Posts

Though not much ties the nominees together thematically, each film sheds light on some specific window of human suffering, from personal grief to long-endured discrimination. As with most compelling stories, the search for connection, belonging, and coping with the world’s cruelty pulls focus. Ranging in tone from futuristic satire to gritty rural drama, the films in this section offer as broad a range of filmmaking styles as they do perspectives....

Controversially, eight categories will be presented before the live broadcast and edited into the live show, a move that’s meant to help keep things moving by forgoing tracking shots of winners making the long walk from their seats to the stage. “One of the misperceptions is that things are being taken off the show, that’s not the case,” Packer said. “Make no mistake, without a doubt, we’re going to make sure everybody has their moment....

These days, Almodóvar has addressed that conundrum by making the talent come to him. Continuing his toe-dip into English language filmmaking that started with his Tilda Swinton-starring short film “The Human Voice” in 2020, the 72-year-old director is on the verge of taking another step. “Strange Way of Life,” which begins production in late August, will star Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal as a pair of middle-aged gunslingers at the center of a 30-minute Western....

Eight-year-old Nelly (Joséphine Sanz) sits in the backseat of her mother’s car outside of the nursing home where her beloved grandmother has just died, and watches through the window as her young parents (Nina Meurisse and Stéphane Varupenne) share a tender embrace. The half-quizzical look on Nelly’s face suggests that she hasn’t seen them hug in a while — that perhaps this moment is doubly charged. She wonders what they mean to each other, and what it feels like to lose someone forever, and whether her mother ever sat alone in a car on a gray fall afternoon and watched as her mother was consoled over her mother’s death....

For one thing, the movie isn’t really about Joelle Davidovich “Pompo” Pomponett, an eternally prepubescent girl who happens to be the most powerful super-producer in all of Nyallywood (basically Hollywood, but cuter and full of cats). For another, Pompo is more of a mogul than a cinephile. The studio that she inherited from her grandfather has built its success by making explosive junk that adheres to a simple mantra: “As long as the lead actress looks attractive, it’s a good movie....

The line of dialogue is heard during a chess competition in Moscow featuring series protagonist Beth Harmon (Golden Globe winner and Emmy nominee Anya-Taylor Joy). As a woman watches the chess match, the announcer of the event is heard saying, “The only unusual thing about [Beth], really, is her sex, and even that’s not unique in Russia. There’s Nona Gaprindashvili, but she’s the female world champion and has never faced men....

After the “West Side Story” lead star revealed she was not invited to the 94th Academy Awards, fan backlash led to her being offered to present at the ceremony. “People were upset and I was not expecting it so it’s very wonderful to be here,” Zegler told Entertainment Tonight on the red carpet ahead of the March 27 ceremony. “I’m really thankful to the Academy for asking me to present and everyone at ‘Snow White’ who was able to just let me get on a plane....

The three-octave singer from Chula Vista, California, famously renders Roy Orbison’s wallowing breakup ballad “Crying” as a glorious a capella epic in Spanish, “Llorando,” during a pivotal “Mulholland Drive” scene that serves as the bridge from fantasy to reality nightmare. At the downtown Los Angeles “Club Silencio” (in reality, the still-standing historic Tower Theatre), Del Rio croons “Llorando” onstage before collapsing unconscious, her vocals continuing. But for a scene about the performative nature of singing and lip-syncing, Del Rio, as she explained during a recent IndieWire interview, actually sung the song in camera....

Chris Rock and Bill Cosby also have four Emmy wins each, but their awards were in non-performance categories. Woodard, meanwhile, won Emmys for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for “The Practice” in 1997, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Special for “Miss Evers’ Boys” in 1997, Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series for “St. Elsewhere” in 1982, and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for “Hill Street Blues” in 1981....

Englund revealed that his “Star Wars” audition happened spontaneously, as he was asked to read for the role of Han Solo while leaving his audition for Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now.” “As I was leaving, one of the producers told me they were casting across the hall for this George Lucas space movie,” Englund said. “George Lucas was my hero, so I thought: ‘Hell, I’ll go.’ At the time, they wanted Han Solo to be played older, like a cool uncle who lets you smoke marijuana at Christmas....

“Lots of folk complaining about lack of sleep during the Pandemic,” a Twitter user wrote. “May I recommend ‘Master and Commander’ starring the usually captivating, attention-grabbing Russell Crowe. I’ve never made it past the ten minute mark. You’re welcome. And thanks Russell.” Crowe was tagged in the message and issued the following response: “That’s the problem with kids these days. No focus. Peter Weir’s film is brilliant. An exacting, detail oriented, epic tale of fidelity to Empire & service, regardless of the cost....

Hayek did not reveal which two comedies were being discussed, but she added, “I got a lot of satisfaction with them coming to me and telling me because I thought it was very courageous of them. And I thought it changed something. It changed something in them. It made [me think that] maybe the next generation or the next girl that comes in was going to get a better shot because of it....

The packaging of all moving images as equitable content “has created a situation in which everything is presented to the viewer on a level playing field, which sounds democratic but isn’t,” Scorsese continues. “If further viewing is ‘suggested’ by algorithms based on what you’ve already seen, and the suggestions are based only on subject matter or genre, then what does that do to the art of cinema?” Scorsese adds, “Curating isn’t undemocratic or ‘elitist,’ a term that is now used so often that it’s become meaningless....

“Sean is coming from a pure place,” said one of the film’s financiers, Fernando Sulichin. “It’s important to keep supporting not just fast-food films. It’s hard to make a film like this in the industry today.” Related Growing Number of Contenders Makes 2023 Best International Feature Race Less Predictable Oscars 2023: Best International Feature Film Predictions Related 24 Famously Queer and Homoerotic Horror Movies, from ‘Psycho’ to ‘Hellraiser’ Oscars 2023: ‘Everything Everywhere,’ ‘Nope’ Among Early Favorites Penn wanted Dylan to play Jennifer from the first time he read the script a decade and a half ago, but she wasn’t ready at age 15....

“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, an indie film veteran whose credits include “Short Term 12” and “The Glass Castle.” Cretton most recently directed the legal drama “Just Mercy,” starring “Black Panther” favorite Michael B. Jordan.” The cast of “Shang-Chi” includes Simu Liu as Shang-Ch and Tony Leung as the Mandarin, plus Awkwafina, Ronny Chieng, and Michelle Yeoh in undisclosed roles....

The untitled show is described as a coming-of-age drama that follows students who serve in the ROTC as a way of paying tuition at an elite university. Both Conway, a writer on “9-1-1 Lone Star,” and Murga, a writer and director on “Swagger,” used the ROTC to fund their higher education before serving in the U.S. Army. Conway and Murga will also executive produce the untitled ROTC show alongside Lee, Steven Jackson and Trevor Engelson (“Snowfall”) for his production banner Underground....

Speaking on a PGA Awards panel Saturday morning (via Deadline), the “West Side Story” director praised the South Korean show and applauded Netflix for taking a chance on a series without any known stars. Spielberg said that the show’s success makes it more feasible for films and television shows to cast unknown actors and still draw massive audiences. “’Squid Game’ comes along and changes the math entirely for all of us,” Spielberg said, while pointing to Netflix co-CEO and Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos....

Life is full of surprises. Just last March — to pick one random example that you might remember — the entire world shut down because a coronavirus decided that it didn’t want to live inside a bat anymore. What a twist! Aside from the many scientists who saw it coming and repeatedly tried to sound the alarm, literally no one saw it coming. And now, just a year after the COVID-19 pandemic slowed the planet to a standstill, we’re in for another system shock that might be even harder to swallow: Someone has managed to make a funny movie about it....

The search for her replacement was led by Sundance Board of Trustees Chair Pat Mitchell and Chair-Elect Ebs Burnough. In a statement, the board said the hiring resulted from “a very comprehensive search to find the right person who would continue to move us forward with a vision that aligns with the founding values of the Institute’s founder, Robert Redford.” Regardless, Vicente will have big shoes to fill. During her time at Sundance, Putnam was tasked with overseeing the replacement of long-time Sundance Film Festival director John Cooper in 2019 with Tabitha Jackson....

Even as the Sundance 2022 news cycle moves on, a sore spot remains with “Jihad Rehab.” Among the many problems with director Meg Smaker’s look at a Saudi Arabian institution designed to help former Guantanamo Bay prisoners reintegrate into society: There’s the title, which reinforces the most negative connotations of the term “jihad”; the positioning of the subjects as ominous Muslim stereotypes; and an ethically dubious approach to labeling men as “terrorists” who haven’t been accused of actual crimes....