the marital dramedy "Karaoke" might become Israel's Oscar submission
Israel's annual film awards, the Ophirs, are very hard to track. The nominations were announced yesterday but we're still searching for a full list of nominees since their website is in Hebrew (I think this is the list). Online media is historically terrible about providing full lists of nominations for anything outside Hollywood, usually opting for a couple of paragraphs about the top prize only. Such is the case this year. The only online article available at the time I'm writing this is from the Jerusalem Post which, true to form, lists only the Best Picture contenders. IMDb only lists two categories at this writing. But we finally found a list. The translation was computer generated so there may be a few errors and it reads a bit messy. Have patience.
The Best Picture nominees (one of which will become the Oscar submission)...
Cinemascope Ari Folman (Waltz With Bashir) is working on a stop motion animated film about Anne Frank. Yes, that Anne Frank The Stake has a great piece on Tina Fey's firestarter comedy, especially its willingness to constantly poke at our racial discomforts Playbill has fun making Stephen King's books into stage musicals Pajiba has seen (well the first ten minutes) of a porn parody of Guardians of the Galaxy with characters named Star Load, and Bonin EW shares the 20 best episodes of Mad Men. Great choices overall - I'll be furious forever that Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss didn't win Emmys for "The Suitcase" MNPP I missed Matthew Goode's birthday but this is the perfect gif set with which to celebrate
Women and Hollywood the annual Crystal Awards for women in film are here and this year's honorees are Nicole Kidman and Ava DuVernay Boy Culture celebrates the one and only Buster Crabbe with some pre-code footage Deep Dish celebrates Bette Davis on her birthday with lots of clips from TV & film The Guardian raves about Carey Mulligan's career and artistry. She is currently playing Bill Nighy's ex-lover on Broadway at the moment in Skylight. Yes, Nighy. He is 36 years older. Theater Mania yes, it's true. Cats will be revived on Broadway Salon Michelangelo Signorile writes about the bleak state of gay characters on TV, usually sexless even in shows where their straight counterparts have plenty of physical intimacy (this is especially sad to read after Looking's cancellation though the article doesn't mention that) Comics Alliance the superhero craze has officially jumped shark? an Avengers inspired menswear line is upon us. No, not a boys underoos line, a menswear line. Kind of brings us back to that gender doublestandard discussion again, right? Huff Post Comedy speaking of double standards read this great piece on the headlines that would follow Madonna if she did the same things celebrity men her age or older did Maria Shriver's Blog also has a piece on ageism and sexism via the prism of Madonna i09 proof that awards are always political -- and it isn't just Oscar that's perpetually under attack -- in this investigative piece about a very weird two years for sci-fi's "Hugo" Awards TV Line "The Muppet Show" will be returning to ABC at some point. Let this serve as your reminder that they tried to revive it one other time in the 1990s and Michelle Pfeiffer was a guest! Here is video proof. (Yes, I was very excited that night)
Unfortunately, as in The Muppets (2011) they thought it wise to invent a new Muppet character that wasn't even a tenth as good as any of the originals. Why does this keep happening? I'm all for shaking things up lest one be fossilized in nostalgia but if you can't come up with a good character DO NOT steal screen time from the good ones!
Amir is here with your second review of the weekend...
The Congress, Ari Folman’s follow-up to his brilliant debut feature, the animated documentary Waltz with Bashir, starts rather normally. The opening shot is a staggeringly beautiful close-up of a tearful Robin Wright (playing an imaginary version of herself) as her agent Al’s (Harvey Keitel) voiceover informs us that her career is in tatters. Robin has hit the film industry’s glass ceiling age of 45 and with an already troubled reputation as a difficult actress to work with, her options are quickly dwindling. Al is trying to convince her to sell her digital image rights to the Miramount studio headed by Jeff (a remarkably greasy Danny Houston). This would mean that the studio will use her scanned image to create characters in future films in exchange for a fat paycheque and her right to ever act again.
Everything about this opening setup is promising, signifying a film that is aware of the fears and tensions within the entertainment industry. The Congress is ripe with smart ideas and astute observations about the challenges that technology presents to the men and women active in cinema. [more...]
Thursday, August 11, 2022 at 3:11PM 
the marital dramedy "Karaoke" might become Israel's Oscar submission
