A blog about societal, cultural, and civilizational collapse, and how to stave it off or survive it. Named after the legendary character "Crazy Eddie" in Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's "The Mote in God's Eye." Expect news and views about culture, politics, economics, technology, and science fiction.
Showing posts with label Deadline Hollywood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Deadline Hollywood. Show all posts
Anne Rice’s Talamasca: The Secret Order
The Institute
It: Welcome to Derry
The Last of Us
The Walking Dead: Dead City
Yellowjackets
As Deadline Hollywood reported, It: Welcome to Derry leads this category with five nominations, followed by Anne Rice’s Talamasca: The Secret Order and The Institute with two then The Last of Us, The Walking Dead: Dead City, and Yellowjackets with just the series nomination. On that basis, I think It: Welcome to Derry is the favorite and I expect it will win. I didn't vote for it; I voted for The Last of Us because Stranger Things is competing in fantasy. Honestly, I think The Walking Dead: Dead City is the zombie show with a better chance of winning at these awards. Remember, electorates matter.
Best Television Presentation:
The Beast in Me
Black Mirror
Murderbot
Nautilus
The Pitt
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon
One other show about the zombie apocalypse leads its category, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon with three nominations. The rest have just this one nomination, so I think The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon is the favorite. If it wins, it will be without my help; I voted for Emmy, Critics Choice Award, and Golden Globe winner The Pitt. I think it's a ringer in this category, but I don't care.
I have one or two more posts planned for the Saturn Awards nominees before the awards on Sunday night, so stay tuned.
The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films has officially announced the nominees for the 53rd Annual Saturn Awards, and Stranger Things 5 is leading the pack for television. The series secured a nomination for Best Fantasy Television Series, cementing its status as the "king of nostalgia horror" even in its final season.
But the honors didn't stop at the series level. The cast also cleaned up with several individual nominations, proving that the performances in the series finale were some of the strongest in the show's decade-long history:
Best Actress in a Television Series: Millie Bobby Brown
Best Young Performer in a Television Series: Sadie Sink & Noah Schnapp
Best Guest Star in a Television Series: Linda Hamilton
The show is tied with other genre giants like Andor and IT: Welcome to Derry, each earning 5 nominations. The ceremony is set to take place on Sunday, March 8, 2026, at the Universal Hilton in Los Angeles, with Joel McHale returning to host for his fourth consecutive year.
The same search that retrieved this video returned six other shorts, mostly about Sadie Sink and Noah Schnapp's nominations. That's a sign of an enthusiastic fandom.
Meanwhile, Outlander fandom, which skews older, is running a Twitter/X campaign with images like this.
This isn't quite the official campaign Starz ran in 2021, but it is something.
Between the two, I voted for Stranger Things, although I would not be the least surprised if Outlander wins.
By the way, seeing Ghosts and Wednesday here makes me miss the Best Genre Comedy category that debuted at last year's awards. If it had returned, I'd have voted for Wednesday.
Follow over the jump for the two acting categories I haven't covered yet.
I told my readers to "stay tuned for this year's version of Star Trek vs. Star Wars at the Saturn Awards as I examine the nominees for Best Science Fiction Television Series" twice, so I'm following through with the nominees in this category.
Best Science Fiction Television Series:
Andor
The Ark
Foundation
Severance
Silo
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
I promised coverage of the television nominees at the Saturn Awards as this week's Sunday entertainment feature, but technology didn't cooperatetwice, then the router arrived today and my wife set it up while I was at work — thanks! — so I'm uploading it today.
I begin by returning to Deadline Hollywood, which reported "Among the TV nominees, Showtime/Paramount+’s Dexter: Resurrection led the way with six nominations, followed by Andor, It: Welcome to Derry and Stranger Things with five apiece." This list, which passed my accuracy check, sets my agenda for the first four posts examining the television nominees, so I begin with Dexter: Resurrection and the shows nominated against it.
Best Thriller Television Series:
Dark Winds
Dexter: Resurrection
The Lowdown
MobLand
The Rainmaker
Your Friends and Neighbors
As Deadline Hollywood reported, Dexter: Resurrection leads both all television nominees and the nominees in this category with six nominations, while the rest of the nominees in this field have only this one nomination, so it's the favorite. It helps that at least two accounts on Twitter are mounting an awards campaign for Dexter: Resurrection. I didn't vote for it. Instead, I voted for Dark Winds, which my wife and I are fans of. I won't be disappointed if it loses to Dexter: Resurrection. In fact, I expect it.
I won't complain about the quality of the field, but I'm making a note to myself to submit my own list of thriller and mystery TV series next December. If I had done so last year, it wouldn't have changed my vote or the likely winner, but I might at least know who the other nominees are.
Follow over the jump for the actors from Dexter: Resurrection nominated at the Saturn Awards.
Yesterday, I asked, "Wicked Wednesday, anyone?" On that note, I'm repeating the key clause from Deadline Hollywood, "Wicked: For Good picked up nine [nominations]," then looking at its competition.
Best Fantasy Film:
Freakier Friday
Hamnet
How to Train Your Dragon
The Life of Chuck
Lilo & Stitch
Wicked: For Good
Following Wicked: For Good's nine nominations are How to Train Your Dragon with three nominations, The Life of Chuck and Lilo & Stitch tied at two, then Freakier Friday and Hamnet with just this one. Based on the number of nominations, Wicked: For Good is the favorite. If I were stricter about voting for the "professional" choice, I'd have voted for Oscar nominee for Best Picture Hamnet, which qualifies for this category because of its magical realism elements. Instead, I voted for Wicked: For Good because I really wanted to vote for Wicked, but the Saturn Awards ignored the films that were released during the last two months of 2024, so I transferred my votes for Wicked to its sequel. Besides, I think it's going to win anyway. Since the Oscars completely snubbed Wicked: For Good, these count as double protest votes.
Speaking of transferring votes, Wicked won the equivalent Oscars for Best Film Costume Design and Best Film Production Design, so I voted for the sequel in those categories. I also voted for Ariana Grande in Best Supporting Actress in a Film, a total of four. Add in my vote for the original Wicked in Best 4K Home Media Release and that's five votes for the franchise, second only to my seven votes for Sinners.
The official lyric video for "The Girl In The Bubble" from 'Wicked: For Good - The Soundtrack'.
That's a really pretty song, and one that probably should have earned an Oscar nomination. I'd have to listen to the nominees to figure out which one it should have bumped, but I'm sure it's better than at least one of them!
That's a wrap for today. I plan on examining horror movie nominees for Friday the 13th. Frankenstein! In the meantime, stay tuned for Randy Rainbow's latest tomorrow. Laugh at the news so we don't cry.
As I promisedtwice, I'm returning to Saturn Awards coverage today. There's no better way to begin than by recycling the relevant paragraph from Deadline Hollywood.
Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, which snagged a record 16 Oscar nominations last week, landed 12 Saturn nominations, as did Avatar: Fire and Ash and Fantastic Four: First Steps. Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein followed with 11 noms, while Wicked: For Good picked up nine and Superman had eight.
Having examined Avatar: Fire and Ash and Sinners, it's time for me to feature Fantastic Four: First Steps, which leads Best Cinematic Adaptation Film, the successor to Best Superhero Film.
Best Cinematic Adaptation Film:
Black Phone 2
Captain America: Brave New World
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
A Minecraft Movie
Superman
Thunderbolts
In addition to Fantastic Four: First Steps leading with twelve nominations and Superman with eight, Thunderbolts* AKA Thunderbolts: The New Avengers has three, Black Phone 2 has two, and Captain America: Brave New World and A Minecraft Movie have just this one. Based on the number of nominations plus the Disney Marvel Cinematic Universe movies having a track record of winning the Best Superhero Film category, I think Fantastic Four: First Steps is favored. I didn't vote for it; I voted for Superman instead. It beat all other superhero films in the domestic and worldwide box office. Besides, I'm more of a DC fan than a Marvel fan and I've votedaccordingly when DC films are good enough.
Speaking of box office, the leader in this category is A Minecraft Movie, about which I wrote, "The critics must have disliked it for being dumb fun, but it's the kind of movie the People's Choice Awards would love and the Saturn Awards would nominate just to stick it to the experts." I'm glad to see it nominated, especially in this category. It won't win — it is on WatchMojo worst movies of 2025 list — but it deserved this recognition.
The nominee that most surprised me was Black Phone 2. I had to dig through Wikipedia to find out it's an adaptation of "The Black Phone," a story in 20th Century Ghosts. I learned something new, which makes today a good day.
Next, the other category I haven't covered yet that both Fantastic Four: First Steps and Thunderbolts* earned nominations in.
Best 4K Home Media Release:
Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning (Paramount) Nightmare Alley (Criterion) The Fantastic Four: First Steps (Disney/Marvel) Thunderbolts(Disney/Marvel) When Evil Lurks (Second Sight Films) Wicked (Universal)
I wouldn't be surprised if The Fantastic Four: First Steps wins this category, too, but it was my one chance to vote for Wicked instead of Wicked: For Good, so I took it.
Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios’ “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) as they face their most daunting challenge yet. Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal. The action-adventure also stars Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser, Sarah Niles and Mark Gatiss. Directed by Matt Shakman, produced by Kevin Feige, p.g.a., and executive produced by Louis D’Esposito, Grant Curtis, Tim Lewis and Robert Kulzer, Marvel Studios’ “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” opens in theaters July 25, 2025.
Warner Bros’ record-setting Oscar nomination juggernaut Sinners, James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash and Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps lead all film nominees for the 53rd Saturn Awards, which recognize the year’s best movies, TV programs and home video releases in the fantasy, science fiction, horror, superhero and action-adventure genres.
...
Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, which snagged a record 16 Oscar nominations last week, landed 12 Saturn nominations, as did Avatar: Fire and Ash and Fantastic Four: First Steps. Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein followed with 11 noms, while Wicked: For Good picked up nine and Superman had eight.
Highest 2 Lowest
The Housemaid
The Long Walk
Marty Supreme
Sinners
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
As Deadline reported, Sinners earned twelve nominations at these awards, including Best Film Direction (Ryan Coogler), Best Actor in a Film (Michael B. Jordan), Best Supporting Actor in a Film (Delroy Lindo), Best Supporting Actress in a Film (Hailee Steinfeld), Best Young Actor in a Film (Miles Caton), Best Screenwriting, Best Film Music (Ludwig Göransson), Best Production Design, Best Makeup, Best Film Editing, and Best Costume Design in addition to Best Thriller Film. The rest of the nominees have just the one nomination for Best Thriller Film, so I doubt any of them will beat Sinners.
I was planning to vote for Sinners as Best Horror Film, but here it is in the thriller category. I've already voted for it here. I also voted for Michael B. Jordan as Best Actor in a Film, Ryan Coogler for both Best Film Direction and Best Film Screenwriting, Best Film Editing, Ludwig Göransson for Best Film Music, and Miles Caton for Best Younger Performer in a Film, a total of seven votes, the most of any film I voted for.
“Why You Here / Before the Sun Went Down” from Sinners (Original Motion Picture Score) | Music by Ludwig Göransson
That's a wrap for today's entry. I plan on resuming the series Monday with coverage of Best Cinematic Adaptation Film, the successor to Best Superhero Film, which wasn't presented last year. Looks like the Saturn Awards followed the lead of the Critics Choice Super Awards by including video game adaptation movies and renaming the category. That will be after a special Sunday entertainment feature about the Super Bowl. Stay tuned.
I told my readers, "Stay tuned" as "I'm returning to awards show coverage [today], because the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films released the Saturn Awards nominations." I'm kicking the post off with Deadline Hollywood's paragraphs about the leading movie nominees.
Warner Bros’ record-setting Oscar nomination juggernaut Sinners, James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash and Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps lead all film nominees for the 53rd Saturn Awards, which recognize the year’s best movies, TV programs and home video releases in the fantasy, science fiction, horror, superhero and action-adventure genres.
...
Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, which snagged a record 16 Oscar nominations last week, landed 12 Saturn nominations, as did Avatar: Fire and Ash and Fantastic Four: First Steps. Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein followed with 11 noms, while Wicked: For Good picked up nine and Superman had eight.
The second paragraph sets my agenda for the order of the movie posts. All things being equal, which they are for three most nominated films, I'll break the tie in favor of science fiction, so it's going first.
Best Science Fiction Film:
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Bugonia
Jurassic World: Rebirth
Predator: Badlands
The Running Man
Tron: Ares
In addition to Avatar: Fire and Ash leading with 12 nominations, Predator: Badlands follows with five, Tron: Ares with three, Bugonia with two, then Jurassic World: Rebirth and The Running Man with one each in this category. I usually go with the expert/professional opinion when I vote in the Saturn Awards unless I have good reason to vote otherwise. My "good reason" is that Avatar: Fire and Ash is more science fiction than Bugonia, which is more of a dark thriller/comedy until the end, when the science fiction element is shown to be true instead of a character's delusion. It's also going to win, so I'm going with the flow. My vote: Avatar: Fire and Ash.
I'm re-examining my predictions for this category before I examine the acting, directing, writing, and craft nominations. As recently as November, I predicted "a match between Lilo & Stitch and Jurassic World: Rebirth" for this award, which I would have resolved in favor of the dinosaurs. Neither part of that will happen. First, Lilo & Stitch earned its nomination for Best Fantasy film. Second, the Academy extended its eligiblity period until about the end of 2025, making more films eligible. That's good news in that it allowed for higher quality fields with better comparisons with other awards. It's bad because the films released during November and December 2024 seemed to be dropped from consideration. No nominations for Wicked in film, just Wicked: For Good, for example. Hmph! In reaction/protest, I'm transferring the votes I would have cast for Wicked to Wicked: For Good.
Follow over the jump for the movie acting, directing, writing, and craft nominations and my votes.
On the TV side, Amazon MGM Studios’ video game adaptation Fallout was tops with five nominations: Best Science Fiction Television Series, Best Actor on Television (Walton Goggins), Best Actress on Television (Ella Purnell) and Best Guest Star on Television (Kyle MacLachlan). Amazon MGM had a leading 17 TV noms among the studios, while Disney was second with 11.
Best Science Fiction Television Series: 3 Body Problem
The Ark
Dark Matter
Fallout
Star Trek: Discovery
Star Wars: Ahsoka
Deadline already listed four of Fallout's five nominations, the fifth being Aaron Moten for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series. It's followed by two nominations each for Dark Matter and Ahsoka, and one each for 3 Body Problem, The Ark, and Star Trek: Discovery. My personal favorite is 3 Body Problem, which I definitely thought was the best science fiction on television this year — sorry, Fallout, Star Trek, and Star Wars — but I'm sure Fallout will win.
Best Animated Television Series or Special: Batman: Caped Crusader
Gremlins: The Wild Batch
Kaiju No. 8
Star Trek: Lower Decks
Star Wars: The Bad Batch
X-Men '97
Both Batman: Caped Crusader and X-Men '97 earned Critics' Choice Award nominations for Best Animated Series, but X-Men '97 earned an Emmy nomination and won a Gold Derby TV Award, so I think it has an advantage in this field, although Star Wars: The Bad Batch is the defending winner. I'll get to its chances, along with the TV acting nominations, when I cover science fiction TV nominees.
I may be voting for X-Men '97, but I still have Star Wars: The Bad Batch penciled in to continue the streak of Star Wars television animation winning this category.
Follow over the jump for Fallout's acting nominations.
Best Action / Adventure Film: Argylle
Deadpool & Wolverine
Fall Guy The
Fly Me to the Moon
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
Twisters
As Deadline reported and the Saturn Awards excerpted, "Disney’s Deadpool & Wolverine had 10 nominations." Twisters has two, and the rest have only this one category nomination. Based on those criteria, I expect Deadpool & Wolverine will win and I'm voting for it, although I'm not entirely happy to vote for it in this category over Twisters. I was hoping to vote for each movie in separate categories. Time to revisit my predictions, beginning with one from Jason Momoa's message for World Oceans Day.
This year, there is no Best Superhero Film category. If it still existed, it would probably have had a full field of six nominees, Deadpool & Wolverine, Venom: The Last Dance, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Joker: Folie à Deux, Madame Web, and The Marvels, so lack of superhero films is not the issue; lack of quality superhero films is. In addition to the two Saturn Awards nominees, two were good or at least O.K. films with so-so box office numbers, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and The Marvels, and two are likely Razzie nominees, Joker: Folie à Deux and Madame Web. I'm pretty sure both of them will be nominated for Worst Remake, Rip-off or Sequel and one of them will almost certainly win. I suspect the Saturn Awards didn't want to recognize such mediocrity during a down year for superhero films. That didn't stop them from nominating other potential Razzie nominees, such as Megalopolis, but the absence of a superhero movie category stands out.
Tentpoles Dune: Part Two, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Deadpool & Wolverine and TV series including Fallout and Agatha All Along lead nominations for the 52nd Saturn Awards, which recognize the year’s best genre movies and series.
The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films published that excerpt from Deadline yesterday after announcing the nominations on their main website Wednesday, where they also declared voting had opened and would close December 15th. Time to get cracking on covering these awards, beginning with Best Science Fiction Film!
Best Science Fiction Film: Dune: Part Two
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Megalopolis
Venom: The Last Dance
As the Deadline excerpt above stated and I double-checked, Dune: Part Two earned 14 nominations to lead not only science fiction films, but all movie nominees. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes ranked second with eight nominations, followed by The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes with five, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga with three, and Megalopolis and Venom: The Last Dance with one each. Those totals alone make Dune: Part Two the favorite to win this category. I already penciled this movie in as my vote in this category and its lead in nominations just made me ink it in.
Before I go on to the rest of Dune: Part Two's nominations, I'm making an observation about the inclusion of Venom: The Last Dance among science fiction film nominees. It's a comic-book/superhero movie, and would usually have been in that category. This year, there is no Best Superhero Film category. If it still existed, it would probably have had a full field of six nominees, Deadpool & Wolverine, Venom: The Last Dance, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Joker: Folie à Deux, Madame Web, and The Marvels, so lack of superhero films is not the issue; lack of quality superhero films is. In addition to the two Saturn Awards nominees, two were good or at least O.K. films with so-so box office numbers, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and The Marvels, and two are likely Razzie nominees, Joker: Folie à Deux and Madame Web. I'm pretty sure both of them will be nominated for Worst Remake, Rip-off or Sequel and one of them will almost certainly win. I suspect the Saturn Awards didn't want to recognize such mediocrity during a down year for superhero films. That didn't stop them from nominating other potential Razzie nominees, such as Megalopolis, but the absence of a superhero movie category stands out.
Follow over the jump for the rest of the nominations for Dune: Part Two and the other science fiction films.
The Critics Choice Association (CCA) announced today the nominees for the 4th annual Critics Choice Super Awards, honoring the most popular, fan-obsessed genres across both television and movies, including Superhero, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Horror, and Action. Winners will be revealed on Thursday, April 4, 2024. “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning” leads this year’s film nominees, earning five nominations including Best Action Movie. Tom Cruise received a nomination for Best Actor in an Action Movie, while Hayley Atwell, Rebecca Ferguson and Pom Klementieff all received nods for Best Actress in an Action Movie.
“The Last of Us” leads this year’s television nominees with seven nominations including Best Superhero Series, Limited Series or Made-For-TV Movie and Best Horror Series, Limited Series or Made-For-TV Movie. Pedro Pascal received nods for both Best Actor in a Superhero Series, Limited Series or Made-For-TV Movie and Best Actor in a Horror Series, Limited Series or Made-For-TV Movie, while Bella Ramsey earned a nominations for both Best Actress in a Superhero Series, Limited Series or Made-For-TV Movie and Best Actress in a Horror Series, Limited Series or Made-For-TV Movie. Melanie Lynskey was also nominated for Best Villain in a Series, Limited Series or Made-For-TV Movie. (Superhero categories also include Comic Book and Video Game Inspired series.)
“The Super Awards consistently shine a bright light on the outstanding work being done in genre cinema and television,” said Sean O’Connell, CCA Director of the Super Awards. “We were blown away by the performances and craftsmanship that went into the slate of films and series recognized this year. These nominations represent the absolute best in popular culture, and we’re excited to see which winners emerge.”
Consistently, yes, but only for the past four years, while the Saturn Awards have done so 51 times since 1973, when Slaughterhouse Five and Blacula won. As a Saturn Awards voter since2017, I feel I have to point that out. That written, I usually vote what I like to consider to be the professional over the popular choice, so I'm very interested in what one group of entertainment professionals, the critics, think of speculative fiction movies and TV shows and how that compares to the more heterogeneous electorate for the Saturn Awards. Follow over the jump for the movie nominees.
I plan on finishing this series tomorrow with the superhero TV series, television presentations, and home entertainment. I don't know if I'll post a retrospective of 2023 first. Stay tuned to find out.
As my readers can tell, I'm skipping the retrospective today because posting two entries a day is wearing me out, even when I'm not working, and because the topic would have been the year in entertainment and I've been blogging about a year in TV and movies, even if it's not all of 2023, all week, making 'Barbie' vs. 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny' for Best Fantasy Film at the Saturn Awards the Sunday entertainment feature. I love my entertainment, but I don't need to do it twice in one day!
Enough of that. Today's post examines two categories that didn't exist at last year's Saturn Awards, superhero television series and television presentations (movies and limited series), and I'm relieved that they returned. That happened because the Saturn Awards abandoned last year's split between network and cable television and streaming video and resumed what they did two years ago, considering linear TV and streaming as one thing, which nearly all other awards shows do. That division between linear TV and streaming eliminated superhero television series as a category, parceling out the superhero shows to science fiction, fantasy, and action/thriller series categories, and only recognized limited series while ignoring television movies entirely. Considering how strong television movies were last season, it's a good thing the Saturn Awards are including television movies in the current categories. I hope they continue doing that, but, as I've written before, "I never know with them, and I'm one of their voters!"
On to the superhero television nominees from Deadline!
Even more so than 'Star Trek' vs. 'Star Wars' at the 51st Saturn Awards, this category is a battle between two franchises, DC and Marvel. Five DC shows with eight nominations among them are contending with two Marvel shows with three nominations among them. Adding in the superhero nominees for Best Television Presentation, Best Television Home Media Release, and Best Animated Television Series or Special yields seven DC shows with ten total nominations and four Marvel shows with six total nominations. At least Amazon didn't stream episodes of The Boys during the eligibility period. That would have messed things up!
The most nominated superhero series is Superman & Lois with three nominations, including Tyler Hoechlin for Best Actor in a Television Series and Elizabeth Tulloch for Best Actress in a Television Series. She-Hulk: Attorney-At-Law and Stargirl tie for second with two nominations each, Tatiana Maslany for Best Actress in a Television Series and Brec Bassinger for Best Younger Performer in a Television Series. The rest have only this one nomination. Superman & Lois is the favorite, not only because it leads in nominations but also because won Best Science Fiction Television Series: Network/Cable last year. I'm pretty sure it will win, but I'm not voting for it. I may historically be a DC fan, but that's because of Batman, not Superman. I've also become a Marvel fan thanks to the Disney+ shows and movies, so I'm going to vote for She-Hulk: Attorney-At-Law. On that note, I'm sharing Gold Derby's interview of Tatiana Maslany ('She-Hulk: Attorney at Law'): 'Ireverent of any expectations of what superhero is'.
Tatiana Maslany ('She-Hulk: Attorney at Law'): This show is 'so irreverent of any expectations of what a superhero is.' Her character becomes a 6-foot-7-inch green superhuman after being accidentally cross-contaminated with her cousin Bruce Banner's blood. Gold Derby editor Rob Licuria hosts this webchat.
After watching that, I'm changing my vote for Best Actress in a Television Series from Caitriona Balfe to Tatiana Maslany, who I think is the professional choice.
Best Television Presentation
Black Mirror (Netflix) Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities (Netflix) Hocus Pocus 2 (Disney+) Marvel’s Werewolf by Night (Marvel/Disney+) The Midnight Club (Netflix) Mrs. Davis (Peacock) The Munsters (Universal 1440 Entertainment)
Marvel’s Werewolf by Night ties with The Midnight Club for the most nominated in this category with the former's Gael Garcia Bernal earning a nomination for Best Guest Star in a Television Series and and the latter's Igby Rigney for Best Younger Performer in a Television Series. The rest have only this one nomination. The professional choices are Black Mirror and Hocus Pocus 2, both of which have Emmy nominations. Between the two of them, I'm voting for Black Mirror.
I couldn't find any recent interviews of the creatives behind Black Mirror on Gold Derby's YouTube channel, but I did find an interview of Betty Gilpin on ‘Mrs. Davis’: ‘It was my favorite experience I’ve ever had’, who not only serves as a representative of Mrs. Davis, but also mentions Black Mirror.
Betty Gilpin on ‘Mrs. Davis’: ‘It was my favorite experience I’ve ever had.’ The three-time Emmy Award nominee explains why the Peacock series was her most fulfilling project yet. Gold Derby editor Christopher Rosen hosts this webchat.
I begin today's installment of my Saturn Awards series, as I have most previous ones, by quoting Deadline: "HBO/Max’s The Last of Us had five...including acting noms for stars...Pedro Pascal" and Bella Ramsey. It's the leading horror TV series nominee. I'm also examining the nominees for Fantasy and Action/Adventure/Thriller TV Series, as the leading shows in both genres, Wednesday, House of the Dragon, and Outlander, have four nominations each. This is at least the second time I've combined my examinations of Outlander, fantasy, and horror nominees, as I did so in 'Outlander,' 'The Walking Dead,' and other fantasy, horror, and science fiction nominees at the Saturn Awards two years ago. Precedent!
Follow over the jump for the nominees in these genres plus one acting category I didn't cover yesterday.
In the TV categories, the final season of Paramount+’s Star Trek: Picard leads all nominees with seven, while universe mate Star Trek: Strange New Worlds had six. Lucasfilm/Disney’s Andor and HBO/Max’s The Last of Us had five apiece including acting noms for stars Diego Luna and Pedro Pascal, respectively.
In addition, Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: The Motion Picture earned a nomination each for the total of 15 in the preview image above, which should really read "'Star Trek' Franchise Picks Up 15 Saturn Awards Nominations." Also, The Mandalorian earned three nominations and Star Wars: The Bad Batch earned another for a total of nine for the franchise. This is a muted mirror image of the Emmy Awards, where Star Trek: Picard earned two Emmy nominations for the entire Star Trek franchise, while the Star Wars franchise earned 23 Emmy nominations, nine for The Mandalorian, eight for Andor, and five for Obi-Wan. Even after throwing out Obi-Wan, which the Saturn Awards recognized at their 50th ceremony, it's still seventeen to two. Talk about a contrast between the two academies! This exemplifies the difference between fan and entertainment professional opinion that I summarize as "entertainment over art, not into subtle, and sticking it to the experts."
Follow over the jump for the nominees, my opinions of them, and my likely votes.
Merry Christmas! It's bonus post time! I'm continuing my SaturnAwardsseries with the nominees for Superhero Film, Best Animated Film, and Best Animated Television Series or Special from Deadline.
Best Superhero Film
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (Marvel/Walt Disney Studios) Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Marvel/Walt Disney Studios) Blue Beetle (DC/Warner Bros. Pictures) The Flash (DC/Warner Bros. Pictures) Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 (Marvel/Walt Disney Studios)
Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 leads this category with seven nominations, followed by Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Blue Beetle, and The Flash with two each and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania with just this one. Based on its lead in nominations and it having been the only nominee my wife and I have watched (and enjoyed!), I'm currently planning on voting for Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3. The only other nominees I could foresee voting for would be Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and The Flash, the former because it has an Oscar and the latter because I am more of a DC than Marvel fan who enjoyed the Batman scenes featured in the trailers, but I don't think it stands a chance at these awards. Besides, Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 has a Golden Globe nomination for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement, a Critics Choice Awards nomination for Best Visual Effects, and is on the Oscar shortlist for Visual Effects. That makes it enough of a professional choice for me.
Best Animated Film Elemental (Pixar/Walt Disney Studios) Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (Dreamworks/Universal) Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures/Marvel) The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Universal Pictures) Suzume (Crunchyroll) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (Paramount Pictures)
Two of these nominees are also comic-book superhero films Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, which is why I'm covering this category today. One of them also leads the field in nominations, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse with two. All the rest have only this one nomination. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse also leads the nominations at the Critics Choice awards and Golden Globes with three, while Elemental and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem are only nominated for Animated Film at the Critics Choice Awards and The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Suzume joining Elemental and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse at the Golden Globes. That makes Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse the clear professional choice. Gold Derby's editors cement it as the leader, with seven of eight picking it to win the Critics Choice Award and eight of ten choosing it to win the Golden Globe. The dissenting editor in both groups is Gold Derby's animation expert, Charles Bright, who thinks The Boy and the Heron will win instead. Fortunately, The Boy and the Heron is not nominated at this year's Saturn Awards, so I don't have to worry about it now. Like Poor Things, I expect to see it among next year's nominees and I have it as my likely vote then. This year, I'm voting for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
Kemp Powers ('Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse' director) on how the movie was approached as a standalone film. It is the follow-up to 2018’s “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” which won that year’s Oscar for Best Animated Feature. Gold Derby editor Charles Bright hosts this special 'Meet the Experts' panel with film animation contenders.
Aaron Horvath ('The Super Mario Bros. Movie' director) on making 'a cinematic expression of a gameplay experience.' For this animated blockbuster film, Mario and Luigi are two Brooklyn-based plumbers/brothers who end up in the Mushroom Kingdom. Gold Derby editor Charles Bright hosts this special 'Meet the Experts' panel with film animation contenders.
While I'm not doing it, I wouldn't be surprised if the Saturn Awards voters picked The Super Mario Bros. Movie as the popular choice.
'Puss in Boots: The Last Wish' director Joel Crawford on doing a sequel over a decade after the first one. For the DreamWorks film, Puss (Antonio Banderas) seeks out a mystical wish in order to restore his previous lives. This segment is part of the Gold Derby 'Meet the Experts' animation panel hosted by contributing editor Charles Bright.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a holdover from 2022 and lost to my choice in the next category for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars.
Best Animated Television Series or Special Chainsaw Man (Crunchyroll) Gremlins: Secrets of Mogwai (HBO/Max) Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Netflix) Harley Quinn (HBO/Max) My Adventures with Superman (Cartoon Network/Adult Swim) Star Trek: Lower Decks (Paramount+) Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Lucasfilm/Disney+)
Speaking of animated features, last year's Oscar winner for Animated Feature, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, is among the nominees for Best Animated Television Series or Special. I think it's a ringer, but it's not any worse than Prey being nominated for Best Science Fiction Film. Given the competition, it's also the best choice, so I'm voting for it.
'Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio' co-director Mark Gustafson reveals how the film persevered through COVID. The film will be available December 9 on Netflix and is an adaptation of the classic tale of a father’s wish bringing a wooden boy to life. This segment is part of the Gold Derby 'Meet the Experts' animation panel hosted by contributing editor Charles Bright.
As I wrote in yesterday's footnote, "I found matherrors in Deadline's previous two Saturn Awards nominations articles, so I know to look." I found another math error, or at least an omission, in this year's. That will feature prominently in the next installment of this series.
Movies from Oppenheimer‘s Universal scored a leading 23 noms overall with titles like Renfield, M3GAN and Fast X. Paramount had 18, including nine for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and four for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.
Warner Bros’ Barbie, the year’s top-grossing blockbuster, had eight noms including for Best Fantasy Film, Best Actress for Margot Robbie and Best Supporting Actor for Ryan Gosling. Greta Gerwig is up for Best Film Directing in a loaded category that includes Cameron, Nolan, James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy-Vol. 3), James Mangold (Indiana Jones), Mark Mylod (The Menu) and Danny & Michael Philippou (Talk to Me).
First, the totals by studio dramatically undercounted Disney's contributions because the reporter assigned Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny to Paramount and ignored Disney productions under other names, like 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures. Disney's own count included 50 movie nominations among the 68 total nominations for the company. That's well ahead of Universal's 23 to rank as the real number one.
Second, the story gave short shrift to Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny by making it part of a paragraph about studio totals instead of the film's nominations, which included Best Fantasy Film, Best Actor for Harrison Ford, Best Supporting Actor for Mads Mikkelsen, and Best Supporting Actress for Phoebe Waller-Bridge. At least Deadline noticed how star-studded the directing nominations are, including for both Barbie and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the main subjects of today's post. Still, that's now three years of errors or omissions in Deadline's Saturn Awards coverage that I've found.
Follow over the jump for the nominations for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Barbie, The Little Mermaid, and two other fantasy films.
Bonus post time again! As I promised yesterday and today, I'm continuing my examination of the Saturn Awards nominees so that I can vote by the December 30th deadline and share my votes on NationalScienceFictionDay. To that end, here is the paragraph about the second most nominated film, Oppenheimer from Deadline.
Oppenheimer has 11 noms including for Best Thriller Film, Best Actor (Cillian Murphy), Best Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr.) and Best Supporting Actress (Emily Blunt), with Nolan up for Best Direction and Best Screenwriting.
Follow over the jump for Oppenheimer's nominations at the Saturn Awards along with my analysis and provisional votes.
Bonus post time! I was planning on only writing holiday and year-end retrospective entries until I checked the Saturn Awards website yesterday and found out that they not only had announced the nominees, but also that voting is open and will be until December 30th. Time to start my series on the Saturn Awards so I can vote by the deadline and share my votes by NationalScienceFictionDay. Here is the paragraph about the leading nominee, Avatar: The Way of Water from Deadline.
Disney and Lightstorm’s Avatar sequel scored 12 nominations overall — two more than the original Avatar got here in 2010. It’s up in the categories of Best Science Fiction Film, Best Actor in a Film (Sam Worthington), Best Actress in a Film (Zoe Saldana), Best Supporting Actor in a Film (Stephen Lang) and Best Younger Performer in a Film (Jack Champion), along with directing and writing noms for Cameron and screenwriting partners Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver.
Follow over the jump for Avatar: The Way of Water's nominations at the Saturn Awards.
SAG-AFTRA’s national board voted unanimously this morning to launch the guild’s first strike against the film and television industry since 1980. The strike is set to begin tonight one minute past midnight, with picketing at all the major studios.
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With the Writers Guild strike now in its 73rd day, this will be the first time that actors and writers have been on strike at the same time since 1960, when Ronald Reagan was president of the Screen Actors Guild.
Negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers broke off late Wednesday night with no agreement on terms for a new contract. The guild’s negotiating committee then unanimously recommended that the board approve a strike. On June 5, the guild’s members voted 98% in favor of authorizing a strike if a fair deal couldn’t be achieved.
I watched this live and Fran Drescher was angry and sad. She said she tried to avert a strike, but the producers association, which represents the studios, wasn't cooperating. They're coming off like they're trying to put the actors and writers in what they think are their places. The actors and writers aren't having it.
Here's to SAG-AFTRA, the WGA, and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) reaching agreements that all of them can live with. Otherwise, there will be two strikes in Hollywood next month. As I wrote in Vox explains 'How streaming caused the TV writers strike', "We viewers should care more about the people who create what we watch...We don't want the executives to accidentally kill the geese that lay the golden eggs."
I simultaneously think this strike is necessary and that it could be a disaster for all involved if it goes badly. I know I'm right on the first and hope I'm wrong on the second.
I'll have more on both strikes. In the meantime, stay tuned for Bastille Day, the third patriotic holiday in July I observe on this blog.
