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In “Anatomy of a Scene,” we ask directors to reveal the secrets that go into making key scenes in their movies. See new episodes in the series each Friday. You can also watch our collection of more than 150 videos on YouTube and subscribe to our YouTube channel.A sibling leaving for college becomes a moment of anguish in “The King of Staten Island.”The director Judd Apatow narrates this sequence featuring Pete Davidson as Scott and Maude Apatow as his sister, Claire. (The actress is the director’s daughter.) On the evening before she leaves, Claire gives Scott a parting gift that’s also born of guilt, because she feels a bit as if she’s abandoning him.Apatow discusses navigating the seriousness of the scene while making time for comic moments. He also said the scene, which he wrote with Davidson and Dave Sirus, came from discussions about Davidson’s family relationships.In the scene, Scott says it was worse for him because his sister was too young to have gotten to know their father when he died. They debate who had it worse.“In a way, the scene is almost an apology to his real-life sister for not acknowledging how bad her pain was at times,” Apatow says.Read the “King of Staten Island” review.Sign up for the Movies Update newsletter and get a roundup of reviews, news, Critics’ Picks and more. More

Hi, I’m Judd Apatow. And I’m the director and co-writer of ‘The King of Staten Island.’ This is a scene from early in ‘The King of Staten Island.’ That’s Maude Apatow, who is playing Pete’s sister Claire. And in this scene, she is about to leave for college the next day. And she’s giving her brother a set of paints to encourage him to pursue his tattooing dream more aggressively. “I know you’re into art, so I thought you could expand your horizons while I’m gone.” “You got a gift receipt for this?” But it’s also a guilt gift, because she’s leaving and on some level, abandoning him. So under the guise of being nice, she is bee-lining for the door. “Be nice to mom, O.K.? Don’t give her a hard time. She deserves a break.” “I always give her a break. When am I going to get my break? Like—” “What are you talking about? All anyone ever does is worry about you.” In this conversation, Pete’s character is really on to her. They know each other so well, and he knows this as a guilt gift. He knows she’s trying to get away from him. And he’s also guilty and insecure that he’s made her childhood difficult, because he’s taken up so much air in the room from all of his problems. “What are you going to do? Are you going to get a job? Or are you going to leave the house?” “I don’t know. I’m going to open that tattoo restaurant.” “No, like, for real.” “I am being real. It’s never been done before. I looked it up. I googled it. It’s never been done, not even as a joke.” “Because no one wants to go to a restaurant and watch people get tattooed while they eat. It’s gross.” “It’s the best idea ever. Ruby Tat-Tuesday’s, where everyone’s welcome — chicken and tattoos.” “What I like about this scene is it’s very real. It’s very tense. And yet, both the actor and the actress find a way to be really funny in showing how their relationship melts down. In the scene, they talk about how Scott thinks it was worse for him, because he got to know their dad. And it’s easier for her, because she was too young to have gotten to know him when he died. That’s something that Pete Davidson talked about that, that’s something that he debates with his sister. Who had it worse? And in a way, the scene is almost an apology to his real-life sister for not acknowledging how bad her pain was at times. We shot this scene over an entire day. We had rehearsed it a lot and done a lot of improvisations. One of the reasons why I wanted Maude to do it is she’s very alive and very present, and so is Pete. And I knew you would feel it in her eyes every moment that she loves him, but also, she’s so guilty about leaving the house.” More

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which oversees the Academy Awards, announced Friday a handful of efforts to improve inclusion both within its organization and for the Oscars themselves.For the annual telecast, which next year may be in flux because of the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, the academy will create a task force to develop new inclusion standards for Oscar eligibility by the end of July. The academy has not yet determined what those standards will be, and films submitted this year will not be affected. The organization also announced that the best picture category will be set at 10 films rather than the fluctuating number of nominations that has been in effect since the 2010 Oscars.Internally, the organization’s Board of Governors amended its bylaws to limit the number of terms each governor may serve on the board to a maximum of 12. Previously, there was no limit.It’s unclear what the diversity requirements will entail but the academy could take a page from its brethren in Britain: In 2019, the British Film Institute became the first major awards body to introduce diversity and inclusion criteria into its eligibility requirements. All entries in two British film categories, outstanding British film and outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer, are now required to increase representation to meet at least two of four diversity standards, like “onscreen representation, themes and narratives,” and “industry access and opportunities.” among others.“The need to address this issue is urgent,” the academy’s chief executive, Dawn Hudson, said in a statement. “To that end, we will amend — and continue to examine — our rules and procedures to ensure that all voices are heard and celebrated.”These efforts, which are part of the initiative titled “Academy Aperture 2025,” will also include a series of panels titled “Academy Dialogue: It Starts with Us” for members and the public on race, ethnicity and history. A forthcoming conversation led by Whoopi Goldberg, a member of the board of governors, will center on the impact of racist tropes and harmful stereotypes in Hollywood films.The inclusion effort will expand to the academy’s Los Angeles museum and its collections and programs. The museum, a $388 million project that has been hampered by cost overruns and fund-raising challenges, is set to open in December, though that too may be delayed because of the pandemic shut down.The academy’s membership came under intense scrutiny in 2016, the second year in a row that the organization did not nominate any actors of color for Oscars and overlooked films that focused on black characters for best-picture nominations. Humiliated by the resulting #OscarsSoWhite outrage, academy leaders vowed to double the number of people of color and women members by 2020.In 2015, 8 percent were people of color, and 25 percent were women. As of last year, people of color made up 16 percent of the membership, according to the academy, and women made up 32 percent.On Wednesday, the academy announced its new board of governors, adding the director Ava DuVernay to its ranks in addition to the 2020 Oscars producer Lynette Howell Taylor, increasing the number of female Academy governors to 26 out of 54, and people of color to 12.Membership is expected to expand again next month when the academy announces its new class.So far, the academy has stuck to Feb. 28, 2021, for the ceremony. The organization has been discussing whether a postponement will be needed because of complications from the shutdown. More

Mirza, the landlord of Fatima Mahal, the picturesquely crumbling mansion at the center of the Hindi film “Gulabo Sitabo” (streaming on Amazon Prime), is fighting a long, cranky war with the tenants he regards as vermin in his house. He steals their light bulbs, cuts their power and locks them out of spare bathrooms when the communal latrine becomes unusable. A swift kick of frustration was all it took to make a person-size hole in its wall.The main focus of Mirza’s hostility is Baankey, who lives with his mother and sisters in a few crowded rooms, and pays the grandfathered-in rent of 30 rupees (less than a dollar). When their battle escalates — who will pay to fix the bathroom wall? — a small-time lawyer becomes involved. Also snooping around: a government archaeologist, who has his own plans for Fatima Mahal.Set in old Lucknow, with the modern world intruding at first only in a few objects (a motorcycle, a cellphone), “Gulabo Sitabo” is at once a lightly allegorical riff on the forces and counterforces of Indian modernization and a character-based comedy powered by two Bollywood stars.In one corner, the heavyweight champ: Amitabh Bachchan, Hindi cinema’s angry young man turned grand old man. Hunched over and mumbling, his famous face hidden behind a bushy beard and a hawklike prosthetic nose, Bachchan plays Mirza with a character actor’s delicacy and attention to detail.In the other corner, the kid: Ayushmann Khurrana, a young actor who has made a specialty of playing Indian Everymen. As Baankey, he has a slightly stunned look that suggests oceans of tamped-down desire and ambition. Bachchan’s Mirza, equally indignant and ineffectual, has his own version of that stunned look.If these dazed, hapless men get most of the screen time, the women in the movie, operating in the margins, consistently outwit them. When Baankey’s girlfriend points out that he’s not too intelligent, he flings the insult back at her, telling her she’s not smart. “I’m not,” she agrees. “But at least I pretend to be. And by pretending over a period of time I will become.” It is a woman, one who long ago became smart, who decides the fate of Fatima Mahal, in the charming end twist.Directed by Shoojit Sircar and written by Juhi Chaturvedi (Bachchan worked with the pair before, in “Piku”), “Gulabo Sitabo” is not standard Bollywood fare: no singing, no dancing, no melodrama (and no three-hour run time). It’s part of a new wave of movies with indie spirit, and even its release plan — going direct to streaming instead of waiting out the pandemic to open in cinemas — challenges established dogmas, to some consternation in the Indian film industry.That certainly diminishes its cinematic splendor: Shot by Avik Mukhopadhyay in a rich palette of rusts and greens, it paints a beautiful but unfussy, picture of lived-in old Lucknow. But it also throws into relief the movie’s strengths. Star power aside, it’s more chamber work than symphony, more character study than Bollywood blowout. Refreshing on all counts.Gulabo SitaboNot rated. In Hindi, with subtitles. Running time: 2 hours 4 minutes. Watch on Amazon. More