Here are a bunch of little bites to satisfy your hunger for movie culture:
Fake Movie of the Day:
Since so many people are getting the title of Hidden Figures wrong lately, here’s a fake trailer for Hidden Fences made for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (via /Film):
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Fan Art of the Day:
Sick of the snow this week? Well, how about instead of the real stuff you check out these awesomely intricate Disney-themed paper snowflakes for The Lion King, Toy Story and more:
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Cosplay of the Day:
Speaking of snow, here’s The Unipiper dressed as Darth Vader shoveling from his unicycle while playing his flaming bagpipes (via Geek Tyrant):
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Toy Play of the Day:
Speaking of Star Wars, putting together a Lego AT-STset is fun, but even better is making a stop-motion animated short of that plus the fun you have with it after (via Geekologie):
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Strange Casting Idea of the Day:
We’ve seen Willem Dafoe wearing Marilyn Monroe’s iconic The Seven Year Itch dress for Snickers, and now here’s a Photoshopped look at what he’d look like playing Mary Poppins:
I photoshopped Willem Dafoe as Mary Poppins for the fun of it. Here are the results. pic.twitter.com/Fi3CvBJPOY
Clockwise from upper left: Ssing Ssing, Jojo Abot, Betsayda Y La Parranda El Cavo, Batida, Septeto Sentiguero Kevin Yatarola/for NPR Musichide caption
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Kevin Yatarola/for NPR Music
Every January, we look forward to globalFEST, a one-night showcase of newly emerging and well-established artists from around the world. This annual event, held at Manhattan’s Webster Hall, is where industry insiders and cool-hunters alike ferret out the next big global music acts on the touring circuit — the buzzed-about bands playing on this single winter night form the vanguard of what you’re going to be watching at festivals and at venues across the country over the next couple of years.
This year’s globalFEST roster tipped towards splashy and conceptual sets from artists like SsingSsing, who melds glam-rock aesthetics with Korean folk songs, and Jojo Abot, a singer from Ghana who channels Grace Jones. But there were also big dance bands, like Cuba’s watertight Septeto Santiaguero, and the Orchestre Afrisa International, masters of the Congolese rumba. And “global music” doesn’t just mean sounds from abroad: This year’s lineup included several regional American artists and some hyphenate Americans, like the Sudanese-born singer (and Tiny Desk Concert alumna) Alsarah.
The band Septeto Santiaguero hails from Santiago de Cuba, a city on the country’s southeastern side. It’s easy to tell its members have been performing together for a long time: They delivered their globalFEST set with effortless polish. Septeto Santiaguero’s 2015 album, Tributo a Los Compadres No Quiero Llanto, won that year’s Latin Grammy for Best Traditional Tropical Album. Hear the band mix horns, vocals and the signature sound of the Latin American percussion instrument called the güiro in this song.
L’Orchestre Afrisa International is perhaps known most widely for its work with Congolese star singer and bandleader Tabu Ley Rochereau in the 1970s and ’80s. Eventually, the band took a break — Tabu Ley returned to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to become a minister of culture there, while other band members settled in various places in the U.S. Now, after a long break, complete with cross-continental separation, a new iteration of the group has come back together.
Estonian violinist Maarja Nuut combines acoustic violin with electronic elements, and her collaboration with producer Hendrik Kaljujärv lends her atmospheric sounds a bit more motion and rhythm. She accompanies her performance with storytelling that lends the music more immediacy. To introduce this song, she tells her audience about a traditional Estonian game involving a horse.
SsingSsing Kevin Yatarola/for NPR Musichide caption
This Korean band combines rock elements with the sounds of the regional folk style called Minyo, but to truly understand SsingSsing’s work, you have to understand how the band members dress on stage: very glam, very rock and roll and very ready to play with the concept of gender. Because male shamans in Korean traditional art need to channel male and female spirits, the men in the band cross-dress. As a nod to the band’s first trip to the United States, its members donned red, white and blue wigs for their globalFEST performance.
Ghanaian artist Jojo Abot has found a sound that’s entirely her own, as evidenced by the combination of dreamy production over a reggae-inspired beat on the song “To Li.”
Alsarah & The Nubatones Kevin Yatarola/for NPRhide caption
This year was singer Alsarah‘s second appearance at globalFEST — she appeared in 2016 as part of The Nile Project, a collective of musicians from 11 Nile countries. Alsarah was born in Sudan, but she’s now based in Brooklyn. Her music, which she calls “Sudanese-Nubian retro-pop,” is all about what happens when different identities, experiences and histories come together. With her band, The Nubatones, she delivers these stories and songs with effortless cool.
Betsayda Y La Parranda El Clavo Kevin Yatarola/for NPRhide caption
This year’s globalFEST featured the U.S. debut of Betsayda Machado y La Parranda El Clavo, but it’s easy to tell that these musicians have been making music together forever. Most of the players come from three families in the town of El Clavo, Venezuela. Their music sounds African, and for good reason. Helmed by veteran vocalist Betsayda Machado, the band comes from an Afro-Venezuelan community that has maintained a strong connection to its roots.
Born in Angola and raised in Portugal, DJ and producer Batida combines up-tempo kuduro beats with political expression, news footage and film in his live shows. For this song, he handed out whistles and encouraged the audience to whistle along — and he also told them a history lesson about the Angolan origins of the Brazilian celebration of Carnival.
Mineralblu went to many comic, anime and othe fandom conventions last year, and here’s their video of the best cosplay seen around the world in 2016, including some based on Star Wars, Suicide Squad, Ant-Man, Transformers and Anchorman (via Geek Tyrant):
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Vintage Effects Shot of the Day:
The GIF below shows the amazing matte painting effect used for a stunt from the Charlie Chaplin classic Modern Times:
How a background was added to a shot from Modern Times using a glass matte painting shot pic.twitter.com/4EddbfTOh8
Daisy Duck made her film debut 80 years ago today under the name Donna Duck, and her voice was more like boyfriend Donald’s, in the Disney short Don Donald:
Bad Film Analysis of the Day:
Speaking of Disney films, here’s a look at the misunderstood hidden meaning of the recent live-action remake of The Jungle Book according to an alien in the future:
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Mashup Fan Art of the Day:
And here’s another Disney item, a look at who played Sadness in Pixar’s Inside Out. This is part of a series of iconic characters unmasked by Alex Solis. See more including E.T., Darth Vader, Marty McFly and others at Geek Tyrant.
Movie Trivia of the Day:
As we get into the depths of awards season, CineFix shares a bunch of little-known trviia about multiple Oscar winner Mad Max: Fury Road:
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Fan Build of the Day:
It’s a little late for the holidays, but we can’t resist sharing this fan-made gingerbread Delorean time machine from Back to the Future Part II:
This week marks the 25th anniversary of the release of Curtis Hanson’s The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. Watch the original trailer for the thriller below.
The one thing you cannot say about this year’s Golden Globes was that it was boring. Far from it.
Not only did La La Land set a record with seven wins for one single film, but the show was stuffed with some shocking surprises. From Isabelle Hubbert winning Best Actress (Drama) over Jackie actress Natalie Portman to Aaron Taylor Johnson (Nocturnal Animals) beating the heavily favored Mahershala Ali for Best Supporting Actor, there were plenty of “Wait, what?!” moments littered throughout.
Meryl Streep delivered an incredibly memorable speech during a show full of passionate and timely words. And so it was fitting that Moonlight — one of the year’s most timely, of-the-moment films — took home Best Picture (Drama), setting up a sure-to-be showdown between it and La La Land at the Oscars.
On the TV side, The Night Manager really surprised with several wins, including Best Actor (Drama) for Tom Hiddleston and Best Supporting Actress for Olivia Colman. Meanwhile, Atlanta and The Crown took top honors, with The Crown‘s Claire Foy winning Best Actress (Drama) and Atlanta’s Donald Glover winning Best Actor (Comedy).
Check out the full list of winners in both Film and TV categories below.
BEST MOTION PICTURE — DRAMA
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Lion
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight — WINNER
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE — DRAMA
Amy Adams, Arrival
Jessica Chastain, Miss Sloane
Isabelle Huppert, Elle — WINNER
Ruth Negga, Loving
Natalie Portman, Jackie
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE — DRAMA
Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea — WINNER
Joel Edgerton, Loving
Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge
Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic
Denzel Washington, Fences
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES — DRAMA
Caitriona Balfe, Outlander Claire Foy, The Crown — WINNER Keri Russell, The Americans Winona Ryder, Stranger Things Evan Rachel Wood, Westworld
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES — DRAMA
Rami Malek, Mr. Robot Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul Matthew Rhys, The Americans Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan Billy Bob Thornton, Goliath — WINNER
BEST TELEVISION SERIES — MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Atlanta – WINNER Blackish Mozart in the Jungle Transparent Veep
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES — MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Rachel Bloom, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep Sarah Jessica Parker, Divorce Issa Rae, Insecure Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin Tracee Ellis Ross, Blackish — WINNER
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES — MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Anthony Anderson, Blackish Gael Garcia Bernal, Mozart in the Jungle Donald Glover, Atlanta – WINNER Nick Nolte, Graves Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent
BEST TELEVISION LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
American Crime The Dresser The Night Manager The Night Of The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story – WINNER
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SERIES, LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Felicity Huffman, American Crime Riley Keough, The Girlfriend Experience Sarah Paulson, The People v. O.J.: American Crime Story – WINNER Charlotte Rampling, London Spy Kerry Washington, Confirmation
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SERIES, LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Riz Ahmed, The Night Of Bryan Cranston, All the Way Tom Hiddleston, The Night Manager – WINNER Courtney B. Vance, The People v. O.J.: American Crime Story John Turturro, The Night Of
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Olivia Colman, The Night Manager – WINNER Lena Headey, Game of Thrones Chrissy Metz, This Is Us Mandy Moore, This Is Us Thandie Newton, Westworld
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Sterling K. Brown, The People v. O.J.: American Crime Story Hugh Laurie, The Night Manager — WINNER John Lithgow, The Crown Christian Slater, Mr. Robot John Travolta, The People v. O.J.: American Crime Story
Here’s everything you need to know about the last week in movie news:
Supercut of the Day:
We Got This Covered highlights the best comic book movie moments of 2016 in this super powered supercut:
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Movie Cliche of the Day:
For Fandor Keyframe, Dominick Nero highlights the ridiculous fight move that all action movie heroines use:
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Cosplay of the Day:
The literal catbus makes sense, but we’re not so sure about the cat dressed as a totoro in this adorable My Neighbor Totoro animal cosplay posted on the Studio Ghibli Facebook page:
Movie Science of the Day:
If you’ve always thought Godzilla’s atomic breath is just fire, see how much worse it is in this science lesson from Kyle Hill:
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Reworked Movie of the Day:
Speaking of Godzilla, CineFix reworked Honey I Blew Up the Kid so it plays like a Godzilla movie:
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Vintage Image of the Day:
Diane Keaton, who turns 71 today, and Robert Duvall, who turns 86 today, share the frame in 1971’s The Godfather:
Filmmaker in Focus:
With Silence going wide this weekend, JoBlo.com spotlights the career of Martin Scorsese with emphasis on why he’s “kinda crazy”:
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Movie Comparison of the Day:
Couch Tomato shows 24 reasons why the Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg-penned Sausage Party is just an animated rehash of the Sth Rogen and Evan Goldberg-helmed This Is the End:
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Alternate Movie Posters of the Day:
Every day of 2016, artist Pete Majarich made a new alternate poster for a classic movie. Here’s a video he just made showcasing all of them:
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Classic Trailer of the Day:
With further news this week of the musical Valley Girl remake, here’s the trailer for the original starring Nicolas Cage and Deborah Foreman:
Here’s everything you need to know about the last week in movie news:
Reimagined Movie of the Day:
What if Tim Burton stayed with the Batman franchise through the 1990s and directed Batman & Robin? Sam Ibrahim shows us in this reworked trailer:
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Mashup Art of the Day:
Artist Guillem H. Pongiluppi created a whole series of paintings where Darth Vader and Stormtroopers battle xenomorphs from the Alien movies. See more at Geek Tyrant.
See why Arrival should be a contender for the visual effects Oscar in this breakdown of the work by Oblique FX (via /Film):
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Vintage Image of the Day:
Harmony Korine, who turns 44 today, with Chloe Sevigny on the set of Kids in 1994:
Movie Food of the Day:
YouTube cooking show Binging with Babish shows us how to make our own Big Kahuna burger as seen in Pulp Fiction:
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Fan Build of the Day:
Not only did Trekkie Kevin J. Walter build a 250,000 piece Lego replica of the Klingon Bird of Prey ship from Star Trek, but he also made a nice slideshow album of the model in action (via Geekologie):
Video Essay of the Day:
You’ll never not notice when movie characters drink milk again after watching this Now You See It video about what the beverage means in films, particularly in Mad Max: Fury Road:
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Supercut of the Day:
In support of the social media hashtag #52FilmsbyWomen, Roman Holiday shares a montage of 52 films by women:
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Classic Trailer of the Day:
Speaking of movies directed by women, Underworld: Blood Wars hits theaters this weekend, so let’s look back at the original trailer for the first Underworld (which was directed by a man) released back in 2003:
Honest Trailers is not very excellent to the historically lenient and appropriately dated Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure:
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Vintage Image of the Day:
Mel Gibson, who turns 60 today, is directed by Richard Donner on the set of Lethal Weapon in 1986:
Cinematographer in Close-up:
Arrival director of photography Bradford Young is the cinematographer to watch right now, so here’s a video analyzing his work (via Film School Rejects):
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Puzzle of the Day:
See if you can figure out this year’s new Criterion Collection titles based on their annual teaser cartoon:
Here’s your estimated 4-day box office returns (new releases bolded):
1. Rogue One – $64.3 million ($439.7 million total)
2. Sing – $56.4 million ($180.0 million total)
3. Passengers – $20.7 million ($66.0 million total)
4. Moana – $14.3 million ($213.3 million total)
5. Why Him? – $13.0 million ($37.5 million total)
6. Fences – $12.7 million ($32.4 million total)
7. La La Land – $12.3 million ($37.0 million total)
8. Assassin’s Creed – $10.8 million ($41.9 million total)
9. Manchester by the Sea – $5.4 million ($29.6 million total)
10. Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them – $5.4 million ($225.4 million total)
The Big Stories
Christmas came early for Hollywood this year. That was the actual Christmas, though — the one with all the presents and merriment. Hollywood’s real present came afterwards as the 2016 box office passed the $11 billion mark for the second straight year on the 26th and then surpassed last year’s $11.12 billion on the 28th. Despite not having the greatest of holiday seasons in retrospect, this total was aided in part by nine films grossing over $300 million this year. Giving that some further perspective, there were only nine $300 million grossers from 1980-2001. There have only been three years with five or more films reaching that landmark and the record was six in 2015. With a number of big holiday releases expected to continue drawing audiences in January, not to mention the films slated to expand next month, there is hope that the total could actually reach $12 billion.
An Old Hope
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story saw an unfortunate bump in its attendance last week with the passing of Carrie Fisher. Even yours truly attended for a second time Tuesday evening, which was the second highest Tuesday gross ever in December (The Force Awakens was first) and the 7th highest ever. Estimates are now pointing to the film as reaching over $439 million through Monday which will put it in the top 13 of all-time domestic grossers. All signs suggest that $500 million is inevitable; the 7th film ever to reach that milestone in the U.S. Is $600 million in the cards? At the moment it is about $20 million off the pace of Marvel’s The Avengers, which grossed its final $160+ million from May 22-Sept. 13. Rogue One has another week of Christmas vacation for schools in some part but otherwise will have to make its cash in January; a month where Titanic made $188.2 million back in 1997. As Princess Leia would say, “Hope.”
Life, Animated
Doctor Strange and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them remain your second and third best U.S. grossers for the holiday, but maybe not for long. As this column has stated for weeks, Moana was on a path to $230 million and is estimated at over $213 million as of this Monday. Good enough for fourth place currently but now it upped its endgame to potentially somewhere around $245 million, which should be more than good enough to best Doctor Strange as Marvel’s latest is looking to come in under $235 million; better than Thor: The Dark World but less than Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
This would give Disney the top three films of the holiday season were it not for Illumination’s Sing, which as I expected is laying waste to family wallets at the moment. In 13 days it is at $180 million. That is about $45 million less than Illumination’s current U.S. champ, The Secret Life of Pets, had at this point and $54 million behind Minions; both of which had summer days to push them well over $300 million each. As reported last week, Sing was destined to become the highest-grossing animated film ever released in December by a wide margin, so there is no real precedent for its prospects going forward.
Only eight films ever released in December went on to pass $300 million. Two are Star Wars, another two came from the mind of James Cameron and the other four are of the Tolkien variety. Sing is within a million of the pace of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, whose 13th day of release came on Dec. 26. That film finished its run with $303 million and Sing‘s weekend haul is well ahead of it. So once again, “Hope.”
Not Singing Their Praises
Between Passengers, Assassin’s Creed and Why Him?, the three films could not even total 90% together at Rotten Tomatoes. Nor can their total grosses equal that of Sing.
The biggest disappointment of the three is clearly Sony’s Passengers. Critics have once again been blamed for its poor performance by pointing out its misleading trailer campaign as well as its rapey vibe, but it has been holding steady if just not spectacularly after its second weekend. At $66 million through Monday it will be $3 million off the pace of Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb which finished with $113 million. As Passengers is also about $3 million off that film’s weekend pace too it may be headed for a rough landing. Until the overseas numbers come in, the final word on the film’s impact on Sony’s bottom line for 2016 will yet to be written. But if it fails to reach $100 million in the U.S. which is a real possibility it’s going to take about $235 million in international dollars to put in the black column.
That is likely where Fox’s Assassin’s Creed is headed. Try finding a positive word said about this thing on Twitter. The 17%-rated, “B+” Cinemascored video game adaptation has at least surpassed 47 Ronin at the U.S. box office. Can it grab the $113 million the Keanu Reeves bomb did overseas, though? (It has made over $44 million to date.) It won’t be as big a bomb but any film needing to gross over $300 million outside the U.S. just to break even is not going to look good for any studio.
Fox’s self-competitor, Why Him?, certainly will not be doing that kind of business overseas ($14.3 million so far) but it may actually outlast and outgross Assassin’s Creed in the U.S. It has already jumped into the top ten and is close to the pace of Fox’s $50 million bomb Exodus: Gods and Kings, which made $65 million in the U.S. Even with that total it will still have to reach $50 million internationally otherwise Fox will be headed into 2017 with seven straight losers, with Gore Verbinski’s ambitious A Cure for Wellness on Feb. 17 and the “R”-rated Logan to kick off March. Though one film of theirs may be able to break the losing streak before then.
Your Oscar Players
Three likely Best Picture contenders remain in the top ten this week. The clear champion now and perhaps on Oscar night too is Damien Chazelle’s La La Land. Marginally expanded to an even 750 theaters this week, it is estimated to have over $37 million by Monday night. That is halfway to surpassing Boo! A Madea Halloween as Lionsgate’s top grossing film of 2016. That would also put it into the Top 15 all-time for the studio; a list that currently includes four Hunger Games, two Divergents, two Saws, two Expendables, two Tyler Perrys, a Twilight, a Now You See Me and Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11. In other words, an old-fashioned musical with Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone making that list is incredibly impressive.
Paramount is likely thinking the same thing about Denzel Washington’s Fences, which is expected to be over $32 million on Monday. It is already in wide release so its numbers aren’t quite as impressive as La La‘s, but the film has already surpassed Denzel’s directorial debut, The Great Debaters, and is likely headed past Ava DuVernay’s Selma from 2014 which barely squeaked out a few Oscar nods. Fences is all but certain to do much better all around, including winning at least one for Viola Davis. She would beat Michelle Williams out for Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester by the Sea, itself possibly headed for wins for Best Actor (Casey Affleck) and Original Screenplay for Lonergan. With over $29 million expected by Monday it is already the top-grossing Sundance film for 2016 and now has its eyes set to supplant Brooklyn‘s $38.3 million as the top-fest grosser from last year.
Your Limited Players
Awaiting their expansions in January to help inch the box office towards its $12 billion target are a great number of acclaimed titles. Leading the pack in just 25 theaters is Fox’s Hidden Figures, which is expected to have $2.6 million after Monday. Peter Berg’s Patriots Day has made over $680,000 so far in just seven theaters. In 2013 his Lone Survivor (also with Mark Wahlberg) made $355,434 in its first 15 days in just two theaters and opened to $37.8 million in its wide expansion. So watch for Patriots Day‘s numbers on Jan. 13-15.
Only in four theaters are an interesting five-some of titles. Martin Scorsese’s Silence is currently your leader with over $337,000. Pedro Almodovar’s Julieta is around $223,000. Mike Mills’ 20th Century Women is at $213,000 and J.A. Bayona’s A Monster Calls is at an unfortunately paltry $79,000 before it goes wide this week. Tucked in there is also Ben Affleck’s Live By Night. Warner Bros. kept this from most critic’s group, not even giving it a chance for award consideration. As the film sits at 35% at Rotten Tomatoes, one can start to see why. This is a major disappointment given Affleck’s track record as a director, especially coming off the Oscar-winning Argo. With only $124,000 in limited release so far, look for Patriots Day to win that battle of the Bostonians when both open wide on the 13th.
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