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As promised when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its Academy Aperture 2025 initiative in June, new standards of representation and inclusion have been announced by AMPAS today that will gradually be put in place for the 94th (2022) and 95th (2023) Oscars, but in full effect beginning with the 96th Academy Awards in 2024. In its most dramatic swing towards true diversity, Oscar is laying down significant requirements in order to be eligible for Hollywood’s most sought after prize: Best Picture. Having at least one Asian, Hispanic/Latinx, Black/African American, Indigenous/Native American/Alaskan Native, Middle Eastern/North African, Native...

I purchased, not rent, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood last night, and I've already watched it a second time, (I'm off on Monday's.) The movie is fantastic, and will be sure to please those who like witty and fun movies with actors that poke fun at themselves. I think it's up for best picture. It will also please those of us here who were in High School and College in the 60s. In fact, there's a lot of truth in the movie, as it takes you back to those days. Think Charles Manson, spaghetti westerns, Bobby Kennedy, mediocrity in...

The Oscar nominees for Best Picture were announced today and you’ll be shocked to learn that all of the films in contention, save one or two, have a woke social message to offer. The pattern is so blatant that Variety’s chief film critic pointed out that this seems to be what matters most to Oscar voters: The gradual decline of “A Star Is Born” during awards season has been, for those of us who love the film, a somewhat depressing spectacle to watch. But now that the decline is more or less complete, I think its meaning has at...

Creature From the Black Lagoon meets mute woman at a secret space project in Baltimore run by a 5-star general. They bond over hard boiled egges. They also fall in love and mate in a bathtub. Meanwhile a Redneck tortures the Creature with an Alabama Cattle Prod. Even though the Creature is supposed to be vital for space program research, all the scientists and the 5-star general allow the Redneck to continue torturing the creature. Meanwhile the Russkies attempt to kill the Creature via a kind-hearted Commie spy in the project who won't go along with the murder plot. Creature...

In the most shocking mix-up in Oscars history, Moonlight won best picture at the Academy Awards — but only after presenter Faye Dunaway announced La La Land as the winner, setting off mass confusion inside the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. “I want to tell you what happened,” co-presenter Warren Beatty explained after the mix-up was revealed. “I opened the envelope, and it said ‘Emma Stone, La La Land.’ That’s why I took such a long look at Faye and at you. I wasn’t trying to be funny.” “Well, I don’t know what happened. I blame myself for this,” Kimmel...

Winning the best picture Oscar doesn't just signal that a movie is regarded by Hollywood as the top achievement in the medium for the year; it can help cement a movie's status, with past winners that have gone on to become classics like "The Godfather," "Lawrence of Arabia," and "On the Waterfront." But the Academy voters don't always get it right. Tucked away in the 88 years of Oscar ceremonies are best picture winners that quickly vanished from the zeitgeist, never to be heard from again. That's often because they weren't as good as originally thought. It's probably too early...

Well, I didn't exactly boycott the Oscars, that's a bit too grand. I merely didn't watch the show this year. It was the first time since I was 4 years old, when I dreamed of becoming an actress, that I didn't look forward to the awards in thrilled anticipation. A friend from DC emailed me the next morning. She wrote, "Okay you were right...the Oscars were really boring!" Then because I live and work in Hollywood, she then asked if I knew why Beyonce sang practically all of the nominated songs?" I admitted I hadn't attended any gossipy Oscar watching...

Raise your hand if you’re shocked that The Passion of the Christ wasn’t nominated for any major Academy Awards. Yep, that’s what I thought. Of course, you could make the argument that The Aviator, Ray, Million Dollar Baby, Finding Neverland, and Sideways were all so great that they deserved to be nominated for Best Picture, so there just wasn’t any room for The Passion. It might even be true. In any case, I wouldn’t be able to argue back, because I haven’t seen any of them. (At least I’m not alone in that. A recent headline in USA Today read,...

Unthinkable, say Industry Insiders There's a Lot of Animosity Toward This Film That Is Very Real,' says One Oscar-Campaign Vet; but Snub Could Lead to Boycott of Awards Most Believe 'Fahrenheit' Nomination Tied to the Election NEW YORK, Oct. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite shattering box-office records and dominating headlines for months, "The Passion of the Christ" and "Fahrenheit 9/11" face real obstacles in the race for an Oscar nomination for best picture. As Senior Writer Sean Smith reports in the current issue of Newsweek, many of the high-placed studio executives, producers, Oscar strategists, publicists and Academy members interviewed think that...

LOS ANGELES — Michael Moore says he won't submit "Fahrenheit 9/11" for consideration as best documentary at this year's Academy Awards . Instead, he's going for the bigger prize of best picture. Moore's critically acclaimed film slams President Bush's War on Terror as ill-advised and corrupt. The movie has cheered Democrats but enraged the president's supporters, who booed Moore when he visited the Republican National Convention last week.