The Force Awakens roundup: VES awards, how BB-8 got his voice

tfa-maz-cropThe Force Awakens won four categories at the Visual Effects Society Awards, including outstanding VFX in a photoreal feature. On that note, there’s a new Roger Guyett interview over at Deadline.

→ Bryan Young talked to Matthew Wood and David Acord about how BB-8 got his voice for How Stuff Works.

The Force Awakens is likely to pass $900M domestically and $2B globally this coming weekend, Scott Mendelson reports.

→ Your moment of extremely relevant zen: An adorable puppy finds a home.

Surprise! VW’s Star Wars ad is a Super Bowl hit

Volkswagen’s second Star Wars ad officially debuted during the Super Bowl last night, and although reception in the fandom was lukewarm, (‘last year’s was better’) it seems to have done fairly well with the general audience, and the dog (and his fat suit) even got a small spotlight from the Los Angeles Times.

For instance, San Francisco Chronicle’s Peter Hartlaub named it his second best, behind only the Clint Eastwood Chrysler spot. The Salt Lake Tribune’s Scott D. Pierce named it his #1. Salon’s Mary Elizabeth Williams admits that the spot was “shameless” and not as good as last years, but came out in favor because, well, dogs and Star Wars. The A.V. Club were less impressed, calling the dog “fairly cute” but saying the Star Wars endcap was “buzz insurance”.

But, naturally, democracy reigns, and you can vote for your own favorites on Youtube, Twitter, Facebook and even the NFL themselves, where the VW spot is currently #3.

Making a surprise showing last night was a spot for The Phantom Menace 3D, which was apparently named the “the most-memorable movie spot” in one poll.