Categories
Movies

I didn’t get to see any movies this week as I started working on one.

Box office report: Split slices competition, spends third week on top

No matter how you slice it, Split is a bonafide hit for M. Night Shyamalan.

Squaring off against a new entry in the aging Ring franchise that once competed against his former hits like Signs and Unbreakable as early-2000s genre juggernauts, Split has threepeated atop the North American box office, adding an estimated $14.6 million to its ballooning total, according to data compiled by analytics company comScore.

Split marks the first Universal release to have held the No. 1 domestic position for three weeks in a row since the studio debuted Straight Outta Compton in 2015. On a modest $9 million budget, the James McAvoy-fronted thriller has earned $98.7 million after 17 days in the U.S. and Canada thus far, with another $44 million coming from international territories ($14.6 million of which comes from 41 markets this weekend). The film still has 24 major markets on deck in the months ahead, including Mexico, France, and South Korea through the end of February.

Bowing at No. 2 nearly 12 years after the last installment in the iconic horror series opened to an astounding $35 million, Rings opens to an estimated $13 million at 2,931 locations — just about halving its reported $25 million production budget. Around 46 percent of Rings‘ audience was male, meaning young women (54 percent female, 67 percent under the age of 25) drove its ticket sales.

International grosses bring the movie’s global total to a healthy $28.2 million, with a stellar $2.7 million pouring in from Brazil, where, according to the studio, the film outperformed its pre-tracking numbers by 83 percent for a premiere gross above similar horror entries like Woman in Black, Mama, Lights Out, and Don’t Breathe. The film notches the second largest genre opening of all time in the country, falling short of 2016’s The Conjuring 2.

Rings, directed by F. Javier Gutierrez, is poised to take a steep dive across its second three-day frame in the coming days, as polled moviegoers on CinemaScore gave the picture a lowly C- grade.

Coming in at No. 3 is the controversy-laden family title A Dog’s Purpose, which dips around 40 percent for a sophomore frame finish of $10.8 million.

Spending their fifth consecutive week inside the domestic top five, best picture Oscar nominees Hidden Figures and La La Land — which won Damien Chazelle a best director victory at Saturday’s DGA Awards — round out the first half of the weekend chart, occupying the No. 4 and No. 5 slots with $10.1 million and $7.5 million respectively. La La Land, which scored a record-tying 14 Oscar nominations on Jan. 24, has quickly cemented itself as the best picture frontrunner, with massive worldwide box office numbers ($268.3 million and counting) likely fueling its good standing with Academy voters. The film is now the highest-grossing title in Ryan Gosling’s filmography and the eighth highest-grossing movie musical of all time.

After expanding its theater count by 830 on Friday, Garth Davis’ awards contender Lion grows 70.6 percent to an estimated $4 million at No. 8 this weekend, followed by the new Robert De Niro/Leslie Mann vehicle The Comedian, which pulls in a disappointing $1.1 million from 848 locations at No. 20.

Raoul Peck’s Oscar-nominated documentary I Am Not Your Negro impresses on the limited market, posting a solid $709,500 at 43 theaters for an estimated per-screen average of $16,500.

Per comScore analysis, overall box office is down around 2.8 percent from the same frame last year. Check out the Feb. 3-5 box office estimates below.

1. Split – $14.6 million
2. Rings – $13 million
3. A Dog’s Purpose – $10.8 million
4. Hidden Figures – $10.1 million
5. La La Land – $7.5 million
6. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter – $4.5 million
7. Sing – $4 million
8. Lion – $4 million
9. The Space Between Us – $3.8 million
10. xXx: Return of Xander Cage – $3.7 million

Categories
Internet

Occasionally I find them useful, but mostly it’s trolls.

IMDb Is Getting Rid of Its (Awful) Discussion Boards

If you’re a repulsive internet troll who enjoys debating the attractiveness of celebrities way out of your league, we’ve got some bad news. In the name of taste and decency, IMDb has decided to delete its discussion boards.

As Variety reports, the industry-leading film site has opted to ditch its boards after determining that they’re “no longer providing a positive, useful experience.”

The company released a statement about the decision, saying, “As part of our ongoing effort to continually evaluate and enhance the customer experience on IMDb, we have decided to disable IMDb’s message boards on February 20, 2017. We regret any disappointment or frustration IMDb message board users may experience as a result of this decision.”

Of course, anyone who has viewed the IMDb message boards knows that they were often safe-havens for repugnant comments that were misogynistic, racist and generally distasteful. This is certainly a move in the right direction.

IMDb also said they plan to introduce new features this year, though they haven’t shared any details just yet.

Categories
South Park

When real life is this hard to believe…how do you mock it?

South Park to back off mocking Trump

South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone say fans keep assuming they must be loving the Trump presidency — there’s so much dramatic material to parody, right?

But no, the duo behind the long-running Comedy Central hit says in a new ABC News interview. Though last season had a character clearly inspired by Trump, Parker and Stone say they’re likely going to back off mocking “everybody in government” when they return. Why? Because it’s become too hard.

“It feels like it’s going to be more difficult,” Stone says.

“They’re already going out and doing the comedy,” Parker adds. “It’s not something you can make fun of.”

“We’re having our head blown off like everybody else,” Stone says.

“It’s tricky and it’s really tricky now as satire has become reality,” Parker notes. “We were really trying to make fun of what was going on [last season] but we couldn’t keep up. What was actually happening was way funnier than anything we could come up with. So we decided to just back off and let [politicians] do their comedy and we’ll do ours.”

South Park is expected to return for its 21st season later this year.

Categories
Awards

Congratulations, Sarah!!

Sarah McLachlan to be inducted into Canadian Music Hall of Fame

Sarah McLachlan is joining the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences says the “Building a Mystery” songstress will be this year’s inductee into the space celebrating some of the country’s most influential musicians.

She’ll also be honoured with a tribute during the Juno Awards, which take place at Ottawa’s Canadian Tire Centre on April 2.

“It’s a wonderful validation,” the singer said in a phone interview.

“I’ve been working almost 30 years — which I can barely say without cringing it’s just so shocking — and loving every minute of it.”

McLachlan has gathered numerous accolades throughout her career, including 10 Juno Awards and three Grammys. She’s also the founder of Lilith Fair, considered one of the most influential music festivals of the 1990s for helping unite female artists with a unique voice.

The Canadian Music Hall of Fame opened its new home in the National Music Centre at Calgary’s Studio Bell last year.

Past inductees include Burton Cummings, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen, as well as other female voices of the 1990s pop scene like Alanis Morissette and Shania Twain.

***

McLachlan talked to The Canadian Press about preparing to join the Hall of Fame and whether she’s considered writing a protest song to support recent women’s marches against U.S. President Donald Trump.

CP: When it comes to Canadian music honours, the Hall of Fame is pretty much the pinnacle. Has it triggered you to reflect on your career?

McLachlan: I’m not particularly reflective. I’m always looking forward … I guess something like this, sure, perhaps on the day — and in the moment — I’ll be a little more reflective than I am now. I’m just too busy living.

CP: Usually Hall of Fame organizers collect a bunch of memorabilia from each honouree and put it on display at Calgary’s Studio Bell for the year. Have you saved material they can use?

McLachlan: Oh, this is a big problem. I’m not nostalgic in that manner and I don’t hold onto things. They’ve asked me to provide a whole bunch of stuff. And I’m like, “I don’t keep any of that.” Maybe someone does. It’s just I’m not a hoarder. I like purging, cleansing and uncluttering. So I’m like, “Oh, gosh, I might be able to scrounge up all my CDs?” I long ago gave all my gold records to (the Sarah McLachlan School of Music), which I can of course go and collect those back.

CP: When I talked to Burton Cummings last year he said he dove into some dusty boxes to pull out old photos and other bits of nostalgia.

McLachlan: Old photos! Who even keeps those anymore? They all live in a hard drive now. Except we — Burton and I — grew up in a time where we took photographs and had them printed and put them in frames. I have to go down into the abyss (of the basement) and see if I can find some stuff.

CP: Thinking of Lilith Fair, you’ve always been a supportive voice for women in music. What do you think of the thousands of people who gathered in communities around the world to show solidarity with the Women’s March in Washington?

McLachlan: Oh, God, that was great. I’m afraid that a revolution is coming. And I’m afraid that’s what we might need. It’s hard for me because as a Canadian I can’t vote, I can’t have a say (in the United States). All we can do is try to create the change in our world, in our communities, that we’ve been working towards. Make those small changes and keep promoting love, good energy and equality. And keep speaking up and speaking out.

CP: Did you take part in any of the women’s marches?

McLachlan: I wasn’t even in town. I was in the middle of nowhere when it happened. I wanted to be a part of it, but I just couldn’t.

CP: A growing number of musicians have been unleashing protest and activism songs over the past few weeks. Have you felt an urge to put some of your feelings to song?

McLachlan: I’ve never considered myself a political person. In order to write about something I need to feel like I know it inside and out — which is probably why I stick to writing from an emotional point of view. It’s a very personal thing how we choose to create change in the world. Some people are vocal about it; some people do it very quietly. I tend to do it more quietly. This is taking up such a powerful part of our everyday life — all of us — you can’t escape it. So it may well come out in my songs. I don’t usually say, ’I’m going to write a song about this.’ It just kind of happens.

Categories
People

Another icon of my life is gone. Rest in peace, John Wetton.

Asia Co-Founder and King Crimson Vet John Wetton Dead at 67

John Wetton, the bassist and singer for Asia, as well as a former member of King Crimson and U.K., has died at the age of 67 after a battle with cancer.

Wetton first came to rock fans’ attention in 1972 when he joined a revamped King Crimson lineup, sticking with the group over a two-year span that included the records Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Starless and Bible Black and Red. Upon Crimson’s temporary disbandment, he served stints with Roxy Music and Uriah Heep before co-founding U.K. with Yes vet Bill Bruford and embarking on a solo career.

All that early success, however, was just a warm-up for the multi-platinum frenzy that surrounded his next project. With A&R legend John Kalodner acting as musical matchmaker, Wetton joined up with former Yes members Geoff Downes and Steve Howe and ex-Emerson, Lake & Palmer drummer Carl Palmer to form Asia — a so-called prog supergroup whose self-titled debut topped the charts in the U.S. on its way to more than four million in sales.

Asia’s quick start presaged a turbulent period for the original lineup, as they struggled to maintain their momentum, temporarily parted ways with Wetton, and ultimately disbanded following 1985’s little-heard Astra LP. A late-’80s reunion ended with Wetton departing to resume his solo career, while Downes soldiered on with a new version of the group that persisted throughout the ’90s and early aughts.

Wetton and Downes reignited their creative partnership after the turn of the century, coming together for a series of duo albums as Icon — activity that presaged the reunion of the original Asia lineup in 2006. After a successful tour, the group resumed recording, putting out a trio of LPs (2008’s Phoenix, 2010’s Omega and 2012’s XXX) before Howe departed and was replaced by new guitarist Sam Coulson prior to the recording of 2014’s Gravitas.

A number of health issues dogged Wetton during recent years, including a struggle with alcoholism that he openly acknowledged and a heart condition that required surgery and the postponement of a 2007 tour. More recently, Wetton went public with his cancer diagnosis, which forced him to pull out of Asia’s scheduled tour dates with Journey so he could undergo chemotherapy.

“I accept the fact that I might not be here tomorrow, but having said that, having come through it you feel great,” Wetton said after his heart surgery. “It gave me a completely new outlook on life, that it could all end tonight while I’m asleep, so let’s make the most of today. Let’s make the most of now.”

“With the passing of my good friend and musical collaborator, John Wetton, the world loses yet another musical giant,” wrote Asia drummer Carl Palmer in a statement. “John was a gentle person who created some of the most lasting melodies and lyrics in modern popular music. As a musician, he was both brave and innovative, with a voice that took the music of Asia to the top of the charts around the world. His ability to triumph over alcohol abuse made him an inspiration to many who have also fought that battle. For those of us who knew him and worked with him, his valiant struggle against cancer was a further inspiration. I will miss his talent, his sense of humor and his infectious smile. May you ride easy, my old friend.”

“He will be remembered as one of the world’s finest musical talents, and I for one of many was wholly blessed by his influence,” added Downes in a lengthy post. “It was a massive privilege for me to have worked with this genius so closely on our numerous projects together over the years. His bass playing was revolutionary. His voice was from the gods. His compositions — out of this world. His sense of melody and harmony — unreal. He was literally a ‘special one.’”

In the short term, Wetton is scheduled to be replaced for the Journey tour by Yes vet Billy Sherwood; over the long term, Downes has signaled a determination to continue Asia in honor of his longtime partner. “It is the end of an era for all of us,” he wrote. “But we will soldier on — the music of John Wetton needs to be heard loud and clear from the rooftops.”

Categories
Doctor Who

I’m very okay with this. Hope they find someone amazing!!

Peter Capaldi Stepping Down as ‘Doctor Who’

Peter Capaldi has announced his plans to hang up his sonic screwdriver and step down as the 12th incarnation of Doctor Who.

The actor made the announcement on BBC radio on Monday.

“One of the greatest privileges of being Doctor Who is to see the world at its best,” he said. From our brilliant crew and creative team working for the best broadcaster on the planet, to the viewers and fans whose endless creativity, generosity and inclusiveness points to a brighter future ahead. I can’t thank everyone enough. It’s been cosmic.”

Capaldi first stepped into the Tardis in 2013 and is set to leave in the Christmas 2017 special after three seasons at the same time as showrunner Steven Moffat exits the hit BBC sci-fi series.

“For years before I ever imagined being involved in Doctor Who, or had ever met the man, I wanted to work with Peter Capaldi. I could not have imagined that one day we’d be standing on the Tardis together,” said Moffat. Like Peter, I’m facing up to leaving the best job I’ll ever have, but knowing I do so in the company of the best, and kindest and cleverest of men, makes the saddest of endings a little sweeter.”

Categories
Awards

Denzel’s win is still a shock to me!!

SAG Award Snubs: ‘Manchester by the Sea,’ ‘Westworld’ Shut Out

‘Captain Fantastic,’ ‘Florence Foster Jenkins,’ ‘Lion,’ ‘Black-ish,’ ‘House of Cards’ and ‘Modern Family’ also went home empty-handed.
Manchester by the Sea went into Sunday night’s SAG Awards with a leading four nominations, but the Amazon Studios film left empty-handed, failing to win any of the awards for which it was nominated.

Manchester by the Sea star Casey Affleck even lost the best actor award to Fences’ Denzel Washington, something that surprised even the veteran actor, who admitted onstage that he was sure his young rival would win.

Indeed, Affleck won the Golden Globe for best actor in a drama motion picture and also won a Critics’ Choice award and numerous other accolades from awards groups and critics associations.

Other movies shut out at this year’s awards ceremony were two-time nominees Captain Fantastic, Florence Foster Jenkins and Lion. It’s also worth noting that while both Fences and Moonlight went into the evening with three nominations each, Fences won two awards (for stars Denzel Washington and Viola Davis) while Moonlight only won one (a supporting actor award for Mahershala Ali, who delivered an emotional, showstopping speech). Both films lost the best cast award, the SAG Awards’ equivalent of best picture, which went to Hidden Figures, with star Taraji P. Henson delivering a rousing speech about unity.

On the TV side, HBO’s Westworld failed to win any of the three awards for which it was nominated, including stunt ensemble, where it faced off against Game of Thrones. Thrones won the stunt award but that would be the only trophy it would take home Sunday evening. Numerous TV shows, nominated for two SAG awards each, failed to win either prize, including ABC’s Black-ish and Modern Family, HBO’s The Night Of and Netflix’s Grace and Frankie, House of Cards and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

Categories
Music

It’s an all-time Canadian Classic!!

The story of ‘Drinking in L.A.,’ 20 years later

Back in the 1990s, after a heavy night of drinking, James Di Salvio found himself one morning groggily coming to consciousness, face-down on a pristinely green West Hollywood lawn and, with his head throbbing angrily, he quietly reprimanded himself: “What the hell am I doing, drinking in L.A.?”

Two decades later, it’s the hangover that keeps on giving. At the time, Di Salvio was a filmmaker at the once-estimable music-video production company Propaganda Films — where he counted Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze as colleagues — with a side career as a DJ that wasn’t his primary focus.

He could never have known then that he would soon return to Montreal to craft an album with a cavalry of collaborators under the gibberish name Bran Van 3000, or that he would always remember that self-admonishment from that woozy morning until it became the irrepressible hook for one of the quirkiest and best-loved hits of the ’90s. Life would soon be for the taking and he wised up and took it quick.

“It’s really strange that the song took us around the world,” Di Salvio recalled recently from, yes, L.A. “These days, I find it more and more strange.

“It’s just been a crazy ride.”

It’s been 20 years since “Drinking in L.A.” and Bran Van 3000’s eclectic debut Glee dropped back in February 1997, when the group’s hip, kitschy, kitchen-sink esthetic and genre-defying mixtape intoxication were so en vogue that even Madonna was drawn into the bidding war.

But Bran Van 3000’s unlikely story starts earlier than that, when Di Salvio was strolling through New York’s Washington Square Park with his mind on money and money on his mind.

In 1994, Di Salvio had been enduring some stress around his ever-inflating credit-card bill. When a royalty cheque finally arrived for a remix he had done for Quebec songwriter Jean Leloup’s “1990,” it felt like a monsoon in a southern California summer. Conservation wasn’t in the cards; Di Salvio wanted to set up a studio. E.P. Bergen, an old buddy of Di Salvio’s from the Montreal club scene, recalls his friend inviting him to “come help him spend the money.”

During Bergen’s ensuing trip to New York, the duo named the group during a walk through the park (“we just came up with those words and didn’t even know what they meant,” Di Salvio recalls) and bought sampling equipment at Sam Ash in Times Square.

Di Salvio and Bergen then returned to Mile End in Montreal and work on Glee began — if it can be called work.

Really, it seems like the duo hosted the musical equivalent of a pickup basketball game, with a cast of collaborators including Stéphane Moraille, Sara Johnston, Liquid, producer Haig Vartzbedian, Adam Chaki and Raymond Akira Betts contributing. It wasn’t an exclusive club. Bergen recalls that they once heard a Montreal street performer capably trilling a clarinet; days later he was performing on “Couch Surfer” and “Supermodel.”

The sprightly and spritzy Glee seems to treat the idea of cohesiveness as a quaint relic from the buttoned-up past, cramming in as many ideas, performers and styles as possible and trusting the listener to keep up, or at least to dance.

It’s the kind of giddily eclectic genre mélange that seemed especially exciting in the days just before the internet became ubiquitous. From the deadpan indie-pop yarn “Couch Surfer” to the gritty hip-hop of “Afrodiziak” (which boasted an appearance from Gravediggaz’s Poetic, made possible by a field trip to the Wu Tang Clan’s hotel headquarters in Manhattan) or the ambient beauty of “Problems,” the record seemed impossible to pin down.

They knew right away that “Drinking in L.A.” was special. It was the last song finished for the record, a layered labour of love that combined a fuzzy dew of guitars, gorgeous harmonies and a knockout hook that would make Manny Pacquiao jealous.

“It was almost like one of those movies where an animated blue bird swings by over the real live footage,” Di Salvio said. “It’s cheesy, but I knew in my heart it was a hit.”

He wasn’t alone. From the beginning, record-company executives in the thriving ’90s saw dollars in Bran Van 3000.

Di Salvio recalls his first trip down to Texas for South by Southwest, when they brought a few dozen white-label cassettes with “Glee”on the cover in Helvetica along with his 514 phone number. On the last day of the festival, Di Salvio managed to get one of the tapes to Moby, who was participating in a panel discussing the electronic music boom.

Three weeks later, he got a call from a Geffen executive who had been searching for the mysterious group behind the tape. Di Salvio and friends were at the Montreal offices of their label Audiogram gathered around a speaker phone.

“We were all tripping. Then he asked the Mexican standoff question: ‘When can I see you live?’ I said six weeks,” Di Salvio remembered. “We didn’t have a band. The idea of a band did not exist.”

Still, they pulled together a touring group and the industry interest only intensified. Other electronic artists like the Chemical Brothers and Prodigy were throttling up the charts, and Bran Van’s “timing was crazy.” Labels including Madonna’s Maverick Records, A&M Records and Capitol were stopping at nothing to sign them, sending Bentleys to pick them up for evening-long schmoozes.

“It went from eating ramen to a Drake song in 15 minutes,” Di Salvio reflected. “I remember the MTV Awards. Everybody was there and it was like all eyes on me.”

He remembers rubbing shoulders with Anthony Kiedis, Marilyn Manson, Billy Corgan and the Beastie Boys’ Mike D, who hosted Di Salvio for a jam session at his house. He remembers Bran Van members knocking a soccer ball around with Massive Attack in Amsterdam, comparing samplers with Prodigy after a festival set and hearing “Drinking in L.A.” booming full-throated from the crowd at the historic Tibetan Freedom Concert.

“When people started buying us drinks everywhere we went, I knew there was something going on,” Bergen said.

“It was a very Hollywood, very surreal time,” Di Salvio added.

Ultimately, it’s still “Drinking in L.A.” that people most remember. The song hit the Top 10 in the U.K., Sweden, Norway and Italy, and seems to have only accumulated affection over the years. Its appeal is intangible, though Di Salvio credits its female voices: “I’m a big fan of the girls. Sara and Jayne (Hill) sing those harmonies so perfectly, and Stéphane just owns the chorus.”

Three more Bran Van albums came afterward, and Di Salvio’s career as a composer/DJ was launched. But you only get one once-in-a-lifetime hit. He hears it frequently still, living as he now does in the City of Angels, blaring from car stereo systems, bar jukeboxes and even supermarkets. Even during this conversation, a woman overhears Di Salvio reminiscing and stops by his table to wish him a happy anniversary.

“I’m not a conventional musician by any means, so the story of Bran Van is ‘with a little help from my friends,’ ” he reflected. “This thing was about family in so many ways. It’s like looking back at your family photo album. I’m so proud.

“It’s just nice to be told happy anniversary, all these years later.”

Categories
Awards

Congratulations to all the winners…some surprise winners!!

SAG Awards 2017 Winners

Viola Davis, Mahershala Ali, and Emma Stone solidified their standing as Oscar frontrunners on Sunday night at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, taking home top acting honors for their 2016 performances.

Stone won best actress for her role as a struggling actress in La La Land, the musical sensation which scored 14 Oscar nominations last week — tied for most ever. Davis scored her award for Fences, which finds the actress going toe-to-toe with Denzel Washington in the adaptation of August Wilson’s famed play (when Davis played the part on Broadway, she won a Tony Award). And Ali won for playing a drug dealer-cum-father figure in Moonlight, Barry Jenkins’ breakout indie about the life of a young gay Miami boy named Chiron.

On the television, side, The Crown dominated the individual acting honors in the drama categories, with Claire Foy and John Lithgow winning best actress and actor in a drama series, respectively, for their work on the Netflix series. But it was another Netflix show which took home best drama series: Stranger Things.

Comedy winners included Julia Louis-Dreyfus (best actress in a comedy for Veep), William H. Macy (best actor in a comedy for Shameless), and the cast of Orange Is the New Black (best comedy ensemble).

In an upset, Bryan Cranston won best actor in a limited series for playing Lyndon B. Johnson in All the Way, topping People v. O.J. Simpson stars Courtney B. Vance and Sterling K. Brown and The Night Of stars Riz Ahmed and John Turturro. Sarah Paulson, meanwhile, won best actress in a limited series for People v. O.J. Simpson.

Before the televised portion of the ceremony started, Game of Thrones and Hacksaw Ridge won the stunt ensemble honors.

The SAG Awards often predict the eventual Academy Award winners. Since the 1994 ceremony, 16 lead actresses have won both the SAG Award and the corresponding Oscar, while 19 SAG-winning performances by leading men have gone on to win Academy Awards during the same period.

SAG’s ensemble award is also widely considered a portent of the Academy’s best picture results, with 11 of the guild’s victors also taking Oscar’s highest honor the same year, while a further nine received best picture nominations (the inaugural SAG ceremony did not have an ensemble category, and AMPAS voters ignored 1996’s ensemble champion The Birdcage in best picture).

2017 SAG Awards nominations:

THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
WINNER: DENZEL WASHINGTON / Troy Maxson – “FENCES” (Paramount Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
WINNER: EMMA STONE / Mia – “LA LA LAND” (Lionsgate)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
WINNER: MAHERSHALA ALI / Juan – “MOONLIGHT” (A24)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
WINNER: VIOLA DAVIS / Rose Maxson – “FENCES” (Paramount Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
WINNER: HIDDEN FIGURES (20th Century Fox)
TELEVISION PROGRAMS

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series
WINNER: BRYAN CRANSTON / President Lyndon B. Johnson – “ALL THE WAY” (HBO)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series
WINNER: SARAH PAULSON / Marcia Clark – “THE PEOPLE V. O.J. SIMPSON: AMERICAN CRIME STORY” (FX Networks)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
WINNER: JOHN LITHGOW / Winston Churchill – “THE CROWN” (Netflix)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
WINNER: CLAIRE FOY / Queen Elizabeth II – “THE CROWN” (Netflix)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
WINNER: WILLIAM H. MACY / Frank Gallagher – “SHAMELESS” (Showtime)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
WINNER: JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS / President Selina Meyer – “VEEP” (HBO)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
WINNER: STRANGER THINGS (Netflix)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
WINNER: ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK (Netflix)
STUNT ENSEMBLES

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
WINNER: “HACKSAW RIDGE” (Lionsgate)

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series
WINNER: “GAME OF THRONES” (HBO)
LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
53rd Annual SAG Life Achievement Award

Categories
Movies

This week I saw SPLIT and PASSENGERS. Horror fans should see the first one and everyone should skip the second one.

Box office report: Split repeats, A Dog’s Purpose puts Resident Evil down

All dogs do go to heaven — or at least to the top of the box office in the wake of major controversy.

Despite a heavily ballyhooed promotional cycle leading up to the film’s wide release — including deflecting negative publicity after an on-set production video showing a trainer apparently forcing a German Shepherd into a pool of churning water while filming a scene surfaced — audiences greeted A Dog’s Purpose with tails wagging, launching the film to an estimated $18.4 million from 3,059 locations, according to box office data from comScore.

On top of pushing the film to a solid debut, polled moviegoers gave the film an A on CinemaScore, easily besting the week’s other new wide releases Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (B) and Gold (B-).

A Dog’s Purpose couldn’t dethrone reigning champion Split, however, as the M. Night Shyamalan thriller again defies expectations, shedding a slight 34 percent for an estimated sophomore weekend total of $26.3 million despite genre trends suggesting it would fall somewhere in the 50-60 percent range.

Trailing A Dog’s Purpose at No. 3 is three-time Oscar-nominated holdover Hidden Figures, which crosses the $100 million mark with an estimated $14 million weekend haul after four weeks in wide release. Since expanding nationwide Jan. 6, the film has yet to leave the domestic top three, peaking at No. 1 for two consecutive weeks earlier this month. Its North American total currently stands at $104 million.

At No. 4, the last film in the internationally driven Resident Evil film franchise notches a new series low with its final bow in theaters, grossing an estimated $13.9 million from Friday to Sunday — around $3 million less than the original film’s opening number in 2002.

After an almost five-year gap between pictures, Resident Evil‘s sixth outing, again fronted by action heroine Milla Jovovich on a $40 million budget, should still balloon the action-horror collective’s worldwide haul past the $1 billion mark in the coming days, as its overall global cumulative stands at $78.4 million and counting — $64.5 million of which came from international territories.

Rounding out the top five is current best picture frontrunner La La Land, which widened its theatrical scope by 1,271 locations after scoring a record-tying 14 Oscar nominations this week. The Damien Chazelle-directed musical takes in another $12 million from 3,136 theaters, enough to bring its total to $106.5 million in the U.S. and Canada and $223.5 million globally.

Elsewhere, the Weinstein Company’s Gold opens to a soft estimated $3.5 million from 2,166 theaters, averaging $1,602 per location. The Matthew McConaughey-fronted adventure flick marks the third underwhelming live-action movie in the Oscar winner’s recent career, after his Sea of Trees debuted to boos at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and the historical drama Free State of Jones took in a muted $20.8 million in June.

On the specialty front, Asghar Farhadi’s Academy Award-nominated foreign film The Salesman, which had its world premiere at Cannes in 2016, takes in an impressive estimated $71,071 at three locations in limited release. The Iranian director made headlines this weekend after unconfirmed reports suggested President Donald Trump’s heavily criticized immigration ban would prohibit him from attending the upcoming Oscar ceremony.

Overall box office is about even with the same frame last year, down a mere 0.2 percent. Check out the Jan. 27-29 box office estimates below.

1. Split – $26.3 million
2. A Dog’s Purpose – $18.4 million
3. Hidden Figures – $14 million
4. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter – $13.9 million
5. La La Land – $12 million
6. xXx: Return of Xander Cage – $8.3 million
7. Sing – $6.2 million
8. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – $5.1 million
9. Monster Trucks – $4.1 million
10. Gold – $3.5 million