2023 OSCAR NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED

Well this Oscar morning announcement started off really lousy for me as I slept right through it!! My alarm was set for 5:10 AM, I woke up when It went off --- and then the next thing I know, it's 6:30!!! My friend, who I have watched the announcement with for years while over the phone, even called me and I didn't hear the phone ring. And my phone was right next to my head. Anyway, I rushed to turn to the Oscars channel on YouTube and watched the revealing of the nominations there.

With Riz Ahmed, an Oscar winner for Best Live-Action Short and Allison Williams, hot right now due to the hit horror film, "M3GAN" which she stars and produced, serving as hosts of the event and the return of a live audience, there was a welcome sense of pageantry that has been restored to the announcement of these nominations. "Everything Everywhere All at Once", the sci-fi, action, family drama, lead in the nominations with eleven. This is followed by "The Banshees of Inisherin" and the German-language feature, "All Quiet on the Western Front" with eight nominations each.

Some highlights include big surprises in the acting categories with Paul Mescal unexpectedly being recognized for Best Actor for the critically acclaimed indie, "Aftersun"; Brian Tyree Henry receiving his first Oscar nomination for the Apple+ film, "Causeway" and Andrea Riseborough getting an incredible long-shot Best Actress nod for her turn in "To Leslie", a little seen, low-budget film that got a lot a buzz right before voting began for her performance. Angela Bassett has received only her second Oscar nomination for "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever", her first in twenty-nine years, and it is notable that this is the very first acting nod for a Marvel super-hero movie. It been even longer for Judd Hirsch between nominations as he just received his second Best Supporting Actor nod for "The Fabelmans" following recognition in the same category for "Ordinary People" back in 1980. At the age of ninety, John Williams received his fifty-third nomination in Best Score for composing the music for "The Fabelmans". And Diane Warren has received her fourteenth nomination for Best Original Song, still without a competitive win but she did just receive a Honorary Oscar last year.

The 95th annual Academy Awards will be held on March 12, 2023 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Jimmy Kimmel will return as host for the third time.

Here is the complete list of the 2023 Oscar Nominations:

Best Picture:

"All Quiet on the Western Front"
"Avatar: The Way of Water"
"The Banshees of Inisherin"
"Elvis"
"Everything Everywhere All at Once"
"The Fabelmans"
"Tár"
"Top Gun: Maverick"
"Triangle of Sadness"
"Women Talking"

Best Director:

Martin McDonagh, "The Banshees of Inisherin"
Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
Steven Spielberg, "The Fabelmans"
Todd Field, "Tár"
Ruben Östlund, "Triangle of Sadness"

Best Original Screenplay:

Todd Field, "Tár"
Tony Kushner and Steven Spielberg, "The Fabelmans"
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
Martin McDonagh, "The Banshees of Inisherin"
Ruben Östlund, "Triangle of Sadness"

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Edward Berger, Ian Stokell, and Lesley Paterson, "All Quiet on the Western Front"
Rian Johnson, "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery"
Kazuo Ishiguro, "Living"
Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie from a story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks, "Top Gun: Maverick"
Sarah Polley, "Women Talking"

Best Actress in a Leading Role:

Cate Blanchett, "Tár"
Ana de Armas, "Blonde"
Andrea Riseborough, "To Leslie"
Michelle Williams, "The Fablemans"
Michelle Yeoh, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"

Best Actor in a Leading Role:

Austin Butler, "Elvis"
Colin Farrell, "The Banshees of Inisherin"
Brendan Fraser, "The Whale"
Paul Mescal, "Aftersun"
Bill Nighy, "Living"

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:

Angela Bassett, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever"
Hong Chau, "The Whale"
Kerry Condon, "The Banshees of Inisherin"
Jamie Lee Curtis, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
Stephanie Hsu, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:

Brendan Gleeson, "The Banshees of Inisherin"
Brian Tyree Henry, "Causeway"
Judd Hirsch, "The Fabelmans"
Barry Keoghan, "The Banshees of Inisherin"
Ke Huy Quan, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"

Best Cinematography:

James Friend, "All Quiet on the Western Front"
Darius Khondji, "Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths"
Mandy Walker, "Elvis"
Roger Deakins, "Empire of Light"
Florian Hoffmeister, "Tár"

Best Film Editing:

Mikkel E.G. Nielsen, "The Banshees of Inisherin"
Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond, "Elvis"
Paul Rogers, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
Monika Willi, "Tár"
Eddie Hamilton, "Top Gun: Maverick"

Best Production Design:

Christian M. Goldbeck and Ernestine Hipper, "All Quiet on the Western Front"
Dylan Cole, Ben Procter and Vanessa Cole, "Avatar: The Way of Water"
Florencia Martin and Anthony Carlino, "Babylon"
Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy and Bev Dunn, "Elvis"
Rick Carter and Karen O'Hara, "The Fabelmans"

Best International Feature Film:

"All Quiet on the Western Front" (Germany)
"Argentina, 1985" (Argentina)
"Close" (Belgium)
"EO" (Poland)
"The Quiet One" (Ireland)

Best Live Action Short Film:

"An Irish Goodbye"
"Ivalu"
"Le Pupille"
"Night Ride"
"The Red Suitcase"

Best Documentary Feature Film:

"All That Breathes"
"All The Beauty and the Bloodshed"
"Fire of Love"
"A House Made of Splinters"
"Navalny"

Best Documentary Short Film:

"The Elephant Whisperers"
"Haulout"
"How Do You Measure a Year"
"Stranger at the Gate"

Best Animated Feature Film:

"Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio"
"Marcel the Shell With Shoes On"
"Puss In Boots: The Last Wish"
"The Sea Beast"
"Turning Red"

Best Animated Short Film:

"The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse"
"The Flying Sailor"
"Ice Merchants"
"My Year of Dicks"
"An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I Believe It"

Best Original Score:

Volker Bertelmann, "All Quiet on the Western Front"
Justin Hurwitz, "Babylon"
Carter Burwell, "The Banshees of Inisherin"
Son Lux, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
John Williams, "The Fabelmans"

Best Original Song:

"Applause" from "Tell It like a Woman" - Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
"Hold My Hand" from "Top Gun: Maverick" - Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop
"Lift Me Up" from "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" - Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; Lyric by Tems and Ryan Coogler
"Naatu Naatu" from "RRR" - Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose
"This Is A Life" from "Everything Everywhere All at Once" - Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; Lyric by Ryan Lott and David Byrne

Best Costume Design:

Mary Zophres, "Babylon"
Ruth Carter, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever"
Catherine Martin, "Elvis"
Shirley Kurata, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
Jenny Beavan, "Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris"

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:

Heike Merker and Linda Eisenhamerová, "All Quiet on the Western Front"
Naomi Donne, Mike Marino and Mike Fontaine, "The Batman"
Camille Friend and Joel Harlow, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever"
Mark Coulier, Jason Baird and Aldo Signoretti, "Elvis"
Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Anne Marie Bradley, "The Whale"

Best Sound:

Viktor Prášil, Frank Kruse, Markus Stemler, Lars Ginzel and Stefan Korte, "All Quiet on the Western Front"
Julian Howarth, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Dick Bernstein, Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers and Michael Hedges, "Avatar: The Way of Water"
Stuart Wilson, William Files, Douglas Murray and Andy Nelson, "The Batman"
David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson and Michael Keller, "Elvis"
Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor, "Top Gun: Maverick"

Best Visual Effects:

Frank Petzold, Viktor Müller, Markus Frank and Kamil Jafar, "All Quiet on the Western Front"
Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett, "Avatar: The Way of Water"
Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands and Dominic Tuohy, "The Batman"
Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, R. Christopher White and Dan Sudick, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever"
Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson and Scott R. Fisher, "Top Gun: Maverick"

WINNERS OF THE 2023 GOLDEN GLOBES AND OTHER AWARD NEWS

The Golden Globes were back after two years of disruptions (one that was out of their control due to the pandemic and the following year was over scandals involving the Hollywood Foreign Press Association) with the return of the glitzy, party atmosphere and the reappearance of many stars in-person yet still something was off. One thing was having the event, celebrating it's 80th year, on a Tuesday (a strange day of the week to do anything) with very little promotion.

And then there was first-time host, Jerrod Carmichael. Now I admit I'm not familiar with the comedian's work although I do know that he is celebrated rising performer with an award-winning comedy special. But I became concerned during his rambling, opening monologue where he goes into  long detail about the racist claims against the Globes that caused their cancellation last year, why he was approached for this gig and how much he got paid to host. After waiting patiently to hear something humorous or meaningful, nothing really materialized. As the show progressed, Carmichael's material got worse with cringey, awkward attempts at humor involving Tom Cruise and Scientology, Kanye West and his anti-Semitism and one particularly tasteless comment about Whitney Houston's death at the show's venue, the Beverly Hilton. The raucous party scene that usually comes with The Globes seemed muted this year. This show was lacking in levity overall with the HFPA being overly cautious with a respectful, serious vibe overtaking the room and carefully keeping alcohol out of sight.

Here is the list of winners from the 80th Golden Globes Awards (Motion Picture):

Best Motion Picture (Drama): "The Fabelmans"
Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy): "The Banshees of Inisherin"
Best Director (Motion Picture): Steven Spielberg, “The Fabelmans"
Best Screenplay (Motion Picture): Martin McDonagh, "The Banshees of Inisherin"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture (Drama): Cate Blanchett, "Tár"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy): Michelle Yeoh, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture (Drama): Austin Butler, "Elvis"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy): Colin Farrell, "The Banshees of Inisherin"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture: Angela Bassett, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture: Ke Huy Quan, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
Best Motion Picture (Animated): "Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio"
Best Original Score (Motion Picture): Justin Hurwitz, "Babylon"
Best Original Song: Kala Bhairava, M.M. Keeravani and Rahul Sipligunj, "Naatu Naatu" from "RRR"

The Screen Actors Guild have announced their selections for their awards with two films that did well at the Globes, "The Banshees of Inisherin" and "Everything Everywhere All at Once" leading the field with five nominations each. The 29th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be held on February 26th at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles. And after years being televised on TNT and TBS, the ceremony will be shown live on Netflix’s YouTube channel and then next year it has been arranged to be viewed live on Netflix.

Here is the list for the 2023 SAG Awards (in Motion Pictures):

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture:

"Babylon"
"The Banshees of Inisherin"
"Everything Everywhere All at Once"
"The Fabelmans"
"Women Talking"

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role:

Cate Blanchett, "Tár"
Viola Davis, "The Woman King"
Ana de Armas, "Blonde"
Danielle Deadwyler, "Till"
Michelle Yeoh, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role:

Austin Butler, "Elvis"
Colin Farrell, "The Banshees of Inisherin"
Brendan Fraser, "The Whale"
Bill Nighy, "Living"
Adam Sandler, "Hustle"

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role:

Angela Bassett, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever"
Hong Chau, "The Whale"
Kerry Condon, "The Banshees Of Inisherin"
Jamie Lee Curtis, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
Stephanie Hsu, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role:

Paul Dano, "The Fabelmans"
Brendan Gleeson, "The Banshees of Inisherin"
Barry Keoghan, "The Banshees of Inisherin"
Ke Huy Quan, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
Eddie Redmayne,"The Good Nurse"

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture:

"Avatar: The Way of Water"
"The Batman"
"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever"
"Top Gun: Maverick"
"The Woman King"

The Directors Guild of America have highlighted five filmmakers as nominees for Best Director for a Feature Film yet after making some headway in opening up to not only recognize male filmmakers in this category, women have once again been shut out. However, this has been balanced out in the First-time Director category with four women making the cut out of the five nominees. The winners of the 75th Annual WGA Awards will be announced on February 18th during the ceremony at the Beverly Hilton.

Outstanding Directorial Achievement In Theatrical Feature Film:

Todd Field, "Tár"
Joseph Kosinski, "Top Gun: Maverick"
Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
Martin McDonagh, "The Banshees of Inisherin"
Steven Spielberg, "The Fabelmans"

Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Theatrical Feature Film Director:

Alice Diop, "Saint Omer"
Audrey Diwan, "Happening"
John Patton Ford, "Emily the Criminal"
Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic, "Murina"
Charlotte Wells, "Aftersun"

And the American Society of Cinematographers have announced their nominations last week for the 37th annual awards which spotlights the best work in feature film, documentary and television cinematography.

Best Cinematography in Theatrical Feature Films:

Roger Deakins, "Empire of Light"
Greig Fraser, "The Batman"
Darius Khondji, "Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths"
Claudio Miranda, "Top Gun: Maverick"
Mandy Walker, "Elvis"

Spotlight Award in Theatrical Feature Films:

Sturla Brandth Grøvlen, "War Sailor"
Kate McCullough, "The Quiet Girl"
Andrew Wheeler, "God’s Country"

WHITNEY HOUSTON: I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY (2022)

Written by Anthony McCarten



Directed by Kasi Lemmons



Where & When: AMC The Americana at Brand 18, Glendale, CA. January 1, 2023 12:00 PM



The bio-drama, "Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody", is the latest work that explores the story of one of the greatest voices in pop music history. But after two thoroughly researched documentaries and a television movie (directed by Houston's "Waiting to Exhale" co-star, Angela Bassett) in recent years, what more could we possibly learn about this strikingly beautiful singer from Newark, NJ whose life came to a tragic end in 2012 by a drug-induced, accidental drowning in a bathtub after seemingly overcoming years of substance abuse and trying to put her life and career back in order?

What makes this film slightly different is that Houston's estate and Clive Davis, the record executive who helped launch the singer's professional career, are both behind this production. This leads to "I Wanna Dance" offering small, intimate details about the singer that only a family could share and the private conversations and career advice that only Davis could recount. Yet Anthony McCarten, the writer behind several biopics including the Oscar-winning, "Bohemian Rhapsody" which examined Freddie Mercury and the rock band, Queen, has taken this information and crafted a screenplay that only provides a perfunctory narrative with thin characterizations and heavy-handed dialogue. However "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" does manage to break through with moments that thoroughly entertain, particularly when we see Houston in performance, reminding us of her extraordinary and accomplished gifts as a vocalist.

We first see a teenage Whitney Elizabeth Houston (played by Naomi Ackie throughout the film) singing a solo in the youth church choir with her mother, Cissy (Tamara Tunie) serving as music director, who looks on disapprovingly as her daughter shows off during a rehearsal. After many years in the music business, first with her family in the gospel singing group, the Drinkard Singers before forming the r&b act, Sweet Inspirations, who performed background vocals for nearly every popular artist in the 60's and '70's, and attempted a solo career that never took off, the elder Houston knows something about singing. She instructs Whitney to learn the melody of the song first and then she can later add her own vocal embellishments but her daughter dismisses the advice, already confident in her abilities to transform a song.

And her mother is well aware of her daughter's remarkable talent. Cissy still performs occasionally at a small New York nightclub with Whitney serving as a backup singer. When Clive Davis (Stanley Tucci) attends one of her performances, Cissy feigns that she has lost her voice, pushing her daughter out to open the show. Her rendition of "The Greatest Love of All" impresses the record executive and in quick order, signs Houston to a recording contract, arranges her first major live performance on "The Merv Griffin Show" (singing "Home" from the stage musical, "The Wiz") and works with her in song selection for her debut album.

The director Kasi Lemmons, who was behind one of my all-time favorite films, "Eve's Bayou", a thrilling, coming-of-age drama set in rural Louisiana, has the challenge of finding a fresh approach in telling Houston's story. The filmmaker is not entirely successful, never moving far beyond the streamlining of historical events and characters to push the plot along that has become standard in current biopics. But Lemmons is wise enough to know that what people really want is to hear Whitney sing and that's where this movie truly captivates, focusing on entire moments in Houston's musical highlights; her incredible version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XXV and the singer's breathtaking performance at the 1994 American Music Awards where she did a medley that featured "I Loves You, Porgy" from the opera, "Porgy and Bess", "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going", the showstopper from the musical, "Dreamgirls" and "I Have Nothing" from the soundtrack of Houston's movie acting debut, "The Bodyguard".

Another advantage for "I Wanna Dance" is being able to use Houston's actual singing voice in the film, utilizing recordings and live performances that help elevate Ackie's turn as the singer. This is the first major lead role for the British actress (who had made appearances in several television series including "Master of None") and while she certainly doesn't resemble Houston, Ackie believably captures her luminous spirit and the complete joy she had when singing on stage. And she does an impressive job at lip-syncing to Houston's stunning vocals.

One of the major surprises is how "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" addresses quite frankly several of the rumors that surrounded Houston throughout her career. The most notable being the singer's relationship with her personal assistant, Robyn Crawford (played in the film by Nafessa Williams) and after years of denials from Houston, the film confirms that the two were actually intimate with their romance forced to end due to the pressure from several sources to protect the singer's rising career. And Bobby Brown (Ashton Sanders) is officially taken off the hook for claims of starting his wife's destructive path into drugs with the acknowledgment that Houston had begun taking illicit substances long before their marriage (although he did certainly help accelerate the problem).

Despite some commanding performances and dazzlingly recreations of highlights from Houston's storied oeuvre, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" fails to live up to the greatness of this legendary artist, leaving us with a watchable film that just feels generic and negligible.

28 MOVIES WE CAN'T WAIT TO SEE IN 2023

This past year in movies found people were returning to theaters with the global box-office reaching twenty-six billion dollars in revenue, a 27% gain over 2021. And while that is quite impressive and encouraging, there is still a ways to go before there is full recovery to previous numbers before the pandemic. The question still remains, however, if that will ever be possible. One glaring problem that hindered getting a wider audience to return was the lack of product finding it's way into theaters last year, with wide gaps between release dates of new movies which was particularly noticeable over the holidays.

With this new year, studios are promising that they resolved the issue with releases and we should see a steady stream of new films throughout 2023. Vulture has put a spotlight on twenty-eight films that should be released this year; ranging from the much buzzed about "M3gan" about an AI assistance doll-turned-killer (due in theaters today) to "Cocaine Bear" which is a fact-based story about a bear that goes berserk after consuming a large amount of the drug to a film finally being made based on the Judy Blume classic, coming-of-age book, "Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret" to the latest Wes Anderson fantasia, "Asteroid City" set in a 1955 Junior Space Cadet convention to the eighty year old Harrison Ford returning as his popular action hero in "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" to Greta Gerwig's live-action, colorful take on the sixty-three year old fashion doll, "Barbie" to the conclusion of Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic, "Dune: Part Two". There is also a listing of the rest of the movies scheduled to reach theaters by release date and some anticipated films that could (or should or might) come out in 2023.

Please click below to read::

28 Movies We Can’t Wait to See in 2023