Diahann Carroll (1935 -2019)

Another legend has left us. Diahann Carroll has passed away at 84 years of age. She was a major pioneer for black actresses in Hollywood, emerging just as things were beginning to happen (a little bit) for actors of color in Hollywood. She made her debut in the historic Carmen Jones (1954) starring Dorothy Dandridge, who then became the first black woman nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress. Then in 1962 Diahann Carroll achieved a "first" herself, becoming the first black woman to win a Tony for Best Actress in a Musical with No Strings. By 1968 she was also a TV star headlining a sitcom for three seasons when black stars didn't do that (1968's Julia) and winning a Golden Globe in the role.

More after the jump including lots of gorgeous photos...

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YNMS x 2: "Richard Jewell" and "The Gentlemen

by Ben Miller

It’s festival season, but new trailers keep dropping left and right, so let’s do a couple quick Yes, No, Maybe So’s staring with Clint Eastwood's latest sudden December drop, Richard Jewell. It's the true story of an innocent man put on trial by the media as a bombing suspect in the 1996 Summer Olympics. The Yes No Maybe So breakdown is after the jump...

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NYFF Review: Pain and Glory

by Murtada Elfadl

Salvador Mallo, the director and lead character in Pain and Glory, tells one of his actors that holding back tears in emotional scenes instead of crying makes actors better. Yet Pedro Almodóvar, who wrote and directed and based this film partially on his life, does not. He goes deep, he explores honestly and elicits a deeply emotional and cathartic reaction. 

In this thesis on his life and his work, he finds the generous space to include many of his collaborators in front and behind the camera. On screen we have Antonio Banderas as Mallo, Cecilia Roth, from All About My Mother (1999), appears as an actress from Mallo’s past who’s eager to work with him again. And most poignantly Peneope Cruz, his muse of many years and movies, plays a version of his mother...

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Link Side Story

Variety Leslye Headland (Russian Doll) profiled. We’re so proud of our friend
GQ on Joker and standup comedy always being terrible in movies
Pajiba why are so many movies right now based on magazine articles? Hustlers, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, and more.
MNPP is Taiki Waititi the hottest director right now?

More after the jump including 80s franchises up for grabs, West Side Story wrap, and Ryan Coogler...

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Will the Academy honor the epic feat of "Avengers: Endgame"?

by Abe Fried-Tanzer

Back in July, Avengers: Endgame surpassed Avatar for the title of the highest-grossing film of all time worldwide. You’d think that would mean that nearly everyone who goes to the movies has seen it. At a guild screening in Los Angeles earlier this week, however, nearly half the audience put their hands up when asked if they were seeing this three-hour blockbuster for the first time. Writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who were on hand for a Q & A, were surprised and almost delighted by this showing...

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