Tag: Oscar

  • Christoph Waltz to essay filmmaker Billy Wilder

    By Express News Service

    Oscar-winning actor Christoph Waltz will be playing celebrated Hollywood filmmaker Billy Wilder in the upcoming film, Billy Wilder and Me. The film will be based on the 2020 novel by Jonathan Coe, Mr Wilder and Me.

    Christopher Hampton will be adapting the film for the screen while Stephen Frears is set to direct. Billy Wilder and Me marks the third collaboration between the filmmaker and the Oscar-winning writer after Dangerous Liaisons and Cheri. Set in 1977 when Wilder was filming Fedora, the film follows a young woman who starts working with the filmmaker and his screenwriter Iz Diamond.

    The film is expected to enter production in 2023, with filming set to take place in Greece, Paris and Munich. Other details such as the cast and crew are expected to be announced shortly.

  • Catherine Deneuve to be honoured with Venice Film Fest Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement

    By IANS

    LOS ANGELES: Veteran French actress Catherine Deneuve will be feted with the prestigious Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement Award at the 79th Venice Film Festival. The fest is supposed to be held from August 31 to September 10 on the Lido, reports ‘Deadline’.Deneuve, who secured an Oscar nomination for the 1992 period drama’ Indochine’ said in a statement accessed by ‘Deadline’, “It is a joy to receive this prestigious award at the Venice Festival, which I love and have known for a long time, since ‘Belle de Jour’ by Luis Bunuel received the Golden Lion in its day. It is also an honour to be chosen for this tribute at the film festival that has accompanied me so often for so many movies. Thank you, best regards.”‘Belle de Jour’ won the Golden Lion in 1967 while Deneuve took the 1998 Best Actress Volpi Cup for her performance in Nicole Garcia’s Place Vendome.’Deadline’ quoted Venice Fest chief Alberto Barbera as he spoke about Catherine, “An impressive number of movies, most of which are major international successes. An equally remarkable number of awards she has received at the world’s most important festivals, plus an Oscar nomination for best actress in a leading role, a rare privilege for an artist who is not American.”He further mentioned, “A succession of artistic partnerships with some of Europe’s top directors and actors: Roger Vadim, Jacques Demy, Luis Bunuel, Francois Truffaut, Roman Polanski, Marco Ferreri, Marcello Mastroianni, and Gerard Depardieu.””An indisputable talent at the service of a gift for acting, plus a sophisticated and rare beauty, attributes which have helped make her the very symbol of French cinema, a timeless diva and a true icon of the silver screen. From one of the key figures of the Nouvelle Vague and a privileged example of a concept of style that is associated with French fashion, Catherine Deneuve has come to embody the essence of the universally recognized diva, taking her place as one of the greatest actresses in film history”, Alberto concluded.

  • Alejandro G Inarritu’s Bardo picked up by Netflix

    By Express News Service

    Netflix has acquired the streaming rights of Oscar-winning filmmaker Alejandro G Inarritu’s upcoming feature film Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths. The film, which is currently in post-production, will release in theatres and on the streaming platform later this year.

    Written by Inarritu and Nicolas Giacobone (who previously collaborated with the filmmaker for Birdman), the movie is billed as a nostalgic comedy set against an epic personal journey. It chronicles the story of a renowned Mexican journalist and documentary filmmaker, who returns home and works through an existential crisis as he grapples with his identity, familial relationships, the folly of his memories as well as the past of his country. He seeks answers in his past to reconcile who he is in the present.

    Daniel Gimenez Cacho and Griselda Siciliani have played the lead roles in the film. Bardo is Inarritu’s first feature since the 2025 Leonardo Di Caprio-starrer The Revenant and is also his first film to be shot in Mexico since his critically-acclaimed 2000 movie Amores Perros. 

  • Oscars effect: Tony Awards introduce ‘no violence’ policy ahead of 2022 show

    By PTI

    LOS ANGELES: Tony Awards have introduced a new ‘no violence’ policy ahead of their 2022 show following the controversy surrounding the slapgate incident involving Will Smith and Chris Rock at the Oscars.

    The award show’s producers revealed the new procedure— which clarifies how they’d handle an individual “in the event of an incident”  in a letter to ticket buyers on Wednesday, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

    Oscars live show was briefly interrupted when Will Smith, this year’s best actor winner, slapped the comedian and presenter on the stage for cracking a joke about wife Jada Pinkett-Smith’s hair. The incident shocked the Hollywood audience attending the movie gala and those who tuned in through their screens.

    Smith, who later apologised to the comedian and the Academy, has been banned from Oscars and their other related events for a decade.

    The Tonys are the first known major award show to publicly institute a new no-violence policy following the Oscars on March 27.

    In the letter obtained by THR and sent by Tony Awards Productions to possible ticket buyers for the 75th annual show, producers wrote, “The Tony Awards has a strict no violence policy. In the event of an incident, the perpetrator will be removed from the event immediately,” the letter read.

    The new policy and other details were reportedly introduced among other standard policies to that include the dress code, seating, and vaccination required to attend the New York event. The Tony Awards will take place on Sunday, June 12.

  • Oscar 2022: Will Smith wins best actor Oscar for ‘King Richard’

    By AFP

    UNITED STATES: Will Smith on Sunday won the Oscar for best actor for portraying Venus and Serena Williams’ father Richard in the tennis biopic “King Richard,” taking home the trophy minutes after he went viral for slapping presenter Chris Rock onstage.

    “Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family,” Smith said through tears.

    “Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like they said, just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things.”

    Not long before he earned his golden statuette, Smith sparked controversy at the gala by storming onstage and slapping Rock, who made a joke about the actor’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

    “I’m hoping the Academy invites me back,” Smith said to close his speech.

    Smith beat Javier Bardem (“Being the Ricardos”), Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Power of the Dog”), Andrew Garfield (“tick, tick…BOOM!”) and Denzel Washington (“The Tragedy of Macbeth”).

    After the altercation and Smith’s speech, host Amy Schumer returned to the stage, saying: “Did I miss anything? there’s like a different vibe in here.”

  • Oscars to celebrate Godfather, Bond, Bruno

    By PTI

    LOS ANGELES: James Bond didn’t get an Oscar nomination this year, but that doesn’t mean that he won’t be part of the ceremony.

    It’s the 60th anniversary of the first 007 movie, after all, and the 50th anniversary of “The Godfather” and those landmarks will not go uncelebrated Sunday at the 94th Oscars.

    “We have some surprises around that. Wink, wink,” Will Packer, who is producing the show, said Thursday.

    It’s all part of the overriding theme of the year: “Movie lovers unite.”

    “Movies are the one thing that actually do unite so many of us as a global community,” Packer said. “Movies make you feel something, they inspire you, they make you aspire.”

    Packer was joined by hosts Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes, director Glenn Weiss, co-producer Shayla Cowan, Oscars production designer David Korins and musical director Adam Blackstone to preview the ceremony, which is just days away.

    Amy Schumer, who is the third host of the evening, was not present but had a message that her colleagues delivered: “Don’t worry, it’s not COVID.”

    They promised a crowd-pleasing night of escape and celebration, including a performance of the hit “Encanto” song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.” Latin music powerhouses Luis Fonsi and Becky G will join members of the film’s cast during a performance of the Lin-Manuel Miranda hit, which soared to No. 1 on the Billboard charts, the academy said.

    Despite the success of “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” it will not vie for an Oscar on Sunday. The Spanish-language song “Dos Oruguitas” is nominated for best original song.

    And while there might not be a Glenn Close “Da Butt” repeat planned, Sykes laughed that they talked about having Dame Judi Dench “do the worm.”

    The show is aiming to recover from last year’s ratings low and have made drastic strides to keep the runtime to three hours, including the controversial decision to hand out eight awards before the show and edit into the live telecast.

    “We’re going to make sure that everybody has their moment,” Packer said. “It’s about celebrating the most talented people and what they do.”

    They will also return to the tradition of ending the night with the best picture category after last year’s experiment closing on best actor. And, Packer said, though they’ve announced an army of high-profile presenters, from Lady Gaga to Bill Murray, that they haven’t necessarily revealed yet who will be presenting the best picture award.

    As for the hosts, Sykes said they want “everyone to have a good time” but aren’t “going to trash anyone … none of us are mean spirited.”

    The three women will open the show together but also get solo moments to shine.

    Packer said they will acknowledge the state of the world respectfully, including the pandemic and the war, but that he wants the evening to be first and foremost “a celebration, a release, an escape for people who really need it.”

    Behind the scenes, the pandemic is still top of mind for those involved, especially after reports that some got COVID-19 after attending the BAFTAs in London. The Academy is requiring every attendee to submit two negative PCR tests before the show. Audience members also have to be vaccinated.

    “We want to make sure that everybody is safe coming to the show,” said Packer, who declined to talk about whether he knew of any individual nominees who had COVID-19. “We have a lot of protocols in place … We want to pull off a show that keeps everyone safe.”

    The Oscars will be broadcast live Sunday on ABC beginning at 8 p.m. EDT.

  • Don’t Look Up, Coda , Succession  win top honours at Writers Guild Awards 2022

    By Express News Service

    Don’t Look Up and Coda added momentum to their hopes for Oscar gold by nabbing the top film honours at the 74th annual Writers Guild Awards.

    Sunday’s wins for the Apple TV Plus and Netflix titles come as film award season heads into its final seven-day countdown leading into the 94th Academy Awards on March 27.

    The Writers Guild of America West and East joined forces this year to present Sunday’s awards in a virtual format, hosted by actor-writer Ashley Nicole Black, out of Covid-related precaution.

    On the TV side, the HBO/HBO Max platform stood tall. Succession won the trophies for drama series and episodic drama, the latter snared by the memorable shareholders meeting romp, Retired Janitors of Idaho.

    Succession made history on Sunday, finishing its 2022 sweep of the major guild awards with two big WGA wins. The show has already collected the SAG Award for drama ensemble, the DGA Award for drama series (for director Mark Mylod) and the PGA honor as well.

    Episodic comedy honours went to Hulu’s offbeat period vehicle The Great, for creator/showrunner Tony McNamara’s Alone At Last episode.

  • ‘True Detective’ S4 in works at HBO with Issa Lopez, Barry Jenkins

    By PTI

    LOS ANGELES:  HBO has roped in filmmakers Issa Lopez and Barry Jenkins for the fourth season of the critically-acclaimed series “True Detective”.

    According to Variety, the premium cable network is actively developing the fourth season, which has been titled “True Detective: Night Country”.

    Lopez will write, direct the pilot and serve as executive producer on the new season, which will reportedly take place in the Arctic, where nights can last for more than 24 hours. Jenkins will executive produce via his filmmaking collective Pastel, alongside Lopez, Adele Romanski, and Mark Ceryak.

    Anonymous Content, which produced past seasons of the show, and several other executive producers are expected to board the project as well.

    The first season of the crime drama show, created by Nic Pizzolatto and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, was a massive hit for the network in 2014 and also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or Television Film.

    It featured Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey in the lead. The show’s sophomore run, however, performed abysmally for the network.

    Despite featuring the likes of Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams, Taylor Kitsch, and Vince Vaughn, the second installment, which premiered in 2015, could not replicate the success of the first season.

    The third season came after a gap of four years in 2019 and was led by Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali. It received positive reviews from critics.

  • ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ actor William Hurt dies at 71

    By IANS

    LOS ANGELES: Actor William Hurt, who became a top leading man in the 1980s by winning an Oscar for 1985’s ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’, and starring in ‘The Big Chill’ and ‘Body Heat’, has died of natural causes. Hurt died aged 71. His death was confirmed to Variety by his friend, Gerry Byrne.His son Will said in a statement: “It is with great sadness that the Hurt family mourns the passing of William Hurt, beloved father and Oscar winning actor, on March 13, 2022, one week before his 72nd birthday. He died peacefully, among family, of natural causes.”Hurt was nominated for four Oscars over the course of his long career, scoring two best actor nominations for ‘Broadcast News’ and ‘Children of a Lesser God’ and a supporting actor nod for less than 10 minutes of screen time in ‘History of Violence’.He was one of the most heralded performers of the 1980s, becoming something of a cerebral sex symbol and a reluctant, albeit bankable, movie star. Hurt later transitioned into character roles in the 1990s and successfully alternated between big screen projects and television, scoring Emmy nominations for his work as a whistleblower in ‘Damages’ and his portrayal of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in ‘Too Big to Fail’.More recently, Hurt became well known to a younger generation of movie lovers with his portrayal of the no-nonsense General Thaddeus Ross in 2008’s ‘The Incredible Hulk’. He later reprised the role in ‘Captain America: Civil War’ and ‘Avengers: Infinity War, ‘Avengers: Endgame’ and ‘Black Widow’.Hurt was born March 20, 1950 in Washington, D.C. His mother, Claire Isabel, worked at Time Inc., and his father Alfred Hurt (1910-1996), was a career bureaucrat, working for the United States Agency for International Development and the State Department. His parents separated when he was six years old, and his mother remarried Henry Luce III, son of Time Magazine publisher Henry Luce.Raised in relative privilege, Hurt went on to attend Tufts University, where he studied theology, before moving to Juilliard to study acting. After appearing on stage, Hurt secured a lead role in ‘Altered States’, playing a troubled scientist in Ken Russell’s offbeat film, a notable entry in the body horror genre.But a year later, Hurt achieved a new level of prominence, appearing opposite Kathleen Turner in ‘Body Heat’, a steamy noir that updated the kind of treachery and double-crossing seen in the likes of ‘The Big Sleep’ and ‘Double Indemnity’ with a bracing sexuality. It transformed both performers, who positively ignited on screen, into major stars.Hurt followed that with another lead role in ‘Gorky Park’ and was part of the ensemble of ‘The Big Chill’, a drama about a group of friends reuniting that became a touchstone for the baby boomer generation.That was all a lead up to one of the most stunning periods of dominance ever enjoyed by a movie star. From 1986 to 1988, Hurt was nominated for three consecutive best actor Oscars, winning for his portrayal of a gay window dresser in Hector Babenco’s ‘The Kiss of the Spider Woman’.Roger Ebert, writing in the Chicago Sun Times, praised Hurt’s work, crediting him with creating “a character utterly unlike anyone else he has ever played”, a frankly theatrical character, exaggerated and mannered “and yet he never seems to be reaching for effects”.His Oscar-nominated work in ‘Children of a Lesser God’ and ‘Broadcast News’, playing a teacher at a school for the deaf and an affable, slightly dim-witted newsman, showcased his range. The commercial and critical success of those films rocketed Hurt to the A-list, but he didn’t seem to relish the celebrity.”It’s not right that my privacy is invaded to the extent that it is. I’m a very private man, and I have the right to be. I never said that because I was an actor you can have my privacy, you can steal my soul. You can’t,” Hurt told the New York Times during a 1989 interview.Perhaps it was that aversion to notoriety that led Hurt to turn some major movies over the course of his career, with the actor passing on opportunities to star in the likes of ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘Misery’. His time in the spotlight also coincided with a period of personal trouble for the actor, one in which he struggled with drugs and alcohol.”I was utterly miserable and, finally, I had been miserable enough, long enough, and I said, ‘I’m finished, I can’t hack it, can’t do it’,” Hurt told the Washington Post in 1989, remembering the time before he went to rehab.A relationship with Marlee Matlin, his co-star in ‘Children of a Lesser God’, was troubled. Matlin later wrote in a memoir that Hurt was emotionally and physically abusive to her.In a statement at the time, Hurt, through a spokesperson, said: “My own recollection is that we both apologised and both did a great deal to heal our lives. Of course, I did and do apologise for any pain I caused. And I know we have both grown. I wish Marlee and her family nothing but good.”The 1990s proved to be a less fruitful time for Hurt professionally. He earned raves for his work in ‘The Doctor’ as an arrogant surgeon who undergoes a change-of-heart after experiencing health struggles, but other films such as ‘Second Chances’ and ‘Until the End of the World’ failed to generate much attention.A rare attempt at popcorn entertainment with 1998’s big-screen adaptation of ‘Lost in Space’ was a modest hit, but didn’t earn enough money to spawn a franchise and Hurt looked miserable throughout the movie. He also appeared in the TV mini-series version of ‘Dune’, in Steven Spielberg’s ‘A.I. Artificial Intelligence’ and in M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘The Village’.As the aughts dawned, Hurt, with his blonde hair thinning, seemed to settle with supporting roles, scoring scenery stealing turns as an urbane spy in ‘The Good Shepherd’, a demanding father in ‘Into the Wild’, and, most memorably, as a sinister mob boss in ‘A History of Violence’.His role in the latter film, in which he admits to his hit man brother that “when mom brought you home from the hospital, I tried to strangle you in your crib”, was a master class is doing a lot with a little bit of screen time. Hurt was married to the actress Mary Beth Hurt from 1971 to 1982 and was married to Heidi Henderson from 1989 to 1991.

  • Oscars 2022: John Travolta, Mila Kunis, Daniel Kaluuya join presenters line-up

    By PTI

    LOS ANGELES: The producers of 94th Academy Awards, Will Packer and Shayla Cowan, have announced the next set of star presenters for the upcoming ceremony.

    The line-up includes Daniel Kaluuya, Mila Kunis, Lupita Nyong’o, Naomi Scott, Wesley Snipes and John Travolta.

    Previously announced presenters for the Oscars 2020 include Ruth E. Carter, Anthony Hopkins, Lily James, Simu Liu, Rami Malek, Uma Thurman, Kevin Costner, Zoe Kravitz, Lady Gaga, Rosie Perez, Chris Rock and Yuh-Jung Youn.

    The 94th Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland in Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC.

    Filmmaker Jane Campion’s Western “The Power of the Dog”, a psychological drama set in the director’s native New Zealand, is leading the this year’s Oscar race, with Denis Villeneuve’s ambitious adaptation of Frank Herbert’s epic sci-fi novel “Dune” closely following.