Into the Linknown

• The Onion "'Frozen 2' Creators Confirm That Elsa Is Gay But Also Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist" teehee. The Onion nails it sometimes, with those headlines, don't they?
• AV Club  Keegan Michael Kay loved art films in high school and college. Sees Titanic for the first time in quarantine, and reenacts it in 61 seconds.
• Awards Circuit Damien Chazelle's first miniseries The Eddy has a trailer. So excited about this cast: Joanna Kulig (Cold War) with Andre Holland (Moonlight). Yes please

After the jump more record-breaking for Parasite, Mark Ruffalo's future, Cate Blanchett in Mrs America, a new Tom Hardy movie and more...

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Interview: Double Lopez on "Into the Unknown"

by Eric Blume

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down to speak with Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, nominated for the Best Song Oscar for "Into the Unknown" for Frozen 2.  This talented duo has already won the Oscar twice in this category, for the megahit "Let It Go" from the original Frozen, and "Remember Me" from Coco.  They could not be more charming and charismatic, as witnessed here...

[This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity]

Eric: At what point in the process were you brought in on FROZEN 2?

KRISTEN: Very early on when it was like, 'I think we're going to do Frozen 2. We're thinking it's about change.' Jennifer Lee [Frozen 2's writer/director] called us, sort of tipped us off.

ROBERT: It needed to happen because, you know, the sounds in a musical are as integral as any dialogue and in fact, they have to bear a lot more weight. So we had to be there. We helped influence the story and they helped influence the songs...

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Never bet against Disney

by Cláudio Alves

While not all of Disney’s movies get Oscar gold, it’s never a good idea to bet against the studio. This year, Captain Marvel, Dumbo and Aladdin failed to conquer any nomination, but many other Disney properties got in the race, even in categories people weren’t expecting them to. Think of Maleficent: Mistress of Evil’s makeup nod, for instance. It’s true most of those movies don’t seem like frontrunners, but if we trust in the patterns of Oscar history, then we can be assured the House of Mouse will earn a couple of statues come Hollywood’s biggest night. 

To prove this point, let's peruse the last decade of the Academy Awards and explore Disney’s many nods and victories. Notice there’s at least a win per year…

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Soundtracking: The 2019 Original Song Nominees

by Chris Feil

Right on schedule, the "why do we still have Best Original Song?" responses have arrived. While this year doesn't rank high among the greats in terms of quality, I, your resident Best Original Song obsessive, would argue that this year's crop of nominees is far from the worst. The most expected (or at least predicted) nominee left off the list was The Lion King's "Spirit", though we can all rest on the certainty that Beyoncé will one day be a nominee here. And then there is many folks saddest omission, Wild Rose's "Glasgow (No Place Like Home)", sadly from a small film that couldn't ultimately battle against bigger names and titles.

Let's break down the nominees and their potential to win...

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Toys, battle angels and photoreal lions dominate the VES Awards

by Nathaniel R

Alita Battle Angel, The Lion King and Toy Story 4 led the pack at the annual Visual Effects Society nominations though Toy Story 4 is not one of the finalists for the Visual Effects Oscar. (Inexplicably the Oscar finals had to make room for Cats which received zero nominations from the VES.) Sadly the VES completely ignored Ad Astra which was an unfortunate miss for the Oscar finalist list and suffers a further indignity here. What's a beautiful well reviewed sci-fi drama gotta do to get some respect? 

The nominations and a few comments are after the jump...

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