Saturn Award Nominations: Rogue One... and Hidden Figures?

The Saturn Awards were created over 40 years go to honor the then generally dishonored genres of sci-fi fantasy and horror. Whether they're still needed in a pop culture climate that veritably worships these things is up for debate. But even if they are -- and its certainly true that genre shows and films are still considered poor cousins to more respectable "drama" and "biopics" when it comes to mainstream awards --  are the Saturn Awards the ones to do it?

Now in their 43rd year, they seem to have lost the thread a little. They have so many categories it feels like they're eager to displace the Grammys, Satellites, or BFCA for "MOST!" and in addition to the ridiculous amounts of categories, they have 6 to 8 nominees per category which negates the need to have much in the way of discernment as to what constitutes "best". The problem in a nutshell: It's great to have an awards group that can say "Captain America: Civil War is superb" with a straight face, but when they also hold up Batman v Superman for the same honor, it kind of kills the impact.

Rogue One leads the nominees with 11 nominations. All 41 categories and more commentary after the jump... 

Click to read more ...

Box Office: Split Dominates, Hidden Figures Stays Strong

The big winner at hte box office this weekend was M Night Shyamalan's split personality thriller Split starring James McAvoy, Betty Buckley (!!!) and The Witch's Anya-Taylor Joy. Hidden Figures continued to show signs of a hefty box office tally to come with another very low percentage drop and Sing has become the biggest grossing movie of all time that never hit #1 at the box office, surpassing the previous record holder My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Martin Scorsese's Silence has gone wide but is still struggling to find takers and The Founder, after a long delayed release, opened as well to $3+ million. Meanwhile 20th Century Women added 600+ theaters and is finally ready for your eyeballs and you MUST see it. It's marvelous. Silence added over 800 screens but to little traction from moviegoers. 

TOP WIDE
(over 800 screens)
01 Split $40.1 NEW 
02 xXx: Return of Xander Cage $20 NEW 
03 Hidden Figures $16.2 (cum. $84.2) Podcast
04 Sing $9 (cum. $249.3) 
05 La La Land $8.3 (cum. $89.6) Reviewish, Demy Influence, and How Rare It Is!

TOP LIMITED
(under 800 screens - excluding previously wide)
01 Lion $1.8 (cum. $16.3) 575 screens Review and Nicole
02 20th Century Women $1.4 (cum. $2.3) 650 screens  Podcast, Top Ten, Billy Crudup, First Impressions
03 Moonlight $633K (cum. $15.8) 489 screens Review,Podcast, and Supporting
04 Jackie $365K (cum. $11.2) 239 screens Review and Interview
05 Paterson  $123K (cum. $529K) 38 screens Review

 What did you see this weekend? 

Trailers: 'The Handmaiden', 'Split' & 'The Great Wall'

Chris here, with some creepy trailers from auteurs for better (Chan-Wook Park and Zhang Yimou) or worse (M. Night Shyamalan). Let's take a look at the coming chills, from the kinky to the twisty to the digitally enhanced:

The Handmaiden

• We've been getting fall festival lineup announcements and hopefully this will pop up somewhere. After a well-reviewed debut in Cannes, we're betting at least on NYFF.
• "... And Stoker" is the most "And Peggy" response to director Chan-Wook Park's filmography.
• Too bad that Oscar is often afraid to get naughty - the design elements look immaculate, especially the cinematography from Park's frequent collaborator Chung-hoon Chung.
• The Handmaiden reenvisions Sarah Waters's novel Fingersmith across the globe and time periods. If only other literary adaptations could be so bold in their interpretations.

Check out what creepiness Shyamalan and Yimou have coming with their more famous stars after the jump...

Click to read more ...