What did you see this week? (and the current "schedule" for movie theaters)

It has recently come to our attention that y'all miss the part of the weekend box office reports that were essentially a "what did you see this week?" comment party. So let's revive that because who knows when the hell we'll be back in movie theaters. The release dates keep shifting back by a couple of weeks or a couple of months here and there. There are rumors that even West Side Story is vacating the Christmas slot even though filming wrapped up long before the shutdown. Currently here is the wide release schedule...

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Ten Best Picture Nominees Again!

by Nathaniel R

Ah... the annual tweaking of the rules is upon us again. The Academy has been frantically trying to keep up with societal changes and has made quite a few strides with their gender parity and racial diversity inititiatives over the past handful of years. We've also seen Best Picture winners that would have seemed impossible ten years before like Moonlight (2016) and Parasite (2019). The Academy is continuing with their diversity initiatives over the next five years which you can read about here  we won't attempt to summarize it as it's definitely in the planning rather than implementing stages. But a lot of it sounds really smart like unconscious bias training and screenings and discussions and industry-focused inititatives (as we've long said, the Academy can only vote on the films that Hollywood actually makes!). 

Nevertheless there are two concrete pieces of news we must discuss...

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Curio: Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Curio is our fan art appreciation column. Curated by Nathaniel R

by manga artist Inko Ai Takita.

Up until about last month we had an incredibly sound theory that had NEON released Celine Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) as originally expected in the fall of last year OR pushed it back fully to its rescheduled February release without that pesky "one week qualifier" that the film would have been a solid Oscar success. In either scenario we believe it could have scored Best Director and Best Cinematography and maybe even Best Actress nominations. 

As it was, positioned haphazardly between film years whilst NEON was (justifiably) distracted with making the miracle of Parasite's Oscar success possible, Portrait had to settled for halfsies...

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New Rules for the Next Oscar Race!

by Nathaniel R

Is the Academy being proactive or panicky? That's up for debate but they've made a big announcement. Though the Oscar ceremony is almost exactly 10 month away (February 28th, 2021) -- practically a full year -- AMPAS is planning for the worst with the coronavirus pandemic and adjusting accordingly. The biggest news might well be a 'letting the genie out of the bottle' rule change. They will now allow streaming films without theatrical releases to compete for Oscars.

From their own mouths:

“The Academy firmly believes there is no greater way to experience the magic of movies than to see them in a theater. Our commitment to that is unchanged and unwavering. Nonetheless, the historically tragic COVID-19 pandemic necessitates this temporary exception to our awards eligibility rules. The Academy supports our members and colleagues during this time of uncertainty. We recognize the importance of their work being seen and also celebrated, especially now, when audiences appreciate movies more than ever.” 

We've assumed this was going to happen eventually though the notion frightens us for what it portends, not for its arguable necessity at the moment. This change makes a lot of sense in this extremely unprecedented situation BUT, and here's the nuanced bit of our feelings that's hard to sell in easy sound bites....

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The Linkhouse

• Film Doctor ten notes on the beginning of Psycho (1960)
• The Guardian we love hero Abigail Disney who continues to fight the good fight against the company that makes her one of the 1% - she's now criticizing Disney for laying off workers while protecting executive bonuses of more than 1 billion dollars:

That’d pay for three months’ salary to frontline workers,. And it’s going to people who have already been collecting egregious bonuses for years. Dividends aren’t all bad, given the number of fixed-income folks who rely on them. But still 80% of shares are owned by the wealthiest 10%. Pay the people who make the magic happen with respect and dignity they have more than earned from you. This company must do better.”

"Curated" tv binges, Ghibli backgrounds for your zoom sessions, a sad cut from The Lighthouse, and a new ageist threat for film and tv production after the jump...

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