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    Barbara Windsor, Beloved British TV and Film Star, Dies at 83

    #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeHoliday TVBest Netflix DocumentariesAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyBarbara Windsor, Beloved British TV and Film Star, Dies at 83She went from bubbly sex symbol in the “Carry On” films to working-class hero on “EastEnders.” Her private life was often as troubled as her “EastEnders” character’s.The actress Barbara Windsor at the British Academy Television Awards in London in 2009. She was a star of the series “EastEnders” on and off from 1994 to 2016.Credit…Luke Macgregor/ReutersDec. 18, 2020Updated 4:07 p.m. ETLONDON — Barbara Windsor, a star of the “Carry On” films and the long-running BBC soap opera “EastEnders,” whose dirty staccato laugh and ability to embody working-class life seared her into Britain’s collective memory, died on Dec. 10 at a care home here. She was 83.Her death was announced in a statement by Scott Mitchell, her husband and only immediate survivor, who said the cause was Alzheimer’s disease.Ms. Windsor with Prime Minister Boris Johnson last year in London. Mr. Johnson wrote on Twitter that Ms. Windsor had “cheered the world up with her own British brand of harmless sauciness and innocent scandal.”Credit…Pool photo by Simon DawsonIn a sign of the impact Ms. Windsor had on Britain’s cultural life over the last six decades, members of the royal family were among those who paid tribute on social media, as was Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who wrote on Twitter that Ms. Windsor “cheered the world up with her own British brand of harmless sauciness and innocent scandal.”Ms. Windsor also had an impact in the United States, albeit briefly, when she appeared on Broadway in 1964 in “Oh! What a Lovely War,” Joan Littlewood’s music-hall-style show that used irreverent songs from World War I to mock the absurdity of conflict.Some American theatergoers might have found Ms. Windsor’s cockney accent hard to understand — one of her first movies, “Sparrows Can’t Sing,” played with subtitles at some screenings in New York — but she was nominated for a Tony Award for best featured actress in a musical.In 1970, she told a BBC interviewer that she really wanted to make a film in Hollywood, preferably a comedy with Jack Lemmon. “That’d be smashing, wouldn’t it?” she said. She didn’t achieve that particular ambition, but she was soon immortalized in British movie theaters thanks to her roles in the farcical, innuendo-laden — and hugely successful — “Carry On” movies.Later, she became even more well known for her role as the matriarchal pub landlady Peggy Mitchell on “EastEnders,” a character she portrayed on and off from 1994 to 2016. She stopped once her Alzheimer’s made it impossible to continue.Ms. Windsor with her “EastEnders” co-stars in 1999, during the filming of an episode that included the wedding of her character, Peggy Mitchell.Credit…John Stillwell/PA, via Associated PressMs. Windsor was born Barbara Ann Deeks on Aug. 6, 1937, in Shoreditch, then a working-class part of East London. Her father, John, a bus driver, and her mother, Rose, a dressmaker, had a tumultuous marriage, and at 15 Ms. Windsor was made to testify about their rows at a divorce hearing.As a child in World War II, she was evacuated to Blackpool, a seaside resort in northern England. There, she revealed in her 2001 autobiography, “All of Me: My Extraordinary Life,” she first stayed with a family that tried to abuse her sexually, before moving in with a friend whose mother sent them both to dance lessons. The mother was so impressed by her talent that she wrote a letter to Ms. Windsor’s parents begging them to let her take lessons in London. “She’s a proper show-off,” the letter said, Ms. Windsor recalled in the 1970 BBC interview.Back in London, Ms. Windsor was spotted by a talent agent who tried to cast her in a pantomime, the peculiarly British form of theater popular at Christmas, but her school refused to give her time off. She eventually left to go to acting school, where the teachers repeatedly tried — and failed — to get her to lose her accent.Ms. Windsor became celebrated for her bawdy roles in the “Carry On” comedy movies. She is seen here with Sid James, as King Henry VIII, in a scene from “Carry On Henry” (1971).Credit…Bob Dear/Associated PressFor all the promise Ms. Windsor showed, her break didn’t come until 1960, when she traveled to East London to audition for a role with Ms. Littlewood’s Theater Workshop, a company whose works often brought working-class life and humor onstage. The acclaim she got for her work there soon led to appearances on TV and then in film, where she became celebrated for her bawdy roles in the “Carry On” comedies.In those films, the camera often focused on the short (4-foot-11) but buxom Ms. Windsor’s figure. She is probably best remembered for a scene in “Carry On Camping” (1969) in which her bikini top flies off during an outdoor aerobics class (during filming an assistant pulled the top off using a fishing line). That clip has been shown numerous times on British television ever since.Ms. Windsor in 1980 with Ronnie Knight, her first husband, who had just been released on bail after more than two weeks in custody. He was accused (and later acquitted) of ordering a hit man to murder his brother’s killer.Credit…Associated PressAlthough Ms. Windsor found success onscreen, her private life was troubled. She had liaisons with a series of famous men, including the soccer player George Best and the East London gangsters Reggie and Charlie Kray. In 1964 she married Ronnie Knight, another gangster, who in 1980 was tried for ordering a hit man to murder his brother’s killer (he was acquitted), and in 1983 was involved in stealing six million pounds (more than 17 million pounds, or about $23 million, in today’s money) from a security depot and fled to Spain.Her relationship with Mr. Knight caused her to have a nervous breakdown, she told the BBC in the 1990 interview. That marriage and a subsequent one ended in divorce.Her life got back on track on the 1990s after she was cast as Peggy Mitchell on “EastEnders,” the wildly popular kitchen-sink soap opera whose story lines often reflected social issues.She quickly became one of the show’s stars, known for slapping her co-stars when the plot demanded a climatic moment and for story lines that could be far darker than anything one would find in a “Carry On” movie. (In 2010, one of her character’s sons burned down the pub in the middle of a crack cocaine binge.)In the 1990s, her character had breast cancer twice and underwent a mastectomy, a plot that led hundreds of viewers to write to the BBC to express gratitude for how sensitively she handled the subject. In 2016, in her final appearance on the show, her character killed herself because her cancer had returned.Whatever happened to Ms. Windsor, onscreen or off, she never lost the joy of performing.“I don’t think negatively,” she told the BBC in 1990 when asked how she would look back on her life. “I’ll pick out all those wonderful things that have happened, and how lucky that I got paid — paid! — for doing something that I absolutely adored.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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    Gal Gadot Confirms She's Included in Very Thorough 'Justice League' Investigation

    WENN

    The Wonder Woman star reveals she was interviewed as a part of a ‘very thorough’ inquiry into the misconduct allegations made by Ray Fisher against Joss Whedon.

    Dec 19, 2020
    AceShowbiz – Gal Gadot was interviewed as part of WarnerMedia’s investigation into alleged misconduct on the “Justice League” set.
    The actress has confirmed she was included in the “very thorough investigation” into allegations made by actor Ray Fisher, who previously accused Joss Whedon and producers Geoff Johns and Jon Berg of engaging in misconduct.
    Gal – who starred as Wonder Woman in the 2017 movie – said, “I know that they’ve done a very thorough investigation, even just by how much time I spent with them.”
    WarnerMedia recently confirmed it had concluded its investigation and that remedial action has been taken. However, the company refused to elaborate on what action had been taken.
    Speaking to “The Big Ticket”, Gal confessed, “I don’t know what that means either. I’m curious to know what’s going to be the outcome.”

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    Earlier this year, Ray alleged that racial issues played a role in determining the film’s final cut.
    The actor – who played the part of Cyborg in the movie – suggested the decision to give his character a diminished role in the film “was neither an accident nor coincidence.”
    Speaking about his experience of making the movie, Ray explained, “The erasure of people of colour from the 2017 theatrical version of Justice League was neither an accident nor coincidence.”
    The Hollywood star also blasted the director’s attitude on Twitter, writing his “treatment of the cast and crew of Justice League was gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable.”
    “He was enabled, in many ways, by Geoff Johns and Jon Berg… Accountability >Entertainment. (sic)”
    Meanwhile, Ray confirmed earlier this month (Dec20) he’d received a statement from WarnerMedia about the investigation, but stressed there are “still conversations that need to be had and resolutions that need to be found.”

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    Leslie Odom Jr. Quarantining Away From Pregnant Wife and Young Kid After ‘Ellen’ Appearance

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    Film Academy Museum Delays Its Opening Again

    #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Coronavirus OutbreakliveLatest UpdatesMaps and CasesThe Latest Vaccine InformationU.S. Deaths Surpass 300,000F.A.Q.AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyFilm Academy Museum Delays Its Opening AgainThe Academy Museum of Motion Pictures pushed back its opening to Sept. 30, 2021, from April 30, citing the difficulty of forecasting when public life may begin to normalize.The museum recently installed a 1,208-pound model of the shark featured in “Jaws” above an escalator.Credit…Chris Pizzello/Invision, via Associated PressDec. 18, 2020, 1:00 p.m. ETLOS ANGELES — The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is starting to feel a little cursed. Since the project was announced in 2012 — with an opening expected in 2017 — setbacks have included sparring architects, the discovery of mastodon fossils by excavation crews, a budget that ballooned by roughly 90 percent, the ouster of its founding director and now, for the second time, the coronavirus pandemic.On Friday, the museum pushed back its opening to Sept. 30, 2021, from April 30, citing the virus and difficulty forecasting when public life may begin to normalize. The pandemic already scuppered a planned opening this week. “With the current surge of Covid-19, it would be irresponsible to maintain an April opening,” Bill Kramer, the museum’s director and president, said by phone. “It’s not because we aren’t ready. Work has been moving forward. We’re completely on track.”Ted Sarandos, chairman of the museum’s board of trustees and Netflix’s co-chief executive, added in a statement: “It’s just a matter of patience, for all of us, as we look ahead to opening our doors on Sept. 30.” A private gala was set for Sept. 25.How did the museum select those dates? This month, for instance, Warner Bros. said it would still be too difficult to release movies normally by next December because of the pandemic.Mr. Kramer said summer was not an ideal time to inaugurate a cultural institution (too many people scattered here and there). An early September opening would collide with the Telluride and Toronto film festivals.Had the $482 million museum stuck to its April plan, a marketing campaign would have started next month. Hiring was also set to begin for gallery guards and ticket takers.For all of its stops and starts, the museum has gotten its act together under Mr. Kramer, who was hired last year. (He previously served as vice president of development for the Brooklyn Academy of Music.) In recent months, the museum has hired the film scholar and Turner Classic Movies host Jacqueline Stewart as its chief artistic and programming officer; repaired relationships with Hollywood collectors; attained LEED eco-friendly certification; and reached its pre-opening fund-raising goal of $388 million. Despite difficult working conditions because of the coronavirus, crews have installed exhibits, including a 25-foot-long, 45-year-old fiberglass model of the mechanical shark that Steven Spielberg used to film “Jaws.”Mr. Kramer called the shark, nicknamed Bruce, “shockingly cool.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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    Better Than Besties: Why Gay Holiday Films Matter

    #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Best of 2020Best ComedyBest TV ShowsBest BooksBest MoviesBest AlbumsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyReporter’s NotebookBetter Than Besties: Why Gay Holiday Films MatterThis season’s movies with queer characters may be a largely chaste affair, but their comforting formulas also tell L.G.B.T.Q. viewers that they are seen.Heath (Juan Pablo Di Pace), left, and Wyatt (Peter Porte) get romantic in “Dashing in December,” on the Paramount Network. Credit…Paramount NetworkDec. 18, 2020, 12:59 p.m. ETI gasped so loudly, it sounded like Judy Garland had shown up at my Christmas party.It happened during “Dashing in December,” a new holiday film on the Paramount Network about two men who fall in love on a ranch. I involuntarily inhaled as Wyatt, a stuffy venture capitalist, locked lips with Heath, the sweetheart ranch hand. Watching it made me feel like Santa put me at the top of his nice list.I’m gay. I kiss men. Never at a ranch, once at a Denny’s. But there was something so surprisingly renegade about the movie’s smooch. Leading men just don’t kiss each other in the conservative fraternity of holiday TV movies.They do now. As I recently reported, this year there are six new holiday-themed films with gay and lesbian leading characters, including “Happiest Season” (Hulu), “The Christmas House” (Hallmark Channel) and “The Christmas Setup” (Lifetime). In this chaste genre, that’s a milestone.Nia Fairweather thinks so, too. She plays an Afro-Latina woman of fluid sexuality in the new indie “A New York Christmas Wedding,” now on Netflix.“There’s a list — a list — where there never was a list,” Fairweather said. “That lets us know this year has been different.”This change is significant for me, a holiday movie fan whose biggest gay Christmas memory is George Michael gazing lovingly at Andrew Ridgeley on the cover of the Wham! album “Last Christmas.” But as I reported the article, I wondered if I was overstating the arrival of a New Queer Christmas Cinema. Will we look back on horrible 2020 — as I think we will — as the year that finally gayed up Christmas movies?I called up holiday movie aficionados to ask: Is this a big deal?Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis in “Happiest Season” on Hulu.Credit…Hulu, via Associated Press“This is a big deal,” replied Joanna Wilson, the author of several books about Christmastime entertainment. “Queer people have been bosses and co-workers and siblings of the main characters. Being the central romance is very exciting and comes not a moment too soon.”Blake Lee, who stars with his husband, Ben Lewis, in “The Christmas Setup,” framed it as an answer to a chaotic 2020.“We are four years into a presidency that has attacked the L.G.B.T.Q. community and projected hate,” Lee said. “I feel like these writers with these stories were like, now’s the time.”What holiday films provide — nostalgia, predictable formulas and an escape from real-world adversities like Covid-19, bankruptcy, bigotry — can be especially comforting to queer people, said Michael Varrati, the screenwriter of several holiday films, including the new “Christmas With a Crown.”“Movie Christmas is a lot different than real Christmas,” Varrati said. “Not everybody has a great relationship with their family or has pristine memories of yesteryear.” In holiday movies, he added, queer people “get to live in the Christmas they always wanted or didn’t get to have.”Jake Helgren told me he wrote and directed “Dashing in December” as an Americana romance and a “love letter to the ending” he wanted in “Brokeback Mountain.” Lawrence Humphreys, the film’s production designer, said the set was a teary mess as he and other crew members, straight and gay, watched the leading men kiss.“We knew what we created was something beautiful,” said Humphreys, who has worked on several Christmas films. “It’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever been a part of and the one I’m most proud of.”L.G.B.T.Q. holiday entertainment has roots in the days when the word “queer” landed with a punch to the face. Performers surreptitiously conveyed stereotypical gayness — through winks, camp, sass, frippery — that was evident to in-the-know audiences but sailed over others’ heads. Liberace’s television show featured a Christmas episode in 1954. Paul Lynde starred in “’Twas the Night Before Christmas,” a 1977 ABC special. That same year, “All in the Family” ran groundbreaking Christmastime episodes about the murder of Edith Bunker’s friend Beverly LaSalle, who refers to herself as a transvestite. (She was played by Lori Shannon, the drag stage name of Don McLean.)L.G.B.T.Q. characters are now regulars on holiday-themed TV. But until this year, queer leads in holiday movies were few, relegated to low-budget indies like “Too Cool for Christmas” (2004), which was also released in a straight version, and “Make the Yuletide Gay” (2009). Supporting queer characters were mostly on the sidelines and white. That changed this year, as actors of color took on leading roles, including Fairweather, who is Afro-Caribbean, and Juan Pablo Di Pace, the Latino actor who plays Heath in “Dashing in December.” Transgender characters and actors are still rare, though.Ben Lewis, left, and Blake Lee in “The Christmas Setup” on Lifetime.Credit…Albert Camicioli/LifetimeSo is sex. Couples of all orientations rarely get heavier than a kiss in mainstream holiday fare. “Dashing in December” is a little more sexually adventurous, and by adventurous I mean a scene in which Wyatt, in just underwear, encounters a wet Heath in a towel. By the chaste standards of holiday rom-coms, “Dashing in December” is “Cruising.”And yet — it’s not. What you won’t see in these new films are activists, leathermen, butches or foul-mouthed drag queens. That’s not the Lifetime or Hallmark brand, so that’s no shock. But that’s what happens with assimilation. If gay people want straight people to believe our love deserves a holiday movie, don’t be surprised when straight people expect that movie to look like theirs.To counter the new gay sweetness, I binged renegade holiday movies about queer people who are raunchy, vulgar, camp, deranged. Or as BenDeLaCreme, the “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star, put it: “the beautiful, bizarre things that queer people exposed themselves to when they had to search harder.” BenDeLaCreme is doing her part with a saucy new holiday special on Hulu with the “Drag Race” Season 5 winner Jinkx Monsoon.Whatever the opposite of “The Christmas House” is, I watched it. There was “Naked City: A Killer Christmas” (1998), a Peter Bogdanovich film that used the fear of an Andrew Cunanan-style gay serial killer in service of a lurid thriller. On Amazon, the ensemble dramedy “Some of My Best Friends Are …” (1971) was set on Christmas Eve at a bustling Greenwich Village gay bar, featuring moving performances from Rue McClanahan and Candy Darling. (This paper called it “a very sad gay movie.”)The value in these films — as grim and mirthless as they may seem — is that they paved the way for “Happiest Season.” They are historical benchmarks showing that L.G.B.T.Q. performers and creators made Christmas entertainment because — surprise! — they loved Christmas, despite the Scrooges who said they didn’t belong there.My binge ended with “Letters to Satan Claus,” a new horror satire on Syfy about a girl who misspells her letter to St. Nick and instead summons the Angel of Death. Featuring a same-sex subplot, a trans actor (Xavier Lopez) and a nonbinary Santa creature, it’s Christmas counterprogramming at its queerest.Yet Mike Zara, who wrote the film, seemed perfectly Hallmark as he talked about what inspired the story.“It’s about finding joy through tragedy and darkness,” he said. “That sounds corny, but I wanted to talk about all the scars we carry with us. We can embrace them but also not live in that darkness forever.”Sounds like a New Year’s resolution to me.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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    Tom Cruise Taking a Break From Filming After Angry Rant on 'Mission: Impossible 7' Set

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    The main star of the ‘Mission: Impossible’ movie franchise is reportedly going to return to Miami for an early Christmas break following his tirade on the set.

    Dec 19, 2020
    AceShowbiz – Tom Cruise is reportedly wrapping his 2020 work commitments early following his much-publicised on-set rants.
    The superstar lost his cool recently when he spotted two assistants huddled around a monitor, watching playback, ignoring social distancing rules he had helped to introduce to try and keep the set of the forthcoming “Mission: Impossible 7” coronavirus-free.
    He launched into a furious tirade threatening to fire anyone who didn’t take the rules seriously and, according to The Sun, the 58-year-old actor will be taking a break from filming the movie for an early Christmas holiday.
    According to the publication, Friday (18Dec20) will be his final day on set for the year and, from there, he plans to take his private jet to Miami, Florida where he’ll spend some time with his son Connor.
    “It has been exhausting keeping the production on track for so long, and it’s not getting any easier – Christmas can’t come soon enough,” an insider told the outlet.

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    “Tom has decided he’s ready for a break and is now going to wind up filming for 2020 on Friday, and fly to Miami over the weekend on his private jet to spend Christmas with his son.”
    The source added, “It’s the end of a really tough year, and a bit of time out seems like a good idea for everyone as tensions have been mounting for a while.”
    During his first rant, Cruise hinted at his exhaustion, claiming he was in constant contact with studios, insurance companies and producers as the production was seen as the “gold standard” for filming amid the pandemic.
    However, according to officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the mask he’s been snapped wearing on set, featuring a carbon filter and breathing valves, may be ineffective in preventing the spread of coronavirus.
    “This type of mask may not prevent you from spreading COVID-19 to others,” they state, reported TMZ. “The hole in the material may allow your respiratory droplets to escape and reach others.”

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    Natalie Portman ‘Had to Keep Her Head Down All the Time’ as Child Actress

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    Berlin Film Festival Is Delayed. Will Cannes and Venice Follow?

    #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Best of 2020Best ComedyBest TV ShowsBest BooksBest MoviesBest AlbumsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyBerlin Film Festival Is Delayed. Will Cannes and Venice Follow?The postponement of the first major international movie event of 2021 raises the specter of another difficult year for the industry.The cast and crew of “There Is No Evil,” which won the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival in 2019.Credit…Michele Tantussi/ReutersDec. 18, 2020, 11:54 a.m. ETThe Berlin Film Festival, which was scheduled to start Feb. 11, has been postponed because of the coronavirus, its organizers said on Friday in a news release, making it the first — but probably not the last — major cultural event of 2021 to be affected by the pandemic.With coronavirus cases soaring in Germany, the Berlinale, as the festival is known, will now occur in a digital form for movie industry professionals in March, the festival said.The festival’s competition will take place as part of the March event, and a jury in Berlin will select prize winners, the release added. Berlin’s film fans will get to watch entrants at a separate event in June, involving open-air screenings as well as presentations in movie theaters.“There is a great desire to meet face to face,” Mariette Rissenbeek, the festival’s executive director, said in a statement, but “the current situation does not allow a physical festival in February.” On Sunday, Germany announced a lockdown as coronavirus cases surged, banning most cultural activities until at least Jan. 10.The delay to the first major international movie event of 2021 is likely to cause concern that other festivals might need to be pushed back, even as Europe prepares to roll out a Covid-19 vaccine.The Cannes Film Festival is scheduled to start on May 11, just weeks after the delayed Academy Awards, on April 25. Cannes organizers intend the event to occur as scheduled, Aida Belloulid, the festival’s spokeswoman, said in an email, but are “waiting until the beginning of next year to evaluate the pandemic evolution.”“Then, if we consider May won’t be possible, we will work on new dates, from end of June to end of July,” she added. Whatever date the festival occurs, it will be “a ‘classic’ Cannes,” with a full program and stars on the Croisette, Ms. Belloulid said.Earlier this year, Cannes was postponed at the last minute because of the pandemic. The organizers ended up staging a “special” edition in October, with just a handful of films and little of the festival’s usual glamour. That event received barely any media attention.In contrast to Cannes, the Venice Film Festival has yet to make contingency plans and its organizers intend to go ahead as normal, in September. “Of course we don’t know what the situation will be,” Alberto Barbera, the festival’s artistic director, said in a telephone interview, “but we were lucky enough to go ahead with the festival this year without any problems, so next year should be even better.”This year’s Venice Film Festival featured mandatory masks and a distinct lack of blockbusters, but it was still widely seen as a success, given that it was one of the few major international cultural events to actually happen in 2020.There was no reported transmission of the coronavirus during the 11-day event, Mr. Barbera said, which suggested the measures had been a success. Some element of social distancing might still be in place in 2021, he added, but that would depend on the state of the pandemic.Mr. Barbera said any changes to the film festival calendars, following the Berlinale’s move, were unlikely to affect movie release dates. The major studios and distributors will start releasing films only when movie theaters reopen, he said.“I feel the majority of big films will wait until the fall,” he said, “so that could be a huge chance for the few festivals, like us, Toronto, New York.”The Berlin Film Festival said in its news release that it was still in talks with its sponsors, including the German government, about the budget for its new events. It said it had no choice but to delay. “The Berlinale would like to emphasize once again that the health and the well-being of all guests and employees come first in all aspects of the planning,” the news release said.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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    Watch Chadwick Boseman in a Scene From ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’

    #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Best of 2020Best ComedyBest TV ShowsBest BooksBest MoviesBest AlbumsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyAnatomy of a SceneWatch Chadwick Boseman in a Scene From ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’The director George C. Wolfe discusses a tense sequence featuring the actor and Viola Davis.George C. Wolfe narrates a sequence from his film featuring Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman.CreditCredit…David Lee/NetflixDec. 18, 2020, 11:00 a.m. ETIn “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 on Fridays. You can also watch our collection of more than 150 videos on YouTube and subscribe to our YouTube channel.A disagreement between musicians reaches a boiling point in this scene from “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” the Netflix film adaptation of August Wilson’s play.Set in 1927, the film primarily follows the blues singer Ma Rainey (Viola Davis) and her band during a challenging recording session in a Chicago studio. One of those challenges involves the tensions that arise between Ma and her headstrong horn player, Levee (Chadwick Boseman).A conflict ignites when Levee doesn’t perform a song the way Ma requires. In this video, the director George C. Wolfe discusses how clashing personalities result in a catastrophic moment, and how he decided where a specific door, which plays a key part in the scene, would lead.Read the “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” review.Sign up for the Movies Update newsletter and get a roundup of reviews, news, Critics’ Picks and more.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More