‘King Richard,’ Will Smith and Tessa Thompson Win at Black Film Critics Awards (EXCLUSIVE)

The adulation for Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car” continues. After winning Best Film from both the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the New York Film Critics Circle, Japan’s submission for the International Film Oscar dominated the winner’s list from the National Society of Critics.

On the latest episode of Crew Call, producers Tim and Trevor White of Star Thrower Entertainment talk to us about getting Serena and Venus Williams on board for a feature about their tough-as-nails, relentless, ambitious coach father Richard Williams, a man who transformed them into global tennis champs. The pitch included Will Smith being part of the package and convincing Warner Bros. to go with budding filmmaker Reinaldo Marcus Green.

Camilla Blackett Guest ColumnistFor Variety‘s Writers on Writers, Camilla Blackett pens a tribute to “King Richard” (screenplay by Zach Baylin).Determined is a word you will hear many times when speaking of the Williams family and their hard-won Mount Olympus status in the world of tennis, but determination of sportsmanship is far from the only thing at play in Zach Baylin’s stunning “King Richard” script.More than anything, it is the determination of Black fatherhood that struck me most deeply

While the 2022 New York Film Critics Circle Awards were scheduled to take place at Tao Downtown in NYC on January 10, they’ve now been postponed due to the recent surge in Covid-19 cases witnessed across the country, with a new date for the ceremony to be unveiled early next year.

Best Film: “Drive My Car”Runner-up: “The Power of the Dog”Best Director: Jane Campion, “The Power of the Dog”Runner-up: Ryusuke Hamaguchi, “Drive My Car”Best Actor: Simon Rex, “Red Rocket”Runner-up: Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Power of the Dog”Best Actress: Penelope Cruz, “Parallel Mothers”Runner-up: Renate Reinsve, “The Worst Person in the World”Best Supporting Actor: (tie) Vincent Lindon, “Titane,” and Kodi Smit-McPhee, “The Power of the Dog”Best Supporting Actress: Ariana DeBose, “West Side

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association is voting Saturday on the best films and performances of 2021. The group, made up of L.A. area print and digital journalists, is deliberating winners and runners-up throughout the morning in 14 categories including Best Picture.

Best Film:Runner-up:Best Director:Runner-up:Best Actor:Runner-up:Best Actress:Runner-up:Best Supporting Actor:Runner-up:Best Supporting Actress:Runner-up:Best Foreign-Language Film:Runner-up:Best Documentary/Nonfiction Film:Runner-up:Best Animated Film:Runner-up:Best Screenplay:Runner-up:Best Cinematography: Ari Wegner, “The Power of the Dog”Runner-up: Greig Fraser, “Dune”Best Editing:Runner-up:Best Music/Score:Runner-up:Best Production Design:Runner-up:New Generation Award:Douglas E. Edward

Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) voted on the best achievements in film in 2021 on Saturday, announcing its award winners through its Twitter account.As previously announced, Mel Brooks received the association’s 2021 career achievement award. This year’s winners will be honored alongside Brooks during a ceremony in 2022.“Mel Brooks is a national treasure and a comedy filmmaking legend,” LAFCA president Claudia Puig said in a Nov.

Will Smith learned a lot about building a family on his first television show, “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” And now that he’s starring in “King Richard” as the patriarch of the Williams family and father to tennis phenoms Venus and Serena Williams, he understands how those off-screen relationships are often reflected on-screen.Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green with a script by Zach Baylin, “King Richard” details the rise of the sisters while showing the enormous influence and support that came

Tim Gray Senior Vice PresidentPamela Martin of Warner Bros.’ “King Richard,” says, “When it comes to editing, you have to love your characters, flawed or not. And I loved that family.”Before signing on, the editor says, “I knew very little about Richard Williams, and it was mostly filtered through the media: ‘That crazy tennis dad’ or ‘He’s a nut job.’ Now I think that guy’s a genius.”The Will Smith-starring film, which is an Oscar contender, concerns the early days of tennis champs Venus and

African American Film Critics Association‘s annual list of the top 10 films of the year, the AAFCA announced on Wednesday.

Clayton Davis Films from Paul Thomas Anderson, Jane Campion, Joel Coen, Guillermo del Toro, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Denis Villeneuve are recipients of the 2021 AFI Awards.The honors give a nice boost for the films’ awards campaigns leading up to the holiday break, especially as ballots are in the hands of Critics Choice and SAG voters.

AFI MOVIES OF THE YEARCODADON’T LOOK UP DUNEKING RICHARD LICORICE PIZZA NIGHTMARE ALLEY THE POWER OF THE DOG tick, tick… BOOM! THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH WEST SIDE STORYAFI TELEVISION PROGRAMS OF THE YEARHACKSMAIDMARE OF EASTTOWN RESERVATION DOGS SCHMIGADOON!SUCCESSIONTED LASSOTHE UNDERGROUND RAILROADWANDAVISIONTHE WHITE LOTUSAFI SPECIAL AWARDBELFASTSQUID GAME SUMMER OF SOUL (…OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED)

The African American Film Critics Association said Wednesday that it has selected Netflix’s Western The Harder They Fall as its film of the year. It leads a Top 10 list that also includes King Richard, Respect, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Passing, Belfast, Who We Are, House of Gucci, The Power of the Dog and West Side Story.

Will Smith and the cast of King Richard are receiving a major honour! The Palm Springs International Film Awards announced Tuesday that the stars of the biopic will be the recipients of the Ensemble Performance Award.

Jodie Turner-Smith takes over playing the queen in the three-part, AMC+ historical drama chronicling the royal’s infamous downfall. Penned by Eve Hedderwick Turner, the series revisits the final months of King Henry VIII’s wife's life as she attempts to push back on the patriarchy while securing her daughter’s future.

Palm Springs International Film Awards announced Tuesday that the stars of the biopic will be the recipients of the Ensemble Performance Award.The award will be presented to Smith, Aunjanue Ellis, Saniyya Sidney, Demi Singleton, Jon Bernthal and Tony Goldwyn, who are all expected to attend.“is a wonderful film that tells the emotional story of Richard William’s determination and vision that, along with the steady support of his wife Oracene, turned their daughters Venus and Serena into tennis

In King Richard, Aunjanue Ellis is Oracene Price, mother and oft-unsung hero in the success story of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams. As a determined and driven father and coach, the titular character Richard Williams (played by Will Smith) has long been known in the public eye as the man behind the sporting family’s magic.