Showbiz History: Intolerance, Pee Wee, and Nightcrawler

9 random things that happened on this day, September 5th, in showbiz history...

1847 Outlaw Jesse James is born. 160 years later he'll be assassinated by Oscar nominated "supporting" actor Casey Affleck on the big screen.

← 1914 Stellar makeup artist Stuart Freeborn born in Leystone, London. You can thank him for the iconic looks of the original Star Wars trilogy (hello Chewbacca and Yoda) and the original Superman quadrilogy, and Peter Sellers transformations in Dr. Strangelove. He also worked on classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Bridge on the River Kwai and Murder on the Orient Express. He was never Oscar nominated so how did he not even get an Honorary Oscar?

Click to read more ...

Podcast: BlacKkKlansman plus (sigh) a New Oscar Category

This week Nathaniel R, Murtada Elfadl, and Chris Feil talk Oscar changes and Spike Lee's new joint.

Index (1 Hour and 2 minutes)
00:01 Spike Lee's new joint BlacKkKlansman. He's still got it. Also we talk about how he uses Gone With the Wind, and Birth of a Nation.
15:30 Oscar's recent announcement about the "popular achievement category" and all the problems we imagine it will cause. We are not pleased but we do offer our own fixes to issues of audience's being more into the Oscars.
40:00 Film Festival excitement TIFF and NYFF plus The Favourite, and Peterloo rumors.
47:00 We return to Spike Lee and list our three favorite scenes in BlacKkKlansman.
54:00 Fall film chatter: On the Basis of Sex, Mary Queen of Scots, and The Miseducation of Cameron Post versus Boy Erased
60:00 Goodbyes!

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

BlacKkKlansman and Oscar's Rule Changes

Cinematic Shame... with a "Stay Positive!" Twist

Year in Review. Every day a new wrap-up. Tonight, the "worst" of the year... 

Since we are absolutely determined to make 2017 the greatest year it could possibly be despite oppressive circumstances, let this post serve as last call for excessive negativity. Get it all out of your system in the comments, mkay? We'll also put a positive spin on these dubious "awards" for ungreat things at the movie theaters this year... 

WORST OPENING SCENE(S)
Hacksaw Ridge begins with such overworked hokey cartoonish Americana and Andrew Garfield plays his eventual pacifist hero as such a Forrest Gump style village idiot that it's something of a miracle that the movie becomes a surprisingly watchable war drama thereafter.

Even Garfield manages to turn his initially quite awful (sorry) performance around in the final hour of the film. I personally haven't seen a decent / good movie start so much like it was a terrible movie since Juno, have you?

WORST MIDDLE
Suicide Squad is so inept that it never gets past character introductions. Criticisms that it was just a movie trailer with a real movie running time proved to have deadlier aim than Will Smith's Deadshot.

Best Acting in Bad Movies, and other "Honors" after the jump.... 

Click to read more ...

Podcast: Moonlight, Sully, and Birth of a Nation

Impossible though it may be to believe, the podcast is back after an unintended hiatus. Joe, Nick, Nathaniel, Katey (and special guest Charlie) are all in house to discuss the arthouse hit Moonlight with a little on previous releases Sully and Birth of a Nation, too. Please continue the conversation in the comments if you've seen any of the films!

Index (42 minutes)
00:01 Welcome back everyone
01:48 Sully
09:08 Tom Hanks Best Actor nomination?
10:00 Moonlight
22:55 Moonlight's ensemble and Oscar prospects
30:25 Birth of a Nation's implosion and the Braveheart comparisons
38:20 Moonlight again for the wrap-up

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?  

Articles referenced in this conversation
Thankless Marvel Roles | Nick's Moonlight Tweets |  TFE's Moonlight Review | VF's conversation with Barry Jenkins | Joe's Series "The Gay We Were" 

Moonlight and More

The Girl in the Box Office, Best Seller Nation

Best seller adaptations don't always equal big opening weekends (see Light Between Oceans) but The Girl on the Train was one of the lucky ones opening strong despite middling reviews. Was Emily Blunt the top draw or the book itself? Perhaps it was just excellent timing with few adult thrillers in the marketplace, most of the Oscar contenders waiting for November and December launches, and The Birth of a Nation struggling with a weak launch that's making Fox Searchlight's $17 million Sundance bet look like a losing hand.

What'cha think? And what did you see this weekend? 

TOP TEN WIDE
01 The Girl on the Train $24.6 NEW Review
02 Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children $15 (cum. $51)
03 Deepwater Horizon $11.7 (cum. $38.5) 
04 The Magnficent Seven $9.1 (cum. $75.9) Review
05 Storks $8.4 (cum. $50.1) 
06 The Birth of a Nation $7.1 NEW More
07 Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life $6.9 NEW
08 Sully $5.2 (cum. $113.4)  Review
09 Masterminds $4.1 (cum. $12.7)
10 Queen of Katwe $1.6 (cum. $5.3) Review