Oscar Volley: So many stars, too little shine in the Best Original Song race

Welcome to our Oscar Volley series at The Film Experience. Each day, members of Team Experience will have a conversation about the Oscar categories. Today, Baby Clyde and Josh Bierman tackle the always controversial Best Original Song.

Ariana Grande, Van Morrison, Billie Eilish, Beyoncé

Baby Clyde: Has there ever been such a starry array of contenders with so little to offer? You’d think at least one from a list including Beyonce, U2, Carol King, Van Morrison, Jay Z, Billie Eilish and Brian Wilson would know how to write a good pop song. They’ve previously written some of the greatest of all time! Unfortunately there is an unwritten rule that even the finest tunesmiths turn in absolute garbage when an Academy Award is up for grabs. It’s got to the point where I actually feel bad for Diane Warren...

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Link Manuel Miranda

• Cartoon Brew details on Aardman Animation sequels to their most iconic properties, Chicken Run and Wallace & Gromit
• AV Club 20 major stars that broke out at Sundance over the years from Parker Posey through Peter Dinklage and on to Jennifer Lawrence (and many more)
• Hollywood Reporter quotes from the Best Director roundtable
• In Session Film yours truly guest starred on their podcast to talk SAG nods / BAFTA longlist

More after the jump including Meat Loaf's passing, Nightmare Alley's streaming release, Anna Kendrick's boyfriend, and Lin-Manuel Miranda's EGOT dreams...

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Interview: Lin-Manuel Miranda on "Encanto" and "tick, tick...BOOM!"

by Nathaniel R

at the world premiere of "tick, tick, BOOM!"

I had the pleasure of interviewing Lin-Manuel Miranda in November while he was doing press for Encanto, now streaming on Disney+ with its soundtrack doing great business, too. He was energetic and smiling and gave great quote. Just a few days later, in a significantly less arranged moment, we came face-to-face the night of tick, tick... BOOM!'s premiere in Los Angeles. The response to the movie that night couldn't have been dreamier. He looked elated if significantly more tired than he had over Zoom. He admitted at the party that the entire week was a total blur. Just the week? The entire past year has been one Lin-Manuel Miranda highlight after another. So much so that we named him one of our top three entertainers of the year. In addition to questions about Encanto, tick, tick...BOOM!, and Hamilton, I made sure to ask him how he finds time for sleep.

[This interview has been edited for clarity.]

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Year in Review: Best Screen Animals from Shark to "Pig"

by Team Experience

Animals didn't always have an easy go of it in 2021 movies. Consider Jonathan Larson's elusive super-neglected cat in tick, tick... BOOM!, wondering if its box would ever again be cleaned. Or, worse, those dalmations in Cruella demoted from loving titular characters to growling weapons. And it's best not to think too long on the fate of either bunny we meet in The Power of the Dog. 

But the following animals were luckier (for the most part) winning enough screen time and giving off enough personality to become an essential part of their movies, so let's talk about them...

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A slow week at the box office. What did you see?

What did you see this past week/weekend?  

Weekend Box Office December 3rd-5th 🔺 = new or expanding | ★ = recommended
WIDE RELEASE	LIMITED RELEASE
HOUSE OF GUCCI	LICORICE PIZZA
1 ENCANTO ★ $13.1 (cum. $58.3) Songs ranked	1 C'MON C'MON  ★🔺$565k on 565 screens (cum. $1.1) Jason's Review
2  GHOSTBUSTERS AFTERLIFE  $10.3 (cum. $102.2)	2 LICORICE PIZZA ★ $241k on 4 screens (cum. $779k)
3 HOUSE OF GUCCI  $7 (cum. $33.8) Lady Gaga's Costumes, Capsule Review	3 BENEDETTA ★🔺$136k on 201 screens (cum. $136k)  Jason's Review
4 ETERNALS   $4 (cum. $156.6) Nathaniel's Review	4 ALINE  $90k on 72 screens (cum. $380k)
5 RESIDENT EVIL: WELCOME TO RACOON CITY  $2.6 (cum. $13.2)	5 WOLF 🔺 $82k on 308 screens Jason's Review

The box office was down for everything, which is typical for the weekend after a holiday weekend. But it's not all bad news for Hollywood. Ghostbusters and Dune both broke the $100 million domestic barrier, Licorice Pizza continues to pack theaters (albeit only 4 of them), and Encanto is a solid performer though Disney is barely giving it any time to earn money in theaters since it hits Disney+ on Christmas Eve.

This Friday Things really heat up. Steven Spielberg's remake of West Side Story opens in wide release (with high expectations). Sean Baker's latest fringe comedy Red Rocket opens in limited release. The new Sandra Bullock Unforgiveable begins streaming on Netflix. The new Riz Ahmed Encounter beings streaming on Amazon. And, on a last note, two more Best Picture Oscar hopefuls the political satire Don't Look Up and the showbiz drama Being the Ricardos get their theatrical qualifying releases before moving to their streaming platforms, Netflix and Amazon, in time for Christmas.