TORONTO – King Street usually closed to traffic and packed full of wandering festivalgoers is empty. Roy Thompson Hall is only half full for screenings, there are no throngs of people crowding outside to get in the theater and no concessions are for sale. All decisions formulated to help the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival take place with as little COVID-19 risk as possible. And yet, there was tremendous joy on the faces of Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director & Co-Head of the Festival, and Joana Vicente, Executive Director & the other Co–Head of the year-round organization as they introduced the opening night world premiere, “Dear Evan Hansen.” Following a 2020 edition that was almost completely virtual, TIFF was slowly returning to its former self.

Continue reading ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ Kicks Off TIFF’s 2021 Comeback at The Playlist.

In 2019, “Parasite” took the Palme d’Or in a celebration that saw audience members and media jumping from their seats in joy. Many thought it was a career achievement for Bong Joon Ho. But Oscar prospects? Well, sure, maybe it could be the first South Korean film to earn an International Film nomination, but more than that? Many dismissed its chances much too quickly. Some of us, however, saw a universal tale that was a clear Oscar contender.

Continue reading Did The 2022 Oscar Season Kickoff In Cannes With ‘Titane’? Well… at The Playlist.

Back in the ‘90s and early-‘00s, there weren’t many actors that were as famous as Stephen Dorff. Appearing in films such as “Blade,” “Cecil B. Demented,” and others, Dorff established himself as the go-to handsome bad boy in Hollywood. But in 2021, his star isn’t as bright as it once was. That said, according to Dorff himself, the main reason he’s not in modern blockbusters is because of his own desire to keep doing smaller features with indie filmmakers that could become “the next Kubrick.”

Speaking to The Independent, Dorff talked about the current state of the film industry, while promoting his recent MMA film, “Embattled,” and he took specific aim at the big film that is being released this weekend, “Black Widow,” and its star, Scarlett Johansson.

Continue reading Stephen Dorff Trashes “Garbage” Films Like ‘Black Widow’ & Says He’s “Embarrassed” For Scarlett Johansson at The Playlist.

Ladies and gentlemen, Andrew Garfield, can sing. That’s the big takeaway from the first trailer for “tick, tick…BOOM!” the movie adaptation of Jonathan Larson’s semi-autobiographical musical that first debuted in 1990. And if you don’t recognize Larson’s name, you’ll likely know the musical that won him a Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize posthumously, “RENT.”

READ ME: Andrew Garfield Vehemently Denies Being Part Of “Spider-Man: No Way Home”: “I Ain’t Got A Call”

“BOOM!” also happens to be the feature directorial debut of another lauded songwriter and playwright, Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Continue reading Andrew Garfield Sings For ‘Rent’ In New Trailer For ‘tick, tick…BOOM!’ at The Playlist.

February of 2022 is returning to pre-pandemic levels of business. The NFL moved the 2022 Super Bowl to Feb. 13 due to an expanded regular season and the 2022 Olympics in Bejing are (currently) still scheduled for Feb. 4 through 20th. Still, it’s a bit surprising that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided to push the 94th Oscars off its original Feb. 27, 2022 date. That was the word this morning as the 2022 Oscars were moved to March 27, 2022.

Continue reading Get Ready For Another Long Awards Season As 94th Oscars Land On March 27, 2022 at The Playlist.

Continue reading Steven Soderbergh Defends Oscars Decisions: “Actors’ Speeches Tend To Be More Dramatic” at The Playlist.

Honestly, even before you watched last night’s Oscars ceremony, it was clear this was going to be one of the least-watched telecasts in the history of the Academy Awards. There were just so many things stacked against it. Yet, even knowing that, it’s still shocking just how few people actually tuned in last night to watch the Oscars.

According to Variety, the first ratings report from last night’s Oscars says the telecast was watched by only 9.85 million viewers.

Continue reading The 2021 Oscars Viewership Dropped 58% From Last Year To A New Record Low at The Playlist.

Continue reading Oscars: ABC Exec Explains Controversial Changes & How Steven Soderbergh Considered This His “Next Movie” at The Playlist.

The 2021 Oscars didn’t look like a typical awards show. It surely didn’t flow like a typical awards show. But yet, no matter how much you change things up, you can’t escape the inevitability of awards acceptance speeches. And with no orchestra to play them off and cut speeches short, this year’s winners were able to dig deep and deliver some truly memorable moments.

READ MORE: Oscars 2021 Full Winners List: ‘Nomadland’ Wins Best Picture, ‘Sound Of Metal,’ Anthony Hopkins & More

The highlights, of course, include Daniel Kaluuya reminding everyone that his parents had sex and that because he won, he’s going to party.

Continue reading Watch Daniel Kaluuya, Yuh-Jung Youn, Emerald Fennell & Others Deliver Delightful Oscars Acceptance Speeches at The Playlist.

One of the most touching traditions at the Oscars is the In Memoriam section of the show. This is where someone goes on stage and introduces a musical montage that showcases some of the film and TV folks that passed away over the past year. But much like everything else about this year’s telecast, the 2021 In Memoriam section, presented by Angela Bassett, was handled differently than in previous years.

Continue reading Oscars 2021: Watch The Fast-Paced In Memoriam Segment Presented By Angela Bassett at The Playlist.

No matter what you think about last night’s Oscars, one thing is for sure—it ended in a very peculiar way. Typically, the show ends on the Best Picture award, which is the biggest of the night. Last night, however, it ended on Best Actor, presumably because the producers thought maybe there would be a Chadwick Boseman win. Alas, that wasn’t to be, as Anthony Hopkins took home the win…though he actually didn’t take home anything.

Continue reading Anthony Hopkins Pays Tribute To Chadwick Boseman In His Belated Oscars Acceptance Speech at The Playlist.

Well, that was weird. 

Oscar night felt a bit like an off-brand version of an Oscar night – and not in a bad way (at least until the end). But there were times when the rehearsal-dinner vibe was impossible to ignore, especially at the end when it felt like ringmaster Steven Soderbergh handed the reins to Luis Buñuel, everyone was getting a little tetchy and impatient, the cake course was served before the entree and when it was time for Gramps’ speech he’d already gone to bed – possibly embarrassed by Mamaw’s twerking.

Continue reading The Snubs And Surprises Of The 2021 Oscars at The Playlist.

Well, that was a thing, I guess. An Oscar telecast that promised to be a “film” and not your typical telecast ceremony (a ludicrous concept from the beginning) was nothing of the sort. The 93rd Oscars was a slog filled with speeches that were often unmemorable and/or too long (mostly the latter) and not a moment of true fun until Glenn Close almost saved the show with just a half-hour left in the 3 hour and 15-minute telecast.

Continue reading ‘Nomadland’ Stands Above A Messy End To Oscar Season at The Playlist.

It was an Oscars ceremony unlike any other, but even the stripped-down version of the 2021 Academy Awards had its share of highlights and lowlights. Here’s our list of the best (and worst) moments – and yes, Daniel Kaluuya talking about his parents having sex made the list. How could it not?

READ MORE: Oscars 2021 Full Winners List: ‘Nomadland’ Wins Best Picture, ‘Sound Of Metal,’ Anthony Hopkins & More

Anyways, let’s start things off with the only Oscar topic anyone will want to talk about for the next few days.

Continue reading The Best & Worst Of The 2021 Academy Awards at The Playlist.

It may be a couple of months behind schedule, but the awards season is officially ending with the 93rd Academy Awards. In the past year, since Bong Joon Ho won 4 Oscars for his work on “Parasite,” the world has changed quite a bit, with the COVID pandemic changing every aspect of our lives. And with that, we’re getting an all-new, very different Oscars.

READ MORE: Oscars Predictions 2021: ‘Nomadland,’ ‘My Octopus Teacher,’ Viola Davis

Unlike previous years, the 2021 Oscars aren’t your typical awards show.

Continue reading Oscars 2021 Full Winners List: ‘Nomadland’ Wins Best Picture, ‘Sound Of Metal,’ Anthony Hopkins & More at The Playlist.

All season long, the Best Actress in a Leading role category was nearly impossible to predict, but tonight at the 93rd Academy Awards, Frances McDormand took home the Oscar statue in the end, for the night’s frontrunner “Nomadland” which was likely a close race. The award was the third Oscar Best Actress prize for McDormand, and she won a fourth the same evening for being a producer on “Nomadland.” She won the acting Oscar award only three years back for 2017’s “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” and 1997’s “Fargo.” She’s been nominated for Oscar three times on top of those accolades.

Continue reading Frances McDormand Wins Best Actress & Fourth Oscar Award For ‘Nomadland’ At The 93rd Academy Awards at The Playlist.

Well, the fait accompli of the season has finally come to fruition. After looking like the Oscar frontrunner since September of last year, Searchlight Pictures‘ “Nomadland” won Best Picture at the 93rd annual Academy Awards. The event took place at Union Station Los Angeles and the Dolby Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland Center, and the award was accepted by the producers of the film, director Chloé Zhao, lead actress Frances McDormand, and Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, and Dan Janvey.

Continue reading ‘Nomadland’ Wins Best Feature At 2021 Oscars at The Playlist.

Pixar’s critically acclaimed 23rd film, “Soul,” surprised no one by winning two Oscars at the 93rd Academy Awards on Sunday night. The critical and audience favorite not only won the Animated Feature Oscar but took the Original Score category as well. That made it a memorable night for director Pete Docter who just also happens to be the Chief Creative Officer at Pixar.

READ MORE: ‘Soul’: Pete Docter, Kemp Powers & Dana Murray On Telling An Authentic New York Story In Pixar’s Latest [The Fourth Wall]

This turned out to be Pixar’s 11th win in the Animated Feature category and Docter’s third individual win.

Continue reading ‘Soul’ Wins Animated Feature & Original Score At 2021 Oscars at The Playlist.

In perhaps one of the more improbable Oscar campaigns in history, Youn Yuh-jung won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her critically acclaimed performance in “Minari.” Yuh-jung became just the second Asian woman to win an Oscar in the 93-year history of the awards. A landmark and sobering moment for the film industry.

READ MORE: ‘Minari’s’ Youn Yuh-Jung Didn’t Realize This Oscar-Thing Was Happening [Interview]

One of the most respected actresses in Korean film, Yuh-jung portrayed Soon-ja, the Yi family grandmother in Lee Isaac Chung’s autobiographical drama.

Continue reading Youn Yuh-Jung Becomes First Asian Actress To Win An Oscar In 63 Years at The Playlist.

If you tuned in at 8:00 PM EST for the Academy Awards, then odds are you missed some of the best moments of the evening. As expected, the Academy broadcast the Best Original Song performances during the pre-show, with standout performances by Celeste, H.E.R., Leslie Odom, Jr., Laura Pausini, Daniel Pemberton, Molly Sandén and Diane Warren mixed in with red carpet moments galore.

Continue reading Watch the Best Original Song Oscar Pre-Show Performances at The Playlist.

Only five women have ever been nominated for Best Director in the 93-year history of the Academy Awards. Previously only “The Hurt Locker’s” Kathryn Bigelow had actually won the award. She’s no longer alone in that honor after “Nomadland’s” Chloe Zhao took the Best Director win at the 2021 Oscars Sunday evening.

READ MORE: Chloe Zhao says “The Revenant” is her “Eternals” inspiration [Interview]

Zhao had previously made history as just the first woman of Asian descent to earn a Best Director nomination.

Continue reading Chloe Zhao Makes History As Second Woman To Win Best Director Oscar at The Playlist.

In a night of historic Oscar firsts, make sure Daniel Kaluuya’s name is added to the list. By winning the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award Kaluuya became the first British male Actor of African descent to win an acting Oscar. Kaluuya triumphed for his role as Black Panther activist and Chairman Fred Hampton in Shaka King’s “Judas and the Black Messiah.”

READ MORE: Daniel Kaluuya on becoming a Chairman Fred video geek and not confirming rumors [Interview]

The 32-year-old actor won his first statue on just his second nomination.

Continue reading Daniel Kaluuya Wins First Oscar For ‘Judas And The Black Messiah’ at The Playlist.

And, finally, the pandemic delayed 2021 Oscar season is just days away from a merciful end. Don’t blame the films. There were great performances, exemplary craftsmanship, and notable artistic achievements on display. Unfortunately, this virtual season sucked much of the camaraderie and love for the art form out from under the proceedings. And while longtime frontrunner “Nomadland” looks like it will pull out the Best Picture win like an Olympic marathon champion, there are several categories that are shockingly too close to call.

Continue reading Oscars Predictions 2021: ‘Nomadland,’ ‘My Octopus Teacher,’ Viola Davis at The Playlist.

Virtual awards ceremonies will soon (we hope) be a thing of the past, but, sadly, the 2021 Independent Spirit Awards are still firmly in the pandemic era. The traditional Saturday afternoon pre-Oscar day drinking telecast moved to a Thursday night Prime Time slot on IFC with Melissa Villaseñor admirably taking the reigns. And, perhaps forecasting a big win on Sunday, Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland” took four Spirit Awards including Best Film, Best Director, Best Editing, and Best Cinemtography (Joshua James Richards).

Continue reading Spirit Awards 2021 Full Winners List: ‘Nomadland,’ ‘Sound Of Metal,’ ‘I May Destroy You’ & More at The Playlist.

As with all award shows, the Independent Spirit Awards will be quite different than previous years. The virtual ceremony means there will be no day drinking in a tent on Santa Monica beach, and the Spirit’s first-time host, Melissa Villaseñor, won’t be able to interact with the always buzzed audience. But there are great movies and, for the first time, television programs to recognize. Predicting the winners? Well, this time around, you can throw the usual Spirit Awards rules out the window.

Continue reading Spirit Awards Predictions 2021: ‘Nomadland,’ ‘Sound of Metal,’ ‘I May Destroy You’ at The Playlist.