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    ‘Spellbound’ Review: Borrowed Wonder

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    Any magic this animated musical has feels distinctly, almost insultingly poached.Princess Ellian, heir to the throne of Lumbria, has a problem: A year earlier, her parents, traveling through the Dark Forest of Eternal Darkness, fell under a curse. That sort of thing happens when you’re passing through a wood “so dark they named it twice” — but let’s not cast blame. The curse transformed the king and queen into roaring, rampaging monsters. They can’t comprehend much or speak, but they can be distracted with chew toys.Ellian (voiced by Rachel Zegler), now 15, has assumed their duties and, along with two government ministers (Jenifer Lewis and John Lithgow), helped hide news of the metamorphosis from Lumbrians at large. She hopes that somewhere, deep under her parents’ new scales and feathers, the minds of the king and queen are still there. So, too, may viewers of “Spellbound” occasionally sense the enchantment zones of their brains lighting up, more as a reflexive response to dim memories of past animated features than as a genuine reaction to the derivative pastiche onscreen.The movie, directed by Vicky Jenson, one of the filmmakers behind “Shrek,” has assembled all the standard ingredients: fairy tale trappings; a treacherous, “Oz”-ian journey across a mystical land; wizard types voiced by Broadway pros (Nathan Lane and Tituss Burgess), for comic relief; and would-be earworms by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater that are catchy in the moment but that you might struggle to hum afterward. Lithgow’s “I Could Get Used to This,” an “Under the Sea”-style showstopper that his character sings after swapping bodies with Ellian’s purple rodent pet, is an exception.It isn’t fair to say that “Spellbound” lacks musical or visual invention. Zegler can belt out a song, and the evil storm that transmogrified the royals is pleasingly lo-fi. (It looks like a scribble-scrabble twister.) But the magic feels distinctly, almost insultingly poached. Ellian rides with her friends on giant, flying cats (shades of “The Neverending Story” and “How to Train Your Dragon”). The idea of emotions made physically manifest is a concept that animated features have used quite recently (“Inside Out,” “Soul”). The oracles played by Lane and Burgess, who argue about having traded in multiple wands for a universal fob, engage in the sort of self-conscious riffing that has become a de facto requirement of family filmmaking.The king and queen eventually find their voices — one assumes that Javier Bardem and Nicole Kidman, reunited from “Being the Ricardos,” were well-paid for what sounds like swift work — but even flurries of excitement, like an escape over a quicksand desert, can’t shake the sense that “Spellbound” has been consciously designed to play things safe. One of its big numbers is called “The Way It Was Before,” words that sound suspiciously like a mission statement.SpellboundRated PG. Running time: 1 hour 49 minutes. Watch on Netflix. More

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      Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler Revive ‘Romeo + Juliet’ for a TikTok Generation

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      Who can forget the classic first line of “Romeo and Juliet”: “How y’all doin’ today?”Well, perhaps not so classic. But as uttered at the start of the play’s 36th Broadway revival, which opened Thursday at Circle in the Square, the words are certainly more welcoming to the production’s youthful target audience than the traditional iambic pentameter ones: “Two households, both alike in dignity.”Not that there are two households in the director Sam Gold’s rec-room adaptation anyway. Romeo’s parents, along with a clutch of other characters, have been discarded. Juliet’s are both played by one actor, with little more than a change of inflection. And though Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler, the box-office draws, cover just one star-crossed lover each — he a beagly Romeo, she a beamish Juliet — the other eight cast members take on 17 roles, adorably if often indistinguishably. It’s a puppy pile.But before you wonder whether this production was sponsored by CliffsNotes, with only as much poetry and staying power as an Instagram story, bear in mind that many of the characters are teenagers, and that the play may most usefully be directed at people seeing it for the first time, not the 36th. Certainly Gold has used everything in his formidable toolbox — scissors, hammers, punches, wrenches — to get young people interested in a world that looks more like theirs than Elizabethan London or Renaissance Verona.So after an energetic preshow, filled with flirting, peacocking and snits of aggression, the story begins with that casual greeting from Gabby Beans, the play’s Chorus. Beans, later a hotheaded Mercutio, a beneficent Friar Lawrence and a barely there Prince Escalus, makes a relatable hype woman, introducing the rest of the cast by first name and telling us whom they’ll be playing. If you’re confused — and even a frequent flier might be — you can consult a program insert that visualizes the Montagues and Capulets as a mood board.Feeling the groove: Gabby Beans, far right, leading Tommy Dorfman (center), Kit Connor (far back) and other cast members in a dance in Sam Gold’s “Romeo + Juliet” at Circle in the Square.Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Hollywood Is Heading for Broadway (and Off). Here’s a Cheat Sheet.

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      New York’s stages have long drawn talent from Hollywood, but this is shaping up to be an exceptionally starry season. Why? Producers have determined that limited-run plays with celebrities are more likely than new musicals to make money. And some musicals are also hoping big names will help at the box office. Here’s a sampling of stars onstage this season.This Fall★ ON BROADWAY ★Mia Farrowin ‘The Roommate’Farrow, who made her stage debut when she was 18 and had a breakout role in the 1968 film “Rosemary’s Baby,” thought she was happily retired until she read the script for this Jen Silverman comedy about two women with not much in common other than their living quarters. Now, at 79, she’s returning to the stage, opposite the three-time Tony winner Patti LuPone, for what she says may be the last time. Now running at the Booth.★ ON BROADWAY ★Robert Downey Jr.in ‘McNeal’One of Hollywood’s most successful stars, Downey has a bevy of superhero movies under his belt (he played Iron Man) and an Oscar for “Oppenheimer” (he was the antagonist, Lewis Strauss). He’s making his Broadway debut in a new Ayad Akhtar play, portraying a famous novelist with a potentially problematic interest in A.I. Now running at the Vivian Beaumont.Clockwise from top left: Nicole Scherzinger, Katie Holmes, Jim Parsons, Adam Driver and Mia Farrow (center).Photographs via Associated Press; Getty Images; Reuters★ ON BROADWAY ★Daniel Dae Kimin ‘Yellow Face’Talk about meta! This is David Henry Hwang’s play about a play about a musical, sort of. Kim, known for “Lost” and the rebooted “Hawaii Five-0,” portrays a playwright named DHH (get it?) who mistakenly casts a white actor as an Asian character in a Broadway flop inspired by his own protests against the casting of a white actor as a Eurasian character in “Miss Saigon.” Previews begin Sept. 13 at the Todd Haimes.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler Are Star Crossed in Central Park

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      On a morning in mid-August, a breeze stirred Central Park’s midsummer leaves. Children skipped, dogs lolloped, a bunny peeked out from a hedge near the Great Lawn while a nearby saxophone ruined “Isn’t She Lovely.” It was a very nice day to fall in love.The actors Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler were there, hiking up to Belvedere Castle and then down to the Shakespeare Garden. Connor, 20, and Zegler, 23, don’t plan to fall in love. But the next day, at rehearsal, in Brooklyn they would discover how to make the characters they play fall desperately, terribly in love.As the stars of the “Romeo + Juliet” that opens on Broadway on Oct. 24, they will die for love, they will die for each other, eight times a week. Both are making their Broadway debuts and both have the not exactly enviable task of making a 16th-century play with (apologies for centuries-old spoilers) a famously grim ending feel breath-catchingly new and vital.Daunting? Not at all.“It should be fun,” Connor said, not without some anxiety. Zegler gave him a sardonic look. “It will be fun,” he said. Connor, a British star of the Netflix teen romance “Heartstopper,” and Zegler, an American who made a thrilling film debut in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story,” had never met until March, shortly after they each agreed to star in the revival, dreamed up by the Tony-winning director Sam Gold, with music by Jack Antonoff. They had been offered the roles separately, without the benefit of a chemistry read. That spring day, Gold brought them to Circle in the Square Theater, where previews will start Sept. 26, then bought them cups of coffee at the Cosmic Diner.Kit Connor, right, on the Netflix series “Heartstopper” opposite Joe Locke.Teddy Cavendish/NetflixWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler Headline Broadway ‘Romeo and Juliet’

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      A production featuring the screen stars, with music by Jack Antonoff, will open in October at Circle in the Square.Rachel Zegler has already played a Juliet-inspired figure, starring as Maria in the 2021 film adaptation of “West Side Story.” And Kit Connor has played a Romeo of sorts, starring as a yearning adolescent in the boy-meets-boy television series “Heartstopper.”Now the two actors are bringing a new production of “Romeo and Juliet” to Broadway. Their version, which seems to be leaning into the alienation of youth in a world of violent adults, is to begin performances Sept. 26 and to open Oct. 24 at Circle in the Square Theater.The production, which announced its timing and location on Wednesday, has said little about its concept, but there are indications it will be influenced by contemporary ideas: The show is to feature music by Jack Antonoff, the Grammy-winning producer best known for his successful collaborations with Taylor Swift, and it is being marketed with a vulgarity about the plight of young people. On Wednesday, the show released a video of Zegler and Connor, in contemporary clothing and setting, flirting and dancing to a song from Bleachers, which is Antonoff’s band.“Romeo and Juliet” is one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays, and this will be its 37th production on Broadway, according to the Internet Broadway Database. This production is to be directed by Sam Gold, a Tony winner for “Fun Home” who has previously directed Broadway productions of “Macbeth” and “King Lear” and who is directing this season’s revival of “An Enemy of the People.” Sonya Tayeh, the Tony-winning choreographer of “Moulin Rouge!”, will add a dancer’s sensibility to the production; she is being credited with “movement.”This revival, first announced last month, is being produced by Seaview, an increasingly prolific production company founded by Greg Nobile and Jana Shea and partially owned by Sony Music Masterworks. More

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      ‘Cabaret’ Opening on Broadway: Eddie Redmayne, Angela Bassett and Baz Luhrmann

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      A party for the buzzy revival of the Broadway musical was held at a theater that has been transformed to look like a 1930s-era nightclub.“I’m so ready for this,” said the actress Bernadette Peters on Saturday afternoon as she stood on the red carpet outside the August Wilson Theater on 52nd Street, which had been styled to look like a Berlin nightclub in the 1930s.“It’s sort of like a Happening,” she added.Ms. Peters had turned up for a performance of one of the hottest — and some of the most expensive — tickets on Broadway this season: A revival of “Cabaret,” the 1966 John Kander and Fred Ebb musical, which celebrated its opening night with twin galas on Saturday and Sunday. The production, which is set in a Berlin nightclub on the eve of the Nazis’ rise to power, features Eddie Redmayne as the nightclub’s Master of Ceremonies and Gayle Rankin as its star singer, Sally Bowles.“For British actors, coming here to Broadway is the dream, so tonight is a pinch-me moment,” said Mr. Redmayne, who played the Master of Ceremonies during the show’s sold-out run in London in 2022, for which he won an Olivier Award — the British equivalent of a Tony Award — for best actor in a musical.A few dozen celebrities — Angela Bassett, Rachel Zegler and the director Baz Luhrmann among them — came to see Mr. Redmayne, who is also a producer of “Cabaret.”But this wasn’t the usual turn-up-five-minutes-before-the show drill: Unlike a typical Broadway show, “Cabaret” includes a preshow at every performance that begins 75 minutes before curtain.Angela BassettGayle Rankin in vintage Julien MacdonaldWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in Movies

      ‘The Hunger Games’ Is Back. Here’s What You Need to Know.

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      With the prequel, “The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes,” now in theaters, here are answers to questions you may have about the franchise.Arriving eight years after the most recent film in the franchise, “The Hunger Games” is back with a new installment: “The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.” Adapted from a 2020 novel by Suzanne Collins, the author who created the “Hunger Games,” this film serves as a prequel, taking place 64 years before the events of the first film.For those who don’t remember the back story all that well or have never seen the original movies, here’s a refresher on everything you need to know before jumping into this new dystopian adventure.How long has this been in the works?A film adaptation was planned before Collins’s book was finished. In 2017, Lionsgate, the studio behind the original movies, indicated that it was interested in potential spinoffs, and Collins reached out to Francis Lawrence, who directed the previous three films, about an adaptation while she was still writing the prequel novel.Do I have to watch the other movies before watching this one?That’s up for debate. This prequel is self-contained enough that it could make for an entertaining watch even for those who don’t know much about the original story. You wouldn’t feel completely lost, but you might miss out on some Easter eggs. Most of all, the story it tells about its protagonist, Coriolanus Snow, would be less rich an experience.Where can I watch those movies?All four of the “Hunger Games” movies are currently streaming on Peacock.A scene from “The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.”LionsgateWhat was the original story about?In the dystopian world of Panem, 12 districts live under the rule of the Capitol and its president, the ruthless Coriolanus Snow (Donald Sutherland). As punishment for a rebellion decades ago that ostensibly destroyed District 13, the Capitol hosts the annual Hunger Games, an elaborate, televised battle royale in which a boy and girl from each of the dozen districts are chosen as “tributes” to fight to the death.After her younger sister is selected for the 74th Games, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), a teenager from District 12, the poorest among all districts, volunteers in her place. She allies herself with Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), District 12’s male tribute, and becomes enveloped in the world of the Capitol and the depraved spectacle that the games represent.A firebrand in and out of the arena, Katniss, through her participation in the games, becomes a political symbol. Known as the Mockingjay, she is associated with bolstering a simmering revolution, which makes her the primary enemy of President Snow.What is this prequel about?The film, and the book it’s based on, follows the rise of Coriolanus Snow, long before he becomes the president of the Capitol. A young student hoping to restore the faded glory of his family, he takes part in a new mentorship program, designed to help inspire a more exciting 10th Hunger Games, and is tasked with guiding Lucy Gray Baird, the female tribute from District 12.Despite Lucy Gray’s grim chances in the Games, Coriolanus becomes close with her as he commits to helping her survive. But as their relationship threatens to conflict with his own rise to power, he is pulled between good and evil.Did anyone from the original cast return?Perhaps a natural result of the 64-year gap between the events in this prequel and the first film, no actors from the original cast are part of this installment. Lawrence, though, has returned to direct the new film.Tom Blyth and Rachel Zegler in the new film.Murray Close/LionsgateSo who stars in this one?Tom Blyth, a relative newcomer best known as the lead of the Epix show “Billy the Kid,” stars in the central role as Coriolanus. He is joined by Rachel Zegler (who starred in the Steven Spielberg remake of “West Side Story) as Lucy Gray Baird.The supporting cast features major names including Peter Dinklage (Dean Highbottom, Coriolanus’s professor), Viola Davis (Dr. Volumnia Gaul, the head gamemaster), Jason Schwartzman (Lucky Flickerman, the host of the Hunger Games), and Hunter Schafer (Tigris, Coriolanus’s cousin).Were those original movies any good?The four previous films, which together grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide, were each received positively by critics and audiences alike. “It speaks to its moment in time,” the Times critic Manohla Dargis wrote of the second film, “Catching Fire.” As a defiant heroine, Katniss, Dargis noted, was emblematic of an overdue shift in mainstream storytelling and “the primary reason that both the book and screen versions soar above the usual adventure-fiction slag heap.” The character also made Jennifer Lawrence a global star and a major box office draw.Are there more films planned after this new one?Fans might not want to get their hopes up. This adaptation covers the entirety of Collins’s prequel book, meaning there is no official source material left for a potential follow-up. And last month, Lawrence said he regretted having split the final book of the original trilogy into two films. So, don’t count on a second ballad any time soon. More

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      in Movies

      What to Know Before Seeing ‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes’

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      With the prequel, “The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes,” now in theaters, here are answers to questions you may have about the franchise.Arriving eight years after the most recent film in the franchise, “The Hunger Games” is back with a new installment: “The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.” Adapted from a 2020 novel by Suzanne Collins, the author who created the “Hunger Games,” this film serves as a prequel, taking place 64 years before the events of the first film.For those who don’t remember the back story all that well or have never seen the original movies, here’s a refresher on everything you need to know before jumping into this new dystopian adventure.How long has this been in the works?A film adaptation was planned before Collins’s book was finished. In 2017, Lionsgate, the studio behind the original movies, indicated that it was interested in potential spinoffs, and Collins reached out to Francis Lawrence, who directed the previous three films, about an adaptation while she was still writing the prequel novel.Do I have to watch the other movies before watching this one?That’s up for debate. This prequel is self-contained enough that it could make for an entertaining watch even for those who don’t know much about the original story. You wouldn’t feel completely lost, but you might miss out on some Easter eggs. Most of all, the story it tells about its protagonist, Coriolanus Snow, would be less rich an experience.Where can I watch those movies?All four of the “Hunger Games” movies are currently streaming on Peacock.A scene from “The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.”LionsgateWhat was the original story about?In the dystopian world of Panem, 12 districts live under the rule of the Capitol and its president, the ruthless Coriolanus Snow (Donald Sutherland). As punishment for a rebellion decades ago that ostensibly destroyed District 13, the Capitol hosts the annual Hunger Games, an elaborate, televised battle royale in which a boy and girl from each of the dozen districts are chosen as “tributes” to fight to the death.After her younger sister is selected for the 74th Games, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), a teenager from District 12, the poorest among all districts, volunteers in her place. She allies herself with Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), District 12’s male tribute, and becomes enveloped in the world of the Capitol and the depraved spectacle that the games represent.A firebrand in and out of the arena, Katniss, through her participation in the games, becomes a political symbol. Known as the Mockingjay, she is associated with bolstering a simmering revolution, which makes her the primary enemy of President Snow.What is this prequel about?The film, and the book it’s based on, follows the rise of Coriolanus Snow, long before he becomes the president of the Capitol. A young student hoping to restore the faded glory of his family, he takes part in a new mentorship program, designed to help inspire a more exciting 10th Hunger Games, and is tasked with guiding Lucy Gray Baird, the female tribute from District 12.Despite Lucy Gray’s grim chances in the Games, Coriolanus becomes close with her as he commits to helping her survive. But as their relationship threatens to conflict with his own rise to power, he is pulled between good and evil.Did anyone from the original cast return?Perhaps a natural result of the 64-year gap between the events in this prequel and the first film, no actors from the original cast are part of this installment. Lawrence, though, has returned to direct the new film.Tom Blyth and Rachel Zegler in the new film.Murray Close/LionsgateSo who stars in this one?Tom Blyth, a relative newcomer best known as the lead of the Epix show “Billy the Kid,” stars in the central role as Coriolanus. He is joined by Rachel Zegler (who starred in the Steven Spielberg remake of “West Side Story) as Lucy Gray Baird.The supporting cast features major names including Peter Dinklage (Dean Highbottom, Coriolanus’s professor), Viola Davis (Dr. Volumnia Gaul, the head gamemaster), Jason Schwartzman (Lucky Flickerman, the host of the Hunger Games), and Hunter Schafer (Tigris, Coriolanus’s cousin).Were those original movies any good?The four previous films, which together grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide, were each received positively by critics and audiences alike. “It speaks to its moment in time,” the Times critic Manohla Dargis wrote of the second film, “Catching Fire.” As a defiant heroine, Katniss, Dargis noted, was emblematic of an overdue shift in mainstream storytelling and “the primary reason that both the book and screen versions soar above the usual adventure-fiction slag heap.” The character also made Jennifer Lawrence a global star and a major box office draw.Are there more films planned after this new one?Fans might not want to get their hopes up. This adaptation covers the entirety of Collins’s prequel book, meaning there is no official source material left for a potential follow-up. And last month, Lawrence said he regretted having split the final book of the original trilogy into two films. So, don’t count on a second ballad any time soon. More

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      in Television

      Rachel Zegler, ‘West Side Story’ Star, Is Invited to the Oscars After All

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      On Sunday she revealed on Instagram that she had not been invited to the ceremony, prompting an outcry. She has since been added as a presenter.It looks as if Rachel Zegler, who plays Maria in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story,” is going to the Oscars.She has been invited to be a presenter at the Oscars, and Disney is working to rearrange the production schedule on her current project, a live-action version of “Snow White,” to make it happen, according to two people briefed on the matter. They spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid a conflict with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hosts the Oscars.How the arrangement came together provides a glimpse into how the Hollywood gears can sometimes grind.It started on Sunday, when Zegler, 20, posted a photo of herself in a blue gown on Instagram. A follower commented, “Can’t wait to see what you’ll be wearing on Oscar night.”Zegler replied that she had not received an invitation to the ceremony, during which “West Side Story” is up for seven awards. The ceremony will be broadcast this Sunday on ABC from Los Angeles. ABC is owned by Disney, which released the film last year.“I’m not invited,” she wrote, “so sweatpants and my boyfriend’s flannel.”She added that she would support the film from her couch. “I hope some last minute miracle occurs and I can celebrate our film in person,” she wrote, “but hey, that’s how it goes sometimes, I guess.”The challenge involves much more than invitations. Zegler is filming “Snow White” in London, and getting her to the Oscars and back will require Disney to rework schedules for hundreds of cast and crew members. The film, already on a tight schedule because of delays related to the coronavirus pandemic, is a $200 million production.A spokeswoman for the academy, which confirmed Zegler’s addition to the presenter lineup in a statement later on Wednesday, declined to comment. A representative for Zegler did not respond to a request for comment.Word that Zegler had not been invited to the ceremony drew a swift backlash from her followers and others on social media, including Russ Tamblyn, who played Riff, the leader of the Jets street gang, in the original “West Side Story” in 1961. They wondered why a lead actress in a film that had received a best picture nomination would not be invited to the ceremony.The film’s Oscar nominations include best picture, best director for Spielberg and best supporting actress for Ariana DeBose. Zegler, who is not nominated for an Oscar, won a Golden Globe for her role.Vimal Patel More