‘RRR’ Scores Historic Oscar Nomination For Best Original Song, But Shut Out Of Other Major Races

It’s the most fabulous time of the year! New York Fashion Week has commenced and fan-favorite stars have stepped out to celebrate the best fall/winter 2023 trends. 

With New Jersey nipping at its heels and producers complaining about tardy payouts, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s latest budget for New York state, out Wednesday, raises the tax credit for film and television production back to 30%, boosts the annual cap to $700 million, modifies payout terms and attempt to lure TV production from other states in a new incentive package that would run through 2034.

“The Cell” director Tarsem Singh is making his global comeback with his first Indian film, “Dear Jassi,” based on a true story with plot details being kept under wraps. Singh made his name with visually dazzling fantasy films like “The Cell,” “Immortals” and “Mirror, Mirror” but has been mostly out of action since helming the single 10-episode season of NBC’s “Emerald City” in 2017. “Dear Jassi” will be his first feature since “Self/Less” in 2015.“It’s my passion project,” Singh said of “Dear Jassi.” “I believe this is the right time for the world to see it.

EXCLUSIVE: Ensemble Studio Theatre, one of New York’s premiere Off Broadway venues perhaps best known for its annual Marathon of One-Act Plays, announced today that Estefanía Fadul and Graeme Gillis have been appointed the new Co-Artistic Directors of the 55-year-old theater company.

EXCLUSIVE: South African streamer Showmax has partnered with the Joburg Film Festival to launch an open commissioning brief to the African film industry, calling for pitches to fill a slate of 10 live-action films.

The State Attorney of Cook County in the US state of Illinois, Kim Foxx, yesterday announced that her office is dropping the charges it previously filed against R Kelly, concluding that the prosecution isn’t necessary given that the musician has already been convicted of similar crimes in the federal courts of both Illinois and New York.Kelly faced charges in multiple US jurisdictions following the broadcast of the documentary ‘Surviving R Kelly’ in 2019. That programme, of course, put the spotlight on the many allegations of sexual abuse that had been made against the star in the preceding decades.The first case to get to court, in 2021, was in New York, where Kelly was found guilty of building and running a criminal enterprise in order to access and abuse women and teenagers.Then last year, Kelly was found guilty in the federal court in his home city of Chicago of three charges of enticing minors to engage in criminal sexual activity and three more in relation to his filming of that sexual abuse of children.Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in jail in relation to the New York conviction.

A former teacher accused of abusing a pupil at an Edinburgh school by a Scots broadcaster has been arrested in South Africa. The man, who is known as “Edgar” for legal reasons, taught at both the Edinburgh Academy and Fettes College in the 1960s and 70s.

Alan Cumming no longer wants to be an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire!

Neon and Topic Studios present writer/director Brandon Cronenberg’s Infinity Pool at 1,835 theaters in a lively specialty weekend sandwiched between a new crop of Sundance films and noteworthy expansions in the glow of Oscar nominations.

Steven Spielberg’s autobiopic The Fabelmans notched seven Oscar nominations today including Best Picture and the filmmaker’s ninth directing nod.

also include some history-making firsts worthy of celebration. While Michelle Yeoh and Angela Bassett are breaking ground in the acting categories, RRR is bringing Indian representation to a stacked list of contenders for best original song.Michelle Yeoh is the first Asian-identifying woman to be nominated in the best actress category for her starring role in Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Andrea Riseborough’s late blooming word-of-mouth awards campaign for her title role in To Leslie has resulted in the British star’s first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, upending received wisdom about the direction of travel for this year’s race. Riseborough now joins Cate Blanchett, Ana de Armas, Michelle Williams and Michelle Yeoh to make up this year’s Oscar Best Actress list.

Best PictureSix or seven films seem to be locked in as Best Picture nominees, starting with “The Fabelmans,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “Top Gun: Maverick.” You can probably throw in “Tár,” the consensus critics’ favorite, and “Elvis,” buoyed by Austin Butler’s sure-to-be-nominated performance. Then maybe you get to “Avatar: The Way of Water.” Too big to fail? Maybe.That leaves three slots, for which there are lots of contenders and to my mind no certainty at all.

Major League Soccer player Anton Walkes died on Thursday, January 19. He was 25.