Oscar Dressed as Each 2019 Best Picture Nominee

Chris here. One of my very favorite annual Oscar traditions comes from artist Olly Gibbs. Every year he drapes the Oscar statuette with a memorable look from each of the year's Best Picture nominees, adding in small touches to fawn over. Some of my favorite details in this year's offering: the Parasite peach and Foofoo guest appearance, Marriage Story's award pedestal being split in two, Jojo Rabbit's secret cabinet, and the perfect color story match to Joker's curtain. You can get a closer look at each of Olly Gibbs' statues here!

The Curious Case of the Double Nominee

by Cláudio Alves

To get an Oscar nomination is a wonderful stroke of luck, to get two is even luckier. To get two in the same year is the equivalent of finding a four-leaf clover in a sprawling field. If you're an actor this is particularly true since the Academy's rules make it impossible for the same performer to get two nominations in the same category simultaneously. That's why, for instance, Margot Robbie could only score a single nomination this season. Both her contending performances were supporting roles so, even if she won enough votes for a double nomination -- which she might have if BAFTA is indication -- the performance with fewer votes would have been locked out. 

For Scarlett Johansson that wasn't a problem. Lead or Marriage Story and Supporting for Jojo Rabbit. She thus became the 12th actor to achieve this rare honor, the 9th woman, and if she wins either award, she'll be the 8th performer to do so. Statistically speaking, there's around 64% probability of victory for a double nominated actor. Let's celebrate the 12 double-nominated actors in the history of the Academy Awards after the jump…

Click to read more ...

Interview: Rodrigo Prieto on working with great auteurs and "The Irishman"

Rodrigo Prieto has long been one of the most versatile cinematographers in the world. He first came to international fame with the gritty Oscar nominated Mexican drama Amores Perros (2000) though filmmakers in Hollywood, we learned in our interview, had noticed his skill even earlier than that. Since then he's worked all over the world and in an impressive array of genres and styles.

We gave you a teaser of our long sit down with this great visual stylist a couple of months ago (we had to grill him about Brokeback Mountain first) but we were meeting to discuss The Irishman. Martin Scorsese's latest Best Picture nominee had yet to open when we spoke but it was a critical darling immediately and Prieto secured his third Oscar nomination for his contributions to the mournful epic. We spoke to him about his visual choices, what he loves about his job, and working with auteurs like Martin Scorsese and Ang Lee. How do they differ on set and which of Prieto's films had they seen to convince them to begin their long collaborations?

[This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity]

NATHANIEL: Your first several movies were in Mexico. It was Amores Perros (2000), wasn’t it, when Hollywood came calling? Could you feel your career exploding? 

RODRIGO PRIETO: It was actually a little bit before. My fourth movie All of Them Witches got international recognition. That's what got me my agents. I did another movie called  Un embrujo (1998)  that Carlos Carrera directed that got an award in San Sebastian  for cinematography. It put me on the “10 to watch list” in Variety. That's the one that made me think, you know, people might have started hearing my name a little bit...

Click to read more ...

Weekend Box Office

It was a quiet weekend at the box office with both new wide releases (horror film Gretel and Hansel and revenge thriller The Rhythm Section) opening softly, apart from a few noteworthy monetary marks for indie films...

Weekend Box Office January 31st through February 2nd (ESTIMATES) 🔺 = new or expanding / ★ = recommended
WIDE RELEASE (800+ screens)	PLATFORM TITLES
"Gretel and Hansel"	Oscar Nominated Short Film "Hair Love"
1 BAD BOYS FOR LIFE  $17.6 (cum. $148)	1 🔺 OSCAR NOMINATED SHORT FILMS $1.0 on 460  screens *NEW* THE CHARTS ★
2 1917  $9.6 (cum. $119.2) THE ACTING,  CONTINUOUS SHOT ★	2 THE LAST FULL MEASURE $519k on 617 screens (cum. $2.0)
3 DOLITTLE $7.7 (cum. $55.2) THIS ODD FRANCHISE	3 WEATHERING WITH YOU $405k on 224 screens (cum. $7.2) REVIEW  ★

Click to read more ...

Parasite's Architectural Storytelling

by Cláudio Alves

This year's Oscar nominations weren't particularly rich in surprises, positive or otherwise. Still, there are plenty of things to be ecstatic about like the Best Production Design nomination for Bong Joon-ho's Parasite. It's relatively unusual to see non-anglophone films score nods outside the Best International category and even rarer for the Academy's design branch to recognize excellence in contemporary narratives. Usually, period movies, sci-fi adventures and fantasy extravaganzas are de rigueur choices in these categories. However, the Korean masterpiece turned awards season juggernaut was able to overcome whatever prejudices the Academy might have and score a very deserved nod for the work of production designer Ha-jun Lee and set decorator Won-woo Cho.

With that in mind, let's celebrate this miracle of design, an essential element for a film about class in which social hierarchies are materialized in architecture…

Click to read more ...