After a campaign that’s felt so long it seems like there should be a presidential inauguration at the end of it, here we are.  The 86th Academy Awards are about to begin, and while tedium is inevitable (Ellen DeGeneres, although certain to be less obnoxious than last year’s Seth MacFarlane, isn’t exactly a fount […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Year to date, Sony and Universal (on the basis of sheer volume of films) is slightly ahead of Warner Brothers (the studio with the year’s only big hit so far), although three studios are very close to each other. Scroll down for domestic and overseas grosses for each film individually so far […]

  OPENINGS:  NON-STOP (Universal) had a very solid Saturday, rising 22% from Friday, and even though Oscar Sunday may push it below the $30M weekend it’s currently projecting, it should comfortably take the weekend.  This will be the highest non-Taken opening of Liam Neeson’s late-in-life action star career, and the movie should clean up overseas […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, weekend #9 of 2014 looks like $110 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, somewhat better than we forecast Wednesday ($100 million) but 18% below the average for this weekend. Opening at 3,090 theaters Friday, Non-Stop from Universal grossed $10.1 million Friday and $12.4 million Saturday, keeping the film on track for […]

  The following are my final predictions for the 2014 Academy Awards (you can find a much more detailed analysis for all the major categories in our Why and Why Not? posts).  Keep in mind:  (a) I’m often wrong, (b) these are predictions and not my personal choices (Go, Team Her!), (c) the Academy loves […]

  And the winners were… 12 Years A Slave, Matthew McConaughey, Cate Blanchett, Jared Leto, Lupita Nyong’o… Hey, wait a minute.  Aren’t the Oscars tomorrow night? There was a time when the Independent Spirit Awards were genuinely, you know… independent.  Films like Leaving Las Vegas, The Apostle, Gods and Monsters, Election and Memento won Best […]

  Here are links to all our Oscarland “Why and Why Not” pieces, running through the rationales for and against all the nominees in the major Academy Award categories: Best Picture Best Director Best Actor Best Actress Best Supporting Actor Best Supporting Actress  

  We’ve taken a tour through Best Actress and Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress, and Best Director, and that leaves one last major gold statue to be handed out.  As we have all along, we will assume that every nominee deserves to be there on merit, and we’ll pass on the […]