Girls, Shameless, Crazy Ex Girlfriend, and UnREAL. Agree? Disagree? (More FYCs to come in this first week of voting.) Since the television Academy is notoriously stubborn about repeating themselves, regardless of the quality variations in particular seasons and shifting MVPs for given shows, our wildest dream each year is that each person with a ballot will think carefully before writing down names that they've already honored. Some deserve to be back. But never all of 'em.
