‘Green Book’ Feels Golden Glow During Awards Season
Every awards season is basically the same, but always includes a few unique exceptions. One of those is Universal-Participant’s “Green Book.” The film has won major prizes (Golden Globe, Producers...
View ArticleOscar-Nominated Cinematographers Made Bold Choices With This Year’s Films
Cinema is a global language, and this year’s roster of Oscar nominees for cinematography is a good illustration. The list boasts a distinctly international flavor. The stories come from Poland,...
View ArticleSome Hair and Makeup Oscar Contenders Went Prosthetic, Others Used...
A historical British royal drama. A biopic of an American vice president. A Swedish film about real-life trolls. All three of this year’s Academy Award nominees for hair and makeup showcase a wide...
View ArticleOscar Best Picture Race Dominated by Box Office Winners
This year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences’ ill-fated popular film Oscar category could have just as easily been dubbed “best picture.” That’s because the crop of movies vying to take...
View Article‘Yellow Rose’ Takes Grand Jury Prize at Asian Pacific Film Fest
UPDATED: “Yellow Rose,” written, directed, and produced by Diane Paragas, was awarded the Grand Jury Award for outstanding North American narrative feature at the 35th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film...
View ArticleGender Ratios Are Improving in Indie Films, but Visibility’s a Greater Goal...
After years of stubborn stagnation, the percentages of women working in key behind-the-scenes roles on independent films have finally budged. In the period from July 2018 to June 2019, women comprised...
View ArticleAva DuVernay on Moving From PR to Filmmaking, Directing ‘When They See Us’
For the past 14 years, Ava DuVernay has used film as a way to tell the often untold stories of marginalized communities — but the Oscar-nominated filmmaker has more IMDb credits as a publicist than as...
View Article‘Downton Abbey’ Creator Julian Fellowes on His Early Start as an Actor
Julian Fellowes was all wrong for his time — at first. When he graduated from drama school in 1973, working-class dramas onstage were all the rage, and the aspiring actor struggled to get an agent. He...
View ArticleTerrence Malick May Refuse to Campaign, but ‘A Hidden Life’ Should Be an...
As the stars of Terrence Malick’s “A Hidden Life,” August Diehl and Valerie Pachner, walked the red carpet at the film’s world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, the famously reclusive...
View ArticleJames Mangold’s Crew Fine-Tuned the Drama in Fox’s ‘Ford v Ferrari’
When talking about Fox’s “Ford v Ferrari,” starring Christian Bale as race car driver Ken Miles and Matt Damon as auto designer Carroll Shelby, director James Mangold stresses the collaborative nature...
View Article‘Tell Me Who I Am’ Navigates Emotional Minefields of Documentary Filmmaking
Like all great documentaries, Netflix’s “Tell Me Who I Am” focuses on a unique situation but makes it universal. The Oscar-potential film centers on twins Alex and Marcus Lewis. The 18-year-old Alex...
View ArticleOscar and Hollywood’s Nearly ‘Invisible’ People With Disabilities
Hollywood loves to imitate success: Superhero movies, remakes, sequels. However, it’s been almost 33 years since Marlee Matlin won her Oscar for “Children of a Lesser God.” So why haven’t studio...
View Article‘Popes’ High Hopes: Oscar Eyes Rare Trip to the Vatican
In 91 years, no one has ever been Oscar-nominated for playing a pope. That could change this year if Jonathan Pryce (lead actor) and Anthony Hopkins (supporting) are recognized for the crowd-pleasing...
View Article‘Parasite’ Director Bong Joon Ho on His Core Crew and Their ‘Risky Choices’
In Neon’s “Parasite,” writer-director Bong Joon Ho creates a rare film in which the audience has no idea where the plot is headed. Bong, who won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and rave reviews for the film,...
View ArticleAlexandre Desplat Combines Mozart and Bowie for Greta Gerwig’s ‘Little Women’...
There have been multiple film and TV versions of “Little Women.” But composer Alexandre Desplat and writer-director Greta Gerwig had a non-traditional idea for Sony’s 2019 version: “We wanted the music...
View ArticleLaika’s Chris Butler on ‘Missing Link’: ‘Stop-Motion Requires a Different...
Chris Butler, Oscar-nominated for the 2012 animated “ParaNorman,” is back in the race again with Laika’s “Missing Link,” a beautiful and sweet tale of friendship told in stop-motion. Butler says: “When...
View ArticleHollywood’s Global View Increases With Foreign-Language Oscars
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences set a precedent in 1938 by nominating the French-language “Grand Illusion,” directed by Jean Renoir, as best picture. After that, Oscar voters’...
View Article‘Hidden Life’ Offers a Rare Insight Into the Right to Not Bear Arms
A dozen war movies have won the best-picture Oscar, from “Wings” through “The English Patient.” Despite an overabundance of World War II movies through the decades, Fox Searchlight has two that offer...
View ArticleWhy Golden Globes Will Likely Have Little Effect on Oscar Nominations (Column)
With the Globes now behind us and Oscar noms rapidly approaching on Jan. 13, what should we be paying attention to in Hollywood’s biggest film awards race? Surefire bets are Globe winners Renée...
View ArticleHow Mako Helped Pave Way for Asian American Actors in 1965 With L.A. Theater...
The historic Golden Globe best actress win for Asian American actor Awkwafina reminds us of the pioneering work of creative trailblazers of Asian descent who preceded her. That list dates back to 1936...
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