"Finding Dory" Breaks Animated Box Office Records on Opening Weekend

Scene from Finding Dory

When it comes to Pixar, there are few films as beloved as Finding Nemo. It isn't just one person's opinion. The film holds a 99% on critics aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes and the film grossed nearly $900 million in 2003, making it the highest grossing animated film at its time. By the looks of this past weekend, its sequel Finding Dory may prove to be a legitimate threat to any and all records that the original achieved 13 years ago. For starters, it broke the single best opening for an animated movie ever, as well as several others. Not too bad for a fish with short term memory loss. Read on to find out more.

Trivia: How Many Oscars Has Pixar Been Nominated For?

When it comes to the Oscars, few studios have had as unanimous a reputation with them as Pixar. Where many directors and actors have been known to get countless nominations, there hasn't been a studio with a release schedule in which audiences could pretty much not only predict a nomination, but also a win (specifically in Best Animated Feature). But how well does Pixar actually do at the Oscars? Is their reputation as great as you'd think? In honor of this week's release of Inside Out, here's a by the numbers look of each film and short that the studio has released and what their actual winning track record actually is.

Should John Goodman Get an Honorary Oscar?

John Goodman in The Artist

Every now and then there are discussions about Academy Award winners of the past. To many, it remains a chance to spout obscure trivia facts like: What was Morgan Freeman's first Oscar nomination for? (Answer: Best Supporting Actor - Street Smart) or What film was Bob Hoskins nominated for? (Answer: Best Actor - Mona Lisa). It is likely that some facts have been brushed under the table to the point where we think that everyone of cinematic value has at very least been nominated. However, one of the most shocking omissions from even the nomination bracket is the legendary character actor John Goodman. Quick! Name the film he was nominated for. You can't because he never was nominated. In this post, I ask you the question: Should John Goodman receive an honorary Oscar?

A Look at the Short List for the Best Original Song Contenders

This week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the short list of songs eligible for the Best Original Song category. As always, there are some favorites and a lot of strange choices. While it doesn't actually give any insight into who will win, it does create an interesting predicament to what could get nominated. The field is open to everyone on the list so far and there are numerous surprises that could occur. Much like the nomination of Norah Jones for a song from Ted last year, the category is rarely lacking in intrigue. 

A Look at the Troubling Best Animated Feature Race of 2013

Scene from Frozen

With Oscar season firmly under way and 12 Years a Slave on the verge of a wide release, it is time to re-evaluate the one category in which thing seem highly unclear: Best Animated Feature. Where last year's selection had some of the best, diverse offerings, this year seems to be an open book with little to no indication of any film deserving nomination besides Pixar's Monsters University. While I predicted that the film will win, I at least hoped that in the process of the months following, and preceding, that it would have a film with enough esteem to overthrow it. So, what is going on with the Best Animated Feature category?

Review: "Monsters University" is a Great Welcome Back to the Fun Side of Pixar

If forced to poll a random group of people what their favorite Pixar movie was, there would be little doubt that Monsters Inc. ranked near the top. Its whimsical look into a world of monsters who scare for a living has become one of the studio's most successful both with audiences as well as tonally. It made Billy Crystal a star to a whole new generation and created a universe of wonderment. It only seemed logical that 12 years later they would want to revisit the characters with a trip to Monsters University: a film that saw these characters meet and even bond over their love of scaring. With the voice talents who made the first successful, is it possible that they managed to create another hit?

A Look at Summer Films with Academy Award Potential

Still from Much Ado About Nothing

With the summer movie season heating up, there is a good chance that The Oscar Buzz may hit a dry spell. True, I once stated that June was the turning point for cinema. It would be that moment in which films suddenly stood a modicum of a chance to burst out onto the scene and get some Oscar attention. While The Great Gatsby showed us some hope, few films seem worthy of an entire entry around the speculation. Films like Star Trek Into Darkness and this week's Fast & Furious 6 at best are Best Sound Editing and Best Special Effects contenders. Still, over the summer months, I have decided to take a look at films that may have potential to break the mold and may be the buzz when nominations are announced next January. Maybe not all of these will be Best Picture material, but if they're even close, we're in for a very interesting ceremony.

Is "From Up on Poppy Hill" the First Best Animated Feature Contender?

This week, director Goro Miyazaki's From Up on Poppy Hill receives limited release. For many, Studio Ghibli is the premiere animation studio from Asia, having given us such gems as Princess Mononoke and the Oscar-winning Spirited Away. The only difference is that those were made by Goro's father Hayao. While the studio continues to regale with quality work each year, they haven't had any success with the Academy Awards since 2005's Howl's Moving Castle. Is it possible that as one of the first notable animated features of 2013 that this will be the year that they return to the Best Animated Feature category?