On Ruth Negga's emotional power in "Loving"

by Murtada

Ruth Negga gives Loving its heart and soul. From the very first frame, director Jeff Nichols relies on her expressive face to tell the story of Mildred and Richard Loving, the mixed race couple at the center of 1967 Supreme Court ruling that changed anti-miscegenation laws. The Lovings paved the way for generations of mixed race families. Nichols starts with Negga, his camera moving into a close up. A silent moment as we take in her big-eyed, made-for-cinema face. Then the line “I’’m pregnant” and we're swept right into this couple’s story. No need for us to see how they met and fell in love. Negga tells us the whole story with her face and delivery of that line.

Throughout the film, which puts the court cases to the periphery, it’s Negga's face that continues to tell the story...

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27 Films Eligible for Best Animated Feature

[UPDATE: Variety shared a list of 22 a week ago jumping the gun a week ago and we followed suit. Now we've updated on 11/11 with 5 additional titles since the actual list has been revealed]

Twenty-seven films are officially in the mix for Oscar nominations for Best Animated Feature. Since the threshold to trigger a five wide shortlist in the category is only sixteen, we'll get five nominees this year. As per usual in this category the US will dominate but one or two of the nominations will surely be nabbed by formidable and lower profile threats from France and/or Japan. The list and a few notes follow...

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Get out and vote so we can move on to the ballots that matter!

I kid I kid! This US general election matters more than any in my lifetime and I'm With Her. I'm off to vote now and then, I think, a day at the movies is in order as a palate cleanser from this awful two year long race to the White House.

And then we'll update the Oscar charts. Okay? Okay. Have a great day! 

Who are your favorite supporting actresses of the year?

By Nathaniel R

Over the weekend Fences had its first screening in Los Angeles and Viola Davis apparently lived up to the prerelease hype so there you have your near-certain winner in the Supporting Actress category this year. (I haven't seen it yet so no comment on that until I do.) But nominations are our favorite part of the Oscar nomination circus anyway so even if the race is wrapped up and Viola becomes a record-breaker as we predicted, it's fun to keep sifting through the options.

Yes, it's that time of year when we begin to take stock and are promptly filled with anxiety about sacrificing favorites as we winnow down to the magic number of 5 for our awardage. Along with the anxiety, though, comes such appreciation for the art of the movies. It's one of the many reasons we cherish awards season...

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The Furniture: Terrestrial Fun in "Star Trek Beyond"

"The Furniture" our weekly series on Production Design. Here's Daniel Walber

Early in Star Trek Beyond, screenwriters Simon Pegg and Doug Jung wedge a dumb joke into the voice over narration of Captain Kirk (Chris Pine). He has led the Enterprise and its crew across the galaxy to fulfill an endless series of missions, many of them quite similar. His life, he explains, has begun to feel a bit “episodic.” Very funny.

Yet Star Trek Beyond is, in its own way, a self-contained episode of an ongoing series. The bulk of the film takes place on a single planet. No time is spent on earth, nor is the home world at any significant risk. There is no massive cross-galaxy conflict. The story is given a satisfying conclusion, without participating in a grand trilogy or teasing a far-off sequel. This isn’t Star Wars or, for that matter, the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

This means that the production design team, not tasked with a universe of diverse locations, focused on on just a couple of planets...

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