News

2025 has been a tough year already for deaths in cinema. Most recently we lost the likes of Gene Hackman and Michelle Trachtenberg, covering a wide fanbase. But one that still stings is that of David Lynch, who died on January 15th. And while this year’s In Memoriam segment of the Oscars did include Lynch, he also got another wonderful nod courtesy of Isabella Rossellini, who wore blue velvet in honor of the late director.

Isabella Rossellini — who was earned her first ever Oscar nomination for Conclave — paid tribute to David Lynch in a subtle but not unnoticeable way, turning up at the Dolby Theatre in a Dolce & Gabbana dress made of blue velvet, a lovely nod to the film of the same name that she starred in for Lynch. (Rossellini absolutely deserved an Oscar nomination for that performance but that’s nothing to get hung up on now...

NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.

IFC Center

Hideaki Anno’s Love & Pop plays in a new restoration; Herzog’s Nosferatu, Mulholland Dr., Funeral Parade of Roses, The Thing, and Irreversible show late.

Roxy Cinema

Saturday brings Bruce Labruce introducing Ciao! Manhattan and Melody of Love on 16mm; Claude Chabrol’s Ten Days Wonder shows on 16mm this Sunday alongside the rare Iranian feature Dead End.

Japan Society

Masahiro Shinoda’s Pale Flower shows on 35mm this Friday.

Film at Lincoln Center

The newly restored Compensation begins screening while a career-spanning Frederick Wiseman retrospective continues.

Film Forum

Tales from the New Yorker includes films by Nicholas Ray, Orson Welles, and John Huston. Godard’s A Woman Is a Woman continues in a new 4K restoration; Meet Me In St. Louis screens on Sunday.

Anthology Film Archives

Willem Dafoe: Wild at Heart continues.

Museum of the...

In 2020, Laura Dern celebrated with her very first Oscar win for “Marriage Story”! It was a fitting gift to the veteran actress, who has starred in dozens of quality films throughout her lengthy career. Let’s take a look back at her career by ranking her 16 greatest film performances.

Dern began her career as a teenager close to four decades ago. She seemed to initially aspire to a more normal life but her attempts to finish her college degree at the University of Southern California were continually interrupted by obtaining plum film roles. That she’d eventually settle into an acting career isn’t surprising since her father Bruce Dern is a two time Oscar nominee and her mother Diane Ladd a three time contender

Dern would go on to earn two Oscar nominations of her own for “Rambling Rose” (1991) and “Wild” (2014), plus work steadily in both film and television...

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree — especially at the Oscars.

I’m Still Here‘s Fernanda Torres and Conclave‘s Isabella Rossellini joined their mothers, Fernanda Montenegro and Ingrid Bergman, respectively, as Oscar nominees on Thursday, becoming the fifth and sixth pairs of mother-daughter duos to be nominated for acting Oscars.

Torres, who cracked the top five in the Best Actress odds after her Golden Globe victory, is up for the award alongside Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez), Mikey Madison (Anora), and Demi Moore (The Substance). The nomination comes 26 years after Montenegro was shortlisted in the same category for Central Station and lost to Shakespeare in Love‘s Gwyneth Paltrow.

Rossellini, 72, received her long-awaited maiden Oscar bid in Best Supporting Actress, where she was third in the odds, in Edward Berger‘s papal thriller. She faces Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown), Ariana Grande (Wicked...

Before she became known as one of the best comedy directors of her generation for the now classic “Valley Girl” and “Real Genius,” director Martha Coolidge made her feature debut with the searing drama “Not a Pretty Picture,” a one-of-a-kind documentary/narrative hybrid in which Coolidge recreated her own rape with actors and shot both the recreation and the behind the scenes circumstances of its making. Bravely personal and intensely provocative, “Not a Pretty Picture” announced Coolidge as a major new talent and earned praise from both critics and other filmmakers, yet for decades it has been difficult to see, more talked and written about than screened.

That changed in 2022 when the Academy Film Archive restored “Not a Pretty Picture” in partnership with Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation and the George Lucas Family Foundation. Now, after a series of public screenings at festivals, museums, and repertory theaters, the film is...

Laura Dern is probably not contributing to the UCLA alumni fund anytime soon.

On a recent visit to Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson’s podcast “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” (cue the “I understood that reference” Gif), the Oscar-winning actress remembered back to her school days, when she was advised not to participate in making David Lynch’s 1986 film “Blue Velvet.” The faculty didn’t just tell her she’d be dismissed due to the absence, but she was actually insulted for considering it a worthwhile project.

The then-17-year-old, who had already been working in films like “Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains,” Peter Bogdanovich’s “Mask,” and the American Playhouse production “Smooth Talk,” was a student at UCLA for “two days,” she said, when she was offered the role for the new Lynch film, a filmmaker she revered for “The Elephant Man.”

The head of the film department...

One thing that distinguishes 1993's Jurassic Park from a host of other Steven Spielberg films from the late 1980s and early 1990s is the cast. Unlike most blockbusters of the period, Spielberg opted to stay away from big names: Sam Neill's most prominent Hollywood role prior to his outing as Alan Grant had been opposite Sean Connery as the second-in-command of a Soviet submarine in The Hunt for Red October (1990), while Laura Dern – now bona fide Hollywood royalty – had only lately come to prominence with performances in dramas such as Fat Man and Little Boy (1989) and Rambling Rose (1991).

This approach extended to the film's supporting cast, with only Richard Attenborough (Hammond) and, to a lesser extent, a pre-Independence Day Jeff Goldblum (Malcolm) having big-name recognition. It's no wonder that three other members of the cast get surprisingly little acknowledgment from audiences – despite the fact that their pitch-perfect work in...

The 2023 Oscar nominees for Best Supporting Actress are Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”), Hong Chau (“The Whale”), Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin”), Jamie Lee Curtis (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”), and Stephanie Hsu (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”). Our odds currently indicate that Bassett (18/5) will emerge victorious, followed in order of likelihood by Condon (37/10), Curtis (19/5), Hsu (9/2), and Chau (9/2).

For the first time since 2012, all five of the women in this lineup are new to the category. The last instance involved winner Octavia Spencer (“The Help”) and nominees Bérénice Bejo (“The Artist”), Jessica Chastain (“The Help”), Melissa McCarthy (“Bridesmaids”), and Janet McTeer (“Albert Nobbs”). The current group’s complete Oscars newcomer rate of 80% has become common in recent years, with the same percentage also having applied to the nominees of 2022, 2018, and 2016.

The only past Oscar nominee in this bunch is Bassett, who was previously recognized for her lead performance...

Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern will be celebrated at the French Cinematheque in Paris on Feb. 20, in the run up to the French premiere of Florian Zeller’s “The Son.” She stars in the film opposite Hugh Jackman, Vanessa Kirby and Anthony Hopkins.

The career tribute is being co-organized by Orange Studio, the French distributor of “The Son,” and the French Cinematheque. As part of the homage, Dern will be on the ground to give a masterclass, while three of her films will be screened, including “The Son” and two cult movies, David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet” and “Sailor and Lula.” The premiere of “The Son” will be introduced on stage by Dern and Zeller.

Zeller’s follow up to his Oscar-winning feature debut “The Father,” “The Son” world premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival and went on to play at Toronto. The film was released by Sony Pictures Classics in the U.

Laura Dern (Jurassic World Dominion) and Liam Hemsworth (Poker Face) have signed on to star in the film Lonely Planet, which Susannah Grant (Unbelievable) is writing and directing for Netflix.

Lonely Planet is billed as a love story set in Morocco. Specifics with regard to its plot are being kept under wraps. Grant is also producing alongside Sarah Timberman and Liza Chasin for 3dot Productions, with VP Studio Film Kira Goldberg serving as creative lead for Netflix.

The film continues the creative partnership between Netflix and 3dot, which has thus far produced the streamer’s upcoming thriller series, Anatomy of a Scandal, based on the book by Sarah Vaughan. 3dot entered into a multi-year, first-look film deal with Netflix in 2019, with adaptations of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s bestseller The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Diane Cardwell’s memoir Rockaway also upcoming.

Grant is an Oscar- and three-time Emmy nominee...

Walter Coblenz, the Oscar- and Emmy-nominated producer behind All the President’s Men and nearly two dozen other titles, died on March 16, aged 93. A cause of death has not been disclosed.

Born in Germany in 1928, Coblenz claimed his first and only Oscar nom in 1977 for the aforementioned Alan J. Pakula film, which was up for Best Picture and seven other awards, winning four including Best Supporting Actor, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, Art Direction-Set Decoration and Sound. Coblenz’s nomination came three years after he landed an Emmy nom for his work on NBC’s limited series The Blue Knight.

Over the course of his career, he also produced such titles as Her Majesty, Money Talks, The Babe, 18 Again!, For Keeps?, Sister, Sister, SpaceCamp, Strange Invaders, The Legend of the Lone Ranger, The Onion Field and The Candidate, along with a number of TV movies.

Coblenz...

Walter Coblenz, who was Oscar-nominated for producing “All the President’s Men” and also produced “The Candidate” and “The Onion Field,” died March 16. He was 93.

Coblenz also produced the Emmy-nominated Joseph Wambaugh TV mini-series adaptation “The Blue Knight.”

After serving as assistant director and production manager on Robert Redford’s “Downhill Racer,” he went on to work with Redford on “The Candidate” and “All the Presidents Men,” which racked up eight Oscar nominations and four wins.

Coblenz served as Sr. V.P. of production at both Tri-Star Pictures and Carolco Pictures, where he oversaw production on films including “The Natural.” “Places in the Heart,” “Terminator 2,” “The Doors” and “Rambling Rose.”

His other producing credits include “Money Talks,” “Her Majesty,” “The Babe” and “18 Again.”

Born in Germany, Koblenz came to the U.S. as a child and graduated from the University of Houston. He began his career as a camera...

Viewers will probably know whether “I’ll Find You” is of interest just from hearing one typical line of dialogue: “No matter what happens,” our handsome Catholic hero promises his beloved Jewish girlfriend when the Nazis invade Poland, ‘We’ll always be together.’”

It’s not much of a spoiler to say that this World War II drama is also an unabashedly old-fashioned romance. But it’s nice to be able to add that — thanks to the expertise of director Martha Coolidge — it’s a particularly polished one.

Violinists Rachel Rubin and Robert Pulaski meet as children, while attending a prestigious music school in Lodz run by Lena (Connie Nielsen).

In time-honored tradition, they see each other as competitors and spend all their time sparring until they finally realize how much they have in common. They are inseparable for years, until Robert leaves to study opera in Italy, and Rachel is pushed,...

Only three films have won the coveted “Big Five” – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenplay – in the history of the Academy Awards. Only two men and two women have won Best Actor and Best Actress respectively for performances in horror films. Only two people have won two acting Oscars before the age of 30. Only seven films have won both Best Actor and Best Actress. A little sleeper hit 30 years ago accomplished All these feats, while an animated film and a mother and daughter made Academy history, and a 73-year-old made a lasting impression. So, grab “some fava beans and a nice Chianti” and “be our guest” as we flashback 30 years to 1992 for one of the Academy’s most memorable ceremonies.

It was a mixed bag of five films nominated for Best Picture, with an animated film (“Beauty and the Beast”), a mobster biopic (“Bugsy”), a political...

Exclusive: Oliver Trevena has signed on to star alongside Aaron Eckhart and Nina Dobrev in the action-thriller, The Bricklayer, which is heading into production in Europe next month.

In the film from director Renny Harlin, based on the novel by Noah Boyd, someone is blackmailing the CIA by assassinating foreign journalists and making it look like the agency is responsible. As the world begins to unite against the U.S., the CIA must lure its most brilliant – and rebellious – operative out of retirement, forcing him to confront his checkered past while unraveling an international conspiracy.

Hanna Weg and Matt Johnson penned the script. G-Base’s Alan Siegel, Butler and Danielle Robinson are producing with Eclectic Pictures’ Heidi Jo Markel, and Millennium Media’s Jeffrey Greenstein, Les Weldon, Jonathan Yunger, Yariv Lerner and Rob Van Norden. Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson and Tanner Mobley from Millennium are serving as exec producers.

Another month, another Criterion Channel lineup. In accordance with Black History Month their selections are especially refreshing: seven by Melvin Van Peebles, five from Kevin Jerome Everson, and Criterion editions of The Harder They Come and The Learning Tree.

Regarding individual features I’m quite happy to see Abderrahmane Sissako’s fantastic Bamako, last year’s big Sundance winner (and Kosovo’s Oscar entry) Hive, and the remarkably beautiful Portuguese feature The Metamorphosis of Birds. Add a three-film Laura Dern collection (including the recently canonized Smooth Talk) and Pasolini’s rarely shown documentary Love Meetings to make this a fine smorgasboard.

See the full list of February titles below and more on the Criterion Channel.

Alan & Naomi, Sterling Van Wagenen, 1992

All That Heaven Allows, Douglas Sirk, 1955

The Angel Levine, Ján Kadár, 1970

Babylon, Franco Rosso, 1980

Babymother, Julian Henriques, 1998

Bamako, Abderrahmane Sissako, 2006

Beat Street, Stan Lathan, 1984

Blacks Britannica, David Koff, 1978

The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution,...

Exclusive: Gravitas Ventures has acquired North American rights to the WWII-era romantic drama I’ll Find You from director Martha Coolidge. The Anthem Sports & Entertainment company plans to release the title starring Adelaide Clemens (To the Stars), Leo Suter, Stephen Dorff, Connie Nielsen and Stellan Skarsgård in theaters and on demand on February 25.

Inspired by true stories of Polish musicians from the 1930s and 1940s, I’ll Find You centers on the tender, music-infused relationship between Robert (Suter) and Rachel (Clemens) that is forged when the pair meet as music school students—he, a promising singer and she, a violin prodigy. While Robert is torn away from Rachel following the German invasion of Poland, he vows to find her, no matter the cost.

David S. Ward and Bozenna Intrator penned the script for the film, which was shot on location in Poland and New York. Intrator also produced it alongside Lukasz Raczynski, Zbigniew John Raczynski and Fred Roos, with Alexander Roos exec producing.

“I’LL Find You is a beautiful romance film set against the harsh background of World War II,” said Gravitas Ventures’ Manager of Acquisitions, Brett Rogalsky. “What director Martha Coolidge was able to do with these elements is truly impressive, and we’re excited to be able to bring this film to the public.”

“From the beginning I loved the theme in this film that music has an almost magical power to heal,” added Coolidge, “and that it can inspire and move all people even those at opposite ends of the ideological spectrum.”

Coolidge is an Emmy nominee and DGA Award winner who has previously directed films including Material Girls, The Prince and Me, Angie, Lost in Yonkers, Rambling Rose, Plain Clothes, Real Genius and Valley Girl, along with episodes of such series as Siren, Angie Tribeca, Madam Secretary, The Night Shift, Psych and Weeds.

Gravitas Ventures was founded in 2006 and sold to multi-platform media company Anthem Sports & Entertainment in November. Recent releases from the company include Michael Lembeck’s Queen Bees; Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s Our Friend, starring Casey Affleck, Dakota Johnson, and Jason Segel; Vanguard, directed by Stanley Tong and starring Jackie Chan; and Andy Tennant’s The Secret: Dare to Dream, starring Katie Holmes. Gravitas has also recently acquired titles including Adrian Martinez’s feature directorial debut iGilbert; the Kathy Bates drama Home, from writer-director Franka Potente; family adventure film The King’s Daughter, starring Pierce Brosnan; Jason Pollock’s doc Finding Kendrick Johnson; and The Accursed, a horror film marking the feature directorial debut of writer-directors Elizabeta Vidovic and Kathryn Michell.

Gold Derby Expert and Awards Daily overseer Sasha Stone bravely took a stab at laying out the landscape of potential Oscar contenders this week with a piece about how the lack of film festival coverage, physical screenings and glitzy opportunities to glad-hand potential voters in the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic will upend some of the usual campaign traditions.

When it came to her list of potential nominees for Best Actor, she observed that Denzel Washington, who stars opposite Frances McDormand in Joel Coen‘s first solo directorial project, “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” could make the cut. Then Stone realized that his son, John David Washington, could also claim a spot as a lead and be a potential challenger. That got the both of us thinking if a parent and a child were ever rivals in the same acting category?

SEEDenzel Washington’s 8 Oscar acting nominations

The closest comparisons...

Have you had a chance to really bite in to the delicious Smackdown 1991 podcast yet? We know you read the article given the plentiful comments but there's so much to chat about within the podcast conversation. Nikki M James, Rory O'Malley, Nick Westrate, Mark Harris, and Katey Rich were all terrific guests, don'cha think? Dying to hear your thoughts on the specific things we discussed, but especially...

- Fried Green Tomatoes' 'food fight as lesbian sex' metaphor (!), the confusion over Ninny's identity, and its rose-colored lensing of race relations

- Whether Cape Fear's ending is confusingly botched or confusing on purpose... "my reminiscence"?

- Rambling Rose's Laura Dern / Lukas Haas sex scene driving mothers and spouses from the room!

- The camp of all the Barbra scenes in Prince of Tides. What word was Dr Lowenstein looking up in her Pocket Oxford Dictionary? 

- Michael Jeter's "sprinkling for fairy dust" ("Sprinking?...

by Nathaniel R

Remember Bette's dream project "For the Boys"?

We've probably done Too much 1991 before this next Smackdown! Apologies for those of you without a particular affinity for that year but you've only got one more day of this to get through. We thought it might be fun to briefly discuss the Best Actress race of that year before the Supporting Actress Smackdown event tomorrow.

Oscar Nominees

Geena Davis, Thelma & Louise Laura Dern, Rambling Rose Jodie Foster, Silence of the Lambs ★ Bette Midler, For the Boys Susan Sarandon, Thelma & Louise

If I remember the year correctly this lineup was basically a done deal ahead of time but for the fifth slot...

We Highly suggest rewatching the 1991 films before the next Smackdown. And send in your votes with "1991" in the subject line before Saturday July 25th. There's so much to discuss with this quintet and we already recorded a great podcast so it will arrive as scheduled on Sunday July 26th. 

1991

Diane Ladd, Rambling Rose -rent on Amazon Juliette Lewis, Cape Fear - free w/ Showtime or DirectTV Kate Nelligan, The Prince of Tides - rent on Amazon Mercedes Ruehl, The Fisher King - free on Pluto Jessica Tandy, Fried Green Tomatoes - free on Direct TV

After those events we're going to try to hit a few more years to  close out this super-sized quarantine-plagued season. Whooohoo. If you like what you're seeing please consider a donation on the sidebar (right hand) since we do incur costs with all these rentals for panelists and time and whatnot.

xo...

Regina King arrives on the red carpet of The 92nd Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood, CA on Sunday, February 9, 2020.

Elegance was the word on the red carpet during the 2020 Academy Awards. From sparkling diamond jewelry to classic designer gowns, it was Hollywood glamour at its Oscar finest.

Here’s our picks for the Best Dressed from the 2020 Oscar red carpet.

Regina King arrives on the red carpet of The 92nd Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood, CA on Sunday, February 9, 2020.

Regina King – Versace. Last year’s Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actress was truly the queen of this year’s red carpet.

Janelle Monáe arrives on the red carpet of The 92nd Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood, CA on Sunday, February 9, 2020. Janelle Monáe arrives on the red carpet of The 92nd Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood, CA on Sunday, February 9, 2020.

Janelle Monae – Wow!

As Gold Derby predicted, the 2020 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress went to … Laura Dern! The veteran actress already prevailed at the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice, SAG Awards and BAFTAs for her role as divorce attorney Nora Fanshaw in Netflix’s “Marriage Story.” Usually when someone takes home all four of those televised precursors, they have the Oscar in the bag. Dern’s co-nominees Scarlett Johansson (“Jojo Rabbit”), Margot Robbie (“Bombshell”), Florence Pugh (“Little Women”) and Kathy Bates (“Richard Jewell”) simply couldn’t catch up this awards season. Below, see four reasons why Dern just won the Oscar.

SEEOscars 2020 red carpet online: How to watch live stream for free without a TV

1. She was everywhere this year.

Sure, Dern may have officially been nominated for Noah Baumbach‘s “Marriage Story,” but don’t think for one second Oscars voters weren’t also giving her credit for her buzzed-about roles in “Little Women...

Laura Dern won best supporting actress at the 92nd Academy Awards on Sunday night for her role in Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story.” It’s the first Oscar win for Dern, and also the first time an actor has won an Oscar for a role in a movie distributed by a streaming service — Netflix.

After taking home a BAFTA, Screen Actors Guild Award and Golden Globe, Dern was the odds-on favorite to take home the Oscar for her portrayal of a tough-talking divorce attorney. She won over Kathy Bates (“Richard Jewell”), Margot Robbie (“Bombshell”), Scarlett Johansson (“Jojo Rabbit”) and Florence Pugh (“Little Women”).

During her acceptance speech, Dern gave a shoutout to Netflix’s Ted Sarandos and Scott Stuber, the “Marriage Story” cast and crew, as well as her parents.

“Some say, never meet your heroes, but I say, if you are really blessed, you get them as your parents,...

The third time was the charm for Laura Dern. The daughter of Hollywood royalty Diane Ladd and Bruce Dern, the younger Dern won the 2020 Oscar in the Best Supporting Actress category for her role as the decidedly West Side La lawyer Nora Fanshaw in Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story.” She became the first actor from a Netflix film to win an Academy Award.

Read More: Laura Dern describes David Lynch’s reaction to winning an honorary Academy Award and it’s very David Lynch

Dern earned her first nomination in the Best Actress category in 1992 for Martha Coolidge’s period drama “Rambling Rose.” That Oscar went to “Silence of the Lamb’s” Jodie Foster.

Continue reading Laura Dern Wins Best Supporting Actress For ‘Marriage Story’ [Oscars 2020] at The Playlist.

Laura Dern has just won the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award on Sunday night at the 2020 Oscars for her acclaimed performance in Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story.” This is Dern’s first Academy Award win after past nominations for Best Supporting Actress for “Wild” in 2015, and for Best Actress in 1992 for “Rambling Rose.” At tonight’s Oscars, Laura Dern emerged victorious over Kathy Bates in “Richard Jewell,” Scarlett Johansson (also nominated for Best Actress tonight for “Marriage Story”) in “Jojo Rabbit,” Margot Robbie in “Bombshell,” and her “Little Women” costar Florence Pugh.

For her wild turn as a high-profile divorce lawyer defending Johansson’s character against Adam Driver’s in “Marriage Story,” Laura Dern has been steadily picking up prizes all awards season. Her prior “Marriage Story” wins include the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture, the Ee BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress,...

Billy Porter channeled a bit of Renata Klein on the Oscars red carpet on Sunday.

While interviewing Big Little Lies actress Laura Dern during the ABC Oscars red carpet, the Pose star couldn’t help but to recite the iconic line from Dern’s character on the HBO show.

“My favorite line of the year is ‘I will not not be rich!’ ” Porter, who was wearing a golden bodice designed by Giles Deacon, gushed. “I say it all the time.”

“It really works somehow on the red carpet,” Dern, 52, said with a laugh. “You saying it in gold is really working for me.

It was a family affair at the 2020 Oscars for Laura Dern.

The 52-year-old actress — who is nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category for her performance in Marriage Story — walked the red carpet at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, Hollywood, with her mother Diane Ladd and her kids, daughter Jaya Harper and son Ellery Harper.

“It makes me very happy,” Dern said on the E! News pre-show, of having her family her side at the Academy Awards.

Dern wore a custom Armani Privé blush pink silk crepe gown, which was embellished along its V-neckline with black beads, black crystal embroidery,...

Throughout the last few weeks and months, we’ve been updating our photo galleries of the 2020 Oscar nominees. Each gallery ranks their greatest films from worst to best, including the ones for front-runners Renee Zellweger, Joaquin Phoenix, Laura Dern and Brad Pitt. Take a tour of each of the 14 actors and actresses below to see if your favorite movies were ranked on top. Just click on the name to be taken to the gallery.

Antonio Banderas

Oscar nominee for “Pain and Glory” with other roles in “Philadelphia,” “Evita” and “Puss in Boots”

Kathy Bates

Oscar winner for “Misery” plus nominations for “Primary Colors,” “About Schmidt” and “Richard Jewell”

Laura Dern

Oscar nominee for “Rambling Rose,” “Wild” and “Marriage Story”

Leonardo DiCaprio

Oscar winner for “The Revenant” plus nominations for “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,” “The Aviator,” “Blood Diamond,” “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

Tom Hanks...

And the Oscar goes to … Laura Dern! You can already hear those words, right? It’s not just me? According to the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice and SAG Awards, Dern is the Best Supporting Actress of the year for her role as divorce attorney Nora Fanshaw in Netflix’s “Marriage Story.” She’s also the odds-on favorite to win at the upcoming BAFTA Awards. Usually when someone takes home all four of these televised precursors, they have the Oscar in the bag — just ask recent category winners like Allison Janney for “I, Tonya” (2017) and Viola Davis for “Fences” (2016). Below, see four reasons why I predict Dern will follow this same awards trajectory.

SEEOscar nominations by film: ‘Joker’ leads with 11 bids, but what’s it missing? See our breakdown

1. She was everywhere in 2019.

Sure, Dern may officially be nominated for Noah Baumbach‘s “Marriage Story,” but don’t think for one...

It’s been a good year for Laura Dern, who snagged a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for Noah Baumbach‘s “Marriage Story” in addition to starring in “Little Women,” directed by Baumbach’s wife Greta Gerwig. Where do these two titles place in her overall filmography? Take a tour through our photo gallery of Dern’s 15 greatest films, ranked worst to best.

See Bruce Dern movies: 15 greatest films ranked worst to best

Dern began her career as a teenager close to four decades ago. She seemed to initially aspire to a more normal life but her attempts to finish her college degree at the University of Southern California were continually interrupted by obtaining plum film roles. That she’d eventually settle into an acting career isn’t surprising since her father Bruce Dern is a two time Oscar nominee and her mother Diane Ladd a three time contender

Dern...

The actresses nominated for the best supporting roles at the 2020 Oscars range from Hollywood veterans to big stars to up-and-comers, but they were all integral parts of their films. For a few of the nominees, this is their first or second Academy Award nomination.

Laura Dern portrays Scarlett Johansson's divorce lawyer in Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story, which follows a couple struggling through a coast-to-coast divorce. It is Dern's second mention for best supporting actress. She was also nominated for her role in 1992's Rambling Rose.

Johansson received a best actress nod for her role in Marriage Story, but she ...

The actresses nominated for the best supporting roles at the 2020 Oscars range from Hollywood veterans to big stars to up-and-comers, but they were all integral parts of their films. For a few of the nominees, this is their first or second Academy Award nomination.

Laura Dern portrays Scarlett Johansson's divorce lawyer in Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story, which follows a couple struggling through a coast-to-coast divorce. It is Dern's second mention for best supporting actress. She was also nominated for her role in 1992's Rambling Rose.

Johansson received a best actress nod for her role in Marriage Story, but she ...

Laura Dern has many years of Golden Globes experience under her belt.

At the annual award show on Sunday, the actress, 52 — who took home the best supporting actress award for her performance in Marriage Story — reflected on one of her early career highlights, as well as how “times have changed.”

In 1982, a 15-year-old Dern served as Miss Golden Globe (now called a Golden Globe Ambassador), a position held by a child of Hollywood stars that helps presenters hand out trophies and escort winners offstage during the show.

“I remember how simple it seemed, with my grandma driving me up to...

Going into this year’s Golden Globes, Jennifer Lopez is currently predicted to win Best Film Supporting Actress with 69/20 odds in Gold Derby’s combined predictions for her performance in this past summer’s box office hit, “Hustlers.” On paper, you’d think the Hollywood Foreign Press Association would easily do that in a heartbeat, like how they awarded Sylvester Stallone Best Film Supporting Actor in 2015 for “Creed.” However, what may not bode well for Lopez’s chances is the fact that she is the only recognition the film itself received from the Golden Globes.

To date, only seven contenders have won this award as their film’s lone nomination: Cate Blanchett (“I’m Not There”), Angelina Jolie, Mira Sorvino (“Mighty Aphrodite”), Dianne Wiest (“Bullets Over Broadway”), Brenda Vaccaro (“Once is Not Enough”), Agnes Moorehead and Janet Leigh (“Psycho”). Can JLo overcome that important stat to become the eighth?

SEEWill Jennifer...

The 31st annual Palm Springs International Film Festival has selected Laura Dern as the recipient of its Career Achievement Award.

Dern will be honored at the festival awards gala on Jan. 2 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The festival runs Jan. 2-13.

“Laura Dern is one of the most outstanding and talented actresses of her generation. Over her 40-year acting career she has brought to the screen so many memorable performances including three from this year alone in ‘Big Little Lies,’ ‘Little Women’ and ‘Marriage Story,’” said festival chairman Harold Matzner. “In ‘Marriage Story’ she gives yet another career defining and effortless performance as a successful lawyer leading her client through a divorce from her husband.”

Past recipients of the Career Achievement Award include Annette Bening, Kevin Costner, Bruce Dern, Clint Eastwood, Sally Field, Morgan Freeman, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson and Spike Lee.

Dern was recently honored with the...

“I almost wanted it to feel like a seduction,” says Noah Baumbach of a pivotal scene in his new film “Marriage Story.” It’s the moment when Nicole (Scarlett Johansson), an actress trying to amicably split from her director husband Charlie (Adam Driver), meets with high-powered Beverly Hills divorce attorney Nora Fanshaw (Laura Dern). “It’s like meeting the right person at the right time,” the writer-director adds, although it eventually becomes apparent that’s not actually the case.

Baumbach and Dern spoke at length about the tough-as-nails attorney in a new behind-the-scenes featurette highlighting the actress’s performance in the Netflix drama. Watch the exclusive video above.

See Alan Alda Interview: ‘Marriage Story’

“It’s a very odd relationship between the divorce lawyer and a client,” divulges Dern, “because you come, as Nicole [does], with your heart cracked open, looking for guidance.” Although “Nora probably considers herself as someone who does it with great etiquette,...

Greta Gerwig unveiled her long-awaited “Little Women” adaptation to Oscar and SAG voters in Hollywood on Wednesday, October 23. Gold Derby was on-hand for the panel discussion, which immediately followed the packed screening at the DGA theater. Gerwig was joined by stars Saoirse Ronan, Timothee Chalamet, Florence Pugh, Laura Dern and Meryl Streep. Listen to the full 35 minute Q&a above.

See Will Greta Gerwig (‘Little Women’) and beau Noah Baumbach (‘Marriage Story’) duke it out for Best Director at the 2020 Academy Awards?

Gerwig, who earned Oscar nominations in 2017 for writing and directing the indie hit “Lady Bird,” was a lifelong fan of Louisa May Alcott‘s classic novel about the four March sisters — writer Jo (Ronan), actress Meg (Emily Watson), painter Amy (Pugh) and pianist Beth (Eliza Scanlen) — who come of age in Civil War-era Massachusetts. She was initially hired to write this adaptation, and she revealed that “when I reread it as an adult,...

Noah Baumbach‘s “Marriage Story” very much plays like a 2019 version of Robert Benton‘s 1980 Best Picture winner “Kramer vs. Kramer.” It’s an obvious comparison, but an unavoidable one. But why would you want to avoid it? Aside from Best Picture, Benton’s film won four more Oscars – Best Actor for Dustin Hoffman, Best Supporting Actress for Meryl Streep, and both Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for Benton.

That film has become the hallmark picture – a piece of work that sets the bar for all films of the same genre dealing with themes of family, marriage, divorce, and the custody of a child. And Baumbach’s Netflix drama, which will be released in theaters for a month beginning Nov. 6, more than meets the bar. Indeed, it threatens to exceed it as evidenced by the film’s top placement on our various Oscar prediction charts.

Based, in part on...

Actress Laura Dern and FilmNation Entertainment CEO Glen Basner are set to receive tributes at the upcoming Ifp Gotham Awards, the Independent Filmmaker Project announced Thursday.

Dern will receive the Actress Tribute, and Basner will receive the Industry Tribute from the awards ceremony that takes place on Dec. 2 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York. They join Ava DuVernay and Sam Rockwell as the previously announced honorees, who are receiving the Director and Actor tributes.

“We are thrilled to be honoring the extraordinary talents of one of our most beloved actors, Laura Dern, with this year’s Actress Tribute. From her early roles in ‘Blue Velvet’ and ‘Jurassic Park’ to her more recent performances in ‘Big Little Lies,’ ‘Little Women’ and ‘Marriage Story.’ Laura transcends the screen and imbues each and every one of her characters with a deep intelligence and warmth,” Jeff Sharp, executive director of Ifp and the Made in NY Media Center,...

The Independent Filmmaker Project has selected Laura Dern for its actress tribute and FilmNation Entertainment CEO Glen Basner for the industry tribute at the 2019 Ifp Gotham Awards.

The ceremony will be held on Dec. 2 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.

“From her early roles in ‘Blue Velvet’ and ‘Jurassic Park’ to her more recent performances in ‘Big Little Lies,’ ‘Little Women’ and ‘Marriage Story,’ Laura transcends the screen and imbues each and every one of her characters with a deep intelligence and warmth,” said Jeff Sharp, executive director of Ifp and the Made in NY Media Center.

He added, “We are equally excited to present Glen Basner with the Industry Tribute. Glen has established himself as one of the most prolific and successful sales, finance, distribution and content-driven executives working today. Glen and his company FilmNation are part of the heart and soul of the New York film community.

Ovation TV has announced the latest hosts and guests of the new season of “Inside the Actors Studio,” and the new network’s rotating host format is proving very exciting so far. Academy Award nominee Greta Gerwig will be interviewing Golden Globe and Emmy Award winner Laura Dern in an upcoming episode, as well as Tony Award nominee Latanya Richardson Jackson interviewing four-time Emmy Award winner Alfre Woodard. Both episodes have yet to be taped.

“Inside the Actors Studio” aired for 22 seasons on Bravo, where it was hosted by James Lipton. Famous for his penetrating index card questions and comically subdued delivery, Lipton has interviewed 74 Oscar winners and has been parodied by “The Simpsons.” Each episode ends with his famous ten questions, borrowed from French television personality Bernard Pivot and inspired by Marcel Proust.

Last year, it was announced that the series was moving to Ovation TV for its 23rd season,...

Frontrunners are already forming in the Oscar race for Best Supporting Actress race, according to early predictions at Gold Derby. While many films in contention have not yet been released, some were seen recently at the Toronto, Venice and/or Telluride Film Festivals. We’ve confirmed most category placements with studios or campaigners, but some decisions are still outstanding.For example, Gold Derby lists Jennifer Lopez (“Hustlers”) in both lead and supporting races in our prediction center and the placement fates of all three “Bombshell” actresses — Margot Robbie, Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman — have yet to be determined.

Here are the current top 10 supporting actress picks according to racetrack odds based upon our users’ predictions as of Sept. 17:

1. Laura Dern: No one does fierce, feisty and whip-smart better than Dern (witness her work on the second season of HBO’s “Big Little Lies”). She plays the crackerjack lawyer...

Frontrunners are already forming for the Oscar Best Actor race, according to early predictions at Gold Derby. While most films in contention have not yet been released, enough teaser trailers are out there, ranging from “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” and “The Irishman” to “Little Women” and “Ford v Ferrari” to provide some sense of what at least feels like a worthy contender. We’ve confirmed category placements with studios or campaigners, but — as awards season veterans know — such labels can change later. And once the fall film fests commence, the standings will likely rapidly shift.

Here are the current top 10 supporting actress picks on the Gold Derby site, in order, as of Aug. 16:

1. Laura Dern: No one does fierce, feisty and whip-smart better than Dern (witness her work on the second season of HBO’s “Big Little Lies”). She plays the crackerjack lawyer who represents Scarlett Johansson...

Laura Elizabeth Dern is an American actress best known for her roles in Rambling Rose, Enlightened and the Jurassic Park series. She currently stars on the HBO drama series Big Little Lies. Laura Dern Bio: Eary Life, Family, Education Laura Dern was born in Los Angeles, California, on February 10, 1967 (Laura Dern age: 52). […]

The post Laura Dern Bio: In Her Own Words – Video Exclusive, News, Photos appeared first on uInterview.

Laura Dern decided to become an actor when she was just six. But it’s only now, with 55 films under her belt and as Big Little Lies returns to our screens, that she really feels free to ‘try anything’

To hear her mother tell it, it’s a miracle that Laura Dern exists at all. In the early 1960s Diane Ladd and her then husband, Bruce Dern, suffered an excruciating loss when their 18-month-old daughter drowned. The trauma was not just emotional but physical, and doctors told her that she would be unable have another child. But they were wrong, and the proof was Dern. One confounded doctor travelled to the hospital to witness “the miracle child”. From her home in Ojai, California, Ladd’s smoky southern voice over the phone ripples gently with emotion as she talks to me about her daughter.

The miracle child, now 52, grew up to...

Actress Laura Dern ("Jurassic Park") poses for the June 2019 issue of "InStyle" magazine, photographed by Pamela Hanson:

"'Ambition' was a dirty word for women when I was a little girl," said Dern. "Women who are ambitious are cold, calculating, and unsexy — that was the idea presented to my generation. To be sexy was to be demure, subservient even. And I was raised by actresses, like my mother Diane Ladd, my godmother Shelley Winters, my mom's friend Jane Fonda, and Gena Rowlands.

"...I was told growing up that to be an actress of quality you shouldn’t make money because serious actresses didn’t make money. Actors made money. I was lucky enough to be nominated for an 'Oscar' along with my mom for 'Rambling Rose'. We were offered a very prestigious hair campaign for high-fashion magazines. Women were categorized as 'whores' for being businesswomen.

"At the same time,...

In today’s film news roundup, Alex Woolf and Imogen Poots are cast in a crime drama, Laura Dern gets a film festival honor and doggie movie “Buddy” gets distribution.

Casting

Alex Wolff and Imogen Poots are set to star in writer/director Joey Klein’s upcoming crime drama “Castle in the Ground.”

Wolff is portraying a teenager in a small town dealing with the untimely death of his mother. He befriends his charismatic but troubled next-door neighbor, who embroils him in a world of addiction and violence just as the opioid epidemic takes hold. Principal photography is currently underway in Sudbury, Canada.

Wolf starred Ari Aster’s “Hereditary” alongside Toni Collette, “House of Tomorrow” opposite Asa Butterfield, and “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” alongside Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart and in the recently wrapped untitled Jumanji sequel. Poots’ credits include ” Green Room,” “Frank & Lola,” “Sweet Virginia,” and “The Art of Self-Defense.

After Olivia Colman upset the heavily favored Glenn Close to win the best actress Oscar on Sunday, Close became the new record-holder among actresses for most Oscar nominations without a win.

Colman gave a gracious acceptance speech, admitting she wished the veteran actress took home the big prize: “Glenn Close, you’ve been my idol for so long and this is not how I wanted it to be.”

Close now has seven nominations and no wins for “The Wife,” “Albert Nobbs,” “Fatal Attraction,” “Dangerous Liaisons,” “The World According to Garp,” “The Big Chill,” and “The Natural.”

Close had been tied with the late Thelma Ritter and the late Deborah Kerr for most nominations without a win, with six. On Sunday, Amy Adams joined Ritter and Kerr for having six nominations without a win following her loss for “Vice.” She was previously nominated for “Junebug,” “Doubt,” “The Fighter,” “The Master,” and “American Hustle.

Barry Jenkins took home his first Independent Spirit Award for Best Director two years ago for “Moonlight,” but it looks like he’ll have to clear some room for another: The “If Beale Street Could Talk” helmer is predicted to win the same prize at Saturday’s show, which would make him just the fifth person to win the category twice.

In the Spirit Awards’ 33-year history, four people have earned a record two Best Director Awards: Joel Coen; Alexander Payne (1999’s “Election”; 2004’s “Sideways”); Ang Lee; and Tom McCarthy (2008’s “The Visitor”; 2015’s “Spotlight”). This means, should Jenkins prevail, he’d had the shortest span — two years — between his two wins.

See Barry Jenkins may join Coppola, Payne and more as double Oscar winners for Best Adapted Screenplay

Jenkins has 71/20 odds, but many of our pundits are split between him and No. 2 Debra Granik (“Leave No Trace”). Granik has...