Showbiz History: Ellen Burstyn's big month and Corey Stoll appreciation

8 random things that happened on this day, March 14th, in history...

1885 The Mikado, Gilbert & Sullivan's beloved comic opera, premieres in London. The Oscar winning film Topsy Turvy (1999) depicts its production in exquisite detail. Topsy-Turvy was a very late entry in the 1999 Oscar race and threw a lot of categories out of whack -- proving a formidable competitor to design heavy films like The Talented Mr Ripley and Sleepy Hollow. In the end it won Costume Design and Makeup and received nominations for Screenplay and Production Design. 1999 was a damn good film year, even if the actual Best Picture list was a sorry sorry slate... 

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2 days til Oscar nominations - The rarity of father/daughter Oscar noms

by Nathaniel R

The final Oscar nomination predictions are up if you're just joining us. But if you've already discussed those, here's another discussion prompt with two as the magical number. Looking through the Oscar probabilities we don't have many familial pairs in the acting category competition this time like siblings or father/sons or mother/child etcetera.  What we do have is not one but three pairs of onscreen father & daughter teams, one only spiritually but it counts:

• Anthony Hopkins & Olivia Colman - The Father
• Sacha Baron Cohen & Maria Bakalova - Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
• Tom Hanks & Helena Zengel - News of the World

How often are father/daughter onscreen teams nominated? Turns out quite rarely...

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Best Visual Effects: The most exciting race in years!

by Cláudio Alves

Every year, while most awards obsessives wring their hands over the starrier categories, I focus on those below-the-line categories I've grown to love even more than Best Picture. Costume Design and International Feature are usually the focus of my attention, though every "craft" award tends to entice curiosity and honest emotional investment. All that said, the last category I expected to be excited about on nomination morning is Best Visual Effects. And yet, here we are. It seems this oddball awards season insists on surprising until the very end…

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Final Oscar Nom Predix Pt 2: Acting, International, Docs, Shorts, etc...

Previously: Best Picture and Visuals

We really wish we'd started these final predictions earlier but there is no end to the overthinking one can do -- is there? -- when races are tight.  So perhaps it's for the best that we just have to do this and commit. For instance, we've already changed one prediction in both Cinematography (out: Chicago 7, in: Judas) & Sound (out: Tenet, in: Nomadland) to riskier options since last night -- which is probably foolish  but we're living recklessly! Okay, on to complete the final predictions (index of all of them here) with discussions of the acting categories, short categories, documentary, animated, and international features after the jump...

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Showbiz History: Cinderella, Paris is Burning, and George MacKay

7 random things that happened on this day, March 13th, in history...

Olivia's first Oscar

1947 The 19th Academy Awards are held honoring the best films of 1946. The Best Years of Our Lives triumphs and remains one of the greatest decisions the Academy ever made in Best Picture. Meanwhile Fredric March picks up his second Best Actor Oscar (for the same film) and Olivia de Havilland picks up the first of her two Best Actress Oscars (for To Each His Own). "On the Atcheson Topeka and the Santa Fe" from the Judy Garland musical The Harvey Girls wins Best Song... 

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