Oscar News
The Actors — How Ensemble Cast Drives Best Picture
One of the things that separates the Oscars from any other award show is that it is, in its purest sense, about all the people who make movies awarding the movies they think are best. That's what it is supposed to be — but it is, of course, not quite that. There are too many films to watch ,so most of them don't even get seen. The voters tend to favor films with the best publicity teams (these unsung heroes of awards season should have their own category, considering the expert and essential job they do...
‘Billie’ Doc Acquired by Greenwich Entertainment
Photo Courtesy of Getty Images / Marina Amaral. Greenwich Entertainment announced today that they have acquired the Billie Holiday documentary Billie. The doc, written and directed by James Erskine (The White Room), premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was later received at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Billie features legendary performances of the great singer painstakingly restored in color for the first time. It also offers unique interviews detailing her life as she became one of the most beloved jazz singers in American history. “Billie Holiday’s rare and dynamic voice speaks to us from across the American century, and yet the songs she sang and the urgency with which she sang them are as vital to contemporary audiences as when they were...
Oscar Primer — Why No Women Were Nominated for Best Director
I didn't think I'd ever be in the position of defending the Academy, but I find myself in that exact position after the internet, in typical fashion, lost its mind over the absence of any women in the Best Director race — specifically, one director. It's presumed by many who write the headlines at major outlets that Greta Gerwig was somehow "snubbed" for Best Director. With this piece, I hope to explain why that was the wrong way to look at how the Oscar nominations came down. Anyone not familiar with how the Oscar race actually works might feel shock, dismay, and despair over how Greta Gerwig could have been left off the list, but trust me, the Directors Branch is not the conspiratorial...
2020 Athena Film Festival at Barnard College Announces Full Lineup
NEW YORK (January 15, 2020) – The Athena Film Festival (AFF) at Barnard College announced today its opening night, closing night, and additional programming for the 2020 festival. The 10th annual festival, a joint program of Barnard’s Athena Center for Leadership Studies and the initiative Women and Hollywood, will take place February 27 to March 1, 2020, at Barnard College in New York City. AFF showcases films, television, and other media that tell the extraordinary stories of fierce and fearless women leaders from all walks of life — stories of ambition, courage and resilience. The festival amplifies the voices and stories of strong, bold women, curating a public discourse on gender equality and changing the cultural conventions surrounding leadership. The festival will open on Thursday, February 27, with the New York premiere of “I Am...
All This and the Oscars Too Podcast – Post-Nominations Edition
Screen Actors Guild Preview and Contest
The Screen Actors Guild will also announce their top prizes this weekend. Since the Screen Actors Guild is now SAG-AFTRA and not just SAG, they don't always align with the Academy as well as they used to. Last year, for instance, Regina King for If Beale Street Could Talk was not nominated for a SAG but won the Oscar, while Emily Blunt for A Quiet Place was not nominated for an Oscar but won the SAG. Idris Elba was not nominated for the Oscar for Beasts of No Nation but won the SAG in a year of protesting the preponderance of white nominees at the Oscars. The big focus heading into this weekend won't just be on what is going to win the Best...
Predict the Producers Guild Contest Open for Business
Next week's awards-apalooza will decide the Best Picture race. Or not. Either way, you smart Oscar watchers can figure it out. First up, the Producers Guild announces on Saturday, January 18. Remember that they have ten nomination slots and ten nominees and they count their votes using the preferential system. Because of how the dates have been pushed up, we don't have a lot of stats to go on. In fact, the race is continuously fluid. Even now, as I write this, it's fluid. I would bet that not everyone has made up their mind about which film they want to vote for. In general, you have either a first round winner (like Argo) or you have a recount winner (like The Big Short)....
ADTV
The Cooler Gang Reacts to Those Oscar Nominations
Well, they are here! The nominations for the 92nd annual Academy Awards have been announced, and people have opinions! Clarence is off this week, so it's like the loons running the asylum with Joey at the helm. With Joker leading the nominations, does that make it a frontrunner? Is it still between 1917, Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood, and Parasite? Let's take a moment of silence for Jennifer Lopez's miss. The Cooler Gang tries to focus on some positive nominations with the inevitable brouhaha over this year's announcement. We close our podcast, as always, with the...
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Interviews
‘Dolemite Is My Name’ Hair and Makeup Team Talk About Making the 70s Come Alive and Reteaming for ‘Coming 2 America’
The hair and makeup team for Dolemite Is My Name (led by Carla Farmer, Stacey Morris, and Vera Steimberg) is...
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David Harbour on Hopper’s Ultimate Sacrifice in the ‘Stranger Things’ Finale
I was not expecting to have the emotional reaction I had when I watched the season three finale of Netflix's...
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Clarissa Thibeaux on Marvel’s ‘Runaways’ and Playing a Shape-Shifting Alien
In Marvel’s Runaways, Clarissa Thibeaux played the shape-shifting alien, Xavin, helping the titular Runaways, a group of teens who venture...
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Editor Lee Smith on Cutting ‘1917’ as a ‘One-Shot’ Masterpiece
Sam Mendes' Golden-Globe winning masterpiece 1917 poses quite the conundrum when talking about its editing. Mendes and team famously built the...
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Sergio Pablos on Capturing Santa’s Magic for Netflix’s ‘Klaus’
The writer-director details why hand-drawn animation was the best choice for Netflix's BAFTA nominated animated feature. Klaus is a beautiful,...
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Jonathan Pryce on Becoming Pope Francis for Netflix’s ‘The Two Popes’
I first became aware of Jonathan Pryce thanks to his legendary performance as The Engineer in the musical Miss Saigon. He received...
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