Best Song: "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" (2019)

Scene from Rocketman

Welcome to Best Song, a new weekly column released on Sunday dedicated to chronicling the Best Original Song category over the course of its many decades. The goal is to listen to and critique every song that has ever been nominated in the category as well as find the Best Best Song and the Best Loser. By the end, we'll have a comprehensive list of this music category and will hopefully have a better understanding not only of the evolution but what it takes to receive a nomination here. It may seem easy now but wait until the bad years.

A Wrap-Up of the 2019-2020 Oscar Season

Janelle Monae

At long last, the Oscar season is over. And much quicker than usual this year. That is why it feels absolutely strange to be saying goodbye already. It feels like there should be another few weeks for people to catch up on Oscar nominees, hold a conversation about why Jojo Rabbit was the dark horse Best Picture winner some expected it to be. It's one of the joys/frustrations that are lost to this adapted schedule, but in some ways, it's for the best. Where some years feel interminable, lasting so long that one can't help but resent half of the nominees, this one feels like a blip. Maybe it's something that the lower-than-average viewer ratings would suggest. Still, it was an interesting year existing in "The New Academy," where a new generation is rising and the definition of a winner is changing slowly. Was it the best year? It wasn't the worst. It was somewhere in the middle, where there's a need for change, but is exciting for making bold wins that proved just how great cinema has been. 

Review: "Frozen II" Embraces the Unknown Wonders in a Dazzling Sequel

Scene from Frozen II

In 2013, Frozen created one of the most unsuspecting phenomenons of the 21st century. Joining the ranks of such cornerstone blockbusters like Star Wars, Titanic, and The Sound of Music, Disney created their most successful film in 20 years. EVERYONE knows "Let It Go." Elsa merchandise litters every retail store internationally. The studio has created endless spin-offs including the controversial Olaf's Frozen Adventure and the LEGO short Northern Lights.  There was even a Tony-nominated Broadway show. Frozen II isn't even the first sequel that these characters have been in (see Wreck-It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks the Internet). To suggest that their latest outing has been long overdue feels like a bit of a laugh because of how inescapable the franchise has been over the past six years. 

But how do you follow up a phenomenon that everyone knows by heart, complaining about their child watching the film on a constant loop of madness? It's a question that likely explains the long absence of an official sequel. Instead of striking while the iron was hot, Frozen II arrives fully formed in one of the studio's biggest miracles in quite some time. Sure there are constant nods to the original, but this film is far from a retread. In a story that feels richer, darker, and more emotionally complex, Disney has created a film that elevates the franchise to mythic status. It may have an uphill battle in that it isn't Frozen, but it's the next best thing. It's a sequel that uses every minute to enhance the world and prove why these characters deserve to be the international sensations that they are. 

Failed Oscar Campaigns: "Frozen" (2013)

Scene from Frozen (2013)

As awards seasons pick up, so do the campaigns to make your film have the best chances at the Best Picture race. However, like a drunken stupor, sometimes these efforts come off as trying too hard and leave behind a trailer of ridiculous flamboyance. Join me on every other Saturday for a highlight of the failed campaigns that make this season as much about prestige as it does about train wrecks. Come for the Harvey Weinstein comments and stay for the history. It's going to be a fun time as I explore cinema's rich history of attempting to matter.

"Toy Story 4," "Frozen II," and the Race for the Best Animated Film Oscar

Scene from Frozen II

This morning, Disney released the trailer for their latest film Frozen II. Most audiences will know the franchise very well, in part because of the 2013 film but also because this is the third year in a row that Elsa and Anna will have appeared on the big screen. Following Olaf's Frozen Adventure in 2017 and brief cameos in Wreck-It Ralph: Ralph Breaks the Internet in 2018, it's the long-awaited follow-up to the highest-grossing animated film in history that also spawned two Oscar wins. Considering that this trailer is likely to play in front of Toy Story 4 in 10 days, it also begins to raise another question: how is this year's Best Animated Film Oscar category shaking out? Have we seen the winner already? Considering that Frozen II AND Toy Story 4 are both sequels to previous winners, the answer may be staring us in the face. That is if the pattern continues to hold up.

Legitimate Theater: Bonus #1. Frozen (2018)

Frozen

Welcome to Legitimate Theater: a column dedicated to movie-based stage musicals. The goal of this series is to explore those stories that originated in films and eventually worked their way onto Broadway and beyond. By the end of each entry, there will hopefully be a better understanding of this odd but rampant trend in modern entertainment. Are these stories really worth telling through song and dance? How can it even compare to the technical prowess of a camera and seamless editing? Join me on this quest as I explore the highs and lows of this trend on the third Wednesday of every month and hopefully answer what makes this Legitimate Theater.

Introducing Legitimate Theater, A Column About Movie-Based Stage Musicals

In an effort to explore areas beyond the Oscars, i have decided to open myself up to the world of theater, in particular stage musicals. I will confess that I know very little about the big names in this world and have decided to choose an angle that I am more familiar with: movies. So, how exactly will I be talking about stage shows AND movies? Why, by exploring musicals adapted from films of course. Over the course of Legitimate Theater, I hope to better understand what makes great musical theater by understanding a film through song. It's going to be a bit of an odd journey, but if 2018 has taught us anything with all of the SpongeBobs, Frozens, and Mean Girlses, there's definitely a supply and demand for them. So please, join me in Legitimate Theater, which I hope will make sense of this very odd trend.

"Moana" Tops the Box Office While Beatty Covers the Bottom

Scene from Moana

It is likely that if you had family, you spent a part of this past Thanksgiving weekend seeing Disney's latest film Moana. If you didn't, you should. It's one of the most fun films of the year. Along with anticipation comes box office glory. It shouldn't be a surprise that the South Pacific princess movie debuted at number one while earning $81.1 million in North American box office alone. It also makes it the second highest grossing film to play on Thanksgiving weekend, coming a little over $10 million shy of fellow Disney film Frozen. Since Moana opened on Wednesday, it actually has quite a few oddball records to account for, including helping to solidify Disney as possessing 90% of the top 10 slots for the best three-day and five-day openings. Also after the jump, a quick look at another Oscar contender who performed very poorly this past weekend.

Best Song: "Let It Go" (2013)

Scene from Frozen

Welcome to Best Song, a new weekly column released on Sunday dedicated to chronicling the Best Original Song category over the course of its many decades. The goal is to listen to and critique every song that has ever been nominated in the category as well as find the Best Best Song and the Best Loser. By the end, we'll have a comprehensive list of this music category and will hopefully have a better understanding not only of the evolution, but what it takes to receive a nomination here. It may seem easy now, but wait until the bad years.

When Will There Be More Female Best Director Oscar Nominees?

Kathryn Bigelow

It is likely by now that everyone in America has heard the news. After months of contention and voting, Hillary Clinton has become the presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party. This is pretty big news, especially considering that she will be the first woman to do so, and whose odds of winning seem increasingly likely. It's been an overwhelming moment for women nationwide, who are now believing in the "You can be anything you want to be." narrative more than ever before. However, there's another field that seems to have not embraced female contribution: The Academy Awards. No, this isn't about the Best Actress categories, but more in the Best Director and even Best Picture category. While there have been a few bright spots, the average year sees some absence of a certain gender in these fields. The question isn't when there will be a female directed Best Picture winner. That already happened. What's the bigger question is when will this become the normative. 

A Few Thoughts on the Academy Awards Ceremony: The Bad

Ellen Degeneres

If there was one issue of this year's Academy Awards, it was its desire to try and be hip. While it resulted in the ceremony's highest ratings in over a decade, it also lost focus of what the Academy Awards is: an awards show. This isn't a moment for spectacle, but to highlight a year of film with the prestigious award. This was most evident in the host, whose lack of spectacle was replaced be a series of happenstance moments literally ate up a lot of time, making her one of the dullest hosts in the show's recent history. Even if she was tame and appealed to the audience with off kilter remarks, Ellen Degeneres essentially lost the plot. While she isn't the only one to blame for this year's ceremony being one of the worst in recent memory, she does at least earn credit for ruining the fun nature.

A Few Thoughts on the 86th Academy Award Winners

*NOTE: This is not a recap or highlight of the ceremony. This is a discussion of the films that won isolated from the ceremony.

There is something to be said when the applicable films that won at Saturday's Independent Spirit Awards ended up being the big heroes at the Academy Awards. Unlike most years, there wasn't much of a race between anyone. Even from the moment that 12 Years a Slave hit the scene with its limited October release, there seemed to be an aura of predictability. At best, those who hoped that Gravity would be good would have a surprise by how openly acknowledged it became. Otherwise, as the race moved on, things became abundantly clear: it was the year of the front runners.

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 "Frozen" and the Best Original Song Category

I would like to apologize for my lack of consistency in the past few weeks. Hopefully with December proving to have a lot of goodies, I shall be more consistent.

This past Wednesday saw the release of the Disney film Frozen. Maybe it could be that this year hasn't been the best for animated films, but there is an inevitability of the film receiving a nomination. Along with highly positive reviews and lack of competition, it is looking to become part of the zeitgeist simply for being most people's only option to theatrical family entertainment. However, there is one interesting angle that gives the film even more potential. It is a musical with plenty of songs receiving a large amount of buzz, but can it sneak into the Best Original Song category?

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?

A Look at 10 Trailers for Films with Oscar Potential

Tom Hanks

It is impossible to run this blog and look at current films without looking a little bit ahead. As we get further into Oscar season (which launched recently with Fruitvale Station), it is important to not forget that marketing has already started. Some of the big shots already have a trailer or a poster lined up that is getting people talking. While I have covered some more personally anticipated films (The Wolf of Wall Street and 12 Years a Slave notably), there are many that would go overlooked if I didn't do a quick compilation post to share early buzz, and possible spread speculation on other titles. The following is a look at 10 trailers that stand out as potential Oscar buzz contenders that will hopefully be around in the months to come.