Beauty Break: 10 Greatest Photos from the 2017 Governors Award

by Nathaniel R

Varda & Jolie dancing

As you surely know by now the Academy held the annual Governor's Awards last night honoring directors Agnes Varda and Charles Burnett, actors Donald Sutherland, and cinematographer Owen Roizman who we've been celebrating here on the blog this past week. The giddiest moment was surely Angelina Jolie and Agnes Varda doing a little dance when the Mother of the French New Wave was presented with her statue, complete with spins and everything.

As something of a surprise to yours truly (did I miss a press release somewhere?) they also honored director Alejandro González Iñárritu with a special Oscar for an experimental VR project...  

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FYC: Tiffany Haddish for "Girls Trip"

by Chris Feil

Tonight Tiffany Haddish will be hosting Saturday Night Live in what some are hoping will be the beginning of a Best Supporting Actress campaign for her breakthrough role in Girls Trip. While it’s been unclear if the studio would be campaigning her, Haddish deserves the kind of groundswell effort that makes awards groups take notice.

How likely are her chances? Melissa McCarthy’s Bridesmaids nomination has been the obvious comparison, at least in terms of recent Oscar history - summer hit, female ensemble comedy, a presumptive “unlikely” narrative. But in her performance I see much more than that. To this viewer, she recalls the hilariously warped pathos of Madeline Kahn, the lovability of Octavia Spencer, and the imposing confidence of Rita Moreno. That’s high praise for sure, but gets at the full spectrum of her work that I’d wager hasn’t been fully explored...

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26 Films Eligible for Oscar's "Best Animated Feature"

by Nathaniel R

Italy's "Cinderella the Cat" which is aimed at adults

Twenty-six films have been deamed eligible for this year's Animated Feature Oscar competition which means we'll have 5 nominees yet again (only 16 eligible features are required to trigger the maximum category size). The only mild surprise was that Leap!, Nut Job 2, and Spark were not submitted --usually, even if an American picture doesn't have a prayer in hell, the studios will submit it anyway. This year the rules are slighly different for the category as people that aren't within the animated branch can also take part in the nominating process. Consider this year a test to see if this new rule crowds the little seen but artful deserving foreign titles, that the category has become known for, out of the race. We fear that it might though we're currently predicting business as usual (three US pictures, two foreign) anyway...

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Kevin Spacey Replaced / Removed From "All the Money in the World"

by Ben Miller

a performance that will be erased -- Kevin Spacey in "All the Money in the World"

On Wednesday night, I was talking to my wife about All the Money in the World.  The upcoming thriller from director Ridley Scott features the true story of billionaire J. Paul Getty and his involvement with the kidnappers of his grandson.  I brought it up because (alleged) serial sexual harasser Kevin Spacey was set to play Getty.  

My discussion focused on how unfair it was to Scott, stars Michelle Williams and Mark Wahlberg, and especially young Charlie Plummer, who is poised for a breakout role as the aforementioned kidnapped grandson.  Just because Spacey is a terrible human doesn’t mean the people involved in a production should suffer.

The backlash from Spacey’s allegations was swift...

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Sneak Peek Review: Pixar's “Coco”

Jorge Molina reporting from Mexico where Coco has already opened...

The main thing that unifies all Pixar movies (and a big part of what makes them so successful) is how deeply they are rooted in specificity. A movie set in the world of toys, in the world of bugs, in the world of monsters, of superheroes, of cars.

But in all their movies until now, this very specificity has been universal. We’ve all had to let go of toys, and feared monsters, and wanted to become superheroes. With Coco, Pixar dives into their first film that is truly specific, based around a world, a culture and a folklore that only exists for one particular group of people.

A group of people that I happen to be part of...

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