So the big night for all things motion picture was last night, & the Disney Empire only took home a small fraction of the 17 awards they were up for. In their defense in a lot of the categories they were nominated, they were up against themselves in one form or fashion. Even in those they came up just short. Nothing surprising though this year's list of nominees were so stacked, a lot of things were hard to call, & just as hard to argue with the winners. I knew Black Panther stood no chance at Best Picture. So, that was no surprise. In fact I've seen most of the films nominated, & Green Book was an amazing film. My choice to win for that matter. Black Panther did take home 3 trophies though, Best Costume, Best Production Design, & Best Original Score. A well deserved, great win for Marvel that was bound to cut into the 17 nominations no matter how it was sliced. Due to Mary Poppins Returns also being nominated in those categories. Some more that had double bookings with Best Original Song, Best Animated Feature, & the Disney loaded Best Special Effects categories, they weren't so fortunate in. However, I cannot disagree with any of the winners at all. It was just that right of a race. All the original songs were great, I've heard Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse wouldn't have surprised some in the actual Best Picture category. The closest race in my head for the night though, was Special Effects. Disney had three examples of very different types of Effects showcased in Solo, Infinity War, & Christopher Robin, but once again, no arguements can be made. First Man had effects so good you'd have one keen eye if you could even spot them all versus actual documentary footage. Other than that Bao was a shoe in for Animated Short as it was pretty much the only one everyone has seen. Great awards race, I've never agreed with more picks in one show than this one. Might've even restored a little of my faith in the Academy Awards. Your thoughts though? Put 'em in the comments, like, & share.
The Magic Behind The "Mary Poppins Returns" Bathtub Scene
This is why I love practical special effects so much! If you don't like knowing how the magic happens, don't watch this behind the scenes footage for the Mary Poppins Returns bathtub scene. For those as intrigued as myself in how they pull this stuff off without computers, this is definitely for you. I know you've at least seen this scene in the many trailers if you haven't seen the film yet. And if you're like me you just wrote it off to modern CGI effects. That said, I was ecstatic to find out I was wrong. This is what I used to love most about pre-CGI movie making. You had to just figure it out, & usually go through some pretty extensive means to pull things off. I'm not going to go into the house, you'll have to watch the short video for that. However, I will say I want this setup. This scene all the sudden looks like it was a blast to shoot. Not only that I can't wait for the BluRay release, just to see how much of this film was shot like this. Amazing! Or, practically perfect in every way, case being. What do y'all think though? Were you as blown away by this as I was? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
New Sneak Peek For "Mary Poppins Returns"
Another look at Disney's upcoming Mary Poppins Returns , & the more I see, the more I'm falling in love with this movie. We'll have to wait until December 19th to be sure, but this late sequel looks practically perfect in every way. I can't wait to see how it will fit side by side with the original. Besides the updated effects it looks right in line. I absolutely loved the answer as to why she's there. If this trailer is anything to go off, we're looking for a real treat this holiday season. Anyway, I loved it, wha tg did y'all think? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
Disney Releases A "Special Look" At "Mary Poppins Returns"
I love all these different names for trailers now. Essentially that's what this is. It's a minute long short trailer, preview, teaser, but specifically in this case, it's a "special look" at Mary Poppins Returns. That said, I totally dug it. Who dosen't want dolphins in their bathtub? There's a lot of quick jumps to a bunch of fantastic looking scenes. I really get the feel of the original in some of these. I've still got my fingers crossed this actually feels like a follow up sequel, & doesn't come off as remake. Some of these double digit years later sequels try to pay homage so much they just go through the original motion. Fingers crossed until December 19th, but this special look at proves we're in for at least a visual treat that will pay homage to a beloved classic. If we also get a classic sequel to match, all the better. Anyway, I really liked the look of this "special look". What about y'all? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
"Mary Poppins Returns" Official Trailer Debuted!!
I'm officially super excited for Mary Poppins Returns after this trailer. They made sure to show you this has a little of everything you loved from the original. This gives a real look into what to expect from the upcoming sequel. It seems much in same ballpark as this year's Christopher Robin . As it looks like it's really going to deal with growing up, & forgetting what's important while lost in your grownup world. Which is also basically the original theme, totally forgetting your children while wrapped up in the complications of life. Mary Poppins pops in right when she's needed the most. With music, dancing, magic, & a little trip to an animated world. Writing all this brings me to my biggest 2 concerns. Are we just going through the motions of what has already been done? Just playing on nostalgia? And if not can Mary Poppins really return from 1964? Will this film work in 2018 with a mass audience? The first is the one that concerns me the most. This trailer looks more like a remake than a sequel. In fact, if you were to turn off the sound, I'd argue some would just think it was a remake. Putting that major concern aside though, I thought the trailer was amazing. Everyone looked perfect in their roles, the animation looked absolutely amazing, & it totally captured the spirit of the original Mary Poppins . There is a chance this just feels rehashed, but to judge just by this trailer alone, December 19th has a lot of potential to be great. I'm curious to hear what y'all think though? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
Disney Surprises With A Very Early Teaser For "Mary Poppins Returns"
I was not expecting this while watching the Academy Awards last night, & at first I was a little confused at the timing. I mean, this film doesn't release until Christmas. I'll be surprised if anyone remembers this by August's Christopher Robin. Then I realized who this was for, when I saw how surprised & excited my mom was. She had no idea Mary Poppins Returns was even going to be a thing. As big as Disney wants this to be, it makes a lot of sense to go ahead & put it in people's heads. That said, I enjoyed the hell out of this tease. I felt the same emotions I felt with "We're home" tease from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. This short tease gives you a quick intro to the family, as well as your first look at Emma Blunt as Mary Poppins. Might I say, she looks practically perfect in every way. Anyway, this was a very unexpected surprise, & an amazing teaser or announcement trailer. So amazing that who knows? Maybe we will remember it by the time we start ramp up marketing closer to this film's release. What did y'all think? Did you get the nostalgic feels? Put it in the comments, like & share.
Thoughts On Disney*Pixar*Marvel*Lucasfilm Line-up For The Year
Disney released their line-up for the year along with these pics, some new & old, last night. I thought it would be a great time to go over what's coming out, & go over our anticipation going in. Now, they put them from first to last. Which to me was messed up, because after you read the last ones you're all the sudden most excited for the stuff that's furthest away. So I'm going to do it in reverse. That way when the list is done, what you read last is the closest release. See, I'm always thinking of y'all..
Mary Poppins Returns (Dec. 25) - Christmas will be a "Jolly Holiday" with Mary Poppins Returns, where everyone's favorite nanny gets a reprise by Emily Blunt. She'll be joined by Lin-Manuel Miranda as Jack the lamplighter, Ben Whishaw & Emily Mortimer as Michael & Jane Banks, Julie Walters as Banks' housekeeper Ellen, Colin Firth as Fidelity Bank's William Weatherall Wilkins, & Meryl Streep as Mary's cousin, Topsy. A new generation of Banks children will be played by Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh, & newbie Joel Dawson. Mary Poppins has to have some drop-ins, so we'll also be getting an appearance from Angela Lansbury as the Balloon Lady while Dick Van Dyke will be playing the retired chairman of the bank now ran by Firth's character, Mr. Dawes Jr.. This is one I want to say I'm super excited for, like the kids in this pic, but I'm a little hesitant still on this one. Everything looks great, but we're talking a lot of time that has passed between these. Not only that, but this was a period piece even then. I just hope a Mary Poppins can still come off as relevant today. Lord knows, the right amount of talent is involved, so if it's going to happen, this is the way to do it. I can't wait to see more of this to help me really reach a decision.
Ralph Breaks The Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 (Nov 21) - This one has John C. Reilly & Sarah Silverman coming back together as Ralph & Vanellope von Schweetz to save Sugar Rush by finding a replacement part on the World Wide Web. They will be joined in their adventures by Taraji Henson as website owner Yesss, head algorithm & heart & soul of "BuzzzTube". I think we all know where they're going with that one. This is something I couldn't believe when it was announced. I LOVE some Wreck-It Ralph, but I never thought we'd be getting a sequel. I mean, look how long we had to wait for The Incredibles. The first Ralph blew me away though. Not only was it hilarious, it had a lot of heart & soul. If this sequel is half as good as the first, it will still be a great film. November 21 is going to be a long, hard wait. Love this image of the internet though.
The Nutcracker & the Four Realms (Nov 2) - If there's one on this list that I'm worried about not even liking, this is the one. Now, I've said before I've never actually seen the Nutcracker fully in any form. When I heard the story it just never seemed that intriguing to me. The trailer didn't do anything to help me either. If I didn't know better, & there was no sound, I would have swore it was a new chapter to Chronicles of Narnia. Which in all honesty, makes me wonder if I won't be the only one to think that, & if it will affect the box-office? Anyway, Clara (Mackenzie Foy) is on a quest for a one-of-a-kind key, leading her to a parallel world. Once there, she encounters soldier Phillip, a gang a mice, & the regents presiding over three realms: the Lands of Snowflakes, Flowers, & Sweets. However, she must brave the Fourth Realm, home to what will probably be the best part of the film, the tyrant Mother Ginger (Hellen Mirren). Along the way she'll also run into the Sugar Plum Fairy (Keira Knightly) & a performance from Misty Copeland. I'm not sure I'll be excited for this one even if I see more. Here's the pic of the Sugar Plum Fairy along with some very elemental looking fellas. I think the stills are coming off better than the teaser.
Disney's Christopher Robin (Aug 3) - I'm all about some Winnie the Pooh. In fact, my wife makes fun of me for loving two kiddie movies as she calls them. One is The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh & the other is Cars. This live-action film will follow Christopher Robin, played by one of my favorite actors Ewan McGregor, now an adult who has lost his way. His old friends from the Hundred Acre Wood will help him try to find the loving, playful boy within. That's about all the plot we're getting at this time, but what else do we need? A pic of the title logo you say? Well you're in luck because that came out to. This sounds great though. I mean, it's a Hundred Acre Wood version of TED, I'm super pumped to see how this works out.
Marvel Studios' Ant-Man & the Wasp (Jul 6) - The first Ant-Man caught me way off guard. I'm a big Paul Rudd fan so I figured I was going to dig it, but it blew me away. It really pulled off being an awesome superhero flick, while also being a great comedy film at the same time. This pic of Rudd & Evangeline Lilly as Ant-Man & the Wasp totally helps build up my excitement too. Her suits not only look great, it totally compliments his giving it that same tech feel. This come right off Captain America: Civil War, where Lang will not only have to deal with his decisions there as a hero & father. He'll also team up once again with Hope & Dr. Hank Pym to uncover secrets from the past. I'm guessing Hank's lost wife most likely?? Hoping this one can be as funny as the first. Can't wait to find out.
Incredibles 2 (Jun 15) - To say the wait has been long & hard for this one to happen would be an understatement. While we don't know much about the actual plot, we do know that the fam will be having to figure out how to handle Jack-Jack's new multi-set of powers & Brad Bird's returning to helm the film. This is going to be, well, incredible! Couldn't pass that up. Here's a pic of the fam looking like they're about to take on something big. We've waited so long, that this one seems really close now.
Solo: A Star Wars Story (May 25) - Oh man, this one has gone through some things hasn't it. To say the Star Wars movie no one asked for has had it's problems is definitely short-changing the situation. Still no trailer, & this title pic is the most we've really even got so far. We've at least now been told we're getting the meeting of Chewie, some Lando, & the Falcon, but they really need an awesome trailer to get A New Hope going on this one. It's rumored it's coming, & I still have my fingers crossed for this one. Disney's Lucasfilm hasn't done me wrong yet, if anyone can pull this one out the gutter it's them.
Marvel Studio's Avengers: Infinity War (May 4) - This is the one on this list for me this year. All the build up to Thanos comes to an end here setting up Avengers 4, which will be a soft ending for the Marvel Universe as we know it. The trailers to this thing have been epic. I know this is going to be an awesome set-up for all hell to break loose in the next film. This has been described as a heist film, with Thanos gathering up the stones for his Infinity Gauntlet. This pic looks straight from the trailer with the battle on Wakanda. One of the many grand action spots I'm sure this film is going to give us.
Disney's A Wrinkle in Time (Mar 9) - The more & more I see of this, I'm finding myself looking forward to seeing it. Director Ava DuVernay's adaption of Madeleine L'Engle's novel looks absolutely beautiful. I don't remember the original, & I'm holding off to compare afterward, as to not spoil anything considering I don't remember. It follows struggling to fit in high school student, Meg Murry (Storm Reid). She & her brother Charles Wallace are extremely gifted in ways they don't know. Their parents are world-renowned physicists, & Mr. Murry (Chris Pine) has went missing. Following his disappearance three celestial beings Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey), Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon), & Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling) journey to Earth to guide Meg, her brother, & classmate Calvin to tesser through time & space to confront an evil force of darkness that is rapidly enveloping the Universe. This synopsis came with this pic of said celestial beings hanging out in a wheat field. They look so out of place, but the film looks awesome nonetheless.
Marvel Studios' Black Panther (Feb 16) - This movie is another one that the more I see of it, the more my interest has grown in it. Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa/Black Panther is Billy Dee Williams cool. Just as he comes home to Wakanda, (Which looks awesome by the way!) to take his rightful place on the throne following his father's death in Civil War, he also has to deal with the re-emerging of a powerful old enemy. This image released captures the cool I was speaking of with T'Challa alongside bodyguards Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o, left) & Shuri (Letitia Wright, right). They will be joined by Michael B Jordan, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, & Andy Serkis. I've already got my tickets, & from the Marvel-record-breaking pre-sales, I'm not the only one. The trailers have put all my worries to rest really on this one now. I'm looking forward to a really good origin story.
That sums up my thoughts on this years releases. I think we're going to have a really great year at the movies this time around. What I really want to know is, what's your thoughts? Which one of these are y'all looking forward to the most? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
Disney Throws Us Some New & Updated Release Dates
Disney released the newest upcoming release date line-up, & it now includes dates for Aladdin, Christopher Robin, Artemis Fowl & more. I was just going take the easy way out & list the new ones, but I figured why not list the whole thing? Here's Disney's upcoming release line up:
- Thor: Ragnarok (November 3, 2017): Literally already have tickets for this one.
- Coco (November 22, 2017): I was worried at first with this being so close to the material of Book of Life, but I can't get enough of what I've seen so far.
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi (December 15, 2017): Every time the trailer for this film plays I stop what I'm doing. Doesn't matter where I am. I can't wait for this.
- Black Panther (February 16, 2018): I didn't know much about the Black Panther until I watched the cartoon mini-series from awhile before the MCU. I loved that series though. Hoping this follows suit.
- A Wrinkle in Time (March 9, 2018): I'm not sure what to think of this yet. The trailer showed they've definitely got the means & the budget to make this, this time around. It's a very intriguing story.
- Dolphins (April 20, 2018): Saw my first DisneyNature film in theaters with the China one this year, & I'm thinking that's going to become our new Earth Day thing. Beautiful film.
- Avengers: Infinity War (May 4, 2018): Can this just happen already?
- Untitled Han Solo Star Wars Story (May 25, 2018): Hopefully this movie will overcome it's many developmental problems & have a name by the time it's released.
- Incredibles 2 (June 15, 2018): Why have we waited so long? This should've been a thing already.
- Untitled Christopher Robin Project (August 3, 2018): This is probably one of the most intriguing films on this list. This will either be great or just wrong on so many levels. Love Ewan McGregor though.
- The Nutcracker & the Four Realms (November 2, 2018): I had never heard of this until today, but with Keira Knightley, Helen Mirren, & Morgan Freeman, I will make a point to hear more.
- Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 (November 21, 2018): Loved the first. Heard the sneak peek at D23 was great.
- Mary Poppins Returns (December 25, 2018): Fingers crossed. It's been a long time. Emily Blunt & Lin-Manuel Miranda though? It's gotta be good right?
- Dumbo (March 29, 2019): Tim Burton? Really? Have you heard about the new story? This is the one on this list, if any, that I just don't know about this one working at all.
- Untitled DisneyToon Studios Film (April 12, 2019): Aviation. That's everything known about this movie. I have more faith in that than Dumbo.
- Live-Action Aladdin (May 24, 2019): This one is shaping up to be ever so strange. I have to see it just for that fact. Can all the peculiar choices work?
- Toy Story 4 (June 21, 2019): Can I get tickets for this now? Only question I have is will this coincide with the opening of Toy Story Land?
- Artemis Fowl (August 9, 2019): I kinda see this as Disney's answer to Harry Potter. I hope this is good enough to make me want to read the books as well.
- Nicole (November 8, 2019): This is the weird daughter of Santa Claus movie starring Anna Kendrick. This thing is still happening.
- Star Wars: Episode IX (December 20, 2019): Newest test in J.J. Abrams ending something as good as he begins them.
Any of these stand out? Any of these you want to go away? Hit the links for everything heard so far, & then put your thoughts in the comments, like, & share.
Check Out Mary Poppins In Entertainment Weekly
Friday's 6/9 issue of Entertainment Weekly has an exclusive first look at Mary Poppins Returns. I've collaged some of the released pics below, but I'd be pretty sure this won't be it for the issue. It's cool to get a visual of our new Poppins, new companion Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda) a lamp lighter that was a former apprentice of original's Bert (Dick Van Dyke), & the family they're out to help. You've got some concept art that looks pretty familiar of Cherry Tree Lane, as well as Jack lighting some lamps & his favorite abandoned park. There's an actual shot of some lamp-lighters looking like they're in or just finished a song & dance number. Then speaking of song we've got the cast together around the piano with Marc Shaiman. He wrote the new score with Scott Whittman. Director Rob Marshall & John Deluca are seen on the London set with Big Ben in the background. There's also a shot of the family, the kids with Jack & Poppins, & of course the beautiful cover featuring Mary Poppins ever so perfectly. They shed some details on top of these awesome behind the scenes pics too. This will take place 25 years after the first film into London's mid-1930's economic slump. When loving banker & artist Michael Banks (Ben Whishaw) loses his wife, he & his three kids are lost. Aunt Jane (Emily Mortimer) & housemaid Ellen (Julie Walters) can't even bring things back together. What do they need in their lives? Emily Blunt's Mary Poppins. She leads the family on adventures on the top of Big Ben, the bottom of the ocean, & encounters with some animated dancing penguins, as well as an upside-down cousin (Meryl Streep). If they pull this off, it is going to be amazing. According to the article the "filmmakers have dedicated themselves to being as faithful & respectful to the iconic original as possible while still crafting a fresh new family musical." I know I'm going to hold them to that. This synopsis sounds really good to me so far, & these pics look awesome. I can't wait to see a trailer for this, but it's gonna fell like forever as this one's not due till Christmas 2018. Until then, check out this issue. Most importantly though, I want to know what y'all think of all this? Let us know in the comments, like, & share.
