Showbiz History: Carole Lombard, Donny & Marie, Marwen Kenzari

6 random things that happened on this day in showbiz history...

1942 Movie star Carole Lombard, then married to the "King of Hollywood" Clark Gable, tragically dies in a plane crash on the way home from a war bond rally. She was just 33 but thankfully left behind stone cold comedy classics like Nothing Sacred, My Man Godfrey, and her last film, released posthumously, To Be Or Not To Be...

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Interview: Kingsley Ben-Adir on playing Malcolm X in "One Night in Miami"

by Murtada Elfadl

Kingsley Ben-Adir is having a breakthrough year. In fact that’s the award he won at the Gothams on the same day I talked to him over zoom. He acknowledges that his performance in Regina King’s One Night in Miami is one that brought him more attention than any previous role. You may remember him as Zoë Kravitz’s ex- boyfriend in the short-lived Hulu series High Fidelity or from the Netflix series The OA. But it’s his performance as Malcolm X that’s being talked about this season for a possible best actor nomination at the Oscars.

One Night in Miami, adapted by Kemp Powers from his play, imagines a historic night in which four Black icons Cassius Clay (Eli Goree) before he changed his name to Muhammed Ali, Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.),  Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge) and Malcom X (Ben-Adir), come together in a Miami motel room in 1964 and debate their roles as leaders and celebrities at that moment in the Civil Rights Movement. Malcolm X is the one who set up the meeting and the one who has an agenda that becomes apparent as the night goes on. He’s at the center of the film giving Ben-Adir a marvelous opportunity to showcase his talent.

[The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.]

Murtada Elfadl: This film lives and dies by the interplay between the four actors. Can you talk about your relationship on set with Aldis, Leslie and Eli? There is passion to the performances and I think you're feeding off of each other. 

KINGSLEY BEN-ADIR: I think Regina very carefully hand-picked each of us. I chemistry tested with Leslie before I was cast...

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The Oscar for International Feature has temporary rule changes!

This just in, courtesy of Scott Feinberg at The Hollywood Reporter, the rules are changing for this specific Oscar year in terms of the Best International Feature Race. While members are still required to watch a certain number of the nominees in order to vote in the first round as in past years, this year that number is 12, anyone in the Academy can do it which is a change from past years where you had to be part of specific volunteer committees. The concerning part is that the Executive Committee aren't doing their three film "save" this year. Usually they choose 3 of the 10 finalists. We know that process has drastically improved the quality of the nominees; the proof is in the pudding and the nominated shortlists have been delicious ever since. This year instead of the Executive Committee save, they're merely expanding the finalist list so the top 15 vote getting films will advance to the finals (yes, we'll update the prediction chart tomorrow to reflect this) from which the 5 nominees will be chosen.

The Executive Committee is expected to return to their "save" duties next year. Though judging on THR's intel it sounds like the change from 10 to 15 finalists will be permanent so how many of those the EC will be able to pick for 2021/2022 ... who knows?  

Interesting or scary? A little of both. We love the idea of 15 finalists (that's how many documentary gets and we like symmetry) but no executive committee worries us. What do you make of this decision? Sound off in the comments. And make sure to check out our plentiful coverage on this race including the Oscar submission charts, the list of where to see the films, looks at the directors who made them, and note the familiar actors who are starring in them. More reviews and a few interviews are coming soon.

everyone's a critic

Showbiz History: Regina King, Happy Days, and Meryl's sixth Globe win

6 random things that happened on this day, January 15th, in showbiz history

1948 This date is iffy (the internet can't seem to agree) but some say John Huston's classic The Treasure of Sierra Madre had its premiere in Los Angeles. At any rate, factually, it came out in sometime in January. A year later it will be up for four Oscars including Best Picture and win Best Supporting Actor for Walter Huston, the director's father. Later Huston will direct his daughter Anjelica to an Oscar win for Prizzi's Honor making him the only person in Oscar history to direct two family members to Oscars. The Hustons were the first three-generation Oscar winning family. The Coppolas followed later...

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