96th Academy Awards are just a few short days away and the night promises to be an epic evening filled with A-listers, fun, music, funny commentary and heartfelt speeches. The Emmys, the Golden Globes and the Grammys have all come and gone.
21.02.2024 - 23:01 / nypost.com
Robin Williams called him every week to cheer him up while he was filming his 1993 Holocaust movie, “Schindler’s List.”Spielberg’s friendship with Williams stretched back to “Hook,” the 1991 flick that Spielberg directed and featured Williams as an adult Peter Pan.Spielberg opened up about “Schindler’s List,” and several other topics, in a wide-ranging interview in the Hollywood Reporter to talk about the 30th anniversary of the movie, which was filmed in Krakow, Poland, in 1993.The movie, which won seven Oscars at the 66th Academy Awards in 1994 — including Best Picture and Best Director (for Spielberg) — told the story of German industrialist Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), who saved thousands of Jews from the Nazis during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories.“Robin knew how hard it was for me on the movie, and once a week, every Friday, he’d call me on the phone and do comedy for me,” Spielberg said.“Whether it was after 10 minutes or 20 minutes, when he heard me give the biggest laugh, he’d hang up on me.”Neeson also remembered Williams’ Friday phone calls to Spielberg.“Steven would tell us afterward the sorts of things Robin would say,” Neeson recalled. “Once he started a riff of ‘I’m not a Nazi, I’m a nutsy,’ all this sort of s – – t.”Williams, the comedically brilliant “Mork & Mindy” star and Oscar-winning actor (“Good Will Hunting”), died by suicide in 2014 at the age of 63.Spielberg said that shooting “Schindler’s List” took its toll on him, emotionally.“The hard days were beyond my imagination and the easy days were never easy,” he told THR.
96th Academy Awards are just a few short days away and the night promises to be an epic evening filled with A-listers, fun, music, funny commentary and heartfelt speeches. The Emmys, the Golden Globes and the Grammys have all come and gone.
Harrison Ford revealed that he can’t escape the music of John Williams, who scored Ford’s “Indiana Jones” and “Star Wars” movies — even during a certain delicate medical procedure. “As I often remind John, his music follows me everywhere I go — literally,” Ford, 81, said in a Variety profile of the “Indiana Jones” theme song.“When I had my last colonoscopy, they were playing it on the operating room speakers.”Ford, who’s a famous curmudgeon, also said that his admiration for Williams’ music extends beyond the movies on which they’re both associated.
Jake Gyllenhaal and Denzel Washington are joining forces and heading to the stage.
Zack Sharf Digital News Director Reviews for Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt’s action comedy “The Fall Guy” are still under embargo, but Gosling has already gotten all the praise he needs thanks to Steven Spielberg. The two ran into each other earlier this year at the Golden Globes, and Spielberg apparently made it a priority to let Gosling known that he’s a big “Fall Guy” fan. Gosling was a best supporting actor nominee at the Golden Globes for “Barbie.” “I saw Steven Spielberg walking in my direction,” Gosling told Variety.
Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate have started production on their new FX limited series.
UPDATED, 10:00 AM: The Academy said today that Emily Blunt, Cynthia Erivo, America Ferrera, Sally Field, Ryan Gosling, Ariana Grande, Ben Kingsley, Melissa McCarthy, Issa Rae, Tim Robbins, Steven Spielberg, Mary Steenburgen, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlize Theron, Christoph Waltz and Forest Whitaker will present at the Oscars on Sunday. See the rest of the envelope openers below.
Jim Sheridan has dispelled rumors around a possible return to acting by Daniel Day-Lewis, who gave an Oscar-winning performance in the Irish director’s drama My Left Foot and also starred in his subsequent films In The Name Of The Father and The Boxer.
EXCLUSIVE: Sebastian Roché (1923) is making his K-drama debut in Netflix‘s Queen of Tears premiering March 9. He will portray Dr. Braun, a German doctor who has an interesting relationship with the two leads.
Kit Harington is heading back to the stage for the West End production of Broadway hit Slave Play!
FX’s. “The Bear” basically swept awards season this year, and this past weekend, they added more feathers to their caps with major wins at the SAG Awards and the PGA Awards.
Todd Longwell Charles D. King has an impressive list of accomplishments, including an Oscar nomination for best picture for his 2021 feature “Judas and the Black Messiah.” But his proudest moment came when he told his young sons that he was quitting WME, where he was the first Black partner, to launch Macro, a multi-platform media company amplifying the voices and perspectives of people of color. “They said to me, ‘Dad is going to be a boss!’ and started jumping up and down on their bed,” recalls King.
How you doin’?Wendy Williams has broken her silence after being diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia and aphasia.“I want to say I have immense gratitude for the love and kind words I have received after sharing my diagnosis of Aphasia and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD). Let me say, wow! Your response has been overwhelming,” Williams, 59, told People on Friday.“The messages shared with me have touched me, reminding me of the power of unity and the need for compassion,” she continued.
Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List” swept at the Oscars 30 years ago next month, and to mark the anniversary, THR has put together a very impressive and comprehensive oral history about the film, its Oscar campaign, and much more. The article has tons of little tidbits— famous director Billy Wilder desperate to make ‘Schindler’ as his last film (Spielberg was weeks away from shooting, it was too late), and then a casting what-if with Mel Gibson that seems rather shocking in hindsight.
Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Netflix says its ad-supported plan includes “the vast majority” of TV shows and movies available on the standard no-ads tiers — but more than a year after the streamer introduced the cheaper option, several popular titles remain unavailable to customers with the ad plan. Most recently, Netflix customers noticed that Eli Roth’s horror film “Thanksgiving” (pictured above), added Feb. 17 for subscribers on ad-free tiers, is unavailable on the ad plan.
Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor UPDATED: Jason Reitman has gathered more than two dozen filmmakers to help acquire Westwood’s historic Village Theater, which will program first-run and repertory programming. The group includes JJ Abrams, Judd Apatow, Damien Chazelle, Chris Columbus, Ryan Coogler, Bradley Cooper, Alfonso Cuarón, Jonathan Dayton, Guillermo del Toro, Valerie Faris, Hannah Fidell, Alejandro González Iñárritu, James Gunn, Sian Heder, Rian Johnson, Gil Kenan, Karyn Kusama, Justin Lin, Phil Lord, David Lowery, Christopher McQuarrie, Chris Miller, Christopher Nolan, Alexander Payne, Todd Phillips, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Jay Roach, Seth Rogen, Emma Seligman, Brad Silberling, Steven Spielberg, Emma Thomas, Denis Villeneuve, Lulu Wang, and Chloé Zhao.
according to People.Williams, 59, the subject of the upcoming Lifetime docuseries “Where Is Wendy Williams?,” does speak to her sister and niece — but only if she calls them, since they don’t know where she’s being treated.“I spoke with her yesterday and I speak with her very regularly when she reaches out to me,” her sister, Wanda Finnie, said. “She is, from what I understand, in a wellness, healing type of environment.”“Where Is Wendy Williams?,” which will run in four parts on Saturday and Sunday at 8 p.m., shows Williams in the throes of alcohol addiction and struggling with her mental health, memory and ability to effectively communicate, according to People.
After a deal couldn’t be made for David Leitch to direct, Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment have moved fast as the studio is in final negotiations for Rogue One director Gareth Edwards to helm a new Jurassic World movie. The studio recently dated the pic to bow on July 2, 2025 and moved fast to find a director with Edwards spending all of last week meeting with execs. After impressing producers Steven Spielberg and Frank Marshall, who helped launch the franchise in the 90s, an offer soon followed and pre-production is expected to ramp up once a deal is sealed.
Katcy Stephan “Rogue One” director Gareth Edwards is in talks to direct an all-new “Jurassic World” film for Universal. The news comes days after the studio’s negotiations with David Leitch fell apart. The film will be executive produced by Steven Spielberg through Amblin Entertainment.
Vampire Weekend just announced they’re heading out their 43-concert ‘Only God Was Above Us Tour’ this spring, summer and fall with special guests Mark Ronson, Princess featuring Maya Rudolph, Ra Ra Riot, Turnstiles, The English Beat and more to celebrate the band’s upcoming fifth studio album, due out April 5.Toward the end of the nationwide run, Ezra Koenig and co. are slated to bring their impeccable indie rock to New York City for two back-to-back gigs at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, Oct.
J. Kim Murphy “Masters of the Air” launched with more viewers in its opening weekend than any Apple TV+ series ever has in its first season, according to the streamer. Though an exact number of viewers was not made available, that puts the epic war miniseries launch above other high-profile original titles like “Hijack,” “The Morning Show” and “Severance.” Remarkably, following the premiere of “Masters of the Air,” viewership across all of Apple TV+ climbed by 65% worldwide when compared to the previous seven-day period.