As The Oscar Glow Faded, The Motion Picture Home Faced Another Daunting Year

Tim Gray Senior Vice PresidentOscars are a time capsule, reflecting both the industry and the year’s audiences. As such, nominations for the 94th Academy Awards detail progressive and surprising transition across several categories.Streamer SuccessTo the surprise of no one, streamers have been a powerhouse. For the first 50 years, Oscars were dominated by the major studios (plus United Artists, which had no physical lot, but had a lofty heritage).

Oscar-winning directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin are shooting for the stars with their latest documentary, “Return To Space”.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe upcoming Los Angeles-Italia Film Fashion and Art Festival will be honoring Italian directors Paolo Sorrentino (“The Hand of God”) and Enrico Casarosa (“Luca”) as well as costume-designer Massimo Cantini Parrini (“Cyrano”) all of whom have scored nominations for the upcoming Academy Awards. The 17th edition of the pre-Oscars event will be held March 20-26 at Hollywood’s TCL Chinese Theatre and also online.This year’s opening ceremony will be hosted by veteran Italian-American actor Robert Davi, who is also this year’s president of the event. Sofia Milos (“CSI: Miami”) and Hollywood acting coach Bernard Hiller will co-host.Consul General of Italy Silvia Chiave and Italian Institute of Culture chief Emanuele Amendola will also be introducing honorees both at the Chinese Theatre and during a separate March 25 event being held at the Italian Institute of Culture.

EXCLUSIVE: Rhys Ifans (Spider-Man: No Way Home) has signed on to star alongside Annette Bening and Jodie Foster in the Netflix film Nyad, which marks the narrative directorial debut of Oscar, BAFTA and Emmy winners Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin (The Rescue, Free Solo).

Hana Vu has been impressing the indie rock world with her precocious songwriting skills and her rich, tempestuous alto vocals since she released her debut tape, How Many Times Have You Driven By, at age 17. The next year, she dropped the double EP Nicole Kidman / Anne Hathaway, and in November 2021, she shared her long-awaited full-length debut, Public Storage.

, Best Cinematography, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Visual Effects. Starring Timothée Chalamet, Oscar Isaac and Zendaya, this universe is one you surely want to enter. Watch Now is based off of Frank Herbert's classic science fiction saga of the same name, and follows Paul Atreides, a nobleman, who lives in the distant future in an intergalactic feudal society ruled by one all-powerful emperor. Paul is forced to relocate with his parents to the desert planet Arrakis — the most dangerous planet in the universe, better known as Dune.

Two family dramas, the feature film Freda and short film You Can Always Come Home, have earned the top prizes at the 39th edition of Miami Dade College’s Miami Film Festival. Presented in a hybrid format with in-theater and virtual presentations, the 2022 Festival ran from March 4 through tomorrow.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor“Power of the Dog” star Jesse Plemons is speaking out about Sam Elliott’s recent rant against Jane Campion’s award-winning Netflix film.“I laughed when I heard. I don’t know why,” Plemons told me at premiere of his new Charlie McDowell-directed thriller “Windfall” on Friday night at the London West Hollywood hotel. ”I haven’t listened to it so I’ve heard it from what people have told me.

A federal guilty plea agreement was entered today by William Sadleir, the former chief executive of Aviron Pictures, who admitted that he applied for and received $1.7 million in loans under the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). That while the entire Aviron operation was being shuttered as a result of his prior embezzlement.

Oscar Isaac hosted the recent episode of Saturday Night Live, and his opening monologue is one of the best the show has ever had. The 42-year-old joins a shortlist of Latinos who have had the opportunity to host the show, and the Guatemalan/Cuban’s monologue was a tribute to Latinos in entertainment.The poised actor stood on the famous stage as he introduced himself. “My name is Oscar Isaac, but my full name is Oscar Isaac Hernandez Estrada,” he said proudly.

Dua Lipa has responded to an Oscar Isaac fan-fiction story about her being read out on Saturday Night Live last weekend (March 5).On the latest episode of the long-running American sketch show, actor Oscar Isaac could be seen reading out a fan-fiction story about the pop star during a skit on the show.After hearing the story read, Dua Lipa responded on Instagram.“Adds to list of things I never thought would happen in my life”, she wrote, followed by several laughing emojis.A post shared by DUA LIPA (@dualipa)In the sketch, one of the characters Isaac’s played was Michael – a school janitor with an unexpected hobby of writing stories.Michael interrupts a writing class and starts to share a story he’s been writing on, called ‘The Apogee Of Midnight.’The story is about a janitor who is alone a school at midnight before he’s interrupted by a woman who is looking for him.“My name is Dua Lipa,” the woman in the story says. “I’m a big pop star, and I’m looking for a janitor here named Mike.”You can see a video of the sketch here:Last week (March 6), it was revealed that Megan Thee Stallion has teamed up with Dua Lipa on a new single.Posting on Twitter, the rapper shared an image that featured photos of her and the singer on the icing of four cakes.

Oscar Isaac has certainly risen to the cream of the crop in Hollywood. The 42-year-old actor, who was born in Guatemala, has made his mark in Tinseltown with such gigantic blockbusters as the new Star Wars trilogy, X-Men: Apocalypse, and Dune. He’s also won accolades for his work in smaller films such as Inside Llewyn Davis, Ex-Machina and The Card Counter. Next up, he takes on the role of brooding Marvel superhero Moon Knight in the titular series coming to Disney +.

The Walking Stick, A Severed Head, Villain, and The Nightcomers. He returned to the US in 1973 to become Head of Creative Affairs at 20th Century Fox. In August 1976, he was promoted from worldwide production head to president of Fox’s film division.

EXCLUSIVE: Film Movement Classics has acquired North American rights to 2K digital restorations of Asghar Farhadi’s first two features Dancing in the Dust and Beautiful City, which have been signed off on by the two-time Oscar winner himself. Both restored dramas will be released theatrically this year, with a release on all heading home entertainment and digital platforms to follow.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorArtisans are hoping for an Academy Awards do-over before the ceremony begins.The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences sparked outrage and frustration last week when it revealed plans to award eight craft Oscars before the live telecast and sprinkle footage of those presentations throughout the three-hour show — all to make room for other entertainment elements designed to boost viewer engagement and sagging ratings. Adding to the upset: Unsuspecting nominees felt ambushed by the Zoom announcement about the impending change during a virtual town hall last week.Susan Cabral-Ebert, a member of the Make-up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild, is among those hoping the Academy rethinks its plans before the March 27 ceremony.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor“Spider-Man: No Way Home” is a sure bet to swing home with the first fan-voted trophy at this year’s Academy Awards, according to a new survey.Industry watchers’ spidey-senses were tingling when the Academy on Monday posted a tweet revealing the top 10 leaderboard (listed alphabetically) in the Oscars’ first-ever fan-favorite voting contest, in partnership with Twitter — a list which, alongside “No Way Home,” included the critically panned “Cinderella” starring Camila Cabello, as well as indie film “Minamata” starring Johnny Depp and Zack Snyder’s “Army of the Dead.”But the latest movie featuring Marvel’s famed webslinger should ultimately cruise to victory in the race: 26% of U.S. adults said “Spider-Man: No Way Home” was their favorite film of 2021, nearly double the next-closest contender (Disney’s “Encanto”), according to a recent Morning Consult survey.

“The Power Of The Dog” may be leading the Academy Award nominations but that doesn’t mean Sam Elliott likes it.

Stuart Miller In Hollywood, it’s easier to sell a movie if you can say, “It’s like a new take on ___” and fill in the blank with a box office hit. But the films that get nominated for director are usually the result of a singular vision, one that’s hard to pin down and categorize.Still, just as many Americans love doing DNA searches for their own family, we can trace the genre roots of this year’s director nominees.“Belfast,” Kenneth BranaghAn acclaimed British director, who earned his first Oscar nomination for a picture filled with action sequences and memorable quotes, earns another for an intimate autobiographical story about a childhood in which encroaching violence casts a shadow.

Off again. Sam Hunt‘s estranged wife, Hannah Lee Fowler, filed for divorce again after withdrawing her initial petition.