Wildcat, directed and co-written by Ethan Hawke and starring Maya Hawke as Flannery O’Connor, opens this weekend in New York and LA. One of nation’s most evocative, brilliant and ambitious writers, O’Connor was diagnosed with Lupus at 24 and reluctantly settled in with her mother, played by Laura Linney, at a dairy farm in Georgia, continuing to write until she died in 1964 at age 39. Raised in the Jim Crow south, where her work is set, she chronicled cruelty and hypocrisy in luminous prose.
The film premiered at Telluride and debuts theatrically this weekend in New York and LA via Oscilloscope. Four-time Oscar nominee Hawke spoke with Deadline on Wildcat‘s backstory, how it weaves between the author’s life and her fiction, and the current challenged state of indie film – “It’s never been easier to make an independent film. It’s never been more...
The film premiered at Telluride and debuts theatrically this weekend in New York and LA via Oscilloscope. Four-time Oscar nominee Hawke spoke with Deadline on Wildcat‘s backstory, how it weaves between the author’s life and her fiction, and the current challenged state of indie film – “It’s never been easier to make an independent film. It’s never been more...
- 5/4/2024
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
After decades of creating subversive art and music, Yoko Ono will receive a lifetime achievement award. MacDowell, an organization that offers artists residencies, will honor the artist with its Edward MacDowell Medal at an event in Peterborough, New Hampshire, this summer.
Ono, 91, is not expected to attend the ceremony, though. Her longtime manager, David Newgarden, will accept the award on her behalf during the presentation on July 21. The event will include an opening of MacDowell’s studios.
“It’s an incredible honor that my mother, Yoko Ono, will be awarded the MacDowell Medal,...
Ono, 91, is not expected to attend the ceremony, though. Her longtime manager, David Newgarden, will accept the award on her behalf during the presentation on July 21. The event will include an opening of MacDowell’s studios.
“It’s an incredible honor that my mother, Yoko Ono, will be awarded the MacDowell Medal,...
- 4/22/2024
- by Kory Grow
- Rollingstone.com
In November 2016, at the 50th annual Country Music Association Awards, Beyoncé performed “Daddy Lessons,” her first explicit foray into country music. On the emotionally intimate, vervy album Lemonade, the song felt inspired by the singer’s Southern origins. Onstage, accompanied by The Chicks and a band wielding the full power of acoustic guitars, horns and harmonicas, it became a full-throated declaration — an affirmation of all that came with Beyoncé’s roots in Alabama, Louisiana and Texas.
The backlash to her performance was swift and predictably racist. In a recording of that moment, the camera quickly cuts away from parts of the audience largely unmoved by Beyoncé’s enthusiastic invitation to clap along. On social media, detractors expressed their anger at the musician’s inclusion. A month later, the Recording Academy rejected “Daddy Lessons” as a country entry for the Grammys, setting the stage for a contentious battle about who and...
The backlash to her performance was swift and predictably racist. In a recording of that moment, the camera quickly cuts away from parts of the audience largely unmoved by Beyoncé’s enthusiastic invitation to clap along. On social media, detractors expressed their anger at the musician’s inclusion. A month later, the Recording Academy rejected “Daddy Lessons” as a country entry for the Grammys, setting the stage for a contentious battle about who and...
- 4/3/2024
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Not long ago, Lizzie No had an out-of-body experience while listening to Gillian Welch. The singer-songwriter had spent the past few years trying to make sense of the fractured, frighteningly personal songs she’d been writing, songs that spoke to a pain whose source she couldn’t always name. Many of them ended up on Halfsies, the stunning new record that the songwriter says is, in large part, about the “sensation of living in the scar without having any understanding of the initial wound.”
Which brings No (real name Lizzie Quinlan) to Gillian Welch.
Which brings No (real name Lizzie Quinlan) to Gillian Welch.
- 3/21/2024
- by Jonathan Bernstein
- Rollingstone.com
In 1982, Jonathan Demme directed a lovely TV movie called “Who Am I This Time?” about a shy actor (Christopher Walken) who can only reveal himself on stage in a variety of disparate roles. It’s an emblematic title and idea for Demme himself, a director whose fascination for the viewer lies in the fact that he’s paradoxically both an auteur with a clear signature and a director who tried on different artistic personalities throughout his career. There’s the exploitation guerrilla of the early ’70s; the humanist drama specialist who made “Melvin and Howard,” “Philadelphia,” and “Rachel Getting Married”; the off-beat hipster comedian; the sensitive documentarian; the live performance specialist; and the steward of well resourced, star-driven literary adaptations and remakes that became Demme’s specialty after his blockbuster success with “The Silence of the Lambs” in 1991.
While the subject matter and scale may vary, the point of view...
While the subject matter and scale may vary, the point of view...
- 3/20/2024
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
“Ted Lasso,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” “Yellowjackets” and “Bottoms” were among the 35th Annual GLAAD Media Awards’ list of winners.
On Thursday, TV personality and comedian Wayne Brady hosted the awards show for LGBTQ-friendly media, complete with performances from Chlöe and Kate Hudson debuting their songs “Fys” and “Talk About Love,” respectively.
Talk show icon Oprah Winfrey received the Vanguard Award, while Emmy-winning actress Niecy Nash-Betts was honored with the Stephen F. Kolzak Award for her work toward eliminating homophobia.
As far as the other winners go, the list included “Ted Lasso,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” “Bottoms,” “Yellowjackets” and many more. Singer-songwriter Reneé Rapp was given the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Music Artist, presented by Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong.
Check out the full list of 2024 winners and presenters, below.
“Fellow Travelers” received the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, presented by Michaela Jaé Rodriguez “Ted Lasso...
On Thursday, TV personality and comedian Wayne Brady hosted the awards show for LGBTQ-friendly media, complete with performances from Chlöe and Kate Hudson debuting their songs “Fys” and “Talk About Love,” respectively.
Talk show icon Oprah Winfrey received the Vanguard Award, while Emmy-winning actress Niecy Nash-Betts was honored with the Stephen F. Kolzak Award for her work toward eliminating homophobia.
As far as the other winners go, the list included “Ted Lasso,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” “Bottoms,” “Yellowjackets” and many more. Singer-songwriter Reneé Rapp was given the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Music Artist, presented by Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong.
Check out the full list of 2024 winners and presenters, below.
“Fellow Travelers” received the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, presented by Michaela Jaé Rodriguez “Ted Lasso...
- 3/15/2024
- by Raquel 'Rocky' Harris
- The Wrap
A Different Man tackles weighty themes of disability, identity and transformation. Directed and written by Aaron Schimberg and starring Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve and Adam Pearson, what emerges is a complex portrayal of the clashes between outer perceptions and inner truths. While it makes a valiant effort towards inclusion to express a vital message about appearance and identity, the film’s execution can often feel tonally inconsistent, and overlong.
Edward (Stan) is an aspiring actor with facial deformities, that subjects him to ridicule and isolation. Though self-conscious and lonely, Edward finds hope when he befriends Ingrid (Reinsve), his empathetic playwright next-door neighbor. When presented with the possibility of normalcy through a risky reconstructive procedure, Edward pursues the chance to lead a life free from judgment and staring eyes.
The painful transformation grants him a new face, but Edward soon realizes appearance alone cannot erase his past.
Edward (Stan) is an aspiring actor with facial deformities, that subjects him to ridicule and isolation. Though self-conscious and lonely, Edward finds hope when he befriends Ingrid (Reinsve), his empathetic playwright next-door neighbor. When presented with the possibility of normalcy through a risky reconstructive procedure, Edward pursues the chance to lead a life free from judgment and staring eyes.
The painful transformation grants him a new face, but Edward soon realizes appearance alone cannot erase his past.
- 1/22/2024
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Actor, director and playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah has joined the board of Fifth Season-backed production company The Story Collective.
In the role, Kwei-Armah will bring expertise and mentorship to various projects in development as well as nurturing new ideas to bring to screen.
Kwei-Armah is currently the artistic director for the Young Vic theater in London. Previously he served as artistic director of Baltimore Center Stage in Maryland, where he directed Toni Morrison’s “Jazz” and “One Night in Miami,” which was later adapted into a film starring Kingsley Ben-Adir.
He is set to make his directorial feature debut with upcoming film “The Collaboration,” starring Paul Bettany as Andy Warhol and Jeremy Pope as Jean-Michel Basquiat. He directed both the London and Broadway versions of the play. He also co-wrote John Boyega starrer “Breaking” and an episode of “Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle,” on which he was also an exec producer.
In the role, Kwei-Armah will bring expertise and mentorship to various projects in development as well as nurturing new ideas to bring to screen.
Kwei-Armah is currently the artistic director for the Young Vic theater in London. Previously he served as artistic director of Baltimore Center Stage in Maryland, where he directed Toni Morrison’s “Jazz” and “One Night in Miami,” which was later adapted into a film starring Kingsley Ben-Adir.
He is set to make his directorial feature debut with upcoming film “The Collaboration,” starring Paul Bettany as Andy Warhol and Jeremy Pope as Jean-Michel Basquiat. He directed both the London and Broadway versions of the play. He also co-wrote John Boyega starrer “Breaking” and an episode of “Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle,” on which he was also an exec producer.
- 1/11/2024
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: MTV Documentary Films is making its Oscar-shortlisted documentary The ABCs of Book Banning free to public library patrons across this country on Saturday, in partnership with streaming platform Projectr.
Documentary legend Sheila Nevins makes her directorial debut with the short, which examines the rising tide of book banning efforts around the United States. The film begins with 100-year-old Grace Linn, who appeared before the school board in Martin County, Fl to protest its decision to ban works by Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Wicked: Life & Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire and dozens of other books. The film features interviews with schoolchildren in Florida and elsewhere discussing what it means to them to have books kept out of their reach.
The ABCs of Book Banning, one of 15 short documentaries remaining in contention for Academy Award nominations, “follows the...
Documentary legend Sheila Nevins makes her directorial debut with the short, which examines the rising tide of book banning efforts around the United States. The film begins with 100-year-old Grace Linn, who appeared before the school board in Martin County, Fl to protest its decision to ban works by Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Wicked: Life & Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire and dozens of other books. The film features interviews with schoolchildren in Florida and elsewhere discussing what it means to them to have books kept out of their reach.
The ABCs of Book Banning, one of 15 short documentaries remaining in contention for Academy Award nominations, “follows the...
- 1/10/2024
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
There are no Black characters in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ caustic family drama Appropriate, but they nevertheless haunt the play. They are the unmarked graves scattered over the grounds of the former plantation home in southeast Arkansas, where the story’s action takes place. They are the spirits, felt like a shiver by guests in the home. And they are the objects collected — hoarded, really — over decades by the estate’s patriarch.
He’s dead now, and Appropriate, which opened Monday at Second Stage’s Hayes Theater in New York, concerns the blistering reunion of his heirs. The production is the first of Jacobs-Jenkins’ original works to be on Broadway and is staged by Lila Neugebauer (Causeway), who directed the dramatist’s Everybody at Signature Theater in 2017.
Appropriate begins with the shrill whine of cicadas. As that noise quiets, others intensify: the sounds of bodies shuffling in the bushes and the grunts of physical exertion.
He’s dead now, and Appropriate, which opened Monday at Second Stage’s Hayes Theater in New York, concerns the blistering reunion of his heirs. The production is the first of Jacobs-Jenkins’ original works to be on Broadway and is staged by Lila Neugebauer (Causeway), who directed the dramatist’s Everybody at Signature Theater in 2017.
Appropriate begins with the shrill whine of cicadas. As that noise quiets, others intensify: the sounds of bodies shuffling in the bushes and the grunts of physical exertion.
- 12/19/2023
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Los Angeles, Nov 19 (Ians) Grammy-winning singer Pink said she will hand out banned books in the state’s schools when she plays in her Florida gig.
“Books have held a special joy for me from the time I was a child. That’s why I am unwilling to stand by and watch while books are banned by schools,” Pink said.
Florida has become the centre of the book-banning debate and Pink’s plan has been formed with the national free speech group Pen America.
They have chosen four titles to give away to fans – Toni Morrison’s ‘Beloved’, Todd Parr’s ‘The Family Book’, Stacia Deutsch’s ‘Girls who Code’, and the poem recited by Amanda Gorman at Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration in January 2021 titled ‘The Hill We Climb’, reports aceshowbiz.com.
Pen America’s database of censored tomes lodged 3,362 book bans in US public schools in the 2022 to 2023 school year.
“Books have held a special joy for me from the time I was a child. That’s why I am unwilling to stand by and watch while books are banned by schools,” Pink said.
Florida has become the centre of the book-banning debate and Pink’s plan has been formed with the national free speech group Pen America.
They have chosen four titles to give away to fans – Toni Morrison’s ‘Beloved’, Todd Parr’s ‘The Family Book’, Stacia Deutsch’s ‘Girls who Code’, and the poem recited by Amanda Gorman at Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration in January 2021 titled ‘The Hill We Climb’, reports aceshowbiz.com.
Pen America’s database of censored tomes lodged 3,362 book bans in US public schools in the 2022 to 2023 school year.
- 11/19/2023
- by Agency News Desk
- GlamSham
Los Angeles, Nov 19 (Ians) Grammy-winning singer Pink said she will hand out banned books in the state’s schools when she plays in her Florida gig.
“Books have held a special joy for me from the time I was a child. That’s why I am unwilling to stand by and watch while books are banned by schools,” Pink said.
Florida has become the centre of the book-banning debate and Pink’s plan has been formed with the national free speech group Pen America.
They have chosen four titles to give away to fans – Toni Morrison’s ‘Beloved’, Todd Parr’s ‘The Family Book’, Stacia Deutsch’s ‘Girls who Code’, and the poem recited by Amanda Gorman at Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration in January 2021 titled ‘The Hill We Climb’, reports aceshowbiz.com.
Pen America’s database of censored tomes lodged 3,362 book bans in US public schools in the 2022 to 2023 school year.
“Books have held a special joy for me from the time I was a child. That’s why I am unwilling to stand by and watch while books are banned by schools,” Pink said.
Florida has become the centre of the book-banning debate and Pink’s plan has been formed with the national free speech group Pen America.
They have chosen four titles to give away to fans – Toni Morrison’s ‘Beloved’, Todd Parr’s ‘The Family Book’, Stacia Deutsch’s ‘Girls who Code’, and the poem recited by Amanda Gorman at Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration in January 2021 titled ‘The Hill We Climb’, reports aceshowbiz.com.
Pen America’s database of censored tomes lodged 3,362 book bans in US public schools in the 2022 to 2023 school year.
- 11/19/2023
- by Agency News Desk
Pink has announced an initiative to give away 2,000 banned books during the Florida leg of her tour, saying that she is “unwilling” to support the state ban on books.
Pink is partnering with Pen America, a national free speech organization, along with Florida bookseller Books & Books in a campaign to deliver banned books to her audiences in Florida.
“Books have held a special joy for me from the time I was a child, and that’s why I am unwilling to stand by and watch while books are banned by schools,” the singer said in a statement.
“It’s especially hateful to see authorities take aim at books about race and racism and against LGBTQ authors and those of color,” she continued. “We have made so many strides toward equality in this country and no one should want to see this progress reversed. This is why I am supporting Pen...
Pink is partnering with Pen America, a national free speech organization, along with Florida bookseller Books & Books in a campaign to deliver banned books to her audiences in Florida.
“Books have held a special joy for me from the time I was a child, and that’s why I am unwilling to stand by and watch while books are banned by schools,” the singer said in a statement.
“It’s especially hateful to see authorities take aim at books about race and racism and against LGBTQ authors and those of color,” she continued. “We have made so many strides toward equality in this country and no one should want to see this progress reversed. This is why I am supporting Pen...
- 11/15/2023
- by Ava Lombardi
- Uinterview
P!Nk will give away 2,000 copies of banned books at her upcoming concerts in Florida.
The pop singer has teamed up with Pen America to distribute copies of four books currently prohibited from schools and libraries in Florida: Todd Parr’s The Family Book, Amanda Gorman’s The Hill We Climb, Toni Morrison’s Beloved, and Stacia Deutsch’s Girls Who Code.
“Books have held a special joy for me from the time I was a child, and that’s why I am unwilling to stand by and watch while books are banned by schools,” P!Nk said in a statement. “It’s especially hateful to see authorities take aim at books about race and racism and against LGBTQ authors and those of color. We have made so many strides toward equality in this country and no one should want to see this progress reversed.”
According to Pen America, Florida...
The pop singer has teamed up with Pen America to distribute copies of four books currently prohibited from schools and libraries in Florida: Todd Parr’s The Family Book, Amanda Gorman’s The Hill We Climb, Toni Morrison’s Beloved, and Stacia Deutsch’s Girls Who Code.
“Books have held a special joy for me from the time I was a child, and that’s why I am unwilling to stand by and watch while books are banned by schools,” P!Nk said in a statement. “It’s especially hateful to see authorities take aim at books about race and racism and against LGBTQ authors and those of color. We have made so many strides toward equality in this country and no one should want to see this progress reversed.”
According to Pen America, Florida...
- 11/14/2023
- by Scoop Harrison
- Consequence - Music
Pink announced Monday she plans to hand out 2,000 banned books during her four concert dates in Florida. “Books have held a special joy for me from the time I was a child, and that’s why I am unwilling to stand by and watch while books are banned by schools,” she said in a press release.
The three-time Grammy-winning singer announced her collaboration with the national free speech organization Pen America during an Instagram Live with Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet in the U.S. Pink will also work...
The three-time Grammy-winning singer announced her collaboration with the national free speech organization Pen America during an Instagram Live with Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet in the U.S. Pink will also work...
- 11/13/2023
- by Kalia Richardson
- Rollingstone.com
The sound of chirping cicadas, calling to their mates. The feel of the scales on a freshly caught fish. The way the late afternoon light reflects off a backwoods creek, as a fishing bobber floats idly on the surface. You hear thunder crack in the distance; you can practically smell the ozone in the air that lingers before a lightning strike. A hand dips into the brackish water near the shore, the dark silt run between fingers causing it to muddy and cloud before slowly ebbing away …
It is admittedly...
It is admittedly...
- 11/3/2023
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
Jamila Woods has shared her new album, Water Made Us, via Jagjaguwar. Stream it via Apple Music or Spotify below.
The title of Water Made Us references Toni Morrison, who once said, “All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was.” The album maintains Woods’ interest in Black feminism, but, as a result of being written in the midst of quarantine, is more self-reflective than her past works.
“Water Made Us feels like the most personal and vulnerable piece of art I’ve ever made. I love creating from source material, diving deep into a subject and extrapolating from what I discover,” Woods said in a statement. “We sat in the house for two years and I became my own source material. Shout out to the therapists, the astrologers, the family members and friends who listened, who helped me process and transform...
The title of Water Made Us references Toni Morrison, who once said, “All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was.” The album maintains Woods’ interest in Black feminism, but, as a result of being written in the midst of quarantine, is more self-reflective than her past works.
“Water Made Us feels like the most personal and vulnerable piece of art I’ve ever made. I love creating from source material, diving deep into a subject and extrapolating from what I discover,” Woods said in a statement. “We sat in the house for two years and I became my own source material. Shout out to the therapists, the astrologers, the family members and friends who listened, who helped me process and transform...
- 10/13/2023
- by Carys Anderson
- Consequence - Music
Exclusive: Taiye Selasi, who wrote the book Ghana Must Go and was mentored by Toni Morrison, is developing a new, Lagos-set comedy drama for the global marketplace.
Selasi is writing Victoria Island and has teamed up with Severance and Escape At Dannemora exec producer Nicholas Weinstock, American Gods producer Fremantle and African producer Known Associates Entertainment on the project.
The hour-long project follows the adventures of a Nigerian-American woman who returns to Lagos, newly married to an oil billionaire, and launches an event planning company with the help of her friends in the home of the world’s most spectacular events.
Selasi will write and exec produce the series through her production company Cocoa Content, which she founded in 2019 with media investor Jerôme Levy. She is known for her Ted Talk Don’t Ask Where I’m From, Ask Where I’m a Local.
Weinstock will exec produce through his Invention Studios shingle,...
Selasi is writing Victoria Island and has teamed up with Severance and Escape At Dannemora exec producer Nicholas Weinstock, American Gods producer Fremantle and African producer Known Associates Entertainment on the project.
The hour-long project follows the adventures of a Nigerian-American woman who returns to Lagos, newly married to an oil billionaire, and launches an event planning company with the help of her friends in the home of the world’s most spectacular events.
Selasi will write and exec produce the series through her production company Cocoa Content, which she founded in 2019 with media investor Jerôme Levy. She is known for her Ted Talk Don’t Ask Where I’m From, Ask Where I’m a Local.
Weinstock will exec produce through his Invention Studios shingle,...
- 10/11/2023
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Literary legend Toni Morrison once called racism a distraction. “It keeps you from doing your work,” she said during a 1975 speech. “It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being.” Black people must contend with everything from blatant acts of racist terrorism to small microaggressions that filter into our everyday lives. Instead of existing, you find yourself in a state of constant emotional regulation and survival, one that is exhaustingly unfair and unsustainable. For people of color and Black folks navigating predominantly white spaces, this constant state of code-switching and performance can quickly become horrific and soul-sucking.
Hulu’s “The Other Black Girl,” based on Zakiya Dalila Harris’ best-selling novel of the same name, opens with two Black women walking similar paths in different timelines. In 1988, Kendra Rae Phillips (Cassi Maddox) is the sole Black editor at the prestigious Wagner Books in Manhattan. She is distraught when she first appears onscreen,...
Hulu’s “The Other Black Girl,” based on Zakiya Dalila Harris’ best-selling novel of the same name, opens with two Black women walking similar paths in different timelines. In 1988, Kendra Rae Phillips (Cassi Maddox) is the sole Black editor at the prestigious Wagner Books in Manhattan. She is distraught when she first appears onscreen,...
- 9/11/2023
- by Aramide Tinubu
- Variety Film + TV
Books are being pulled from the library shelves of an Iowa school district following new legislation from Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, which purports to protect children from obscene material, The Gazette reports.
The new legislation, Senate File 496, prohibits “instruction related to gender identity and sexual orientation in school districts, charter schools and innovation zone schools in kindergarten through grade six.” It requires that every book available to students be “age appropriate” and free of any “descriptions or visual depictions of a sex act.”
The district used Artificial Intelligence to make...
The new legislation, Senate File 496, prohibits “instruction related to gender identity and sexual orientation in school districts, charter schools and innovation zone schools in kindergarten through grade six.” It requires that every book available to students be “age appropriate” and free of any “descriptions or visual depictions of a sex act.”
The district used Artificial Intelligence to make...
- 8/14/2023
- by Althea Legaspi
- Rollingstone.com
Spike Lee and the photographs, album covers, movie posters, letters, books, costumes and film memorabilia that have inspired him will be explored through a new immersive exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum.
Spike Lee: Creative Sources will offer an in-depth look at the individuals, places and influences that have shaped the Oscar winner’s work. Running Oct. 6, 2023 to Feb. 4, 2024 and organized by Kimberli Gant, a curator of modern and contemporary art, with Indira A. Abiskaroon, curatorial assistant, modern and contemporary art at the Brooklyn Museum, the installation will feature over 300 objects displayed thematically in seven sections, each of which will feature a clip from one of Lee’s films.
“By making Lee’s collection accessible to the public, this showcase celebrates his legacy while honoring his deep connection to Brooklyn, a place that has been an integral part of his storytelling,” Gant said in a statement.
The seven sections of influences span Black history and culture,...
Spike Lee: Creative Sources will offer an in-depth look at the individuals, places and influences that have shaped the Oscar winner’s work. Running Oct. 6, 2023 to Feb. 4, 2024 and organized by Kimberli Gant, a curator of modern and contemporary art, with Indira A. Abiskaroon, curatorial assistant, modern and contemporary art at the Brooklyn Museum, the installation will feature over 300 objects displayed thematically in seven sections, each of which will feature a clip from one of Lee’s films.
“By making Lee’s collection accessible to the public, this showcase celebrates his legacy while honoring his deep connection to Brooklyn, a place that has been an integral part of his storytelling,” Gant said in a statement.
The seven sections of influences span Black history and culture,...
- 7/10/2023
- by Abbey White
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Florian Zeller, the Oscar-winning director and playwright of “The Father” and “The Son,” received the Medal of Honor, France’s highest decoration, at an intimate ceremony in Paris on Wednesday.
The event, hosted in the gardens of the French authors and composers guild (Sacd), gathered a flurry of talent and luminaries from the worlds of film, TV, theater and literature — reflecting the breadth of Zeller’s body of work. Zeller was appointed Knight of the Legion of Honor by France President Emmanuel Macron.
Guests included Isabelle Huppert, Pierre Arditi, Catherine Frot and Elodie Navarre who have starred in Zeller’s plays; Christopher Hampton, with whom he shares a best adapted screenplay Oscar for “The Father;” “Simone” actor Elsa Zylberstein; Mediawan boss Pierre-Antoine Capton, with whom he launched the L.A.-based company Blue Morning Pictures; Victoria Bedos (“La famille Belier”); Orange Studio’s Kristina Zimmermann and Sebastien Cauchon, who distributed...
The event, hosted in the gardens of the French authors and composers guild (Sacd), gathered a flurry of talent and luminaries from the worlds of film, TV, theater and literature — reflecting the breadth of Zeller’s body of work. Zeller was appointed Knight of the Legion of Honor by France President Emmanuel Macron.
Guests included Isabelle Huppert, Pierre Arditi, Catherine Frot and Elodie Navarre who have starred in Zeller’s plays; Christopher Hampton, with whom he shares a best adapted screenplay Oscar for “The Father;” “Simone” actor Elsa Zylberstein; Mediawan boss Pierre-Antoine Capton, with whom he launched the L.A.-based company Blue Morning Pictures; Victoria Bedos (“La famille Belier”); Orange Studio’s Kristina Zimmermann and Sebastien Cauchon, who distributed...
- 7/6/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Swimming in Your Skin Again. Courtesy of the artist.The French word “univitellin” means “of the same egg,” referring to a myriad of things that may look disparate but ultimately share an idea that binds them together. Terence Nance is a writer, a filmmaker, a musician, an actor. Among many other things, he created the HBO series Random Acts of Flyness (2018–2022); he is also the show’s composer and editor. The multi-branched network that defines Nance’s artistic pursuits travels long and deep but are all essentially of the same egg. “The idea of ritual” is what unites his work, he said when I spoke to him over Zoom about “Terence Nance: Swarm,” his new exhibition at Philadelphia’s Institute of Contemporary Art. “I want to be transported when I'm experiencing art. I want to be pulled into it emotionally, like that ritual of making music or feeling it or being a part of it.
- 7/6/2023
- MUBI
Pedro Pascal is charming, funny and incredibly talented. His resume thus far includes notable films and television series such as HBO’s “The Last of Us” and Lionsgate’s “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.”
During his interview, I referenced his 2020 cover story. In that story, he said he couldn’t believe Patty Jenkins cast him in “Wonder Woman 1984” without auditioning. Then something happened that you don’t typically see. When asked what it feels like to be a role model to young Latinos, LGBTQ and Hollywood dreamers everywhere who yearn to sit in the same position he finds himself in, his usual charisma and confidence melted away.
“I want to be able to fulfill the assignment and continue to fulfill the assignment,” Pascal says as he crosses his arms like a nervous student on the first day of school. “It’s the best part. It’s not necessarily...
During his interview, I referenced his 2020 cover story. In that story, he said he couldn’t believe Patty Jenkins cast him in “Wonder Woman 1984” without auditioning. Then something happened that you don’t typically see. When asked what it feels like to be a role model to young Latinos, LGBTQ and Hollywood dreamers everywhere who yearn to sit in the same position he finds himself in, his usual charisma and confidence melted away.
“I want to be able to fulfill the assignment and continue to fulfill the assignment,” Pascal says as he crosses his arms like a nervous student on the first day of school. “It’s the best part. It’s not necessarily...
- 6/21/2023
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Robert Gottlieb, the legendary editor at Simon & Schuster, Alfred A. Knopf and The New Yorker who helped shape the work of many of the world’s greatest writers over the past six decades, has died, according to Knopf and The New Yorker. He was 92.
A partial list of the literary talents whose work Gottlieb edited includes Nobel laureates such as Toni Morrison, Doris Lessing and V.S. Naipaul; bestselling novelists such as John le Carré, Michael Crichton and Ray Bradbury; Hollywood types such as Elia Kazan, Katharine Hepburn, Sidney Poitier, Nora Ephron and Lauren Bacall; Pulitzer Prize-winners such as John Cheever, Katharine Graham and Robert Caro; and even a president, Bill Clinton.
Gottlieb was featured in the documentary Turn Every Page, directed by his daughter Lizzie, which premiered at last year’s Tribeca Festival and was picked up by Sony Pictures Classics. The film focuses on Gottlieb and Caro as...
A partial list of the literary talents whose work Gottlieb edited includes Nobel laureates such as Toni Morrison, Doris Lessing and V.S. Naipaul; bestselling novelists such as John le Carré, Michael Crichton and Ray Bradbury; Hollywood types such as Elia Kazan, Katharine Hepburn, Sidney Poitier, Nora Ephron and Lauren Bacall; Pulitzer Prize-winners such as John Cheever, Katharine Graham and Robert Caro; and even a president, Bill Clinton.
Gottlieb was featured in the documentary Turn Every Page, directed by his daughter Lizzie, which premiered at last year’s Tribeca Festival and was picked up by Sony Pictures Classics. The film focuses on Gottlieb and Caro as...
- 6/14/2023
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
Famed literary editor Robert Gottlieb, former Simon & Schuster editor-in-chief and editor of Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “Beloved,” has died at the age of 92.
The writer died of natural causes at a New York hospital on Wednesday, and his death was announced by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. The New Yorker, where Gottlieb also previously served as editor-in-chief, shared the news of his death via Twitter, posting an article that details his life and impact.
Gottlieb was born April 29, 1931, and was raised in the Manhattan borough of New York City. He graduated from Columbia University in 1952 before attending Cambridge University in the U.K for two years.
Also Read:
Cormac McCarthy, Legendary Author of ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘The Road,’ Dies at 89
Three years later, Gottlieb joined publishing company Simon and Schuster working as an editorial assistant for Jack Goodman, then-editor-in-chief. While there he edited Joseph Heller’s “Catch 22,...
The writer died of natural causes at a New York hospital on Wednesday, and his death was announced by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. The New Yorker, where Gottlieb also previously served as editor-in-chief, shared the news of his death via Twitter, posting an article that details his life and impact.
Gottlieb was born April 29, 1931, and was raised in the Manhattan borough of New York City. He graduated from Columbia University in 1952 before attending Cambridge University in the U.K for two years.
Also Read:
Cormac McCarthy, Legendary Author of ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘The Road,’ Dies at 89
Three years later, Gottlieb joined publishing company Simon and Schuster working as an editorial assistant for Jack Goodman, then-editor-in-chief. While there he edited Joseph Heller’s “Catch 22,...
- 6/14/2023
- by Raquel "Rocky" Harris
- The Wrap
Chicago rapper McKinley Dixon has returned with his new album Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?, which also marks his debut for City Slang Records. Stream it via Apple Music or Spotify below.
Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? cribs its brilliant title from the trilogy by novelist Toni Morrison, who the former CoSign calls “the greatest rapper ever.” Dixon takes cues from the literary legend on the album, deliberately arranging his words as he meditates on poignant messages about introspection, escapism, and the human experience in America. The album’s 10 tracks also boast an impressive list of collaborators, from fellow musicians like Anjimile to the poet and writer Hanif Abdurraqib.
“The cover of Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? came to fruition when I sent the album to artist Ladon Alex with little to no description,” McKinley says of the album artwork. “I told him to listen to the album and draw what he felt would describe what he heard.
Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? cribs its brilliant title from the trilogy by novelist Toni Morrison, who the former CoSign calls “the greatest rapper ever.” Dixon takes cues from the literary legend on the album, deliberately arranging his words as he meditates on poignant messages about introspection, escapism, and the human experience in America. The album’s 10 tracks also boast an impressive list of collaborators, from fellow musicians like Anjimile to the poet and writer Hanif Abdurraqib.
“The cover of Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? came to fruition when I sent the album to artist Ladon Alex with little to no description,” McKinley says of the album artwork. “I told him to listen to the album and draw what he felt would describe what he heard.
- 6/2/2023
- by Abby Jones
- Consequence - Music
The notebook bears the mark of obsession: The names Banel and Adama are recorded dozens of times across pages in delicate cursive. The scribe is Banel (Khady Mane), a mercurial and expressive young woman gripped by her love for Adama (Mamadou Diallo). She whispers their names to herself like a witch casting a spell: “Banel e Adama, Banel e Adama, Banel e Adama.” Their union, she tells people in their small northern Senegalese village, is the work of fate.
It’s indeed no secret that Banel loves Adama. In the opening scenes of Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s visually arresting but narratively oblique debut feature Banel & Adama, we see the couple digging out two houses buried under layers of sand. They are working toward a dream, laboring under the oppressive sun so that they might build a home and life outside of the village. Other flashes of the daily routine gesture at the depth of their affection,...
It’s indeed no secret that Banel loves Adama. In the opening scenes of Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s visually arresting but narratively oblique debut feature Banel & Adama, we see the couple digging out two houses buried under layers of sand. They are working toward a dream, laboring under the oppressive sun so that they might build a home and life outside of the village. Other flashes of the daily routine gesture at the depth of their affection,...
- 5/20/2023
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Senegalese and French director Ramata-Toulaye Sy is only the second Black woman to make it into Competition in Cannes. Her debut feature, Banel & Adama, which had its debut Saturday, follows in the footsteps of Mati Diop’s 2019 Atlantics.
Sy draws on her roots in the Fulani, or Peul, culture of the Futa region in northern Senegal for her magic-realist film about a young couple whose passion brings chaos to their remote rural community. “The people of Futa have the reputation of being very dignified and sticking to their community,” says Sy, who was born and grew up in France. “I was raised in the Fulani tradition at home and French culture outside.”
Inspiration for Banel & Adama came from a desire to create a tragic African heroine on par with Pierre Corneille’s Médée or Jean Racine’s Phèdre. “We don’t really have these mythical, tragic characters, or we do,...
Sy draws on her roots in the Fulani, or Peul, culture of the Futa region in northern Senegal for her magic-realist film about a young couple whose passion brings chaos to their remote rural community. “The people of Futa have the reputation of being very dignified and sticking to their community,” says Sy, who was born and grew up in France. “I was raised in the Fulani tradition at home and French culture outside.”
Inspiration for Banel & Adama came from a desire to create a tragic African heroine on par with Pierre Corneille’s Médée or Jean Racine’s Phèdre. “We don’t really have these mythical, tragic characters, or we do,...
- 5/20/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Far too often, the rap community doesn’t embrace the full scope of literature the way we should. Artists might champion books of advice on ascending through capitalism, but we too rarely reference probing, disruptive writers like the great Toni Morrison, who asked questions of us that we’re too afraid to face. McKinley Dixon isn’t. He titled his new album — Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?, due June 2 on City Slang Records — as a direct homage to three novels by Morrison, whom he calls “the greatest rapper ever.”
His first exposure...
His first exposure...
- 5/18/2023
- by Andre Gee
- Rollingstone.com
Publishing giant Penguin Random House, free expression organization Pen America and the authors of books banned by Florida’s Escambia County School District have filed a federal lawsuit in hopes of bringing the books back to school library shelves.
Parents of students impacted by the “unconstitutional” book ban are also the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which states that Escambia County School District has restricted and removed access to books that discuss race, racism, and LGBTQ identities.
“Ensuring that students have access to books on a wide range of topics and...
Parents of students impacted by the “unconstitutional” book ban are also the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which states that Escambia County School District has restricted and removed access to books that discuss race, racism, and LGBTQ identities.
“Ensuring that students have access to books on a wide range of topics and...
- 5/17/2023
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
Netflix co-ceo Ted Sarandos will no longer attend a gala meant to honor him next week in New York. The decision comes as labor issues grab headlines across Hollywood.
Sarandos was set to accept the Business Visionary Award at the annual Pen American Spring Literary Gala, alongside fellow honoree Lorne Michaels and a host of literati including Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Susan Choi, Jennifer Egan, Min Jin Lee, Jay McInerney and Gay Talese. He’s skipping the event, to be held under the blue whale at the American Museum of Natural History, as many industry celebrations weigh how to address the writers strike.
“Given the threat to disrupt this wonderful evening, I thought it was best to pull out so as not to distract from the important work that Pen America does for writers and journalists, as well as the celebration of my friend and personal hero Lorne Michaels. I hope...
Sarandos was set to accept the Business Visionary Award at the annual Pen American Spring Literary Gala, alongside fellow honoree Lorne Michaels and a host of literati including Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Susan Choi, Jennifer Egan, Min Jin Lee, Jay McInerney and Gay Talese. He’s skipping the event, to be held under the blue whale at the American Museum of Natural History, as many industry celebrations weigh how to address the writers strike.
“Given the threat to disrupt this wonderful evening, I thought it was best to pull out so as not to distract from the important work that Pen America does for writers and journalists, as well as the celebration of my friend and personal hero Lorne Michaels. I hope...
- 5/10/2023
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
“I am a writer on strike right now,” mega-producer and Queen Charlotte showrunner Shonda Rhimes told an intimate crowd at the Midnight Theatre in New York on Wednesday as part of her BAFTA tribute event.
Rhimes was responding to a question from moderator and journalist Wajahat Ali, who asked if she supported striking writers and what she would say to fellow scribes who spent the last two days on the picket lines as part of the first strike in 15 years. Writers Guild of America members began striking on Tuesday after the guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failed to reach a new deal by the May 1 deadline.
“I really wish that we didn’t have to be on strike, and I feel the pain of the people who are dealing with the strike, but for me, for writers to get paid for what they do in...
Rhimes was responding to a question from moderator and journalist Wajahat Ali, who asked if she supported striking writers and what she would say to fellow scribes who spent the last two days on the picket lines as part of the first strike in 15 years. Writers Guild of America members began striking on Tuesday after the guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failed to reach a new deal by the May 1 deadline.
“I really wish that we didn’t have to be on strike, and I feel the pain of the people who are dealing with the strike, but for me, for writers to get paid for what they do in...
- 5/4/2023
- by Abbey White
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Ja'Tovia Gary. Photograph by Ciara Elle Bryant. Image courtesy of the artist.Despite being one of the most prolific American authors of the last century, Toni Morrison’s adaptations have routinely been labeled as inadequate to the original text. Deeply rich in prose with an intimate fondness of colloquialism, Morrison’s oeuvre offers an acceptance to “transfigure the complexity and wealth of Afro-American culture into a language worthy of the culture.” It’s only justified that Morrison’s innovation in language be reconjured in the cinematic form by one who acknowledges its chimeric qualities. In Quiet as It’s Kept, the latest film by Ja’Tovia Gary, the director explores the magic and might of Morrison’s 1970 debut novel, The Bluest Eye, and refuses the label of adaptation. Exploring themes of African spirituality, desirability, internet culture, and visceral motifs that are rendered into its literal celluloid fabric, Quiet as It...
- 5/2/2023
- MUBI
Oprah Winfrey was already one of the world’s richest media moguls, but she hoped to translate some of her success over to Hollywood.
But when a film she was passionate about ended up sinking at the box-office, she found herself more hurt than ever.
Oprah Winfrey always wanted to be an actor Oprah Winfrey | Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Winfrey’s passion has always been broadcast journalism. Her dedication to the field and her work ethic eventually led her to host Am Chicago, where she proved her value as a journalist. The talkshow went from declining ratings to being more watched than it’d ever been after Winfrey was brought on board. But apart from Am Chicago being the beginning of Winfrey’s rise, it also gave the mogul her first onscreen role.
Am Chicago offered Winfrey the opportunity to star in The Color Purple. This was a special moment for the talk show host,...
But when a film she was passionate about ended up sinking at the box-office, she found herself more hurt than ever.
Oprah Winfrey always wanted to be an actor Oprah Winfrey | Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Winfrey’s passion has always been broadcast journalism. Her dedication to the field and her work ethic eventually led her to host Am Chicago, where she proved her value as a journalist. The talkshow went from declining ratings to being more watched than it’d ever been after Winfrey was brought on board. But apart from Am Chicago being the beginning of Winfrey’s rise, it also gave the mogul her first onscreen role.
Am Chicago offered Winfrey the opportunity to star in The Color Purple. This was a special moment for the talk show host,...
- 5/1/2023
- by Antonio Stallings
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Origins is a recurring series that gives artists a space to break down everything that went into their latest release. Today, former CoSign McKinley Dixon takes us through the title track of his forthcoming album.
Chicago-based rapper McKinley Dixon reveals the majesty of his new album with its name alone: Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? goes the title, with exclamation points that seem to say, “It’s that good, can you believe it?” and a concluding question mark that feels like a knowing wink and nudge. But it’s also a direct reference to Toni Morrison’s significant trilogy, and the album’s title track, which features Ms. Jaylin Brown, doubles down on the enveloping love that the title suggests.
Indeed, the former Consequence CoSign uses “Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?” as a brand new thesis statement — one he calls “a familial affair in all senses.” Though it’s the title track and carries...
Chicago-based rapper McKinley Dixon reveals the majesty of his new album with its name alone: Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? goes the title, with exclamation points that seem to say, “It’s that good, can you believe it?” and a concluding question mark that feels like a knowing wink and nudge. But it’s also a direct reference to Toni Morrison’s significant trilogy, and the album’s title track, which features Ms. Jaylin Brown, doubles down on the enveloping love that the title suggests.
Indeed, the former Consequence CoSign uses “Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?” as a brand new thesis statement — one he calls “a familial affair in all senses.” Though it’s the title track and carries...
- 4/26/2023
- by Paolo Ragusa
- Consequence - Music
Chloë Grace Moretz, Julia Roberts, Connie Britton, Sterling K. Brown, Julianna Margulies, Selma Blair, Shonda Rhimes, Andy Cohen, and many other public figures are coming together to support the #LetAmericaRead campaign amid the book bans in some states in America.
The initiative comes from CAA Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Creative Artists Agency (CAA), in partnership with the non-partisan group Campaign for Our Shared Future.
“History is clear: good ideas are strengthened through contest, as governments are through debate. Since time immemorial, book banning has been the refuge of leaders who fear that their arguments and writs cannot withstand scrutiny. Its violence is born of weakness. And we are not a weak people – fighting book bans is an act of patriotism and a show of strength,” stated Emmy Award-winning actress, Julianna Margulies.
Between July 2021 and June 2022, 2,571 unique books that fairly address issues of race, gender, and culture in age-appropriate ways...
The initiative comes from CAA Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Creative Artists Agency (CAA), in partnership with the non-partisan group Campaign for Our Shared Future.
“History is clear: good ideas are strengthened through contest, as governments are through debate. Since time immemorial, book banning has been the refuge of leaders who fear that their arguments and writs cannot withstand scrutiny. Its violence is born of weakness. And we are not a weak people – fighting book bans is an act of patriotism and a show of strength,” stated Emmy Award-winning actress, Julianna Margulies.
Between July 2021 and June 2022, 2,571 unique books that fairly address issues of race, gender, and culture in age-appropriate ways...
- 4/12/2023
- by Armando Tinoco
- Deadline Film + TV
Author Judy Blume says she worries about intolerance in the US, following the removal in schools of some of her novels.
Blume’s bestselling 1970 novel Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret has been adapted for the screen and is due to be released in May, starring Abby Ryder Fortson, Rachel McAdams and Kathy Bates. The book, which still sells today, has always drawn controversy for its open discussion of dawning sexuality and religion.
One of Blume’s other novels, Forever, was recently pulled from schools in Martin County district of Florida (along with titles by authors including James Patterson and Toni Morrison). On Sunday Blume told the BBC in London that “banning books” has become political – “worse than it was in the 1980s.”
She added: “I thought that was over frankly, I thought we had come through that, you know, not in every way, but I never expected us...
Blume’s bestselling 1970 novel Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret has been adapted for the screen and is due to be released in May, starring Abby Ryder Fortson, Rachel McAdams and Kathy Bates. The book, which still sells today, has always drawn controversy for its open discussion of dawning sexuality and religion.
One of Blume’s other novels, Forever, was recently pulled from schools in Martin County district of Florida (along with titles by authors including James Patterson and Toni Morrison). On Sunday Blume told the BBC in London that “banning books” has become political – “worse than it was in the 1980s.”
She added: “I thought that was over frankly, I thought we had come through that, you know, not in every way, but I never expected us...
- 4/2/2023
- by Caroline Frost
- Deadline Film + TV
A freak thunderstorm that hit Austin around 9 p.m. on Thursday threw off what was shaping up to be SXSW’s biggest day: All outdoor events after that hour were canceled outright (including some highly anticipated sets, like Lil Yachty at the Moody Amphitheater), while other showcase schedules got all jumbled up. But it had already been a full day of exciting new sounds before the storm hit — and when the clouds lifted at 11 p.m., there was more to come. Here are the best things we saw on day...
- 3/17/2023
- by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Leah Lu, Angie Martoccio and Simon Vozick-Levinson
- Rollingstone.com
Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb, in Turn Every Page. Photo credit: Claudia Raschke. Courtesy of Wild Surmise Productions, LLC / Sony Pictures Classics
What a delightful documentary is Turn Every Page – The Adventures Of Robert Caro And Robert Gottlieb. This witty, warm and insightful documentary is like a double biography of two literary giants, legendary author Robert Caro and his long-time editor, the equally legendary Robert Gottlieb.
Robert Caro is the author of “The Power Broker,” an examination of the career of New York power broker Robert Moses, considered one of the most definitive non-fiction books on political power behind the scenes, and the award-winning four volume history of Lyndon B. Johnson. Robert Gottlieb is the editor-in-chief of prestigious publishing house Knopf and heads up the renown New Yorker magazine, and has edited an astonishing list of great authors and great books, including Joseph Heller’s Catch 22 (and Gottlieb came...
What a delightful documentary is Turn Every Page – The Adventures Of Robert Caro And Robert Gottlieb. This witty, warm and insightful documentary is like a double biography of two literary giants, legendary author Robert Caro and his long-time editor, the equally legendary Robert Gottlieb.
Robert Caro is the author of “The Power Broker,” an examination of the career of New York power broker Robert Moses, considered one of the most definitive non-fiction books on political power behind the scenes, and the award-winning four volume history of Lyndon B. Johnson. Robert Gottlieb is the editor-in-chief of prestigious publishing house Knopf and heads up the renown New Yorker magazine, and has edited an astonishing list of great authors and great books, including Joseph Heller’s Catch 22 (and Gottlieb came...
- 2/10/2023
- by Cate Marquis
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
In the opening scene of Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson’s searching documentary Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project, the poet Nikki Giovanni shows her cards: “I don’t remember a lot of things,” she says as images of a glittering galaxy and archival footage of the poet as a child flash onscreen. “I remember what is important and I make up the rest. That’s what storytelling is all about.”
Brewster and Stephenson don’t question Giovanni’s proposition; they find purpose in it. Her words become a statement of intention (This is my story), a warning (My boundaries are firm) and a rejection of formal conventions (How do you stretch the boundaries of biography?). In that last question, Giovanni is whispering back to Audre Lorde, the poet who coined the term biomythography to describe her book Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, a text that combined biography,...
Brewster and Stephenson don’t question Giovanni’s proposition; they find purpose in it. Her words become a statement of intention (This is my story), a warning (My boundaries are firm) and a rejection of formal conventions (How do you stretch the boundaries of biography?). In that last question, Giovanni is whispering back to Audre Lorde, the poet who coined the term biomythography to describe her book Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, a text that combined biography,...
- 1/27/2023
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“Young and the Restless” star Tracey Bregman has her Daytime Emmy back. The star’s original Emmy was destroyed in 2018 when she lost her house during Malibu’s Woolsey Fire. As she appeared Tuesday on CBS’ “The Talk,” Bregman was surprised with a replacement statue from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
Bregman won her Emmy back in 1985 for the category that was then known as Outstanding Ingenue/Woman in a Drama Series. She appeared on “The Talk” to help celebrate her 40th anniversary on the show (which is also celebrating its 50th anniversary this year). Her on-screen husband, Christian Le Blanc, made a special appearance to surprise her with the new Emmy.
“It has been one of the most extraordinary and heartfelt experiences of my career,” Bregman said. “I tried not to go into the “ugly cry” in the air. Thanks to my ‘Young and Restless’ family, NATAS,...
Bregman won her Emmy back in 1985 for the category that was then known as Outstanding Ingenue/Woman in a Drama Series. She appeared on “The Talk” to help celebrate her 40th anniversary on the show (which is also celebrating its 50th anniversary this year). Her on-screen husband, Christian Le Blanc, made a special appearance to surprise her with the new Emmy.
“It has been one of the most extraordinary and heartfelt experiences of my career,” Bregman said. “I tried not to go into the “ugly cry” in the air. Thanks to my ‘Young and Restless’ family, NATAS,...
- 1/24/2023
- by Katie Reul
- Variety Film + TV
It’s been three years since cinephiles have made their otherwise annual pilgrimage to the Eccles Theater, but the Sundance Film Festival is back! Anyone who doesn’t want to brave Park City temperatures from January 19 – 29, though, can fest online. While a few high-profile releases are being shown exclusively to in-person attendees—Brandon Cronenberg’s “Infinity Pool” and Nicole Holofcener’s “You Hurt My Feelings,” for example—this year’s virtual lineup still features lots of star power and even an Oscar contender for Best International Feature. Single film online tickets can be purchased here.
See over 200 interviews with 2023 awards contenders
“Magazine Dreams”
Following up his acclaimed turn as the first African-American naval pilot Jesse Brown in J.D. Dillard’s “Devotion” with two blockbuster roles (“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “Creed III”) and a potential indie breakout that’s premiering at the festival, Jonathan Majors is having a moment.
See over 200 interviews with 2023 awards contenders
“Magazine Dreams”
Following up his acclaimed turn as the first African-American naval pilot Jesse Brown in J.D. Dillard’s “Devotion” with two blockbuster roles (“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “Creed III”) and a potential indie breakout that’s premiering at the festival, Jonathan Majors is having a moment.
- 1/18/2023
- by Ronald Meyer
- Gold Derby
The Fabelmans and The Banshees of Inisherin were the top winners at the 2023 Golden Globes on Tuesday night.
The Steven Spielberg film won best picture, drama, while the Martin McDonagh film was named best picture, musical or comedy.
Elvis star Austin Butler picked up the award for best actor in a drama, expressing gratitude to Presley’s widow Priscilla Presley and daughter Lisa Marie Presley for their support of the project and his performance. He also thanked Denzel Washington for “championing me when you did not have to.” Washington personally recommended Butler, with whom he starred in a Broadway revival of The Iceman Cometh, to Elvis director Baz Luhrmann.
Cate Blanchett won best actress in a drama, her fourth career win, for her lead role in Tár. The actress did not attend the ceremony to collect the prize, but joined Ingrid Bergman, Jane Fonda and Meryl Streep as one of the four most-awarded drama actresses.
The Steven Spielberg film won best picture, drama, while the Martin McDonagh film was named best picture, musical or comedy.
Elvis star Austin Butler picked up the award for best actor in a drama, expressing gratitude to Presley’s widow Priscilla Presley and daughter Lisa Marie Presley for their support of the project and his performance. He also thanked Denzel Washington for “championing me when you did not have to.” Washington personally recommended Butler, with whom he starred in a Broadway revival of The Iceman Cometh, to Elvis director Baz Luhrmann.
Cate Blanchett won best actress in a drama, her fourth career win, for her lead role in Tár. The actress did not attend the ceremony to collect the prize, but joined Ingrid Bergman, Jane Fonda and Meryl Streep as one of the four most-awarded drama actresses.
- 1/11/2023
- by Tyler Coates
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Lizzie Gottlieb on Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb: “I wanted to express that it’s a buddy movie, it’s got energy and hopefully humour.” Photo: Claudia Raschke, courtesy of Wild Surmise Productions, LLC / Sony Pictures Classics
Lizzie Gottlieb’s loving double portrait begins with Ethan Hawke (star of Robert Budreau’s Born To Be Blue) reading from Robert Caro’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Power Broker: Robert Moses And The Fall Of New York, edited by Robert Gottlieb, and ends with a Chet Baker recording (of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s Do it the Hard Way). In-between we have Colm Tóibín, Lynn Nesbit, David Remnick, Mary Norris, Bill Clinton, Conan O'Brien, Maria Tucci, Ina Caro and many others commenting on the dynamic duo.
Lizzie Gottlieb with Anne-Katrin Titze: “I was really thrilled to be able to interview Bill Clinton.”
Gottlieb, who has been the editor-in-chief of Simon and Schuster,...
Lizzie Gottlieb’s loving double portrait begins with Ethan Hawke (star of Robert Budreau’s Born To Be Blue) reading from Robert Caro’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Power Broker: Robert Moses And The Fall Of New York, edited by Robert Gottlieb, and ends with a Chet Baker recording (of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s Do it the Hard Way). In-between we have Colm Tóibín, Lynn Nesbit, David Remnick, Mary Norris, Bill Clinton, Conan O'Brien, Maria Tucci, Ina Caro and many others commenting on the dynamic duo.
Lizzie Gottlieb with Anne-Katrin Titze: “I was really thrilled to be able to interview Bill Clinton.”
Gottlieb, who has been the editor-in-chief of Simon and Schuster,...
- 12/29/2022
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
In “Nanny,” water is a near-constant presence. It flows from faucets, breaks through walls, and is both a grounding and threatening force to its protagonist.
Nikyatu Jusu’s debut feature (which is now streaming on Prime Video) follows Aisha (Anna Diop), a Senegalese emigrant who works as a nanny for a wealthy family to save up to bring her son to America. When otherworldly forces start to pervade Aisha’s life, water opens a portal between the human and spirit worlds.
“As a kid, I learned how to swim and I really took to being in water. It’s a peaceful source of life for me,” said the writer-director in an interview with TheWrap. “I’m aware of both its rebirth and birth elements and its destructiveness, its capacity to destroy everything that humans have created.”
Also Read:
‘Nanny’ Review: Chilling Drama Weaves Haunting Character Study of a Caregiver
Jusu...
Nikyatu Jusu’s debut feature (which is now streaming on Prime Video) follows Aisha (Anna Diop), a Senegalese emigrant who works as a nanny for a wealthy family to save up to bring her son to America. When otherworldly forces start to pervade Aisha’s life, water opens a portal between the human and spirit worlds.
“As a kid, I learned how to swim and I really took to being in water. It’s a peaceful source of life for me,” said the writer-director in an interview with TheWrap. “I’m aware of both its rebirth and birth elements and its destructiveness, its capacity to destroy everything that humans have created.”
Also Read:
‘Nanny’ Review: Chilling Drama Weaves Haunting Character Study of a Caregiver
Jusu...
- 12/18/2022
- by Harper Lambert
- The Wrap
Brian Tyree Henry and Paul Dano started in theater —— which will come as no surprise to anyone who sees them in their latest films, playing characters with carefully crafted backstories. In Lila Neugebauer’s “Causeway,” Henry portrays James, a New Orleans mechanic and amputee who bonds with Lynsey (Jennifer Lawrence), an injured soldier desperate to return to combat. And Dano has had an immense year, going from the Riddler in “The Batman” to embodying a benevolent 1950s dad named Burt, based on Steven Spielberg’s father, Arnold, in “The Fabelmans.” For Dano, moving from darkness to light not only showed his range, it’s what he needed in his life.
Paul Dano: I’m really happy to meet you.
Brian Tyree Henry: Not as excited as I am to meet you. I’ve been a huge fan of yours for quite some time.
Dano: Did you know you were going...
Paul Dano: I’m really happy to meet you.
Brian Tyree Henry: Not as excited as I am to meet you. I’ve been a huge fan of yours for quite some time.
Dano: Did you know you were going...
- 12/17/2022
- by Ramin Setoodeh
- Variety Film + TV
This The Simpsons review contains spoilers.
The Simpsons Season 34 Episode 11
The Simpsons season 34 episode 11 “Top Goon,” may have taken its title, and leather jacket, from Top Gun, but it owes more to George Roy Hill 1977’s hockey comedy classic, Slap Shot, a far more sportsmanlike film. The Simpsons previously let kindness win when Bart and Lisa tied a crucial game in season 6’s “Lisa on Ice.” The latest installment brings out the brilliance of the bully. As Coach Moe Szyslak (voiced by Hank Azaria) explains, hockey is like a prison riot with less rules.
“Did somebody order a psycho?” Nelson Muntz (voiced by Nancy Cartwright) asks as he hops onto the rink for the first time. “Top Goon” delivers two, and it is a wonder Moe and Nelson haven’t been teamed before. They have a natural chemistry, corrosive to most, but abrasive enough for an episode full of hard landing punchlines.
The Simpsons Season 34 Episode 11
The Simpsons season 34 episode 11 “Top Goon,” may have taken its title, and leather jacket, from Top Gun, but it owes more to George Roy Hill 1977’s hockey comedy classic, Slap Shot, a far more sportsmanlike film. The Simpsons previously let kindness win when Bart and Lisa tied a crucial game in season 6’s “Lisa on Ice.” The latest installment brings out the brilliance of the bully. As Coach Moe Szyslak (voiced by Hank Azaria) explains, hockey is like a prison riot with less rules.
“Did somebody order a psycho?” Nelson Muntz (voiced by Nancy Cartwright) asks as he hops onto the rink for the first time. “Top Goon” delivers two, and it is a wonder Moe and Nelson haven’t been teamed before. They have a natural chemistry, corrosive to most, but abrasive enough for an episode full of hard landing punchlines.
- 12/12/2022
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Click here to read the full article.
One of the most symphonic works of August Wilson’s ten-play cycle about Black experience in the 20th Century, The Piano Lesson takes place in Pittsburgh in 1936, as the Great Migration was delivering African Americans to an uncertain future in the North, even as the brutal legacy of their Southern past maintained its hold on them. That difficult reconciliation with the promise of freedom is represented through a brother and sister at odds over the family heirloom, a piano polished with the tears and blood of their late mother.
The musical instrument at the center of their standoff is among Wilson’s most powerfully loaded symbols, its woodwork adorned with ornate carvings of the siblings’ enslaved ancestors done by their great grandfather. And its history is recounted here as a mesmerizing invocation of the past by Samuel L. Jackson in a thrilling return...
One of the most symphonic works of August Wilson’s ten-play cycle about Black experience in the 20th Century, The Piano Lesson takes place in Pittsburgh in 1936, as the Great Migration was delivering African Americans to an uncertain future in the North, even as the brutal legacy of their Southern past maintained its hold on them. That difficult reconciliation with the promise of freedom is represented through a brother and sister at odds over the family heirloom, a piano polished with the tears and blood of their late mother.
The musical instrument at the center of their standoff is among Wilson’s most powerfully loaded symbols, its woodwork adorned with ornate carvings of the siblings’ enslaved ancestors done by their great grandfather. And its history is recounted here as a mesmerizing invocation of the past by Samuel L. Jackson in a thrilling return...
- 10/14/2022
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“I love horror. I love elevated horror. I love psychological horror. I love an unreliable protagonist.”
Nikyatu Jusu’s love of horror is undeniable, evidenced in her short film Suicide By Sunlight (2018), and now even more so in her debut feature Nanny (2022).
“I usually start every project with imagery. And as I’ve said many times, the springboard is my mother’s story, loosely… and I’m just fiercely protective of my mother,” Jusu explains about the entry point for this script and her personal connection to the story of Aisha (Anna Diop), a Senegalese immigrant in New York and the nanny for the child of an affluent white family.
On the surface, the setup seems workaday, mundane even, but that’s the point; Jusu enjoys exploring horror in the everyday.
“The mundane is horrific for so many of us,” she says. “I think in real life, you have a...
Nikyatu Jusu’s love of horror is undeniable, evidenced in her short film Suicide By Sunlight (2018), and now even more so in her debut feature Nanny (2022).
“I usually start every project with imagery. And as I’ve said many times, the springboard is my mother’s story, loosely… and I’m just fiercely protective of my mother,” Jusu explains about the entry point for this script and her personal connection to the story of Aisha (Anna Diop), a Senegalese immigrant in New York and the nanny for the child of an affluent white family.
On the surface, the setup seems workaday, mundane even, but that’s the point; Jusu enjoys exploring horror in the everyday.
“The mundane is horrific for so many of us,” she says. “I think in real life, you have a...
- 10/8/2022
- by John Saavedra
- Den of Geek
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