"Da 5 Bloods" leads the Online Film Critics Society nominations... but fails to win

The Online Film Critics Society, founded in 1997 back when there was still a noticeable divide between print and web (there's zero difference anymore... it's only size and reputation of outlets since everything is online) have announced their nominations for the film year. They'll announce their winners on January 25th at which point we'll update this post. But for now the nominations and a few comments...

Click to read more ...

ICYMI - The Goya Nominations & Winners

by Nathaniel R

In case you missed them... and you might have because we forgot to share them, let's talk about the annual Goya Awards honoring Spanish cinema. Last season Pedro Almodóvar and Antonio Banderas's most recent collaboration Pain & Glory was the champ. To honor the 2020 film year, Banderas himself will direct and present the live-streamed ceremony in March 2021. This year the Africa-set drama Adú which is currently streaming on Netflix, and the girls school drama SchoolGirls lead the nominations with 14 and 9 nominations respectively.  UPDATE 3/ 8: Schoolgirls (or The Girls) took the top prize at the ceremony but it tied Adú in wins with 4 each. Coven (also known as Akelarre) won the most trophies with 5 craft wins.

The nominees and winners for the 35th annual Goyas and a few notes are after the jump...

Click to read more ...

Showbiz History: Room at the Top & The Age of Innocence

5 random things that happened on this day, January 22nd, in showbiz history

1954 The 11th Golden Globes are held. The Robe wins Best Drama but there wasn't a Best Comedy or Musical category for 1953 films. How strange... I mean Kiss Me Kate AND Roman Holiday AND Calamity Jane AND How to Marry a Millionaire AND The Band Wagon were all right there! But really it's true of almost every awards institution that the first decade plus is rife with inconsistencies. The Globe only really settled into the traditional field of nominees and categories we have now later in the 1950s.

1959 Room at the Top premieres in the UK...

Click to read more ...

Supersized "Nomadland"... what will Searchlight do for a follow up?

by Nathaniel R

Click for the full illustrated new poster

The prolongued 2020 Oscar season is going to make 2021 weird, isn't it. Take Nomadland, for instance, which is just a smidge over HALFWAY through its long trek to Oscar night after its September bow). Hopefully the Biden Administration can figure out a way to speed up vaccine distribution and we can all get back to our favourite pasttime -- MOVIEGOING -- by summer 2021 when the new stuff starts arriving. Alas, that's too late to enjoy Nomadland on IMAX screens, beginning January 29th, which frankly sounds like heaven to us after watching it on a bad streaming link with a watermark across it.

Though Nomadland is not my #1 film of the year -- top ten list coming in a few days! -- there isn't a single film from 2020 that I'd rather see on the most gigantic screen possible. Joshua James Richards' cinematography and the beautifully aged resilient face of Frances McDormand deserve it.

After Nomadland's Oscar run, whether or not it wins the biggest prize in Hollywood, here's what Searchlight (now owned by Disney) will be releasing in 2021...

Click to read more ...

Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford? We're so ready!

by Nathaniel R

As all of you pfans now, Michelle Pfeiffer is not easy to pin down. She's been skittish about projects for her entire career, regularly turning down big deal stuff. That became especially true after the mid 90s when she turned her attention to raising her two children and only sporadically made movies, taking some very long breaks from cameras. With the kids left for college she finally started acting again. Her return has been pretty slow but it's now speeding up. Her renewed public profile began with the launch of her perfume line "Henry Rose" and a wonderful Instagram account (social media is not something we ever thought she'd embrace!). We're now in the middle of French Exit's awards run (we're crossing our pfingers hard for a Globe nomination as they've historically loved her more than Oscar voters have). There's so much Pfeiffer to enjoy lately including an amazing new interview with George Clooney in which she reveals she feels exactly the opposite as critics do when it comes to what she thinks are her best performances, and a long conversation with Scott Feinberg at the Hollywood Reporter.

Now comes news that she's signed on for the Showtime series The First Lady to be directed by Danish director and Oscar winner Susanne Bier. Emmy nomination #2 here she comes! The anthology series will reportedly focus on multiple first ladies per season...

Click to read more ...