We’re continuing on with our weeklong preview of the upcoming 85th Academy Awards, and after running down both acting categories it’s time to take look at some of the other races.  Today we’ll be looking at the Best Animated Feature, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Screenplay categories in depth, and I’ll also make some way-too-early quick picks in the technical categories.  The fun begins after the jump.

My recent trip to Scotland was one of the best experiences of my life.  In addition to getting to interview Brave director Mark Andrews, producer Katherine Sarafina, and story supervisor Brian Larsen, I went on amazing journey across Scotland and had the opportunity to participate in a wonderful variety of experiences including archery, falconry, bagpipe-playing, wearing a tartan, and more.  I’m not saying I was any good at the actual activities, but I still had a total blast.

We’ve now put together a video of my Scotland trip, and I hope you enjoy it.  You can also click here to see all the photos I took.  Brave is now available on 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD.

Last week, I was invited to the U.K. for the Blu-ray/DVD release of Brave.   While I was in London, I sat down with director Mark Andrews and producer Katherine Sarafian.  During our conversation, we talked about creating a princess in the modern age, how the story changed over the course of its development, dealing with Merida’s hair, perfecting the look of Mordu, why a bear, and more

Hit the jump to check out the interview, click here for my interview with story supervisor Brian Larsen, and click here for my photos from Scotland.  Brave is now available on 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD.

Last week, I was invited to the U.K. for the Blu-ray/DVD release of Brave.  During my visit to Stirling Castle in Scotland, I sat down with story supervisor Brian Larsen to talk about the movie.  In our conversation, we talked about the research process, working with the art department, developing the script, looking at the finished film, this experience compared to working on Ratatouille, his short movie The Legend of Mordu, advice to aspiring animators, and more.

Hit the jump to check out the interview, and click here for my photos from Scotland.  Brave is now available on 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD.

Last week, Disney flew me out to the United Kingdom as part of their promotion for the upcoming Blu-ray/DVD of Brave.  During my time in London, I interviewed director Mark Andrews and producer Katherine Sarafian.  Then my group flew to Scotland where I got the chance to interview story supervisor Brian Larsen.  But the majority of my trip to Scotland was an incredible whirlwind experience visiting castles, taking archery and falconry lessons, eating haggis for the first time, and much more.  And like any good tourist, I took plenty of photos.

Hit the jump to check out images of me goofing off in Scotland along with brief descriptions of where I went and what I did.  Look for my interviews with Andrews, Sarafian, and Larsen later this week as well as video from my trip.  Brave hits 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD tomorrow.

This week on Blu-ray, Pixar’s latest comes to home video, one of the most popular sitcoms of all time finally gets an HD upgrade, and a visually arresting classic gets the Blu-ray treatment.  Briefly:

• Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure [Blu-ray] – $13.86 (31% off)
• Brave (Five-Disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition: Blu-ray 3D / Blu-ray / DVD + Digital Copy) – $27.99 (44% off)
• Brave (Three-Disc Collector’s Edition: Blu-ray / DVD) – $19.99 (50% off)
• Friends: The Complete Series [Blu-ray] – $149.99 (46% off)
• Lawrence of Arabia (50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition) [Blu-ray] – $64.96 (32% off)
• Lawrence of Arabia (Restored Version) [Blu-ray] – $18.99 (30% off)
• My Big Fat Greek Wedding: 10th Anniversary Special Edition [Blu-ray] – $14.99 (25% off)
• Pixar Short Films Collection 2 [Blu-ray] – $27.96 (30% off)
• Savages (Two-Disc Combo Pack: Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy + UltraViolet)- $19.99 (43% off)
• Vamps [Blu-ray] – $12.99 (48% off)
• The Watch [Blu-ray] – $22.99 (43% off)

Hit the jump for all the details.

With the number of Academy screenings picking up and the holiday season fast approaching, we’re starting to get into the thick of awards season.  A full list of the animated films submitted for the Best Animated Feature Oscar consideration has now been unveiled, and it looks like we’ll see 21 films vie for the coveted trophy.  The films include the big studio releases like Brave, Frankenweenie, and Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, as well as Studio Ghibli’s From Up on Poppy Hill and the adult-oriented A Liar’s Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python’s Graham Chapman.

It’s been a strong year for animated features, and Pixar is in no way a lock to take home the trophy for Brave given the film’s fairly lukewarm reception. It’s probably safe to assume that Brave will be still be nominated, and I’d venture to say ParaNorman and the upcoming Wreck-It Ralph and Rise of the Guardians are also pretty good bets as well.  Hit the jump to check out the full list of animated films under Academy consideration, and be sure to leave your thoughts on the Best Animated Feature race in the comments.  Nominations for the 85th Academy Awards will be announced on January 10th.

“We gotta treat it like the Alien. Predator… It’s a cursed thing.” That was Pixar’s approach to designing Mordu, the giant “demon bear” who terrorizes Merida (Kelly Macdonald) and her family in their latest film, Brave. The result is appropriately terrifying, an unstoppable villain who prowls around despite the spears that have accumulated in his hide over his long, cursed existence. “He’s been around for centuries, perhaps. No one knows,” suggests a Pixar team member on a bonus featurette that will appear on the Blu-ray, set for release on November 13.  Disney has sent over a clip from that featurette to premiere here on Collider, so watch it after the jump.

For the past six days, Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man has held the top spot at the daily box office. It should surprise no one, therefore, that the reboot easily netted the weekend prize as well; earning an estimated $65 million from 4,318 locations. That gives the film a new domestic total of $140 million, a number that’s higher than early projections but lower than past entries in the Spider-Man series. Worldwide, the film has now earned a reported $341 million, which is not too bad for reboot…

Pixar always likes to sneak in Easter eggs for their upcoming movies, and Brave is no exception.  The studio placed their Easter eggs in the woodcarver/witch’s shop.  There’s an image of Sully carved into a piece of wood since Pixar’s next film is Monsters University.  Also, the studio has placed the Pizza Planet truck in every movie, and they had to get a little clever to get a car into a movie set in medieval Scotland.  Their solution was to make it one of the witch’s woodcarvings and hide it behind a candle.

Hit the jump to check out images of the Easter eggs.  Monsters University opens in 3D on June 21, 2013.

The theory that audiences would wait for the tentpole movies of July before opening their wallets went down in flames this weekend as two all-original movies (R-rated ones at that) delivered stellar openings. Ted and Magic Mike bested Brave by taking first and second place: nearly doubling their pre-weekend projections and giving box office watchers a lot more to consider than the imminent arrival of The Amazing Spider-Man.

This week on The Collision, we’re talking Pixar.  We talk about how the studio now stands at a crossroads as their last two movies haven’t received universal acclaim, and the old creative heads are starting to move on to other endeavors.  We also talk about Brave and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter before moving on to our recommendations.

Click here to listen to the new episode of The Collision, click here for last week’s episode, and click here to add the podcast to your RSS.  We’re also now on iTunes.  Be sure to follow The Collision on Twitter for updates, and you can follow us on Twitter at @MattGoldberg, @AdamChitwood, and @DrClawMD (Dave Trumbore).  Hit the jump to check out the trailers for this week’s recommendations.

This weekend, Brave became Pixar’s 13th feature film, the latest addition to an impeccable body of work that started nearly twenty years ago with Toy Story.  Given the storied history of everyone’s favorite animation studio, I think this is the perfect opportunity to try out a new feature, By the Numbers.  Essentially, I will go one by one through each of the Pixar movies and provide a numbers-based snapshot of its place in the filmography by looking at the box office, critical reception, and miscellaneous facts.  Four thousand words later, I hope you’ll agree this is a comprehensive review of Pixar’s work over the last two decades.

Hit the jump for a detailed look at Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Monster’s, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up, Toy Story 3, Cars 2, and Brave.

This weekend’s box office turned out to be pretty predictable. Brave, the thirteenth feature from fan-favorite Pixar studios, came out on top with an estimated $66.7 million from 4,127 locations. Easy to see that one coming. More of a question mark was Fox’s R-rated counter-programmer Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Many expected the film to crash in epic fashion; and while $16.5 million from 3,106 locations is not great, it is better than Rock of Ages and That’s My Boy managed last weekend so… yay?

Pixar Animation Studios released their 13th animated feature film this weekend with Brave.  While 13 may not be Pixar’s lucky number (read Matt’s review of Brave here), the overwhelming majority of their films have been huge commercial and critical successes.  This started way back in 1995 with Pixar’s first animated film, Toy Story.  A couple of years after the release of the picture that put Pixar on the map, the animation studio collaborated with Nickelodeon and UNICEF to make a short PSA about the right to children’s freedom of expression.  Not only does it have Pixar’s signature look, but more importantly, their heart.  Hit the jump to check out the PSA and get caught up on all of our previous PSAs here.