Month: February 2022

On March 27, actors and others in the film industry will be honored at the 94th annual Academy Awards. Ahead of then, the full list of Oscar nominees was revealed this morning and some folks from the music world made their mark.

Perhaps the most obvious music-related category is Best Original Song, and competing there are Beyoncé and Darius Scott (for “Be Alive” from King Richard), Billie Eilish and Finneas (for the No Time To Die theme), Lin-Manuel Miranda (for “Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto), Van Morrison (for “Down To Joy” from Belfast), and Diane Warren (for “Somehow You Do” from Four Good Days).

As for Best Original Score, Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood earned a nomination for his work on The Power Of The Dog. In the category, he’s competing against Don’t Look Up (Nicholas Britell), Dune (Hans Zimmer) Encanto (Germaine Franco), and Parallel Mothers (Alberto Iglesias).

Meanwhile, Questlove’s Summer Of Soul movie is up for Best Documentary Feature. Elsewhere, the Alana Haim-starring Licorice Pizza fared well, as it’s up for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Director (for Paul Thomas Anderson). The Lady Gaga-led House Of Gucci got a nomination, too, for Best Makeup & Hairstyling.

Check out the music-related Oscars nominations below and find the full list of all nominees here.

Best Original Song
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and Darius Scott — “Be Alive” (King Richard)
Lin-Manuel Miranda — “Dos Oruguitas” (Encanto)
Van Morrison — “Down To Joy” (Belfast)
Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell — “No Time To Die” (No Time To Die)
Diane Warren — “Somehow You Do” (Four Good Days)

Best Original Score
Don’t Look Up (Nicholas Britell)
Dune (Hans Zimmer)
Encanto (Germaine Franco)
Parallel Mothers (Alberto Iglesias)
The Power Of The Dog (Jonny Greenwood)

Best Documentary Feature
Ascension
Attica
Flee
Summer Of Soul
Writing With Fire

The 94th annual Academy Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, March 27th, and like last year, it’s everyone’s guess how this ceremony will work. For the third year in a row, there shall be no official host, so there will be no host-related controversy. No one wants the gig, man! Fortunately, there will be plenty of enthusiasm from Leslie Jordan and Tracee Ellis Ross, who’s showed up and read nominations with more verve than anyone could reasonably expect at 5:15 PST.

This year, one can expect the nominations crop to stay a little weird, given that movies largely went to streaming or refrained from releasing at all, due our ongoing global situation. One can expect to see plenty of Power of the Dog (starring Benedict Cumberbatch and directed by Jane Campion) and some Licorice Pizza (Paul Thomas Anderson doing his thing well as always), along with some nods for Denis Villeneuve’s Dune (with its sweeping cast; seriously, everyone’s in it). And maybe, just maybe, Jared Leto’s House Of Gucci performance will not only receive a Razzie nom but also a surprise Academy nod. Here’s how things turned out:

Best Picture
Belfast
CODA
Don’t Look Up
Drive My Car
Dune
King Richard
Licorice Pizza
Nightmare Alley
The Power of the Dog
West Side Story

Best Actor
Javier Bardem
Benedict Cumberbatch
Andrew Garfield
Will Smith
Denzel Washington

Best Actress
Jessica Chastain
Olivia Colman
Penelope Cruz
Nicole Kidman
Kristen Stewart

Best Supporting Actress
Jesse Buckley, The Lost Daughter
Ariana DeBose, West Side Story
Judi Dench, Belfast
Kirsten Dunst, Power Of The Dog
Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard

Best Supporting Actor
Ciarán Hinds, Belfast
Troy Kotsur, CODA
Jesse Plemons, The Power of the Dog
J.K. Simmons, Being the Ricardos
Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog

Best Director
Kenneth Branagh
Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Paul Thomas Anderson
Jane Campion
Steven Spielberg

Best Costume Design
Cruella
Cyrano
Dune
Nightmare Alley
West Side Story

Best Sound
Belfast
Dune
No Time to Die
The Power of the Dog
West Side Story

Best Original Score
Don’t Look Up
Dune
Encanto
Parallel Mothers
The Power of the Dog

Best Adapted Screenplay
CODA
Drive My Car
Dune
The Lost Daughter
The Power of the Dog

Best Original Screenplay
Belfast
Don’t Look Up
Licorice Pizza
King Richard
The Worst Person in the World

Best Animated Feature
Encanto
Luca
Flee
The Mitchells vs the Machine
Raya and the Last Dragon

Best Documentary
Ascension
Attica
Flee
Summer of Soul
Writing With Fire

Best Animated Short
Affairs of the Art
Bestia
Boxballet
Robin Robin
The Windshield Wiper

Best Live Action Short
Ala Kachuu — Take and Run
The Dress
The Long Goodbye
On My Mind
Please Hold

Best Film Editing
Don’t Look Up
Dune
King Richard
The Power of the Dog
Tick, Tick… Boom!

Best Makeup & Hairstyling
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
House of Gucci
Coming 2 America
Cruella
Dune

Best International Feature Film
Drive My Car
Flee
The Hand of God
Yanna
The Worst Person in the World

Best Cinematography
Dune
Nightmare Alley
The Power of The Dog
The Tragedy
West Side Story

Live Action Short Film
Ala Kacchu – Take and Run
The Dress
The Long Goodbye
On My Mind
Please Hold

Animated Short Film
Affairs of the Art
Bestia
Boxballet
Robin Robin
The Windshield Wiper

Documentary Short Subject
Audible
Lead Me Home
The Queen of Basketball
Three Songs of Benazir
When We Were Bullies

Best Original Song
“Be Alive,” King Richard
“Dos Oroguitos,” Encanto
“Down to Joy,” Belfast
“No Time To Die,” No Time To Die
“Somehow to Do,” Four Good Days

Production Design
Dune
Nightmare Alley
Power
The Tragedy of Macbeth
West Side Story

Best Visual Effects
Dune
Free Guy
No Time To Die
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Spider-Man: No Way Home

Robin Williams and George Carlin are two of the most prolific, ubiquitous, and downright hilarious comedians of all time. Sadly, Williams has been dead since 2014 and Carlin since 2008. But that still hasn’t stopped streaming service giants Pandora from profiting off of their stand-up comedy recordings without paying royalties to their respective estates. At least that’s what copyright infringements lawsuits filed by both Williams’ and Carlin’s estates are claiming.

According to filings of these lawsuits obtained by Rolling Stone, Williams’ estate is seeking to get $4.1 million in damages, while Carlin’s camp is suing for $8.4 million. The lawsuits claim that Pandora knew that they were streaming the recordings, even though they didn’t have the proper licensing right to do it. Furthermore, they haven’t paid any money to the estates that preside over the comedians’ posthumous earnings.

The claims state that Pandora “gained listeners, subscribers and market share with full knowledge it did not have licenses.” In 2018, Pandora was sold to SiriusXM for a whopping $3.5 billion and recordings from comedy titans like Williams and Carlin were (and still are) a part of the service’s offerings.

The filing from Carlin’s estate cheekily states, “While Carlin would have been thrilled for his works to live on through valid licenses and payments, he would have seven dirty words to say about Pandora’s actions and willful copyright infringement, no doubt.”

For what it’s worth, Pandora also received complaints from comedians Andrew Dice Clay, Ron White, and Bill Engvall. It sounds like they need to legitimize this portion of their operation in regards to comedy recordings, or the names on that list are going to grow even bigger.

(Spoilers from Netflix’s Inventing Anna will be found below.)

Julia Garner’s Ruth Langmore dominates the screen on Ozark in what’s been classified (by the Emmys) as a supporting role, but Garner is leading a new Netflix limited series called Inventing Anna. To say that Garner’s career is on fire is an understatement, and she’s once again (after Dirty John) tacking a dramatized real-life story with this latest project, in which she portrays a faux-German con artist going by the name of Anna Delvey.

How real is Inventing Anna, though? Well, it’s a Shondaland series that’s based upon a New York magazine profile called “How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People.” As that article reveals (and the Netflix series heavily details), Anna Delvey is actually Anna Sorokin, who posed as an incredibly wealthy heiress/socialite/Instagram star and managed to convince everyone with whom she came into contact. Her propensity for tall tales came naturally for her, and no one seemed immune to her charms.

Soon enough, Anna’s left a wake of immense debt in her wake with many others holding responsibility, and all of this eventually lands her in prison after a dramatic investigation and trial. Mind you, Garner’s performance (and accent) are as electric as one would expect in this show, and although Delvey/Sorokin found her way into ICE custody after leaving prison, her story will impart a number of lasting impressions upon viewers. Further, there’s a lot of reflection to be had about a system that not only allowed but encouraged this mega-grifter to flourish. It’s a wild show and worth catching.

Netflix’s Inventing Anna debuts on February 11, 2022.

The Washington Wizards are in a spiral right now, having lost nine of their last 11 games including a 21-point loss at home to the Heat on Monday night in which they were dominated from the jump.

As the trade deadline approaches, there are plenty of rumors about what Washington might do to try and shake things up on their roster after their biggest offseason of Spencer Dinwiddie has not panned out as they hoped through 53 games so far next to Bradley Beal. Until then, they have to figure out how to dig themselves out of the hole they find themselves in and that is proving to be difficult and frustrating.

Those frustrations came to a head on Monday night in their loss to the Heat when in the closing minute some heckling fans (the one in the brown jacket, chiefly) crossed the line with their comments towards the Washington bench and caused an assistant coach to leap out of his seat to try and confront them, with Montrezl Harrell and Thomas Bryant stepping between to intervene and pull their coach away.

It’s hard to see exactly who it was from the Wizards staff as the video is from far away and Harrell is between the camera and the coach as they walk back to the locker room, but whomever it is, it’s obviously not a great look. Wes Unseld Jr. addressed the incident briefly after the game, saying a fan or group of fans were out of line with something they said, but also noted they have to “take the high road” in that situation.

It’s unfortunately becoming an all-too-common sight at NBA games for fans to get into it with players or coaches in a way that crosses the line, with a few examples of players stopping games to have fans ejected this season. The Washington faithful are understandably frustrated with the team’s current run of play, but that doesn’t excuse comments that get personal or go too far, as appeared to happen here.

The Golden Raspberry Awards, aka the Razzies, may celebrate the worst in cinema, but sometimes they’re as unloved as the purported duds they try and mock. Did you know the first year, in 1980, they dissed Stanley Kubrick? They’ve come for a lot of future classics (such as The Shining). Other times their choices can seem simply lazy. So it was with this year’s nominations, which faux-fêted some obvious choices (Space Jam: A New Legacy, Ben Platt in Dear Evan Hansen) as well as some real obscurities (eight direct-to-streaming Bruce Willis movies).

Then there’s Ben Affleck getting a Worst Supporting Actor nom for The Last Duel. Affleck had a good 2020. He reunited with Jennifer Lopez. He’s an Oscar hopeful for The Tender Bar. The Last Duel, the first movie he’s co-written with Matt Damon since they won an Oscar for Good Will Hunting, may have tanked at the box office, but it’s already been reclaimed since dropping on HBO Max. What’s more, Affleck received some of the best reviews of his career for his turn as the peerlessly douchey count Pierre d’Alençon, whose unrepentant hedonism makes for much-needed comic relief.

Nobody told the Razzie voters that. Their inexplicable nomination suggests either they’re stuck in a past where Affleck is overly ubiquitous tabloid fodder or, worse, didn’t even see a turn described by Vulture’s Bilge Ebiri as “wonderfully skeezy,” the actor playing a “marvelously out-there creation who shouldn’t work at all and yet becomes an engine of uneasy delights.” Jersey Girl and Gigli were almost 20 years ago, Razzie people! We’ve all moved on!

When people saw the nomination, they couldn’t believe it — and they made sure people loved one of Affleck’s finest, funniest turns.

But it may not be as bad as that anyway. As of this writing, the Oscar nominations will be announced in the morning, and Affleck may find himself with one — maybe even for The Last Duel. It would be funnier still if he won.

Ever since the Netflix doc The Tinder Swindler was released last week, people have been asking a big question: Who is the Tinder Swindler? The film examines the stranger-than-fiction story of a wealthy jet-setter who used the dating service to woo women and fleece them out of money. Over the course of two years, he amassed some $10 million from his victims. But again, who is the Tinder Swindler, you may be asking.

The answer to who is the Tinder Swindler is Simon Leviev, real name Shimon Yehuda Hayut, an Israeli-born conman who already had a lengthy rap sheet. In 2011, he was caught cashing checks he’d stolen from family for whom he was babysitting. He wound up charged with various counts of fraud and theft, but he fled the country. Four years later he was arrested in Finland after exploiting a number of women under an assumed name.

Starting in 2017, after serving a shortened sentence, Hayut again assumed a fake name, Simon Leviev, and used Tinder to contact women and trick them into giving him cash and credit cards. He claimed that he was the son of Israeli diamond tycoon Lev Leviev and that his life was in danger. He would then use the money he swindled to lure new victims, effectively operating a Ponzi scheme. He was again jailed in 2019 but only served five months of his 15-month sentence due to the pandemic.

As per Variety, Hayut was only recently banned from the app he used to con people out of money.

The Tinder Swindler now streams on Netflix.

After 21 weeks of NFL action during the 2021 NFL season, it all comes down to Super Bowl LVI. The Los Angeles Rams outlasted the San Francisco 49ers to win the NFC crown, with the Cincinnati Bengals stunning the Kansas City Chiefs on the AFC side. Along the way, we’ve found some success (see below), but Championship Weekend wasn’t incredibly kind to us from a handicapping perspective. It was a lot rosier when the Chiefs led 21-3 in the first half, of course, but the beauty of football (and sports) is that anything can happen and, well, it did.

Before we dive into the Super Bowl card and a few selections for the big game, let’s check in on the season-long progress in this space.

• Last Week: 1-2
• 2021 Season: 57-45-1

Come get these winners, as we seek far and wide to find the best lines.

Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals UNDER 24 points in the first half (FanDuel)

You’ll need to line shop, but at least one major book is still hanging 24 at the time of this post. I’d lean under the full game as well, in part because of what I believe about the Rams on defense, but the first half is preferable. For one thing, the Bengals are very good at making second half tweaks. For another, the Rams have turtled in key situations. For one more, the bright lights of the big stage can lead to tentative play and jitters, all of which projects to help the under. Punts and field goals, please.

Los Angeles Rams OVER 3.0 sacks (Caesars)

Remember what the Titans did to the Bengals offensive line? Well, if you don’t, Tennessee racked up nine (!) sacks in the playoff matchup and, while it isn’t this simple, Los Angeles has a better pass rush than Tennessee. This isn’t a small number by any means, but I’d take the over on 4.5 sacks if I had to. Aaron Donald, Von Miller and company could live in the backfield.

Joe Burrow OVER 11.5 rushing yards (BetMGM)

Wait, the Rams are going to get a ton of sacks and Burrow is going to run for 12 or more yards? Well, yes. In college, this would be a disaster because sacks count as negative rushing yards, but not in the NFL. Joey B is going to be running for his life in this one and, unlike regular season games in which quarterbacks are taught to avoid punishment, Burrow is much more likely to put his head down and keep rolling.

Van Jefferson OVER 30.5 receiving yards (DraftKings)

Jefferson has surpassed 30 receiving yards in 13 of 20 games this season. I do understand that the Rams now employ Odell Beckham Jr., cutting into Jefferson’s target share, but Los Angeles may be without Tyler Higbee, which could get Jefferson on the field more often. From there, Jefferson can (easily) get to this number in one catch if necessary, and with a lot of attention on Cooper Kupp and Beckham Jr., the value is good here.

Los Angeles Rams (-4) over Cincinnati Bengals (BetOnline)

I guess we kinda have to give out the side in the Super Bowl, right? This isn’t a huge value play by any means, but I do feel as if the Bengals are slightly overvalued after their Cinderella run through the AFC. Los Angeles is the more talented team with the better defense and, while home-field advantage isn’t really a thing in the Super Bowl, it doesn’t exactly hurt the Rams to hang out at home for the last couple of weeks. As noted above, the thing that pushes this over the edge for me is the pass rush for Los Angeles. I just don’t think Cincinnati can block them, and Matthew Stafford can take it from there.

Since October, when an accidental shooting on the set of the film Rust led to the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, Alec Baldwin has been laying low. He’s (mostly) played ball with the authorities over what happened that day, which has been extremely tricky to divine. But now, some three-and-a-half months later, he appears to be returning to work.

On Friday, the actor posted an Instagram video of himself at an airport, where was about to embark on what used to be a regular activity: traveling around the globe shooting movies and television. He did not say where he was going (though he was later spotted at Heathrow airport in London). Nor did he reveal what the project was.

Whatever it is, it will Baldwin’s first on-set job since the fatal Rust shooting. Reports from the set pegged him as the one who unwittingly pulled the trigger, which he’d allegedly been told was “cold.” Baldwin has since denied that he was the one who discharged the weapon. Reports from the set suggested a chaotic environment, with accidental discharges. Baldwin has said those claims were untrue. Meanwhile, parts of the far right — including Donald Trump Jr. and Lauren Boebert — have made light of the tragic accident.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

She might be young, but Billie Eilish’s advocacy for animal welfare is already well-known. When Thanksgiving rolls out around, she’s posting about how sweet and gentle turkeys are, and she’s already pleaded with fans to stop eating meat all together. In 2021, PETA named her their person of the year, and now another animal rights organization is thrilled that Billie has gotten on board with one of their causes.

The organization In Defense Of Animals has teamed with another org, Panda Voices, to take up the cause of two giant pandas, YaYa and LeLe who are being kept at the Memphis Zoo. Activists argue they’re being abused and malnourished. According to IDA, the pandas were shipped to the zoo 18 years ago, in 2003. Since then, they are being “mistreated” and according to IDA are “visibly distressed, suffering from insufficient bamboo, malnourishment, excessive caging time (10+ hours), skin mite disease, dental problems and zoochosis — a distressed state of mental health shown through abnormal, repetitive ‘stereotypical’ behaviors.”

The pop star showed her support by retweeting something the organization posted last week. Billie retweeted @IDAUSA’s tweet that explained their stance. “We are working with @PandaVoicesOrg to free 2 pandas suffering devastating mental & physical diseases. Urge @MemphisZoo to return YaYa & LeLe to China for qualified veterinary care, quality bamboo & a more suitable environment!”

“We are thrilled that Billie Eilish has joined our campaign to free YaYa and LeLe from horrendous suffering at Memphis Zoo,” said Fleur Dawes, Communications Director for In Defense of Animals in a press release. “Anyone can see these pandas are in crisis and in urgent need of rescue. We hope Billie’s call on Memphis Zoo CEO Jim Dean will encourage him to stop the torture of YaYa and LeLe and send them back to China. These pandas deserve to have suitable food and medical care, and retire to a life that resembles the wild as closely as possible.”

There are close to 75,000 signatures on a Change.org petition begging the Memphis zoo to send the pandas home. Billie’s support will likely trigger a spike of attention. Check out the petition here.