For as long as “teenager” has been a demographic, there have been stories about teens breaking free from the status quo. While a lot of the modern great teen rebellion media is confined to the world of TV — where shows like “Euphoria” attract constant buzz — the archetypal troubled teen story remains 1955’s “Rebel Without a Cause.” Starring James Dean in unquestionably his defining role, a rebellious teen struggling with his demons in L.A., Nicholas Ray’s film spoke to young people at the time with its story of high schoolers struggling with, and going against, the social pressures that bring them down. Over the years it became a touchstone because its themes and its honesty transcends generations.
As the teen film has evolved and morphed as a genre, there’s always been room for stories of iconoclastic youth who don’t fit in with the status quo. Oftentimes, these...
As the teen film has evolved and morphed as a genre, there’s always been room for stories of iconoclastic youth who don’t fit in with the status quo. Oftentimes, these...
- 4/23/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble announces Anna Sokolow and the Reimagined Roots of Anti-Fascist Dance, which was performed on Friday, January 26, 2024 at 7 pm at the Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Coolidge Auditorium, is now available for streaming on demand. To watch the performance, visit https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-11277/.
When the Library of Congress Music Division made the extraordinary discovery of handwritten scores composed by Alex North for two of Anna Sokolow’s dances, Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble Artistic Director Samantha Géracht reimagined the dances using archival evidence and the music. “Slaughter of the Innocents” is Sokolow’s 1937 lament for Basque women suffering under Nazi aerial bombing. “Ballad in a Popular Style” is a wistful lyrical excursion into jazz, first performed in 1936. Both will be performed by members of the Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble to the original music, for the first time in 80 years, showing that the creative collaboration...
When the Library of Congress Music Division made the extraordinary discovery of handwritten scores composed by Alex North for two of Anna Sokolow’s dances, Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble Artistic Director Samantha Géracht reimagined the dances using archival evidence and the music. “Slaughter of the Innocents” is Sokolow’s 1937 lament for Basque women suffering under Nazi aerial bombing. “Ballad in a Popular Style” is a wistful lyrical excursion into jazz, first performed in 1936. Both will be performed by members of the Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble to the original music, for the first time in 80 years, showing that the creative collaboration...
- 4/16/2024
- by Music MCM
- Martin Cid Music
The musical sometimes feels like a relic of a long-dead Hollywood studio system, but it remains a genre that captures movies’ ability to create story worlds that move freely between reality and fantasy. The worst examples come from filmmakers who give license to music, color, and movement to run amok; the best transcend artifice and integrate songs that become expressions of pure character emotion. Musicals offer endless possibilities, but success demands a complete mastery of the medium.
The best movie musicals of all time have faced obstacles as varied as their creators’ styles and tastes. That’s in part because its integration of at least two art forms — music and film always, but sometimes also dance — demands an unusually high-caliber of multi-faceted talent from those attempting its complexities.
After Lee De Forest invented the “talky,” the opportunity oozing from that new tech prompted an industry rush on musicals in the last days of the 1920s.
The best movie musicals of all time have faced obstacles as varied as their creators’ styles and tastes. That’s in part because its integration of at least two art forms — music and film always, but sometimes also dance — demands an unusually high-caliber of multi-faceted talent from those attempting its complexities.
After Lee De Forest invented the “talky,” the opportunity oozing from that new tech prompted an industry rush on musicals in the last days of the 1920s.
- 3/20/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
Film historians, critics and cineastes have heralded 1939 as the greatest year for Hollywood films. It was the year that saw the release of such classics as “Gone with the Wind,” “Stagecoach,” “Love Affair,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” “Young Mr. Lincoln” and “Wuthering Heights.” That’s just the tip of the iceberg
But what about Broadway? A case can be made for 1964, which saw the debuts of three musicals that became classics: “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Funny Girl” and “Hello, Dolly!”
Broadway was changing in the 1960s. Oscar Hammerstein II died in 1960; Irving Berlin’s last show was the disappointing 1962 “Mr. President”; and Cole Porter, who died in 1964, hadn’t had a musical on Broadway since the 1950s. Sixty years ago, a group of young talented composers and lyricists were the toast of the Great White Way.
Like Jerry Herman. He was all of 30 when “Milk...
But what about Broadway? A case can be made for 1964, which saw the debuts of three musicals that became classics: “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Funny Girl” and “Hello, Dolly!”
Broadway was changing in the 1960s. Oscar Hammerstein II died in 1960; Irving Berlin’s last show was the disappointing 1962 “Mr. President”; and Cole Porter, who died in 1964, hadn’t had a musical on Broadway since the 1950s. Sixty years ago, a group of young talented composers and lyricists were the toast of the Great White Way.
Like Jerry Herman. He was all of 30 when “Milk...
- 2/1/2024
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Chita Rivera, the sultry singer, dancer and actress who commanded the Broadway stage for more than a half-century, has died. She was 91.
Rivera died peacefully in New York on Tuesday, following a brief illness, her daughter, Lisa Mordente, shared in a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.
Known for her long, sleek legs, smoldering green eyes and lusty singing voice, the two-time Tony Award winner originated some of musical theater’s most iconic characters.
When West Side Story bowed in 1957, it was Rivera singing about life in America as the fiery Puerto Rican transplant Anita. As Rose Grant, the long-suffering girlfriend of songwriter Albert Peterson, Rivera received top billing over Dick Van Dyke in 1960’s Bye Bye Birdie. In 1975, she made the stage sizzle with “All That Jazz” as Velma Kelly in Chicago. And the 1993 musical adaptation of Kiss of the Spider Woman put her in the spotlight as the sexy Spider Woman.
Rivera died peacefully in New York on Tuesday, following a brief illness, her daughter, Lisa Mordente, shared in a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.
Known for her long, sleek legs, smoldering green eyes and lusty singing voice, the two-time Tony Award winner originated some of musical theater’s most iconic characters.
When West Side Story bowed in 1957, it was Rivera singing about life in America as the fiery Puerto Rican transplant Anita. As Rose Grant, the long-suffering girlfriend of songwriter Albert Peterson, Rivera received top billing over Dick Van Dyke in 1960’s Bye Bye Birdie. In 1975, she made the stage sizzle with “All That Jazz” as Velma Kelly in Chicago. And the 1993 musical adaptation of Kiss of the Spider Woman put her in the spotlight as the sexy Spider Woman.
- 1/30/2024
- by Chris Koseluk
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Celine Song could join a rare club of just filmmakers to win the Academy Award for Best Director with their first-ever movie. Usually, we predict experienced, veteran helmers to win the award or at filmmakers who have at least had a couple of smaller movies under their belt. But sometimes, a debut director comes along with a film that is so special, they earn their place in the history books. This has only happened six times in Oscars history.
Delbert Mann was the first to do it when he won for “Marty” in 1956, six years before Jerome Robbins won for his acclaimed debut “West Side Story” in 1962. Robert Wise, who had already helmed 27 movies before, co-directed the movie with Robbins, but it was Robbins’ debut. Actor Robert Redford then took a trip behind the camera and emerged victorious in 1981 for “Ordinary People.” Three years later, in 1984, James L. Brooks won for “Terms of Endearment.
Delbert Mann was the first to do it when he won for “Marty” in 1956, six years before Jerome Robbins won for his acclaimed debut “West Side Story” in 1962. Robert Wise, who had already helmed 27 movies before, co-directed the movie with Robbins, but it was Robbins’ debut. Actor Robert Redford then took a trip behind the camera and emerged victorious in 1981 for “Ordinary People.” Three years later, in 1984, James L. Brooks won for “Terms of Endearment.
- 12/21/2023
- by Jacob Sarkisian
- Gold Derby
Jerome Robbins is alive and well and living in choreographer Justin Peck.
Two years after Peck crafted choreography based on Robbins’ iconic original for “West Side Story,” the Tony Award winner returns to Robbins’ work with an unforgettable sequence in Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein biopic “Maestro.”
Bernstein, the polymath who was equally at home writing Broadway musicals as he was conducting orchestras and teaching young conductors, was a seminal figure in musical theater, composing scores for now-classics including “On the Town,” “Wonderful Town,” and “West Side Story.” But, as Cooper’s film makes clear, with great talent comes great doubts. And Bernstein was torn between the razzle-dazzle of Broadway and the more “serious” music that his conducting and composing colleagues expected of him. That push-pull comes to thrilling life early in the film, when his soon-to-be-wife Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan) yanks him from a luncheon where he’s being...
Two years after Peck crafted choreography based on Robbins’ iconic original for “West Side Story,” the Tony Award winner returns to Robbins’ work with an unforgettable sequence in Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein biopic “Maestro.”
Bernstein, the polymath who was equally at home writing Broadway musicals as he was conducting orchestras and teaching young conductors, was a seminal figure in musical theater, composing scores for now-classics including “On the Town,” “Wonderful Town,” and “West Side Story.” But, as Cooper’s film makes clear, with great talent comes great doubts. And Bernstein was torn between the razzle-dazzle of Broadway and the more “serious” music that his conducting and composing colleagues expected of him. That push-pull comes to thrilling life early in the film, when his soon-to-be-wife Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan) yanks him from a luncheon where he’s being...
- 12/11/2023
- by Mark Peikert
- Indiewire
The Gotham Awards will honor Maestro, the upcoming Netflix film by Bradley Cooper, with its new Cultural Icon & Creator Tribute that recognizes cultural icons and filmmakers responsible for bringing their story to life.
The tribute, created for this year’s ceremony, “will honor New York legend Leonard Bernstein, the acclaimed musician, conductor, composer, teacher, and author, while celebrating Cooper and his masterful effort cinematically capturing his story,” the Gotham Film & Media Institute said today.
‘Air’ To Receive Tribute At Gotham Awards Recognizing Both The Ben Affleck-Directed Film And The Team Behind Michael Jordan Shoe Phenomenon
“With Maestro, Bradley Cooper and the film’s entire creative team have vividly brought to life the story of an almost mythical figure in popular culture,” said Jeffrey Sharp, executive director of the Institute, which hosts the awards. “Cooper has crafted a powerful story that highlights the ecstatic highs and anguished lows that...
The tribute, created for this year’s ceremony, “will honor New York legend Leonard Bernstein, the acclaimed musician, conductor, composer, teacher, and author, while celebrating Cooper and his masterful effort cinematically capturing his story,” the Gotham Film & Media Institute said today.
‘Air’ To Receive Tribute At Gotham Awards Recognizing Both The Ben Affleck-Directed Film And The Team Behind Michael Jordan Shoe Phenomenon
“With Maestro, Bradley Cooper and the film’s entire creative team have vividly brought to life the story of an almost mythical figure in popular culture,” said Jeffrey Sharp, executive director of the Institute, which hosts the awards. “Cooper has crafted a powerful story that highlights the ecstatic highs and anguished lows that...
- 10/19/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
There were so many celebs in attendance at the New York City Ballet’s 2023 Gall Fashion Gala!
Sarah Jessica Parker, Justin Theroux, and Diane Kruger were just some of the many stars who walked the red carpet on Thursday night (October 5) at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater in New York City.
More stars in attendance included Sjp‘s husband Matthew Broderick, Diane‘s longtime love Norman Reedus, Oscar winner Ariana DeBose, Naomi Watts, Broadway legend Patti LuPone, and many more.
The gala featured new costume designs by Carolina Herrera‘s creative director Wes Gordon, along with performances that were choreographed by NYC Ballet’s founders George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins.
Head inside to see all of the celebs in attendance at the event…
Keep scrolling to see all of the celebs in attendance…
Naomi Watts
Fyi: Naomi is wearing a Carolina Herrera dress.
Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew...
Sarah Jessica Parker, Justin Theroux, and Diane Kruger were just some of the many stars who walked the red carpet on Thursday night (October 5) at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater in New York City.
More stars in attendance included Sjp‘s husband Matthew Broderick, Diane‘s longtime love Norman Reedus, Oscar winner Ariana DeBose, Naomi Watts, Broadway legend Patti LuPone, and many more.
The gala featured new costume designs by Carolina Herrera‘s creative director Wes Gordon, along with performances that were choreographed by NYC Ballet’s founders George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins.
Head inside to see all of the celebs in attendance at the event…
Keep scrolling to see all of the celebs in attendance…
Naomi Watts
Fyi: Naomi is wearing a Carolina Herrera dress.
Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew...
- 10/6/2023
- by Just Jared
- Just Jared
There were so many celebs in attendance at the New York City Ballet’s 2023 Gall Fashion Gala!
Sarah Jessica Parker, Justin Theroux, and Diane Kruger were just some of the many stars who walked the red carpet on Thursday night (October 5) at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater in New York City.
More stars in attendance included Sjp‘s husband Matthew Broderick, Diane‘s longtime love Norman Reedus, Oscar winner Ariana DeBose, Naomi Watts, Broadway legend Patti LuPone, and many more.
The gala featured new costume designs by Carolina Herrera‘s creative director Wes Gordon, along with performances that were choreographed by NYC Ballet’s founders George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins.
Head inside to see all of the celebs in attendance at the event…
Keep scrolling to see all of the celebs in attendance…
Naomi Watts
Fyi: Naomi is wearing a Carolina Herrera dress.
Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew...
Sarah Jessica Parker, Justin Theroux, and Diane Kruger were just some of the many stars who walked the red carpet on Thursday night (October 5) at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater in New York City.
More stars in attendance included Sjp‘s husband Matthew Broderick, Diane‘s longtime love Norman Reedus, Oscar winner Ariana DeBose, Naomi Watts, Broadway legend Patti LuPone, and many more.
The gala featured new costume designs by Carolina Herrera‘s creative director Wes Gordon, along with performances that were choreographed by NYC Ballet’s founders George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins.
Head inside to see all of the celebs in attendance at the event…
Keep scrolling to see all of the celebs in attendance…
Naomi Watts
Fyi: Naomi is wearing a Carolina Herrera dress.
Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew...
- 10/6/2023
- by Just Jared
- Just Jared
Stephen Sondheim has almost never been more popular than in the two years since his passing in November 2021. In that time, celebrated revivals of “Company,” “Into the Woods,” and “Sweeney Todd” have come to Broadway, and successful remounting of “Assassins” and “Merrily We Roll Along” have played Off-Broadway, which is a testament to the enduring appeal of his works.
This fall will once again spotlight Sondheim. The tremendously successful Off-Broadway run of “Merrily” starring Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez, and Daniel Radcliffe opens on Broadway on October 10, which will mark the first remounting since its original, unsuccessful run in 1981. In addition, his final musical “Here We Are,” which is based on two Luis Buñuel films—“The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie” and “The Exterminating Angel”—will have its highly-anticipated world premiere Off-Broadway, opening on October 22.
In honor of another “season of Sondheim,” take a look back at every single Tony...
This fall will once again spotlight Sondheim. The tremendously successful Off-Broadway run of “Merrily” starring Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez, and Daniel Radcliffe opens on Broadway on October 10, which will mark the first remounting since its original, unsuccessful run in 1981. In addition, his final musical “Here We Are,” which is based on two Luis Buñuel films—“The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie” and “The Exterminating Angel”—will have its highly-anticipated world premiere Off-Broadway, opening on October 22.
In honor of another “season of Sondheim,” take a look back at every single Tony...
- 9/29/2023
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
In “Maestro,” playing the legendary American conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein, Bradley Cooper has a light in his eye — a glow of merriment and mischief, of gleeful cosmopolitan desire. His Lenny is a prodigy, a prankster, a seducer, a monk of creative devotion and, through it all, a man of epic contradiction. In public, he tends toward the proper and stentorian; in private, he’s recklessly exuberant enough to give new — or maybe old — meaning to the word gay. He’s a layered soul, a quality that extends from his professional life, where he’s a reverent conductor of the classics and a jubilant composer of Broadway musicals (as well as a serious composer who longs to be thought of as classic), to his personal life, where he’s an ardent hedonist, unapologetically attracted to men, as well as a devoted husband and family man.
It turns out that the...
It turns out that the...
- 9/2/2023
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Easily clearing the sophomore slump and proving that 2018’s surprisingly vibrant “A Star is Born” was hardly a one-off, Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro” bolsters the writer/director/producer/star’s Mo as a contemporary jack-of-all-trades with an Old Hollywood soul. Hell, even the Cooper-produced “Joker” pulled from a similar songbook, dusting off reliable American cinema standards and giving them a fresh new spin.
Viewed in that light, this prestige pic’s curious indifference to many of the artistic qualities and career triumphs that made Leonard Bernstein such a coveted biopic subject make a lot more sense. “Maestro” does not go behind the music – it’s here to put on a show.
And in Leonard Bernstein – the only composer/conductor/highbrow-celebrity to earn a shout-out in an R.E.M. song – Cooper sees a similar type. The film tells us right from the start, opening on an aged-Bernstein alone before his piano.
Viewed in that light, this prestige pic’s curious indifference to many of the artistic qualities and career triumphs that made Leonard Bernstein such a coveted biopic subject make a lot more sense. “Maestro” does not go behind the music – it’s here to put on a show.
And in Leonard Bernstein – the only composer/conductor/highbrow-celebrity to earn a shout-out in an R.E.M. song – Cooper sees a similar type. The film tells us right from the start, opening on an aged-Bernstein alone before his piano.
- 9/2/2023
- by Ben Croll
- The Wrap
Although you won’t often hear his name mentioned among auteur theorists, four-time Oscar winner Robert Wise amassed an impressive filmography in his lifetime. Let’s take a look back at 20 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Wise cut his teeth as a film editor, most notably working on Orson Welles‘ landmark film “Citizen Kane” (1941), for which he received an Oscar nomination. He made his directorial debut with “The Curse of the Cat People” (1944), the first of many successful collaborations with low-budget horror producer Val Lewton.
Throughout his career, Wise excelled at a number of genres, including science fiction (“The Day the Earth Stood Still”), film noir (“Odds Against Tomorrow”), horror (“The Haunting”), war (“The Desert Rats”), comedy (“Two for the Seesaw”), and drama (“Executive Suite”). Rather than imposing his own directorial fingerprint on each film, Wise instead tried to adapt his style to best suit the material.
Wise cut his teeth as a film editor, most notably working on Orson Welles‘ landmark film “Citizen Kane” (1941), for which he received an Oscar nomination. He made his directorial debut with “The Curse of the Cat People” (1944), the first of many successful collaborations with low-budget horror producer Val Lewton.
Throughout his career, Wise excelled at a number of genres, including science fiction (“The Day the Earth Stood Still”), film noir (“Odds Against Tomorrow”), horror (“The Haunting”), war (“The Desert Rats”), comedy (“Two for the Seesaw”), and drama (“Executive Suite”). Rather than imposing his own directorial fingerprint on each film, Wise instead tried to adapt his style to best suit the material.
- 9/1/2023
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
They’re newly minted Oscar winners, but the Daniels remain men of the people. Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, the directors of “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” are giving away a free dinner to the highest bidder, in order to raise money for the Southern California branch of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Kwan announced the giveaway via Twitter on June 10. “We’re helping @ACLU_SoCal celebrate their 100th year by auctioning off a Personalized Double Date in Los Angeles. Come get weird with us,” Kwan wrote. “Please help us raise a lot of money for the incredibly difficult and important work that the ACLU does everyday.”
We’re helping @ACLU_SoCal celebrate their 100th year by auctioning off a Personalized Double Date in Los Angeles. Come get weird with us.
Please help us raise a lot of money for the incredibly difficult and important work that the ACLU does everyday.
Kwan announced the giveaway via Twitter on June 10. “We’re helping @ACLU_SoCal celebrate their 100th year by auctioning off a Personalized Double Date in Los Angeles. Come get weird with us,” Kwan wrote. “Please help us raise a lot of money for the incredibly difficult and important work that the ACLU does everyday.”
We’re helping @ACLU_SoCal celebrate their 100th year by auctioning off a Personalized Double Date in Los Angeles. Come get weird with us.
Please help us raise a lot of money for the incredibly difficult and important work that the ACLU does everyday.
- 7/15/2023
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
Sheldon Harnick, the nimble lyricist who partnered with composer Jerry Bock to create the songs for some of Broadway’s greatest musicals, including Fiddler on the Roof, Fiorello! and She Loves Me, has died Friday. He was 99.
Harnick died of natural causes at his apartment overlooking Central Park on the Upper West Side, spokesperson Sean Katz told The Hollywood Reporter.
Harnick, who credited actress Charlotte Rae for inspiring him to become a Broadway lyricist, had an uncanny knack of making it sound as if the singer were having a conversation with the audience. His lyrics for such tunes as “If I Were a Rich Man,” “Sunrise, Sunset,” “She Loves Me” and “Little Tin Box” were simple and straightforward yet deeply moving at the same time.
“A theater lyricist is a playwright who writes short plays in verse that have to be set to music,” Harnick said in a 2016 interview with the Los Angeles Times.
Harnick died of natural causes at his apartment overlooking Central Park on the Upper West Side, spokesperson Sean Katz told The Hollywood Reporter.
Harnick, who credited actress Charlotte Rae for inspiring him to become a Broadway lyricist, had an uncanny knack of making it sound as if the singer were having a conversation with the audience. His lyrics for such tunes as “If I Were a Rich Man,” “Sunrise, Sunset,” “She Loves Me” and “Little Tin Box” were simple and straightforward yet deeply moving at the same time.
“A theater lyricist is a playwright who writes short plays in verse that have to be set to music,” Harnick said in a 2016 interview with the Los Angeles Times.
- 6/23/2023
- by Chris Koseluk
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Five of New York’s Most Celebrated Companies,
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre,
Ballet Hispánico, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and New York City Ballet,
Return for Five Nights as part of Summer for the City at Lincoln Center
Free: July 25-29, 2023 at 7:30pm
Made possible by Chanel
New York, NY – Five of NYC’s most iconic dance companies—Ballet Hispánico, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, and Dance Theatre of Harlem—return for the third annual Baand Together Dance Festival, sharing the spotlight and an outdoor stage as a part of Lincoln Center’s second annual Summer for the City.
From July 25–29, audiences will be treated to exciting evenings of programming curated collaboratively by the artistic directors of the companies, featuring works that are quintessential of each company’s style and brilliance, as well as the World Premiere of Pas...
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre,
Ballet Hispánico, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and New York City Ballet,
Return for Five Nights as part of Summer for the City at Lincoln Center
Free: July 25-29, 2023 at 7:30pm
Made possible by Chanel
New York, NY – Five of NYC’s most iconic dance companies—Ballet Hispánico, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, and Dance Theatre of Harlem—return for the third annual Baand Together Dance Festival, sharing the spotlight and an outdoor stage as a part of Lincoln Center’s second annual Summer for the City.
From July 25–29, audiences will be treated to exciting evenings of programming curated collaboratively by the artistic directors of the companies, featuring works that are quintessential of each company’s style and brilliance, as well as the World Premiere of Pas...
- 6/21/2023
- by Music Martin Cid Magazine
- Martin Cid Music
Lorna Courtney was barely out of the University of Michigan when Broadway first came calling. A native New Yorker – Queens, to be exact – and graduate of Manhattan’s performing arts Laguardia High School, Courtney was a standby in Dear Evan Hansen in 2019 and 2020 before being cast in director Ivo van Hove’s boldly reimagined West Side Story, a production that did away with the iconic Jerome Robbins in favor of the riskier, more avant-garde stylings of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker.
Both shows, but particularly the short-lived 2020 West Side Story – which closed due to the Covid pandemic shutdown and never re-opened – were learning experiences for Courtney, who now draws upon those earlier shows for her Tony-nominated performance as the star and title character of & Juliet. The musical, which features songs written by hit-maker Max Martin, has become one of Broadway’s most successful crowd-pleasers, routinely pulling in weekly grosses well in excess of $1 million and filling seats at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre.
Deadline spoke this week to Courtney as she gears up for Sunday’s Tony Awards. She’d just taped an appearance for The View and seemed to be operating on a combination of excitement, pride and maybe a jitter or two. She spoke of & Juliet, the Tonys, West Side Story, and the responsibilities and joys of leading a Broadway production night after night.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Lorna Courtney, ‘& Juliet’ (Credit: Matthew Murphy)
Deadline: So, congratulations. What has this week been like for you?
Lorna Courtney: This week has been challenging in the best ways and also tiring in the best ways. Today I got up at 4:30 and performed on The View, and I met Whoopi Goldberg.
Deadline: Is it just the crazed schedule that’s challenging or are there other things weighing on you?
Courtney: Because this is my first lead role I didn’t know what to expect. I knew what it took to be a leader, but I didn’t know all of the expectations and all of the press things. It’s more than just doing the eight shows a week, and that I didn’t know, and I didn’t know how it would affect my body. First and foremost, I want to be as healthy as possible so I can do my job every night.
Deadline: I thought you were going to say “First and foremost I want to sleep.”
Courtney: Well, that too.
Deadline: You said you know how to be a leader. But I’m wondering how you learned that. This is your first lead role on Broadway.
Courtney: I like to think it’s because I take everyone into consideration and have everyone’s thoughts in my mind, that way I don’t not include anyone’s voice, by making sure everyone is heard, their concerns even if it’s like something in their personal life, I’ll talk to them and I’ll check in with them. I also like to bring a positive attitude to work, an uplifting one because we’re all tired these past couple of weeks. If one of us or some of us can at a ten while others are maybe at a a six or a seven, then it balances everything out.
Deadline: You were working at an Equinox Health Club when you got the news that you’d been cast in & Juliet. What a ride this must have been. How do you think coming so far so quickly impacts your performance as a leader?
Courtney: I think that because of all this great press and publicity that there are certain expectations of excellence, right? Well, this is live theater. Anything can happen, particularly with my character. The reason I love my character so much – and she’s a lot like me – is that she learns there is no such thing as perfection and it’s in the imperfections that we find grace and that we learn and that we grow as human beings. That’s what I love about my job, knowing that I don’t have to carry all of the burden because it’s really not about me. It really does take every single person in our production to make this show happen every night, and every single person was specifically picked for a reason that’s so individual, even in the way that they move. We don’t all move the same.
Deadline: Let’s talk about the Max Martin songs. Did knowing these hits beforehand give you any trepidation in performing them?
Courtney: I think initially the thought came into my head that, oh my gosh, these are songs that everyone knows and everyone knows so well. There is a bit of fear associated with that if you think of it as doing a cover version, but we are not doing covers of the songs. We’re actually storytelling using the lyrics, and even though a lot of the songs are recognizable, I think because of the new orchestrations they’re a bit different than what people expect. So you might not realize what the song is until certain lyrics come up, and then some people chuckle or giggle or laugh because they’re like, Oh! I know this song. Then they really listen because they’re hearing the words in a completely different way. And that’s how I approached them as an actor. Who am I talking to with this song, what am I trying to say? And that’s how I was able to disassociate them from the fact that they’re so famous. And it works.
Deadline: So there wasn’t the pressure of thinking, Ok, I’ve got to sound like Britney Spears here.
Courtney: I could try and sound like Britney Spears if we were doing that type of, like, impersonation, you know, that type of musical, but we’re not, and there’s so much freedom in that. Not once did Max say to me, ‘You need to sound this way.’ Maybe he gave me a little, like, ‘Oh you can scoop up on this part,’ but I think that’s why they chose me – they liked all of the musical experience and background that Lorna has, which comes from gospel music, jazz, R&b, pop, and studying opera in high school and musical theater in college.
Deadline: Yes, I suppose the songs have to be recognizable for the show but at the same time you have to bring yourself to them, or what’s the point?
Courtney: Exactly.
Deadline: Speaking of bringing yourself, let’s talk about the shows you did before & Juliet. What did you learn from Dear Evan Hansen and West Side Story. Especially West Side Story, which I think was a really interesting production that should have lasted longer.
Courtney: With Dear Evan Hansen, I went into that show a week after I graduated from U Mich and I was thrown into a show that had already been set, a show that was a commercial success. The direction was very specific and particular because they knew what worked and what didn’t. So there was some room for creativity but not much. But I will say that working with a smaller cast was really amazing and you become like family, which I love.
And then on the flip side of that, there was West Side Story, a revival. We all know West Side Story, but that version completely turned everything on its head and really looked at it with a different lens, literally because they integrated film into the musical and that was the first time that I’ve ever experienced having mixed media with theater. I thought it was beautiful. I mean, it took all of the elements of why we love film, the close-ups and the things that we normally wouldn’t be able to see sitting in a large Broadway theater.
And the dance was all new choreography, and the fight scenes looked like actual fight scenes because they weren’t doing ballet. They had knives. So it was dark, but it was human, and it was beautiful. We had two months of rehearsals figuring out what to do and creating a show as if it was a workshop, but we were going to Broadway. The cast was huge, and the orchestra was huge, and it was an amazing experience.
But Mia [Pinero] – the other understudy for the role of Maria – and I were put in an uncomfortable position. I didn’t even have a dance call for the show and I was thrown in as a dancer. It was completely new to me. I had no clue what style of dance [choreographer] Anne Teresa creates, and I didn’t know how to move my body like that, so it was very challenging. I think in the end it helped push me into expanding beyond what I think I can’t do, if that makes sense.
Courtney (Credit: Matthew Murphy)
Deadline: What you think you can’t do that maybe you actually can.
Courtney: Exactly. Exactly. I can do it. And with this show, & Juliet, I mean, it is pretty impossible to do eight times a week. It’s very, very hard. Physically and of course vocally, it’s very challenging. The way I’m able to do it is when I’m not on stage I spend time working on my body and working with [movement consultant] Marcia Polas, who does craniosacral therapy and myofascial release techniques, and with Matt Farnsworth, our voice consultant for this show, to ensure that I’m keeping myself as healthy as possible. I haven’t had an injury. Yay!
Deadline: That’s really good to hear. People who are do eight shows a week, injuries are pretty common.
Courtney: After the show I get home as quickly as I can. I run a bath with Epsom salt. Heat up my prepared meals from CookUnity, and to save time I eat in the tub. Then after that I get on the ground and use different Pilates balls to release tension and reset my spine before I go to bed. Sometimes I’ll put on magnesium lotion and arnica gel. Cool down vocally. And then do it all again the next day.
Deadline: What’s the day like before you go into the show?
Courtney: It changes every day but as of late I haven’t had a day off really for the past month. Today is a Monday and I’m working. I’m doing performances whether it’s singing or interviews, which I’m happy and I’m blessed to do. I’m so blessed that this show is what it is and that people react to it the way that they do. The crowd goes wild, they absolutely love it, and they have the best time and they come back. They often message me or I’ll see them at the stage door and they’ll tell me, especially little girls, that they look up to me and are inspired. I’ll see them in the audience and that’s all that I want to do, to be there for them. I want them to be able to see themselves on stage and to see themselves as a lead and as a person of color who’s a lead.
Melanie La Barrie and Courtney (Credit: Matthew Murphy)
Deadline: And Juliet is, finally, a lead in her own story. She’s not the plus-one anymore.
Courtney: And she let’s girls see that there is no such thing as perfection. As Mel [Melanie La Barrie, who plays Juliet’s nurse] sings, ‘You’re f’ing perfect to me.” It’s okay to make mistakes and it’s okay to pick yourself up and to try again. Juliet realizes that she loves herself, and that maybe the people who you think you should love the most, when they’re not there for you, it’s okay. You have your friends. You have the people in your life that are not your biological family but are family to you. She gives so much of her heart and supports everyone in the show, and by the end when she needs the support everyone comes to her, and she’s able to rise up on that platform and sing.
Deadline: One more question then I’ll let you go. The Tonys are this Sunday. What do you plan to do that day?
Courtney: You know, I don’t even have a dress yet, I really don’t. But I’m not worried about it. I’m hopeful everything will come together. I’m taking it as an opportunity to celebrate Broadway, to celebrate my peers, and I’m really glad that it’ll be happening and that it’s happening at the United Palace theater, such a historic theater, such a beautiful venue and space. And I will be performing at the Tony Awards! Like, I could cry. I will actually be performing on the Tony Awards, and that in and of itself is it for me. I’m so glad that I’m doing it with this show and with this cast. And then we’ll just see how the rest of the night goes.
Both shows, but particularly the short-lived 2020 West Side Story – which closed due to the Covid pandemic shutdown and never re-opened – were learning experiences for Courtney, who now draws upon those earlier shows for her Tony-nominated performance as the star and title character of & Juliet. The musical, which features songs written by hit-maker Max Martin, has become one of Broadway’s most successful crowd-pleasers, routinely pulling in weekly grosses well in excess of $1 million and filling seats at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre.
Deadline spoke this week to Courtney as she gears up for Sunday’s Tony Awards. She’d just taped an appearance for The View and seemed to be operating on a combination of excitement, pride and maybe a jitter or two. She spoke of & Juliet, the Tonys, West Side Story, and the responsibilities and joys of leading a Broadway production night after night.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Lorna Courtney, ‘& Juliet’ (Credit: Matthew Murphy)
Deadline: So, congratulations. What has this week been like for you?
Lorna Courtney: This week has been challenging in the best ways and also tiring in the best ways. Today I got up at 4:30 and performed on The View, and I met Whoopi Goldberg.
Deadline: Is it just the crazed schedule that’s challenging or are there other things weighing on you?
Courtney: Because this is my first lead role I didn’t know what to expect. I knew what it took to be a leader, but I didn’t know all of the expectations and all of the press things. It’s more than just doing the eight shows a week, and that I didn’t know, and I didn’t know how it would affect my body. First and foremost, I want to be as healthy as possible so I can do my job every night.
Deadline: I thought you were going to say “First and foremost I want to sleep.”
Courtney: Well, that too.
Deadline: You said you know how to be a leader. But I’m wondering how you learned that. This is your first lead role on Broadway.
Courtney: I like to think it’s because I take everyone into consideration and have everyone’s thoughts in my mind, that way I don’t not include anyone’s voice, by making sure everyone is heard, their concerns even if it’s like something in their personal life, I’ll talk to them and I’ll check in with them. I also like to bring a positive attitude to work, an uplifting one because we’re all tired these past couple of weeks. If one of us or some of us can at a ten while others are maybe at a a six or a seven, then it balances everything out.
Deadline: You were working at an Equinox Health Club when you got the news that you’d been cast in & Juliet. What a ride this must have been. How do you think coming so far so quickly impacts your performance as a leader?
Courtney: I think that because of all this great press and publicity that there are certain expectations of excellence, right? Well, this is live theater. Anything can happen, particularly with my character. The reason I love my character so much – and she’s a lot like me – is that she learns there is no such thing as perfection and it’s in the imperfections that we find grace and that we learn and that we grow as human beings. That’s what I love about my job, knowing that I don’t have to carry all of the burden because it’s really not about me. It really does take every single person in our production to make this show happen every night, and every single person was specifically picked for a reason that’s so individual, even in the way that they move. We don’t all move the same.
Deadline: Let’s talk about the Max Martin songs. Did knowing these hits beforehand give you any trepidation in performing them?
Courtney: I think initially the thought came into my head that, oh my gosh, these are songs that everyone knows and everyone knows so well. There is a bit of fear associated with that if you think of it as doing a cover version, but we are not doing covers of the songs. We’re actually storytelling using the lyrics, and even though a lot of the songs are recognizable, I think because of the new orchestrations they’re a bit different than what people expect. So you might not realize what the song is until certain lyrics come up, and then some people chuckle or giggle or laugh because they’re like, Oh! I know this song. Then they really listen because they’re hearing the words in a completely different way. And that’s how I approached them as an actor. Who am I talking to with this song, what am I trying to say? And that’s how I was able to disassociate them from the fact that they’re so famous. And it works.
Deadline: So there wasn’t the pressure of thinking, Ok, I’ve got to sound like Britney Spears here.
Courtney: I could try and sound like Britney Spears if we were doing that type of, like, impersonation, you know, that type of musical, but we’re not, and there’s so much freedom in that. Not once did Max say to me, ‘You need to sound this way.’ Maybe he gave me a little, like, ‘Oh you can scoop up on this part,’ but I think that’s why they chose me – they liked all of the musical experience and background that Lorna has, which comes from gospel music, jazz, R&b, pop, and studying opera in high school and musical theater in college.
Deadline: Yes, I suppose the songs have to be recognizable for the show but at the same time you have to bring yourself to them, or what’s the point?
Courtney: Exactly.
Deadline: Speaking of bringing yourself, let’s talk about the shows you did before & Juliet. What did you learn from Dear Evan Hansen and West Side Story. Especially West Side Story, which I think was a really interesting production that should have lasted longer.
Courtney: With Dear Evan Hansen, I went into that show a week after I graduated from U Mich and I was thrown into a show that had already been set, a show that was a commercial success. The direction was very specific and particular because they knew what worked and what didn’t. So there was some room for creativity but not much. But I will say that working with a smaller cast was really amazing and you become like family, which I love.
And then on the flip side of that, there was West Side Story, a revival. We all know West Side Story, but that version completely turned everything on its head and really looked at it with a different lens, literally because they integrated film into the musical and that was the first time that I’ve ever experienced having mixed media with theater. I thought it was beautiful. I mean, it took all of the elements of why we love film, the close-ups and the things that we normally wouldn’t be able to see sitting in a large Broadway theater.
And the dance was all new choreography, and the fight scenes looked like actual fight scenes because they weren’t doing ballet. They had knives. So it was dark, but it was human, and it was beautiful. We had two months of rehearsals figuring out what to do and creating a show as if it was a workshop, but we were going to Broadway. The cast was huge, and the orchestra was huge, and it was an amazing experience.
But Mia [Pinero] – the other understudy for the role of Maria – and I were put in an uncomfortable position. I didn’t even have a dance call for the show and I was thrown in as a dancer. It was completely new to me. I had no clue what style of dance [choreographer] Anne Teresa creates, and I didn’t know how to move my body like that, so it was very challenging. I think in the end it helped push me into expanding beyond what I think I can’t do, if that makes sense.
Courtney (Credit: Matthew Murphy)
Deadline: What you think you can’t do that maybe you actually can.
Courtney: Exactly. Exactly. I can do it. And with this show, & Juliet, I mean, it is pretty impossible to do eight times a week. It’s very, very hard. Physically and of course vocally, it’s very challenging. The way I’m able to do it is when I’m not on stage I spend time working on my body and working with [movement consultant] Marcia Polas, who does craniosacral therapy and myofascial release techniques, and with Matt Farnsworth, our voice consultant for this show, to ensure that I’m keeping myself as healthy as possible. I haven’t had an injury. Yay!
Deadline: That’s really good to hear. People who are do eight shows a week, injuries are pretty common.
Courtney: After the show I get home as quickly as I can. I run a bath with Epsom salt. Heat up my prepared meals from CookUnity, and to save time I eat in the tub. Then after that I get on the ground and use different Pilates balls to release tension and reset my spine before I go to bed. Sometimes I’ll put on magnesium lotion and arnica gel. Cool down vocally. And then do it all again the next day.
Deadline: What’s the day like before you go into the show?
Courtney: It changes every day but as of late I haven’t had a day off really for the past month. Today is a Monday and I’m working. I’m doing performances whether it’s singing or interviews, which I’m happy and I’m blessed to do. I’m so blessed that this show is what it is and that people react to it the way that they do. The crowd goes wild, they absolutely love it, and they have the best time and they come back. They often message me or I’ll see them at the stage door and they’ll tell me, especially little girls, that they look up to me and are inspired. I’ll see them in the audience and that’s all that I want to do, to be there for them. I want them to be able to see themselves on stage and to see themselves as a lead and as a person of color who’s a lead.
Melanie La Barrie and Courtney (Credit: Matthew Murphy)
Deadline: And Juliet is, finally, a lead in her own story. She’s not the plus-one anymore.
Courtney: And she let’s girls see that there is no such thing as perfection. As Mel [Melanie La Barrie, who plays Juliet’s nurse] sings, ‘You’re f’ing perfect to me.” It’s okay to make mistakes and it’s okay to pick yourself up and to try again. Juliet realizes that she loves herself, and that maybe the people who you think you should love the most, when they’re not there for you, it’s okay. You have your friends. You have the people in your life that are not your biological family but are family to you. She gives so much of her heart and supports everyone in the show, and by the end when she needs the support everyone comes to her, and she’s able to rise up on that platform and sing.
Deadline: One more question then I’ll let you go. The Tonys are this Sunday. What do you plan to do that day?
Courtney: You know, I don’t even have a dress yet, I really don’t. But I’m not worried about it. I’m hopeful everything will come together. I’m taking it as an opportunity to celebrate Broadway, to celebrate my peers, and I’m really glad that it’ll be happening and that it’s happening at the United Palace theater, such a historic theater, such a beautiful venue and space. And I will be performing at the Tony Awards! Like, I could cry. I will actually be performing on the Tony Awards, and that in and of itself is it for me. I’m so glad that I’m doing it with this show and with this cast. And then we’ll just see how the rest of the night goes.
- 6/7/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
One can almost set their watch to film adaptations of J.M. Barrie's celebrated 1904 play "Peter and Wendy."
The story of the flying elf boy from Neverland and his friendship with a human girl from Earth was such a massive success and left such a strong cultural impact, that sequels and cross-media adaptations began cropping up only a few years after its debut. Barrie himself would turn the play into a novel in 1911, but that wasn't before he had already written two Peter Pan sequels in 1906 and 1908. The first filmed version of "Peter Pan" would be made by Herbert Brenon in 1924.
Perhaps the best-known adaptation, however, came to cinemas in 1953 when Walt Disney Studios released their animated version directed by Hamilton Luske, Clyde Geronimi, and Wilfred Jackson. The iconography from the Disney "Peter Pan" remains entrenched most firmly in the pop consciousness, and it continues to be one of the...
The story of the flying elf boy from Neverland and his friendship with a human girl from Earth was such a massive success and left such a strong cultural impact, that sequels and cross-media adaptations began cropping up only a few years after its debut. Barrie himself would turn the play into a novel in 1911, but that wasn't before he had already written two Peter Pan sequels in 1906 and 1908. The first filmed version of "Peter Pan" would be made by Herbert Brenon in 1924.
Perhaps the best-known adaptation, however, came to cinemas in 1953 when Walt Disney Studios released their animated version directed by Hamilton Luske, Clyde Geronimi, and Wilfred Jackson. The iconography from the Disney "Peter Pan" remains entrenched most firmly in the pop consciousness, and it continues to be one of the...
- 4/24/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
No shenanigans as Academy went with experience and expertise.
In urgent need of a credibility reset after last year’s shenanigans the 95th Academy Awards delivered a reassuringly conventional, star-laden show that harkened back to days gone by yet at its heart seemed to offer a glimpse of generational shift.
Wisely, the Academy had opted for safe pairs of hands in executive producers Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss show host Jimmy Kimmel, who made a grand entrance as he was lowered onto the stage in a harness and parachute after a video clip riff on Top Gun: Maverick showed him...
In urgent need of a credibility reset after last year’s shenanigans the 95th Academy Awards delivered a reassuringly conventional, star-laden show that harkened back to days gone by yet at its heart seemed to offer a glimpse of generational shift.
Wisely, the Academy had opted for safe pairs of hands in executive producers Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss show host Jimmy Kimmel, who made a grand entrance as he was lowered onto the stage in a harness and parachute after a video clip riff on Top Gun: Maverick showed him...
- 3/14/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Go figure: The ugliest Oscars ceremony ever was followed a year later by perhaps the warmest celebration ever.
The 95th edition — which was held Sunday night, at a perilous moment for the motion picture industry and the Academy, the latter now under the new management team of CEO Bill Kramer and President Janet Yang — was dominated by Everything Everywhere All at Once, a film that certainly isn’t for everyone, but apparently is for enough of the 10,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to prevail over formidable competition on the preferential (read: weighted/ranked-choice) ballot that the organization uses to determine its best picture.
This film from the warped minds of the Daniels — as in, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, colorful characters who were previously best known for “the farting corpse movie,” 2016’s Swiss Army Man — was made by a diverse and lovable company of artists...
The 95th edition — which was held Sunday night, at a perilous moment for the motion picture industry and the Academy, the latter now under the new management team of CEO Bill Kramer and President Janet Yang — was dominated by Everything Everywhere All at Once, a film that certainly isn’t for everyone, but apparently is for enough of the 10,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to prevail over formidable competition on the preferential (read: weighted/ranked-choice) ballot that the organization uses to determine its best picture.
This film from the warped minds of the Daniels — as in, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, colorful characters who were previously best known for “the farting corpse movie,” 2016’s Swiss Army Man — was made by a diverse and lovable company of artists...
- 3/13/2023
- by Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Thanks to the auteur theory, as advanced by upstart French theorists at the influential film journal Cahiers du Cinéma in the '50s and '60s, we've fallen into the habit of viewing movies as the work of a singular artist. Of course, this theory is sound when we're discussing the work of Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford, and Ingmar Bergman -- they had an identifiable visual style and revisited the same themes from film to film. The same applies to Boomer directors like Brian De Palma, Steven Spielberg, and Martin Scorsese, or modern masters like Quentin Tarantino, Kelly Reichardt, and Spike Lee.
On the set of a film, the director is head honcho, and the Directors Guild of America has fought hard to make sure the moviegoing public understands this. The director is the final name in the opening credits and gets a prominent placement on the poster. Sometimes, if they so choose,...
On the set of a film, the director is head honcho, and the Directors Guild of America has fought hard to make sure the moviegoing public understands this. The director is the final name in the opening credits and gets a prominent placement on the poster. Sometimes, if they so choose,...
- 3/13/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert won the best directing award at the 2023 Oscars for their film Everything Everywhere All at Once, and after dedicating the Academy Award to “all the mommies in the world,” Scheinert made a statement seemingly addressing the anti-drag and anti-lgbtq laws sweeping Tennessee.
“This one is dedicated to the mommies of the world, to our moms, specifically my mom and dad, thank you for not squashing my creativity when I was making really disturbing horror films or really perverted comedy films or dressing in drag as a kid, which is a threat to nobody!” Scheinert said to cheers from the audience.
The director’s comments come after Tennessee recently passed two controversial anti-lgbtq laws — one that restricts gender-affirming care for minors and another law that restricts drag queens from performing in public places. Several other Hollywood figures have taken to social media in recent days in protest.
“This one is dedicated to the mommies of the world, to our moms, specifically my mom and dad, thank you for not squashing my creativity when I was making really disturbing horror films or really perverted comedy films or dressing in drag as a kid, which is a threat to nobody!” Scheinert said to cheers from the audience.
The director’s comments come after Tennessee recently passed two controversial anti-lgbtq laws — one that restricts gender-affirming care for minors and another law that restricts drag queens from performing in public places. Several other Hollywood figures have taken to social media in recent days in protest.
- 3/13/2023
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once won best picture at the 2023 Oscars on Sunday night, one of seven Academy Awards it received — including prizes for its direction, original screenplay, editing and performances from actors Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis.
The film’s star Michelle Yeoh won the Oscar for best actress, becoming the first Asian woman and only second woman of color after Halle Berry — who won for Monster’s Ball in 2002 and presented the award to Yeoh with last year’s winner Jessica Chastain — to win the award.
“Thank you all the little boys and girls look like me watching tonight,” said Yeoh. “This is a beacon of hope and possibilities. This is proof that dreams to come true. And ladies, don’t let anybody tell you [that] you are ever passed your prime.”
Brendan Fraser won best actor for another A24 film, The Whale. His...
The film’s star Michelle Yeoh won the Oscar for best actress, becoming the first Asian woman and only second woman of color after Halle Berry — who won for Monster’s Ball in 2002 and presented the award to Yeoh with last year’s winner Jessica Chastain — to win the award.
“Thank you all the little boys and girls look like me watching tonight,” said Yeoh. “This is a beacon of hope and possibilities. This is proof that dreams to come true. And ladies, don’t let anybody tell you [that] you are ever passed your prime.”
Brendan Fraser won best actor for another A24 film, The Whale. His...
- 3/13/2023
- by Tyler Coates
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“We’ve come a long way that two men can share an Oscar,” joked Academy Awards host Jimmy Kimmel after a commercial break Sunday following Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s win for Best Director for A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Related Story Oscars: ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ Takes Best Picture & Six Others – Full Winners List Related Story 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' Completes Awards Season Sweep With Oscars Best Picture Win Related Story 'Everything Everywhere All At Once': SXSW's First World Premiere To Win Oscar's Best Picture
The duo become the third directing pair to take home the Oscar for Best Director after Joel and Ethan Coen for 2008’s No Country for Old Men and Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise in 1962 for West Side Story. The Daniels also won Best Original Screenplay earlier tonight. Overall, Everything Everywhere All at Once counted seven Oscar wins,...
Related Story Oscars: ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ Takes Best Picture & Six Others – Full Winners List Related Story 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' Completes Awards Season Sweep With Oscars Best Picture Win Related Story 'Everything Everywhere All At Once': SXSW's First World Premiere To Win Oscar's Best Picture
The duo become the third directing pair to take home the Oscar for Best Director after Joel and Ethan Coen for 2008’s No Country for Old Men and Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise in 1962 for West Side Story. The Daniels also won Best Original Screenplay earlier tonight. Overall, Everything Everywhere All at Once counted seven Oscar wins,...
- 3/13/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Everything Everywhere All At Once co-director Daniel Scheinert took a shot at the anti-drag bills being pushed by conservative lawmakers around the country while accepting the Oscar for Best Director on Sunday night.
During his speech, Scheinert thanked his parents for “not squashing when I was making really disturbing horror films, or really perverted comedy films, or dressing in drag as a kid — which is a threat to nobody.”
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (The Daniels) accept the #Oscar for Best Director for #EverythingEverywhereAllAtOnce. https://t.co/ndiKiHeOT5 pic.twitter.
During his speech, Scheinert thanked his parents for “not squashing when I was making really disturbing horror films, or really perverted comedy films, or dressing in drag as a kid — which is a threat to nobody.”
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (The Daniels) accept the #Oscar for Best Director for #EverythingEverywhereAllAtOnce. https://t.co/ndiKiHeOT5 pic.twitter.
- 3/13/2023
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Updated with complete list of winners: A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once won Best Picture tonight at the 95th annual Oscars.
The Daniels — Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert — also won the Best Director and Original Screenplay Oscars for Everything Everywhere All at Once, which topped all films with seven trophies after coming into the ceremony with a leading 11 nominations. They are only the third duo to win Best Director, following Joel and Ethan Coen for 2008’s No Country for Old Men and Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise in 1962 for West Side Story.
Related: Best Picture Oscar Winners Through The Years – Photo Gallery
Everything Everywhere’s Oscar haul comes after it pulled off a clean sweep of the four biggest guild awards: PGA, DGA, SAG and WGA. It also had major wins at the Critics’ Choice Awards, Golden Globes and Spirit Awards.
Netflix’s All Quiet on the Western Front took home four Oscars,...
The Daniels — Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert — also won the Best Director and Original Screenplay Oscars for Everything Everywhere All at Once, which topped all films with seven trophies after coming into the ceremony with a leading 11 nominations. They are only the third duo to win Best Director, following Joel and Ethan Coen for 2008’s No Country for Old Men and Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise in 1962 for West Side Story.
Related: Best Picture Oscar Winners Through The Years – Photo Gallery
Everything Everywhere’s Oscar haul comes after it pulled off a clean sweep of the four biggest guild awards: PGA, DGA, SAG and WGA. It also had major wins at the Critics’ Choice Awards, Golden Globes and Spirit Awards.
Netflix’s All Quiet on the Western Front took home four Oscars,...
- 3/13/2023
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Capping off a season of accolades, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert were honored with the Academy Award for Directing at the 95th Oscars. Better known as The Daniels, the duo won for just their second feature film, “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” They also became just the third pair to win the award after Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise (“West Side Story”) and Joel and Ethan Coen (“No Country For Old Men”).
Continue reading The Daniels Become Just The Third Duo To Win Best Director Oscar at The Playlist.
Continue reading The Daniels Become Just The Third Duo To Win Best Director Oscar at The Playlist.
- 3/13/2023
- by Gregory Ellwood
- The Playlist
As if watching their film “Everything Everywhere All at Once” rake in the accolades at the Academy Awards wasn’t gratifying enough, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (a.k.a. the Daniels) also entered the history books as the third directing duo in history to win Best Director.
The Daniels’ nomination was the fourth time a team of two had been up for the prize, with previous nominations going to Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise for 1961’s “West Side Story,” Buck Henry and Warren Beatty for 1978’s “Heaven Can Wait” and Ethan and Joel Coen 2007’s “No Country for Old Men.”
Also Read:
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ Directors Daniels Spice Up Colbert’s ‘Late Show’ Opening Credits (Video)
With the Daniels’ win, directing duos have gone three for four at the Academy Awards, suggesting that, once nominated, the Academy has little problem seeing directing as a team sport.
The...
The Daniels’ nomination was the fourth time a team of two had been up for the prize, with previous nominations going to Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise for 1961’s “West Side Story,” Buck Henry and Warren Beatty for 1978’s “Heaven Can Wait” and Ethan and Joel Coen 2007’s “No Country for Old Men.”
Also Read:
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ Directors Daniels Spice Up Colbert’s ‘Late Show’ Opening Credits (Video)
With the Daniels’ win, directing duos have gone three for four at the Academy Awards, suggesting that, once nominated, the Academy has little problem seeing directing as a team sport.
The...
- 3/13/2023
- by Libby Hill
- The Wrap
The Academy clearly believes Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert are everything, everywhere. The directing team (popularly known as the Daniels) won the Best Director Oscar at the 95th Academy Award ceremony for their work on Best Picture nominee “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” The duo took to the stage at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre on Sunday night to celebrate the win.
Kwan and Scheinert beat out plenty of other acclaimed filmmakers to claim the trophy, including Todd Field for his comeback film “Tár,” Irish director Martin McDonagh for “The Banshees of Inisherin,” two-time Palme d’Or honoree Ruben Östlund for “Triangle of Sadness,” and two-time Best Director winner Steven Spielberg for his semi-autobiographical feature “The Fabelmans.”
With the win, Kwan and Scheinert have become the third directing duo in Oscar history to win the Best Director prize, following in the footsteps of Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise for “West Side Story...
Kwan and Scheinert beat out plenty of other acclaimed filmmakers to claim the trophy, including Todd Field for his comeback film “Tár,” Irish director Martin McDonagh for “The Banshees of Inisherin,” two-time Palme d’Or honoree Ruben Östlund for “Triangle of Sadness,” and two-time Best Director winner Steven Spielberg for his semi-autobiographical feature “The Fabelmans.”
With the win, Kwan and Scheinert have become the third directing duo in Oscar history to win the Best Director prize, following in the footsteps of Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise for “West Side Story...
- 3/13/2023
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
The 2023 Oscar nominees for Best Director are Todd Field (“Tar”), Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”), Martin McDonagh (“The Banshees of Inisherin”), Ruben Östlund (“Triangle of Sadness”), and Steven Spielberg (“The Fabelmans”). Our odds currently show that Kwan and Scheinert – aka the Daniels – are most likely to win (16/5), followed in order by Spielberg (19/5), McDonagh (9/2), Field (9/2), and Östlund (9/2).
Spielberg is the only returning directing contender in the bunch, with eight past bids under his belt for “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1978), “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1982), “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” (1983), “Schindler’s List” (1994), “Saving Private Ryan” (1999), “Munich” (2006), “Lincoln” (2013), and “West Side Story” (2022). He prevailed on both his fourth and fifth outings and shared in a Best Picture win as a producer of “Schindler’s List.” This new notice makes him the first back-to-back directing nominee since 2015 and 2016 champion Alejandro González Iñárritu (“Birdman” and “The Revenant”).
For the first time in Oscars history,...
Spielberg is the only returning directing contender in the bunch, with eight past bids under his belt for “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1978), “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1982), “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” (1983), “Schindler’s List” (1994), “Saving Private Ryan” (1999), “Munich” (2006), “Lincoln” (2013), and “West Side Story” (2022). He prevailed on both his fourth and fifth outings and shared in a Best Picture win as a producer of “Schindler’s List.” This new notice makes him the first back-to-back directing nominee since 2015 and 2016 champion Alejandro González Iñárritu (“Birdman” and “The Revenant”).
For the first time in Oscars history,...
- 3/10/2023
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
Thirteen years into their filmmaking partnership and seven years after making their feature debut with the Sundance Film Festival Award-winning “Swiss Army Man,” Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert are now Oscar nominees thanks to their hit sophomore film, “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” The sci-fi comedy leads the pack this year in terms of Oscar bids, with a total of 11 including three for the Daniels’ writing, directing and producing work. If the duo are honored in Best Director, it would make for the third such instance in the category’s history, following the victories of Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise and Ethan Coen and Joel Coen.
The Daniels’ challengers in this directing contest are Todd Field (“Tar”), Martin McDonagh (“The Banshees of Inisherin”), Ruben Ostlund (“Triangle of Sadness”) and Steven Spielberg (“The Fabelmans”). Ostlund is the only other general first-time Oscar nominee in the group, while Spielberg is the only returning directing contender,...
The Daniels’ challengers in this directing contest are Todd Field (“Tar”), Martin McDonagh (“The Banshees of Inisherin”), Ruben Ostlund (“Triangle of Sadness”) and Steven Spielberg (“The Fabelmans”). Ostlund is the only other general first-time Oscar nominee in the group, while Spielberg is the only returning directing contender,...
- 3/10/2023
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
Chaim Topol, the spirited Israeli actor and singer who, one season following another, portrayed Tevye the milkman in Fiddler on the Roof on stages all around the world and in an Oscar-nominated turn in Norman Jewison’s 1971 film adaptation, has died. He was 87.
Topol died Thursday in Tel Aviv after a long illness, his rep, Jean Diamond, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Israel’s first international movie star, Topol also played famed Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei in Galileo (1975); an American scientist, Dr. Hans Zarkov, in the cult sci-fi classic Flash Gordon (1980); and Milos Columbo, a Greek smuggler and ally of Roger Moore’s James Bond, in For Your Eyes Only (1981).
As Polish family man Berel Jastrow, he was central to the plot of two acclaimed 1980s ABC miniseries, The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, both based on Herman Wouk novels.
In a pairing that a matchmaker would surely appreciate,...
Topol died Thursday in Tel Aviv after a long illness, his rep, Jean Diamond, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Israel’s first international movie star, Topol also played famed Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei in Galileo (1975); an American scientist, Dr. Hans Zarkov, in the cult sci-fi classic Flash Gordon (1980); and Milos Columbo, a Greek smuggler and ally of Roger Moore’s James Bond, in For Your Eyes Only (1981).
As Polish family man Berel Jastrow, he was central to the plot of two acclaimed 1980s ABC miniseries, The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, both based on Herman Wouk novels.
In a pairing that a matchmaker would surely appreciate,...
- 3/9/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
When it comes to silver screen fame, acting is king. Onscreen talent gets the most publicity time on talk shows. They garner the most headlines. They draw the highest number of flashbulbs on the red carpet. And outside of best picture, the categories I’m most often asked about are the four that honor acting.
In my first 11 years of using only math to predict the Oscars, my answer to that question was straightforward in at least one of the four acting categories: Every single year, at least one person swept the Screen Actors Guild, BAFTA, Golden Globes and Critics Choice honors in an acting category, making my job a lot easier. But not this year. For the first time since 2002, no individual completed that sweep, meaning we’ve got ourselves the most exciting set of acting races in decades.
The mathematical predictions that follow weight historical data based on...
In my first 11 years of using only math to predict the Oscars, my answer to that question was straightforward in at least one of the four acting categories: Every single year, at least one person swept the Screen Actors Guild, BAFTA, Golden Globes and Critics Choice honors in an acting category, making my job a lot easier. But not this year. For the first time since 2002, no individual completed that sweep, meaning we’ve got ourselves the most exciting set of acting races in decades.
The mathematical predictions that follow weight historical data based on...
- 3/7/2023
- by Ben Zauzmer
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Walter Mirisch, former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and Oscar-winning producer for In the Heat of the Night, died Friday in Los Angeles of natural causes. was 101. He had been the longest-living Oscar winner.
Mirisch — whose producing credits stretch to the 1940s and also include West Side Story, The Apartment and the 1960 and 2016 versions of The Magnificent Seven — also won a pair of Honorary Oscars: Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1978 and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1983. He also received the Producer Guild of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Motion Pictures in 1996.
Related Story Happy Birthday, Walter Mirisch: Oldest Living Oscar Winner Turns 100; His Films Include ‘West Side Story’, ‘The Apartment’ & ‘In The Heat Of The Night’ Related Story Oscars: Sofia Carson & Diane Warren To Perform 'Applause' During Ceremony Related Story Tom Whitlock Dies: Oscar-Winning Co-Writer Of 'Top Gun' Hits 'Take...
Mirisch — whose producing credits stretch to the 1940s and also include West Side Story, The Apartment and the 1960 and 2016 versions of The Magnificent Seven — also won a pair of Honorary Oscars: Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1978 and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1983. He also received the Producer Guild of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Motion Pictures in 1996.
Related Story Happy Birthday, Walter Mirisch: Oldest Living Oscar Winner Turns 100; His Films Include ‘West Side Story’, ‘The Apartment’ & ‘In The Heat Of The Night’ Related Story Oscars: Sofia Carson & Diane Warren To Perform 'Applause' During Ceremony Related Story Tom Whitlock Dies: Oscar-Winning Co-Writer Of 'Top Gun' Hits 'Take...
- 2/26/2023
- by Armando Tinoco and Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages are Davis’ assessment of the current standings of the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any film or performance. Like any organization or body that votes, each individual category is fluid and subject to change. Predictions are updated every Thursday.
Last Updated: Feb. 23, 2023
2023 Oscars Predictions: Best Director Gabriel Labelle and Steven Spielberg on the set of “The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures)
Category Commentary: The DGA Awards, which has historically matched up best with the eventual winner of best director, chose the “Everything Everywhere All at Once” duo of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. They’re the third directing team to win in the DGA’s...
Last Updated: Feb. 23, 2023
2023 Oscars Predictions: Best Director Gabriel Labelle and Steven Spielberg on the set of “The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures)
Category Commentary: The DGA Awards, which has historically matched up best with the eventual winner of best director, chose the “Everything Everywhere All at Once” duo of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. They’re the third directing team to win in the DGA’s...
- 2/23/2023
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
A pair of Oscar bellwether ceremonies took place this weekend, heralding uncertainty and unpredictability to an awards season where no one agrees on what contenders will end up taking home Academy Awards.
The DGA Awards, which has historically matched up best with the eventual winner of best director, chose the “Everything Everywhere All at Once” duo of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. They’re the third directing team to win in the DGA’s 75-year history (after Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for “West Side Story” and Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for “No Country for Old Men”). Only eight DGA winners have failed to walk away with the Academy Award in the same season, with the last instance being Sam Mendes (“1917”), who won at DGA but lost to Bong Joon Ho (“Parasite”) at the 2020 Oscars.
But on Sunday, the BAFTA Awards swung the pendulum in the opposite direction,...
The DGA Awards, which has historically matched up best with the eventual winner of best director, chose the “Everything Everywhere All at Once” duo of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. They’re the third directing team to win in the DGA’s 75-year history (after Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for “West Side Story” and Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for “No Country for Old Men”). Only eight DGA winners have failed to walk away with the Academy Award in the same season, with the last instance being Sam Mendes (“1917”), who won at DGA but lost to Bong Joon Ho (“Parasite”) at the 2020 Oscars.
But on Sunday, the BAFTA Awards swung the pendulum in the opposite direction,...
- 2/20/2023
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert have been named the best theatrical-film directors of 2022 for “Everything Everywhere All at Once” by the Directors Guild of America, which presented its 75th annual DGA Awards on Saturday night in Beverly Hills.
The two directors, who go by the name The Daniels, won for the freewheeling film, topping Steven Spielberg for “The Fabelmans,” Martin McDonagh for “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Todd Field for “Tar” and Joseph Kosinski for “Top Gun: Maverick.” They are only the third directing team to win the DGA Award, after the Coen brothers for “No Country for Old Men” and Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for “West Side Story.”
Spielberg, who is both the most-nominated and winningest film director in DGA history with 13 nominations and three wins, was the sentimental favorite going into the show, but “Everything Everywhere” has proven to be a surprisingly potent awards contender. The DGA win...
The two directors, who go by the name The Daniels, won for the freewheeling film, topping Steven Spielberg for “The Fabelmans,” Martin McDonagh for “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Todd Field for “Tar” and Joseph Kosinski for “Top Gun: Maverick.” They are only the third directing team to win the DGA Award, after the Coen brothers for “No Country for Old Men” and Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for “West Side Story.”
Spielberg, who is both the most-nominated and winningest film director in DGA history with 13 nominations and three wins, was the sentimental favorite going into the show, but “Everything Everywhere” has proven to be a surprisingly potent awards contender. The DGA win...
- 2/19/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
It’s old school versus new school for best director at the DGA Awards.
Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical “The Fabelmans” is the culmination of more than 50 years of moviemaking. Then there’s the visionary whimsy of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, the duo behind the sci-fi comedy “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” The veteran and the newcomers are the front-runners to win the top prize at the DGA ceremony, which take place on Feb. 18.
Which picture will prevail among the guild’s 19,000 members? One camp esteems a long and storied career; the other points to a cinematic future that will look different but be just as enjoyable.
The Daniels and Spielberg are joined in competition by three other dynamic directors — Todd Field (“Tár”), Joseph Kosinski (“Top Gun: Maverick”) and Martin McDonagh (“The Banshees of Inisherin”). But pending a stunning upset, the latter aren’t expected to be serious challengers.
With...
Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical “The Fabelmans” is the culmination of more than 50 years of moviemaking. Then there’s the visionary whimsy of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, the duo behind the sci-fi comedy “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” The veteran and the newcomers are the front-runners to win the top prize at the DGA ceremony, which take place on Feb. 18.
Which picture will prevail among the guild’s 19,000 members? One camp esteems a long and storied career; the other points to a cinematic future that will look different but be just as enjoyable.
The Daniels and Spielberg are joined in competition by three other dynamic directors — Todd Field (“Tár”), Joseph Kosinski (“Top Gun: Maverick”) and Martin McDonagh (“The Banshees of Inisherin”). But pending a stunning upset, the latter aren’t expected to be serious challengers.
With...
- 2/16/2023
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
The Innerview.In August 2021, when the contracts of Sheffield DocFest’s programming team were abruptly terminated following the departure of festival director Cíntia Gil, they published an open letter in Variety titled “What is a film festival even for?” This question–of what, or who, film festivals are for–hung in the air of the most recent International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), an event that has also struggled with its identity for many years, often trying to successfully encompass various competing objectives and visions. Over recent editions, this approach has created more significant issues. Having faced a declining operating budget, plus reduced income as a result of having to hold 2021 and 2022 editions online due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in May 2022 the festival announced a “restructure” which resulted in a 15 percent reduction of the staff headcount and saw a majority of the festival’s film programmers let go, with a new selection committee announced shortly after.
- 2/16/2023
- MUBI
There’s no “I” in “team,” but there is an “I” in “director.” Maybe that’s why the Oscar for Best Director is almost always a solo affair. Though filmmaking is a collaborative medium with contributions from hundreds of professionals from various fields and disciplines, there’s usually just one person sitting in the director’s chair and thus only one person stepping up to the Oscar podium to accept the trophy. But Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert could accept Best Director together for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
SEEHow to watch ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ online
This is only the fifth time that a directing duo has even been nominated at the Oscars. The first time was when Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins contended for “West Side Story” (1961). Then came Warren Beatty and Buck Henry for “Heaven Can Wait” (1978). Joel and Ethan Coen were nominated together for “No Country for Old Men...
SEEHow to watch ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ online
This is only the fifth time that a directing duo has even been nominated at the Oscars. The first time was when Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins contended for “West Side Story” (1961). Then came Warren Beatty and Buck Henry for “Heaven Can Wait” (1978). Joel and Ethan Coen were nominated together for “No Country for Old Men...
- 1/26/2023
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
Math may one day calculate the number of universes in the multiverse of Everything Everywhere All at Once, but it can’t comprehend how the relationship between a mother and daughter in just one of those universes can impact all the others. Math can measure the frames per second in a young Steven Spielberg’s camera, but it can’t inspire the budding filmmaker at the center of The Fabelmans. Math can tell us exactly when Maverick reaches Mach 10 in Top Gun: Maverick, but not when he achieves inner peace over past demons.
And so it is with the Oscars. Every year I publish mathematical Oscar predictions, starting with the nominee predictions found in this article, using all of this year’s awards season data and historical trends to calculate the probability that each contender hears their name called. Sometimes, my model’s favorites do well, like last year’s...
And so it is with the Oscars. Every year I publish mathematical Oscar predictions, starting with the nominee predictions found in this article, using all of this year’s awards season data and historical trends to calculate the probability that each contender hears their name called. Sometimes, my model’s favorites do well, like last year’s...
- 1/21/2023
- by Ben Zauzmer
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Steven Spielberg, Martin McDonagh, Todd Field, Joseph Kosinski and the team of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert have been nominated by the Directors Guild of America, which announced its nominees in the film categories for the 75th annual DGA Awards on Wednesday.
Spielberg was nominated for “The Fabelmans,” McDonagh for “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Field for “Tár,” Kosinski for “Top Gun: Maverick” and Kwan and Scheinert, who direct together under the name “The Daniels,” for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
It was the 13th DGA nomination for Spielberg, breaking his own record as the director with the most noms. Martin Scorsese is second with 10, and no other living director has more than five.
Kwan and Scheinert are the eighth directing team to be nominated for the top DGA award. The first was Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen for “Singin’ in the Rain” in 1952, followed by Melvin Frank and Norman Panama...
Spielberg was nominated for “The Fabelmans,” McDonagh for “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Field for “Tár,” Kosinski for “Top Gun: Maverick” and Kwan and Scheinert, who direct together under the name “The Daniels,” for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
It was the 13th DGA nomination for Spielberg, breaking his own record as the director with the most noms. Martin Scorsese is second with 10, and no other living director has more than five.
Kwan and Scheinert are the eighth directing team to be nominated for the top DGA award. The first was Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen for “Singin’ in the Rain” in 1952, followed by Melvin Frank and Norman Panama...
- 1/11/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Click here to read the full article.
Michael Callan, the actor and dancer who portrayed Riff in the original Broadway production of West Side Story before starring in such films as Gidget Goes Hawaiian, The Interns and Cat Ballou, has died. He was 86.
Callan died Monday night of pneumonia at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, his daughter Rebecca Goodman told The Hollywood Reporter.
A contract player at Columbia Pictures, Callan made about a dozen movies at the studio, starting with They Came to Cordura (1959), a Western starring Gary Cooper, Rita Hayworth, Van Heflin and Tab Hunter.
On the 1966-67 NBC comedy Occasional Wife, Callan starred as a confirmed bachelor who sets up a woman (Patricia Harty) in an upstairs apartment so she can pose as his wife in order to help him advance at the baby food company where he works. (His boss believes...
Michael Callan, the actor and dancer who portrayed Riff in the original Broadway production of West Side Story before starring in such films as Gidget Goes Hawaiian, The Interns and Cat Ballou, has died. He was 86.
Callan died Monday night of pneumonia at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, his daughter Rebecca Goodman told The Hollywood Reporter.
A contract player at Columbia Pictures, Callan made about a dozen movies at the studio, starting with They Came to Cordura (1959), a Western starring Gary Cooper, Rita Hayworth, Van Heflin and Tab Hunter.
On the 1966-67 NBC comedy Occasional Wife, Callan starred as a confirmed bachelor who sets up a woman (Patricia Harty) in an upstairs apartment so she can pose as his wife in order to help him advance at the baby food company where he works. (His boss believes...
- 10/11/2022
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
As a child, Christopher Wheeldon was a ballet and musical theater kid, like as not listening to Tchaikovsky while his brothers had Michael Jackson’s Thriller on the turntable. His idea of an afternoon’s art project was reimagining the Victorian toy theater his father had built him into a Starlight Express set for his little electric cars. “I was that kid,” he says with a laugh.
But by the time Jackson had moved on to Bad in 1987, Wheeldon was ready to follow. “When I finally went to ballet boarding school, the Bad album was, kind of, my album. Those were my teen years, and my friends and I obsessively watched the Bad video. As ballet students, I think probably we saw the link to West Side Story, and I was starting to learn about Jerome Robbins and who he was and what he meant to theater, and so at...
But by the time Jackson had moved on to Bad in 1987, Wheeldon was ready to follow. “When I finally went to ballet boarding school, the Bad album was, kind of, my album. Those were my teen years, and my friends and I obsessively watched the Bad video. As ballet students, I think probably we saw the link to West Side Story, and I was starting to learn about Jerome Robbins and who he was and what he meant to theater, and so at...
- 6/7/2022
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
“I looked at it as an homage to all of my favorites,” explains Christopher Gattelli of his work on “Schmigadoon!” The Tony-winning choreographer was a natural fit for the Apple TV+ series which spoofs Golden Age musicals in every episode. “This was one of my favorite eras. I grew up watching these films,” says Gattelli, “so much of it was in my DNA.” Watch the exclusive video interview above.
The musical series plops a struggling couple (Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key) into a fantastical, candy-colored town where all the citizens burst into song and dance. It was an opportunity for Gattelli to honor past musical theatre dance legends like Agnes de Mille, Jerome Robbins and Michael Kidd. The choreography is unique, not a simple recreation by any stretch, but Gattelli made sure to include certain moves that were linked to the past. Those moments are guaranteed to trigger an “emotional...
The musical series plops a struggling couple (Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key) into a fantastical, candy-colored town where all the citizens burst into song and dance. It was an opportunity for Gattelli to honor past musical theatre dance legends like Agnes de Mille, Jerome Robbins and Michael Kidd. The choreography is unique, not a simple recreation by any stretch, but Gattelli made sure to include certain moves that were linked to the past. Those moments are guaranteed to trigger an “emotional...
- 5/8/2022
- by Sam Eckmann
- Gold Derby
A new iteration of “West Side Story” has arrived, courtesy of producer and director Steven Spielberg, who worked from a script by Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner (“Lincoln”). After earning critical raves and a spot atop the AFI Top 10 Films of the Year list in 2021, and a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Ariana DeBose, the film is an awards frontrunner with seven Oscar nominations and now it’s finally available to watch on streaming.
The film has been adapted for the screen from the original 1957 Broadway musical, which was written by Arthur Laurents with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and concept, direction and choreography by Jerome Robbins. Tony Award winner Justin Peck choreographs the musical numbers in the film. Tony Award-winning producer Kevin McCollum and Academy Award-nominated producer Kristie Macosko Krieger also led the production.
The film’s music team includes conductor Gustavo Dudamel...
The film has been adapted for the screen from the original 1957 Broadway musical, which was written by Arthur Laurents with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and concept, direction and choreography by Jerome Robbins. Tony Award winner Justin Peck choreographs the musical numbers in the film. Tony Award-winning producer Kevin McCollum and Academy Award-nominated producer Kristie Macosko Krieger also led the production.
The film’s music team includes conductor Gustavo Dudamel...
- 3/27/2022
- by Dessi Gomez
- The Wrap
From ‘Moon Knight’ to ‘Everything Everywhere,’ Director Duos Dazzle — and Draw DGA Scrutiny (Column)
Forget the Oscars. If you’re serious about staying on top of current cinema, you already realize this weekend’s big movie event is in theaters: “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” in which Michelle Yeoh plays a woman coming to terms with her life in multiple dimensions, marks the latest unclassifiable blend of anarchic poignance that Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert first unleashed with “Swiss Army Man.”
Daniels (they’d prefer we drop the “The”) are one of two filmmaking duos with new work out this week, as siblings Adam and Aaron Nee release their first studio effort “The Lost City” from Paramount. Some of the most beloved filmmakers working today include the Safdie brothers, the Russo brothers, and Phil Lord and Chris Miller; cineastes mourned at the Coen brothers’ breakup, but many have stepped up to fill the void. However, for the DGA, two is not better than one.
Daniels (they’d prefer we drop the “The”) are one of two filmmaking duos with new work out this week, as siblings Adam and Aaron Nee release their first studio effort “The Lost City” from Paramount. Some of the most beloved filmmakers working today include the Safdie brothers, the Russo brothers, and Phil Lord and Chris Miller; cineastes mourned at the Coen brothers’ breakup, but many have stepped up to fill the void. However, for the DGA, two is not better than one.
- 3/26/2022
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
When someone has just returned to this mortal plane after scaling Mt. Everest, it is perhaps premature to ask them which vast rock they would like to climb next. Yet that’s exactly what we feel obliged to do following news over the weekend that Steven Spielberg—Hollywood’s own veritable Edmund Hillary—is done with musicals after West Side Story.
The revelation came via Variety, which reported about Spielberg attending the PGA Awards Breakfast on Saturday. There, the director and producer had nothing but lovely things to say about his experience of adapting West Side Story to the screen. His efforts have resulted in the musical receiving some of the best reviews in Spielberg’s 21st century career, as well as netting him his eighth nomination for Best Director at the Academy Awards. Nevertheless, Spielberg took the opportunity to say that he was done directing musicals after his first...
The revelation came via Variety, which reported about Spielberg attending the PGA Awards Breakfast on Saturday. There, the director and producer had nothing but lovely things to say about his experience of adapting West Side Story to the screen. His efforts have resulted in the musical receiving some of the best reviews in Spielberg’s 21st century career, as well as netting him his eighth nomination for Best Director at the Academy Awards. Nevertheless, Spielberg took the opportunity to say that he was done directing musicals after his first...
- 3/21/2022
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
“Don’t Look Up” and “Coda” have won the top feature film awards from the Writers Guild of America, which held its annual WGA Awards on Sunday evening.
On the heels of its Producers Guild Award victory on Saturday, “Coda” kicked off the show by winning the first award of the night, for Best Adapted Screenplay. The category also included “Dune,” “Nightmare Alley,” “tick, tick…Boom!” and “West Side Story” — but two of the biggest challengers to “Coda” in the Oscar race for adapted screenplay, “The Power of the Dog” and “The Lost Daughter,” were not eligible for the award because of WGA regulations.
In the Best Original Screenplay category, “Don’t Look Up” scored a surprise victory over “Licorice Pizza,” which was favored to take the award, and “King Richard.” Two other Oscar nominees, “Belfast” and “The Worst Person in the World,” were ineligible.
Television awards included “Succession” and “Hacks” for drama and comedy series,...
On the heels of its Producers Guild Award victory on Saturday, “Coda” kicked off the show by winning the first award of the night, for Best Adapted Screenplay. The category also included “Dune,” “Nightmare Alley,” “tick, tick…Boom!” and “West Side Story” — but two of the biggest challengers to “Coda” in the Oscar race for adapted screenplay, “The Power of the Dog” and “The Lost Daughter,” were not eligible for the award because of WGA regulations.
In the Best Original Screenplay category, “Don’t Look Up” scored a surprise victory over “Licorice Pizza,” which was favored to take the award, and “King Richard.” Two other Oscar nominees, “Belfast” and “The Worst Person in the World,” were ineligible.
Television awards included “Succession” and “Hacks” for drama and comedy series,...
- 3/21/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
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