Dejana

So appalled with the turn Olivia's story has taken on Scandal . Way to prove that a more diverse writers' room leads to more racially sensitive storylines, Shonda!

Synergy...NBC is under the Universal umbrella and 50SoG is their movie.EL James was heavily involved in the movie's production, so I doubt Dakota looking like a younger version of her is coincidental.

The tampon scene may have been cut from the movie but was included in this fan-made animated trailer (possibly NSFW and I suppose story spoilers): The movie is 100 minutes long and will have apparently have 20 minutes of sex scenes. But apparently no jellyfish: Everyone went, 'What the f*** are those jellyfish doing there?' She goes on to express sadness over having to cut the jellyfish, because she found them "so sexual." It entertains me how they've tried so hard to make the Twilight fanfic movie artistic! The trilogy has sold 100 million copies worldwide. This isn't to say that makes them good, just that the movie is going to be very popular, at least in its first weekend.

Kingsman and Fifty Shades of Grey come out on the same weekend. It's really just a matter of how big 50S0G's opening weekend will be and how much its second weekend will collapse. I think the reports predicting a $60 million OW are too low; Valentine's Day did have half of Hollywood in it, but wasn't half as anticipated and managed $56M. The books have sold 100 million copies, putting the series in Harry Potter/Twilight/James Bond territory.

January 30–February 1, 2015 Estimates: 1 (1) American Sniper $31,850,000 | 3,885 Theaters | $8,198 Avg. | $248,942,000 2 (3) Paddington $8,505,000 | 3,303 Theaters | $2,575 Avg. | $50,540,000 3 (N) Project Almanac $8,500,000 | 2,893 Theaters | $2,938 Avg. | $8,500,000 4 (N) Black or White $6,456,000 | 1,823 Theaters | $3,541 Avg. | $6,456,000 5 (2) The Boy Next Door $6,093,000 | 2,615 Theaters | $2,330 Avg. | $24,684,000 6 (4) The Wedding Ringer $5,700,000 | 2,820 Theaters | $2,021 Avg. | $48,100,000 7 (6) The Imitation Game $5,173,000 | 2,402 Theaters | $2,154 Avg. | $67,955,000 8 (5) Taken 3 $3,650,000 | 2,533 Theaters | $1,441 Avg. | $81,353,000 9 (7) Strange Magic $3,441,000 | 3,020 Theaters | $1,139 Avg. | $9,899,000 10 (N) The Loft $2,879,000 | 1,841 Theaters | $1,564 Avg. | $2,879,000 Game of Thrones (IMAX) $1,501,000 | 205 Theaters | $7,322 Avg. | $1,501,000 Mortdecai $1,425,000 | 2,648 Theaters | $538 Avg. | $6,844,000 Blackhat $114,000 | 236 Theaters | $483 Avg. | $7,828,000 Best Picture Watch: 1. American Sniper $248,942,000 2. The Imitation Game $67,955,000 3. The Grand Budapest Hotel $59,100,318 4. Selma $43,578,0005. 5. Birdman $33,237,000 6. The Theory of Everything $30,600,000 7. Boyhood $25,071,500 8. Whiplash $8,650,000 Total Gross: $517,133,818 Average Gross: $64,641,727 Other Contenders: Into the Woods $1,942,000 | 1,725 Theaters | $1,126 Avg. | $124,388,000 Still Alice $622,000 | 84 Theaters | $7,405 Avg. | $1,508,000 Wild $550,000 | 418 Theaters | $1,316 Avg. | $35,669,000 Foxcatcher $274,000 | 302 Theaters | $907 Avg. | $11,451,000 Two Days, One Night $154,000 | 64 Theaters | $2,406 Avg. | $611,000

I don't remember the miniseries first airing, but was aware of the basics when I finally read the book as a teenager. As it usually happens when I read the book first, the onscreen version fell flat for me. In the book, Meggie is really struck by the resemblance between Ralph and Luke and though she later comes to believe they looked less alike than she'd initially thought, it's a big part of why she doesn't think the Drogheda crowd will suspect Dane's true paternity. Another thing I missed from the book was that it went on about all the red hair in the family, especially with Justine. I guess I was expecting Australian Weasleys or something, and had an initial "Who are these people?" reaction to the onscreen Clearys. Which is so shallow and not the important thing, I realize, but hey... Also, I felt Meggie had more chemistry with Luke than the supposed love of her life, but it made sense after learning that Rachel Ward and Bryan Brown married the same year the miniseries came out.

Just saw the "stat" on ESPN that only four bearded quarterbacks have won the Super Bowl, the last being Roethlisberger. Russell Wilson is sporting a beard this year, but was clean-shaven last year. I guess it's something to talk about besides Deflate-gate...

Rita Moreno to play Rogelio's mother

For modern medical calculation purposes, you're considered pregnant before conception has actually occurred, so the 40 weeks of a full-term pregnancy includes the time before ovulation. Pregnancy, however, predates modern medical conventions and some think you're not actually pregnant until you're...pregnant. If you type a date of conception into a due date calculator, the date that's generated will be slightly less than nine months later. I guess since the last incarnation of the Fantastic Four went the fun/lighthearted superhero route before Marvel, this version has to do something different to stand out from that universe. But Fant4stic? No.

For me it has nothing to do with the attitude that "there can only be one". I just thought Kerry was kind of terrible in S3 of Scandal but figured that once she'd made the lead categories, she would keep getting nominated until the show fell out of favor with voters, as it happens with many of the TV acting awards. I thought maybe she was having a rough pregnancy and she didn't have energy for dynamic performances, but then I'd see her on red carpets in super-high heels and maternity crop tops, and it wasn't like her acting on Scandal exactly blew me away before then. But anyone who dared say that Kerry was just okay some weeks and Bellamy Young was more interesting to watch...it wasn't long before the insinuations came that people couldn't really deal seeing a black woman in a drama as the object of desire and of course, the show pushed the privileged white woman into the limelight because people are more "comfortable" with the familiar. The ole bait and switch. When, really, for me my feelings about the leading ladies of Scandal weren't radically different from preferring Sandra Oh/Cristina to Ellen Pompeo/Meredith on Grey's Anatomy. So, now that Viola and Taraji have come along, knocking it out of the park with their shows being huge hits, too, it makes it harder to trot out the argument that anyone not impressed with Kerry's acting on Scandal these days is just a hater who doesn't want black women to succeed.

Disney's making a live-action Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson. It's going to be a musical version with the familiar songs. Not sure why it needs to be another movie, but there's more money to be made, so...

Melissa Leo was such a frontruuner that year that prognosticators found her "Consider" ads, and "jokingly" badmouthing Hailee Steinfeld, completely inexplicable, and it was only then that came rumblings of a possible upset. Maybe Leo was always secure and it was just bored awards watchers looking for a story, or there wasn't one alternate choice to rally around (IIRC, Helena Bonham Carter won the BAFTA that year, and Steinfeld was the best shot for True Grit to win one of big categories).

Tom O'Neill has been in the Oscar watching game forever...he's seen a lot, and for someone to stand out for their campaigning just might be overdoing it. I turned on the SAG preshow and Eddie was the first person interviewed at six o'clock sharp, and just laughed. When you're a relative unknown in a heated race, you do what you gottta do, but he's been a tad....relentless. Jupiter Ascending comes out the same day Oscar voting starts...will it be seen as an ordinary turn in a popcorn flick or Redmayne's Norbit?

I wonder if Boyhood is another Social Network...critics wax rhapsodic but the guilds and Academy don't respond as well to it. Birdman is about an actor staging a comeback, so that probably resonates with a lot of voters. The Artist was about an actor coping with the changing Hollywood landscape and it managed to win Best Picture despite being a silent movie in black & white. Birdman does make more sense as the Boyhood alternative, if there's going to be such a thing, than the politically polarizing American Sniper. I guess Keaton's odds to win Best Actor have improved. I'm pleased that there's some unpredictability in this awards season after all!

January 23–25, 2015 Estimates: 1 (1) American Sniper $64,365,000 | 3,705 Theaters | $17,372 Avg. | $200,137,000 2 (N) The Boy Next Door $15,001,000 | 2,602 Theaters | $5,765 Avg. | $15,001,000 3 (3) Paddington $12,391,000 | 3,355 Theaters | $3,693 Avg. | $40,062,000 4 (2) The Wedding Ringer $11,600,000 | 3,003 Theaters | $3,863 Avg. | $39,677,000 5 (4) Taken 3 $7,600,000 | 2,909 Theaters | $2,613 Avg. | $76,051,000 6 (6) The Imitation Game $7,136,000 | 2,025 Theaters | $3,524 Avg. | $60,642,000 7 (N) Strange Magic $5,534,000 | 3,020 Theaters | $1,832 Avg. | $5,534,000 8 (5) Selma $5,500,000 | 2,046 Theaters | $2,688 Avg. | $39,220,000 9 (N) Mortdecai $4,125,000 | 2,648 Theaters | $1,558 Avg. | $4,125,000 10 (7) Into the Woods $3,886,000 | 2,270 Theaters | $1,712 Avg. | $121,494,000 Best Picture Watch: 1. American Sniper $200,137,000 2. The Imitation Game $60,642,000 3. The Grand Budapest Hotel $59,100,318 4. Selma $39,220,000 5. Birdman $30,913,000 6. The Theory of Everything $29,093,000 7. Boyhood $24,919,000 8. Whiplash $7,600,000 Total Gross: $451,624,318 Average Gross: $56,453,040 Global Totals: THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF FIVE ARMIES: $616.9M Overseas Total | $866.4M Global Total BIG HERO 6: $238.6M Overseas Total | $456M Global Total PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR: $240M Overseas Total | $321.2M Global Total NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB: $192.5M Overseas Total | $300.8M Global Total AMERICAN SNIPER: $47.5M Overseas Total | $248.2M Global Total TAKEN 3: $151.4M Overseas Total | $227.2M Global Total INTO THE WOODS: $34M Overseas Total | $155.4M Global Total UNBROKEN: $28.1M Overseas Total | $140.4M Global Total THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING: $41.7M Overseas Total | $70.6M Global Total BIRDMAN: $19.1M Overseas Total | $49.9M Global Total WILD: $5M Overseas Total | $39.7M Global Total BLACKHAT: $4.3M Overseas Total | $11.3M Global Total MORTDECAI: $5.2M Overseas Total | $9.7M Global Total

During filming last year, there were reports of Sam Taylor-Johnson and EL James clashing on the set, that they laughed off by posing together, but it's pretty easy to believe they had wildly differing visions of the story. The most surprising thing from that article is that they settled Dakota Johnson early on in the process. Maybe she's the perfect sort of Everywoman avatar for the audience. Compare it to JLo and Ryan Guzman promoting The Boy Next Door together; people saw them interacting a few times and just as quickly, dating rumors galore (which they deny). It isn't that two actors playing an onscreen have to sell the "are they/aren't they" level of chemistry in real life, but it's not the greatest advertising for such a supposedly steamy movie, that the two playing the sexy lovers always seem so stilted and awkward when compelled to be in each other's company.

Here come the "Anonymous Academy voter speaks!" stories: These stories always give a good insight into why the nominations/wins go the way that they do. This voter is a bit snarky (and not a fan of the Keira Knightley nom), but seems somewhat thoughtful, at least compared to other voters who've been profiled in similar stories. She mentions Julianne Moore being "completely charming" and "great at the Academy lunches" as part of the reasoning of why she'll win. OTOH, she's going to vote Iñárritu for Best Director despite her personal feelings about him, because she thinks much more highly of Birdman than Boyhood.

Per the IMDb: A newly divorced woman falls for a younger man who has recently moved in across the street from her, but their torrid affair soon takes a dangerous turn. Director: Rob Cohen Writer: Barbara Curry Stars: Jennifer Lopez, Ryan Guzman, Kristin Chenoweth There's been a lot of discussion about the title character not exactly looking like a high schooler and how it would be harder to play up the unintentional comedy angle, if he had. In the movie trailer thread, @Betweenyouandme brought up this: I think you might have more outrage at the idea of a female student possibly being victimized in some way, even if she had been legal and was played by someone in her late twenties. We're nearly twenty years on from Mary Kay Letourneau and female teachers are prosecuted for having sexual contact with students, even if it's not always treated like an outrage the way it would be with a male teacher, but the trailers/ads of The Boy Next Door seemed almost wholly divorced from anything approaching reality. So, maybe a gender flipped version with...IDK, Rob Lowe or John Stamos, being stalked by "high school student" Amber Heard, with a trailer that had a line as hilarious as "I love your mother's cookies"... Still, I can imagine a bunch of blog and social media posts protesting about Hollywood making light of a serious crime and that this is the industry that rushes to laud Roman Polanski and Woody Allen, so what can you expect? While in real life, there's not a brigade of masculinists rushing to defend Ryan Guzman's fictional virtue. Perhaps, if it were a female student more of the sympathy would be expected to go her way. As for the movie itself, the reviews make it sound entertainingly bad, with more than a few comparisons to Obsessed.

Responding in the movie's thread.

Belechick is addressing the media about Deflategate right now.

American Sniper made its public debut the same day as Selma (November 11), actually, at the same film festival. Selma came out of it with better buzz IIRC. Sniper was completed earlier and didn't have quite the same screener issues, and it was likely easier to get people to seek out a late entry to awards season when it's directed by Clint Eastwood, starring two-time Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper. It's funny to see the award prognosticators all over the inaccuracies with Sniper now that it's a big hit and Oscar threat, because the stories about that were out there before, but more in the sphere of The Guardian, as opposed to The Wrap and Awards Daily. Selma was out the same day and the LBJ controversy was widely discussed and dissected about what it meant for Selma's awards chances. Oscar voting doesn't start for more than two weeks (February 6-17). By then, the AS backlash could die down, intensify or the backlash to the backlash could rally support around it. Or it could help Boyhood be embraced by those AMPAS voters who may have been lukewarm about it not being "big" enough for Best Picture.

Ratings news: Expect Lifetime to churn out more terrible biopics!

Possibly, though it did extremely well in limited release, with three of the four theaters being in New York City and LA, and just one in Dallas (not that everyone on "the coasts" is super duper liberal). More info about the top markets this weekend: Execs at rival studios agree, stating (off the record) that "It felt like we opened against a Marvel movie" and complaining it shaved millions off the initial projections for their films.

For all the flack that get for Cookie and Luscious being stuck in the past, stylewise, Anika sure does look like she wandered in from being Halle's double on the set of Boomerang.

CNN was showing Forensic Files last night. Are they just hoping prerecorded series, specials and crime shows will lift the network's overall average?