'Dune: Part Two' leads movie nominations at the Saturn Awards

I expected to be busy with the Saturn Awards later this month. Later turned out to be now.

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.

Warner Bros’ Dune: Part Two topped the overall noms list with 14 including Best Science Fiction Film and acting noms for Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya among others, followed by studio stablemate Beetlejuice 2 with 13 noms including Best Fantasy Film; Warner Bros topped all studios with 35 noms.

Disney’s Deadpool & Wolverine had 10 nominations.

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.

Speaking of double-checking, I wanted to see if Deadline not including 20th Century Studios and Searchlight productions in Disney's total nominations would have had an effect. It didn't; all Disney properties together have 28 movie nominations. Warner Brothers still leads with 35 film nominations. That's one less error than usual.

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.

Politics, government, and diversity in television nominees at the 2022 Golden Globes

I closed Colbert, Kimmel, and 'The Daily Show' remember January 6th with an entertainment programming note.

Stay tuned for a two-part post about the Golden Globes, despite the scandal that forced it off television this year.

Without any further ado, here are the television nominees at tomorrow night's Golden Globes with handicaps of their chances to win along with analyses of their politics and government content served with side helpings of how well they present diversity.

Best Television Series: Drama

Lupin (Netflix)
The Morning Show (Apple TV+)
Pose (FX)
Squid Game (Netflix)
Succession (HBO)

In addition to "Succession" being the nominee most about American politics, it is both a former winner and the most nominated television series at these awards with five, so I consider it the favorite. While "The Morning Show" has four nominations as the second most nominated drama series and has some political content as a portrayal of a fiction morning news show, it's not my pick to upset. Instead, I think "Squid Game," IGN's Best TV Show of 2021, has that distinction. It's also the nominee with the strongest speculative fiction theme. This is despite "Pose" being the only drama nominee at the Emmy Awards in this field. "Pose," "Squid Game," and "Lupin" also have the most diverse casts.

Best Television Series: Comedy

The Great (Hulu)
Hacks (HBO Max)
Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
Reservation Dogs (FX on Hulu)
Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)

Just like the Emmy Awards, this category is a contest between "Ted Lasso" and "Hacks" that "Ted Lasso" should win as it is the most nominated comedy series with four. Of the two, "Ted Lasso" has the more diverse cast as well, but not the most diverse among the nominees. That distinction belongs to "Reservation Dogs," which also has the strongest speculative fiction themes in the form of magical realism. While police play recurring roles in both "Reservation Dogs" and "Only Murders in the Building," "The Great" has the most government and politics content, as it's a comedic look at a young Catherine the Great of Russia.

Best Miniseries or Television Film

Dopesick (Hulu)
Impeachment: American Crime Story (FX)
Maid (Netflix)
Mare of Easttown (HBO)
The Underground Railroad (Prime Video)

"Mare of Easttown" and "The Underground Railroad" are the Emmy nominees in this field, a contest in which I'm sure "Mare of Easttown" would have the advantage if it came down between them. However, I think the contest is really between "Mare of Easttown" and "Maid" with "Dopesick" being the spoiler. Both of the latter have more nominations, three each to two for "Mare of Easttown," but those aren't enough for me to think either is the favorite. While I consider "The Underground Railroad" to have the strongest diversity and speculative fiction content, it doesn't have the greatest political content. I think that goes to "Impeachment: American Crime Story."

Follow over the jump for the acting categories.

The best TV series of 2021 according to WatchMojo and IGN

It's the last week of 2021, so it's time for me to look back at the year about to end with retrospectives until New Year's Eve. As I did for last year's edition of the final Sunday entertainment feature, I'm beginning with IGN's The Best TV Series of 2021: IGN's Nominations.

The world of television offered an embarrassment of riches in 2021. Whether it was a shocking twist or an unbelievable cameo, there was always a show that had us talking. With the year coming to a close, we've rounded up the best of the best TV shows 2021 had to offer.

From dangerous games that double as a commentary on modern-day capitalism to animated adaptations of online games, murder mysteries with a twist, meditations on religion through a horrific lens, MCU stories on the small screen, and much more, these are our nominees for the best TV series of 2021. Check out IGN's full list of TV awards for 2021 on IGN.com, but otherwise dig in here on our list of potential TV series of the year winners, including Arcane, Loki, Midnight Mass, Only Murders in the Building, Squid Game, Succession, Ted Lasso, The White Lotus, WandaVision, and What We Do in the Shadows.

I think that's a very good list. IGN chose the winner a week later in IGN's Best TV Series of the Year 2021.

Every year brings with it at least one new Netflix series that dominates the pop culture sphere for a few weeks, and 2021 was no exception. This year, everyone was obsessed with Squid Game, a bizarre yet fascinating dystopian survival drama slash fictional game show slash social satire.

It's tough to pin a series as weird as Squid Game down to just one genre... but the important thing is it's IGN's pick for the best TV series of the year 2021.

Like many great satires, Squid Game manages to be both completely ridiculous and wholly believable at the same time. Lee Jung-jae stars as Seong Gi-hun, a struggling South Korean man who becomes one of 500 participants who agree to take part in a series of potentially very lucrative games. Who wouldn't agree to play a few simple childhood games in exchange for ludicrous amounts of prize money? But there's always a catch, and the contestants quickly learn these games have literal life and death consequences.

Squid Game is easily one of the most unique additions to Netflix's library, but it's a show that clicks on a number of levels. Its central mysteries are reason enough to watch on their own: Who are these mysterious masked captors, and how does it benefit them to offer such a large payout for people who are down on their luck? Why not find a less sadistic way to be altruistic? And what could drive a person to be so desperate to willingly play in these games? The tightly paced nine-episode structure ensures we don't have to wait too long before the pieces start falling into place.

Watch the full video to learn why Netflix's Squid Game is the winner of IGN's Best TV Show of 2021 award.

It's been a while since I used the Hunger Games label. I going to revive it for "Squid Game."

WatchMojo produced its own top ten, but only for series premiering this year, so no "Succession," "What We Do in the Shadows," or, as the channel points out, "Ted Lasso." Watch Top 10 Best TV Shows of 2021 to see their picks for best new series of the year.

2021 has been a dynamite year for TV. For this list, we’ll be looking at 2021 shows that had us fully engrossed one minute and buzzing on social media the next. Given the sheer amount of quality out there, we’re only focusing on shows that premiered this year. Sadly, that means no “Ted Lasso” Season 2. Our countdown includes "Invincible" (2021-), "Mare of Easttown" (2021), "Squid Game" (2021), "WandaVision" (2021), and more! What’s your favorite show of 2021? Let us know in the comments.

WatchMojo's top show is "Arcane," not "Squid Game," reinforcing the point I make about awards shows that electorates matter. Speaking of which, "Arcane" has nine nominations at the Annie Awards, more than any other nominated TV program. In contrast, "Invincible" has only one and "The Bad Batch" none; the nominated Star Wars show is "Star Wars: Visions." I think that puts "Arcane" in the driver's seat for next year's Emmy Awards in the animated categories and maybe even next year's Saturn Awards.*

As for the best drama, I think that will go to "Succession" again. "Squid Game" will certainly earn Emmy nominations; the only question is whether it will do so in the Primetime and Creative Arts Emmy Awards or the International Emmy Awards. As CNet reports, it's eligible for both but can only compete in one, not both. I think it has a better chance at the TCA Awards for Best New Show where I expect it will compete with "Only Murders in the Building," which my wife and I enjoyed. That written, "Only Murders in the Building" has the same strengths and weaknesses as "The Flight Attendant." Both succeed as comedies while also being good thrillers and mysteries but both have the bad luck to be competing against "Ted Lasso," which I expect to win Outstanding Comedy Series again.

Stay tuned for more retrospectives of the year about to end through the rest of the week.

*I plan on covering this year's Saturn Awards winners on National Science Fiction Day, January 2, 2022.

Michigan media excited about covering this week's Democratic debates

With the second round of Democratic presidential debates here in Detroit tonight and tomorrow, the local media is having a field day covering them and enjoying having the national spotlight shining on Michigan and especially on Detroit.  I begin with WDIV setting up the coverage and explaining what's at stake in Preparing for Detroit's Democratic presidential debates.

CNN is airing the Democratic National Committee-sanctioned debates live from the Fox Theatre in Detroit at 8 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday.

WDIV did a good job of setting things up and capturing the reactions of people on the street.  However WXYZ excels at interviewing the residents of Metro Detroit.  Watch TONIGHT: First of two Democratic debates in Detroit for more spontaneous reactions from locals as well as the preparations the city is making or the debate.


Jennifer Ann Wilson previewed the topics in the next video, Detroit: First of 2 Democratic debates tonight.


Yes, these debates are like the Hunger Games (or the Hungry for Power Games) in that they will eliminate candidates (tributes) as they go along.  WOOD-TV made that an explicit focus in its segment, 2nd Dem debate will be some candidates' last chance to shine.

Democrats gathering in Detroit for a pivotal presidential debate will have to decide, once again, how to respond to President Donald Trump while presenting their own vision for the country.

For supporters of the candidates who made this week's debates, I have drinks for the Democratic candidates, including a few for Steve Bullock, who replaced Eric Swalwell in the second round.  As for the candidates who made neither debate, I plan on posting drinks for them tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

No passing the torch, as Eric Swalwell drops out of presidential contest

This election cycle's edition of "The Hungry for Power Games" has claimed its first tribute.  CBS News reports California Rep. Eric Swalwell drops out of presidential race.

California Rep. Eric Swalwell has dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination for president. He spoke about the decision at a press conference in Dublin, California.

This news did not come as a complete surprise to me, as FiveThirtyEight asked last week Have We Seen The Last Of Eric Swalwell?

The latest: Steve Bullock has inched ahead of Eric Swalwell in the race to make the second round of presidential primary debates on July 30-31.

As we wrote last week, Bullock and Swalwell were tied for the 20th and final spot in the debate. Based on the first tiebreaker — the average of each candidate’s top three qualifying polls — the candidates were tied at 1 percent. And based on the second tiebreaker — the total number of qualifying polls in which each candidate earned at least 1 percent in support — Bullock and Swalwell each had three. But there was always a question of how one pollster’s surveys would be counted.

Suffolk University — working in partnership with USA Today — presents two sets of percentages in its survey reports, one rounded to the nearest whole number and one rounded to the nearest hundredth of a percent. For candidates struggling to reach 1 percent, knowing which set of numbers the DNC was going to count has huge implications. For instance, Suffolk’s June national poll had Bullock at 0.52 percent but, rounded up, had him at 1 percent. Now we know the DNC has decided to use the whole numbers for debate qualification.

In an email to the Democratic candidates on Tuesday evening, the DNC said that it had decided to count the rounded numbers for debate qualification. With that decision, Bullock now has four qualifying polls, putting him one ahead of Swalwell and in the debate — for now.

So Swalwell lost the polling tiebreaker.  What about the donor criterion?  FiveThirtyEight wrote about that, yesterday when it explained Why Eric Swalwell’s Campaign Failed.

We don’t yet know how Swalwell performed on the fundraising front — second-quarter reports are due on July 15 — but we do know that he didn’t have 65,000 individual donors, one of the thresholds for qualification for both the first and second debates.

Furthermore, his backup plan was in danger as well.

Another reason he may have dropped out early: Swalwell is already facing a Democratic challenger for his House seat. The congressman had previously said he wouldn’t run for both president and Congress at the same time, and he still had plenty of time to decide if he would seek reelection to Congress. (California’s candidate filing deadline is Dec. 6.) But had Swalwell continued his long-shot presidential bid, he might have endangered his chances of retaining his House seat. His congressional opponents could have campaigned at home in California while he was off trying to make inroads in places like Iowa and New Hampshire. But now Swalwell can turn to defending his spot in Congress, from which he could still launch a future bid for higher office, if he wants.

I think Swalwell made the right decision, which is more than I could say about his attempt to get attention at last month's debate by demanding that Joe Biden "pass the torch."  That didn't work out so well for him.

Now that Swalwell has dropped out, it's time for me to retire the following graphics and memes.

First, Swalwell's Voteview ideology scores from Senators and Representatives running for the Democratic nomination are drifting to the left as they campaign.


Next, Swalwell's ideological position at On The Issues from OnTheIssues.org's take on the Democratic presidential candidates from left to center.


It was time to make a new graphic anyway, as most of the candidates have moved left since I made that one.

Finally, the drink I recommended for him in Drinks for the Democratic debates, Part 2.

When asked about his favorite comfort food, Eric Swalwell told Eater, “It’s really comfort coffee. My favorite coffee is a mocha.”  Tipsy Bartender has just the drink, Morning Coffee.

That will certainly make one a wide-awake drunk!

Toast Swalwell farewell with a Morning Coffee!

Bill Maher shows how life imitates dystopian science fiction

Last Friday, Bill Maher gave a good demonstration of how science fiction speaks to our current anxieties in New Rule: A Bone to Pick with Undecided Voters.  Start paying close attention at the four minute mark to see how life imitates art and why that might actually offer us hope.


I wasn't the only one to catch this.  Greg Evans of Deadline Hollywood did as well in Bill Maher: Hollywood Blockbusters Predicted Trumpocalypse.

Bill Maher gave props to Hollywood – particularly its sci-fi visions – for showing voters both the end of our world and a way to salvation: In his episode-closing New Rules comic monologue, the host of HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher last night asked what movies like Divergent, The Hunger Games, Elysium, Snowpiercer and The Giver have in common.

Can you guess? How about post-apocalyptic worlds rescued and controlled by a “cold, technocratic boss lady in a pantsuit?”

Touting Hollywood’s uncanny ability to predict the future – Star Trek‘s flip-phones, Minority Report‘s touch-screens, Morgan Freeman as president – Maher then reminded viewers about the big screen’s recent nuclear obsession. “Folks, blowing up the world is something that could actually happen,” he said, setting up the bit in earnest.

I couldn't have said it better myself.  Here's to being with Bill Maher and supporting the “cold, technocratic boss lady in a pantsuit.”  It beats being led by Immortan Joe!

'Hunger Games' at the conventions

I got a chuckle last night watching Hunger Games' Actress Trolls Donald Trump.

On Tuesday evening, 'Hunger Games' actress Elizabeth Banks made her way onto the stage at the Democratic National Convention through light and fog while a classic Queen song played, just as Donald Trump did on night one of his own convention. While at the podium, Banks went on to say, "Some of you know me from The Hunger Games, in which I play Effie Trinket. a cruel, out-of-touch reality TV star who wears insane wigs while delivering long-winded speeches to a violent dystopia. So when I tuned into Cleveland last week I was like, ‘Uh, hey, that’s my act!’”

"Pitch Perfect" line.*

Of course, no mention of the "Hunger Games" in conjunction with the election on this blog would be complete without the Hungry for Power Games.  Follow over the jump for Stephen Colbert as Julius Flickerman visiting both conventions.

Drink to candidates for the fifth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News

I concluded Silly candidates, real and fictional, for the fifth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News with the following warning.

I'm far from done with the presidential election.  Prepare to follow the advice of Bluto from "Animal House" and drink heavily at the prospect of Donald Trump becoming President.

Appropriately enough for a Flashback Friday as well as the anniversary of my first entry on Trump's candidacy, I begin with Drinks and drinking games for Donald Trump and the GOP debates published August 2, 2015.  It ended the year as the tenth most read entry of the fifth year of this blog with 973 page views and 12 comments, which made it the most commented on entry posted during the fifth year of this blog.  It was not, however, the entry that got the most comments during the blogging year just past.  That honor goes to Science fiction speaks to our current anxieties, which had 46 of its 54 comments posted during last year because of a battle with a gaggle of spammers.  That is a story for another entry; time to return to drinks for Trump.

Like my other entries in this retrospective series, I'm being a good environmentalist and recycling what I've already written about how the entry earned its page views, beginning with this passage from Record page views for August 2015 and other monthly meta.

The second entry I shared at both Greer's and Kunstler's blogs as well as all the political groups on Facebook was "Drinks and drinking games for Donald Trump and the GOP debates" published August 2, 2015.  This was the most read of both the Trump entries and the drink entries last month, earning 317 page views, 346 according to the raw counter.  It was the third most read overall and either the second according to the default counter or the first according to the raw counter among all entries posted during August.  It earned another honor, being the most commented on entry with 10 comments.

Here's my comment on Where Candidates Fear to Tread at Kunstler's blog.

I agree with you that Trump is a clown who exposes the lack of seriousness among both the politicians and their constituents, although the latter are quite serious in their rage, if not in the policies they'd liked enacted to satisfy it.  That's why I decided to have some fun with Drinks and drinking games for Donald Trump and the GOP debates.  The viewers aren't going to get any serious responses to the issues you listed, so they may as well enjoy themselves getting blotto to the candidates.

I wrote less about the entry at Greer's blog and more about related ones.  Read my comment on "The Suicide of the American Left" for yourself and see.

"There’s Donald Trump, whose campaign is shaping up to be the loudest invocation of pure uninhibited führerprinzip since, oh, 1933 or so..."

And whose candidacy has been the best thing for a media driven by page views and clicks so far this campaign season.  When my wife watched his announcement, she remarked that Trump looked and sounded like The Penguin running for Mayor.  Both of them are cartoons of what a working stiff thinks a rich person should be.  Then his campaign picked up steam and an article I wrote for Examiner.com about his coming in second in a Michigan poll has been the most read story for the past year.  Now that he's in first, the best thing to do about him is to play a drinking game for his campaign appearances and the debates.   Time to stock up on booze.

That wasn't the only time the entry made the top ten.  The Monthly meta for February 2016 also had a paragraph about it.

Two actions propelled "Drinks and drinking games for Donald Trump and the GOP debates" back into the top ten--tweeting the link before every Republican debate and sharing it at The Archdruid Report.  The latter happened when another reader asked what was in a Trump Sandwich.  I responded "I have no idea, but I can tell you six different recipes for Trump cocktails."  Those were enough to earn the entry 156 page views, making it the eighth most read entry of the month.

I also shared it at the political groups on Facebook before every Republican debate.  I expect, if there are debates between Clinton and Trump, I'll be sharing the link then, too.

Trump wasn't the only candidate I wrote a drink recipe for last year.  Follow over the jump for something brown and frothy.

Colbert clowns as Cruz and Kasich capitulate

I already wrote "Good riddance, Agenda 21 paranoid" in response to Ted Cruz dropping out, but that wasn't a proper send-off.  Besides, John Kasich ended his campaign the next day.  He needs a good-bye, too.  I'm outsourcing that to Stephen Colbert, who does to Cruz, Kasich, and (again) to Carly Fiorina what he did to Ben Carson, give a "Hunger Games" good-bye in Hungry For Power Games: Dyin' Ted.

Two more Republican tributes have finally fallen, leaving Trump the GOP victor.

Everyone, a toast to the victor!


I think we'll be seeing a lot of "cartoon Donald Trump" between now and November.

Follow over the jump for drinks for the fallen.

'Superman vs. Batman' buries 'Zootopia' in rubble

Two weeks ago, my entertainment headline read "Zootopia" remains on top of the box office for a second week after displacing "Deadpool."  I anticpated this week's this morning when I concluded A drum corps 'Superstar' for Easter with "I expect a changing of the guard at the box office as 'Batman vs. Superman: The Dawn of Justice' should topple 'Zootopia.'"  That happened, as Forbes reported 'Batman V Superman' Box Office: 'Dawn Of Justice' Opens With Mostly Super $170.1M Weekend.

The much-discussed/much-debated/much-anticipated Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice opened this weekend with a whopping $170.1 million domestic bow. So, riddle me this, Batman: When is a $170.1m debut weekend not entirely cause for unmitigated celebration?  Answer: When it is started by an $82m Friday. In terms of pure weekend numbers, that’s the biggest opening weekend of 2016 thus far and the 6th biggest opening of all time and the biggest DC Comics debut ever. $18m of that came from IMAX, $17m came from PLF auditorums, and 40% came from 3D auditoriums. At the very least, Warner Bros. is breathing a massive sigh of relief this morning.

It sits just ahead of The Dark Knight Rises ($160 million) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 ($169m), behind only Iron Man 3 ($174m), Avengers: Age of Ultron ($191m), The Avengers ($207m), Jurassic World ($208m), and Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($247m).  It’s the biggest pre-summer start of all time, beating The Hunger Games ($152m) and Furious 7 ($147m) and notching the second largest non-summer debut ever behind The Force Awakens. It’s Warner Bros./Time Warner Inc.’s biggest debut weekend ever.

So that’s good, right?  Well, mostly.

The film was panned by critics and it doesn't have the best word of mouth, but it still made a lot of money, enough to justify a sequel and a Wonder Woman film, both of which are already in the works.  The bad news is if it continues to make money, or if it fades quickly.  It will probably do well for another couple of weeks, as Forbes notes.

Even if word of mouth is poor from general audiences (or at least heavily mixed), there is little-to-no competition for the first 14 days of release. God’s Not Dead is the only new wide release next week and the week after that sees Melissa McCarthy’s The Boss while the week after that sees Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book. The film’s fate will be set by the time The Huntsman: Winter’s War drops into theaters on April 22nd.

I expect I'll post about the next changing of the guard the Sunday after "The Jungle Book" debuts.

Follow over the jump for how the rest of the speculative fiction movies still in theaters fared.

Colbert gives a 'Hunger Games' good-bye to Ben Carson

On Sunday, I warned my readers that a regular feature might be delayed.

Stay tuned for the Sunday entertainment entry, which may be delayed until anywhere between tomorrow and Thurssday.  That's happened before.

The Michigan Primary is over and the circus has left town, so it's now time to cash that rain check--or issue another one.  I'll have a proper entertainment entry later, but first here's this shiny object that combines the campaign with one of my favorite dystopian series, Hunger Games.  I present Late Night with Stephen Colbert in Hungry For Power Games: Carson Eversleep.  Looks like I wasn't done with Doctor Pyramid after all.

The sleepiest tribute of all has fallen, and not a moment too soon, as it has always been past his bedtime.

Hunger Games, Stephen Colbert, and the campaign--I couldn't resist!

I'll have some more DOOM tomorrow, as it will be the fifth anniversary of Fukushima, but the next week looks fairly festive.  Daylight Saving Time begins Saturday night, followed by Entertainment Sunday, Pi Day, The Ides of March, and St. Patrick's Day.  The next week looks fairly happy, too, as Nowruz, also the blog's fifth birthday, and Purim occur then.  Add in the several weeks of retrospectives over the past year, plus more election coverage, and it will be party time until April.

'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' blasts to new U.S. box office records

Since this blog has been all Star Wars all the time since Thursday, it should come as no surprise that the Entertainment Sunday entry is about "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."  Wochit Entertainment kicks off the coverage with 'Star Wars' Global Sales Hit $250 Million.

LOS ANGELES — "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" pulled in an estimated $250 million at worldwide box offices through Friday. The seventh "Star Wars" movie was also on track to finish its opening weekend with record U.S. and Canadian sales, the Walt Disney Co. said on Saturday. The film is projected to sell close to $220 million worth to tickets in the United States and Canada through Sunday, beating the record $208.8 million for "Jurassic World" in June, Disney said. Critics have hailed it as a fan-friendly return to form for the franchise; the American Film Institute listed it among its top 10 films of the year.

Reuters reported that the movie brought in $120.5 million from U.S. screens on Friday alone.  Not only was that enough to knock "Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2" out of the top spot at U.S. theaters, but advance sales broke the record set by "The Hunger Games" according to Comicbook.com.  The odds may have been in Katniss Everdeen's favor for four weeks on top, but The Force wasn't with her.

All that was just opening day.  Follow over the jump for the latest, along with a drink to celebrate the film's commercial success.

Katniss Everdeen dethrones James Bond at the U.S. box office

Two weeks ago, "SPECTRE" knocked "The Martian" out of number one at the U.S. box office.  This week, it was Katniss Everdeen's turn to assassinate James Bond as "The Hunger Games" Mockingjay-Part 2" came in first, handily outpacing "SPECTRE."  Even in victory, the news was not all good as Daily Variety via Reuters reported earlier today that 'Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2' debuts to franchise-low $101 million.

"The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2" dominated the weekend box office with the final film in the science-fiction franchise debuting to $101 million.

That ranks as the year's fifth biggest opening, but it wasn't as big a sendoff for Katniss Everdeen and her fellow revolutionaries as some had predicted.

The massive bow falls short of tracking that projected the picture would top $120 million in its initial weekend in theaters. It also represents a low for the series, falling far short of the $158.1 million high-water mark established by 2013's "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire." It's a sign, perhaps, that interest in the dystopian world of Panem has crested.

The cresting of the youth dystopia wave is a topic I'll explore over the jump, along with other aspects of the series' legacy.  Those will come after the rest of the box office report.

The weakness of the new films allowed holdovers "Spectre" and "The Peanuts Movie" to pad their box office results. The latest Bond adventure added $14.6 million to its $153.7 million domestic haul, nabbing second place on the charts. "The Peanuts Movie" finished third, picking up $12.8 million to push its stated total to $98.9 million.

The "new films" mentioned were "The Night Before," which earned $10.1 million to come in fourth and "The Secret in Their Eyes," which grossed $6.6 million to eke out fifth place.  That last film may do better at the awards shows than the theaters, along with other films geared to an older audience.  Look for those to make their money on cable and streaming services.

Follow over the jump for reviews of the final installment of "The Hunger Games" from Vox and io9.

'Hunger Games: Mockingjay' at Comic-Con and the Saturn Awards

It's been a while since I've written about Hunger Games, so in the spirit of 'The Walking Dead' at Comic-Con, the Emmys, and the Saturn Awards and San Diego Comic Con trailer for 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens', I present The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 United Comic-Con TEASER.

After being symbolized as the "Mockingjay", Katniss Everdeen and District 13 engage in an all-out revolution against the autocratic Capitol.

The former drum corps member and marching band judge in me loves the marching and weapon work in this video.

Follow over the jump to read how "Mockingjay, Part 1" fared at last month's Saturn Awards.

'Insurgent' tops box office in opening weekend

I teased my readers three times then offered a rain check.

I told my readers to "stay tuned for a delayed entertainment entry about "Insurgent," the sequel to Divergent as well as more retrospectives" at the end of Top post for the fourth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News: James Robertson.  My readers will have to wait, as breaking news is shouldering that planned post aside.

It's time to redeem that rain check.  Follow over the jump for news about the movie from Daily Variety by way of Reuters and Vox plus my comments about the first movie.

Golden Globes music nominees

The Golden Globe Awards are tonight, which means they are the subject of today's Sunday entertainment entries.  Yes, entries, because the awards are too big for one post.  I'll start today's coverage by reversing what I did last year, when I posted Golden Globes song nominees and winner during the ceremony, by beginning with the song and soundtrack nominees.  Since the theme of this blog is "sustainability with a science fiction slant," I begin with the music from science fiction and fantasy works.

For the third time in a row, the featured song from one of "The Hunger Games" movies has been nominated.  This time, it's Yellow Flicker Beat by Lorde from "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1."


Unlike the past two songs from "The Hunger Games" movies, I like this one and think it both has a shot at winning and being nominated for an Oscar.  The previous two were popular, but inferior.  Whatever else I have to say about Lorde, inferior is not one of them.

The soundtrack from a science fiction movie was also nominated, Interstellar, music composed by Hans Zimmer.  Here's the main theme.


Oh, my, that's pretty--and original, too!*

Follow over the jump for the rest of the nominated songs and main titles from nominated soundtracks.

The economics of anime and manga plus bonus movie links

Avril Lavigne - Hello Kitty
For tonight's entertainment-themed entry, I'm going to recycle and combine two entries I originally posted to fandom_lounge on JournalFen.  First, the perils of cultural globalization from All of Sailor Moon licensed for U.S. market plus bonus Avril Lavinge.

I begin with The economics behind Avril Lavigne's creepy "Hello Kitty" video from Ezra Klein's Vox.com about the unintended consequences of the past decade's boom in cultural exports.

Japanese cultural appropriation is a bonafide thing.

For this, you can blame Japan's economy. Or at least sort of: Japan's economic rise and stagnation contributed to a massive corporate effort to export Japanese culture, which made it much more available to non-Japanese like Avril. For both good or, in this case, ill.

Broadly speaking, Americans have become much more aware of Japanese cultural touchstones - ramen, Pokemon, J-pop - in recent years. Between 1992 and 2002, Japanese cultural exports tripled in value.  Take a look at this chart of the size of the US manga (roughly, Japanese comics) market over time:

I was there for that expansion in the number of manga titles in the U.S. and the resulting boom in sales, along with booms in anime, video games, Japanese snack food, and collectibles, and I thought it was glorious.  I'd been a fan of Japanese animation since I was a kid in Los Angeles in the 1960s and watched the first Astro Lad broadcast in the U.S., along with Kimba the White Lion, The 8-Man, Speed Racer, and the Amazing Three.  Now, the grandchildren of all those shows had arrived and I could enjoy them all with my younger daughter, who was also a fan.  Speaking of her, follow over the jump for news about the show that got her hooked on anime.

'Divergent' and other teen dystopias

At the end of Farnsworth video meme, I promised "No zombies tonight.  Instead, I have something planned for the opening of "Divergent" this Friday."

First, since I like to lead with things that move, here is the most recent official theatrical trailer.


Cool, although I've seen some of this before.  The whole idea of factions reminds me of Vonnegut's "Slapstick," in which everyone in the U.S. is randomly assigned numbers for middle names.  That gave everyone an immediate social group to belong to, like a giant club.  Of course, that was played for laughs, not for the high stakes that are being played for here.  Also, the assigning teens into factions is much more deliberate, like a high-tech version of the Sorting Hat in Hogwarts.  That last might be part of the appeal of the books--a familiar element to the readers.  Finally, there are all the similarities to "The Hunger Games."

Enough analysis of corporate PR.  Follow over the jump for some analysis of "Divergent" and other teen dystopias from Illinois State University and The New Yorker.

Golden Globes song nominees and winner

I made a programming note to conclude the movie portion of Politics, science fiction, and fantasy at the Golden Globes.

As for the best songs, I will actually be able to make a judgment--after I listen to them.  Stay tuned.

Here are the three songs I mentioned in the previous installment, Ordinary Love from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Let It Go from Frozen, and Atlas from Hunger Games Catching Fire.

First, U2 - Ordinary Love (From Mandela OST) Lyric Video.


This was the song that had the greatest emotional effect on me, the same way that "Skyfall" had on me last year.  Based on that criterion, it's my favorite.*

Next, Disney's Frozen "Let It Go" Sequence Performed by Idina Menzel.

In this clip from Disney's "Frozen," Elsa, whose secret powers have just been revealed, flees Arendelle and unleashes her magic, creating a breathtaking ice palace. Performed by the voice of Elsa, Idina Menzel, "Let It Go" is an original song by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Tony Award®-winner Robert Lopez.

I really enjoyed this performance, because I could watch it in context with the events in the story and enjoy the visuals, but the song by itself, as performed by Demi Lovato, left me cold, pun not intended.  On that note, I preferred U2's song.

Finally, Coldplay - Atlas (Hunger Games: Catching Fire)(Lyric).


I appreciated the astonomical theme of the video, including the cameos by the Mockingjay as a constellation, but I found the song inferior.  Just like the the song nominee from "The Hunger Games" last year, I do not expect this to get an Oscar nomination.  If it does, it won't win.

*As I was typing the above, this tweet came in: "U2. Bono. Best Original Song. Legends talking about the legendary Nelson Mandela. Amazing."  Heh, called it.

Opening day promotion of 'Catching Fire'

I'm not done with "The Hunger Games" yet.  Here are two clips from news organizations that are having a good time being part of the promotional machinery for the film, as am I.

First, Jake Tapper of CNN snarks in On your mark, get set, go for 'Hunger Games'.

Jake Tapper reports on the recipe for Hollywood success, which the hit movie "Hunger Games" has apparently mastered.

He's making the same point I did in Twilight over, next up, The Hunger Games! and The Hunger Games: Dystopia as entertainment; Young Adult dystopias are big business, both at the bookstore and at the movie box office.

Next, ABC News interviews two of the movie's supporting actors in 'Hunger Games: Catching Fire' Opens With Style.

Elizabeth Banks and Lenny Kravitz talk about the stunning fashion in the new movie.

So that's what Effie Trinket's actress looks like under all that make-up.  Not bad.

I'll have more on "Catching Fire" later.  For starters, the movie has already beaten the first installment in opening night box office.