Oscar Nominations Make This The Year Of The Woman—In Documentary

By Dino-Ray Ramos

Cynthia Erivo, 33, is one of the many nominees who will be attending the 2020 Oscars on Feb. 9. Cynthia’s powerful performance in the critically-acclaimed film Harriet has earned Cynthia her very first Oscar nomination of her career. Cynthia is not just a movie star, she’s also a renowned stage actor and is making waves on TV right now. HollywoodLife has 5 key things you need to know about Cynthia.

“Pictures are for entertainment — messages should be delivered by Western Union.” The line has been variously attributed to half a dozen old-school Hollywood producers, from Samuel Goldwyn to Frank Capra, but the sentiment captures how classic studio types endeavored to separate political statements from popular cinema.

It's time to finish up your Oscars ballots and dust off your awards season bingo cards, because the most glamorous night in movies is almost here. The 92nd Academy Awards broadcast is this weekend, which means it's time for film buffs to have some fun as we dissect the films, stars, and behind-the-scenes talent nominated to compete for this year's trophies.

Judy Garland. Fred Rodgers. Jimmy Hoffa. Pope Francis. 

Charles Dickens’ 160 year-old “best of times/worst of times” conundrum from “Tale of Two Cities” beautifully sums up the state of filmmaking in this young century. Seemingly around every corner there’s a new disruptive technology changing, and often complicating, either production or distribution.

With her latest best original song nomination for "I'm Standing With You" from the Fox feature Breakthrough, Diane Warren now holds an Oscar record -- if not yet an Oscar. Her 11th career mention makes her the most-nominated woman in Oscar history without a single win.

Some years, the short films nominated for Academy Awards make a well-rounded, coherent program; other years, they feel like a random grab-bag.

Given the ever-shrinking barrier of what constitutes a feature-length film in arthouses, two of the films competing for this year's Documentary Short Oscar only barely qualify for the category. Shown back to back in a theatrical setting, they represent the least inviting of the four touring Oscar Shorts programs this year, however worthy their subjects.

Movie lovers with only a casual interest in compiling a complete set of Oscar-night predictions will likely find their most entertaining evening of short-film viewing to be the Live Action category — a diverse bunch of films, spanning the globe, offering a wide range of emotional experience and just enough topical relevance to feel nutritious.

Despite including a predictably high percentage of studio product (two out of five), this year's batch of films competing for the Animated Short Oscar are more adventurous than usual in terms of technique and style, appearing to employ yarn, clay and papier-mache in addition to the usual pixels and ink.

Harriet Frank Jr., the two-time Oscar nominee forHudandNorma Raewho partnered with her husband, the late Irving Ravetch, to form one of the great screenwriting teams in Hollywood history, has died. She was 96.Frank died Tuesday at her home in Los Angeles, her nephew, Michael Frank, told The New York Times.Frank and Ravetch worked on 17 features together, including eight directed by Martin Ritt over a 32-year span and three that were adapted from William Faulkner novels.

These five Oscar-nominated documentary short films have made it to the summit of the nonfiction craft. Topics are international in scope: immigration, refugees, the personal cost of political activism, government malfeasance and girls in war-torn Kabul skateboarding for kicks.

Antonio Banderas is an official Oscar nominee! The 59-year-old received a nomination in the Best Actor category for his role in Pain and Glory. As if his first nomination wasn’t exciting enough, the story about getting the news makes the experience even better.

"Woopeti WOOOP"