The all-new Hollywood Reporter offers unprecedented access to the people, studios, networks and agencies that create the magic in Hollywood. Published weekly, the oversized format includes exceptional photography and rich features.
Just a few weeks ago, a particular scene in I, Tonya wouldn’t have made audiences blink an eye. The Margot Robbie-starring film about the rise and fall of figure skater Tonya Harding uses real news footage from 1994 (when Harding’s ex-husband arranged to have her skating rival Nancy Kerrigan bashed in the knee), and, in one scene, news anchor Matt Lauer comes into view. But by the time I, Tonya was released Dec. 8, the Today host had been fired from his job after multiple allegations of sexual harassment — and his appearance onscreen at the film’s premiere drew gasps from the Hollywood audience. The cascade of headlines about sexual harassment and how men in entertainment and media abused their power, some for decades, is shaping the way we view…
2017 has been a year of female empowerment in the real world and also on the big screen, where female-centered awards hopefuls — meaning films primarily about a woman or women and not equally about a man or men — include Lady Bird, Wonder Woman, Molly’s Game, Girls Trip, The Shape of Water, The Florida Project, mother!, First They Killed My Father, Wonder Wheel, The Beguiled and I, Tonya. But how many of these films will wind up with a best picture Oscar nomination? And can any of them actually win? History suggests that they will face an uphill climb. One or two female-centered films get nominated for best picture nearly every year. This century’s examples include Arrival, Hidden Figures, Brooklyn, Room, Zero Dark Thirty, The Help, Black Swan, Winter’s…
PICTURE All the Money in the World The Hollywood Foreign Press Association had an early look at this entry, which got a face-lift when director Ridley Scott decided to replace Kevin Spacey with Christopher Plummer — he scored a Globe nom, as did Scott and Michelle Williams. The Big Sick Amazon’s main awards-season hope was feted at a Dec. 9 bash at founder Jeff Bezos’ Beverly Hills home. It got shut out for Globe noms, but then rebounded with a SAG Award ensemble nom, without which no film has won the best picture Oscar since Braveheart 22 years ago. Beauty and the Beast Director Bill Condon’s live-action retelling of the Disney classic certainly qualified as a lavish musical, but HFPA voters ignored it. (They did find room in their musical/comedy…
How better to tell the story of the troubled Dutch post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh than with oil paintings? That was the reasoning behind the unique approach to the animated feature Loving Vincent, which in recent weeks was nominated for a Golden Globe for best animated feature and earned three Annie Awards noms, including one for best animated independent feature. Made primarily in Poland for just $5.5 million, the ambitious film took nearly six years to finish and was created using a frame-by-frame animation technique — similar to stop motion — that started with roughly 65,000 oil paintings on canvas. “Vincent painted the world around him,” explains Hugh Welchman (an Oscar winner for producing the 2006 animated short Peter & the Wolf), who wrote and directed the film with his…
Battle of the Sexes The Beguiled The Big Sick Blade Runner 2049 Breathe Call Me by Your Name Darkest Hour Detroit The Disaster Artist Downsizing Dunkirk Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool The Florida Project Get Out Good Time Hostiles I, Tonya Lady Bird Last Flag Flying The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) Molly’s Game mother! Mudbound Okja Phantom Thread The Post Roman J. Israel, Esq. The Shape of Water Stronger Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Victoria & Abdul Wonderstruck Wonder Wheel Wonder Woman…
• SEPT. 2 (TELLURIDE) “It’s a historical event, it happened in 1973, and now we’re here 44 years later and the depressingly relevant facts of the film are very tough to look at.” STONE It’s game, set and match for Battle of the Sexes, a massively entertaining account of the momentous 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs that also deftly deals with the numerous social issues inherent in the carnival- like contest. Emma Stone comes out swinging with a terrific turn as a star player going through significant personal turmoil, while co-directors Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton top their 2006 smash Little Miss Sunshine with a finely tuned piece that skillfully shoots the drama through with grand human comedy. This buoyant film successfully captures a moment in…
