Oscars
Will Jennifer Hudson Extend Oscar Nomination Streak for Biopic Performances?
Three times before this streak, actors received lead acting nods two years in a row for playing real-life music personalities. Jamie Foxx won best actor for playing Ray Charles in Ray (2004). The following year, Joaquin Phoenix was nominated in that category for playing Johnny Cash in Walk the Line, and his co-star, Reese Witherspoon, won best actress for playing June Carter Cash. Twenty years earlier, Tom Hulce was nominated for best actor for playing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Amadeus (1984), while his co-star, F. Murray Abraham, won in that category for playing his rival, Antonio Salieri. The following year, Jessica Lange was nominated for best actress for playing country legend Patsy Cline in Sweet Dreams. The first time that actors received back-to-back Oscar nominations for playing r...
Samuel L. Jackson to Receive Honorary Oscar, Marking His First-Ever Academy Award
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is fixing some glaring blind spots. This afternoon, the board of governors announced their decision to give Samuel L. Jackson, Elaine May, and Liv Ullmann each an honorary Oscar — marking the first time ever that any of them have received an Academy Award. Additionally, Danny Glover will be presented with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. “We are thrilled to present this year’s Governors Awards to four honorees who have had a profound impact on both film and society,” said Academy president David Rubin in a statement. “Sam Jackson is a cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated across genres and generations and audiences worldwide, while Elaine May’s bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director and actress, rever...
Forever No. 1: B.J. Thomas’ ‘Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head’
“When the film was released, I was highly critical — how did the song fit with the film? There was no rain,” Redford told USA Today in 2019, a half-century later. “At the time, it seemed like a dumb idea. How wrong I was.” “Raindrops…” was hardly the most sophisticated song that Burt Bacharach and Hal David — the duo who’d penned many of the most pristine and affecting pop songs of the late ’50s and ’60s, including most of Dionne Warwick’s signature smashes — ever wrote. But it may have been their most universal, a song that everybody who has ever had a bad day or a rough patch could relate to. David’s lyric has a dash of whimsical humor (“So, I just did me some talkin’ to the sun/ And I said I didn’t like the way he got things done...
2022 Oscar Telecast Has Been Pushed Back: Here’s the New Date
The eligibility period for Academy Awards consideration will return to the standard Dec. 31 deadline: A feature film must have a qualifying release date between March 1, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2021. As a result, this coming year will have 10-month eligibility period, while this past year had a 14-month eligibility period. Because the pandemic is still impacting theater attendance, eligibility requirements for the 94th Academy Awards will be consistent with the addendums made for the 93rd Awards season. Those can be found here. Complete 94th Awards rules and specialty category submission deadlines will be announced in June. Following this year, the Academy intends to expand the qualifying requirements for the 95th Awards. The 94th Oscars will be held at to the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & H...
Motion Picture Academy Seeks to Slow Rapid Rate of Membership Growth
The move follows five consecutive years in which the Academy invited 600 or more new members to join its ranks each year. In a surprise move, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Wednesday (May 26) that it is seeking to slow the rate of growth of its new members. “To ensure the necessary infrastructure, staff resources and environment to support all Academy members, this year’s growth in membership will be limited to roughly half that of recent years,” the Academy said in a statement. “This modification will enable steady future growth and allow the Academy to continue serving its membership in a more personal manner.” Last year, the Academy invited 819 people to join its ranks — 45% of them women, 36% underrepresented ethnic/racial minorities, and 49% from outsi...
Elton John Dishes on Oscars Venue: ‘It’s Like a Starbucks’
He made no attempts to clarify his opinions later on, during the live viewing party that streamed online thanks to meeting platform Cisco Webex. After the 60-minute preshow — which featured a shimmering set from global pop superstar Dua Lipa and appearances by Lady Gaga, Cynthia Erivo and the cast of It’s a Sin — John and partner David Furnish appeared during commercial breaks along with Eric McCormack. During the first break, John unloaded on the Academy Awards’ Union Station venue, saying, “The Oscar ceremony looks like it’s coming from a Starbucks somewhere.” During the subsequent break, in between compliments to early winner Daniel Kaluuya (“He’s a lovely man”), John doubled down on his hot take. “I still can’t get over the se...
Chadwick Boseman’s Family Is Fine With Actor Not Winning An Oscar Award
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: NBC / Getty Last Sunday (April 25), the 93rd annual Academy Awards was held at Union Station in Los Angeles. And while many wondered why viewers choked up when Chadwick Boseman‘s likeness appeared during the customary “In Memoriam” segment, some were upset that King T’Challa didn’t win the “Best Actor” award that night. Millions of Boseman fans felt the late-great actor was deserving of the award for his role as Levee Green in Ma’s Rainy Black Bottom, but ultimately the Oscar went to Anthony Hopkins for his role in The Father. Though fans were upset at the end result, TMZ is reporting that Boseman’s family are actually okay with Hopkins taking home the gold. Taking the high road in the matter, Chadwick’s brother, Derrick says that at the end of the day, e...
Diane Warren Posts Message of Gratitude After Another Oscar Loss
The Academy Award for best original song went to H.E.R., D’Mile and Tiara Thomas for their collaboration on “Fight for You” from Shaka King’s Judas and the Black Messiah. The Grammy winner used her acceptance speech to talk about the power of truth in storytelling. “Musicians, filmmakers I believe we have an opportunity and responsibility, to me, to tell the truth and to write history the way that it was and how it connects us to today and what we see going on in the world today,” she said, adding, “Knowledge is power, music is power and as long as I’m standing I’m always going to fight for us, I’m always going to fight for my people and fight for what’s right and I think that’s what music does and that’s what storytelling does.” Warren, who ...
The Oscars Red Carpet Declared the Crop Top the Quintessential Summer Fashion Item
We can’t be the only ones who have been itching for glamorous award-show fashion moments, and the 2021 Oscars delivered all that and more. Some of the most spectacular dresses from the Oscars red carpet shared a very summer-appropriate design detail — an exposed midriff, otherwise adorned by a showstopping, floor-length gown. Who would have expected that elevated crop tops and exposed midriffs would be the defining look of the 2021 Oscars red carpet? We certainly didn’t, but we love to see it. Crop tops and exposed midriffs are all about a carefree, body-positive summer, which is exactly what we need after such a long year indoors. For some, belly-baring tops are a bit intimidating or they can seem a bit too casual, but the stars of the 2021 Oscars red carpet offered examples f...
Dua Lipa Wore Thousands of Pounds of Diamonds to Perform at Elton John’s Oscars Preparty
Diamonds were the standout star on both of Dua Lipa’s performance gowns at the Oscars preparty benefit hosted by the Elton John AIDS Foundation. The Future Nostalgia singer started her string of solo performances in a black gown and later changed into a sparkling outfit to perform duets of “Bennie and the Jets” and “Love Again” with Elton John. Dua Lipa is no stranger to a very sexy red carpet moment, particularly if it’s sparkling. Her sparkling butterfly Grammys dresses are already some of the defining red carpet outfits of 2021. But while Lipa usually goes for ’90s-inspired dresses or sexy, sheer looks, her Oscars preparty gowns were expectedly formfitting but impressively elegant. Dua Lipa’s first look was a black velvet high-neck and lon...
Diddy Feels ‘Incredibly Blessed’ After Second Oscar Win
The Bad Boy boss was a producer of the best live-action short winner “Two Distant Strangers” on Sunday night (Apr. 25). As of Sunday night (April 25), Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs has as many Oscars as Brad Pitt. The Revolt Media chairman was in a celebratory mood after the 93rd Academy Awards when the film he executive produced, Two Distant Strangers, won the Oscar for best live-action short. “I’m incredibly blessed to WIN MY SECOND OSCAR as a producer for UNDEFEATED and…. @TwoDistantFilm !!” tweeted Diddy alongside a video of him and his team watching actor Riz Ahmed make the Oscar announcement on a big screen in a studio together. “Words can’t describe how I feel right now winning alongside my brothers @JoeyBadass @VanLathan @Travon @iJesseWill...
H.E.R., Jon Batiste and All the Record-Setters From the 2021 Oscars
The Oscar win for H.E.R., D’Mile and Thomas comes just six weeks after they won a Grammy for song of the year for “I Can’t Breathe.” This is the first time in 35 years that a songwriter or songwriting team has won an Oscar in the same awards season that they won a Grammy for song of the year for a different song. Lionel Richie won both awards in 1986. He and Michael Jackson shared the Grammy for song of the year on Feb. 25, 1986 for “We Are The World.” On March 24 of that year, he won the Oscar for “Say You, Say Me” from White Nights. With the win for “Fight For You,” fellow nominee Diane Warren’s Oscar track record stands at 0-12. She is one of just seven people in Oscar history – across all categories – to amass as many as 12 nominations without a win. (Let’s hope nomination No. 13 will ...
