Saturn Nominations 2019: Endgame

by Nathaniel R

Avengers Endgame dominated with 14 nominations

The Saturn Awards, which used to be held in June each year are moving to September which means the nominations have been delayed for some time now and the eligibility period for the 2019 nominations covers a 16 month period from March 1st, 2018 through to July 7th, 2019. Moving forward, the eligibility should revert to a July to June basis with the ceremony in September (September 13th this year). They're also soon announcing a streaming partner so it will become a televised ceremony starting this year.

We love the Saturn Awards in concept -- it's a worthy goal to honor genre films (fantasy, horror, action, thrillers, and sci-fi are the pet causes) because any genre is capable of greatness -- but they've never quite been able to get their act together and each year's nominations are always agonizing or inexplicable in some way or another...

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Aquaman is now DCEU's Biggest Film

While the box office charts we share each week are domestic money only, Aquaman has already become the biggest DC movie since their "expanded universe" began overseas. It will be the first of those films to cross the billion dollar mark globally. That said stateside it's still $150 million behind Wonder Woman  though it should easily topple Suicide Squad and Batman v Superman by the the end of its run since it's still going strong.

More box office news after the jump...

Weekend Box Office (Estimates) (January 4th-6th)
W I D E 800+ screens	PLATFORM / LIMITED excluding prev. wide
1 Aquaman  $30.7 on 4184 screens (cum. $259.7) Review, Podcast	1 🔺 If Beale Street Could Talk $1.8 on 335 screens (cum. $4.4) Review, Podcast  ❤️

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Review: Aquaman

by Chris Feil

There’s an element to Aquaman’s chutzpah that feels lost to contemporary cynicism, as if its as much an artifact as the trident our titular hero chases. Here is a superhero epic that skews closer to something like Stephen Sommers Mummy trilogy, enveloped in sincerity and willingness to dazzle without winks or too-cool posturing.

But cut that with an over-caffeinated, sugar rush aesthetic packed to (forgive me) the gills with technicolor extremity, and you get a superhero film that’s delightfully batshit. It’s both beyond absurd and the guiltiest of pleasures, like Lisa Frank for dudes or gay underwater Indiana Jones. For some it might be an acquired taste, but it succeeds by pairing simplistic narrative ambitions with an authentically wild visual experience.

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Links: Annapurna Chaos, Flash Delay, Franchise Resurrections

• Pajiba wonders what the hell is going on at Annapurna pictures (they've dropped that upcoming all-star Roger Ailes movie just two weeks before production)
• Forbes good piece on why Warner Bros doesn't need the troubled DC superhero films any more
• YouTube Jon Hamm and James Corden asking each other humiliating questions about people they dont want to work with, penis size, Batman, and more...

More after the jump including more icky Bryan Singer drama, The Flash's delay, TV spinoffs and franchise relaunches (sigh) and Broadway's Beetlejuice...

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Yes No Maybe So: "Aquaman"

by Ilich Mejía

After being announced four years ago, DC's Aquaman is finally showing some promising signs of life. Director James Wan was joined by the film's cast at Comic-Con this weekend where they presented members of the press and fans with the film's first official trailer. The film's stars Jason Momoa (Aquaman) and Amber Heard (Mera) promised big action and a sci-fi fantasy, but more importantly Nicole Kidman was also there. 

Wonder Woman started turning some of us DC agnostics into intrigued believers. Will Aquaman uphold its predecessor's efforts? Before (or after) we get ahead of ourselves, let's pick its trailer apart after the cut...

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