Tweetweek: 1917, Movie Real Estate, and 'The Bad Place'

by Nathaniel R

So we were at the first screening of 1917 yesterday at the DGA theater in NYC and as you may have noticed if you were online, the Oscar pundits and online film press collectively went berzerk for it, immediately declaring it was going to win everything, it was best this and that... even of the decade! 'Nobody's ever done this before' (uhhhhh. people have been doing continuous take movies since at least Hitchcock's Rope in the 1940s and probably before that and one of 'em just won Best Picture five years ago!)  For the record we enjoyed it and it is quite technically impressive... but deep breaths people. "Consider" your opinions before tweeting them out before the credits of the thing you just watched have even stopped rolling!

Much is made in 1917 about the futility of medals and yet my dumb ass still wants one for noticing each and every invisible cut in this “one-take” movie

— Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) November 24, 2019

I'm not going to share the generically breathless super-hypey tweets (they all sound pretty much the same) but more 1917 reactions are after the jump, plus The Bad Place, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Dick Tracy, Cats, and Best Real Estate Envy movies. So read on for more curated tweets...

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Beyoncé's "Spirit" and the Best Original Song Competition

Please welcome new contributor Kyndall Cunningham...

When the soundtrack for this year’s The Lion King remake dropped in July along with the lead single “Spirit,” performed by Beyoncé, fans on Twitter described its long-awaited arrival as the singer “coming to collect her things” - one of those things obviously being an Oscar for Best Original Song. 

The gospel-inspired ballad penned by Beyoncé, the British singer-producer Labrinth and songwriter Ilya Salmanzadeh includes Swahili chants, a choir and, of course, Beyonce’s acrobatic vocals that practically summon thunder by the end of it. The song is noticeably Oscar-baity in its grandeur but also in that a live performance at the ceremony would prompt a long standing O and make for one of the best moments of the night...

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Link is a cabaret...

Marisa Berenson, Joel Grey and Liza Minnelli at the premiere of Cabaret (1972)Vanity Fair smart piece by Mark Harris on what four Oscar campaign's (or rather the potential success thereof) might tell us about the "new" Academy including Lupita Nyong'o in Us

The Guardian talks to Marisa Berenson (Cabaret) on why she walked away from the spotlight so many years ago.

After the jump animated short Oscar hopefuls, Taylor Swift Cats news, Jeff Goldblum, a new film from The Lighthouse's Robert Eggers and more...

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The Best Production Design Oscar Race

By Cláudio Alves

Will a Tarantino movie finally be nominated for Best Production Design?

Let's take a look at the Best Production Design Oscar race. While period pieces and fantasy extravaganzas dominate the costuming category, production designers are more open to other styles, too, like sci-fi, contemporary excellence, and even superhero movies. That said, at least in regards to the films that have already opened, the major contenders are roughly the same as with the Best Costume Design Oscar race. 

THOSE WE'VE ALREADY SEEN

Rick Heinrichs designed Dumbo's spectacular sets.

Rick Heinrichs won an Oscar for a previous collaboration with Tim Burton (Sleepy Hollow) and his designs for Dumbo are quite good, like nightmare visions of an Art Deco Disneyland. I’m less enchanted with Gemma Jackson’s pseudo-Arabian designs, but it would be foolish to count Aladdin out of the race...

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Best Costume Design. What we've seen and what's to come.

Please welcome new contributor Cláudio Alves...

Multiple Oscar winner Colleen Atwood on the set of "Dumbo"

As we head into the heart of festival season, the Oscar race is about to take shape. Many of the buzzier titles are finally being seen and, some will emerge as major contenders while others will fall by the wayside. That is true for most categories, but not always true for Best Costume Design. That wonderful craft award, oft celebrated here at The Film Experience, is less dependent on Best Picture buzz as other craft prizes. Let’s not forget the sole nomination likes of The Tempest, W.E. and The Invisible Woman.

It’s quite likely we’ve already seen at least one of the eventual nominees. Let's take a more thorough look at the contenders for this award...

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