Academy museum of motion pictures

On Sept. 25, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures held its opening gala with a starry guest list that included Lady Gaga, Brad Pitt, Nicole Kidman, Queen Latifah, Patty Jenkins, Tiffany Haddish, Kristen Stewart, and Jurnee Smollet. It was a moment long in the making, given that planning of the Renzo Piano-designed mecca celebrating the history of film first began back in 2005 and was delayed by the rise of the Covid pandemic. Though eyebrows were raised by the fact that the A-list revelers mingled maskless inside the 33,000-square-foot space on Wilshire Boulevard at a time when celebrities were publicly chastising those who ignored Covid precautions, a much bigger controversy was brewing. Donors and influential Academy members, many of whom already had received private tours, were outraged that Hollywood ’s origin story — wherein a group of mostly Jewish émigrés fled persecution in their home countries to create what would become a multibillion-dollar, American-led industry — … [Read more...] about ‘Where Are the Jews?’: Scandal Erupts at the Academy Museum

Karina Longworth ’s house is, quite possibly, haunted. This is not necessarily something she has experienced herself, she tells me of her pale-pink 1926 Mediterranean, where Longworth could be found one July morning on the frond-shadowed patio. But it is something she has on authority from a friend who drunkenly stumbled in from the pool one night and heard, in the empty home, a dinner party going on in the dining room upstairs. Since then, the hauntedness or unhauntedness of Longworth’s abode has become a matter of some debate. “My friend thinks my house is haunted,” she says wryly. “I think he drinks too much.” Either way, there is certainly no one better at reviving Hollywood ’s ghosts than Longworth. A film critic and historian, she is best known for the podcast You Must Remember This, which she researches, writes, and records in a tiny foam-lined closet off the downstairs office of her husband, director Rian Johnson. In the eight years since she launched the podcast with an … [Read more...] about How Karina Longworth Brought Sex and Sleaze Back to Hollywood History

Getty Taylor Swift may be making a run at an EGOT, because she's apparently gunning for an Oscar during this award season ... all over her short film, which qualifies. The singer's 14-minute video treatment -- which is part music video and film, starring Sadie Sink and Dylan O'Brien -- is eligible to be nominated for an Academy Award at the 95th annual ceremony next year ... in the Best Live Action Short, no less, according to THR . The outlet reports TayTay and co. are actually consulting with a firm to guide the awards campaign -- so yeah, it seems she/the team behind the film do, in fact, want it considered. There's more though ... THR says the short film might've actually been up for Best Picture, technically, had it come out in 2022 -- but because it was released in late 2021, it misses that window ... although, Best Short is still in play. 'ATW' was screened in an AMC theater in Lincoln Square for a week straight last year, and because of that ... … [Read more...] about Taylor Swift’s ‘All Too Well’ Short Film Qualifies for Oscar Consideration