Soundtracking: FYC 5 Original Song Outliers

by Chris Feil

In lieu of a regular deep dive into the soundtrack of one film, Soundtracking is indulging in some For Your Consideration tracks before the season narrows down to a few contenders. Naturally, all of the talk for original songs this season has been gobbled up by A Star Is Born with some hopes being thrown towards the likes of Mary Poppins Returns, Black Panther, and even Radiohead's Thom Yorke for Suspiria. I'll unpack the field once Oscar reveals its shortlist on December 17 (remember that quiet news item that the Academy will be announcing song and score shortlists all at once along with such categories as visual effects?).

But the outsiders deserve some love too, so allow me to champion a few solid tracks...

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FYC Young Performer Award 2018

by Nathaniel R

Evan Rosado was just one of a handful of truly incredible child performances this year in "We the Animals"

Each year one of our award traditions here at The Film Experience is to help fellow BFCA members choose more wisely when it comes to the "Young Performer" category at the Critics Choice Movie Awards. We do this with a not-so-simple eligibility list. You see, our ballots don't come with lists of eligible choices so it's up to each member to think up a list and since the category gets no media coverage it's hard to think up choices on the spot so sometimes the nominations are quite lazy (You had a high profile child or teen role in a big studio film? You're nominated!). For instance this year, voters would be practically insane to skip Zain Al Rafee in Capernaum (only one of the best child performances ever) but given that that's within a foreign film hopeful that has yet to open in theaters (December 14th), voters ARE likely to be insane and skip him.

It takes a bit of research for the teen/young adult performances to see who is actually eligible. Given that we're apt to miss a couple of names, so do let us know if you don't see your favorite. The BFCA voting is about to begin so here are those cheat sheets to help them vote along with some trivia notes...

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Box Office: A Fantastic Woman, A Wrinkle in Time, and More...

by Nathaniel R

Weekend Box Office (March 9th-11th) Estimates
W I D E 800+ screens	L I M I T E D excluding prev. wide
1. Black Panther  $41.1 (cum. $562) PODCAST	1. 🔺 Thoroughbreds $1.2 on 549 screens NEW REVIEW
2. 🔺 A Wrinkle in Time (pictured) $33.3 NEW REVIEW	2. 🔺  A Fantastic Woman (pictured) $287k on 166 screens (cum. $1.1)  REVIEW  | OSCAR WIN
3.🔺 Strangers Prey at Night $10.4 NEW	3.🔺 The Death of Stalin $181k on 4 screens NEW REVIEW
4. Red Sparrow $8.1 (cum. $31.1) REVIEW | JENNIFER IN VERSACE	4. 🔺 The Leisure Seeker $119k on 28 screens NEW
5. Game Night $7.9 (cum. $45) REVIEW	5.  The Party  $98k on 91 screens (cum. $483k)

It's a history-making weekend at the box office. For the first time ever the two top grossers are both from African-American directors. Ryan Coogler's Black Panther continues its astonishing run. It's now the biggest non-Star Wars hit since Jurassic World three years ago and The Avengers before that six years ago and likely to outgross them both). It was also opening weekend for Ava DuVernay's A Wrinkle in Time. $33 million for a movie with no bankable stars that's not a sequel is good though people are calling it a failure due to its heavy price tag.  How the Oscars affected the box office after the jump...

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Review: A Wrinkle in Time

by Chris Feil

With an authentic sense of wonder for the human spirit in its blood stream, A Wrinkle in Time adapts Madeleine L’Engle’s beloved classic with the air of intense responsibility. Directed by Ava DuVernay, this interdimensional tale of adolescent self-affirmation casts its holistic intentions on a massive canvas that remains deeply personal. It’s a CGI space hug resolute in empowering the viewers that find themselves diminished by their environment and maybe even Wrinkle’s cinematic contemporaries.

Newcomer Storm Reid plays Meg, a solemn preteen mourning the disappearance of her astrophysicist father (played by Chris Pine) and coping with the cruelty of pretty-girl bullies. Her despair and the naivete of her younger brother Charles Wallace (an adorable and teensy Deric McCabe) summons three otherworldly mystic Mrs.: Reese Witherspoon as the shady and effervescent Mrs. Whatsit, Mindy Kaling as the quote-happy Mrs. Who, and Oprah Winfrey as the all-knowing Mrs. Which. With her brother and a newfound friend, Meg portals across the universe under the guidances of the Mrs. to rescue her father from the evil forces of the invading It that trap him.

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It's A Wrap on "A Wrinkle In Time"

Chris here. Over the weekend, Ava DuVernay wrapped filming on her big budget adaptation of family fantasy epic A Wrinkle In Time. While the happy news is that we're now that much more closer to the film, we now have a planet-sized crater on the joyful side of our social media platforms. If you've been paying attention, DuVernay has been treating us to a delightful behind-the-scenes treatment since filming began - and it's been such a bright spot over some gloomy days at the beginning of the year.

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