Petition to remove Donnie Yen as Oscars presenter earns thousands of signatures

Tatiana Siegel On a chilly Oscars eve, Donnie Yen has just returned from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, where he was rehearsing for the Academy Awards along with a slew of fellow global superstar presenters like Spain’s Antonio Banderas and India’s Deepika Padukone. The “John Wick: Chapter 4” scene-stealer, who hails from southern China, feels good about how the following night might unfold, namely for his friend and Hong Kong neighbor Michelle Yeoh. Her victory and that of “Everything Everywhere All at Once” would be a landmark moment for Asian representation, he says.  “I’ve known her for more than 20 years, and that’s one of the reasons I’m here — to support her and share in a possible historical moment,” he says of his “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny” co-star. “And ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ has a lot of Chinese language and it talks about the Chinese heritage, which I find out has been so accepted and embraced here. So, that really warmed my heart. I’m sure hoping for Michelle.” 

She's voiced her dislike for this year's series of The Apprentice after taking part in the BBC One business competitiion in 2022, and Amy Anzel raised eyebrows as she launched a petition to replace Lord Alan Sugar at the helm. Amy, who was fired halfway through the process by the business magnate, is calling for the Amstrad founder to be switched for Dragons' Den star Steven Bartlett.

Chad Stahelski and then partner David Leitch came from the area of martial arts and stunts, and made their mark choreographing huge stunt sequences and directed second unit for many films before getting the shot at steering a franchise with John Wick. Leitch went his own way and Stahelski remained welded to Keanu Reeves in one of most fascinating director-star relationships that concludes with John Wick 4, the final installment of a sleeper action-heavy hit that grew into blockbuster status as each film grew in ambition and box office grosses. The most fantastical gun violence Hollywood has brought since The Matrix films has only been part of it, as are the close combat brawls, knife, sword fights and car crashes that left Wick bloodied but undaunted. For their fourth and likely final time out, Stahelski and Reeves added iconic Asian action heroes Donnie Yen and Hiroyuki Sanada to ramp things up even further. Here, Stahelski breaks down why the franchise’s mythological underpinnings was its secret weapon, how they pulled off an endless string of eye-popping action sequences — 14 in the finale — for much less than a pricey romcom and why stunt professionals deserve Oscar recognition as much as any other category. Getting that recognition for his bruised and battered brethren might be his next production.

Actor and martial artist Dannie Yen has big biggest stateside release this weekend when “John Wick: Chapter 4” hits theaters everywhere. But US audiences may not realize just how prolific Yen is in the Chinese film industry.

Thousands of angry viewers have signed a petition demanding the BBC Grenfell tower drama is axed.

You may have heard Donald Trump is going to be arrested this week. The person saying that is, of course, the least credible person in this entire business — the former POTUS himself.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Mobile 101, a Nokia Story,” a series about the dramatic rise and fall of the Finnish phone company, has been acquired by Disney+ and Walter Presents in multiple territories. The series was produced by Finland’s Rabbit Films and is represented in international markets by the outfit. The six-part series, which sheds light on how a small Finnish company specializing in rubber boots became the world’s biggest mobile manufacturer at the turn of the 21st century, has been picked by Disney+ Italy, Netherlands and Belgium. Walter Presents, meanwhile, bought it for the UK & Ireland. RUV Iceland has also acquired season one of the series.

“We’ve come a long way that two men can share an Oscar,” joked Academy Awards host Jimmy Kimmel after the commercial break following Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s win for Best Director for A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Oscars are here, and the red carpet is underway. Er, make that the champagne carpet. Indeed, the Academy mixed things up this year and eschewed the traditional red tones for a champagne-colored carpet, but one thing remains the same: the nominees are looking terrific.If you’re wondering how to watch the Oscars red carpet, you can see all the goings-on in the livestream video embedded above.

Glenn Close will no longer attend the 95th annual Academy Awards. On Sunday, the 75-year-old's rep confirmed that she contracted COVID-19, and will miss the ceremony.«She was very much looking forward to taking part in the show,» Close's publicist told CBS News in a statement.

Oscars presenter Glenn Close has been forced to withdraw from the ceremony with just hours to go, after testing positive for Covid-19. It means producers have been left scrambling as they attempt to replace the Fatal Attraction star, who 'is isolating and resting'. Glenn had been among 40 different presenters who were due to take to the stage tonight.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Oscar voting is kicking off, and 366 films are vying for the Academy’s attention for best picture, in addition to their selections in their respective branches. One important note to Academy members: Fill out your ballots in full. Every Academy member votes for best picture, outside of their respective branch association. For best picture, the member is invited to list up to five films in preferential order. In the days of paper ballots, there were horror stories of voters writing the same film five times on their entries, but those days are gone with electronic voting. However, listing five films is crucially important based on the Academy tabulation methods, which involves a lot of math. As we remain in the final year of the “sliding scale,” where the results can produce any number of nominees between five and 10, simply put, all lines matter.

A popular pizza restaurant has confirmed it will close its doors for good, prompting fans to launch a petition to save it. The owners of Croma on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury confirmed the news in a statement and said the last service would be on Wednesday, May 10.

Adele Dazeem?They join a prestigious group of pre-announced actors and famous faces slated to appear on Hollywood’s big night, including Riz Ahmed, Halle Bailey, Antonio Banderas, Elizabeth Banks, Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain, John Cho, Glenn Close, Jennifer Connelly, Ariana DeBose, Andrew Garfield, Hugh Grant, Danai Gurira, Salma Hayek Pinault, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Michael B.

Indiana Jones is coming to the Oscars.

Hugh Grant, Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh have become the latest A-list names to join the star-studded list of presenters at this year’s Academy Awards in Los Angeles. The British household names will appear alongside fellow industry heavyweights including Antonio Banderas, Sigourney Weaver and Elizabeth Banks at the annual event on Sunday, as the Academy of Motion Pictures and Science rewards the best and brightest film talent to have emerged in the last twelve months.

John Boyega will star in the next film from “Dead Pigs” and “Birds of Prey” director Cathy Yan. The sci-fi romance “The Freshening” comes from FilmNation Entertainment with Ali Wong producing alongside Hyperobject Industries’ Adam McKay and Betsy Koch and Rewild’s Yan and Ash SarohiaThe picture, set to film later this year, is inspired by Rachel Khong’s short story in the Paris Review, which was set in the near future during which tensions over race and gender have reached a violent boiling point.

It’s been a few years since we’ve seen Cathy Yan debut a film project. Back at the beginning of 2020, shortly before COVID took over and shut everything down, Yan’s “Birds of Prey” was released in theaters.

The Movie Academy has padded the presenter ranks for the 95th Oscars this weekend. Halle Bailey, Antonio Banderas, Elizabeth Banks, Jessica Chastain, John Cho, Andrew Garfield, Hugh Grant, Danai Gurira, Salma Hayek Pinault, Nicole Kidman, Florence Pugh and Sigourney Weaver will present statuettes Sunday.

EXCLUSIVE: John Boyega has been set to star in sci-fi romance The Freshening from director Cathy Yan (Birds Of Prey), we can reveal.