Nominations for the 89th Academy Awards were announced this morning. In a change from the press conference of prior years, a video package was put together and streamed live online. Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs was joined by former Oscar winners and nominees for the announcement. The 89th Oscar Ceremony will be held Sunday, February 26, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood. Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, the ceremony will…
"89th Academy Awards: Oscar Nominations Announced"
The Founder tells us the story of how Ray Kroc turned McDonald’s into a franchise and left the founding brothers out to dry. All of my life, I was led to believe that McDonald’s #1 in Des Plaines, Illinois, was the very first McDonald’s ever built in America. It wasn’t. It was the second. The first was owned and operated by the McDonald brothers. Kroc only discovered the brothers and the fully automated burger joint…
"The Founder: How the McDonald’s Franchise Took America"
La La Land led the field with eleven nominations as the BAFTA nominations were announced this morning. Arrival and Nocturnal Animals were next with nine nominations. The EE British Academy Film Awards will be held on Sunday, February 12th at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Hosted by Stephen Fry, the awards show will air in the United States on BBC America. BEST FILM ARRIVAL Dan Levine, Shawn Levy, David Linde, Aaron Ryder I, DANIEL…
"EE British Academy Film Awards in 2017: Nominations"
A few days after announcing the nominations for television categories and digital series, the Producers Guild of America announced the nominations for theatrical and animated motion pictures. The 28th annual awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, January 28, 2017 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. In addition to announcing the winners, the PGA will present honors to Tom Rothman (Milestone Award), James L. Brooks (Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television), Irwin Winkler…
"2017 Producers Guild Awards: Theatrical Nominations"
Just as in prior years, all movies released that I have seen during the calendar year are eligible for the Solzy Awards. Thankfully, I am in Chicago now so films that otherwise would not have opened up in Kentucky until after the new year starts have been seen such as Hidden Figures. Movies going wide after the new year, such as Patriots Day, Silence, Paterson, and 20th Century Women are not eligible for consideration. In…
"The Solzy Awards for Film in 2016"
Dev Patel stars as Saroo, a native of India who is adopted by an Australian couple after getting seperated by his family. Years later, he starts to look for his hometown. Based on a true story of Saroo Brierley and directed by Top of the Lake‘s Garth Davis, Lion stars Patel, Rooney Mara, David Wenham, and Nicole Kidman. The cast also includes Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Priyanka Bose, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Deepti Naval, and introduces Sunny Pawar. Screenwriter…
"Lion: A Man’s Search for Home"
Based on the Tony-winning Broadway play of the same name, Fences is just as powerful on the big screen. Directed by Denzel Washington from a screenplay written by August Wilson and based on Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Fences stars Washington, Viola Davis, Jovan Adepo, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Russell Hornsby, Mykelti Williamson, and Saniyya Sidney. Troy Maxon (Washington) works as a sanitation worker in Pittsburgh. He played baseball in the Negro League but was too old…
"Fences: Strong Cast Reunites for the Big Screen"
“I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.” Obi-Wan Kenobi recited that quote when Alderaan was destructed in Star Wars: A New Hope, the film that hit the big screens in May 1977 and changed the world forever. Today, the world lost Carrie Fisher at the age of 60. The actress died as a result…
"Carrie Fisher: A Star Wars Princess Passes Away"
Hidden Figures tells the amazing true story of three women who were pioneers in the space program. These three women were such an important part of American history and their achievements have been overlooked until recently. Everyone knows about the Apollo missions and astronauts like John Glenn, Alan Shepard and Neil Armstrong. But has anyone heard of Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson? I never heard their names growing up and I was…
"Hidden Figures: An Amazing True Story"
Why Him? is without a doubt a raunchier version of Meet the Parents. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone since director John Hamburg, who co-wrote the screenplay and story, was a writer or co-writer for all three films in the Meet the Parents franchise. Hamburg co-wrote the screenplay with Ian Helfer. The duo co-wrote the story with Jonah Hill. The movie stars James Franco, Bryan Cranston, Zoey Deutch, Megan Mullally, Griffin Gluck, and…
"Why Him? A Raunchier Redux of Meet the Parents"