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      Amazon Moves From Film Industry’s Margins to the Mainstream

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }At HomeWatch: ‘WandaVision’Travel: More SustainablyFreeze: Homemade TreatsCheck Out: Podcasters’ Favorite PodcastsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyAmazon Moves From Film Industry’s Margins to the MainstreamWith several films competing for Golden Globes on Sunday and a number of high-priced movies coming this year, the streaming service has altered its reputation in Hollywood.“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” nominated for three Golden Globes, is one of several Amazon films competing on Sunday night. Credit…Amazon StudiosFeb. 26, 2021Updated 3:02 p.m. ETSacha Baron Cohen may have been going a little mad. It was August, the pandemic was raging, and his secret production had shut down. He was determined to reprise his role as Borat in a feature film designed to satirize the Trump administration ahead of the November election.But how?First he persuaded Universal Studios to allow him to shop his incomplete movie. Then he cobbled together an hour of footage. (The infamous scene with Rudolph W. Giuliani had yet to be filmed.) Hulu was interested. So was Netflix. But Amazon Studios was the one most committed to getting the movie out in time, no matter the cost.Amazon spent $80 million to acquire “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” a decision that incurred extra expenses because of Covid-19 protocols, test screenings in New Zealand — one of the few places in the world at the time where the company could gather a group of people in a dark movie theater — and a last-minute dash to incorporate all the gonzo footage before the film’s release on Oct. 23. (Mr. Cohen was cutting it close, still shooting three weeks before he had to deliver the movie.)“They broke every rule for us,” Mr. Cohen said in a phone interview. “There was a certain delivery schedule that they felt was necessary, and they halved that time. They realized the imperative of getting this out before the election. And they changed their procedures completely to help us do this. I’m really, really grateful.”Jennifer Salke, the head of Amazon Studios, is committed to spending upward of $100 million on a production if necessary.Credit…Rozette Rago for The New York TimesJennifer Salke, the head of Amazon Studios, is also grateful. When the Golden Globes air on Sunday, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” will be competing for three awards: best comedy or musical, best actor and best supporting actress (Maria Bakalova). Other Amazon acquisitions, including Regina King’s directorial debut, “One Night in Miami,” and “Sound of Metal,” starring Riz Ahmed, are also contending for prizes.Those accolades, coupled with the cultural impact “Borat” has enjoyed across the globe, have significantly altered the perception of Amazon Studios’ film division in Hollywood and among Amazon’s more than 150 million Prime subscribers. (The studio, which does not disclose viewer numbers, will say only that tens of millions of subscribers watched “Borat.”)Once a home for indie darlings such as “Manchester by the Sea” and “The Big Sick,” Amazon Prime Video is transforming itself into a place for commercial films with broad appeal that can travel internationally. It’s all part of Ms. Salke’s plan to turn Prime into a service people subscribe to for more than free shipping for their paper towels.“We had seen firsthand, when Amazon gets behind a piece of content, just how big the muscle is that they are capable of flexing,” said David Ellison, chief executive of Skydance Media and the producer of Amazon’s “Jack Ryan” series. He recently sold the films “Without Remorse” and “The Tomorrow War” to Amazon. “With ‘Borat,’ they showed they could do that with films, too.”Amazon has thrived in the last year, with profits increasing some 200 percent since the pandemic began. That success has extended to its film business. Like other streaming services, it has been able to snatch up big-budget, star-driven films that studios have been forced to shelve in response to the closing of movie theaters.Netflix, Apple, Disney+ and Hulu have all benefited from the studios’ woes, but Amazon has been one of the most aggressive in acquiring new movies.Michael B. Jordan has an overall content deal with Amazon that will allow him to explore areas like fashion, music and podcasts. Credit…Nadja Klier/Paramount PicturesIn September, Ms. Salke acquired “Without Remorse” — starring Michael B. Jordan and based on a Tom Clancy series — for $105 million. It will debut at the end of April. The next month, it paid $125 million for the rights to “Coming 2 America,” which will premiere next Friday. Eddie Murphy was initially hesitant about taking the sequel to his much-beloved film to Amazon, but Ms. Salke and others say he was reassured by the performance of “Borat.”In January, the company made its biggest bet yet, paying $200 million to acquire the Chris Pratt-led action film “The Tomorrow War,” which Paramount was set to release. It stands as Amazon’s largest financial commitment in acquiring a feature film. The company hopes to debut it on Prime Video this summer.“We don’t have a huge bench of big blockbuster movies in the works,” Ms. Salke said with a laugh. “So for us it was opportunistic to be able to lean into that.”With more players than ever joining the streaming fray (Paramount+, anyone?), the pace of delivering new content is an issue that every service worries about. Netflix threw down the gauntlet in January when it announced its 2021 strategy of delivering one new movie per week, which followed WarnerMedia’s announcement that all of Warner Bros.’s 2021 theatrical films will debut in theaters and on its HBO Max streaming service at the same time.With so much volume being offered by those two companies, along with Disney’s recent announcement that at least 80 percent of its 100 new projects will be earmarked for Disney+, the only way to compete is to go big.“It’s going to be really interesting over the next three years,” said Roeg Sutherland, one of the heads of media finance for Creative Artists Agency. “With platforms programming one new movie a week, this is fueling a competitive marketplace for high-end, independently financed films.”At the Sundance Film Festival last month, Apple paid a record $25 million for rights to the independent film “Coda.”Ms. Salke pushes back on the idea that her plans to broaden her offerings are a reaction to her competitors. Rather, she said, it’s the culmination of a strategy that began at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, when as a newcomer to the film world she spent $46 million to acquire four films, including “Late Night” with Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling, and the feel-good movie “Brittany Runs a Marathon.”Before joining Amazon, Ms. Salke spent her career in television, shepherding hits like “Modern Family” and “Glee” at 20th Century Fox and “This Is Us” at NBCUniversal. After her Sundance shopping spree, she was mocked by some film insiders as an out-of-touch television executive overspending to acquire niche movies.She was criticized for paying $13 million for “Late Night,” when it grossed $15.4 million at the box office. “Brittany Runs a Marathon” earned just $7 million. That commentary still seems to sting Ms. Salke, though she argues that she released the films theatrically only to appease the filmmakers. The movies’ real metric of success, she said, was how they played on the streaming service.Regina King on the set of “One Night in Miami” with Kingsley Ben-Adir. The actress turned director says she was amazed at how often she saw ads for her film while shopping on Amazon.Credit…Patti Perret/Amazon Studios, via Associated Press“Those movies all kept coming out as No. 1,” said Ms. Salke, referring to the films’ performances on Amazon Prime. “Every time we launched one, the next one would eclipse the next one. We were training our audience to know that we would have big original films that were more commercial on Prime Video. It’s a little bit of an ‘If you build it, they will come’ strategy.”But what happens to that plan once the pandemic is over and studios are no longer willing to sell their movies to streaming platforms?Amazon has some 34 films in various stages of production around the world, and Ms. Salke said the company was committed to spending upward of $100 million on a production if merited. (Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, is stepping down as the company’s chief executive this year, but the studio isn’t expecting any big changes when Andy Jassy takes the reins.)The Culver City, Calif., complex is still being built, and, if anything, investment has increased. Ms. Salke points to Aaron Sorkin’s upcoming film about Lucy and Desi Arnaz, starring Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem, as a potential hit. There’s also George Clooney’s film “The Tender Bar,” starring Ben Affleck, and an L.G.B.T.Q. romantic drama, “My Policeman,” featuring Harry Styles and Emma Corrin (“The Crown”).“The new news is that you will see us embrace some bigger projects going forward that are self-generated,” she said.In Ms. Salke’s mind, this was always the place where Amazon Film was going to land. And there is a newfound confidence to her outlook as she celebrates her third anniversary as the head of the studio. In addition to her recent acquisition spree, she has made overall content deals with Mr. Jordan and the actor and musician Donald Glover, which she says will reinforce her mission to burnish Amazon’s reputation as a talent-friendly place.With its healthy subscription base, Amazon is attracting those in Hollywood who are interested in the company’s global reach but also curious about the company’s other businesses that have the potential to expand a star’s brand beyond film and television.Mr. Jordan, for one, said his overall content deal would allow him to explore areas other studios couldn’t offer: specifically fashion, music and podcasts. His portrayal of the physical incarnation of Amazon’s Alexa during a Super Bowl ad was an example.And Ms. King got a kick out of just how pervasive Amazon’s marketing of her film was whenever she logged into the company’s e-commerce site.“When I’m on Amazon, buying doggy bags, and my film pops up at the top, that’s pretty amazing,” she said. “That’s like, wow! Every single day I am getting a text from someone who saw the movie that probably wouldn’t have seen it if it didn’t pop up in their shopping queue.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Julie Delpy, Science-Fiction Filmmaker? It’s True

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyJulie Delpy, Science-Fiction Filmmaker? It’s TrueBest known for romantic comedies, the creator of the cloning drama “My Zoe” refuses to be pigeonholed: “I love to mess up and not go in the direction that is expected.”Julie Delpy in Los Angeles. She wrote, directed and stars in the new film. Credit…Jake Michaels for The New York TimesFeb. 26, 2021, 11:49 a.m. ET“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” said a flustered Julie Delpy, who was a few minutes late for a video interview. “My son is doing online school, and there is always something complicated to sort out.” She paused and took a breath. “But it’s nice too, having this time together.”Motherhood, its deep pulls of love and its concomitant potential for terror, is the central subject of Delpy’s new film, “My Zoe.” It’s a tough depiction of an antagonistic divorcing couple who are struck by tragedy, but then (spoiler alert!) moves into futuristic terrain as Delpy’s character, Isabelle, a geneticist, searches for a radical solution: cloning the child she has lost with the help of a controversial fertility doctor, played by Daniel Brühl.Brühl, who has worked with Delpy previously and was also one of the film’s producers, said in a telephone interview that the questions the film raised about ethics and morality, “about what might be possible, or what is perhaps already possible,” were deeply interesting to him. His character was “driven by his scientific ambitions to hold these questionable moral positions, but also driven by a growing empathy for the despair of this one mother,” Brühl said.“My Zoe,” Glenn Kenny wrote in The New York Times, “is an unusually compelling domestic drama with sharp ears, a sharp eye, and up to a point, sharp teeth.”It’s probably not the kind of film that mainstream audiences associate with Delpy, 51, who may be best known for the Richard Linklater romantic-comedy trio “Before Sunrise,” “Before Sunset” and “Before Midnight.” In those movies, spaced nine years apart, she played Celine, a strong, flawed heroine at the center of a compelling and equally flawed romance with Jesse, played by Ethan Hawke. (She also co-wrote the films, earning two Oscar adapted-screenplay nominations alongside Linklater and Hawke.)The French-born Delpy has been acting since the age of 14, when Jean-Luc Godard cast her in “Detective,” and she has worked in European art house cinema as well as mainstream Hollywood movies. But Delpy, whose parents were actors, has always wanted to write and direct, and she has done so since the mid-1990s: “My Zoe” is her seventh film and she has a number of writing and directing projects in the works, including a television series, “On the Verge,” in production for Canal Plus and Netflix.In an hourlong interview from her Los Angeles home last week, she talked about the genesis of “My Zoe,” the ethical questions around cloning, and whether conditions for female movie directors have improved. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.Delpy with Sophia Ally as Zoe in a scene from the film.Credit…Blue Fox EntertainmentWhat made you take on a subject and a genre so different from your previous films?When I worked with Godard, he published a book of letters he had written to actors and never sent. To me, he wrote, be careful in your life because people will put you in a box. He knew I wanted to direct, not just be a pretty actress. For me it’s essential not to stay in one place, it’s just not interesting. I love to mess up and not go in the direction that is expected.The story of “My Zoe” comes from a few different places. I was witness to a terrible accident with a child who died at my school and to the grief of the parents. And then being a parent yourself, you always think about this and fear it. But I think I had the idea even before that. I remember talking to [Krzysztof] Kieslowski when we were making “Three Colors: White” and discussing the idea of fate, and whether you could change things.I have seen so many movies in which people deal with death, and the main idea is acceptance. When you think about it, loss is an ancestral burden, particularly for women, who for centuries routinely lost babies at birth or young children. Isabelle refuses that condition of loss; she rebels and tries to recreate a child who is only hers. That’s the No. 1 fear of men, and I think that’s partly why this idea upsets many people.You divide the film into three parts, and the first shows the grim, petty realities of divorce; why was it important to you to set up the story in that way?I was writing the film in the middle of a separation, and sorting out custody of our kid, and it was important to me to have the first act be all about that horrible stuff, because I wanted to show how people forget the big thing: the well-being of the child. Sometimes in films, you get the bigger picture of separation; they don’t do the minutiae of breaking up with a child [involved]. I wanted to build a story from something rooted in reality, so that when you move into the next act, it doesn’t feel like science fiction.The second part, after Zoe’s accident, is luckily less familiar to most of us but still grounded in reality, and then we move into the third part, to events that are a possibility in the near future if not now. I didn’t want to be judgmental about Isabelle’s actions, just show her point of view. I am not saying that cloning is a good thing, but I’m saying, let’s not blind ourselves: When I.V.F. was first done, people called it evil and now they don’t think twice. For me, it’s an allegory of what people are capable of doing.Daniel Brühl said that you can be “very nerdy, very precise, a real perfectionist” as a director. How did you manage that role alongside this emotionally draining part in “My Zoe”?Often I would really rather have another actress play my role, but I always do these low-budget films and it helps to have a bit of a name. It irritates people that I do everything, they think it’s megalomania. But it really isn’t, just necessity!Yes, I am a perfectionist, and this film was really hard. The actors and I talked a lot before takes, but it’s very hard to judge the quality of a scene if you are also acting in it. The main tool is the playback; you need time to look at your own performance and make sure you are giving very different colors to scenes. In this case, I was very conscious of not turning it into a melodrama. We had a low budget and limited time — not a good combination. But I am not scared of difficulty, struggling, even chaos. Perhaps that’s the one thing I have in common with Isabelle.You’ve been outspoken about the difficulties facing female filmmakers — do you think things have improved in the last few years?I am happy to say things have improved. Now I feel I’m at the same level as male directors, and probably have almost the same opportunities. I see this particularly clearly in France; America isn’t quite there yet for all the talk about feminism and racism and equality. But there has been change. When I made “Two Days in Paris,” at 36, I had to battle for a half a million dollar budget; talking to younger female filmmakers now, that’s not the case.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      ‘Tom & Jerry’ Review: Chasing the Mouse of Nostalgia

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story‘Tom & Jerry’ Review: Chasing the Mouse of NostalgiaThis feature-length expansion of the popular cartoon is too brainless for adults, but its kid-friendly title characters are barely supporting players.The animated characters Tom, right, and Jerry navigate New York City streets in “Tom & Jerry.”Credit…Warner Bros.Feb. 26, 2021, 11:00 a.m. ETTom & Jerry: The MovieDirected by Tim StoryAnimation, Adventure, Comedy, FamilyPG1h 41mFind TicketsWhen you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate commission.Affectionate nostalgia can attach itself to the most inexplicable and undeserving of recipients, which is about the only explanation for the existence of “Tom & Jerry,” a new feature-length expansion of the cartoon shorts of the 1940s and 1950s (and endless television rebroadcasts thereafter). Those were simple, slapstick cat-and-mouse chase comedies; here, the characters are uneasily blended, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”-style, into a live-action New York City, where a quick-thinking hustler (Chloë Grace Moretz) bluffs her way into a job at a swank hotel in the midst of preparations for a high-society wedding. Tom and Jerry are also guests at the property, albeit uninvited ones. Shenanigans ensue.The director Tim Story (of “Barbershop” and the execrable 2019 “Shaft” reboot) and the screenwriter Kevin Costello, reimagine Tom as a shades-wearing street musician, throw in jokes referencing Drake, T.I. and TikTok, and fill the soundtrack with classic hip-hop. It’s all flop sweat, a sad, desperate attempt to make Tom and Jerry the one thing they never were: cool.[embedded content]They also weren’t crass, which creates some tension with the demands of a contemporary “family” comedy; the picture’s low point finds an animated bulldog squatting and defecating in the middle of a crosswalk, prompting the co-star Michael Peña (poor, poor Michael Peña) to shriek, “How many burritos did you eat?” The de rigueur slapstick scenes for the title characters don’t even play, as the integration of animation and live action is so clunky that it feels like we’re watching special effects demonstrations rather than gags.Some of the performances are enjoyable. Moretz is charmingly game, Peña is funny because Peña is always funny and Rob Delaney has fun with his role as the hotel’s fussy manager. But the laughs they generate have little to do with Tom or Jerry; they’re borne of the personas and charisma of the cast.There is some value to “Tom & Jerry,” though, in that it lays bare the unacknowledged truth at the center of the entertainment industry’s undying fealty to existing intellectual property. Put simply: Just because it was on television when you were a kid, doesn’t mean it was good.Tom & Jerry: The MovieRated PG. Running time: 1 hour 41 minutes. In theaters and on HBO Max. Please consult the guidelines outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before watching movies inside theaters.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Amanda Seyfried Fears Pregnancy Would Ruin Her Experience Filming 'Mank'

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      WENN/Nicky Nelson

      The ‘Mamma Mia!’ star, who gave birth to her second child with husband Thomas Sadoski in September 2020, portrays real-life 1930s actress Marion Davies in the Herman J. Mankiewicz biopic.

      Feb 26, 2021
      AceShowbiz – Amanda Seyfried was “terrified” when she discovered she was pregnant at the start of filming “Mank”, because she dreaded the thought of dealing with morning sickness while onset.
      The “Mamma Mia!” star portrays real-life 1930s actress Marion Davies in the Herman J. Mankiewicz biopic, which chronicles his battle to complete the screenplay for Orson Welles’ “Citizen Kane”.
      However, Seyfried admits she had nothing to fear, because the excitement of working on the David Fincher passion project, opposite Gary Oldman as Mankiewicz, made her temporarily forget she was expecting.
      Recalling her initial reaction to her positive pregnancy test, Seyfried said, “I was very surprised, and I was also terrified, because the anticipation of getting to set everyday, especially when you’re waking up at 3am, which is the earliest I’ve ever gotten up for a job, knowing that I’m gonna have morning sickness, knowing how horrible I feel physiologically, was just that was a challenge. Just getting mind over matter and getting to set (was difficult).”

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      “Of course, when I was on set, everything disappeared, we’d roll the cameras and I’d forget that I was pregnant for a second,” she added. “But it’s that challenging part at the beginning of a pregnancy that I thought was really gonna ruin my experience, but it was even better because I had this little man in me.”
      [embedded content]
      Filming was completed in early February 2020 and she gave birth to a son, her second child with husband Thomas Sadoski, in September.
      Her performance in “Mank”, which was released in November, has since won her critical acclaim, as well as a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

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      Helen Mirren to Team Up With Gillian Anderson for 'Wonder' Spin-Off

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      WENN/Avalon/Lia Toby

      Lionsgate’s companion film to its 2017 hit, ‘White Bird: A Wonder Story’ has Ariella Glaser and Orlando Schwerdt in the starring roles, and Bryce Gheisar returning as bully Julian.

      Feb 26, 2021
      AceShowbiz – The Queen and Margaret Thatcher are teaming up for a new film. Dame Helen Mirren, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II, and Gillian Anderson, who played the former British Prime Minister on “The Crown”, will co-star in “White Bird: A Wonder Story”, Lionsgate’s companion film to 2017 hit “Wonder”.
      Ariella Glaser and Orlando Schwerdt will play the film’s leads, while Bryce Gheisar is set to reprise his role as bully Julian from “Wonder”, which was based on a New York Times bestseller about a boy with facial differences. Mirren will take on the role of Grandmere, Julian’ Parisian grandmother, and Anderson will portray the mother of Schwerdt’s character.
      Production on the new film has already begun in Eastern Europe, according to Deadline, with Marc Forster in the director’s chair.

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      “I am deeply honored to have Helen Mirren join us on this journey,” said Forster in a statement. “Beyond being a brilliant actress, Helen brings an immeasurable level of depth, humanity, and empathy to her roles, elevating any project she is a part of. She is a true artist and I couldn’t be more excited to have her alongside our incredibly talented cast.”
      Also commenting on Mirren’s casting was Nathan Kahane, President of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group. In a released statement, he said, “Helen Mirren is a screen legend – one of our industry’s most accomplished and talented actresses – so, obviously, it’s hugely exciting to know that she loves this story as much as we do and wanted to be a part of it.”
      “We’re equally excited to showcase Ariella and Orlando’s talents – as they take on their first major roles, they’ll bring heart, emotion, and magnetism to their performances and we are thrilled Bryce will return to bridge his role from ‘Wonder’,” he added. ” ‘White Bird: A Wonder Story’ is the kind of movie that the world needs now and it’s a thrill to have these incredible actors bringing to life this story of compassion, empathy, kindness, and hope.”

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      First 'Army of the Dead' Teaser Trailer Offers Glam Look at Heist Amid Zombie Apocalypse

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      [embedded content]

      Directed by Zack Snyder, the upcoming original Netflix movie is described as ‘a full-blown, balls-to-the-wall zombie heist movie’ that offers ‘genre-on-genre in a great way.’

      Feb 26, 2021
      AceShowbiz – There have been a bunch of zombie apocalypse movies and TV series, but “Army of the Dead” appears to offer a different take on the horror story. The first official teaser trailer for the upcoming film has been released by Netflix, giving a glimpse of somewhat glamorous setting amid epic chaotic scenes.
      According to the official logline, the movie is about a group of mercenaries who take the ultimate gamble, venturing into the quarantine zone to pull off the greatest heist ever attempted following a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas.
      The sneak-peek video hints that the story takes place at the beginning of the zombie outbreak, as there’s still a sense of normality left before a horde of zombies attacks people at the casino. The glam look of gamblers and entertainers soon turns into a war zone as there are huge explosions and shots coming from everywhere.

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      From Zack Snyder, the man behind “Man of Steel”, “Dawn of the Dead” and the upcoming “Zack Snyder’s Justice League”, “Army of the Dead” is described as a zombie heist film. It stars Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Ana de la Reguera, Matthias Schweighofer, Nora Arnezeder, Hiroyuki Sanada, Raul Castillo, Michael Cassidy and Garret Dillahunt among others, with the screenplay being written by Snyder, Shay Hatten and Joby Harold.
      “It is a full-blown, balls-to-the-wall zombie heist movie, so it’s genre-on-genre in a great way,” Snyder recently told Entertainment Weekly of the movie. “So you expect pure zombie mayhem, and you get that, 100 percent. But also you get these really amazing characters on a fantastic journey. It’s going to surprise people that there’s a lot of warmth and real emotion with these great characters.”
      The project was initially developed at Warner Bros., which passed on it before it’s picked up Netflix. The streamer has shown a vote of confidence in “Army of the Dead”, as it is set to produce “Army of the Dead: The Prequel”, a German-American co-production directed and starring Matthias Schweighofer. It is also planning on developing an anime-style TV series, “Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas”, which will see several of the characters from the main film reprising their roles.

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      Color of Change Calls for End of Support for Golden Globes Amid Corruption and Bullying Allegations

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      https://www.goldenglobes.com/

      Calling the allegations against the HFPA ‘egregious,’ Color of Change president Rashad Robinson urges networks to hold their support for an awards show that is ‘rigged.’

      Feb 26, 2021
      AceShowbiz – The upcoming 2021 Golden Globe Awards has been plagued with serious accusations of corruption, bullying and self-dealing. Just days leading to the 78th annual award-giving event, there is a call for an end of support for the show, which is often dubbed one of the most prestigious events in Hollywood.
      Color of Change president Rashad Robinson is the one speaking on the alleged problems within the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), which presents the Golden Globes. Noticing how big the impact of winning a Golden Globe is, he tells Yahoo Finance, “Those doors that get closed [by not winning a Golden Globe award] are economic doors, are doors to greater opportunities. Are doors where people can then build businesses for the future and so that is why this is so important. That’s why these allegations are so egregious, because the role that the Golden Globes had in being able to be sort of this door opener, should be questioned.”
      Robinson also addresses criticism directed at the HFPA for not giving black people and their works more recognition. “There are black creatives who did get nominated this year that we should be celebrating and uplifting,” he claims. “The Golden Globes director category is more diverse from a gender perspective, I believe, than ever before. So there are some things that we should sort of make sure that we don’t throw out.”

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      Hoping for a change, he suggests how people should take action in the matter, “If the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is not willing to sort of interrogate their rules, deal with the leadership challenges they have, then they don’t deserve our support anymore.”
      “The networks that run them should question whether or not they’re running a system, an awards show that is rigged, or has these types of violations,” Robinson adds. “We would hold our support or we would push back on other big events if we thought that they were rigged, right?”
      The L.A. Times first came up with the allegations against the HFPA. In its report based on its investigation, the paper claimed the organization is “struggling to shake its reputation as a group whose awards or nominations can be influenced with expensive junkets and publicity swag,” putting the legitimacy of Golden Globes in question.
      The 2021 Golden Globe Awards is set to take place on Sunday, February 28, with Tina Fey co-hosting from the Rainbow Room in New York City, and Amy Poehler co-hosting from The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California.

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      Rosamund Pike Warns About Effects of Her Body Being Photoshopped in Movie Posters

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      ‘Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry’ Review: Fame and Family

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story‘Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry’ Review: Fame and FamilyA documentary captures the creation of Eilish’s multiple-Grammy-winning debut album, recorded at home but poised to go global.Billie Eilish granted access to filmmakers at a fragile time when her album’s success wasn’t guaranteed.Credit…Apple TV+Feb. 25, 2021Billie Eilish, the ultramodern pop star who’s both colorfully gothic and establishment-friendly, is a fascinating subject: vividly creative, offhandedly vulnerable, barely visibly self-conscious. And also, a teenager. “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry,” the new documentary about her rise, finds her shaping global aesthetics while cocooned in a close-knit family, and treats both circumstances with equal casualness. In this film, all of Eilish’s interactions are human-scale, or smaller.“Blurry” — directed, with determined informality, by R.J. Cutler (“The War Room,” “The September Issue”) — doesn’t tell a story about Eilish so much as sit back and presume that one will unfold. Which, of course, it does. Her 2019 debut album, “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?,” is the product of countless home bedroom recording sessions with her brother, Finneas, who produces all of her music. That album goes on to earn her five Grammys. Cameras were there throughout.And yet “Blurry” isn’t triumphant, strictly speaking. Instead, it relies on the accretive power of the mundane. It moves forward without narration, and sometimes without narrative rhythm — often it feels almost observational, like a nature film. The abundance of footage, and the space it’s given to breathe — the movie is almost two and a half hours long — captures the restless loneliness of superstardom.[embedded content]Eilish’s approach to that fame is both game and shrugging. Her songwriting is visceral and often dark: she shows the journal in which she draws ghoulish scenes and writes poems that may become lyrics, including, in all caps, “I WANA END ME.” Even when the film shows fans clamoring for Eilish, it remains resolute in centering her. In footage drawn from various concerts around the world, the sound focuses tightly on her vocals, turning even arena shows into sites of outrageous intimacy.At times, “Blurry” suggests greater friction happening just out of sight, gently spotlighting the tug of war between Eilish and the expectations placed upon her. Closing in on completing the album, Finneas grumbles, “I feel like I’ve been, like, told to write a hit, but I’ve been told to not tell Billie that we have to write a hit.” Later, when Eilish and Finneas are recording her song for the James Bond film “No Time to Die,” she mopes over the theatrical belting it requires: “I’m gonna get made fun of by the internet when I do it.”Toward the end of the film, as she’s touring her album around the world, fissures appear. Her ankle finally gives out at a show in Milan, and in New York, she bristles at the after-show circus of photo ops with hangers-on, and then again when someone posts online that she had been rude. At Coachella, a frisky, eyes-bugged Orlando Bloom (paramour of Katy Perry) offers hugs backstage, and Eilish also awkwardly meets Justin Bieber, her childhood idol. Bieber is a recurring character here, as an abstract deity, then a generous collaborator, and also as a symbolic foil, a reminder of what happens when teen stardom goes awry.Eilish appears unlikely to unravel before the cameras. Stars are being filmed constantly now anyhow — the gap between social media videos and actual film is shrinking with each passing iPhone camera improvement. That advertorial content has extended into the domain of documentary film isn’t novel anymore.So on the one hand, it’s noteworthy that a rising star like Eilish granted heavy access to a filmmaker long before her debut album was even completed. That is a fragile time, with no guarantee of success, to permit to be captured for posterity.And yet even when Eilish is besieged or bedraggled, there is never anything other than a sense of safety in this footage. The boilerplate language that appears at the end of the film’s credits reminds why: “Interscope Records is the author of this cinematographic or audiovisual work.”Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little BlurryRated R. Running time: Running time: 2 hours 20 minutes. In theaters and on Apple TV+. Please consult the guidelines outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before watching movies inside theaters.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More