Ned Beatty (1937-2021)

by Nathaniel R

Oscar, Emmy, and Globe nominee Ned Beatty (Network) passed away on Sunday, just a few weeks shy of his 84th birthday.  It's a mark of his sturdy career and reliability as as character actor that all three of those showbiz institutions honored him for different performances. Since he was always more of an actor than a celebrity, we thought it best to look to his characters to commemorate. After the jump, eleven key roles from his impressive career...

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Best Actor & Best Actress: An Uncommon Pair

by Eurocheese

Chadwick & Viola at odds in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" -- but will they be even at the Oscars?

It’s been over 20 years since we last saw a film take home Best Actor and Best Actress on the same night. While these categories are both very competitive this season, there is a possibility that Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom could combine Boseman’s posthumous career-best performance with Davis’ flashy titular role to make it happen again.

But how often have we seen this combination in the past, and under what circumstances? Let’s take a look…

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The New Classics: Nightcrawler

About once a decade we get a film set in the world of television that serves not just as a satire but a warning, asking us to take a look at the glaring problems in the way Americans get their information. Titles like A Face in the Crowd (1957), Network (1976), and Broadcast News (1987). It’s clear to me that that the film to take up this mantle for this last decade was Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler (2014). 

The trend in these stories does not inspire optimism. If the 2010’s spat up Jake Gyllenhaal’s Lou Bloom to represent it, am I ever terrified to meet the standard-bearer for the 2020’s... 

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Showbiz History: Faye's win, Winona's debut, Gaga's birth, and Angelina's first nuptials

7 random things to celebrate on this day in showbiz history...

And the winner is... Faye Dunaway in Network

1920 Silent superstars Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford marry. Their marriage last only 16 years but their only child together is still going strong: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences! We kid sort of. They were the two most famous of the 36 founding members of the Academy, originally the brainchild of producer Louis B Mayer though the Oscars were not initially the main idea of the group...

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Showbiz History: Network, Chicago, and Murphy Brown

7 random things that happened on this day (Nov 14th) in showbiz history

1941 Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion premieres. It reaps three Oscar nominations (including Best Picture) winning Best Actress for Joan Fontaine.

1976 Network, one of the most electric and prescient movies of all time, premieres in both LA and NY before a nationwide bow two weeks later...

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