Review: Gugu Mbatha-Raw in "Fast Color"

by Abe Fried-Tanzer

When it comes to great actresses who haven’t become household names despite terrific performances, Gugu Mbatha-Raw is at the top of the list. In 2014, she was headlining Belle and Beyond the Lights, both to much acclaim. I’ve been a fan of hers since the 2010 NBC series Undercovers, a quickly-axed show that I’m pretty sure only I liked. Shortly after it was cancelled, she had a role in the Tom Hanks-Julia Roberts comedy Larry Crowne and it looked like her career might really be taking off. After supporting parts in projects as diverse as Miss Sloane and A Wrinkle in Time, she’s now taking the lead role in a superhero movie, which Chris first reported on more than two years ago.

As 90% of movie theater audiences hold their breath waiting for the 181 minute Avengers: Endgame to be released, this is something completely different...

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Cannes Competition Lineup

by Nathaniel R

This year's poster features Agnes Varda climbing on an assistant for a shot.The lineup for the 72nd edition of the Cannes Film Festival has been unveiled. 19 films will compete for the Palme d'Or and 16 films will compete in the secondary lineup Un Certain Regard (we'll get to those in a bit) though those numbers might expand should they add a couple more entries to either program. They usually do that after the official unveiling. Mexico's Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman) and Lebanon's Nadine Labaki (Capernaum) will preside over the Competition and Un Certain Regard juries, respectively. 

COMPETITION

These films are the ones gunning for the Palme d'Or. There are four female directors in the competition lineup and two black directors both of which are way more than usual at Cannes... 

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April Foolish Predictions #10: Best Actress

Our annual inevitably foolish April Oscar predictions are now complete! 

There's so many questions to consider now that the first Oscar charts for Best Actress (and all other categories) are now up. We've asked you seven questions for the comment party after the jump...

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Drama League Nominations

by Nathaniel R

Tracy Letts & Annette Bening are both nominated for the Broadway revival of "All My Sons"

The Drama League has announced the nominees for their five categories. Yours truly had the privilege of serving on their nominating committee this season. The nominating committee changes each year and is composed of industry professionals, producers, artists, audiences and critics. You're sent to random shows to evaluate (you don't get to pick which) and productions and performances that reach a certain threshold of collective enthusiasm are then nominated (that's why the category sizes differ so much. The awards will be giving out on May 17th. 

The Lucille Lortel Award nominations (which are strictly for Off Broadway Shows) were also announced. Full list of nominees is after the jump...

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"West Side Story" Casting Pt 1: Meet the Sharks

by Nathaniel R

David Alvarez will be taking on George Chakiris's Oscar winning role of "Bernardo" in the remake of WEST SIDE STORY

We'll have to take the West Side Story casting, which is now complete with filming to begin this summer, in two parts. It's a LOT to process. Though we are skeptical of the project given that West Side Story (1961) is so perfect despite its imperfections (you know how art works), but the material itself is so brilliant that perhaps we'll get two classics for the price of one? 

With the casting complete, meet the Sharks... 
There's a lot of Broadway talent (especially from Hamilton, On Your Feet, Carousel), some people from the Miami ballet world, and even some who've done West Side Story before in other forms. Links go to their instagram pages if we could find them...

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