Lukewarm Off the Presses: More Precursor Prizes!

by Nathaniel R

Time to catch up with developments in movie awards land! Much has been happening these past few days.

London Film Critics Award
The event was held over the weekend with Three Billboards continuing its triumphant awards run by taking Picture, Actress, and Screenplay. Isn't it peculiar how if you believe the internet it's the most hated movie that ever existed but IRL it keeps winning prizes that actual humans vote on. In news that will strike others as much happier Timothée Chalamet and Lesley Manville took Best Actor and Supporting Actress respectively. And Hugh Grant emerged victorious in Supporting Actor (for the Oscar ineligible Paddington 2), quipping:

Brexit, Trump, and now me getting prizes. Truly, we are in the end of days.

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Ask Nathaniel

stop staring. Everyone knows you're jealous of my Joan Crawford tank top. It's been ages since we did a Q&A and I feel so disconnected so let's do one. I've been experiencing rather a lot of chaos offline and one of the personal life upheavals involves a move (If you've ever moved after living in the same place for well over a decade, you know it's traumatic!).

The moving isnt actually happening quite yet so please distract me. Ask me a good movie question. (Please nothing that would require a full essay or a top ten list) and I'll pick a handful or two to answer this week, perhaps on the regular. If you asked a really good one previously that I didn't answer feel free to re-ask (I know I face-planted last time but 2017 was not kind to me so forgive/forget). Okay? Okay. 

Post Nominations Box Office Bump?

by Nathaniel R

With all but one (Dunkirk) of the Best Picture nominees still in or back in theaters (Get Out returned for the weekend at 468 screens after its blockbuster run nearly a full year ago) and most* of them wise enough to expand slightly to exploit any possible Best Picture bump, let's look at the top 30 movies and see how well they did and in what context...

Weekend Box Office (Jan 26th-28th)
TOP THIRTY
1. 🔺 Maze Runner: The Death Cure $23.5 NEW	6. 12 Strong $8.6 (cum. $29.7)
2.  Jumanji Welcome to the Jungle $16.4 (cum. $338)	7. Den of Thieves $8.3 (cum. $28.5)
3. 🔺 Hostiles $10  (cum. $12)	8.🔺 The Shape of Water ... $5.7 (cum. $37.6)  CAPSULE | PODCAST | SCREENPLAY
4  The Greatest Showman $9.5 (cum. $126) REVIEW | ANOTHER HIT MUSICAL	9. Paddington 2 $5.5  (cum. $32) REVIEW
5. The Post $8.8 (cum. $58.5) REVIEW | OSCAR KICK-OFF	10.🔺 Padmaavat $4.2 NEW

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Does 2017 = 2005 in Best Actor?

by Ben Miller

Film blogger Jordan Ruimy posited an observation a month ago on Twitter: 

In 2002 Gary Oldman would have been a cinch to win Best Actor, in 2017 he's a major question mark. The Oscars have changed.

While the awards season definitely shifted thereafter, his tweet remains at least partially true. Look at the history of the Best Actor Oscar.  From 1990 to 1997, every winner had a specific ailment (criminal insanity, alcoholism, AIDS), while 1998 to 2001 had a run of death scenes.  Of the past 16 years, starting with Adrien Brody in 2002, 10 winners have been for portrayals of real people (Casey Affleck's win last year broke a four-year run of biopic winners). There are always patterns to Oscar behavior.

This year’s slate of Best Actor nominees has an interesting parallel with the Best Actor race of 2005.  Let’s take a look back at the lineup...

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100 years ago, the first filmed Tarzan hit.

by Nathaniel R

On this weekend in 1918 the first filmed version of Tarzan of the Apes movie appeared. You may recall that I have a bit of an...um... problem with Tarzan that stems from childhood. I'd never seen the first Tarzan but it is streaming on YouTube and is only 60 minutes long. It has all the typical Tarzan controversial flashpoints (whitewashed pro-coloniaism history and in-the-now-whenever-that-happened-to-be gender politics) plus the origin story and even the yodelling (you can't actually hear it, mind you, but he does beat his chest while wailing so you know that's what's happening. 

Despite the worst Tarzan wig that ever existed and the lack of jungle animals (it was shot in Louisiana) it's significant for having launched a now 100 year old franchise...

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