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Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen is on a roll – his English-language debut Drift is premiering at Sundance Film Festival , he has Chinese-language drama The Breaking Ice being readied for festival play later this year, and several other directing projects in different languages at various stages of development and pre-production. Drift , which stars Cynthia Erivo as a Liberian refugee scratching out an existence on a Greek island, is thematically not a million miles away from Chen’s previous two features – Ilo Ilo and Wet Season – in that they’re stories about outsiders or people struggling to find their place in the world and fit in. “I seem to gravitate to telling stories about outsiders and the bonds, or the human connections, that we make between strangers,” says Chen, who has some experience with feeling dislocated, as he grew up in Singapore but spent many years living in the UK. Chen shot the film, based on Alexander Maksik’s 2013 novel A Marker To … [Read more...] about Anthony Chen Talks Sundance Title ‘Drift’, Upcoming Projects And Plans To Shoot In Hong Kong

Asian and Asian American Pacific Islander representation prevailed at this year’s Oscar nominations, fueled largely by A24’s indie event, Everything Everywhere All at Once with 11 noms . The breakthrough comes in the wake of Parasite ‘s 6 Oscar noms/4 wins in 2020, and Minari ‘s six Oscar noms/one win. Malaysian-born Michelle Yeoh made history as the first Best Actress Asian nominee for Everything Everywhere All at Once . Yeoh played Evelyn Wang in the film, an immigrant laundromat owner, who together with her husband Waymond Wang (Ke Huy Quan) battles across the multiverse for the soul of their daughter, Joy Wang ( Stephanie Hsu ). Diversity in the the Best Actress category has been slim throughout AMPAS history with Halle Berry the only winner. While hardly a dozen Black women were nominated for Best Actress, there have been just four Latina/Hispanic. This morning also saw the first actress of Cuban descent, Ana de Armas, making waves in the category for … [Read more...] about Oscar Diversity: Asian & AAPI Representation Turn Up Big In Nominations

BACKGRID Offset and Hit-boy held a party in Hollywood last night to celebrate their new track -- Offset's his first since tragically losing Takeoff -- and, as you can see, the Migos rapper is on the up again. Sources inside the event tell TMZ Hip Hop ... Offset was in good spirits and drinking good spirits, as the party was sponsored by Patrón. Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media. Their new single "2 Live" glorifies the wildness of Miami rap legend Uncle Luke 's glory days while splicing in Too Short 's smut masterpiece "Freaky Tales" in the sample. The track dropped on Nas ' Mass Appeal label, and we're told his team was instrumental in placing the collaboration. The ThirdEyeRaz -directed video also premiered at the party and on YouTube this morning. '2 Live' not only signifies Offset regaining his footing in the studio, but we hear the track could also be the launchpad for Hit-Boy's 2023 blockbuster … [Read more...] about Offset Parties with Hit-Boy to Celebrate First Song Since Takeoff’s Death

A column chronicling conversations and events on the awards circuit. AFI president and CEO Bob Gazzale spoke a real truth about the money-making Hollywood awards machine as he opened the proceedings for Friday’s annual AFI Awards honoring the year’s best in movies in television as chosen by a distinguished jury. “This is the only event of its kind where you are informed of your honor and then not asked to pay to attend,” he said. The Top 10 films AFI selected this year include Avatar: The Way of Water, Elvis , Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Fabelmans , Nope , She Said, T á r, Top Gun: Maverick , The Woman King and Women Talking , with an AFI Special Award for The Banshees of Inisherin. On AFI’s top 10 TV list are The Bear , Mo , Pachink o, Severance , Somebody Somewhere, Abbott Elementary, Hacks , Reservation Dogs , Better Call Saul and anthology series The White Lotus. Stars, creatives and executives connected … [Read more...] about AFI Awards Bring Out The Best In The Season; ‘The Whale’ Rising?; Oscar’s Longshots Hoping For A Miracle – Notes On The Season

Magnum P.I. was saved last summer by NBC after it was cancelled by CBS. The procedural will now be “sexier” in its new home, according to its stars and showrunner, as characters Thomas Magnum, played by Jay Hernandez, and Juliet Higgins, played by Perdita Weeks, getting together and starting a romantic relationship. While Magnum and Higgins have had the classic ‘will they, won’t they’ since season one and shared a kiss at the end of season four, season five kicks off with a steamy shower scene and a Baywatch -style romp. Showrunner Eric Guggenheim, speaking at NBC’s TCA press tour, said that this relationship would have happened even if it had remained on CBS. But he added, “This season is sexier. It is more romantic, more emotional.” Weeks added that she noticed it had become sexier and said that the challenge in season five for the two characters is to figure out how to work together while also getting into dangerous situations. Hernandez also highlighted the … [Read more...] about ‘Magnum P.I’ Will Be “Sexier” On NBC As Stars Weigh In On Move From CBS

Poker Face , Rian Johnson ’s drama series starring Natasha Lyonne as a human bullsh*t detector, wasn’t conceived as a limited series and the Knives Out filmmaker said there are “endless possibilities” to continue in success. Lyonne stars as Charlie, an effortlessly cool, cheap beer drinking woman with a preternatural ability to solve crimes. After a casino boss seeks her out to use her abilities for nefarious purposes, Charlie goes on the run and gets mixed up in more crimes. Johnson says that it’s a “how to catch ‘em” rather than a whodunnit as the crime is front and center in each episode. But while there’s one story that arcs through the ten-episode season, one involving Benjamin Bratt’s security expert, it’s ostensibly a procedural. Lyonne said that she loved characters such as Peter Falk’s Columbo , Elliott Gould’s Philip Marlowe in The Long Goodbye and Dennis Franz’s Andy Sipowicz in NYPD Blue. Johnson added that he took inspiration from series … [Read more...] about ‘Poker Face’: “Endless Possibilities” For Natasha Lyonne’s Human BS Detector To Keep Solving Crimes Past Season 1

A24 ’s The Whale crossed the $11-million mark in week six as it jumped to 1,500 screens from 835 as the Brendan Fraser -starrer and other contenders continue to tweak theatrical runs through awards season. The film, which received a PGA nomination for Best Motion Picture this week along with SAG noms for Fraser and co-star Hong Chau, grossed $1.45 million for the three days weekend and $1.8 million for the four days, including Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday. Former action star Fraser, who plays a morbidly obese, reclusive English teacher, is no. 8 at the domestic box office with a cume of $11.1 million. Box office newbie, Super’s Saint Omer , opened on 245 screens with a $62.5k three-day weekend and $255 per screen average ($74.7k and $305, respectively, for the four days). At its three core NY/LA locations, the Alice Diop film, France’s shortlisted Oscar submission for Best International Feature, grossed $21k, or a solid specialty PSA of $7,000. The … [Read more...] about ‘The Whale’ Swims To $11+ Million Cume, ‘Saint Omer’ Sees Solid NY/LA Open As Awards Race Picks Up – Specialty Box Office

Brendan Fraser won Best Actor at the Critics Choice Awards for his work on The Whale and delivered one of the most emotional speeches of the night. Fraser started crying when his name was announced as the winner and when he took the stage he cited that Herman Melville “once wrote that there are only five critics in America, the rest are asleep.” Although the actor said he didn’t know exactly what that meant he said he was “glad [the critics] woke up for me.” He continued, “This movie, The Whale , it’s about love, it’s about redemption. It’s about finding the light in a dark place and I’m so lucky to have worked with an ensemble that is incredible.” RELATED: Seth Rogen Blasts The CW At The Critics Choice Awards: ‘We’re On Your Least Favorite Network’ Fraser went on to recognize his costars naming Hong Chau, saying that they “should have her own movie based on every character she’s ever played.” Sadie Sink also got a shoutout, noting she was “incredible.” … [Read more...] about ‘The Whale’ Star Brendan Fraser Gives Emotional Speech At Critics Choice Awards After Best Actor Win

Suffice it to say that Avatar: The Way of Water commanded the Visual Effects Society ’s attention. James Cameron box office-smash sequel scored a record 14 nominations for the 2023 VES Awards , which were announced today. Helped by three noms in the Emerging Technology category, Disney’s The Way of Water topped the single-year noms haul by Disney+’s The Mandalorian in 2021. It also shattered the old high-water mark for films, set by — no big surprise here — the original Avatar, which amassed 11 noms in 2010. The hardware will be doled out at the 21st annual VES Awards on Wednesday, February 15, at The Beverly Hilton. Avatar: The Way of Water will vie for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature — the category that hews closest to the Visual Effects Oscar — against Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, Jurassic World: Dominion, The Batman and Top Gun: Maverick , the film right behind the Avatar sequel on the 2022 list of top … [Read more...] about VES Awards Nominations: ‘Avatar: The Way Of Water’ Smashes Records With 14 Noms From Visual Effects Society

Joe Letteri , who has won four Visual Effects Oscars for two The Lord Of The Ring s movies, King Kong and Avatar , will be given the Visual Effects Society ’s VES Georges Méliès Award, bestowed for “pioneering significant and lasting contributions to the art and science of the visual effects industry by way of artistry, invention and groundbreaking work.” The annual award will be handed out February 13 at the 16th annual VES Awards at the Beverly Hilton. Leterri, currently director at Weta Digital, has 10 Oscar noms overall. He also has received a Sci-Tech Technical Achievement Award from the movie academy for co-developing the subsurface scattering technique that brought LOTR ‘s Gollum to life; his specialty is realistic creatures, from the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park to King Kong and Avatar ‘s Na’vi, and most recently Caesar in the Planet of the Apes movies and Luc Besson’s Valerian and the City of A Thousand Planets . He also has won four BAFTA … [Read more...] about Four-Time Oscar Winner Joe Letteri To Receive VES’ George Méliès Award