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Chicago – Yippie Yippie Yippie Fest is back, the 9th annual YippieFest is at the second year at the historic Chopin Theatre in Wicker Park. For three days – August 15th, 16th and 17th, 2025 – the fest will present an unending variety of acts, plays, sketch and other stage performance arts. Tickets prices are for one day or all three days, so click YiPPIE Fest 2025.

At Chicago’s Chopin Theatre on August 15-17, 2025

Photo credit: YippieFest.com

YippieFest began in 2017 as an event that continued the stage tradition of the former Abbie Hoffman Died for Our Sins Festival (1989-2016). The Fest Executive Director, since its inception, is Frank Carr. The comedy group he co-founded, Famous In The Future … with current members Carr, Desiree Burcum, Tina Teske, Michael Hora and Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com … has performed in every Abbie Hoffman fest and so far every YippieFest. They will appear at 8:30pm on Saturday,...

CBS maintains that the cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was solely motivated by the late-night show’s high costs and scant profits. Others have criticized the move as an apparent gift to President Donald Trump, who is in a position to make or break Paramount’s multibillion dollar merger with Skydance Media.

And neither possibility is an especially good look for the network.

Kowtowing to an aspiring fascist who doesn’t like it when comedians hurt his feelings is obviously bad, but so is fumbling the network’s only surviving late-night institution. Colbert aside, The Late Show has been a part of the network since 1993, when David Letterman bailed on NBC to take on Jay Leno in the 11:30 slot.

Obviously late-night TV isn’t what it once was, but for one of CBS’ core brands to end in an embarrassing public clusterfuck seems like a pretty big L for the network,...

To paraphrase Margaret O’Brien in Meet Me in St. Louis: Wasn’t I lucky to come of age in my favorite city? For one thing, my impressionable undergraduate years fell during J. Hoberman’s tenure as lead film critic of the Village Voice, and his approach––which I would characterize as treating movies as artifacts or maybe symptoms of overlapping artistic, social, and political zeitgeists––was tremendously influential to me, as it has been to other critics attempting, for better or worse, to locate art in the world and maybe understand the world through art. A wag once observed that Hoberman’s year-end top 10 list was the rare opportunity to find out which movies he actually liked, but I can’t imagine having received a better education than the encouragement, implicit in his work, to set aside aesthetic hierarchies in favor of networks of associations and draw my own conclusions.

If someone were to build a machine that could create the perfect comedian for late-night television, it might spit someone out like John Mulaney. Born in Chicago in 1982, one of the first glimmers he had of his eventual hunger for the limelight was watching Ricky Ricardo perform with his band on reruns of “I Love Lucy” and both embracing and mocking that old-world sense of showmanship has been part of his charm ever since.

During his youth, Mulaney would also spend time watching archived episodes of “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” at the Museum of Broadcast Communications, likely finding inspiration in Carson’s mix of childlike playfulness and debonaire affect. Whereas most stand-ups of his generation perform in casual threads, Mulaney is known for regularly donning a suit in both his specials and appearances, perhaps a nod to Carson or his own way of recognizing the importance of formality...

So, you’ve watched The Dictator and discovered—or maybe rediscovered—your love for the absurdity and outlandishness of Sacha Baron Cohen. The British actor and comedian has a savvy set of satirical skills up his sleeve that he often sets loose in the real world. These encounters with unsuspecting people, however, reveal far more than just laughs. Cohen, when his methods work, is able to expose hidden biases, prejudices, and sometimes the bizarre underbelly of society.

Sacha Baron Cohen (L) and Ben Kingsley (R) in The Dictator | Credits: Paramount Pictures

If The Dictator’s lampooning on the absurdity of authoritarianism left you chuckling at its brazen wit, here’s a list of Sacha Baron Cohen’s other films that will keep you entertained, surprised, and sometimes even moved.

1. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)

No point in pushing this one down the list.

Sacha Baron Cohen and Rosamund Pike are set to star in Netflix romantic comedy “Ladies First,” the streamer announced on Wednesday.

The film is directed by Thea Sharrock and is an adaptation based on the Eléonore Pourriat-directed French film, “Je Ne Suis Pas Un Homme Facile.” The movie will be written by Katie Silberman, Natalie Krinsky and Cinco Paul.

The official logline for “Ladies First” reads: “A womanizer gets a real wakeup call when he finds himself in a world dominated by women – a fiery female counterpart makes things far more complicated.”

The film’s producers are Liza Chasin for 3dot Productions, Eleonore Dailly, Edouard de Lachomette and Four By Two Films. The project falls under Chasin’s creative partnership with Netflix, which sees her produce feature films via 3dot Productions. Coming up next from the partnership is “Lonely Planet” starring Laura Dern and “The Life List” starring Sofia Carson.

Exclusive: Netflix has set Sacha Baron Cohen and Rosamund Pike to star in Ladies First, a comedy directed by Thea Sharrock. The film is an adaptation based on the Eleonore Pourriat-directed French film Je Ne Suis Pas Un Homme Facile.

Pic is scripted by Katie Silberman (Booksmart), Natalie Krinsky (The Broken Hearts Gallery) and Cinco Paul (Schmigadoon!). Baron Cohen will play an unrepentant womanizer who finds himself in a parallel world dominated by women. A fiery female counterpart (Pike) makes things even more complicated.

Ladies First is produced by Liza Chasin of 3dot Productions, under her creative partnership with Netflix, where she has percolating the Laura Dern-starrer Lonely Plane and Sofia Carson-starrer The Life List. Also producing is Eleonore Dailly, Edouard de Lachomette and Four By Two Films.

Baron Cohen, who’ll next be seen starring with Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline in the Alfonso Cuarón-directed Apple TV+ series Disclaimer,...

If a cross-section of documentary filmmakers were offered access to live performances, behind-the-scenes footage and even private phone calls during a couple of years in the life and career of John Lennon, it’s unlikely that many of them would choose the period of 1971-1972. That was when Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, got heavily into political causes and made “Some Time in New York City,” an unwieldy and hamfisted slice of rock ‘n’ roll agitprop that long ago secured its reputation as the worst album of Lennon’s career.

But that’s the period that director Kevin Macdonald and co-director Sam Rice-Edwards had to work with to make “One to One: John & Yoko,” which had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Friday and will also play in Telluride this weekend. The filmmakers have managed to make a bracing, scattered and somewhat revelatory look at...

Chicago – Yippie Yippie Yippie Fest it’s back, the 8th annual YippieFest is for the first time at the historic Chopin Theatre in Wicker Park. For three days – August 23rd, 24th and 25th, 2024 – the fest will present an unending variety of acts, plays, sketch and other stage performance arts. Tickets prices are for one day or all three days, so click YiPPIE Fest 2024.

Famous in the Future at Yippiefest on 8/24

Photo credit: YippieFest.com

YippieFest began in 2017 as an event that continued the stage tradition of the former Abbie Hoffman Died for Our Sins Festival (1989-2016). The Fest Executive Director, since its inception, is Frank Carr. The comedy group he co-founded, Famous In The Future … with current members Carr, Desiree Burcum, Tina Teske, Michael Hora and Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com … has performed in every Abbie Hoffman fest and so far every YippieFest. They will appear at 7:30pm on Saturday,...

“Soap opera” is a term that conjures cliché images. In hindsight it’s a rather sexist phrase, like the studio-system category of “women’s pictures.” Soap operas have always dealt, at times in depth, with women’s experiences. When the phrase came into vogue, in the 1960s, soap operas were what housewives watched on network television in the afternoon (I’d watch my mother get absorbed into them). One of the many ways that they were unfairly sneered at is that the culture gave no credibility to the fact that soap operas were a serial form, which allowed them to slip into the nuances of a dramatic situation. Sure, they featured broad acting and a certain mannequin-model handsomeness and beauty, yet they gripped people — mostly women — because there was something vital and alive in them.

“It Ends with Us” is an overripe saga of love and romance that’d also...

Adam Sandler shines in The Meyerowitz Stories with a transformative role, showcasing depth and vulnerability in his acting repertoire. Many viewers resonate with the film's dysfunctional family dynamic, which explores themes of resentment, validation, and trauma. The star-studded cast, including Dustin Hoffman and Ben Stiller, deliver nuanced performances that bring depth to their conflicted characters and family relationships.

While it is much easier said than done, a great range is vital for any actor or actress to succeed in entertainment. After all, there is a reason why the terms typecasting and pigeonholing exist in the industry. While some names in Hollywood see this way of working as the means to a steady paycheck, others feel a desperate need to eventually break out of the typical role(s) for which they are most known.

This pattern is explicitly prevalent among those who once made a name for themselves in the comedic genre,...

Mojo Nixon was absolutely himself right to the end. The cult hero died Feb. 7 on board the Outlaw Country Cruise, where he’d performed and caroused in signature fashion the night before (“passing after a blazing show, a raging night, closing the bar, taking no prisoners,” according to a statement from his family).

Less than a year before that, he was in peak form as well, speaking with Rolling Stone about the making of his 2023 documentary, The Mojo Manifesto. It was a wide-ranging, side-splitting conversation, going over the wildest early...

Rustin is a biographical drama film directed by George C. Wolfe, from a screenplay by Julian Breece and Dustin Lance Black. The Netflix film is based on the life of civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, who helped Martin Luther King Jr. and others organize the 1963 March on Washington. The film shows us how history erased him from the civil rights movement he helped build just because an openly gay Black man. Rustin stars Colman Domingo in the lead role of Bayard Rustin, with Chris Rock, Jeffrey Wright, Aml Ameen, Lilli Kay, and Johnny Ramey starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved the Netflix film here are some similar movies you could watch next.

Selma Credit – Paramount Pictures

Synopsis: Selma is the story of a movement. The film chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition.

As Donald Trump prepared to take the stand in the civil fraud trial that could destroy his business empire, the ex-president and his attorneys settled on a strategy built on spite and unbridled antagonism. According to two sources familiar with the matter and another person briefed on Team Trump’s legal strategies, Trump and his lawyers want to intentionally provoke the judge into a nuclear-level overreaction.

They certainly seem to be carrying out the plan on Monday. Trump dodged questions and ranted about this “haters” while on the witness stand,...

The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial is a legal war drama film written and directed by William Friedkin. The Showtime film is based on Herman Wouk‘s 1952 play named The Caine Mutiny, which was based on Wouk’s book of the same name. The film revolves around a trial against a naval officer who is accused of mutiny. The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial stars Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Clarke, and Jake Lacy. So, if you love the film here are some similar shows you could watch next.

A Few Good Men (AMC+ & Prime Video Add-On) Credit – Columbia Pictures

Synopsis: Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore star in Rob Reiner’s unanimously acclaimed drama about the dangerous difference between following orders and following one’s conscience. Cruise stars as a brash Navy lawyer who’s teamed with a gung-ho litigator (Moore) in a politically explosive murder case. Charged with defending two Marines accused of killing a fellow soldier,...

In 1969, the mysterious Tom Forçade insinuated himself into the top echelons of countercultural politics by taking control of the Underground Press Syndicate, a coalition of anti-establishment newspapers across the country. Wiry and manic, Forcade wore a black hat and refused to have his face photographed. Weathering government surveillance and harassment, the First Amendment warrior embarked on a landmark court battle to obtain press credentials for the Nixon White House. But simultaneously, his audacious exploits of the early 1970s—pieing Congressional panelists, stealing presidential portraits, and picking fights with other activists...

Chicago – Yippie! It’s back, in the neighborhood of its roots. YippieFest 2023 will be August 4th-6th in the Lakeview/Buena Park venue of Pride Arts, 4139 North Broadway in Chicago. The space is less than a half mile from the former Mary-Arrchie Theatre, whose “Abbie Hoffman Festival” was the template for the three-day performance celebration. YippieFest currently has slots for theater acts, including one-act plays, monologue, sketch, improv, vaudeville and other stage performance arts. Artists get free admission to the rest of the festival, so click YiPPIE Fest 2023 to sign up.

YippieFest began in 2017 as an event that continued the stage tradition of the former Abbie Hoffman Died for Our Sins Festival (1989-2016). The Fest Executive Director, since its inception, is Frank Carr. The comedy group he co-founded, Famous In The Future, has performed in every Abbie Hoffman fest and so far every YippieFest. They will appear, as will all...

In Personality Crisis: One Night Only, Martin Scorsese’s new documentary about the life of New York Dolls frontman David Johansen, the singer makes it clear he doesn’t want to make it easy for the filmmaker: “I think it’s best to leave an incomplete picture of yourself,” he says. Although Johansen remains somewhat cagey throughout the film’s interview segments, and many of the doc’s most revelatory moments come when he’s onstage as his Buster Poindexter character at a 2019 gig at New York City’s Café Carlyle,...

A version of this story about “Moonage Daydream” first appeared in the Guild & Critics Awards/Documentaries issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.

Brett Morgen’s previous documentaries have covered such notable figures as Kurt Cobain (“Montage of Heck”), Robert Evans (“The Kid Stays in the Picture”), Jane Goodall (“Jane”) and the Rolling Stones (“Crossfire Hurricane”). He tackles another titanic figure in “Moonage Daydream” for which he spent years venturing through the exhaustive archives of the late David Bowie.

Rather than following a standard biographical path, the film is structured as an assaultive and immersive IMAX-scaled fantasia. You’ll probably learn something about Bowie, but mostly you’ll experience him.

This is a documentary about David Bowie, but it’s not really a documentary about David Bowie. It’s an immersion into the world of David Bowie, I guess.

Yeah. Saying “a documentary about David Bowie” would be setting up a...

Chicago – YippieFest, one of the great performance festivals in Chicago, is returning this upcoming weekend, August 19th, 20th and 21st at the Den Theatre in the Wicker Park neighborhood. Friday the 19th is music night, with a night of bands and groups, and Saturday/Sunday will be performance, with theatre, comedy, stand-up, dance and more. Three day and individual day passes are available by clicking Yippie Fest 2022 for complete information.

Yippie Fest 2022

Photo credit: YippieFest.com

Yippie Fest began in 2017 as an event that continued the performance tradition of the former Abbie Hoffman Died for Our Sins Festival (1989-2016). Yippie Fest 2022 comes together for the first time since the pre-pandemic 2019 fest, and features the variety of acts that keep the collective spirit of performance and humanity alive. For a complete and easy-to-navigate schedule, click Performers.

Frank Carr is the Executive Director of Festival since its inception. The comedy group he co-founded,...

There are few films more American than "Forrest Gump." Starring "America's dad," Tom Hanks, the story follows a pure-hearted if somewhat naive young man who bunks with Elvis Presley, meets JFK, serves with honor in Vietnam, and speaks alongside Abbie Hoffman at an antiwar rally on the National Mall. The film has become so lodged into the collective American mindset that "Forrest Gump" has become shorthand for a regular person who existed at the periphery of major historical events and alongside famous figures. When the film premiered in the summer of 1994, it was a hit. It was an...

The post Why Forrest Gump Took Almost a Decade To Finally Make It To The Big Screen appeared first on /Film.

Chicago – Yippie! It’s back. Coming off two years of cancellations, the performance event Yippie Fest 2022 will take place from Friday, August 19th through Sunday, August 21at at the Den Theatre, 1331 North Milwaukee, Chicago. Currently, the Fest is calling for acts, with music and stand up comedy slots already filled, but any other type of performance, sketch, improv or theatre. This is your opportunity to perform, so sign up by clicking YiPPIE Fest 2022.

Yippie Fest began in 2017 as an event that continued the performance tradition of the former Abbie Hoffman Died for Our Sins Festival (1989-2016). Yippie Fest 2022 comes together for the first time since the pre-pandemic 2019 fest, and kept the spirit of the Fest alive by broadcasting the 2020 and 2021 festivals online.

Yippie Fest 2022

Photo credit: YippieFest.com

Frank Carr has been the Executive Director of Festival since its inception. The comedy group he co-founded, Famous In The Future, performed...

Milo Ventimiglia has been known as a favorite TV boyfriend from his time on “Gilmore Girls” and a favorite TV husband from his work on “This Is Us.” In between, there have been countless other memorable roles, including on “American Dreams” and “Heroes” and in the feature film “Rocky Balboa.” But even after all that, the actor-producer-director prefers to think of himself as a “blank slate.”

“We can do my hair a particular way or put makeup on or put costumes on and pick up accents and inflections and attitudes — any of that stuff can just transform who I am into a believable human being on camera,” he says. “I think that’s something that a lot of artists these days don’t have the luxury of because of how much interest there is in the person behind the character, how much information people are always seeking out. If I...

Costume designer Susan Lyall has worked with a number of top filmmakers, including Jodie Foster, Steven Soderbergh, and Jonathan Demme, but her recent work has come in collaboration with Aaron Sorkin

“It’s very interesting to work with a director repeatedly. It definitely gets easier but it takes a few false starts,” Lyall tells Gold Derby. “He does seem to write incredibly complex costume films, although he would probably be shocked to hear that.”

Lyall and Sorkin first connected on “Molly’s Game,” Sorkin’s directorial debut which had nearly 100 costume changes for its lead character, Molly Bloom (Jessica Chastain). Last year, Lyall designed the memorable wardrobe for Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” including a recreation of Abbie Hoffman’s famed American flag shirt. Now, she’s back with Sorkin for another story of 20th-century legends: “Being the Ricardos,” which focuses on one tumultuous week in the life...

Exclusive: It’s been more than 40 years, but filmmaker Robert Greenwald remembers the call that came in from a man on the run. The caller, one of America’s most famous fugitives, used an assumed name.

“Robert, it’s Barry,” the man said in a gravelly voice. It wasn’t long before Greenwald discerned he was speaking with Abbie Hoffman, the “radical” leftist whose conviction in the celebrated Chicago Seven trial had been vacated. But a pending drug charge had prompted Hoffman to go on the lam.

“He would never say ‘Abbie’ [on the phone] because he was underground and assumed all the phones were tapped,” Greenwald recalls. “But I figured out pretty quickly that ‘Barry’ was Abbie.”

After that initial call Greenwald and Hoffman got to know each other and met up on occasion, in less than clandestine circumstances. Sometimes the setting was Venice Beach, not in a darkened café, but out in the sunshine,...

With a new HBO documentary revisiting the infamous Woodstock ’99, a new generation is learning about one of the most calamitous festivals of all time.

Woodstock ’99 was supposed to celebrate the 30th anniversary of “peace, love and happiness.” Instead, the Rome, New York festival earned the infamous distinction of “the day the Nineties died.” There were tons of contributing factors that made the fest the anti-Woodstock: Organizers trying to wring every last dollar from festivalgoers from exorbitant ticket prices to costly water bottles, a festival site built atop hot tarmac in late-July heat,...

Sacha Baron Cohen is set to receive the Comedic Genius Award at the 2021 MTV Movie & TV Awards, MTV announced today.

On May 16, the Academy Award-nominated actor, screenwriter, producer and comedian will become the fourth recipient of the award, which honors an actor who has made incomparable contributions to the world of comedy. Past honorees include Melissa McCarthy, Kevin Hart and Will Ferrell.

At this year’s show, Baron Cohen is also nominated in three categories, including Best Performance in a Movie (for his turn as Abbie Hoffman in The Trial of the Chicago 7), Best Movie and Best Duo. In the latter category, he is nominated alongside his Borat Subsequent Moviefilm co-star, Maria Bakalova.

Known for his creation and portrayal of iconic characters, including Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard and Admiral General Aladeen, Baron Cohen has starred over the course of his career in films including Hugo,...

Video Version of this Article Photo/Video: Oscar Nominated Performances/Hollywood Insider YouTube Channel Over the years many Oscars have been won for portrayals of real-life people. Renée Zellweger won Best Actress in 2020 for playing Judy Garland. In 2019, Rami Malek won for his role as Queen frontman Freddie Mercury and Mahershala Ali won for playing piano maestro Dr. Don Shirley. This year, eight of the 20 acting nominees are nominated for their portrayals of real-life figures: Billie Holiday, Ma Rainey, Herman J. Mankiewicz, Marion Davies, Sam Cooke, Fred Hampton, William O’Neal, and Abbie Hoffman. Related article: Oscars 2021 Winners: The 93rd Show With Record-Breaking Historic Successes, Shocks and Surprises Related article: A Tribute To The Academy Awards: All Best Actor/Actress Speeches From The Beginning Of Oscars 1929-2019 | From Rami Malek, Leonardo DiCaprio To Marlon Brando & Beyond | From Olivia Colman, Meryl Streep To Bette Davis & Beyond Here are the 8 Real-Life Figures Behind...

We were predicting Carey Mulligan (“Promising Young Woman”) and the late Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) to win lead-acting Oscars on April 25, but they were upset by Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”) and Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”), respectively. The awards season isn’t quite over for Mulligan and Boseman yet, though. Their performances are actually both nominated for Best Performance in a Movie at the MTV Movie and TV Awards.

SEEThe lady doth protest just enough: H.E.R. upsets to win Best Song at the Grammys and Oscars for fighting the power

Though the MTV Awards are generally geared towards young audiences and tend towards blockbusters over the prestige fare that appeals to the motion picture academy, this year’s Best Performance in a Movie lineup is surprisingly Oscar-friendly. Four of the five nominees were just in contention over the weekend: in addition to Mulligan and Boseman, there are Best...

Daniel Kaluuya, the British actor, who played the charismatic leader of the Black Panther Party, Fred Hampton, in Judas and the Black Messiah, has won the Oscar for supporting actor, describing in an emotional acceptance speech how inspired he was by his character and how lucky he felt.

“Peace, love, and onwards,” said Kaluuya, thanking Warner Bros. for “making a film a about Fred Hampton.”

“What a man. What a man! How blessed we are that we lived in in a life where he existed. Thank you for your light. He was on this earth for 21 years and found a way to feed kids, educate kids,” Kaluuya said. And, “There is so much work to do. This is not a single man job.”

Kaluuya was considered the frontrunner tonight, a show that, unusually, put him up against costar Lakeith Stanfield, who played William O’Neal,...

Things are of course very different this year, and all performances for the Academy Award nominees for Best Original Song were performed during the preshow, which began at 6:30 p.m. Et., rather than being interspersed and performed live during the Oscars event at Union Station in Los Angeles.

The nominees for Best Original Song span H.E.R.’s soulful anthem from Judas and the Black Messiah to Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams’ melodramatically hilarious track from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. Songwriter Diane Warren, who has yet to win an Oscar,...

When people look back at 2020, it’s going to be hard to think of an entertainer who played more of a central role to the year than Sacha Baron Cohen. In addition to becoming an outspoken agitator against the dangers that modern social media presents, Cohen was a part of two of the year’s most talked about films. One marked with the return of his Kazakh reporter character, Borat, in a sequel to his 2006 box office hit. The other saw him portraying 1960s radical Abbie Hoffman in Aaron Sorkin’s, “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” He reaped Oscar bids for both, contending for the adapted screenplay of “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” and as Best Supporting Actor for “Trial.”

His competition in the acting race is: Leslie Odom, Jr. (“One Night in Miami…”), Paul Raci (“Sound of Metal”), Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield (both for “Judas and the Black Messiah...

Here in the final stages of the 2021 Oscars season, several Academy Awards voters told Gold Derby who they voted for — and why. They asked us not to reveal their identities, but they were otherwise eager to share their views of the year’s best films. Now that voting has concluded, we’ll share a few with you. The comments below by Voter #1 for each category are part of the thought process in choosing these potential winners.

Best Picture: “The Trial of the Chicago 7”

It was beautifully written and crafted. I thought the editing was extraordinary, and it can’t always be easy to edit Aaron Sorkin’s dialogue and make it sing the way it does. There were huge riot scenes along with intimate scenes. The acting from the ensemble cast was really terrific. Second place is “Judas and the Black Messiah.” Third place is “Sound of Metal.”

SEEAaron...

Aaron Sorkin had a massive job ahead of him when researching the screenplay for his second directorial effort, “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” Back in 2007 when the project was to be directed by Steven Spielberg, Sorkin begin plowing through tens of thousands of pages of the official trial transcript to first get the facts down, then applied his character-writing skill to shape his script into a crowd-pleasing movie, the result of which has garnered Sorkin an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

Sorkin’s screenplay for “Chicago 7” will battle with it out with scripts for Emerald Fennell‘s genre-bending “Promising Young Woman,” Lee Isaac Chung‘s family remembrance “Minari,” Will Berson and Shaka King‘s historical biopic “Judas and the Black Messiah” and the drama “Sound of Metal” written by Darius Marder and his brother Abraham Marder.

SEEAaron Sorkin interview: ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ director-writer

The...

This season’s editing race features five Best Picture nominees with very visceral stories: Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland” (serving as her own editor), Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Darius Marder’s “Sound of Metal,” Florian Zeller’s “The Father,” and Emerald Fennel’s “Promising Young Woman.” However, “The Trial of the Chicago 7″ is now the favorite, bolstered by its Ace Eddie win.

Editor Alan Baumgarten had the most ambitious editorial task: balancing three story threads in “Rashomon”-like fashion with multiple perspectives and jumping back and forth in time, from the overheated courtroom drama to the violent, vérité-like riots during the ’68 Democratic Convention to the bitter political rivalry between Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne) and Abbie Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen). Plus, Baumgarten oversaw a sprawling six-minute prologue that was like lighting a fuse with historical context and character introductions.

Yet “Sound of Metal” poses the biggest threat...

With just eight days to go before the Academy Awards, “The Trial of the Chicago 7” took the top prize at the Ace Eddie Awards, winning Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic), for acclaimed editor Alan Baumgarten Matthew Friedman and Andrew Dickler won Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy) for “Palm Springs,” which did not receive any nominations for the 93rd Oscars, unlike “The Trial of the Chicago 7” with its six. But in two other categories, the likely Oscar winners gained steam: “Soul” won Best Edited Animated Feature Film and “My Octopus Teacher” Best Edited Documentary (Feature), solidifying both of those films as the frontrunners in the Oscars’ Animated Feature and Documentary Feature categories.

On the TV front, “Schitt’s Creek,” which won’t even be eligible for Emmy consideration this year following its series finale in early 2020, won Best Edited Comedy Series for Commercial Television, with “Ted Lasso” winning in the Comedy category for Non-Commercial Television.

Back in 2007 or 2008, Sacha Baron Cohen met with Steven Spielberg at Spielberg’s mother’s kosher restaurant, The Milky Way, on Pico Boulevard, about playing the role of social activist Abbie Hoffman. Cohen, who had studied Hoffman in college, was lobbying to play colorful radical in the film Spielberg was then planning to direct, The Trial of the Chicago 7, and the English actor and comic best known at that time for his Borat character had worked with a dialect coach for two weeks and recorded a CD of himself delivering 30 takes of a two-minute scene in Hoffman’s Boston accent ...

Back in 2007 or 2008, Sacha Baron Cohen met with Steven Spielberg at Spielberg’s mother’s kosher restaurant, The Milky Way, on Pico Boulevard, about playing the role of social activist Abbie Hoffman. Cohen, who had studied Hoffman in college, was lobbying to play colorful radical in the film Spielberg was then planning to direct, The Trial of the Chicago 7, and the English actor and comic best known at that time for his Borat character had worked with a dialect coach for two weeks and recorded a CD of himself delivering 30 takes of a two-minute scene in Hoffman’s Boston accent ...

Narratively speaking, Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7” stands apart from the rest of the Best Picture and Original Script nominees for its scope and multi-layered approach. The fact-based drama balances three story threads in a “Rashomon” fashion: the overheated courtroom drama, how the peaceful demonstrations turned violent during the ’68 Democratic Convention in Chicago, and the bitter political rivalry between Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne) and Abbie Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen).

That’s a lot of history and conflict to pack into 130 minutes, which is why Sorkin cleverly wrote a sprawling 12-page prologue to set up the whole movie, calling for archival footage, tricky tonal shifts, and jumping back and forth in time. And the six and a half-minute sequence (view below) proved quite the challenge and opportunity for Oscar-nominated Alan Baumgarten to edit. “It serves several purposes,” he said. “It provides a bit of a history lesson,...

Hollywood has always been drawn to true stories and there will never be a shortage of actors needed to re-create famous lives. But when portraying a real person who is dead or is even still alive, actors have their work cut out for them. On the one hand, they usually have lots of material to draw from. On the other, they don’t want their performance to be mere mimicry.

“Playing real people is interesting, and I’ve played many,” says Gary Oldman, nominated for his starring role in “Mank” as “Citizen Kane” screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz. Oldman previously won an Academy Award for playing Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour” and his film career was launched in 1986 when he starred in “Sid and Nancy” as Sid Vicious.

“A lot of the work is done for you. There’s usually first-hand description, personal writings and a ton of written material about the individual.

With Oscar ballots heading into Academy voters’ hands on April 15, we’re forging ahead with our fourth annual series of interviews with Academy voters from different branches for their candid thoughts on what got picked, overlooked, and overvalued in this strange pandemic year.

[The Oscars] did a good thing moving back. I’m catching up.

Because my business has been extremely busy in this Covid year, ironically, I didn’t want to watch the movies. It was the weirdest thing. I was buried in production 24/7, cutting and notes-making. There was no relaxation time, because we had to do everything remotely, it took longer. I found myself watching light TV, like the series “Emily in Paris,” “The Crown,” “Queen’s Gambit,” “Call My Agent,” and I binged “The Wire” and “Nurse Jackie.”

I kept going through these things; my brain was so tired of judging things every day, the notion of watching a hundred movies?...

With Oscar ballots heading into Academy voters’ hands on April 15, we’re forging ahead with our fourth annual series of interviews with Academy voters from different branches for their candid thoughts on what got picked, overlooked, and overvalued in this strange pandemic year.

[The Oscars] did a good thing moving back. I’m catching up.

Because my business has been extremely busy in this Covid year, ironically, I didn’t want to watch the movies. It was the weirdest thing. I was buried in production 24/7, cutting and notes-making. There was no relaxation time, because we had to do everything remotely, it took longer. I found myself watching light TV, like the series “Emily in Paris,” “The Crown,” “Queen’s Gambit,” “Call My Agent,” and I binged “The Wire” and “Nurse Jackie.”

I kept going through these things; my brain was so tired of judging things every day, the notion of watching a hundred movies?...

The UK actor-filmmaker is nominated for two films at the 2021 Oscars.

The multifarious career of Sacha Baron Cohen has taken another twist this year, with his first Oscar nomination for acting via his role as activist Abbie Hoffman in Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial Of The Chicago 7.

It is one of two nominations for Baron Cohen at the 93rd Academy Awards; he is also up for best adapted screenplay as one of the writers of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, having previously been nominated in the category for the first film in 2007.

The acclaim of the past year has marked a...

It took writer and director Aaron Sorkin fourteen years after the initial meeting with Steven Spielberg at his house on a Saturday back in 2006 to finally get “The Trial of the Chicago 7” made. And according to Sorkin, it finally came together thanks to former president Donald Trump.

“I don’t want to give Donald Trump credit for anything, but he’s the one who got Chicago seven made,” Sorkin tells moderator Jimmie Briggs at The Wrap’s screening series of the film. “Because he would have these protests, he would have these rallies, and there would be protesters at the rallies, and he would start getting nostalgic about the old days when they ‘Carry that guy out of here on a stretcher,’ ‘I’d like to beat the crap out of him,’ ‘Let’s punch him right in the face.'”

“Suddenly, American and Anti-American was being defined the old stupid way,...

Four of the five contenders in the editing race this year are newcomers, with only Alan Baumgarten (“The Trial of Chicago 7”), who snared an Oscar nom for 2013’s “American Hustle,” being recognized previously by the Academy.

“The Father” might have landed six nominations including best picture, but to land a win here it would need to beat frontrunners “Sound of Metal” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7.”

However, historically, to be considered the Oscar frontrunner for best picture, you need to land picture, director, original or adapted screenplay, editing and acting nominations. There are only two films that check that: “Nomadland” and “Promising Young Woman.”

Confused? This is where Oscar watchers will need to be following what Ace Eddies pick come April 17.

The Ace Eddies track record for guiding who wins the editor prize on Oscar night stands at 89%. It also is a solid guide to predicting best picture.

With tight races for Best Ensemble and Lead Actress, suspense was running high before the pre-taped hourlong SAG Awards show Sunday night — at least for those insiders who did not hear leaks of Thursday’s real-time winners.

As it turns out, the SAG Awards and Oscars may not sync up as easily as last year, when all the Ensemble nominees went on to win Oscars, along with all the SAG acting winners — Renée Zellweger (“Judy”), Joaquin Phoenix (“Joker”), Brad Pitt (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”), and Laura Dern (“Marriage Story”). This time, SAG was full of surprises that will shake up the Oscar race.

The evening’s big shocker was the double-whammy SAG Awards for not only the expected Best Male in a Leading Role winner Chadwick Boseman — but also his costar Viola Davis in the bigger-than-life, dazzling title role in Netflix’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Boseman gave the performance of his life,...

With tight races for Best Ensemble and Lead Actress, suspense was running high before the pre-taped hourlong SAG Awards show Sunday night — at least for those insiders who did not hear leaks of Thursday’s real-time winners.

As it turns out, the SAG Awards and Oscars may not sync up as easily as last year, when all the Ensemble nominees went on to win Oscars, along with all the SAG acting winners — Renée Zellweger (“Judy”), Joaquin Phoenix (“Joker”), Brad Pitt (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”), and Laura Dern (“Marriage Story”). This time, SAG was full of surprises that will shake up the Oscar race.

The evening’s big shocker was the double-whammy SAG Awards for not only the expected Best Male in a Leading Role winner Chadwick Boseman — but also his costar Viola Davis in the bigger-than-life, dazzling title role in Netflix’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Boseman gave the performance of his life,...

While Nomadland picked up Best Picture at the Critics Choice a couple of weeks back—a pretty reliable Oscar top prize indicator—at Sunday night’s SAG, it wasn’t even nominated in that category. Instead, that prize went to Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7, possibly bolstering its chances at the Academy show on April 25th.

The ‘Best Picture’ prize at SAG is actually awarded to the Best Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture, and in accepting the award on behalf of the all-star cast, Frank Langella, who played Judge Julius Hoffman, recalled Martin Luther King’s words:

“God give us leaders, said the Reverend Martin Luther King, before he was shot down in cold blood on this very date in 1968—a profound injustice. The Trial of the Chicago 7 began 18 months later, ruled by a corrupt judge—me. Aaron Sorkin was determined to tell their story...

Updated with full winners list: The Trial of the Chicago 7 won the Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture prize, SAG’s version of Best Picture, at the 27th annual SAG Awards on Sunday night. It was one of 13 awards honoring the year’s best film and TV acting performances.

The late Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis took the best leading male and female actor in a motion picture honors for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. In the supporting actor category, Yuh-Jung Youn took the trophy for Minari and Daniel Kaluuya for his role as Fred Hampton in Judas and the Black Messiah.

Among the movie categories, the marquee ensemble prize is often an Oscar bellwether. Last year, Neon’s Parasite surprised with a win and it later repeated the feat by taking the Academy Awards’ Best Picture prize.The Trial of the Chicago 7 faced off against Da 5 Bloods,...

While “Nomadland” has been crushing it most of this awards season, it will largely be sitting out of the upcoming SAG Awards. Its only representation is for previous two-time Best Female Actor champion Frances McDormand who isn’t seen as a serious threat to prevail again. (Though the most respected McDormand is always a possibility.)

That leaves the SAG ensemble contest wide open. “Da 5 Bloods,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “One Night in Miami” all missed Oscar nominations for Best Picture, and not since 1996’s “The Birdcage” has a cast flown away with the SAG prize without a corresponding Oscar nom. That leaves two ducks remaining: “Minari” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” While “Minari” is a sweet film with a wonderful team of actors, don’t expect it to follow in the footsteps of last year’s surprise winner, “Parasite.”

Here are five reasons why “The Trial of the Chicago 7...