Sofia Carson (pictured) performed at the Oscars, discussed here below.
| Backstage Hollywood
Nickelodeon Studios announced the greenlight of The Thundermans Return, an all-new feature-length movie based on the hit live-action superhero comedy, The Thundermans. The movie will follow the superpowered family as they begin a new era of superhero crime fighting. Production on The Thundermans Return will begin in Los Angeles this April, with premiere details to be announced at a later date. Zack Olin and Shauna Phelan, Co-Heads of Nickelodeon & Awesomeness Live-Action, stated, “It’s been such a joy to return to Hiddenville with this iconic superhero family and original cast. This movie is made for the audiences who fell in love with the show’s original run on Nick and also for today’s generation discovering it on streaming.” In the movie, twins Phoebe and Max are enjoying their superhero lifestyle, but when one ‘save’ goes awry, the Thundermans are sent back to Hiddenville. While Hank and Barb enjoy their return, and Billy and Nora look forward to a normal high school life, Max and Phoebe are determined to regain their superhero status. The movie will feature the return of show favorites, new villains and familiar locations. American Film Market saw a recent departure of former director Jonathan Wolf, who expertly headed the festival for a whopping 24 years, up until mid 2022. AFM sent a warning email a couple of weeks ago to recent 2022 attendees that they were ending access to their online networking portal–a service included in AFM ticket purchases–around 5 months before it was supposed to be taken down. Despite this shock to some attendees, AFM is still an outstanding event that is a must attend show for any studio, producer, or director. THE OSCARS® “Everything Everywhere All At Once” crushed it, taking home 7 Oscars including Best Picture. The Oscars seems to have changed from awarding the most popular films loved by the most audiences worldwide, to awarding some of the most obscure, independent films that fewer people see, not unlike the Spirit Awards. This trend was most evident with the 2019 win of the foreign film “Parasite” (South Korea) that was not even in English. A good film–sure, but was it really better than “The Irishman?” “Avatar: The Way of Water” was phenomenal, and should have gotten far more attention. “Top Gun: Maverick” was also incredible. Others were shocked that Tom Hanks, Austin Butler, and “Elvis” won nothing. The cancelling of “Woman King” was shocking. We reached out to the Academy and asked why the film was not even nominated. No reply was given. We cover this at Hollywood Sentinel in our new issue, with that story out tomorrow. We used to complain about the Oscars not recognizing more obscure, independent cinema. Now that they finally are, we all like to complain about that too. LOL. Why does anyone even care? We care because film is a POWERFUL medium that influences, and reflects culture and the world we live in. We all take it a bit personally. It is a social force for great good–or the opposite of that. And besides that, it’s fun to talk about. Music, Art, and the Art of Filmmaking is a shared experience that we can all agree on and discuss, or disagree on, and debate. And usually, it’s safe to do so. Riz Ahmed, Emily Blunt, Glenn Close, Jennifer Connelly, Ariana DeBose, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Michael B. Jordan, Troy Kotsur, Jonathan Majors, Melissa McCarthy, Janelle Monáe, Deepika Padukone, Questlove, Zoe Saldaña and Donnie Yen presented at the 95th Oscars®, executive produced by showrunners Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner and executive producer Molly McNearney. The show was a hit, gaining its largest viewing since 2020. One critic from The Hollywood Reporter cited the reason was probably due to more people watching in Ireland and China, due to more Irish and Chinese nominees. Maybe a little, but not enough. Foreign films are nominated every year, including more recently, for Best Picture, and this had no significant improvement of ratings then. The uptick was most likely more due to everyone wondering what the heck was going to happen next–after Will Smith’s violent outburst.
Image, courtesy of AMPAS Actress and singer Sofia Carson, accompanied by songwriter Diane Warren, performed the Oscar®-nominated song “Applause” from “Tell It Like a Woman” at the 95th Oscars.® The beautiful and talented Carson sounded great. Next time however, don’t stop to talk during a song–it lessens its impact. Carson is a multi platinum recording artist and released her self-titled debut album in 2022. Her film credits include “Purple Hearts,” which she also executive produced and wrote and performed the soundtrack, “Songbird,” “Feel the Beat,” the “Descendants” trilogy, and the upcoming film “Carry On.” |
| Music superstar Rihanna performed the Oscar®-nominated song “Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” at the 95th Oscars.® “Lift Me Up,” with music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson and lyrics by Tems and Ryan Coogler, was nominated for Original Song. It was Rihanna’s first Oscar nomination. A nine-time Grammy Award winner, Rihanna has eight multi-platinum albums, and 14 singles that reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Rihanna sounded great as usual, after just coming off of a very successful Halftime Superbowl Show in which she also did great.
The 95th Oscars was held on Sunday, March 12, 2023, at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and was televised live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide. Jimmy Kimmel did a good job hosting, although a number of his jokes fell flat. This is the risk of live comedy. You have to pretend the joke didn’t fail and keep on going with an uptone vibe. Kimmel is a master at that. Oscar®-winning multi-hyphenate David Byrne, Oscar-nominated actor Stephanie Hsu and music trio Son Lux performed the Oscar-nominated song “This Is A Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” “This Is A Life,” with music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski and lyrics by Ryan Lott and David Byrne, is nominated for Original Song.
Byrne’s famous solo work is no Talking Heads, and his off-key delivery here is not for everyone, but his artistic greatness cannot be denied. What do you think? There are quite a number of famous, great, off-key singers. Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and Janis Joplin are a few from the 60’s we love. John Lydon from the 70’s (The Sex Pistols) is another. David Byrne from Talking Heads, and Michael Stipe from REM are two from the 80’s, and Victoria Williams and Michael Johnston from the neo folk realm. Gordon Gano from Violent Femmes from the 90’s, as well as Kurt Cobain from Nirvana also come to mind. Who are some off-key singers you love today? Byrne was the founding member, lead singer and guitarist for the critically acclaimed band Talking Heads. He won an Oscar for the original score of the 1987 film “The Last Emperor,” in collaboration with Ryuichi Sakamoto and Cong Su. Hsu was nominated for Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Her other credits include the award-winning series “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” an upcoming appearance in Rian Johnson’s “Poker Face” opposite Natasha Lyonne, an appearance in the upcoming Disney+ series “American Born Chinese” and starring in the forthcoming film “The Fall Guy” opposite Ryan Gosling.Experimental musical group Son Lux is founder and frontman Lott, Ian Chang and Rafiq Bhatia. The band is nominated for Original Score for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” WOMAN KING will be discussed here later this week. |
Cate Blanchett Stars in TÁR, by Todd Field
Starring Cate Blanchett, one of the greatest actors of our time, and a two-time Oscar winner, comes from filmmaker Todd Field, the feature film TÁR, now in theatres.
From Oscar nominated writer-producer-director Todd Field, the Oscar nominated film TÁR stars executive producer Ms. Blanchett as Lydia Tár, and concerns a fictional story about the groundbreaking conductor of a major German Orchestra. Ms. Blanchett has at least 12 other films she is starring in currently in the pipeline.
Mr. Field reportedly wrote the film exclusively for Ms. Blanchett, and stated if she had declined, the film may have never been made. Mr. Field currently has at least four other projects in development.
We meet Tár at the height of her career, as she’s preparing both a book launch and much-anticipated live performance of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony. Over the ensuing weeks her life begins to unravel in a singularly modern way. The result is a searing examination of power, and its impact and durability in today’s society.
The beautiful and talented Sophie Kauer, starring opposite Cate Blanchett, is a British-German cellist and actress, born in London in 2001.
Released October 7th of this year 2022; TÁR, a Drama, stars Cate Blanchett, along with Sophie Kauer. Directed by Todd Field, Produced by Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert. A Focus Features Release.
Cate Blanchett stars as Lydia Tár in director Todd Field’s TÁR, a Focus Features release. Official Trailer, ©2022, Focus Features.
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