We’re not yet a year post-Game of Thrones and Sophie Turner has got a new show on the unique streamer, Quibi. In case you’ve missed our last posts regarding the new stream contender Quibi is releasing shows in bite-size formats designed for mobile devices. They’ve been pretty blah so far but I have to admit this one, starring Turner and future A-lister Corey Hawkins, looks damn interesting. I’m not quite sure of the backstory….seems like maybe Turner plays a recovering pill popper, but the main plot is pretty straight forward, Turner and Hawkins survive a plane crash and have to band together to survive. If nothing else, Turner has definitely shed the child-like image of Sansa Stark.
Quibi and Survive release on April 6th, 2020. Quibi has released pricing at $4.99/month standard and $7.99/month ad-free
Hmmm…is it possible that during Parasite‘s historic Best Picture win at last night’s Oscars that director Bong Joon-ho had a meeting with Mark Ruffalo, who was on hand in a presenter role? I’m not pushing any conspiracies or anything, but today does bring the rumor that Ruffalo could be starring in the Parasite series being developed for HBO.
It’s Collider who bring word on this one, noting multiple sources who say Ruffalo is being eyed for one of the series leads. That’s about all the info there is, though. Bong Joon-ho is teaming up with Adam McKay to expand on the hit film which centered on a poor family of grifters who ingratiate themselves into the lives of a wealthy family, with tragic results.
Depending on how the show eventually works out, I wouldn’t be surprised if Ruffalo is playing the patriarch of the poor family, similar to Song Kang-ho’s role. HBO has responded to Collider’s story by saying any speculation on casting is “premature”, which it’s rightly noted does not mean “wrong.” So we’ll see if this has any weight to it in the coming weeks, I’m sure.
We’re happy to offer our DC readers the chance to attend a free early screening of Applet TV+ series, Little America. The anthology is exec-produced by The Big Sick‘s Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon and was recently featured in The Washington Post.
SYNOPSIS: Everyone came here from somewhere else. There were the Pilgrims and the Irish; the Jews and the Puerto Ricans of New York; the refugees from Southeast Asia and the Central American migrants of today. Even Native Americans crossed the Bering Strait some 16,000 years ago. This is the basic American idea — an identity and a country open to all — but it can be easy to forget from inside. And that’s when politics can turn ugly with the rise of a narrative of intolerance about blame and fear. Epic Magazine published a collection of immigrant stores called “Little America” to counter that narrative with a fuller portrait of our most recent arrivals. These were not necessarily classic “immigrant stories,” but rather stories told by immigrants about their lives. This collection of articles is the basis for the show – Little America.
From Executive Producers Lee Eisenberg (Good Boys, SMILF), Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon (The Big Sick) and Alan Yang (Master of None, Forever), Little America is an 8-episode anthology scripted series inspired by true authentic stories of immigrants in the United States. It’s not about telling “immigrant” stories – these are human stories that feature immigrants. The show will cover the full range of human emotion, some will be funny, some tragic, but all will have some sense of hope. Each episode is a standalone with its own unique story. Over 90% of the writers and directors are either immigrants or the children of immigrants.
The screening takes place tomorrow, February 11th at 7:00pm at Landmark E Street, where free concessions and a photo booth will be made available! If you’d like to attend, simply go to Gofobo site here. Please remember all screenings are first come first served and you will need to arrive early to ensure seating. Enjoy the show!
Ever since the first Doctor Strange movie, Marvel has stressed that he will be an integral part of the MCU’s future, even comparing him to Iron Man. With Tony Stark gone, we’ve seen the earliest steps being taken to expand on the Sorcerer Supreme’s influence, connecting upcoming sequel Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to Disney+ shows Loki and WandaVision. And for whatever reason, we’ve also seen that putting so much importance on the sequel has caused some creative rifts.
“Since it keeps coming up in news stories, it’s worth noting that Scott and I never had the opportunity to write a draft of MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS, so whatever they are working with now isn’t derivative of our work. I am of course very excited to see where they take Stephen next.”
Yeah, I guess if Marvel refused to let Derrickson work on the script that would be a pretty big problem. The sad thing is, Derrickson has been teasing the sequel for a long time and the characters he hoped to see in it. Sounds like those plans are in the wind now.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is currently set for May 7th 2021 with a start date for this summer. We’ll see if those targets can be met.
On this week’s Cinema Royale, we’re talking Suicide Squad spinoff BIRDS OF PREY, and why the return of Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn may have been stumped by toxic masculinity.
Plus we’ve got major updates on DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS, not to mention Vin Diesel teasing the end of FAST & FURIOUS!!?!? Say it ain’t so, Dom!!
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The opening weekend for Birds of Prey didn’t exactly soar, but does that mean we’ve seen the last of Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn and her all-girl gang? Director Cathy Yan certainly hopes not.
Speaking with The Wrap, Yan said she “would love to see Poison Ivy and would certainly love to see the relationship between Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. I don’t know — I think people aren’t ready to let go of Harley Quinn quite yet and you know, Margot I don’t think is ready to let go of Harley Quinn yet either, so… hopefully.”
The film opened with just $33M domestic, but a worldwide haul of $81M isn’t too bad. The reviews have been very good, both with audiences and critics, so if strong word of mouth leads to a lengthy theatrical run we could see Warner Bros. leaning in favor of sequel.
To comic book fans, Harley Quinn’s partnership with Poison Ivy is as important as hers with the Joker. They’re the DC Universe’s version of Bonnie & Clyde, and that could make for a crazy fun ride if ever brought to the big screen.
Harley Quinn will be seen next in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, opening in August 2021. Perhaps Poison Ivy will show up there first?
So you didn’t want to stay up all night to watch Hollywood pat itself on the back at the 92nd Academy Awards? I feel ya. If I wasn’t up hosting an Oscars party I probably wouldn’t, either. But you still missed some cool moments, some funny stuff, some poignancy, and yeah, it felt like a true celebration of the best cinema had to offer for the year of 2019. Sometimes the show ends and it feels like it went out with a whimper, but not last night. Everything built up to a wonderful payoff at the end with Parasite‘s surprising win for Best Picture.
So I rounded up a few video highlights from the evening, beginning with Janelle Monae’s kinetic and weird opening number, featuring dancers dressed as figures from some of the prominent contenders and others who were snubbed, like Dolemite is My Name. She also talked about celebrating female filmmakers which the Academy definitely did NOT do this year.
We also have the dynamic duos who came out and stole the show, making us wish the Academy had just let them host the entire evening. It started with Chris Rock and Steve Martin, followed by Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig, and then Will Ferrell and his Downhill co-star Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Some are acting all confused by the arrival of Eminem for a performance of “Lose Yourself”, but I would say he gave the show an energy boost when it needed it most. That joint was fire, and so are all of the videos of stunned celebrity reactions.
We included Brad Pitt’s wonderfully hip and humble acceptance speech for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Ain’t that the truth.”). Joaquin Phoenix’s overlong sorta rambling speech for his Joker victory, Bong Joon-ho’s win for Best Director and Parasite’s victory in Best Picture are also included. Billy Eilish’s soulful In Memoriam segment is included, as well as Taika Waititi’s nervous speech following Jojo Rabbit‘s win for Best Adapted Screenplay, making him the first Maori to win an Oscar. Pretty cool. Idina Menzel led an international contingent of Elsas for a rendition of “Into the Unknown’ that I think sounded great on paper, but was clunky in execution. They ruined Rebel Wilson for me by having her come out as her Cats character, alongside James Corden. Cut for time was Renee Zellweger’s never-ending speech following her Best Actress win for Judy. I think she’s still speaking, actually.
Nah, it’s there, too. Check out all of the videos below.
Going into tonight’s Oscars, it was really only about two movies for Best Picture. Sam Mendes’ WWI film 1917, which had been on a roll in recent weeks, or Parasite, which has been earning accolades since it won the Palme d’Or way back in May. And it turned out, the Academy decided against going with the “safe” choice and made a little bit of history in the process.
Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite racked up four wins tonight, making history as the first movie to win Best International Feature and Best Picture. Joon-ho also went on to win Best Director, a category Mendes seemed like a lock for, and another for Best Original Screenplay. It was a truly special moment to see the South Korean filmmaker, whose film has a struck a chord here in America like few other international features have, on stage paying tribute to his American contemporaries Scorsese, Tarantino, Mendes, and Phillips.
The rest of the awards mostly went according to plan. You can check out the full list of winners below, as well as Joon-ho’s acceptance speech for Best Director.
BEST PICTURE
Ford v Ferrari
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Little Women
Marriage Story
1917
Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
Parasite (Winner)
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Antonio Banderas — Pain and Glory
Leonardo DiCaprio — Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
Adam Driver — Marriage Story
Joaquin Phoenix — Joker (Winner)
Jonathan Pryce — The Two Popes
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Tom Hanks — A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Anthony Hopkins — The Two Popes
Al Pacino — The Irishman
Joe Pesci — The Irishman
Brad Pitt — Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood (Winner)
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Cynthia Erivo — Harriet
Scarlett Johansson — Marriage Story
Saoirse Ronan — Little Women
Charlize Theron — Bombshell
Renée Zellweger — Judy (Winner)
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Kathy Bates — Richard Jewell
Laura Dern — Marriage Story (Winner)
Scarlett Johansson — Jojo Rabbit
Florence Pugh — Little Women
Margot Robbie — Bombshell
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
I Lost My Body
Klaus
Missing Link
Toy Story 4 (Winner)
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Corpus Christi
Honeyland
Les Misérables
Pain and Glory
Parasite (Winner)
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
American Factory (Winner)
The Cave
The Edge of Democracy
For Sama
Honeyland
DIRECTING
Martin Scorsese — The Irishman
Todd Phillips — Joker
Sam Mendes — 1917
Quentin Tarantino — Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
Bong Joon-ho — Parasite (Winner)
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Steven Zaillian — The Irishman
Taika Waititi — Jojo Rabbit (Winner)
Todd Phillips & Scott Silver — Joker
Greta Gerwig — Little Women
Anthony McCarten — The Two Popes
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Rian Johnson — Knives Out
Noah Baumbach — Marriage Story
Sam Mendes & Krysty Wilson-Cairns — 1917
Quentin Tarantino — Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
Bong Joon-ho — Parasite (Winner)
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Rodrigo Prieto — The Irishman
Lawrence Sher — Joker
Jarin Blaschke — The Lighthouse
Roger Deakins — 1917 (Winner)
Robert Richardson — Once upon a Time…in Hollywood
ORIGINAL SCORE
Hildur Guðnadóttir — Joker (Winner)
Alexandre Desplat — Little Women
Randy Newman — Marriage Story
Thomas Newman — 1917
John Williams — Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
ORIGINAL SONG
“I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away,” Toy Story 4
“(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again,” Rocketman (Winner)
“I’m Standing With You,” Breakthrough
“Into The Unknown,” Frozen II
“Stand Up,” Harriet
COSTUME DESIGN
Sandy Powell and Christopher Peterson — The Irishman
Mayes C. Rubeo — Jojo Rabbit
Mark Bridges — Joker
Jacqueline Durran — Little Women (Winner)
Arianne Phillips — Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
In the Absence
Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl) (Winner)
Life Overtakes Me
St. Louis Superman
Walk Run Cha-Cha
FILM EDITING
Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland — Ford v Ferrari (Winner)
Thelma Schoonmaker — The Irishman
Tom Eagles — Jojo Rabbit
Jeff Groth — Joker
Yang Jinmo — Parasite
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Bombshell (Winner)
Joker
Judy
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
1917
PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
1917
Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood (Winner)
Parasite
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Dcera (Daughter)
Hair Love (Winner)
Kitbull
Memorable
Sister
LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
Brotherhood
Nefta Football Club
The Neighbors’ Window (Winner)
Saria
A Sister
SOUND EDITING
Donald Sylvester — Ford v Ferrari (Winner)
Alan Robert Murray — Joker
Oliver Tarney and Rachael Tate — 1917
Wylie Stateman — Once upon a Time…in Hollywood
Matthew Wood and David Acord — Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
SOUND MIXING
Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson and Mark Ulano — Ad Astra
Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Steven A. Morrow —Ford v Ferrari
Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic and Tod Maitland—Joker
Mark Taylor and Stuart Wilson — 1917 (Winner)
Michael Minkler, Christian P. Minkler, and Mark Ulano — Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
VISUAL EFFECTS
Avengers: Endgame
The Irishman
The Lion King
1917 (Winner)
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
1. Birds of Prey (review)– $33.2M
While not a bad start, per say, still well below the $50M estimates for the R-Rated DCEU flick starting one of their most popular characters. We’ll see what the staying power is like for this film, but with the early blockbusters coming down the pipe the chance that this will still be a surprise hit is unlikely. After last weeks The Rhythm Section it looks like we need Wonder Woman to redeem the profitability of female-led action films.
2. Bad Boys for Life- $12M/$166M
Finally dropping out of the number 1 spot after 3 weeks. Burnett and Lowery have solidified their place amongst the buddy cop icons like Riggs and Murtaugh with this comeback smash
3. 1917– $9M/$132M
Not quite the surge for the film that many people predict to win Best Picture this weekend at the Oscars but still, not a bad overall haul for a war film that’s somewhat light on action.
4. Dolittle– $6.6M$63.9M
5. Jumanji: The Next Level– $5.5M/$298M
6. The Gentleman– $4.1M/$26.8M
7. Gretel & Hansel– $3.5M/$11M
8. Knives Out– $2.3M/$158M
9. Little Women– $2.3M/$102M
10. Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker- $2.2M/$510M
That should do it, the last week in the top 10 for the Skywalker Saga. In this guys opinion it deserved much better, but the masses have spoken and I’ll be sure to enjoy it on Disney+ time and again.
Later today I’ll be donning my tux, when I’d rather be wearing jeans and a wrestling tee, and heading out to the Arlington Cinema ‘n Drafthouse to host a party for the 2020 Academy Awards. Only on these nights does six hours feel like 287, give or take a few. At least the Drafthouse has good nachos. This year’s Oscars, the second straight without a proper host, isn’t expected to have many surprises. The showdown of the night is in the Best Picture race where South Korean sensation Parasite faces Sam Mendes’ WWI thriller 1917. I don’t know if we’ve seen a pair of frontrunners this close in a while, although there is common wisdom that is telling us who to expect to win.
I don’t recommend using my predictions as a basis for your own Oscar picks, or to fill out any fantasy pools or whatever. My track record suuuuuucks, and there’s a chance my first pick will bust your bracket right out of the gate. Happens every year to me during March Madness, too.
So here we go. Check out my predictions for tonight’s Oscars. And if you want to attend the largest, always-sell-out Oscar Night Party in the DMV, just go here. Thanks!
BEST PICTURE 1917 Ford v Ferrari The Irishman Jojo Rabbit Joker Little Women Marriage Story Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood Parasite-WINNER
I know, I know! We’re supposed to pick 1917! It was my #1 movie of 2019, and I continue to agree with myself on that. It’s had a Helluva run lately with the guild awards, not to mention crushing the BAFTAs. But come on, admit it. Some small part of you feels that we could be seeing a Parasite upset. If we’re thinking with our heads, 1917 is the easy choice. But Parasite is the classic “thinking with your heart” pick. It has buzz, audiences have taken to it the way they’ve taken to no international movie in ages, demand is so high it’s spawning a TV series. And at a time when the Academy’s taking heat for its too white, too male nominations, it’s a movie that would easily upend that narrative.
BEST DIRECTOR Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood Sam Mendes, 1917-WINNER Bong Joon-ho, Parasite Martin Scorsese, The Irishman Todd Phillips, Joker
>sigh< Why are Todd Phillips and Martin Scorsese even here? Can we replace them with Midsommar‘s Ari Aster and The Lighthouse‘s Robert Eggers, please? Anyway, I think Sam Mendes has this one on lock for 1917, regardless of how the Best Picture category turns out. So we could be seeing a lot of Mendes towards the end of the night, and he would deserve it. His film is a marvel of technical skill and craft, and the kind of bold effort that few attempt and even fewer succeed at.
BEST ACTOR Joaquin Phoenix, Joker-WINNER Adam Driver, Marriage Story Jonathan Pryce, The Two Popes Antonio Banderas, Pain & Glory Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
As sure of a thing as you’re going to find this year (other than Zellweger, perhaps), Joaquin Phoenix’s transformative performance in Joker is the only one people have not stopped talking about, even as the movie has faced some backlash. There’s been no slip in momentum or buzz, and even though Adam Driver turned a lot of heads in Marriage Story, it never stood a chance. Nothing else really did. A shame because everybody here is so damn good and could’ve won in a different year.
BEST ACTRESS Cynthia Erivo, Harriet Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story Charlize Theron, Bombshell Saoirse Ronan, Little Women Renée Zellweger, Judy-WINNER The other lock ’em up choice is Renee Zellweger as a struggling late-in-life Judy Garland in Judy. This is another one that has been sewn up for ages, and Zellweger has seen benefit from competitors whose roles seem like they were meant for the Best Supporting category. The only exception to that is Cynthia Erivo for Harriet, and frankly, that movie just isn’t very good and she is serviceable at best.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood-WINNER Anthony Hopkins, The Two Popes Al Pacino, The Irishman Joe Pesci, The Irishman
Brad Pitt will finally win that elusive first acting Oscar (he has one as a producer on 12 Years a Slave) for his intensely cool role in Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood. Sorry, Ad Astra fans, no dice. At the start of the year this seemed like a shoe-in for Hanks as Mister Rogers, but the middling response to that movie killed those hopes. What do you get when you multiple 2 x 0? You get the number of wins The Irishman will get in this category, and probably for the entire night.
Best Supporting Actress Laura Dern, Marriage Story-WINNER Scarlett Johansson, Jojo Rabbit Kathy Bates, Richard Jewell Florence Pugh, Little Women Margot Robbie, Bombshell
So here’s the thing, Laura Dern has this one lock, stock, and barrel. No doubt. But there’s a ringing in my ear that is either Tinnitus or ScarJo creeping up the frontrunner for Jojo Rabbit. I don’t know if anybody had as gut-wrenching a scene through the entire year as Johansson did, and you know the one I’m talking about. Dern is good, great even, but do you sit around thinking about her character in Marriage Story? Probably not. But if Jojo Rabbit is a topic of conversation, it will inevitably lead to Johansson. Just sayin’. Don’t be shocked.
Best Original Screenplay
Bong Joon-ho, Parasite Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood Rian Johnson, Knives Out-WINNER Noah Baumbach, Marriage Story Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns, 1917
Yeah, I’m calling for the upset here. Hear me out. Tarantino has won this award enough already, Parasite is going to be honored in a big way elsewhere, and I feel that this will be the Academy’s way of showing some love to Kniives Out, a mainstream film that killed at the box office and has a fan-favorite director in Rian Johnson. They want to look cool, too, y’know?
Best Adapted Screenplay Taika Waititi, Jojo Rabbit-WINNER Greta Gerwig, Little Women Todd Phillips & Scott Silver, Joker Steve Zaillian, The Irishman Anthony McCarten, The Two Popes
While I would love for my new best friend Anthony McCarten to win for The Two Popes (he’s been nominated twice already), it’ll take divine intervention for it to happen this time. This seems to be a two-horse race between Waititi and Gerwig. Both are deserving, both have added something personal to their films that wasn’t on the page. But I feel that Waititi’s movie, which is apparently very different from the source material Caging Skies, has made the most impact, winning big at the Writers Guild and BAFTAs. I don’t buy into this notion the Academy will seek to reward Gerwig with something since she was left out of the Best Director field.
Best International Feature Parasite-WINNER Les Miserables Honeyland Corpus Christi Pain & Glory
Easy peasy, this one goes to Parasite without anything else even comes close. The only curious thing about this is whether voters see this as an escape valve so they don’t have to give it Best Picture, as well.
And below are the rest of my feature picks, minus any context. I know nothing about the shorts this year, so those are left out.
Best Animated Feature Klaus-WINNER Toy Story 4 I Lost My Body How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Missing Link
Best Documentary Feature Honeyland For Sama The Cave American Factory-WINNER The Edge of Democracy
Best Visual Effects 1917-WINNER The Irishman The Lion King Avengers: Endgame Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Best Film Editing The Irishman Joker Jojo Rabbit Parasite Ford v Ferrari-WINNER Best Original Score Joker, Hildur Gudnadottir-WINNER Little Women, Alexandre Desplat Marriage Story, Randy Newman 1917, Thomas Newman Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, John Williams
Best Original Song I’m Gonna Love Me Again, Rocketman-WINNER I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away, Toy Story 4 I’m Standing with You, Breakthrough Into the Unknown, Frozen 2 Stand Up, Harriet
Best Production Design Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Jojo Rabbit 1917-WINNER Parasite The Irishman
Best Costume Design Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood Little Women-WINNER Jojo Rabbit Joker The Irishman
Best Cinematography The Irishman, Rodrigo Prieto Joker, Lawrence Sher The Lighthouse, Jarin Blaschke 1917, Roger Deakins-WINNER Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, Robert Richardson
Best Makeup & Hair Bombshell-WINNER
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
1917
Judy
Joker
Best Sound Editing 1917-WINNER
Ford v Ferrari
Joker
Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Best Sound Mixing
Ad Astra 1917-WINNER
Ford v Ferrari
Joker
Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
