Noticias

In the "Family Guy" episode "And Then There Were Fewer", Peter (Seth MacFarlane) and his family — along with most of the citizens of Quahog, Rhode Island — are invited by James Woods (James Woods) to his giant, incredibly remote mansion for a fancy dinner. Woods claims that the dinner is a means to repent for a life of wrongdoing (a claim that would prove prescient) and that he merely wants to extend his many guests a simple act of kindness. But then there is a murder in the shadows. Then Woods himself is murdered by a mysterious figure in a cloak, in plain sight.

Because the mansion is so remote, the Griffins and citizens of Quahog figure that one of them is the murderer. They must race to figure out who it is. In so doing, they discover a blackmail plot and widespread motivations for killing. The murderer takes more lives during the investigation,...

The Academy Awards committee recently announced their 2025 nominations for the Best Actor category. And boy oh boy, is it going to be cut-throat with the likes of Ralph Fiennes and Timothée Chalamet competing against each other. But talk of fierce competition and we’re often reminded of the 77th Academy Awards, where Jamie Foxx was pitted against veterans like Leonardo DiCaprio, Clint Eastwood, and Johnny Depp.

Jamie Foxx as Max the cab driver in Collateral | image: Paramount Pictures

Yet, the actor of color who was nominated for two categories—Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, ended up emerging victorious in the stiff competition. Despite losing the supporting actor category (which seemed rather easy to win) Jamie Foxx turned the tables and took home the coveted award for Best Actor, leaving DiCaprio, Depp, and Eastwood in the dirt.

Jamie Foxx was nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor in 2005

Although...

In Oscars history, Barry Fitzgerald holds the record of being the only actor to ever receive two separate award nominations for the same performance and win one. The Irish actor, whose prolific career in Hollywood lasted from the 1920s to the end of the 1950s, worked with the likes of movie legends John Wayne, John Ford, Cary Grant, and more. But rather than just being a part of their cinematic accomplishments, Fitzgerald succeeded in landing some important achievements of his own in the industry.

In the early stages of his career, Barry Fitzgerald was an unlikely contender to set any Oscar records. He started off as a stage actor in Ireland and didn't receive his break in Hollywood until 1936, when he appeared in John Ford's The Plough and the Stars, at the age of 48. But just eight years after his appearance in the John Ford movie, Fitzgerald was chosen by director,...

Along with many of Hollywood’s biggest stars, John Wayne often shared the screen with his real-life son, Patrick Wayne. John Wayne starred in several films that defined the genre and ultimately became the symbol of the classic Western hero — strong, tough, and resilient. His characters were often lawmen, cowboys, or soldiers who stood up for what was right, fighting against outlaws and injustices. From The Searchers to The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, the Duke was a central figure in Western movies that are now considered masterpieces.

If anybody embodies a genre, it’s John Wayne in Western movies, and it's no surprise many of his collaborations with his son were in Westerns. Patrick began his acting career alongside his father in movies like The Quiet Man and The Sun Shines Bright, working his way up from minor, uncredited roles to playing his father’s on-screen son. Notably, their...

In the latest season of Unsolved Mysteries, there is an episode following a paranormal investigator, Don, and his ghostly helper, Becky, yet Becky's story isn't as straightforward as it first seems. Unsolved Mysteries originated as a popular true crime show in 1987. After 12 seasons, the series was revived in a number of places, but it is Netflix's 2020 reboot that has lasted. Recently, Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries Volume 5 was released, and this four-episode season dives into inexplicable cases of true crime and some of the most confounding supernatural cases in the world.

In episode 2, Unsolved Mysteries follows Don and his incredible paranormal abilities, which are aided by a ghost who calls herself Becky. Throughout the episode, viewers get to see how Don met Becky, and how the pair have proven themselves to be an outstanding paranormal duo. With Becky's help, Don has been able to track down information that he never would have been privy to before.

Saoirse Ronan is getting some of the best reviews of her career for “The Outrun,” an intense drama about a woman battling her addiction to alcohol. No surprise then that she ranks among the top 5 on our Best Actress chart. She also has a featured role in Steve McQueen‘s upcoming “Blitz” as a mother in search of her missing boy in war-torn London. Currently we have her on the cusp of reaping a bid in Best Supporting Actress as well. Expect Ronan to crack the top 5 after “Blitz” drops at the London Film Festival on Wednesday (Oct. 9).

This Irish actress, who has already racked up four Oscar nominations to date, would join these dozen performers who pulled off this double play (the seven winners are in gold.)

1. Fay Bainter (1939)

Best Actress, “White Banners”

Best Supporting Actress, “Jezebel”

2. Teresa Wright (1943)

Best Actress, “The Pride of the Yankees”

Best Supporting Actress,...

Saoirse Ronan is gearing up for a fierce Oscar season, with two performances poised to battle for the industry’s top honors.

Variety confirms Ronan will compete in both the lead actress race for the Sundance hit “The Outrun” and supporting actress for her upcoming work in the World War II epic “Blitz” — potentially setting her up as a double acting nominee this awards season. If double-nominated, which is currently projected on Variety Awards Circuit’s predictions, she would be the 13th person and youngest actor to receive two acting nominations in the same year. Seven of the 12 previous actors went on to win for one of their nominated works.

Read: You can see all Academy Award predictions in all 23 categories on one page on the Variety Awards Circuit: Oscars.

Blitz

In “Blitz,” which is set to debut as the opening film at the BFI London Film Festival, Ronan plays Rita,...

Gold Derby can now report that Saoirse Ronan is officially making an awards move long expected. The four-time Oscar nominee will campaign as Best Supporting Actress for “Blitz,” avoiding a possible vote split with her other big contender of “The Outrun,” which has her as Best Actress.

From Apple Original Films, “Blitz” has yet to me seen by major critics or festival crowds but is one of this year’s hottest contenders from past Oscar champ Steve McQueen. It will debut at the BFI London Film Festival on October 9. Its theatrical opening is a month later on November 1. And then it’ll be on Apple TV+ starting on November 22.

For this movie, Ronan plays the distraught mother of a young boy (Elliott Heffernan) who goes on a perilous adventure during World War II. It co-stars Harris Dickinson and is written, directed and produced by McQueen. View the trailer below:

Ronan...

Star Trek is one of the most unique pop culture phenomena to date because of its widespread inclusivity. To widen their multiculturalism, the Gene Roddenberry franchise roped in Irish actor Colm Meany as the transporter chief in The Next Generation‘s USS Enterprise-d. But the No Way Up actor’s Star Trek journey was a struggle as he initially did not want to play an Irish character.

Colm Meaney and Patrick Stewart in Star Trek: The Next Generation | Paramount Domestic Television

As the seasons of The Next Generation progressed, Colm Meaney was given a more prominent part in the series before he was promoted to a series regular in the spin-off show Deep Space Nine. Appearing at a convention, Colm Meaney shared that he badly wanted to play varied roles rather than sticking to the Irishman stereotype, but the sci-fi show had different plans for him.

Colm Meaney was done...

The character of Chief Miles O'Brien first appeared in the pilot episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," "Encounter at Farpoint". Throughout the show's first season, Chief O'Brien would appear mostly in the Enterprise's transporter room, tasked with beaming the Enterprise crew up and down from dangerous away missions. As the show progressed, O'Brien was allowed to speak up more and more. By the show's fourth season, O'Brien would marry his sweetheart Keiko (Rosalind Chao), become possessed by an alien criminal, and reveal long-lasting Ptsd. All told, O'Brien was in 52 episodes of "Next Generation" before becoming a regular cast member of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," affording him 160 additional episodes.

O'Brien was played by reliable Irish actor Colm Meany, star of John Houston's "The Dead," "Dick Tracy," and "The Commitments" (and its sequels). He was a hard worker, and during his 12-year stint on "Star Trek," appeared in 23 feature films.

World War II was still raging in May 1944. The allied invasion of Normandy — aka D-Day — was just around the corner on June 6th. Americans kept the home fires burning and escaped from the global conflict by going to the movies. Two of the biggest films of the year, Leo McCarey’s “Going My Way” and George Cukor’s “Gaslight,” recently celebrated their 80th anniversaries.

Actually, “Going My Way” had a special “Fighting Front” premiere on April 27th: 65 prints were shipped to battle fronts and shown “from Alaska to Italy, and from England to the jungles of Burma.” The sentimental comedy-drama-musical arrived in New York on May 3rd.

And it was just the uplifting film audiences needed. Bing Crosby starred as Father O’Malley, a laid-back young priest who arrives at a debt-ridden New York City church that is run by the older, set-in-his ways Father Fitzgibbon (Barry Fitzgerald). The elder...

Cillian Murphy and writer, director, and producer Christopher Nolan on the set of ‘Oppenheimer’ (Photo © Universal Pictures)

Since Cillian Murphy just became the first Irish-born actor to win the Best Actor Oscar, I thought it would be appropriate to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a list of the most notable Irish actors who have been honored by the Academy with either Oscar gold or a nomination.

1. Cillian Murphy

Murphy has played non-Irish roles so often and so well that some people may not realize or remember that he is Irish. His best Irish films include Breakfast on Pluto and The Wind that Shakes the Barley. And as noted above, he is the first Irish-born actor to take home an Academy Award in the Best Actor category.

Vicky Krieps and Daniel Day-Lewis in writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘Phantom Thread’ (Photo by Laurie Sparham / Focus Features)

2. Daniel Day-Lewis

Day-Lewis...

By taking home the 2024 Best Actor Oscar for “Oppenheimer,” Cillian Murphy blazed a trail as the first Irish-born lead performer ever honored by the film academy. Prior to his victory, there had not been a native Irish acting winner in over 30 years nor any from his city of Cork, as the only earlier examples had involved supporting winners and fellow Dubliners Barry Fitzgerald and Brenda Fricker. His historic achievement brings the total number of different countries that have produced acting champs during the last decade to eight.

As has been the case throughout practically all of Oscars history, the United States is by far the dominant birthplace among the 2015-2024 acting winners. Of the group’s 37 unique members, 26 (or 70.3%) originate from there, including newly-crowned victors Emma Stone (“Poor Things”), Robert Downey Jr. (“Oppenheimer”), and Da’Vine Joy Randolph (“The Holdovers”). Stone is one of three American actors to bag two trophies within the last 10 years,...

Irish actors had never won an Oscar for leading roles despite Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal, and Colin Farrell receiving nominations. Notable Irish actors like Liam Neeson, Michael Fassbender, and Ruth Negga have earned Oscar nominations but never won. Irish actors like Kenneth Branagh and Barry Fitzgerald have won Oscars at the Academy Awards but never in a leading role.

The Oscars are the most sought-after prize for anyone working in films, but until Cillian Murphy's Oscar win, no Irish actor or actress had won the Oscar for a leading role. The Academy Awards are incredibly prestigious, with only a handful of categories awarding an Oscar each year, and several nominees fighting to win the coveted prize. However, despite incredible talent and many years of hard work, many people involved in cinema will never win an Oscar themselves.

And, while the Oscars are hosted in the US, there is plenty of representation and recognition,...

There have been a lot of curious oddities in the Academy Awards' history, like the time there was a tie for Best Actress, but it was the unique milestone achieved by the 1944 comedy musical Going My Way that was the most exceptional. When Barry Fitzgerald stepped into the Grauman's Chinese Theatre movie palace for the 17th Academy Awards ceremony, he did so with nominations in both the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor categories for the same role, making him the only performer to be recognized in such a way. Fitzgerald went on and prevailed in the latter category, while his leading co-star Bing Crosby emerged victorious in the former, forming the perfect cap to Going My Way’s Oscar dominance. Due to the Academy hastily amending their rulebook in the aftermath of Fitzgerald’s triumph, it’s an accomplishment that will never happen again… although considering that grumbling about...

The 2024 Oscar nominees for Best Actor are Bradley Cooper (“Maestro”), Colman Domingo (“Rustin”), Paul Giamatti (“The Holdovers”), Cillian Murphy (“Oppenheimer”), and Jeffrey Wright (“American Fiction”). Murphy (16/5) is favored to win by our odds, followed in order by Giamatti (18/5), Cooper (9/2), Wright (9/2), and Domingo (9/2).

Whereas last year’s lead male lineup was the first in almost nine decades to consist entirely of Oscars newcomers, this one includes three rookies and two general veterans. Standing alone in having already competed for this specific award is Cooper, who was previously recognized for “Silver Linings Playbook” (2013), “American Sniper” (2015), and “A Star Is Born” (2019). Since he personally helmed both “A Star Is Born” and “Maestro,” he is now the fourth person to direct himself to multiple acting nominations, following Laurence Olivier, Warren Beatty, and Clint Eastwood.

Cooper is concurrently nominated for co-writing the original screenplay for “Maestro” with past winner Josh Singer and is directly involved...

The 2024 Oscar race is on, and one film has the potential to accomplish a feat that hasn’t happened in 64 years. “Oppenheimer” leads the nominations with 13, and it’s on track to win several of those categories. If Christopher Nolan‘s epic claims Best Picture, Best Actor (Cillian Murphy) and Best Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr.), it will be the first time since 1960 that the same film (“Ben-Hur”) has won those three exact categories. And it would be only the fourth time it’s ever happened.

See Cillian Murphy interview: ‘Oppenheimer’

Since the Best Supporting Actor category was introduced in 1937, only three films have walked away with Best Picture as well as both male acting categories. In 1945, the inspirational musical comedy “Going My Way” not only became the highest-grossing film of 1944, but also won seven of its ten Oscar nominations, making it the big winner of the night. Beside the top prize,...

Movies and television have been competing for the same audience's time and money since TV was invented, but they've also formed a strange symbiosis. There have been a heck of a lot of movies based on TV shows, and a heck of a lot of TV shows based on movies.

Some of those shows based on movies have been major pop culture milestones, like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "The Karate Kid," and "Friday Night Lights." And of course a whole lot of been almost completely forgotten, like the sitcoms based on "Dirty Dancing," "Working Girl," and "Animal House."

But one thing these TV shows usually have in common is that they're almost always based on a hit movie. It's not surprising when a blockbuster like "M*A*S*H" or "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" gets turned into a television series. It's even common for smaller, but critically acclaimed films...

Colman Domingo is having a moment. The veteran actor has been nominated for two Tonys in his career, but lately it’s his on-screen work that has brought him the most attention. He won his first Emmy in 2022 for guesting on “Euphoria.” He received numerous plaudits for his role in the independent film “Zola.” And he has had additional film credits including Oscar winners “If Beale Street Could Talk” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Next he could become the 13th performer ever nominated for two Oscars in the same year.

As of this writing, based on the combined predictions of thousands of Gold Derby users, Domingo ranks fourth in our odds for Best Actor for playing the unsung civil rights hero Bayard Rustin in “Rustin.” And he places fifth in our odds for Best Supporting Actor for playing Mister in the upcoming musical adaptation of “The Color Purple.” But we...

The 2023 Oscar nominees for Best Actor are Austin Butler (“Elvis”), Colin Farrell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”), Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”), Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”), and Bill Nighy (“Living”). Butler (69/20) is favored to win by our odds, followed in order by Fraser (71/20), Farrell (4/1), Nighy (9/2), and Mescal (9/2).

Last year’s lead male lineup was the first since 1981 to include no first-time acting nominees, but this is the first since 1935 to consist of nothing but newcomers. The last time a group of Best Actor contenders were all strictly new to the category itself was 2006, when the only general veteran in the bunch was past supporting nominee (for “Gladiator”) Joaquin Phoenix (“Walk the Line”). Any of the current hopefuls would be the first total Oscars newcomer to take this prize since Rami Malek.

Since Nighy is English and both Farrell and Mescal are Irish, this is the third Best Actor roster in six years to...

One of the many, many, many problems with the Academy Awards is that with only five nominees in each category — and even with 10 nominees for Best Picture — there's always at least one worthy artist or movie that doesn't get recognized.

In the industry we call these "snubs," and it's a somewhat loaded term that suggests the Oscar voters are deciding, intentionally, not to honor certain filmmakers and their films. While that's certainly a possibility, and there's no denying that the Academy members are human beings full of conscious and unconscious biases, it's also true that in a year full of great artistry in a variety of cinematic fields, at least one person who did amazing work was destined to get left off the ballot, and it's always a real downer for the artist and their fans.

But what if being left off the ballot wasn't the end of their story?...

For Oscar voters, the unspoken rule regarding supporting male performances is the longer the better. An average winner in the category clocks in with 33 minutes and 55 seconds of screen time, and the last five champs have consistently raised that bar. Last year’s victor, Troy Kotsur, was honored for appearing in 35 minutes and 34 seconds (or nearly one-third) of Best Picture winner “Coda.” Of the 86 performances that have won Best Supporting Actor, his falls comfortably within the longer half.

Unlike the three Best Supporting Actor recipients who directly preceded him – Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”), Brad Pitt (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”), and Mahershala Ali (“Green Book”) – Kotsur’s category placement was uncontested, meaning there was no talk about him instead belonging in the lead race. Emilia Jones, the un-nominated star of “Coda” who plays Kotsur’s daughter, towers over him by a margin of 52 minutes. His is...

Every year the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gives out shiny gold Oscar statuettes to actors in four categories: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress. But believe it or not, what they don't do, anywhere in the Oscar rulebook, is clearly define what the difference is between a lead performance and a supporting performance.

In the end, they leave that decision up to the Academy voters, who can sometimes make weird calls. How the heck they thought Viola Davis was just "supporting" Denzel Washington in "Fences" is anyone's guess, for example. But the thing is, one rule the Academy does have for these categories, is that you are absolutely not allowed to be nominated for Best Lead and Best Supporting for the same performance, in the same film, in the same year.

At least, not anymore. Because someone already did get nominated for...

Writer/director Martin McDonagh and actors Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson have become the holy trinity of Irish films thanks to the critical and commercial success of 2008’s “In Bruges” for which Farrell won a Golden Globe, and their current collaboration “The Banshees of Inisherin,” which won best screenplay and actor for Farrell at Venice this past September. Since then, the Oscar buzz surrounding “Banshees” has become deafening.

During his four decade film career, John Ford made classic Westerns and dramas (“The Grapes of Wrath” and “How Green Was My Valley”; he won best director for both). But the no-nonsense filmmaker born John Feeney in Cape Elizabeth, Maine to Irish immigrant parents always revisited his Irish heritage.

The year 1924 saw the release of “The Shamrock Handicap” of which Variety noted “Ford loves everything Irish, and he made the most of the little human-interest touches.” His best-known Irish films, and for...

Darby O’Gill and the Little People

Blu ray

Disney Movie Club

1959 / 1.66 : 1 / 93 Min.

Starring Albert Sharpe, Janet Munro, Sean Connery

Written by Lawrence Edward Watkin

Directed by Robert Stevenson

A late ‘50s showcase for classic horror films, Shock Theater managed to captivate children and worry their over-protective parents. But the kids knew the score, if you were looking for a real shock, forget Frankenstein and Dracula and put on a Disney movie.

Walt Disney’s assault on our nervous systems began in 1937 with the story of a bloodthirsty crone bent on removing the heart of her trusting rival—that feel-good fable was followed by the huntsman who murdered Bambi’s mom, and the demon-fueled bacchanal in 1940’s Fantasia. Uncle Walt’s reign of terror reached its apex with another kind of mad monster party in 1959’s Darby O’Gill and the Little People—a full moon parade of green-eyed goblins...

By Lee Pfeiffer

The 1970s was the Golden Age of American TV movies and mini-series. Fortunately, many of these long unseen titles have been surfacing again on home video and streaming services. I'll admit that memories of the very good ones had somewhat romanticized my recollection of the TV movie genre in general. Upon viewing some of the titles today, they don't hold up as well as I had hoped, but even the weakest remain quite entertaining. "One of My Wives is Missing" is definitely a lesser entry in the TV movie cycle. In fact, I had never heard of it until I came across the title on Amazon Prime and decided to give it a go. The film was telecast in 1976 and has a good deal of talent associated with the production. The show was produced by the powerhouse team of Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg. The screenplay was by Peter Stone,...

Retro-active: The Best From The Cinema Retro Archives

Review – Naked City: The Complete Series

Rlj Entertainment / 6,063 minutes

By Harvey F. Chartrand

Naked City was like no other TV series before or since – Michel Moriarty, star of Law and Order, once told this reviewer.

Inspired by Jules Dassin's 1948 film of the same name, Naked City centers on the detectives of the NYPD’s 65th Precinct, but the criminals and New York City itself often played as prominent a role in the dramas as the series regulars. Like the film it was based on, Naked City (1958- 1963) was shot almost entirely on location. The first season ran as a half-hour show under the title The Naked City, starring James Franciscus and John McIntire playing, respectively, Detective Jimmy Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon—the same roles essayed by Don Taylor and Barry Fitzgerald in the film.

The Naked City also starred Harry Bellaver as Det.

Most film noirs are notable for their low budgets and scrappy attitude but producer Mark Hellinger’s hard-boiled detective drama is Tiffany-level moviemaking all the way. Jules Dassin, director of art house favorites like Rififi and Phaedra, is at the helm, Barry Fitzgerald stars and the Oscar-winning cinematography is by Hollywood veteran William Daniels.

The post The Naked City appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

In order to avoid splitting votes and allow for the possibility of netting two acting nominations this year, Searchlight Pictures will campaign Andrew Garfield’s performance as televangelist Jim Bakker in “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” for supporting actor consideration, based on an invite that was sent to BAFTA voters for an upcoming virtual screening of the film.

Following the biopic’s bow at the Toronto International Film Festival and modest box office receipts, its Oscar prospects have been seemingly on the fringe, but the film, directed by Michael Showalter, could make a roaring comeback during the season. Garfield’s co-star Jessica Chastain, who plays his wife Tammy Faye, will angle for lead actress, and could become a central piece of a competitive race that includes Olivia Colman (“The Lost Daughter”), Penelope Cruz (“Parallel Mothers”) and Kristen Stewart (“Spencer”).

The 38-year-old actor, who graced the cover of Variety‘s TIFF issue last month,...

Oscars voters have always loved seeing actors whose startling physical transformations come after countless hours in the makeup chair.

After Renée Zellweger (“Judy”), Marion Cotillard (“La Vie en Rose”) and Charlize Theron (“Monster”) won Oscars for their impressively-altered looks, Jessica Chastain could be on a similar path for her role as the media-loving televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker in Michael Showalter’s “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.” Following a world bow at the Toronto International Film Festival, the Searchlight Pictures dramedy, echoing previous Oscar embraces such as “I, Tonya,” could make Chastain a contender for her third nomination, and could bring in a few other notices if campaigned correctly.

Chastain’s previous Oscar noms came in supporting actress for “The Help” (2011) and actress for “Zero Dark Thirty” (2012). She also serves as one of the producers for the film, along with Kelly Carmichael, Gigi Pritzker and Rachel Shane. While “Tammy Faye” could...

Bradley Cooper quickly racked up eight Oscar nominations over the course of just seven years, but he hasn’t won yet. However, this year he has two chances for acting prizes: Best Actor for Guillermo Del Toro‘s “Nightmare Alley” and Best Supporting Actor for an as yet untitled Paul Thomas Anderson film. Those happen to be our top two Oscar contenders for Best Picture according to our early odds. So could he end up with two nominations? And if so, could he win one or both of them?

See‘A Star is Born’ again at 2022 Oscars? Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper could return to lead acting races

It’s crucial to preface all this by pointing out that Del Toro and Anderson’s films haven’t screened for press or audiences yet, so everything could change once they see the light of day. But with Del Toro hot off...

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“I Can’T Give You Anything But Love, Baby”

By Raymond Benson

It boggles this reviewer’s mind that Bringing Up Baby, released in early 1938, was considered a “flop” at the time. Was it really, or is that Hollywood PR nonsense? The truth is that it did fine, but perhaps not as well as the studio, Rko, had hoped. Shortly before its release, the Independent Theater Owners of America had deemed star Katharine Hepburn (and other popular leading ladies) “box office poison.” This bit of nastiness may have had an impact on Baby’s earnings in 1938.

The movie was re-released in the early 40s after the success of The Philadelphia Story (1940) and did much better. When television began broadcasting Bringing Up Baby, the picture’s reputation shot through the roof. Today, it’s considered one of Hollywood’s greatest screwball comedies, and fans...

If you went with the Gold Derby odds to make your Oscar predictions, then you got 19 of the 20 acting nominees correct. The one we missed (and likely everyone did as well): Lakeith Stanfield for “Judas and the Black Messiah” in Best Supporting Actor. Because we had him in lead, where he was campaigned and was in 11th place. The shocking thing is not just that Stanfield got in — with zero precursors — but that both he and co-star Daniel Kaluuya, who had been campaigned in supporting and is the favorite to win, made the supporting actor final five. For a two-hander film in which they play the title characters. So how the hell did this happen?

Obviously we don’t know for sure and we, sadly, do not have access to the vote totals, but we have a very plausible theory. As most Oscar fans know, academy voters can nominate...

When Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Nick Jonas announced the nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards, the most shocking inclusion was Lakeith Stanfield in best supporting actor for his performance in Warner Bros’ “Judas and the Black Messiah.” Not surprising from the standpoint of quality, as he delivers a career-best turn as William O’Neal — an FBI informant that betrays the trust of his friend Fred Hampton, who is played by his fellow nominee and Oscar frontrunner Daniel Kaluuya — but shocking because he campaigned in lead actor.

Kaluuya and Stanfield’s categorization has been debated within social media circles, believing that the former is the co-lead of Shaka King’s historical drama and should have campaigned there appropriately. Even on my personal ballot, I recognized Kaluuya in the lead actor lineup. One theory was that the acting branch might have seen the film as an ensemble piece, similar to “The Trial of the Chicago 7,...

You can count on one hand the number of times the same film won Oscars for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, the most recent being “Dallas Buyers Club” (2013) for Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto. (See the rest below). Might Amazon’s “Sound of Metal” be the next movie to join this elite list? Lead actor Riz Ahmed and supporting player Paul Raci are both predicted to earn Oscar noms, according to our odds. In fact, Gold Derby founder Tom O’Neil predicts Ahmed will win and he has Raci in second place, behind only Leslie Odom, Jr. (“One Night in Miami”).

See Rashida Jones (‘On the Rocks’) could get rare acting recognition after industry plaudits for writing, directing and producing

Ahmed is an Emmy winner and Golden Globe nominee for “The Night Of,” but his role as Ruben, a musician who loses his hearing in “Sound of Metal,” would...

Paul Raci, 72, has already won several critics organization’s awards including from the National Society of Film Critics for his performance as Joe, a recovering alcoholic who lost his hearing in the Vietnam War. Joe runs a house for recovering deaf addicts that Ruben (Riz Ahmed), a drug addict who lost his hearing playing drums, goes to live. Raci ranks in the top five contenders for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars according to our exclusive odds.

And there’s a good reason wh: the actor gives such a natural, forceful performance as the no-nonsense Joe-his parents were deaf. He’s also fluent in American Sign Language and has appeared in some dozen productions of the Los Angeles-based Deaf West Theater and is lead performer of the Asl Black Sabbath tribute band Hands of Doom. And just as Joe, Raci is also a Vietnam Vet.

Character actors have won Oscars...

When the 2020 Oscar nominations were announced, Scarlett Johansson attracted attention by earning two for acting. With inclusions in both the Best Actress (“Marriage Story”) and Best Supporting Actress (“Jojo Rabbit”) categories, she was the first actor in 12 years who had a chance at winning two acting Academy Awards on the same night. She ultimately lost both bids, but the feat placed her in the rare company of only 11 others who have achieved it since the supporting categories were introduced at the Oscars in 1937.

Here is a screen-time based analysis of all of them, from earliest to most recent. We note the names and screen time of key rival nominees and the winners in each race as well.

Fay Bainter (1939)

Best Actress nominee for “White Banners”

Best Supporting Actress winner for “Jezebel”

Combined: 1 hour, 15 minutes, 57 seconds

Just four years after beginning her film acting career, Bainter earned her first two Oscar nominations in the same year,...

Even before Chadwick Boseman’s unexpected passing in August, his name had been part of the year’s awards conversation. “Da 5 Bloods,” released in June, was one of the first successful, critical releases of 2020. His rise in predictions for industry awards continued to strengthen with the arrival of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” earlier this month and multiple film critics accolades.

Boseman won with both Chicago and Los Angeles Film Critics for playing Levee in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and was awarded Best Supporting Actor by the New York Film Critics as Stormin’ in “Da 5 Bloods.” Apart from potential wins with other critics and industry bodies, the Gotham Awards, where Chadwick is also nominated for Best Actor, will be honoring him with an tribute for “all of his historical and groundbreaking contributions.”

Could he reap Oscar bids for both performances? He leads our combined odds for Best Actor and...

The creation of the supporting Oscar categories in 1937 clarified the intention that the lead acting categories are meant to honor true star turns. While most Best Actor wins have aligned with that idea, there have been more than a few whose placement has been called into question due to low screen time. Here is a look at the 10 shortest winners in the category:

10. Gary Cooper (“High Noon”)

40 minutes, 57 seconds (48.35% of the film)

Five-time Best Actor Oscar nominee Cooper earned his second win in 1953 for playing morally conflicted Marshal Will Kane in “High Noon.” By appearing in less than half of the 85-minute film, Cooper made history by holding two screen time records at once. At the time, his one-hour, 30-minute, 55-second performance in 1941’s “Sergeant York” was the longest to have won in the Best Actor category. His second win broke a 21-year record for shortest, which was previously held...

Only eight actors in history have been nominated for Oscars posthumously. Only 12 actors have been nominated twice in the same year. Chadwick Boseman, sadly, could make history this Oscar season by winding up on both of those lists.

The actor, who died in August of this year after a battle with colon cancer that he hadn’t publicly disclosed, has been considered a solid Best Supporting Actor contender for months for his role in Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods.” And with initial press screenings of George C. Wolfe’s Broadway adaptation “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” taking place this week, Boseman makes a formidable case for Best Actor attention as well.

The role he plays in “Ma Rainey,” a volatile trumpet player named Levee, led to a 1985 Tony Award nomination for Charles S. Dutton in the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play. That category is the Tonys...

There is a lot of negativity in the world, so it would be nice if awards journalists didn’t contribute to that.

One example: Can we get rid of the phrase “category fraud”? That prissy, finger-pointing term is sometimes used to describe the comedy-drama split in Golden Globes races, but more frequently it refers to studio “fraud” by pushing an actor for lead or supporting.

So far this season, some bloggers have speculated on “fraud” with such ensemble films as “One Night in Miami,” “Da 5 Bloods,” “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” “The Glorias” and “Hillbilly Elegy” as well as debate over films not even seen yet, including Netflix’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”

Here are two things to remember.

In awards season, there are three very distinct groups: journalists, members of the Twitterverse and awards voters. The first two get outraged over “category fraud,” but voters always shrug and ignore the noise.

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to leave Hollywood studios in flux, there are still key decisions being discussed internally about the Oscars, such as actors’ placements in the acting categories. With six months until the Academy Awards, there are several factors needed in order to set a film up for awards season success. Without events to campaign and (metaphorically) kiss babies, the performances and films will be speaking for themselves.

Like the industry, Oscar predictions are in flux, but the biggest unknown is in the male acting categories, which are showing a real fluidity and will continue to do so throughout the season. One of the major questions regards the late Chadwick Boseman and where Netflix will campaign him for his upcoming work in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” While many pundits and prognosticators assume he will ultimately fall within the supporting actor category, there are rumblings that he could be campaigned as a lead actor.

Jules Dassin’s most popular pre-exile crime thriller is many things: a cracking good police tale, a drama of human struggle and weakness, and an amazing cinematic time machine of New York’s distinctive hustle and bustle circa 1948. Mark Hellinger’s final production bristles with a ‘these are the facts’ narration, a voiceover personifying a city ‘with eight million stories.’ The filmed-on-location classic always looked okay, but this new restoration sources better elements for picture and sound, improving the show substantially.

The Naked City

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 380

1948 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 96 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date September 8, 2020 / 39.95

Starring: Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart, Don Taylor, Ted de Corsia, House Jameson, Anne Sargent, Adelaide Klein, Tom Pedi, Enid Markey.

Cinematography: William Daniels

Film Editor: Paul Weatherwax

Original Music: Miklos Rozsa, Frank Skinner

Written by Albert Maltz, Malvin Wald

Produced by Mark Hellinger

Directed by Jules Dassin...

” Two women in the house – and one of them a redhead! “

John Wayne in John Ford’s The Quiet Man (1952) is one of Hollywood’s most beloved movies and you’ll have a chance to see it on the big screen when it screens at The Wildey Theater in Edwardsville, Il at 7pm Tuesday, March 17th. Admission is $2.

John Ford’s flamboyant tribute to Irish-Americans, The Quiet Man may be full of all-too-familiar Irish stereotypes, ranging from a fondness for spirits to the love of a good fight, but it’s delivered with great skill and broad humor and at its heart is a good-natured, old-fashioned romance. The action takes place in Sea Verge (Ireland), around 1933 and tells the story of “Sean Thornton” (John Wayne), “a quiet peace loving man come home from America”, He’s a boxer who’s returned to his native Ireland to recover his farm and escape his past.

Last month, Scarlett Johansson became just the 12th performer to garner two acting Oscar nominations in one year — Best Actress for “Marriage Story” and Best Supporting Actress for “Jojo Rabbit” — but her double losses on Sunday now make her the fifth double nominee to go home empty-handed.

Johansson, who was defeated in lead by Renee Zellweger (“Judy”) and in supporting by her “Marriage Story” lawyer Laura Dern, joins Sigourney Weaver (1988’s “Gorillas in the Mist” and “Working Girl”), Emma Thompson (1993’s “The Remains of the Day” and “In the Name of the Father”), Julianne Moore (2002’s “Far From Heaven” and “The Hours”) and Cate Blanchett (2007’s “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” and “I’m Not There”) as double losers.

Don’t worry, ScarJo fans, it’s not all bad news. All but one of the previous 11 double nominees have won an Oscar at some point in their careers, so that bodes well...

With her Best Actress nomination for “Marriage Story” and her Best Supporting Actress bid for “Jojo Rabbit,” Scarlett Johansson joined an elite group of performers to score multiple Oscar noms in the same year. It’s of special note in Johansson’s case, considering both are her career-first citations from the academy.

Who are the other actors and actresses to pull off this neat trick? Tour our photo gallery to see all 10 people, with each person listed from most recent to furthest back. By the way, only two of this nominees went home on Oscar night without a trophy for either category, which could be good news for ScarJo.

SEEScarlett Johansson movies: 12 greatest films ranked from worst to best

In the early years of the Oscars, there were no rules preventing performers for competing multiple times in the same category. As a result, the 1929/1930 ceremony found George Arliss (“Disraeli” and...

Scarlett Johansson has double to celebrate: The actress received her first and second Oscar nominations on Monday, making the Best Actress lineup for “Marriage Story” and Best Supporting Actress cut for “Jojo Rabbit.” She’s now one of 12 actors to earn double bids in one year.

Johansson is the first double nominee in 12 years. She joins:

1. Fay Bainter (1938)

Best Actress, “White Banners”

Best Supporting Actress, “Jezebel” (win)

2. Teresa Wright (1942)

Best Actress, “The Pride of the Yankees”

Best Supporting Actress, “Mrs. Miniver” (win)

3. Barry Fitzgerald (1944)

Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, “Going My Way” (win for the latter)

4. Jessica Lange (1982)

Best Actress, “Frances”

Best Supporting Actress, “Tootsie” (win)

5. Sigourney Weaver (1988)

Best Actress, “Gorillas in the Mist”

Best Supporting Actress, “Working Girl”

6. Al Pacino (1992)

Best Actor, “Scent of a Woman” (win)

Best Supporting Actor, “Dick Tracy”

7. Holly Hunter (1993)

Best Actress, “The Piano” (win)

Best Supporting Actress, “The Firm”

8. Emma Thompson (1993)

Best Actress,...

Before Monday morning, Scarlett Johansson had somehow never been nominated for an Oscar. And now, with her nominations for best actress (for “Marriage Story”) and best supporting actress (for “Jojo Rabbit”), the 35-year-old joins one of the most elite clubs in Hollywood: Actors who have been Oscar-nominated twice in the same year.

While actors are prevented from earning two nominations within the same category, they can be nominated in the same year for lead and supporting performances. But it’s exceedingly rare. Prior to Johansson, only 11 other actors have earned double nominations in the same year in Oscar history.

Fay Bainter was first to pull off the feat. She earned a best actress nomination for the 1938 drama “White Banners,” but lost to Bette Davis for “Jezebel” — which was fine, since Bainter won best supporting actress for her performance opposite Davis in that film.

Four years later, Teresa Wright went through...

Scarlett Johansson is still awaiting her first Oscar nomination, and good things come to those who wait because she looks solid to become one of the select few to get two acting bids in one year on Monday.

While Johansson has long been expected to reap a Best Actress nomination for “Marriage Story,” her fate in Best Supporting Actress for “Jojo Rabbit” had been up in the air, thanks to a far more fluid category, which ultimately may actually help her. Though she was snubbed by the Golden Globes for “Jojo,” she’s hit the other televised precursors, Critics’ Choice, Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA Awards, solidifying her position. Helping her cause is the fact that “Jojo” is a Best Picture contender; the Nazi satire had a great Tuesday with six BAFTA nominations, a Producers Guild of America Award nomination and a surprising Directors Guild of America Award bid for Taika Waititi.

In 91 years, no one has ever been Oscar-nominated for playing a pope. That could change this year if Jonathan Pryce (lead actor) and Anthony Hopkins (supporting) are recognized for the crowd-pleasing “The Two Popes,” as, respectively, Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI.

The film depicts their mutual wariness, which turns into friendship. And thanks to director Fernando Meirelles and writer Anthony McCarten, it also packs a punch in dealing with the men’s very different socio-political backgrounds.

“The Two Popes” sounds like a TV movie that would be shown on cable every Easter. In fact, Italian TV has done a bevy of papal biopics over the years, and America has had a hand in several, including Jon Voight (!) in the 2005 “Pope John Paul II” miniseries.

But Vatican City has rarely appeared on the big screen. “The Agony and the Ecstasy” (1965) and “The Shoes of the Fisherman” (1968) were both intended as...