Oscar News
Oscar Season Primer: Know Your Voters
As we head into the Oscar year that will go down as “The 2020 Oscars,” with all that might one day imply in the context of history, no doubt there will be reasons why some films and performances resonated while others fell flat. How a film does in any given year with a consensus doesn’t necessarily make it “Miss Right.” Instead, it’s “Miss Right Now,” to borrow a Robin Williams joke. Miss Right Now speaks to the mood of the moment, tells us much about how a certain demographic was thinking about the world the artists...
Interview: How Danelle Satherley Turned Taika Waititi Into Hitler For ‘Jojo Rabbit’
Danelle Satherley is no stranger to working with Taika Waititi, having collaborated with the director and filmmaker on Boys, What We Do In The Shadows, Hunt For The Wilderpeople, and now Jojo Rabbit. Satherley now turns Waititi into Hitler, as the imaginary best friend of Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis). Since the film was never going to be your run of the mill World War II drama, the key factor was creating a look that spoke about a child's vision. "It was very clear to us both that we weren't making a carbon copy of Hitler. We...
Bombshell Gets a Trailer
The trailer gives you a little more of the highly stylized film starring Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie.
Interview: Taika Waititi Talks ‘Jojo Rabbit” And A Simple Message “Can we just be nice and be good to each other?”
THIS INTERVIEW CONTAINS PLOT SPOILERS! Taika Waititi's Jojo Rabbit won the Audience Award last month at the Toronto Film Festival and this weekend audiences will be able to see the big-hearted film for themselves. Jojo Beltzer is a ten-year-old boy obsessed with Hitler and Nazi Germany. His best friend is an imaginary creation of Hitler. Young Jojo has been convinced that Jews are demons and he's taught to hate them when he goes to youth camp. One day he discovers Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie), a young Jewish girl hiding in a room behind an upstairs window and...
Spitballing Monday with the Oscar Squad
The Oscar Squad has taken a break and given much time to reflect on their bad choices but are BACK for another round of spitballing the Oscar race. Out of the gate there isn't much to know, because there are so many films we haven't yet seen that could impact the race. Buzz will rise and buzz will falls. Shitstorms will bend and sway the contenders every which way. But either way, here is our first foray with new member Kevin Dillon!
Bombshell Rocks the Acting Races
Bombshell finally screened yesterday in Los Angeles, followed by Q&As with Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie, and the star and producer, Charlize Theron. The pic is directed by Jay Roach and written by Charles Randolph. Formal reviews are embargoed until the film's release in December but I don't think I'm breaking an embargo to talk about the film's impact on the Oscar race. The crowd ate up the film at both screenings and what a treat to see a film like this in the race, a thriller-like film about such a serious subject as sexual harassment, driven...
Interview: Catching Up With Andrew Miano and Chris Weitz On Producing ‘The Farewell’
Lulu Wang's The Farewell is the beautiful drama inspired by "an actual lie." The story is Wang's own, her grandmother or Nai Nai as she is affectionately called, has six months to live after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, the family has to return to China to see her and say their farewells. Except, Nai Nai can't know the truth and the family comes together under the guise of a family wedding. Wang told the story in 2016 on the "This American Life" podcast, and producer Chris Weitz heard the story. He wanted to tell it...
‘Parasite’ Wins Audience Award As 2nd Annual Film Fest 919 Closes
As the 2nd Annual Film Fest 919 closed, Bong Joon Ho's Parasite received the sophomore festival's Audience Award, announced during a festival-closing screening of Taika Waititi's divisive JoJo Rabbit. The award (and the closing film, in my opinion) marked a very satisfying end to a great sophomore year for the Chapel Hill, North Carolina, festival. Organizers Randi Emerman, Carol Marshall, and Claudia Puig announced the winner and also recognized two runners up who closely trailed Parasite: Destin Daniel Cretton's Just Mercy and Fernando Meirelles' The Two Popes. “PARASITE is a magic trick of cinema by the visionary director...
Interviews
Interview: How Danelle Satherley Turned Taika Waititi Into Hitler For ‘Jojo Rabbit’
Danelle Satherley is no stranger to working with Taika Waititi, having collaborated with the director and filmmaker on Boys, What...
Read more
Interview: Taika Waititi Talks ‘Jojo Rabbit” And A Simple Message “Can we just be nice and be good to each other?”
THIS INTERVIEW CONTAINS PLOT SPOILERS! Taika Waititi's Jojo Rabbit won the Audience Award last month at the Toronto Film Festival...
Read more
Interview: Catching Up With Andrew Miano and Chris Weitz On Producing ‘The Farewell’
Lulu Wang's The Farewell is the beautiful drama inspired by "an actual lie." The story is Wang's own, her grandmother...
Read more
Interview: Irene Taylor Brodsky Talks About The Very Personal “Moonlight Sonata: Deafness In Three Movements”
Jazz Tangcay Talks to Director Irene Taylor Brodsky About The Very Personal "Moonlight Sonata: Deafness In Three Movements" Irene Taylor...
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Alan Murray Takes Us Behind The Sound Design of ‘Joker’
Alan Murray has been working in sound since the 1970s and began working with Cecil B. DeMille's personal sound...
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Action Actor Geno Segers Sings the Praises of Doing Light-Hearted ‘Perfect Harmony’
Megan McLachlan speaks with Geno Segers, who plays Dwayne on NBC's Perfect Harmony, about being in a TV love triangle...
Read moreContenders
Oscar Season Primer: Know Your Voters
As we head into the Oscar year that will go down as “The 2020 Oscars,” with all that might one...
Read more
Bombshell Gets a Trailer
The trailer gives you a little more of the highly stylized film starring Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie.
Spitballing Monday with the Oscar Squad
The Oscar Squad has taken a break and given much time to reflect on their bad choices but are BACK...
Read more
Bombshell Rocks the Acting Races
Bombshell finally screened yesterday in Los Angeles, followed by Q&As with Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie, and the star and producer,...
Read more
Predictions Friday: Best Picture Narrows, but Predicting the Winner is Hard
We are still in the phase of the Oscar race where hope springs eternal. We've gone through Cannes, Sundance, Telluride,...
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An Early Look at Screenplay – Original and Adapted
The screenplay race, like the director race, is ordinarily tightly tied to Best Picture. Though it can also sometimes be...
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