Podcast: Bohemian Rhapsody and the Best Actor Race

Nathaniel R, Murtada Elfadl and Chris Feil talk new films and the Oscar race

Index (65 minutes)
00:01 Bryan Singer's Bohemian Rhapsody, homophobic storytelling, and cat reaction shots
10:25 Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury, the limits and strengths of the performance
14:08 The Best Actor race: Bradley, Ethan, Viggo, Willem, and Rami? Plus floundering campaigns for First Man and The Front Runner and the default possibilities of Vice? 
35:00 Lucas Hedges in both Ben is Back and Boy Erased
37:30 Boy Erased in general, Nicole & Russell's fine parental performances, and a bit of The Miseducation of Cameron Post on the side 
50:30 Recent DVDs: Mamma Mia 2, Leave No Trace, Skate Kitchen, and Sorry to Bother You
55:55 Return trips to both A Star is Born and BlacKkKlansman
01:02:00 Can You Ever Forgive Me? afterglow and Wildlife fade?

References / Further Reading
• Nathaniel's review of Bohemian Rhapsody
• Best Actor Chart 
• Murtada on Carey Mulligan
• Jorge's Mamma Mia obsession

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you? 

Bohemian Erased

Does Box Office Matter to Best Actress Hopefuls?

by Nathaniel R

Helen Mirren's The Queen was in many ways a completely standard win... a solid success before the nomination and an even bigger hit afterwardsDoes Box Office matter to Oscars? It does and it doesn't. And how much it matters varies from year to year and from category to category. It obviously matters, regardless, if you're either a flop or a big hit but anything inbetween (where most movies fall) is up for speculative debate.

For instance, just this year people have debated whether The Wife's box office take is strong enough for a Best Actress nomination for Glenn Glose (hint: it totally is... though winning will be harder) and whether it will matter that Roma won't really have that much of a theatrical presence (it might. it might not. The streaming only/mostly thing is relatively uncharted territory) or if the major success of A Star is Born will make a win possible for Lady Gaga (it won't hurt!)

For fun let's look at how much the Best Actress nominees films made before they were nominated for the past fifteen years and see what patterns emerge. The films in red won Best Actress Oscars.

BOX OFFICE RANK OF BEST ACTRESS FILMS
BEFORE THE NOMINATIONS (2003-2017)
AND WHERE THIS YEAR'S LEADING ACTRESSES CURRENTLY FIT...

Click to read more ...

Podcast: The Hate U Give, Burning, Border, Suspiria

Nathaniel R and Murtada Elfadl talk four new films now in theatrical release in select cities

Index (67 minutes)
00:01 The Hate U Give is heavy handed but moving. Amandla Stenberg and Russell Hornsby are very good in it
27:19 Spoiler warning about our discussions of Burning and Border (though in truth we don't get that spoilery. We still speak vaguely but if you wanna go in completely cold, skip!)
28:12 Burning starring Steven Yeun and directed by genius Lee Chang-dong
39:30 Discussion of Oscar's foreign film hopefuls and how they routinely ignores Asian movies
47:00 Sweden's bizarre submission Border and its multiple genres
53:15 Luca Guadagnino's remake of Dario Argento's Suspiria
64:00 Running times and wrap-up.

References / Further Reading
• Nathaniel's review of Burning & Border
• Dan's Review of The Hate U Give
• Chris's review of Wildlife 
• Carey Mulligan drag Instagram cuteness 
• Best Foreign Language Film Predictions

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you? 

The Hate U Give and more...

25 Films to Compete For "Best Animated Feature" Oscar Noms

WELL WELL WELL

Just last night we were speculating about what might be on Oscar's eligiblity list for Animated Feature and today, two weeks ahead of schedule (according to when they usually announce that is),  the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has gone and revealed the list. Perhaps we should have bought a lottery ticket?

Five of the 25 titles listed after the jump will go on to Oscar nominations in January...

Click to read more ...

Which lower profile films might surprise in the Oscar Animated Feature race?

by Nathaniel R

Early Man was one of the earliest titles released. Will Oscar remember it? They do love Aardman filmsAs Oscar watchers know it requires only 16 eligible animated features to trigger a 5-wide shortlist of nominees for Best Animated Feature. That number is fairly easy to hit, making this category rather more like the Tony Awards than the Oscars or Emmys, in that it's drawing from a very limited pool. You have, statistically, quite a good chance of getting nominated if you exist. The Academy generally reveals the eligibility list between November 6th and the 15th.

Obviously we know that high profile films from studios and animation houses like Pixar (Incredibles 2), Disney (Ralph Breaks the Internet), Warner Animation (Smallfoot, Teen Titans Go!), Fox Searchlight (Isle of Dogs), Universal (The Grinch), Sony Animation (Into the Spider-Verse, Hotel Transylvania 3), Aardman (Early Man -- which was just nominated for the European Film Awards), and Paramount (Sherlock Gnomes) will be hoping to snag one of the five coveted nominations but what of the lower profile titles? History suggests that one or two of them could muscle their way into the shortlist ahead of an arguably less inspiring American option...

Click to read more ...