Awards

Dec. 6 felt a bit like déjà-vu for one director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, whose German film “Never Look Away” landed just one of five berths in the Golden Globes foreign-language film category, along with fellow nominees “Shoplifters” (Japan), “Capernaum” (Lebanon), “Girl” (Belgium) and “Roma” (Mexico). “We’re not even five hours from the announcement, and

Visual-effects artists battle to conquer many challenges on each project that comes their way. As the onslaught of superhero films continues, vfx teams must find ways to combine the intricate, organic work of actors with the enhancements of CG and vfx without landing somewhere that no one wants to go: the “uncanny valley” where things

In director Karyn Kusama’s “destroyer,” Nicole Kidman plays Erin Bell, a detective and tortured soul who has spent nearly 20 years punishing herself for her role in an undercover operation gone wrong. Kidman delivers an intense, gripping performance, and a team of artisans were key in creating the highly distressed look that helped the Oscar-winning

It’s been less than four years since #OscarsSoWhite became a hot topic at the Academy Awards after 2015 films like “Creed” and “Straight Outta Compton” failed to land major nominations for people of color. (It actually began the year before but picked up steam when, for the second year in a row, no people of

This awards season, the Hollywood studios’ Golden Boy, Oscar, stars in The Return of the Prodigal Son. This year’s lineup of studio contenders has opened screen doors to the top award after Oscar’s long affair with those wild young things called “the indies.” As the blockbusters became the more and more favored means of recoupment

“Barry” and “The Kominsky Method” went all the way on their first SAG Awards ballot while “The Americans” joined the party at long last for its final season. SAG Awards voters cemented Netflix’s “The Kominsky Method” as a kudos season contender with comedy actor noms for stars Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin, and a comedy

Fox Searchlight’s “The Favourite,” directed by rising art-house star Yorgos Lanthimos, led the field of film nominees for the 24th annual Critics’ Choice Awards, the Broadcast Film Critics Assn. announced Monday. The period comedy, a biting send-up of the court of Queen Anne, received 14 nominations including best picture, director, actress (Olivia Colman), supporting actress

Star power and staying power were rewarded by Golden Globe voters this time around in the television nominations. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association put the spotlight on a number of new programs enhanced by mega stars: Julia Roberts’ “Homecoming,” Jim Carrey’s “Kidding,” Michael Douglas’ “The Kominsky Method” and Hugh Grant’s “A Very English Scandal.” FX’s

One of the main reasons movies resonate with us is that they make us think: about our own lives, our history or our appreciation for past pieces of art. So many of this year’s awards contenders do one or all of the above, be it a flashy musical that yanks at memories from our childhood

Hollywood has long excelled at telling stories that are cut from reality, featuring topical ingredients that tie escapism to the world we inhabit. Whether it’s true stories from the past or present that help to inform our current social landscape, or wholly creative pieces of fiction that oftentimes touch upon progressive collective change, filmmakers continue

Although it is expensive and time-consuming to enter the Oscar race, the value of a foreign-language film nomination proves tangible to the director and, by extension, to the country’s entire cinematic output. Here are some case studies of procedure and strategy from countries that have been included in previous shortlists, and have a strong chance

Former Los Angeles Lakers star Pau Gasol reflects on special-needs sports and “Champions,” Spain’s Oscar entry, a blockbuster hit on home turf and sold almost worldwide. “Champions” turns on an off-the-rails Spanish coach sentenced to train a basketball team of special-needs players. Are such teams common in Spain? Fortunately, there are more and more initiatives.

No matter how much you loved “Crazy Rich Asians” — that glittering Singapore-set spin on the princess movie, which charmed audiences to the tune of nearly a quarter of a billion dollars earlier this year — don’t be surprised when the Academy fails to give it a single above-the-line Oscar nomination. When that happens, it

However you slice the foreign-language film Oscar, it remains bound by rules and regulations that ensure it can never be fully representative of world cinema: in 2018, as global film production grows ever more complex and multinational, the one-film-per-country submission system looks a little quaint, excluding numerous outstanding titles that fall both within and beyond

Women directors and producers are consistent winners and well-represented as nominees when it comes to documentaries in awards season. Barbara Kopple is a two-time Oscar-winning documentary director; Freida Lee Mock is an Oscar winner and was the Academy’s first documentary branch governor; Laura Poitras (“Citizenfour”) and Zana Briski (“Born Into Brothels”) are the two women

Among the Middle East’s 10 submissions, three of which are helmed by women, are several titles that are likely to be competitive in the foreign-language category. These include the Cannes jury prize-winner “Capernaum,” from Lebanon’s helmer-actress Nadine Labaki, and “The Cakemaker” from Israel’s Ofir Raul Grazier. While the lineup includes some films that premiered at

Ever since 2009 when two Latin American films, Argentine winner “The Secret in Their Eyes” and Peru’s “The Milk of Sorrow,” were shortlisted for the foreign-language film Oscar, roughly every other year a Latino movie has secured a nom in that category. However, only three pics since the 1940s have brought home the top prize,

November 8, 2018 9:00AM PT For countries in the English-speaking world, entries into the foreign-language Oscar race offer a chance to reflect on the complexity of their own cultures or examine their place in the wider world. After digging into its colonial past last year in Francois Girard’s Quebec-set “Hochelaga, Land of Souls,” Canada enters

Among the 87 entries this year, down five from 2017’s whopping 92, there are more documentaries than ever, plus two African countries submitting for the first time: Malawi and Niger. Here’s a guide to the films, including logline, sales, and production contact. CREDIT: Busan Film Festival Afghanistan “Rona, Azim’s Mother”Director: Jamshid MahmoudiLogline: A touching drama

For most of the 60-plus years in which foreign-language film and documentary feature have been competitive Oscar categories, they have had very little to do with each other: separate fields to honor the kinds of film that most Academy voters won’t consider for best picture, with no intersection between them. To this day, no film

The early money might be on Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” (Mexico) and Pawel Pawlikowski’s “Cold War” (Poland), but Asia appears to have a real shot at the Oscar foreign-language category, with a mixture of heavy-hitters and dark horses from an eclectic line-up. The continent’s frontrunner is easily Japanese master Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Palme d’Or winner “Shoplifters.” The

The so-called new Golden Age of Television has not only ushered in unprecedented production values for the small screen; it has spawned new frontiers for eye-catching opening credits sequences as shows aim to gain a quick edge on a growing number of rivals. And just like the showrunners who strive to keep these programs fresh

It’s become a popular refrain: “The Emmys are so boring.” That’s less a reflection of the three-hour telecast than the usual yawning predictability of the winners. At first blush, this year does seem to have a whiff of inevitability, especially in the acting races where certain familiar faces are heavily favored to win. But as

As a performer, Alex Borstein is on two incredibly successful shows: heading into her 17th season of Fox’s animated comedy “Family Guy” and the second season of Amazon’s Golden Globe-winner “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” She is a double Emmy nominee this year for her efforts. But Borstein is also an accomplished writer and producer, counting

“Lip Sync Battle” host and producer LL Cool J wants to dedicate an episode to the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, who died last week at age 76. The series, which pits celebrities against each to lip sync popular songs, has done multiple tribute episodes in the past for artists like Michael Jackson and Christina

Each year there are a few programs and performers that sit atop the predictions’ list at the Emmys, and this year, even with incumbent comedy champ “Veep” sitting out, that’s no different (see: “The Handmaid’s Tale” in the drama races). However, predictions are not perfect, and there are a number of underrated nominees that could

Spare a thought for the Emmy voter who has to choose among the queen, the handmaid, the spy, the detective, the clone(s) and the robot host. It is a telling sign of the times that there is no more heated contest in this year’s Emmy derby than the category of drama actress. The wealth of

This year, Emmy voters paid respects to Anthony Bourdain, who committed suicide on June 8, with six nominations for his CNN series “Parts Unknown,” and another for its digital expansion. But whether these accolades end up in the win column as well remains to be seen. If history is any judge, the Academy delivers a

Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce make such a convincing onscreen couple, it’s hard to believe that their first time working together is in director Björn Runge’s “The Wife,” opening this week. Both broke into Hollywood about the same time; Close with her Oscar-nominated film debut in 1982’s “The World According to Garp” and Pryce as

Before Netflix’s “Queer Eye” reboot, Thomas Reuther was working on a show about death and loss (“Killing Fields”). “It was bumming me out,” he says. But now, Reuther, a supervising editor on the show, says he has been inspired by its “make better” attitude. “When I come into work every day and see the Fab