Venice Film Festival unveils A-list lineup with โPriscilla,โ โFerrari,โ โMaestroโ amid strikes
Bradley Cooperโs Leonard Bernstein drama โMaestro,โ Sofia Coppolaโs Priscilla Presley movie, Michael Mannโs โFerrari,โ David Fincherโs โThe Killerโ and Ava DuVernayโs โOriginโ will be making their world debuts at the Venice International Film Festival this fall.
Academy Museum to honor Sophia Loren, Haile Gerima at gala
Director Haile Gerima appears at the 65th edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Sept. 2, 2008, left, and Sophia Loren arrives at the Governors Awards in Los Angeles on Oct. 27, 2019. Loren and independent filmmaker Haile Gerima will be honored with special awards by the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. (Photos by Andrew Medichini/AP, left, and Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 4PM ET/1PM PTThe Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is assembling a star-studded cast for its opening gala in September. Italian screen legend Sophia Loren and independent filmmaker Haile Gerima will be honored with special awards, and Tom Hanks, Annette Bening and Bob Iger are being saluted for their efforts to raise $388 million for the long gestating museum, the organization said Monday. Designed by architect Renzo Piano, The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is located at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue in the historic Saban Building.
'Nomadland,' 'Borat' win at a socially distant Golden Globes
Sheโs only the second woman in the history of the Globes to win, and the first since Barbra Streisand won for โYentlโ in 1984. Its star, guerilla comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, also won best actor in a comedy. โThe Queen's Gambitโ won best limited series, and best actress in the category for Anya Taylor-Joy. โSchitt's Creek,โ the Pop TV series that found a wider audience on Netflix, won best comedy series for its final season. Catherine O'Hara also took best actress in a comedy series.
Podcast odd couple: Obama, Springsteen in Spotify series
Bruce Springsteen, left, appears with former President Barack Obama during their podcast of conversations recorded at Springsteen's home studio in New Jersey. The eight-episode series covers their upbringings, racism, fatherhood and even recall a White House singalong around a piano. (Rob DeMartin/Spotify via AP)NEW YORK โ Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen are teaming up for an eight-episode Spotify podcast series, swapping stories about their upbringings and even a White House singalong around a piano. The seemingly offbeat relationship between the former president and rock star began when Springsteen performed benefits for Obama during his presidential campaigns. Springsteen uses a few of those guitars during the course of the podcast.
New Orleans stage and screen actor Carol Sutton dies at 76
FILE - In this May 1, 2019, file photo, actress Carol Sutton arrives at the World Premiere of "Poms" in Los Angeles. Sutton, a fixture on stages in her native New Orleans who built a steady career on the big and small screens, including roles in the 1989 comedy Steel Magnolias and the TV series Queen Sugar, has died Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020, from complications from COVID-19, according to New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell. Sutton was 76. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)NEW YORK โ Actor Carol Sutton, a fixture on stages in her native New Orleans who built a steady career on the big and small screens, including roles in the 1989 comedy โSteel Magnoliasโ and the TV series โQueen Sugar,โ has died from complications from COVID-19, according to New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell. Sutton was 76.
Yusef Salaam writing memoir about his wrongful imprisonment
NEW YORK โ One of the five teens wrongly imprisoned for the assault on a Central Park jogger has a memoir coming out in the spring. The five Black and Latino teens were coerced into confessing to a rape they didnโt commit in 1989. Ken Burns made a documentary about them and Ava DuVernay directed a Netflix series. โOne of the most powerful lessons I learned while being wrongfully incarcerated was that instead of going through something, I was going to grow through something," Salaam said in a statement. โPunching the Air,โ co-written by Ibi Zoboi, came out in September.
Ava DuVernay, her company honored by MacDowell artist colony
NEW YORK โ Filmmaker Ava DuVernay will be honored next month by MacDowell, which is presenting its inaugural Marian MacDowell Arts Advocacy Award to her media company and arts collective ARRAY. The award is named for the co-founder of MacDowell, the century-old artist residency in Peterborough, New Hampshire, where James Baldwin, Leonard Bernstein and many others have been visiting fellows. DuVernay, known for such acclaimed movies as โSelmaโ and โ13th," founded ARRAY in 2012 as a way of amplifying the work of women and people of color. โI am touched that our narrative change collective ARRAY, which is built upon a mission to articulate and amplify stories from the widest range of art makers, is being honored in Ms. MacDowellโs name,โ DuVernay said in a statement Sunday. Actress and former chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, Jane Alexander, will present the award.
Oscars diversity criteria 'not about exclusion' say leaders
I want to commend them for trying and for putting together a criteria because we know criteria is a way to counter bias, said Smith. Five years ago, the film academy endeavored to significantly diversify its own membership. The best picture adjustment is just one of the effort. Others include implementing a set 10 best picture nominees starting at the 94th Oscars and mandatory unconscious bias training for academy members. The best picture standards were specifically designed to be flexible and give latitude to filmmakers.
New this week: Katy Perry's 'Smile' and 'Love Island' return
This image released by BBC America shows Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins in a scene from "Planet Earth: A Celebration." The special debuts at 8 p.m. EDT Monday, Aug. 31, on BBC America, AMC, SundanceTV and IFC. (BBC Studios/BBC America via AP)
New this week: Surfing dolphins and 'Love Island' return
This image released by BBC America shows Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins in a scene from "Planet Earth: A Celebration." The special debuts at 8 p.m. EDT Monday, Aug. 31, on BBC America, AMC, SundanceTV and IFC. โ AP Music Editor Mesfin FekaduTELEVISIONWhether the new season of CBSโ โLove Islandโ includes any version of love remains to be seen, but itโs definitely not on an island. The special, debuting 8 p.m. EDT Monday, Aug. 31, on BBC America, AMC, SundanceTV and IFC, includes new narration from Attenborough. Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer (โThe Lion Kingโ) and Jacob Shea, an Emmy nominee for the โPlanet Earth IIโ score, created new music.
Winfrey picks Isabel Wilkerson's 'Caste' for her book club
And on Tuesday, Winfrey announced she had chosen Isabel Wilkerson's exploration of race and hierarchy in the U.S., Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, as her latest book club pick. Wilkerson's book, Winfrey said in a telephone interview, could change the way we see each other, how we see our humanity and the structure of our world." Caste continues Winfrey's book club partnership with Apple that began last fall and includes such previous picks as Ta-Nehisi Coates' novel The Water Dancer and the nonfiction Hidden Valley Road, by Robert Kolker. Winfrey said many details in Caste were revelatory for her, such as the Nazis' admiration for the Jim Crow system. She read Caste a few months ago, before bound, printed copies were available.
Netflix series to dramatize Kaepernick's path to activism
LOS ANGELES Colin Kaepernick is joining with Emmy-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay on a Netflix drama series about the teenage roots of the former NFL players activism. Colin in Black & White will examine Kaepernick's high school years to illuminate the experiences that shaped his advocacy, Netflix said Monday. Too often we see race and Black stories portrayed through a white lens, Kaepernick said in a statement. Writing by on the six-episode series was completed in May, the streaming service said. Kaepernick will appear as himself as the limited series' narrator, Netflix said.
Floyds death hastens shift in police pop culture portrayals
In this image released by NBC, Jason Beghe portrays Hank Voight, left, in a scene from the crime series "Chicago PD." The divide between crime fiction and real life dates back to the genre's origins, more than 200 years ago. Law enforcement violence and corruption were extreme in the mid-19th century and some police forces were rooted in the patrols that used to chase down runaway slaves. Meanwhile, The police in early crime fiction were depicted as good, courageous, and brilliant, says Otto Penzler, the crime fiction publisher and bookseller. Over the past 50 years, the image of law enforcement has sometimes mirrored debates between liberals and conservatives.
Ava DuVernay joins the film academy's Board of Governors
LOS ANGELES Filmmaker Ava DuVernay has been elected to the film academys Board of Governors for the first time. The academy has increased the number of women and people of color on the board. Incumbent governors reelected include Whoopi Goldberg, Dolemite Is My Name screenwriter Larry Karaszewski and Participant Media CEO David Linde among others. The organization that puts on the Oscars said that the number of women on the board has gone from 25 to 26 and people of color from 11 to 12. The Board of Governors represent each of the academys 17 branches and work to set the organizations strategy, finances and fulfillment of its mission.
These movies, shows and documentaries about race should be required viewing
Netflixโ13thโDirected by Ava DuVernay (sheโll come up again in this list), the documentary shows you how America changed after the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery, but also kickstarted the prison boom in America. โMoonlightโThis Oscar-winning picture tells the story of a young black gay man living in Miami. chronicles the Central Park Five, a group of young black teenagers who were wrongfully convicted of a crime they didnโt commit. The documentary tells the story of the days of protests, unrest and riots that followed. Itโs a great film that shows how two different groups of people can react to fatal police shootings.
Grammys honor Nipsey Hussle with a soaring performance
John Legend performs during a tribute in honor of the late Nipsey Hussle at the 62nd annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP)NEW YORK, N.Y. โ John Legend, Meek Mill, DJ Khaled and a host of musicians paid tribute to Nipsey Hussle at the Grammy Awards, filling the vast stage with a soaring performance of his music. โReal hitters never die.โThen DJ Khaled and Legend sang their collaboration with Hussle, DJ Khaledโs track โHigher,โ which later won the Grammy for best rap/sung performance. โRest in peace, Nipsey Hussle,โ DJ Khaled said at the end of the performance. Ava DuVernay introduced the Grammy performance by saying Hussle โmade brave, brilliant strides in his community.โEarlier, before the telecast, Hussle became a Grammy Award winner the first time.