First Round Oscar Predix Continue: Sound & Visual FX

The Oscar chart construction must continue. Maleficent was asking and you don't want to keep her waiting. 

Visuals Chart - In Progress. More Categories To Come
You'll find early predictions for Visual F/X and the always confounding Makeup & Hair category. For Visual F/X I'd love to push Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes higher up the charts but I'm still trying to wrap my head around Oscar's complete disinterest in a) superhero movies that don't feature a man in a batsuit -- and that wouldn't confound me at all if they didn't have such deep abiding love for the Transformers franchise of all things which is surely less reputable than Marvel movies --  and b) Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) which won hugely favorable reviews and surprised virtually everyone in its year and seemed like a likely finalist in several Oscar categories but only ended up a VFX nominee. Will Oscar turn its nose up at those damn dirty apes and their stinking paws on round two (which is really round eight)?

Sound Chart - In Progress. More Categories To Come.
I'm very willing, nay, desperate to hear your thoughts on which films might have Original Songs. I'm super curious about Sound Mixing this year as well in that it's a category that loves blockbusters, musicals, potential Best Picture nominees, and films involving lots of water and there are quite a few films that fit at least one of those categories this year. Regarding music movies or traditional musicals: by my count it's quite a robust year iin that there are at least five on the way from obvious contenders like Into the Woods and Get On Up to less prestigious or smaller players like Annie, Begin Again, and The Last Five Years. 

As for Best Song, also added to the chart, Bret McKenzie won an Oscar for his last go round with The Muppets (we interviewed him). I think he's less likely to get nominated this year now that the novelty has worn off but if he is the Celine Dion/Miss Piggy ballad "Something So Right" seems most likely but my favorite song in the movie is the delightful nonsense of  "I'll Get You Want You Want (Cockatoo in Malibu)"

If the new song doesn't sound out of place within its classic song score, it seems unlikely sight unseen sound unheard that any song other than the new Stephen Sondheim / Meryl Streep Into the Woods collaboration (previously squealed over) need show up on the big night. 

Previously
Supporting Actress | Animated Film | Lead Actor | Movies To Watch For 

World's Linkiest

The Guardian a deleted pre-coronation scene between sisters Anna and Elsa in Frozen
Antagony & Ecstasy Tim on Muppets Most Wanted. I liked the movie more than he but this is why I hired him for TFE. Such an incisive film critic.  
Pride Source interviews Elaine Stritch about Rock Hudson, The Golden Girls that might have been and her gay fandom
Playbill offers up "top ten reasons why we love Sutton Foster" I cosign on all of them except for maybe #10 since I didn't see that one.

In Contention Exodus, that new Moses picture with Christian Bale, gets a new title
NPR on the recent spate of bible movies
Kotaku Joss Whedon already apologizing for Avengers Age of Ultron filming chaos
Pajiba you haven't forgotten about Tom Hardy have you? 
The Playlist ranks 20 great continuous shots in film history from The Earrings of Madame D (1953) through the opening of The Player (1992) and on to Gravity (2013) with many stops inbetween
GroupThink a guide to YA Dystopian novels. (I'm surprised how many of them have yet to be filmed but I guess they're publishing them as fast as people can write them) 

Today's Must Watch
Filmmaker IQ has created an informative 15 minute short on the history of the movie trailer in all its forms

The History of the Movie Trailer from FilmmakerIQ.com on Vimeo.

P.S. Very good news: Richard Linklater's Boyhood, which I reviewed at Sundance, will be hitting US screens proper on July 11th. Not too long to wait for this 12 years in the making movie. 

Link Show

Madwomen and Muses quits on Hannibal and objects to its treatment of women
The New Yorker on technological anxiety and the uselessness of unplugging
Entertainment Weekly Character actor James Rebhorn (Homeland) dies at 65 
TFE over the weekend, we talked to Alfre Woodard about her favorite roles

Grantland great piece on that brilliant and prescient sitcom The Comeback from Lisa Kudrow (which might itself be coming back) 
Movie City News if you don't mind a lot of spoilers, here's David Poland on Noah
AV Club ohmygod. The Breakfast Club's actual detention was exactly 30 years ago today. 
Cinema Blend Jurassic World concept art
Variety a contrary opinion: 'why Divergent is better than The Hunger Games'
i09 first teaser for the TV remake of Rosemary's Baby
Pajiba ranks the cameos in Muppets Most Wanted 

And in case you haven't heard the new season of American Horror Story will be called "Freak Show". So naturally I have to wonder if Sarah Paulson will be the bearded lady or a two headed creature or some such. 

Are you ready?
...for Hit Me With Your Best Shot: LA Confidential  (1997) tomorrow night? Joining us?

Today's Watch
I don't know if you've seen this web interview series "RuPaul Drives" The episodes always features a sublebrity of some kind in the car with Ru. This is the best episode yet primarily because John Waters gives good quote and interview shows are always dependent on the special guest. I so wish he'd make movies again! (They seem to agree that Female Trouble and Serial Mom are the fan's favorites) 

And no, I haven't forgotten that I was supposed to be writing up RuPaul's Drag Race each week. I'm just three weeks behind now. Sigh. I'll post something tomorrow for sure to catch up on it. 

Box Office: Divergent's Not Dead

Amir here, with the weekend's box office report. As expected by every single person not living under a rock, Divergent took the top spot, affirming the unfortunate bankability of YA adaptations. Critically and commercially, it fell somewhere much closer to Twilight than The Hunger Games, but the target demographic seems content and that's all that matters to the studio. I'm sure a sequel is already underway, though my level of interest in finding out whether the source novel actually has sequels or not also falls somewhere much closer to my interest in Twilight than The Hunger Games, no. Sorry. I’ll pass on all of them.

BOX OFFICE
01 DIVERGENT $56 *new* 
02 MUPPETS MOST WANTED $16.5 *new*
03 MR PEABODY & SHERMAN $11.7 (cum. $81) this franchise's history
04 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE $8.6 (cum. $93.7)
05 GOD'S NOT DEAD $8.5 *new*
06 NEED FOR SPEED  $7.7 (cum. $34)
07 GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL $6.7 (cum. $12.9) 
08 NON-STOP  $6.3 (cum. $78.6) Amir's Review 
09 THE LEGO MOVIE $4.1 (cum. $243.3) Nathaniel's Review
10 TYLER PERRY'S SINGLE MOM'S CLUB $3.1 (cum. $12.9)

Muppets Most Wanted turned out to be an ironic title for a film with such a tepid reaction. It’s a shame considering what a real delight the last Muppets outing was and that the reviews for this aren’t half bad. This one will probably just make a profit because I suspect it will have the legs to stick around for a few weeks without massive drops. You know what will definitely make a profit though and probably already has? God’s Not Dead ! Like you, dear reader, I had not heard of it until this weekend and, like you, I have not rushed to see it. The box office numbers have been astounding though, with $8m already in the bank in three days for the indie on less than 1000 screens, so someone somewhere must have heard about it. Agree or disagree with the film’s beliefs/mythology, we have to concede that no film since 12 Years a Slave had managed to so succinctly describe its entire plotline in the title.

The critical darling of the hour, The Grand Budapest Hotel, earned $6.7m, a weekend gross that Moonrise Kingdom never achieved throughout its run. It’s still a very real possibility that it will end up as Wes Anderson’s most successful hit. On the limited release side, six new films opened on Friday, the buzziest of which are Jodorowsky’s Dune and It Felt Like Love. If you are one of the extremely lucky people who live near those theatres, you might want to keep an eye out.

My weekend consisted of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Arabian Nights, Majid Majidi’s Baduk and George Cukor’s The Philadelphia Story, and I’m happy to report I have nothing to complain about with that trio.

What did you watch this weekend?

i've been linking i've been linking why cant i keep my blogging off it, baby

They Live By Night amusing Noah anecdote with Robert Bresson and Dino de Laurentiis
AV Club Masters of Sex starts again in July. Wow, that was quick. Pleased I am.  
My New Plaid Pants have you seen this inexplicable trailer to Bad Johnson. Cam Gigandet's career is so weird 
Variety Jon Chu to direct Jem and the Holograms live action modernized version 

The Wire It's Time to Kill "Happy" - how the Oscar nominated and still #1 Pharrell tune overstayed its welcome 
Guardian Charlie Kaufman lining up film stars for his "How and Why" TV pilot: Catherine Keener, Michael Cera, John Hawkes, and now Sally Hawkins 
In Contention thinks these are the 20 best Fox Searchlight movies as they approach a big anniversary. They are a great company
/Film collects all the Mad Men Season 7 promos in one place which is helpful, though still unrevealing. I love that Weiner refuses to budge on spoilers, even in "next week on..." and has since the start. Though I do think this season is going to be L.A. heavy if I were guessing
Cinema Blend why Marvel might start killing off their big heroes at the movies in Phase Three
Towleroad Madonna unveils new skin care line "MDNA Skin" 
i09 names the 12 worst muppets, apparently in hopes they don't have screen time in the new film 
Film School Rejects 6 filmmaking tips from Lars von Trier 

Today's Watch
Louis Virtel uncovers 44 reasons for the earthquake in Los Angeles

My favorites are: 1, 4, 11, 15, 19, 29, 30 and 34

#19. Jonah Hill has as many Oscar nominations as Vivien Leigh."