News

Eddie Murphy is on the cusp of a career resurgence, after several years out of the spotlight. The iconic comedian has a new movie on Netflix and several major projects in the works. To promote his latest film, he’s been making the rounds on the late-night talk show circuit, opening up about his life and noteworthy moments in his career.

Murphy is known not only for his comedic brilliance, but for his wealth as well. In a recent interview with Jimmy Kimmel, Murphy revealed that he is the owner of an extremely valuable painting, a copy of which sold last year for a record-breaking amount.

‘The Sugar Shack’ is known as an iconic painting

Many paintings have become iconic in pop culture. But the Ernie Barnes work “The Sugar Shack” is one of the most pervasive. The painting features Black men and women dancing in a club, feeling the beat,...

Spoiler Alert: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Lupin,” streaming now on Netflix.

When Netflix’s “Lupin” filmed its premiere episode heist sequence overnight in the Louvre, the cast and crew had ample time to roam around and take in the art in between setups and shots. Actor Omar Sy even found himself alone with the Mona Lisa for almost 20 minutes. It was an experience that gave him a new appreciation for a place he had previously visited as a child on a school trip, and one that he says he will “never forget.”

That sentiment doesn’t stop there, though. Working on “Lupin” also allowed Sy to re-experience and reflect on Maurice Leblanc’s Arsène Lupin novels that he read as a child. “Lupin is so French that you cannot grow up in France and not know who is Arsène Lupin,” Sy tells Variety. Between the books,...

This The Simpsons review contains spoilers.

The Simpsons Season 32 Episode 3

While it may not be a masterpiece, The Simpsons season 32, episode 3, “Now Museum, Now You Don’t” can hang in most galleries. Beyond the humor, the visuals are quite impressive, and varied.

This is another story-time episode for The Simpsons, repopulating pages from history with Springfield residents. Lisa is home sick, so delirious she thinks she’s in school. Marge, ever the enabler, encourages her in her fantasia. When Lisa asks if she will be graded on whatever she reads, Marge promises pop quizzes galore.

This really encapsulates the mother-daughter relationship in the Simpson family. Marge is incredibly encouraging, often overly so, when she sees opportunity. This is a chance for Lisa to indulge her most intellectual pursuits, without the resistance of reality, with just a little sweat. Who cares if it’s a fever in the making?

Lisa lives...

Above: 1976 Hungarian poster for The Wizard of Oz. Art by Olga Tövisváry.In the world of East European poster design, Hungary has always been somewhat of a poor relation to Poland and Czechoslovakia, whose artists have been justly celebrated for years. In that indispensable bible of international postwar movie poster design, Art of the Modern Movie Poster, 66 pages are devoted to Polish posters and 40 to the Czechs, but not only is Hungary lumped into a section with Russia, Romania, and Yugoslavia but there are only two Hungarian posters featured. But that dearth of attention is all due to access rather than to the quality of Hungarian design. I recently came across a treasure-trove of Hungarian movie posters on a number of websites that could go a long way to redressing the balance. The posters that I am featuring here were all found on the auction site Bedo and they come...

Egyptian filmmaker Sam Abbas has teamed with leading cinematographers from around the world to create the documentary “Erēmīta (Anthologies).”

The anthology was shot during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown and will feature contributions from the following DPs: Alexis Zabé, Chayse Irvin Ashley Connor Soledad Rodríguez Stefano Falivene Antoine Héberlé Benoît Dervaux (“The Unknown Girl”) and Sam Abbas.

Leading the project, Abbas said, “I, like many others, get very excited about using certain cameras, lenses, conversations with the cinematographer, colorists, sound designers but really, everyone I work with! But when it comes down to it, if needed, cinema can be made under any circumstances. This is a circumstance where we can only make a film virtually if we want to collaborate. We all share two main things: passion and a plethora of time.”

Each cinematographer oversaw their project, having final cut for their individual piece. Abbas curated the entire project adding, “There is no theme,...

Harry Clein, 82, co-founder of Hollywood PR agencies Clein + Feldman and Clein + White, died June 18 in Atlanta. He suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder.

I first met Clein in Manhattan in 1978 when I worked in the United Artists publicity bullpen at 729 Seventh Ave. He represented Alan J. Pakula on the western “Comes a Horseman,” starring James Caan and Jane Fonda. He admired my Annie Hall vests and fedoras; we bonded over his encyclopedic knowledge of film and Broadway musicals, and remained friends as he founded bicoastal press agency Clein + Feldman in 1981 with Bruce Feldman. Their first client, Pakula’s “Sophie’s Choice,” won Meryl Streep her second acting Oscar.

When I first moved to Los Angeles as the West Coast Editor of Film Comment, Clein + Feldman hired me to be the unit publicist on what would turn out to be Sam Peckinpah’s last movie, “The Osterman Weekend” (1983), starring Rutger Hauer, Dennis Hopper,...

Harry Clein, 82, co-founder of Hollywood PR agencies Clein + Feldman and Clein + White, died June 18 in Atlanta. He suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder.

I first met Clein in Manhattan in 1978 when I worked in the United Artists publicity bullpen at 729 Seventh Ave. He represented Alan J. Pakula on the western “Comes a Horseman,” starring James Caan and Jane Fonda. He admired my Annie Hall vests and fedoras; we bonded over his encyclopedic knowledge of film and Broadway musicals, and remained friends as he founded bicoastal press agency Clein + Feldman in 1981 with Bruce Feldman. Their first client, Pakula’s “Sophie’s Choice,” won Meryl Streep her second Best Actress Oscar.

When I first moved to Los Angeles as the West Coast Editor of Film Comment, Clein + Feldman hired me to be the unit publicist on what would turn out to be Sam Peckinpah’s last movie, “The Osterman Weekend” (1983), starring Rutger Hauer,...

Harry Clein, a veteran film publicist who wrote the original press notes for Star Wars and helped develop the innovative internet campaign for The Blair Witch Project, died June 18 of chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder in Atlanta. He was 82.

His death was announced by spokesperson Mark Pogachefsky.

Clein, along with Bruce Feldman, cofounded the Clein + Feldman agency in 1981. Their first client was director Alan J. Pakula and his film Sophie’s Choice.

With offices on both coasts and quickly developing a reputation as an innovative shop for independent distributors, producers and filmmakers, the agency became Clein + White in 1989, with the addition of Cara White as a partner and the departure of Feldman for a studio career. Clein + White closed in 2000, with Clein focusing on producing and marketing consultation. He also taught at the Los Angeles Film School.

Earlier in his career, Clein was a unit publicist on such films as All the President’s Men,...

Monday, July 13 Doug Belgrad Developing Unabomber Project as Psychological Thriller

“Bad Boys for Life” producer Doug Belgrad is developing a psychological thriller about Ted Kaczynski, the domestic terrorist who became known as the Unabomber.

Kaczynski, in an attempt to foment revolution, conducted a bombing campaign between 1978 and 1995 that killed three people and injured 23 others before he was arrested. He pleaded guilty to 10 felony counts and was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole in 1998.

Belgrad and Sophie Cassidy are producing through Sony-based 2.0 Entertainment, which has hired writers Sam Chalsen and Nelson Greaves to write the script. The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.

Philippine Documentary ‘A Thousand Cuts’ Scheduled for U.S. Release

Frontline and PBS Distribution have set an Aug. 7 theatrical release for the documentary “A Thousand Cuts” from Ramona S. Diaz.

The film examines the crackdown on the news media in the Philippines...

Kenya Barris says he is working harder than he ever has in his life. The writer, who added actor to his resume with #blackAF, is working on a second season of the Netflix comedy, is plotting a feature-length music about Juneteenth with Pharrell Williams and is developing a multitude of comedies, dramas, films and documentaries under his multi-million dollar Netflix deal. He also still has a hand in the Black-ish universe and is plotting one more show in that universe.

Barris talks to Deadline about the process of creating #blackAF, becoming an actor for the first time, mining his own life for comedy, his take on critiquing Black shows, how he’s getting on in the streaming universe as well as plans for his production company Khalabo Ink Society.

Inspired by Barris’ irreverent, highly flawed, unbelievably honest approach to parenting, relationships, race, and culture, #blackAF flips the traditional sitcom family on its head.

Editors’ Note: Colman Domingo, playwright, director and actor, was researching his musical (with co-author Patricia McGregor) about the iconic Nat King Cole when he realized the great singer of the post-War era had a depth that speaks to artists today. But how could a musician of the 1950s, who seemed to have embodied the word “grace,” be relevant to a time as angry as the one marked by the killing of George Floyd, the racism of Amy Cooper, the presidency of Donald Trump and the unrest of an entire nation? Domingo, who was Tony-nominated for his performance in Broadway’s The Scottsboro Boys and might be best known to TV audiences for his role as Victor Strand on AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead, provides his answer in this guest column for Deadline, in which he ties those elements of contemporary life to the groundbreaking singer of “Mona Lisa” and “Nature Boy.

A solid Brit gangster film more in the old-school vein of “Get Carter” and “Mona Lisa” than the dog-on-hind-legs Guy Ritchie idiom, Title notwithstanding, our protagonist is an upstanding kind of tough guy — but the criminal world isn’t about to let him go straight. Actor Philip Barantini’s first directorial feature is nothing wildly original in content or style. Still, it punches both elements across with a satisfying low-key confidence, and does not shrink from occasionally letting things get pretty rough. Saban is releasing to U.S. on demand and via digital platforms on May 22.

We meet fiftysomething Eddie Franks (Fairbrass) the day he’s getting out of the joint after a stint of unknown, presumably lengthy duration. It’s clear from the way he’s treated by both the staff and his fellow inmates that he’s respected, whether due to his intimidating qualities or finer ones — he’s wished well,...

This kaleidoscopic masterpiece, one of the most subversive, intoxicating films of the 60s and a classic of queer cinema, is a headlong dive into a dazzling unseen Tokyo night-world of drag queen bars and fabulous divas.

“Funeral Parade of Roses” will be released on Blu-ray – the first time it has been available on Blu-ray in the UK – on 18 May 2020, and will simultaneously be available for rental and download-to-own on iTunes and Amazon Prime. It will be available on BFI Player’s subscription service later this summer as part of a major new collection of Japanese films, BFI Japan 2020, which launches on 11 May and continues until October. This 2-disc Blu-ray is a strictly Limited Edition of 3000 copies.

Toshio Matsumoto, one of Japan’s leading experimental filmmakers, bends and distorts time, and freely mixes documentary interviews, Brechtian film-within-a-film asides, Oedipal premonitions of disaster, his own avant-garde shorts (eight of...

The star and the writer/director of Sea Fever talk about a diverse array of influential films in a double episode.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Sea Fever (2020)

Soldier (1998)

Unforgiven (1992)

Blade Runner (1982)

Gladiator (2000)

The Ice Harvest (2005)

Wonder Woman (2017)

Ordet (1955)

Ditte, Child of Man (1946)

Frances (1982)

The Accused (1988)

The Deer Hunter (1978)

My American Uncle (1980)

8 ½ (1963)

Ikiru (1952)

Heaven’s Gate (1980)

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)

Europa (1991)

Diva (1981)

The Sacrifice (1986)

Saturday Night Fever (1977)

The Party (1968)

Westworld (1973)

The Searchers (1956)

Alien (1979)

Cool Hand Luke (1967)

The Exterminating Angel (1962)

Contagion (2011)

Idiocracy (2006)

The Company of Wolves (1984)

Mona Lisa (1986)

King Kong (1933)

Arrival (2016)

In The Cut (2003)

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Mandy (2018)

Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Dune (1984)

Dune (2020… maybe)

Bright Star (2009)

Basic Instinct (1992)

Innerspace (1987)

American Gigolo (1980)

Thelma and Louise (1991)

Wild Things (1998)

Ginger Snaps (2000)

Life of Pi (2012)

Hulk (2003)

Die Hard (1988)

The Hurt Locker (2009)

Psycho (1960)

1917 (2019)

Shane (1953)

Other Notable Items

Brendan McCarthy

David Peoples

Kurt Russell

Lars Von Trier

Carl Theodor Dreyer

Bjarne Henning-Jensen...

Mubi’s retrospective, Spotlight on Kenji Mizoguchi, is showing in France until May 22, 2020.Above: Kenji Mizoguchi and Kyōko Kagawa on the set of The Crucified Lovers (1954).On multiple occasions, Kenji Mizoguchi was said to have compared himself to Vincent van Gogh, even calling the painter his "artistic model" in conversation with actress Kinuyo Tanaka. One has good reason to take Mizoguchi's word for such self-identification, considering his former aspirations to become a painter. On set, he was a notoriously stringent perfectionist and, if displeased at all with the technicalities of a production, rather cruel towards those with whom he worked. What does it mean to refer to Mizoguchi's films as "painterly," as is so often done? Indeed, the filmmaker wanted to be a painter in his youth, and was an ardent student of the craft: In Patterns of Time: Mizoguchi and the 1930s, Donald Kirihara writes that Mizoguchi even "wept before the Mona Lisa.

A never ending mission to save the world featuring Ron Perlman, Peter Ramsey, James Adomian, Will Menaker, and Blaire Bercy from the Hollywood Food Coalition.

Please support the Hollywood Food Coalition. Text “Give” to 323.402.5704 or visit https://hofoco.org/donate!

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Karado: The Kung Fu Flash a.k.a. Karado: The Kung Fu Cat a.k.a. The Super Kung Fu Kid (1974)

Sullivan’s Travels (1941)

The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946)

Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939)

Nobody’s Fool (1994)

The Hustler (1961)

Elmer Gantry (1960)

Mean Dog Blues (1978)

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (2018)

Mona Lisa (1986)

The Crying Game (1992)

The Hairdresser’s Husband (1990)

Ridicule (1996)

Man on the Train (2002)

The Girl on the Bridge (1999)

Pale Flower (1964)

Out of the Past (1947)

The Lunchbox (2013)

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)

The Last Boy Scout (1991)

Raw Deal (1986)

Commando (1985)

The Masque of the Red Death (1964)

The Last Man On Earth (1964)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers...

I wrote the song “Shane” for my latest album Sunset Kids while we were taking a break from recording, and producers Lucinda Williams and Tom Overby were back out on the road. We filmed a video with director Joseph Quever running all over Dublin to capture some of Shane’s old haunts, but the song came to me after a trip I’d taken to Dublin to sing at Shane MacGowan’s 60th birthday. Nobody really though that this mythical punk rock poet who was born on Christmas day would ever live this long…...

Jodie Foster is setting her directing sights on the Mona Lisa — and the painting’s storied history.

The Oscar-winning actress has signed on to direct an untitled film based on a book by Seymour Reit titled The Day They Stole the Mona Lisa, according to Deadline.

The film will be funded by the Los Angeles Media Fund, with Jeffrey Soros, who helped launch the organization, telling Deadline the events occurred “in 1911, and it was the thing that made the Mona Lisa so famous.”

“It was developed by Phoenix, which is still involved, but we have got a whole new script...

In support of The Cotton Club Encore: 35th Anniversary Edition has arrived to Blu-ray Combo Pack (plus DVD & Digital), DVD and Digital 4K Ultra HD from Lionsgate,

Here’s a new special features introduction from Francis Ford Coppola:

Francis Ford Coppola’s Academy Award®-nominated epic gets its definitive cut when The Cotton Club Encore: 35th Anniversary Edition arrives on Blu-ray Combo Pack (plus DVD & Digital), DVD and Digital 4K Ultra HD December 10 from Lionsgate. Boasting an all-star cast, The Cotton Club Encore: 35th Anniversary Edition stars Golden Globe® winner Richard Gere (2003, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Chicago), Tony Award® winner Gregory Hines (1992, Best Actor in a Musical, Jelly’s Last Jam), Academy Award® nominee Diane Lane (2002, Best Actress, Unfaithful), NAACP Image Award® nominee Lonette McKee (1999, Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series, “As the World Turns”), Golden Globe® nominee Bob Hoskins...

Like Mona Lisa’s smile or Jimi Hendrix’s greatest riffs, Robert De Niro’s performances in his nine Martin Scorsese films maintain a mysterious allure — even as they capture one of the greatest collaborations in film history. From 1973’s “Mean Streets” to “The Irishman,” Scorsese and De Niro have inspired book-length interrogations, influenced generations, won awards, and even landed their own Wikipedia page. There have been masterful Scorsese movies without De Niro, and brilliant De Niro performances without Scorsese, but they retain a sacred power imbued in the elusive bond between the filmmaker and his subject.

Even DeNiro has a hard time explaining it.

“These are just characters we have some understanding and feeling for,” he said on a recent afternoon at his Canal Street Prods. office in Tribeca, his walls buried in photographs and mementos, books that inspired him, even the scale he used to track his weight in “Raging Bull.

British music and film producer Nik Powell, who was among the Virgin Group co-founders with Richard Branson and became an influential force in U.K. cinema, producing more than 60 titles including Neil Jordan’s Oscar-winning “The Crying Game,” died Thursday at age 69.

The cause of death was an unspecified form of cancer, Britain’s National Film and Television School (Nfts) – which Powell headed for more than a decade – said in a statement. He died in Oxford surrounded by his family.

Born on November 4, 1950, in the small village of Great Kingshill, in Buckinghamshire, Powell started out running a record shop and was among the founding partners in 1972 of Virgin Records, which became one of the U.K.’s top recording labels before being sold to Emi 20 years later.

In 1983 Powell co-founded U.K. video label and production outfit Palace Pictures with Stephen Woolley. They produced a string of standout titles such...

Nik Powell, the respected UK producer, businessman and former director of the National Film and Television School (Nfts), has died at the age of 69.

A statement published on the Nfts’ website sad that Powell had been receiving treatment for cancer and died this morning (Nov 7) in Oxford surrounded by his family.

Powell was the co-founder of UK video label and production outfit Palace Pictures in 1982 with Stephen Woolley. Through the company, the pair released movies including The Evil Dead, and produced features including a trio of pics with director Neil Jordan: the Oscar-winning 1992 feature The Crying Game with Forest Whitaker and Miranda Richardson, the Oscar-nominated 1986 film Mona Lisa with Bob Hoskins and Cathy Tyson, and 1984 fantasy drama The Company Of Wolves with Angela Lansbury.

Speaking to us this morning, Woolley said that Powell was “a rock to so many people” and a “constant ally”.

“I’m in shock. I...

Powell founded Palace Productions with Stephen Woolley in 1983.

Nik Powell, the former director of the UK’s National Film And Television School (Nfts), has died aged 69.

Powell had been receiving treatment for cancer. He died this morning (November 7) in Oxford, with his family beside him.

He was director of the Nfts from 2003 to 2017, and received a Bafta for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema in 2018.

Prior to his role at the Nfts, he established Palace Pictures with Stephen Woolley in 1983, which produced titles Mona Lisa (1986) and The Crying Game (1992).

Following Palace’s collapse in 1992, Powell formed Scala Productions, also with Woolley,...

There are some works of art that are said to speak the soul of a nation or culture; and even though no culture is a monolith, works such as "American Gothic" or "Mona Lisa" are often seen as 'representing' a nation. French documentarian Jean Michel Roux journeys through Finland to dissect that nation's attachment to its most famous painting, "The Wounded Angel". It was painted in 1903 by Hugo Simberg, and depicts two young boys carrying an angel on a stretcher; the angels' wings are wounded, it is blindfolded, and holds snowdrops flowers in one hand. Simberg created the painting from a series of sketches made while he was convalescing in a nearby hospital, and took daily walks...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Altitude Film Entertainment has landed the rights to a raft of classic movies, including Terry Gilliam’s “Time Bandits,” after acquiring the library of Handmade Films, the British banner co-founded by former Beatle George Harrison. Altitude, a seasoned seller at the major film markets, will add the Handmade titles to its Mipcom lineup as it heads to Cannes for the biggest TV market of the year for the first time.

The Handmade deal hands Altitude about 100 pictures. Choice titles include Oscar-nominated “Mona Lisa,” Richard E. Grant-starrer “Withnail and I” and British gangster pic “The Long Good Friday.”

Altitude will be based inside the Palais des Festivals at Mipcom. Sales managing director Mike Runagall will lead the charge at the market alongside Mark A. Kirkpatrick, a former distribution VP at ITV Studios who has been brought on as a consultant to aid the TV sales effort.

The Handmade movies will...

It’s late June and Whiskey Myers are onstage at Soldier Field in Chicago, opening for the Rolling Stones on the rock giants’ No Filter Tour. Such a massive gig can go either way: it can be a triumphant win or a total crash-and-burn. Fortunately, the Texas six-piece have been training their entire dozen-year career for this night, and they nail it, gaining the crowd’s attention and even earning a shout-out from Mick Jagger when the Stones take the stage.

“It was the most hectic, but coolest day in the world.

Beyoncé may have played it cool when she met Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, but Billy Eichner sure wasn’t.

The 40-year-old comedian — who voices Timon in Disney’s upcoming live-action adaptation of the The Lion King, alongside Beyoncé’s Nala — was at the film’s European premiere in London’s West End where he met the Duke and Dutchess of Sussex.

Just before the royal couple made their way to Eichner, he was caught on camera preparing to say hello.

In the clip, Eichner, who shared the video on Twitter — whispers to costar Seth Rogan about what he might say to the royal couple.

An Accidental Studio will feature new and unseen archive interviews with Harrison, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam and Richard E. Grant.

An Accidental Studio, a feature-length documentary about iconic UK production, financing and distribution outfit HandMade Films, will be AMC UK’s first original production.

HandMade Films was founded by George Harrison to help finance Monty Python’s Life Of Brian. HandMade forged a reputation for making maverick projects that everyone else had rejected, including The Long Good Friday, Time Bandits, A Private Function, Withnail And I and Mona Lisa.

An Accidental Studio will premiere May 4 in the UK on AMC...

“You’ll know before the dance is through that you’re in love with her and she’s in love with you.”

That lyric is from the very first Best Song Oscar winner, “The Continental,” from the 1934 Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musical, “The Gay Divorcee.” It’s a celebration of the power of dance to ignite the flames of desire.

Now “Shallow,” a more clear-eyed view on matters of the heart (“Ain’t it hard keeping it so hardcore?”) from “A Star Is Born” is part of that Academy Award tradition. But the fact is, such honored love songs are becoming a rarity.

It used to be that romantic tunes regularly caught Oscar’s ear. Occasionally, a song of yearning like 1939’s “Over the Rainbow” from “The Wizard of Oz,” “When You Wish Upon a Star” from 1940’s “Pinocchio” and “White Christmas” from 1942’s “Holiday Inn” broke through. There...

Duo received outstanding contribution awards at separate events.

Bafta presented special awards to Sue Bruce-Smith and Roger Pratt at separate events this weekend.

Bruce-Smith, deputy director at Film4, was recognised for her outstanding contribution to British cinema during a tribute evening at Bafta’s London HQ on Friday 18 January.

Alison Thompson, co-president of Cornerstone Films, presented Bruce-Smith with her award. Speakers included Bafta-winning producer and former head of Film4 Tessa Ross, director of Film4 Daniel Battsek, deputy CEO of BFI Ben Roberts and producer Gail Egan. Also in attendance were Steve McQueen, Kevin Macdonald, Alison Owen, Liz Karlsen and Ed Guiney.

This article marks Part 19 of the Gold Derby series analyzing 84 years of Best Original Song at the Oscars. Join us as we look back at the timeless tunes recognized in this category, the results of each race and the overall rankings of the winners.

The 1989 Oscar nominees in Best Original Song were:

“After All” from “Chances Are”

“Kiss the Girl” from “The Little Mermaid”

“Under the Sea” from “The Little Mermaid”

“I Love to See You Smile” from “Parenthood”

“The Girl Who Used to Be Me” from “Shirley Valentine”

Won and should’ve won: “Under the Sea,” The Little Mermaid”

Howard Ashman is, quite simply, one of the greatest and most influential lyricists of all-time.

Ashman, who initially left an immense impression not on the big screen but on stage from the late-1970s, through the mid-1980s, with colorful, idiosyncratic efforts like “God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater,” “Smile” and Little Shop of Horrors,...

This article marks Part 17 of the Gold Derby series analyzing 84 years of Best Original Song at the Oscars. Join us as we look back at the timeless tunes recognized in this category, the results of each race and the overall rankings of the winners.

The 1984 Oscar nominees in Best Original Song were:

“Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)” from “Against All Odds”

“Footloose” from “Footloose”

“Let’s Hear It for the Boy” from “Footloose”

“Ghostbusters” from “Ghostbusters”

“I Just Called to Say I Love You” from “The Woman in Red”

Won: “I Just Called to Say I Love You” from “The Woman in Red”

Should’ve won: “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)” from “Against All Odds”

Stevie Wonder‘s “I Just Called to Say I Love You” is a sweet, charmingly corny trifle, easily the most notable thing from Gene Wilder‘s midlife...

Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley, the producers of such films as “Carol,” “Their Finest” and the recent “Colette” starring Keira Knightley, will receive the Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award at the BAFTA Film Awards.

The prolific pair run Number 9 Films and have a long list of credits. They will pick up their accolade at the awards ceremony on Feb. 10, joining a roster of previous winners who include Mike Leigh, Kenneth Branagh, and Ridley and Tony Scott.

“Elizabeth and Stephen are two of the U.K.’s leading producers, whose contribution to the British film industry over the last four decades is outstanding,” Marc Samuelson, chair of BAFTA’s Film Committee, said. “Their commitment to producing independent films in the U.K. which breaks down barriers and connects with audiences internationally is an inspiration to us all.”

Woolley’s film career stretches back to the 1970s. He ran the legendary...

Thirty years of bringing compelling stories to the screen have earned Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen the ultimate recognition, the Observer can reveal

It is hard to imagine what students would have put up on their bedroom walls over the past 30 years without the work of Stephen Woolley and his wife and fellow producer, Elizabeth Karlsen. The posters for all the films they have either produced or distributed tell the story of independent cinema.

After bringing audiences foreign arthouse hits such as Paris Texas, Eraserhead and Diva, Woolley had his first triumph as a producer with The Company of Wolves in 1984, going on to make a series of landmarks in British cinema, including Letter to Brezhnev, Absolute Beginners, Mona Lisa, the Oscar-winner The Crying Game, Scandal, The End of the Affair and Made in Dagenham. And this winter, the Observer can reveal, the couple are to be honoured by Bafta...

This article marks Part 14 of the Gold Derby series analyzing 84 years of Best Original Song at the Oscars. Join us as we look back at the timeless tunes recognized in this category, the results of each race and the overall rankings of the winners.

The 1977 Oscar nominees in Best Original Song were:

“Candle on the Water” from “Pete’s Dragon”

“Someone’s Waiting for You” from “The Rescuers”

“The Slipper and the Rose Waltz (He Danced with Me/She Danced with Me)” from “The Slipper and the Rose”

“Nobody Does It Better” from “The Spy Who Loved Me”

“You Light Up My Life” from “You Light Up My Life”

Won: “You Light Up My Life” from “You Light Up My Life”

Should’ve won: “Nobody Does It Better” from “The Spy Who Loved Me”

1977 is a tough year to take very seriously in Best Original Song, and not just because of the winner – the sleepy,...

This article marks Part 12 of the Gold Derby series analyzing 84 years of Best Original Song at the Oscars. Join us as we look back at the timeless tunes recognized in this category, the results of each race and the overall rankings of the winners.

The 1973 Oscar nominees in Best Original Song were:

“(You’re So) Nice to Be Around” from “Cinderella Liberty”

“Live and Let Die” from “Live and Let Die”

“Love,” from “Robin Hood”

“All That Love Went to Waste” from “A Touch of Class”

“The Way We Were” from “The Way We Were”

Won and should’ve won: “The Way We Were” from “The Way We Were”

The title song from “The Way We Were,” composed by the brilliant, Egot-winning Marvin Hamlisch, alongside Alan and Marilyn Bergman, is a dreamy, haunting, immensely moving piece, performed splendidly by the incomparable Barbra Streisand. The film’s leading lady strikes just the right notes here,...

This article marks Part 10 of the Gold Derby series analyzing 84 years of Best Original Song at the Oscars. Join us as we look back at the timeless tunes recognized in this category, the results of each race and the overall rankings of the winners.

The 1965 Oscar nominees in Best Original Song were:

“The Ballad of Cat Ballou” from “Cat Ballou”

“The Sweetheart Tree” from “The Great Race”

“The Shadow of Your Smile” from “The Sandpiper”

“I Will Wait for You” from “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg”

“What’s New, Pussycat” from “What’s New, Pussycat”

Won: “The Shadow of Your Smile” from “The Sandpiper”

Should’ve won: “The Ballad of Cat Ballou” from “Cat Ballou”

On February 15, 1965, at the mere age of 45, Nat King Cole, unimpeachably one of the all-time great vocalists and jazz pianists, died of lung cancer. Cole tunes were nominated on three occasions at the Oscars – in 1950 (for...

The best thing about Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter V is that it exists. It finds the man who once called himself “the best rapper alive” – and who, for a few years in the late 2000s, indisputably lived up to that boast – finally emerging from five years of personal and professional chaos. A 2014 “Drake vs. Lil Wayne” co-headlining tour unexpectedly evolved into a poignant torch-passing affair. There were reports of health problems and emergency hospital visits that led some to wonder if his death was imminent. Most tragically, there was...

This article marks Part 9 of the Gold Derby series analyzing 84 years of Best Original Song at the Oscars. Join us as we look back at the timeless tunes recognized in this category, the results of each race and the overall rankings of the Academy Awards winners.

The 1964 Oscar nominees in Best Original Song were:

“Dear Heart” from “Dear Heart”

“Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte” from “Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte”

“Chim Chim Cher-ee” from “Mary Poppins”

“My Kind of Town” from “Robin and the 7 Hoods”

“Where Love Has Gone” from “Where Love Has Gone”

Won: “Chim Chim Cher-ee” from “Mary Poppins”

Should’ve won: “Dear Heart” from “Dear Heart”

1964 is one of the more aggravating years at the Oscars, that time “My Fair Lady” crushed the brilliant likes of “Becket” and “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” across the board. Rex Harrison defeated Richard Burton,...

The long, convoluted road to Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter V can be demonstrated by the contrasting trajectories of two songs on the album, “Famous” and “Demon.”

“Famous” is an oldie: This sentimental rap ballad was produced by Lasanna “Ace” Harris and Shama Joseph in 2014. That year, the two beat-makers succeeded in placing a song with Nicki Minaj, which in turn helped them establish a relationship with Young Money Entertainment, the label co-founded by Lil Wayne. They managed to cut several songs with the rapper, who was preparing to release...

Editors’ Pick: Jlin, Autobiography

“America’s most acclaimed new electronic composer scores a piece by choreographer Wayne McGregor with her cutting-edge synthetic textures and brain-blendering pinball beats,” writes Christopher R. Weingarten. “Allowed to stretch, she explores a dripping, hard-panning, evocative ambient music made of bamboo clanks, tubular bells, ticking clocks, birds, bugs and splashing water.”

Read Our Review: Jlin’s Autobiography Shows the Electronic Composer Doing More Than Moving Feet

Lil Wayne, Tha Carter V

The best thing about Tha Carter V is that it simply exists. For the past five years,...

Focus Features has closed a deal for rights to Neil Jordan’s “Greta” following the thriller’s premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

The film stars Chloe Grace Moretz and Isabelle Huppert and is described as a film about female obsession. Several companies were interested in “Greta” and bidding became intense. With the deal in place, Focus will now control rights for the film in North America, Australia and China. Universal, Focus’s parent company, already has a deal for the U.K.

“Greta” isn’t the only title eliciting lots of interest from buyers. Potential bidders have been told that “Teen Spirit,” the directing debut of actor Max Minghella, is close to landing a deal. There’s a rumor that the film about a pop star will go for roughly $3 million.

Reviews for “Greta” were largely positive, with critics praising the picture as pulpy fun.

“This...

This article marks Part 6 of the Gold Derby series analyzing 84 years of Best Original Song at the Oscars. Join us as we look back at the timeless tunes recognized in this category, the results of each race and the overall rankings of the Academy Awards winners.

The 1954 Oscar nominees in Best Original Song were:

“The High and the Mighty” from “The High and the Mighty”

“The Man That Got Away” from “A Star Is Born”

“Hold My Hand” from “Susan Slept Here”

“Three Coins in the Fountain” from “Three Coins in the Fountain”

“Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)” from “White Christmas”

Won: “Three Coins in the Fountain” from “Three Coins in the Fountain”

Should’ve won: “The Man That Got Away” from “A Star Is Born”

Sure, the 1954 Oscar ceremony could have gone a lot worse. “On the Waterfront” and leading man Marlon Brando could have, for instance, fallen...

Brady Corbet and Neil Jordan are going to Tiff. The Toronto International Film Festival announced this morning that “Vox Lux” and “Greta” have both been added to the Special Presentations program, a North American premiere for the former and world premiere for the latter. Natalie Portman stars as a pop star alongside Jude Law in Corbet’s follow-up to “The Childhood of a Leader,” which debuts in Venice, while Chloë Grace Moretz and Isabelle Huppert headline “Greta.”

“These are two films that explore nuanced narratives with exceptional leading women,” said Kerri Craddock, Tiff’s Director of Festival Programming. “‘Greta’ and ‘Vox’ Lux both offer strong directorial visions, rich performances, and engaging stories. They complete the package of the Special Presentations programme.”

Moretz stars in Jordan’s film as a young woman who becomes friends with a widow played by Huppert; per a description from Tiff, “the older woman’s motives...

This article marks Part 5 of the Gold Derby series analyzing 84 years of Best Original Song at the Oscars. Join us as we look back at the timeless tunes recognized in this category, the results of each race and the overall rankings of the Academy Awards winners.

The 1950 Oscar nominees in Best Original Song were:

“Mona Lisa” from “Captain Carey, U.S.A.”

“Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo” from “Cinderella”

“Mule Train” from “Singing Guns”

“Be My Love” from “The Toast of New Orleans”

“Wilhelmina” from “Wabash Avenue”

Won and should’ve won: “Mona Lisa” from “Captain Carey, U.S.A. ”

Best Original Song in 1950 underwhelms a bit, with really only two particularly memorable nominees – one, the winning “Mona Lisa,” and second, the catchy-as-can-be “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo.”

“Mona Lisa,” featured in the forgettable Alan Ladd war picture “Captain Carey, U.S.A.,” is performed sumptuously here by the always-marvelous Nat King Cole. His performance, coupled with the rich orchestrations,...

Before the Sunday night premiere, HBO and the “Sharp Objects” creative ensemble celebrated the television adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s novel at the Arclight and an after party at Boulevard3 on Sunset. Pictured here: Executive Producer/Author Gillian Flynn, Amy Adams, Patricia Clarkson, and Executive Producer/Creator Marti Noxon.

“Power” Executive Producer 50 Cent knows that a new season of the Starz show means it’s time to party “like it’s your birthday.” The celebration in New York on Thursday night (June 28) included a choir, fog machine, and the G-Unit main man entertaining the guests.

At the after party, 50 huddled with Creator and fellow- Executive Producer Courtney A. Kemp.

Veteran actor Tim Matheson, “Breaking Bad” creator Vince Gilligan and “Game of Thrones” producer Carolyn Strauss gathered at the Paley Center to lead CNN’s celebration of its new recent-history series “The 2000s”. Because the series focuses on the rise...

Jeff Goldblum has returned to one of his most successful roles with Dr. Ian Malcolm in the film “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.” Goldblum first played the character in the blockbuster film “Jurassic Park” back in 1993. The actor has had a highly successful career in film, television and theater for over 40 years.

Goldblum’s film career started in a particularly auspicious manner since his first four films were all highly regarded works of the early 1970s: “Death Wish”, “California Split”, “Nashville” and “Next Stop, Greenwich Village.” He continued to work in film and television for the next four decades and even returned to Broadway a few times, most notably in the highly regarded Martin McDonough play “The Pillowman.”

Along the way Goldblum has picked up a number of award nominations including an Oscar nomination for Best Live Action Short Film for “Little Surprises.” He received an Emmy nomination for a guest...

Here's what was happening on this day in showbiz history...

1930 Jim Nabors (aka Gomer Pyle) born in Alabama

1942 Anne Frank receives a diary for her 13th birthday. The diary will become world famous and receive multiple stage and film adaptations, most famously in the Oscar nominated '59 version from director George Stevens.

1963 Cleopatra has its premiere in New York City after years of tabloid sensations during the making of courtesy of Liz & Dick. Ever courting controversy, Liz & Dick did not attend the premiere!

1965 Actress Cathy Tyson (niece of Cicely!) born in Liverpool. She'll make a big splash (and receive a Golden Globe nomination) for her film debut in Mona Lisa when she's just 21...

Jeff Goldblum is set to record his first jazz album after having signed up with Decca Records Label Group, Decca announced Wednesday. The actor’s jazz piano skills caught the attention of Decca executives after he accompanied soul-jazz singer Gregory Porter on a rendition of Nat King Cole’s “Mona Lisa” on BBC talk show “The Graham Norton Show” last October while promoting “Thor: Ragnarok.”

“I’m so happy to be in cahoots with the wonderful people at Decca, one of the coolest and most prestigious labels of all time,” Goldblum said.

The actor, known around the world for his iconic roles in films including “The Fly,” “Jurassic Park” and “Independence Day,” has played piano since childhood. He regularly plays with his jazz band, The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, around L.A. and at the Café Carlyle in New York. Goldblum also hosts a weekly jazz variety show at L.A.

Last year it was announced that Leonardo DiCaprio would be playing Leonardo Da Vinci in a biopic that chronicles the life of the artist, scientist, and inventor. We've now learned that the project is moving forward with screenwriter John Logan, who wrote the last two James Bond films.

The script that Logan writes will be based on Walter Isaacson biography was based on thousands of pages from da Vinci’s notebooks. Here's a description of that book:

Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo’s astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Walter Isaacson weaves a narrative that connects his art to his science. He shows how Leonardo’s genius was based on skills we can improve in ourselves, such as passionate curiosity, careful observation, and an imagination so playful that it flirted with fantasy.

He produced the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa.