Wednesday, January 16, 2019 at 1:00PM by Nathaniel R
on the set of Solo: A Star Wars Story
The Visual Effects Society have released their nominations for the year. Avengers: Infinity War, Incredible 2, and Lost in Space lead the nominations in the movie, animated movie, and television divisions. The full list of nominations, Oscar predictions, and a few comments follow...
Tuesday, January 8, 2019 at 9:17AM 
• Filmotomy - I guest starred on a podcast there this week about Oscar punditry and Oscar hosting if you'd like to listen in. Thelma Adams was also in the mix.
• Slate -they may have avoided mentioning him on Globe night but Bryan Singer celebrated his Bohemian Rhapsody win on Instagram
• Next Best Picture - interesting play-by-play of the Visual Effects Oscar "bake-off" and how that might affect the impending nominations
• New York Times Billy Porter wanted to wear a dress to the Globes but fashion houses weren't having it. Boo!
• Washington Post - a profile of Karyn Kusama's 'dark times' in Hollywood and her latest, Destroyer
Wednesday, January 2, 2019 at 4:41PM Nathaniel R and Murtada Elfadl and Chris Feil talk new films
We recorded this one just before Christmas so apologize on the delay at delivering it to you!
Index (57 minutes)
00:01 Felicity Jones underwhelming RBG in On the Basis of Sex
06:50 Mixed takes on Karyn Kusama's Destroyer with Nicole Kidman
12:52 "Festive" Christmas movies like Vice, Shoplifters, Destroyer, Capernaum, Beale Street... so many depressing films scheduled for the holidays
18:30 Oscar shortlists for Score, Visual Effects, and Makeup
28:00 The Documentary Finals and the short films
35:00 Will Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite) be nominated for Best Director? Will Green Book controversies derail its expected screenplay nomination?
46:22 Leave No Trace and A Quiet Place might be peaking at the right time for big nominations
56:00 The Wrap Up
Further Reading / References
• Oscar Chart: Screenplay Charts
• Oscar Chart: Visual FX & Makeup
• Oscar Chart: Original Score
• Documentary Finalists
• Nathaniel's Destroyer Review
• Shadow & Act's Green Book Article
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?
Monday, December 17, 2018 at 7:31PM 
BREAKING: We don't like this new system of announcing ALL the finalist lists (in the categories that get finalist lists, that is) on the same day as it doesn't give you time to individually think about each list and write multiple thorough articles. So we'll have to investigate more deeply over the next few days. But for those who are okay with just the quick take list format you can see the lists and a few gut reactions right after the jump. Every Oscar chart will be updated tomorrow to reflect the past week of awards season madness and these lists.
But without further ado, the finalist lists before the nominations are announced on January 22nd...
Friday, November 2, 2018 at 11:00AM by Nathaniel R
Joe Johnston behind the scenes on Star Wars (1977) his very first movie in his mid 20s
With the long-gestating The Nutcracker and the Four Realms now in theaters (its initial shoot wrapped nearly two years ago!) it occurred to us to look at the directorial career of Joe Johnston. When the studio opted for a full month of reshoots on The Nutcracker, the original director, Lasse Hallström was unavailable so Johnston stepped in (and now there's a joint "directed by" credit). Johnston is hardly a household name but every time his name pops up we're reminded that a chunk of his filmography is actually fairly famous.
How many of his 10 theatrically-released movies have you seen? The posters are after the jump...
