February 18, 2019

Here's the Scoop...

How was your weekend? See any good movies? I wanna see that Cold Pursuit movie with that Liam Neeson guy. Well, that wasn't at the top of the heap this weekend...

The Robert Rodriguez-James Cameron collaboration Alita: Battle Angel is the No. 1 movie in North America this weekend, earning $27.8 million in receipts, BoxOfficeMojo.com announced Sunday.

Coming in at No. 2 is The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part with $21.2 million, followed by Isn't It Romantic at No. 3 with $14.2 million, What Men Want at No. 4 with $10.9 million and Happy Death Day 2U at No. 5 with $9.8 million.

Rounding out the top tier are Cold Pursuit at No. 6 with $6 million, The Upside at No. 7 with $5.6 million, Glass at No. 8 with $3.9 million, The Prodigy at No. 9 with $3.2 million and Green Book at No. 10 with $2.8 million.

Be Well,
Steve

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Academy reverses decision: All Oscars to be presented live on air

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences reversed its decision to hand out four Oscars during commercial breaks in an attempt to shorten its broadcast on ABC.

"The academy has heard the feedback from its membership regarding the Oscar presentation of four awards -- Cinematography, Film Editing, Live Action Short, and Makeup and Hairstyling. All Academy Awards will be presented without edits, in our traditional format. We look forward to Oscar Sunday," the officers of the academy's board of governors said in a statement Friday.

Several filmmakers expressed their disappointment after the decision was made to give out the four awards during commercial breaks, then honor the winners during a taped segment later in the show.

"I would not presume to suggest what categories should occur during commercials on Oscars night, but, please: Cinematography & Editing are at the very heart of our craft. They are not inherited from a theatrical or literary tradition: they are cinema itself," Oscar-winning The Shape of Water writer-director Guillermo del Toro tweeted.

Alfonso Cuaron, whose film Roma is up for 10 Oscars this year, also urged the academy to reconsider how it recognized the winners in the four categories.

"In the history of CINEMA, masterpieces have existed without sound, without color, without a story, without actors and without music. No one single film has ever existed without CINEMAtography and without editing," the filmmaker said.

The Oscars gala in Los Angeles on Feb. 24 will celebrate excellence in film for 2018. This will be the first time in 30 years the ceremony won't have a host after comedian Kevin Hart backed out of the gig due to criticism regarding homophobic jokes he made nearly a decade ago.

Swiss actor Bruno Ganz dies at 77

Bruno Ganz, a Swiss actor known for playing roles ranging from an angel to Hitler, his agent said Saturday.

Ganz died Friday in his home in Zurich at age 77 of colon cancer.

Ganz's biggest acting role was portraying German dictator Adolf Hitler during his final days inside his Berlin bunker in the 2004 film Downfall.

Critic Rob Mackie described Ganz in a Guardian review of the film as "the most convincing screen Hitler yet: an old, bent, sick dictator with the shaking hands of someone with Parkinson's, alternating between rage and despair in his last days in the bunker."

Ganz told The Guardian in 2005 that after analyzing historic records for months as research for the role, he believed that Hitler had Parkinson's disease late in his life.

"There is newsreel of him presenting medals to the Hitler Youth a few days before his death, and you can see his hand shaking, so I visited a hospital and observed Parkinson's sufferers," Ganz said.

While some criticized him for humanizing the dictator, his rants in the role later became fodder for memes on social media used to create parodies.

Ganz also received accolades for playing an angel in the 1987 film Wings of Desire, and he played the role again in the film's sequel in 1993, Faraway, So Close!

His latest film appearance was in 2018 in Lars von Trier's The House that Jack Built, a Cannes premiere.

Ganz also performed in plays, such as Harold Pinter's, The Homecoming and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust.

He had the Iffland-Ring, a diamond studded ring stamped with the image of German actor August Wilhelm Iffland, an accolade for the "most significant and worthy" German-speaking actor of their era.

It is not known who Ganz had chosen to pass the ring onto at the time of his death.

He is survived by his son, Daniel.

LOOSE LIPS:

"Warning...Don't lean back on the toilet when pregnant."
--Jessica Simpson, on breaking her toilet seat in addition to her numerous other pregnancy woes, on Instagram

??? Guess Who ???

Which singer and actress will perform 'Place Where Lost Things Go' at the Oscars?

Bond 25 release date pushed back two months

The official James Bond website said the release date has changed for the 25th film in the Agent 007 franchise.

"We are absolutely thrilled to be releasing Bond 25 on 8 April 2020," producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli said in a statement Friday.

True Detective Season 1 and Beasts of No Nation director Cary Joji Fukunaga is set to helm the movie, which will once again star Daniel Craig as the iconic British spy.

Craig previously played the role in Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall and Spectre.

Miranda Lambert marries Brendan McLoughlin

Country music star Miranda Lambert announced on Instagram she has married her beau Brendan McLoughlin.

"In honor of Valentine's Day I wanted to share some news. I met the love of my life. And we got hitched! My heart is full. Thank you Brendan Mcloughlin for loving me for.... me. #theone," Lambert captioned a pair of outdoor wedding photos in her Saturday post.

UsMagazine.com said McLoughlin is a 27-year-old New York Police Department officer who has a 3-month-old child with his ex Kaihla Rettinger.

Lambert's publicist confirmed the marriage to People.com.

E! News said the couple exchanged wedding vows on Jan. 26 in Davidson County, Tenn.

Lambert had never publicly discussed her relationship with McLoughlin before announcing their wedding. She was previously married to Blake Shelton four years, ending in 2015.

??? Guess Who ???

Which singer and actress will perform 'Place Where Lost Things Go' at the Oscars?

Bette Midler announced on Twitter she plans to perform at the Oscars in Los Angeles on Feb. 24.

"So, (drum roll) Ladies and Gentlemen, I will be chanteusing (that's singing) on the Oscars on Feb 24 ... the nominated song from Mary Poppins...'The Place Where Lost Things Go' ...so excited!!" Midler tweeted Saturday.

All five of the Best Song nominees will be performed at the gala honoring excellence in fil. Also shortlisted for the honor are "All the Stars" from Black Panther; "I'll Fight" from RBG; "Shallow" from A Star is Born; and "When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings" from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.