A Real Life Gaston

Presented without commentary because what is there really to say other than "Do the whole musical!"

A video posted by Walt Disney Animation Studios (@disneyanimation) on Aug 7, 2016 at 9:07am PDT

Oscar Chart Updates: Visuals, Sound, Animation & Documentary

Mos of the Oscar charts are now updated but for foreign film and the acting categories. We'll get to them soon enough but otherwise we've finished the July shifts. 

Things to wonder about right at this moment... (discuss in the comments, plz)

• If The Legend of Tarzan can make any headway towards a Costume Design consideration for Ruth Myers since there's so few "showy" period or fantasy costume films this year outside of the many competing works of Colleen Atwood?
• When we will get our first look at images or footage from the WW II drama Allied (with Brad Pitt) or the sci-fi drama Arrival (with Amy Adams)?
• If Florence Foster Jenkins has any strength in it beyond Meryl? (Costumes? Hair and Makeup? Score?)
• If Marvel Studios will finally break through in tech categories (like Batman films sometimes do) or if they'll continue to snag just one or MAX two nominations for their most popular films like Civil War?
• If Fences, The Founder, and Loving, which all take place across roughly the same time period will be too "muted" in terms of visuals to snag craft nominations or if Oscar will love their possibly modest naturalism?
• Why we've heard so little about How to Talk to Girls at Parties release strategy? Is it going to be pushed back?
• Will Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton goodwill get him an Oscar for Moana despite what sounds like strong competition in the song category? 
• If Finding Dory's massive box office haul we'll be enough to edge smaller originals out of the animation race even though they're sometimes stingy with sequels?

NEW CHARTS
INDEX | PICTURE | DIRECTOR | SCREENPLAYS |
VISUALS | AURALS | ANIMATION & DOCUMENTARY 

Disney's Moana Arrives

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.

Tony Winners for 2016

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...

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Stage Door: Tony Predictions

We've already talked Tony Presenters & Performances so let's delve into predictions for the show this Sunday night on CBS.

Best Musical
Bright Star (REVIEWED) 
Hamilton
School of Rock
Shuffle Along
Waitress

Will Win: Hamilton in a cakewalk though Shuffle Along has ardent fans so it probably would have won in a year without a juggernaut like Hamilton. 

Best Play
Eclipsed by Danai Gurira -- closes June 19th
King Charles III by Mike Bartlett - already closed
The Father by Florian Zeller (REVIEWED) 
The Humans by Stephen Karam

Will Win: The Humans has been nabbing all the precursor prizes so it's got the momentum.
Possible Spoiler: ...if there's a surprise look to Eclipsed

more after the jump...

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