2022 Chita Rivera Winners

We told you back in May that the Chita Rivera Awards, which hadn't been held since 2019, would be back for 2022. The nominations were a mix of both the 2020 and 2022 Broadway seasons as well as the 2021 film year. In short, COVID-19 really did a number on all awards shows, no matter how niche! After the jump the winners (and nominees) of this prize honoring dancers and choreographers in movies and on stage.

OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY FOR A THEATRICAL RELEASE

Click to read more ...

Linking up that hill

• Criterion Renate Reinsve (Worst Person in the World) demonstrates marvelous taste while inside the Criterion Closet
• Boy Culture their delicious annual recap of Broadway Bares (lots of photos and video)
• MNPP Pedro Almodóvar is making another short (after that Tilda-starring The Human Voice). This one a gay western starring Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal. Can't wait!

More after the jump including Dakota Johnson, The Lovely Laura Linney, Kate Bush, a new film from Andrew Haigh, and a reinvention of James Bond...

Click to read more ...

2022 Chita Rivera Awards Nominees Announced

by Nathaniel R

The Chita Rivera Awards took time off due to COVID but they're back with a grab bag mix of the 2020 and 2022 Tony seasons and the 2021 movie year  The awards are named after Broadway's high kicking living legend, and they honor choreographers of shows and individual dancers. They also honor movies that involve dancing (though not individual dancers) though weirdly not tv shows! Here are their movie nominations this year...

Click to read more ...

Hit Me With Your Best Shot: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)

by Nathaniel R

Jane Powell is no Julie Andrews but she does take a spin on a hilltop while singing in MGM's "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers"

Our film title this week on Hit Me With Your Best Shot is Seven Brides for Seven Brothers which is streaming on HBOMax. We knew we'd need to chase The Godfather with something lighter so we opted for a musical. So saddle up, and ride into this absurdly problematic but bouncy and colorful comedy after the jump...

Click to read more ...

Doc Corner: Three new dance documentaries

By Glenn Dunks

Dance is such a physical art. It is a beautiful medium, of course, but one that doesn’t always allow for great documentaries about it. Watching it can be a divine experience (Wim Wenders’ Pina, for instance), but to get into the nuts and bolts of the craft is difficult. A trio of new documentaries highlight these strengths and weaknesses. All three put their focus on black dancers, and all have strong queer themes as they navigate a creative space emerging through the pain of racism and the AIDS epidemic. Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters by Rosalynde LeBlanc and Tom Hurwitz, Jamila Wignot’s Ailey, and Firestarter — The Story of Bangarra by Wayne Blair and Nel Minchin each highlight the bodies and the stories. But it’s the former about the iconic titular choreographer and one of his most famous works that best captures the athleticism, the drama and the intimacy of dance...

Click to read more ...