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Sunday, March 17, 2024
Review: "KONG: SKULL ISLAND" is a Monster Movie Paradise
Saturday, February 24, 2024
Review: "MEG 2: THE TRENCH" is Truly Megilicious
Saturday, February 10, 2024
Review: "GODZILLA" 2014 is Still Awesome
Thursday, January 11, 2024
Review: "SALTBURN" is not Salty, nor Does it Burn
Friday, December 29, 2023
"The Color Purple (Music from and Inspired by)" Soundtrack Album Has Arrived
Saturday, December 23, 2023
Negromancer News Bits and Bites from Dec. 17th to 23rd, 2023 - Update #16
by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:
ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:
CULTURE - From Variety: On Jan. 1st, 2024, the earliest versions of Mickey Mouse enter the public domain. Also entering the public domain works from 1928 (such as Virginia Woolf's novel, "Orlando") and sound recordings from 1923 (including works by Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey).
MOVIES - From THR: The stars of "The Color Purple": Fantasia Barino, Taraji P. Henson, and Danielle Brooks, and the film's producer, Oprah Winfrey, discuss the film with "The Hollywood Reporter."
From Deadline: During an interview on Gayle King's SiriusXM show about the upcoming movie musical, "The Color Purple," Oscar-nominated and Emmy-nominated actress, Taraji P. Henson breaks down over pay disparity in Hollywood.
OSCARS - From Deadline: The Oscars "shortlists" have been revealed for 10 categories: "International Feature Film," "Documentary Feature," "Original Song," "Music Score," "Sound," "Visual Effects," "Makeup & Hairstyling," and the documentary, animated and live action short-film categories.
AWARDS - From Deadline: Comedian Jo Koy will host the 81st Golden Globe Awards. Koy is coming off his successful "Funny is Funny World Tour." The 81st Golden Globes will air on CBS, Sunday, Jan. 7th and stream on Paramount+.
BREAKING - From Variety: Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global have held talks about a potential merger of the two media companies.
From Variety: Media mogul Byron Allen has renewed his attempt to buy BET Media Group from Paramount Global. He has made an offer of 3.5 billion dollars (up from his previous 2.7 billion offer), which would get him the BET cable channel, VH1, BET Studios, and the BET+ stream service.
MOVIES - From Deadline: Director Christopher Nolan says "Oppenheimer" is his most successful film to date.
SCANDAL - From Deadline: A New York City jury of three men and three women has found actor Jonathan Majors guilty of reckless assault and harassment in his domestic violence trial. The actor, who appeared in Creed III and Disney+/Marvel Studios' "Loki" is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 6th, 2024. He could face up to a year in jail.
From Deadline: Disney/Marvel Studios has fired actor Jonathan Majors in the wake of his guilty verdict on charges of reckless assault and harassment in New York City. Majors had played "He Who Remains" a.k.a. "Kang the Conqueror" in two seasons of the Disney+ series, "Loki," and in the film Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro: The winner of the 12/15 to 12/17/2023 weekend box office is Warner Bros.'s "Wonka" with an estimated take of 39 million dollars.
From Deadline: Searchlight Pictures' "Poor Things" tops the specialty box office with an estimated take of 1.3 million dollars, also good enough to make it to the #10 spot at the domestic box office.
MOVIES - From Deadline: Michael Jai White (Black Dynamite) has wrapped production on "Trouble Man!," the action-comedy that he directed and stars in for Samuel Goldwyn Films. The movie, which also stars Orlando Jones, Mike Epps, and Method Man, to name a few, will be released in 2024.
CELEBRITY - From ETOnline: Actress Rosario Dawson is going to be a grandmother. [Yeah, I'm shocked, too. Leroy.]
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AWARDS:
From AwardsWatch: The New York Film Critics Online (NYFCO) have named "Killers of the Flower Moon" the "Best Film" of 2023. Christopher Nolan wins "Best Director" for "Oppenheimer."
From AwardsWatch: The Las Vegas Film Critics Society have named "Oppenheimer" the "Best Picture" of 2023, with the film's director, Christopher Nolan, winning "Best Director."
From AwardsWatch: The winners at the 2023 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards have been announced. "Killers of the Flower Moon" wins "Best Picture," and Christopher Nolan wins "Best Director" for "Oppenheimer."
From THR: The winners at the 2023 / 49th annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards have been announced. The Holocaust historical drama, "The Zone of Interest," wins four awards, including "Best Picture," "Best Director" (Jonathan Glazer), and "Best Actress" (Sandra Huller).
From Deadline: The nominations for the 2024 / 29th annual Critics Choice Awards have been announced. "Barbie" leads with 18 nominations.
From Deadline: The nominations for the 2024 / 81st annual Golden Globe Awards have been announced. The winners will be announced Jan. 7th, 2024 on CBS and Paramount Plus.
From AwardsWatch: The Las Vegas Film Critics have announced their 2023 LVFC Awards nominations. "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" are the leading vote getters. The winners will be announced Wed., Dec. 13th.
From THR: The winners at the 2023 European Film Awards have been announced. "Anatomy of a Fall" won five awards including for "Best Film," "Best Director" (Justine Triet), and "Best Actress" (Sandra Huller).
From AwardsWatch: The 2023 National Board of Review film honors have been announced. "Killers of the Flower Moon" won "Best Film," "Best Director" (Martin Scorsese), and "Best Actress" (Lily Gladstone).
From AwardsWatch: The American Film Institute (AFI) names its top ten films: American Fiction, Barbie, The Holdovers, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, May December, Oppenheimer, Past Lives, Poor Things, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. It also names its top ten television series: Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Beef, Jury Duty, The Last of Us, The Morning Show, Only Murders in the Building, Poker Face, Reservation Dogs, and Succession.
From AwardsWatch: "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" lead the nominations for "Astra Film & Creative Arts Awards," which are put on by the "Hollywood Creative Alliance" (formerly known as the Hollywood Critics Association). The winners will be announced Jan. 6th, 2024 in Los Angeles.
From Deadline: At the 2023 / 26th British Independent Film Awards, director Andrew Haigh's "All of Us Strangers" won seven awards, including "Best British Independent Film."
From Variety: The winners at the 2023 / 89th New York Film Critics Circle Awards have been announced. "Killers of the Flower Moon" (directed by Martin Scorsese) was named "Best Film of 2023." Christopher Nolan won "Best Director" for his film, "Oppenheimer."
From Variety: The winners at the 2023 / 33rd Annual Gotham Awards were announced Mon., Nov. 27th. Writer-director Celine Song's South Korean romantic drama, "Past Lives" won the "Best Feature" award.
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Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Review: "ENTER THE DRAGON" and Bruce Lee Are Still Kicking Ass 50 Years Later
Sunday, August 27, 2023
Review: "TENET" May Have Been 2020's Best Film
Saturday, August 26, 2023
Negromancer News Bits and Bites from August 20th to 26th, 2023 - Update #13
by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:
ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:
NETFLIX - From Variety: Director Sammi Cohen talks about directing Adam Sandler's daughters in the Netflix teen movie, "You're So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah."
MOVIES - From Deadline: Warner Bros. Pictures has moved it big event film, "Dune: Part Two," to 2024. The sequel to the Oscar-winning "Dune: Part One" is now scheduled to hit theaters March 15, 2024.
STREAMING - From Deadline: Paramount+'s steaming sequel "Frasier," the sequel to the long-running NBC sitcom, "Frasier" (1993-2004), will beginning streaming with two episodes on October 12, 2023. Afterwards, new episodes will arrive on Thursdays. The first two episodes of the 10-episode series will also air on CBS on October 17th.
CELEBRITY - From Variety: Grammy-winning recording artist, Britney Spears, says news of her divorce from her husband of 14-months, Sam Asghari, is "nobody's business." However, she did say that she couldn't take the pain anymore.
BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro: The winner of the 8/18 to 8/20/23 weekend box office is Warner Bros.'s "Blue Beetle" with an estimated take of 25.4 million dollars.
From Here: A review of "Blue Beetle" by Leroy Douresseaux.
From Deadline: At the specialty box office (art house), the 20th anniversary re-release of the South Korean film, "Oldboy," grosses 495,000 dollars on 250 screens. It may reach 1 million dollars before the end of its first week back in circulation.
From Here: This is a nearly seventeen year-old review of "Oldboy" by Leroy Douresseaux.
AMAZON - From Variety: Amazon has cancelled its series, "A League of Their Own," so it won't have a second and final season.
OBITS:
From Deadline: American television writer, producer, and director, David Jacobs, has died at the age of 84, Sunday, August 20, 2023. He was best known for creating the long-running CBS dramas, "Dallas" and its spin-off, "Knots Landing." He left "Dallas" after its third season in order to focus on "Knots Landing" for the duration of its 14 season fun. Jacobs received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations - one for his work on the ABC TV movies, "Homefront" (1991) and the subsequent "Homefront" TV series (ABC, 1991-93).
From THR: American film and television actor, Ron Cephas Jones, has died at the age of 66, Saturday, August 19, 2023. Jones was best known for his role as "Walter Hill" on the former NBC drama, "This Is Us." As Walter Hill, Jones received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations. He won twice in the category of "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series" (2018, 2020). Jones also had roles in USA Network's "Mr. Robot," Netflix/Marvel's "Luke Cage," and Apple TV+'s "Truth Be Told," to name a few.
WRITERS/ACTORS STRIKE:
From THR: As talks with the Writers Guild of America stall, the studio trade association, AMPTP, has retained D.C.-based firm, The Levinson Group, to pursue a fresh messaging strategy.
From Deadline: Regarding the Hollywood writers strike, the AMPTP (representing the studios) released the details of a proposed labor agreement that it made to the WGA (the Writers Guild) on August 11th.
From Deadline: A pair of former production assistants-turned-assistant directors have created a nonprofit in hopes of providing financial aid to PAs (production assistants) who’ve been put out of work due to the strike.
From Deadline: Writers Guild (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) will resume strike talks today, Fri., Aug. 11th.
From Deadline: Meeting for the first time in more than three months, the Writers Guild and the AMPTP on Friday failed to reach an agreement to resume contract negotiations. The Writers Strike will go on indefinitely.
From Deadline: Hollywood’s superstars are answering the call from the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, donating $1 million or more each to help their fellow performers during the ongoing actors and writers strikes. Among the big donors are Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, Oprah Winfrey, and Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively.
From Deadline: If you are interested, here is a list of the film and TV productions SAG-AFTRA has granted waivers to continue filming.
From Variety: International superstar, Dwayne Johnson, makes a seven-figure contribution to the "SAG-AFTRA Foundation Relief Fund." Foundation president, actor Courtney B. Vance, says the amount will remain confidential.
From Variety: Why haven't A-list stars joined the SAG-AFTRA picket line?, asks "Variety."
From Deadline: Author George R.R. Martin, whose works were the basis for HBO's "Game of Thrones," says the strikes will be long and bitter.
From THR: Production works at Warner Bros. Animation (66) and at Cartoon Network (22) have gone public with their attempt to unionize via The Animation Guild.
From Variety: Halted film productions due to the writers and actors strikes are costing each Hollywood studio at least 600,000 dollars per week.
From Variety: Said at a strike meeting: “Without a transformative change in SAG-AFTRA’s current contract with the AMPTP, the acting profession will no longer be an option for future generations of performers, and actors already working in the industry will need to pursue other careers in order to survive.”
From Deadline: If you are a "social media influencer" who is NOT a member of SAG-AFTRA, you can be barred from future membership for promoting a film or television series during the actors' strike.
From Variety: The SAG/AFTRA strike begins in New York and Los Angeles. Hollywood actors began striking today, Fri., July 14th.
From Deadline: The site has the video of the powerful strike speech given by SAG-AFTRA president, Fran Drescher, the actress best known for CBS' former sitcom, "The Nanny."
From Deadline: Concerning the Hollywood writers strike (via the WGA), the Hollywood Studios (as represented by the AMPTP) is to let the writers go broke before resuming talks deep into the Fall.
From Deadline: SAG-AFTRA is already preparing strike picket signs in case the actors' strike begins next week.
From Deadline: WGA is picketing the New York City filming location of the 12th series of FX's "American Horror Story" (entitled "Delicate") after series co-creator Ryan Murphy threaten litigation against an east coast strike captain.
From THR: TV super-producer, Ryan Murphy, in a letter from his attorney to the leadership of the Writers Guild of America, threatened litigation against Warren Leight, an East Coast strike captain and Strike Rules Compliance Committee member who has subsequently forfeited those positions.
From Deadline: The Hollywood studios via the AMPTP has given Canadian actors a new contract, including a 5 percent raise.
From Deadline: Writers Strike puts the spotlight back on the challenge from writers for animation productions to be covered by the WGA.
From THR: Studios won't give writers better pay, and now, are laying off janitors.
From Deadline: The Directors Guild of America (DGA) has reached a tentative new three-year deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). So what does the Writers Guild (WGA), currently on strike and negotiating with the AMPTP, think of that deal.
From Deadline: Netflix shareholders declined to support the 2023 pay packages of top executives during a non-binding vote at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Thursday. The vote won't prevent these execs from getting their loot (an total of $166 million), but this is a rare public rebuke. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has urged shareholders to vote "No" because the pay was "inappropriate" at this time.
From Deadline: Warner Bros Discovery chief David Zaslav gave the commencement address at Boston University. There he was met with jeers and also chants of "pay your writers" from picketers and from some in the audience.
From Deadline: President Joe Biden speaks on the Writers Guild of America strike.
From Deadline: Retaliation! The studios have starting informing writer-producers who have "overall" and "first-look" deals that such deals are being suspended.
From Deadline: Retaliation! Prolific HBO creator, David Simon, who is best known for "The Wire," is one of the many writers who have had their overall deals suspended the studios due to the WGA strike. Simon has been with HBO for 25 years.
From Deadline: The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is on strike.
From Deadline: Disney, HBO/HBO Max, and CBS have sent letters to showrunners (the TV equivalent of film directors) instructing them to return to work, inspite of the writer's strike.
From Deadline: The WGA's chief negotiator, Ellen Stutzman, talks about the state of the writers' strike, including the lack of engagement on the part of the strike's other party, AMPTP.
From Deadline: What went wrong between the WGA and AMPTP? What could they not agree on that led to a strike?
From Deadline: The site explains the WGA strike: the issues, the stakes, movies and TV shows affected, and how long it might last.
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