Goodbye, Cicely Tyson (1924-2021)

by Cláudio Alves

Cicely Tyson, who died earlier this afternoon at the age of 96, was one of a kind. "Legend" doesn't even come close to describing her grandiose wonder, her legacy, her impact. No words I can scrounge up are enough to summarize the greatness of this model turned acting sensation, icon, pioneer. Her career spanned more than half a century and Tyson made sure to leave her mark on the big and on the small screen, on stage too, earning countless golden accolades, much-deserved acclaim, and the adoration of millions across generations.

She was an inspiration to many, a woman who made sure to immortalize and celebrate Black History in her roles and embody Black excellence in her exquisite craft. I still remember the first time I ever saw her…

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Animated Feature - what will be nominated?

by Nathaniel R

Studio Ghibli's "Earwig and the Witch"

We really do not approve of the Academy's new shyness in telling the public which films are competing for the specialty categories. They didn't announce the animated feature eligibiility until TODAY. But here are the 27 features competing for Best Animated Feature, though the Academy has not made them official. We've helpfully divided them into categories for you after the jump...

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Cloris Leachman, "The Actress"

We're still thinking about Cloris Leachman (RIP) and we are thrilled to have been pointed at one of her Emmy wins last night (thanks StinkyLulu!) that we hadn't seen. Her fifth (of eight) Emmy wins came in the now defunct category of "Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program" The occassion was the Screen Actors Guild 50th Anniversary Celebration in 1984 and Cloris performs a mini-musical/play called "The Actress". It is very much worth your 10 minutes...

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Doc Corner: '76 Days' and 'CoroNation' go inside Wuhan

By Glenn Dunks

Alex Gibney isn’t the only one who can crush a deadline and produce a documentary about COVID-19 in time for the new year. While Gibney’s Totally Under Control, made alongside (but appropriately socially distanced, of course) Ophelia Harutyunyan and Suzanne Hillinger, came out in October in an attempt to radicalise the American voters with tales of the then Trump-led American government’s inept response to the coronavirus outbreak. In doing so it already looks out of date.

Two other features, however, hone in more precisely on the pandemic’s beginnings in the city of Wuhan of the Hubei Province in the heart of China. Hao Wu and Weixu Chen’s 76 Days (made in collaboration with ‘Anonymous’) and Ai Weiwei’s CoroNation take different tacts with this setting, showing a city in chaos and alarming stillness at once.

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The Emperor's New Link(s)

Heads up! At Movie City News the first "Gurus of Gold" charts are up with yours truly along with several other pundits - apparently I'm the only one nervous about Riz Ahmed's Oscar prospects and the one who is most certain about One Night in Miami's prospects. Extremely grossed out that Aaron Sorkin makes the top five in Best Director. Yes, he's a talented writer but come on now... that's a different skill set.

• Vulture an oral history of the making of The Emperor's New Groove
• Variety 'Actors on Actors' gets Steven Yeun and Riz Ahmed talking
• Digital Spy on WandaVision's use of tv tropes to give away its secrets 

Amazing cast for HBO miniseries, new Kelly Reichardt, and terrifying Pee Wee after the jump...

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