The Furniture: "The Andromeda Strain" and Designing Around an Invisible Terror

"The Furniture," by Daniel Walber, is a series on Production Design. 

The Andromeda Strain is quite a potent movie these days. True, both Robert Wise’s film and the original Michael Crichton novel were primarily tapping into the anxiety of nuclear proliferation. But today, exactly 50 years since the film’s debut, it has become terrifyingly relevant for entirely different reasons.

The story begins with a satellite crash landing in New Mexico, bearing a mysterious extraterrestrial something that wipes out an entire town. A team of scientists is then brought to a top-secret underground facility in Nevada, codenamed “Wildfire,” to figure out what on earth is going on. It’s all about the fear of what we cannot see.

Which, of course, is a fascinating challenge for a design team...

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3 days til Oscar nominations.

Final Oscar nomination predictions coming up very soon but while we finish them, today's silly discussion prompt:  rank the Best Picture nominees with "Three" in the title.

THREE SMART GIRLS (1936) -3 noms.
A LETTER TO THREE WIVES (1949) - 3 noms & 2 wins: Director, Screenplay
THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN (1954) 3 noms & 2 wins: Cinematography, Song
THE GODFATHER PART III (1990) - 7 noms. No wins
TOY STORY 3 (2010) - 5 noms & 2 wins: Animated Feature and Song
THREE BILLBOARDS... (2017) - 7 noms & 2 wins: Actress, Supporting Actor

And for extra credit...

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Razzie Nominations: Music, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Hillbilly Elegy, etcetera

by Nathaniel R

We don't want to waste too much time on this but figured we share the nominees for the 41st annual Razzies. The Razzies dont often have much in common with the general awards season and usually go for easy marks rather than thinking about what actually constitutes bad acting or bad filmmaking. But this year there's a little more crossover since the savagely reviewed Sia musical Music as well as two Oscar contenders in various categories, the  overwrought Hillbilly Elegy and the critical and zeitgeist hit Borat Subsequent Moviefilm are both up for prizes... 

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Showbiz History: Liza Minnelli, Broadway behemoths, and a wedding for Hollywood Royalty

7 random things that happened on this day, March 12th, in showbiz history...

1946 To Each His Own opened on this day 75 years ago. It would win Olivia de Havilland the first of her two Best Actress Oscars. 

1969 The 11th Grammy Awards are held. "Mrs Robinson" by Simon & Garfunkel wins Record of the Year and "Hair" wins Original Cast Show album... 

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Almost There: Anthony Hopkins in "The Lion in Winter"

by Cláudio Alves

As the Oscar nomination morning approaches, it seems certain that Anthony Hopkins is about to receive his sixth nod. Seeing as he's considered a wizened old thespian of stage and screen, it may be difficult to recall the days when he, like so many others, was a young actor. In 1968, Hopkins was nearing his 30th birthday when his second ever feature premiered. Thanks to that film, he got the first brush with film awards and might have even come close to an Oscar nomination. In Anthony Harvey's adaptation of James Goldman's The Lion in Winter, Hopkins plays Richard, future king of England, son of Henry II…

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