91st Academy Award Nominees

The 2018 #Oscar nominees have been announced and eight #SciFi & #Fantasy films have been nominated in multiple categories, including for “Best Picture”!

The eight sci-fi & fantasy films that have received at least one nomination are as follows:

• #AvengersInfinityWar
• #BlackPanther
• #ChristopherRobin
• #IsleOfDogs
• #MaryPoppinsReturns
• #ReadyPlayerOne
• “#Solo: A #StarWars Story”
• “#SpiderMan: Into the Spider-Verse”

Award Categories Breakdown

For Best Animated Film:

• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

For Costume Design:

• Black Panther (Ruth Carter)
• Mary Poppins Returns (Sandy Powell)

For Music (Original Score):

• Black Panther (Ludwig Goransso)
• Isle of Dogs (Alexandre Desplat)
• Mary Poppins Returns (Marc Shaiman)

For Music (Original Song):

• “All the Stars” from Black Panther
• “The Place Where Lost Things Go” from Mary Poppins Returns

For Best Picture:

• Black Panther

For Production Design:

• Black Panther (Production Design: Hannah Beachler; Set Decoration: Jay Hart)
• Mary Poppins Returns (Production Design: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim)

For Sound Mixing:

• Black Panther (Steve Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor and Peter Devlin)

For Visual Effects:

• Avengers: Infinity War (Dan DeLeeuw, Kelly Port, Russell Earl and Dan Sudick)
• Christopher Robin (Christopher Lawrence, Michael Eames, Theo Jones and Chris Corbould)
• Ready Player One (Roger Guyett, Grady Cofer, Matthew E. Butler and David Shirk)
• Solo: A Star Wars Story (Rob Bredow, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Dominic Tuohy)

Total Number of Nominations for Each Film

Here’s how many nominations each sci-fi & fantasy film received:

• Black Panther: 6
• Mary Poppins Returns: 4
• Avengers: Infinity War: 1
• Christopher Robin: 1
• Isle of Dogs: 1
• Ready Player One: 1
• Solo: A Star Wars Story: 1
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: 1

References

• 91st Academy Award Nominees

RIP Fredd Wayne

#RIP: actor Fredd Wayne has died at the age of 93. He will likely be best known for playing Benjamin Franklin in the fantasy / sitcom TV series #Bewitched. He also played Ben Franklin in #Voyagers; J.J. MacConnell in #WonderWoman (TV series); Paul Malloy / Barney Kamener in #TheTwilightZone; & more.

Our condolences to his family, friends & fans. May he rest in peace.

Fredd Wayne (1924-2018)

References

• Fredd Wayne, Who Played Benjamin Franklin on ‘Bewitched,’ Dies at 93

RIP Harlan Ellison

#RIP #ScienceFiction author Harlan Ellison, who wrote the Emmy Award-winning #StarTrek episode “The City on the Edge of Forever”. He was also a creative consultant on #Babylon5 and wrote 2 of its episodes, as well as #TheTwilightZone TV series and #TheSixthSense TV series. (He also wrote several Twilight Zone episodes.) He also created the short-lived TV series #TheStarlost under the name “Cordwainer Bird” and wrote one of its episodes. He also wrote several comic book issues of #Daredevil along with an issue of Detective Comics, and contributed ideas to several #Avengers stories written by Roy Thomas. He also curated Harlan Ellison’s Dream Corridor, a comic book anthology series which adapted his short stories.

May he rest in peace.

Harlan Ellison (1934-2018)

References:

• Science Fiction Author Harlan Ellison, Who Wrote Iconic ‘Star Trek’ Episode’ Dies at 84: Report

RIP Margot Kidder

#RIP: actress Margot Kidder has died at age 69. She played Lois Lane in #Superman and appeared in #EarthFinalConflict, #Smallville & much more.

Our condolences to her family, friends & fans. May she rest in peace.

References

• Superman’s Lois Lane, Margot Kidder, Dies at Age 69

The 2nd “Deadpool 2” Trailer

Here’s the 2nd #Deadpool2 trailer!

RIP Verne Troyer

#RIP: actor Verne Troyer has died at the age of 49. While he played Griphook in “#HarryPotter and the #SorcerorsStone”, he will likely be mostly remembered for playing Mini-Me in the #AustinPowers films.

Our condolences to Verne Troyer’s family, friends and fans on his passing. May he rest in peace.

Verne Troyer (1969-2018)

References:

• Verne Troyer, ‘Mini-Me’ in Austin Powers films, dies at 49

“Black Panther”: 5th Highest Grossing Movie of All Time (Domestic)

As the 5th highest grossing movie of all time domestically, #BlackPanther isn’t just the highest grossing superhero movie of all time now (having out-performed #TheAvengers from 2012), it has also out-performed “#StarWars VIII: #TheLastJedi”!

The top 7 grossing domestic films of all time as of March 28, 2018 are as follows:

1. “Star Wars VII: The Last Jedi” (2015): $936,662,225
2. “Avatar” (2009): $760,507,625
3. “Titanic” (1997): $659,363,944
4. “Jurassic World” (2015): $652,270,625
5. “Black Panther” (2018): $635,634,080
6. “Marvel’s The Avengers” (2012): $623,357,910
7. “Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi” (2017): $619,999,185

References:

• Domestic Movie Grosses

RIP Debbie Lee Carrington

#RIP: actress Debbie Lee Carrington has died at age 58. She played Romba Ewok in “#StarWars VI: #ReturnOfTheJedi”, a drone in #InvadersFromMars, Thumbelina in #TotalRecall, Emperor Penguin in #BatmanReturns, alien father in #MenInBlack, a creature in #BuffyTheVampireSlayer, & much more.

Our condolences to her family, friends & fans. May she rest in peace. She is one with the Force.

Debbie Lee Carrington (1959-2018)

References:

• Actress Debbie Lee Carrington, Total Recall, Bride of Chucky Dies at 58
• DEBBIE LEE CARRINGTON, TOTAL RECALL AND RETURN OF THE JEDI ACTRESS, PASSES AWAY AT 58

Deadpool Animated Series that was Under Development Canceled by Fox

Fox has canceled development of an adult #Deadpool animated series from Donald Glover & Steven Glover.

Intended to premiere on Fox’s network #FXX in 2018, the network released the following statement on Saturday, March 24, 2018:

“Due to creative differences, FX, Donald Glover, Stephen Glover and Marvel Television have agreed to part ways on Marvel’s Deadpool animated series. FX will no longer be involved with the project. FX and Marvel have an ongoing relationship through our partnership on Legion, which will continue.”

References

• FX Pulls the Plug On Marvel’s Deadpool Animated TV Series From Donald Glover

RIP Ursula K. Le Guin

#RIP: the incredible #SciFi & #Fantasy author Ursula K. Le Guin has died at the age of 88. She wrote more than 20 novels (including her acclaimed novel “The Left Hand of Darkness” & the #Earthsea series), as well as a dozen books of poetry, over 100 short stories (collected in multiple volumes), seven collections of essays, 13 books for children & five volumes of translation, including the Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu and selected poems by the Chilean Nobel Prize winner Gabriela Mistral. He works also include a guide for writers.

Her novels were translated into more than 40 languages and often delved into themes of sorcery & dragons, or spaceships & planetary conflict. Her novels include the following:

From the Earthsea series:

• “A Wizard of Earthsea”, 1968 (Lewis Caroll Shelf Award list in 1979)
• “The Tombs of Atuan”, 1971 (Newbery Silver Medal Award)
• “The Farthest Shore”, 1972 (National Book Award)
• “Tehanu: the Last Book of Earthsea”, 1990 (Nebula Award)
• “Tales from Earthsea”, 2001
• “The Other Wind”, 2001 (World Fantasy Award)

From the Hainish science fiction series:

• “Rocannons World”, 1966
• “Planet of Exile”, 1966
• “City of Illusions”, 1967
• “The Left Hand of Darkness”, 1969 (Hugo Award, Nebula Award)
• “The Dispossessed”, 1974 (Nebula Award)
• “The Word for World is Forest”, 1976 (Hugo Award)
• “Four Ways to Forgiveness”, 1995
• “The Telling”, 2000

Miscellaneous:

• “The Lathe of Heaven”, 1971
• “The Winds of Twelve Quarters”, 1975
• “Orsinian Tales”, 1976
• “The Eye of the Heron”, 1978
• “The Beginning Place”, 1980
• “The Compass Rose”, 1982
• “Always Coming Home”, 1985
• “Searoad: Chronicles of Klatsand”, 1991
• “Animals of the Western Shore”, 2004-2007 (Nebula Award)
• “Lavinia”, 2008

This is a more complete bibliography.

Author Stephen King tweeted: “Usula K. LeGuin, one of the greats, has passed. Not just a science fiction writer; a literary icon. Godspeed into the galaxy.”

Author Neil Gaiman tweeted: “I just learned that Ursula K. Le Guin has died. Her words are always with us. Some of them are written on my soul. I miss her as a glorious funny prickly person, & I miss her as the deepest and smartest of the writers, too. Still honoured I got to do this:”

He was referring to presenting Ursula K. Le Guin with a lifetime achievement award at the 2014 National Book Awards:

Our deepest condolences to her family, friends & fans. May she rest in peace.

Ursula K. Le Guin (1929-2018)

References:

• Ursula K. Le Guin, Acclaimed for Her Fantasy Fiction, Is Dead at 88
• Wikipedia: Ursula K. Le Guin
• Wikipedia: Ursula K. Le Guin Bibliography