Movie Reviews and Previews The Riseborough Affair Can we have ONE Oscar season without controversy? Just ONE! I am asking so little! I just want pageantry and glamor, dammit, and I keep having to talk about slaps and voting rules! This year’s fresh hell is the surprise Best Actress nomination of British actor Andrea Riseborough for By Sarah • Jan 30, 2023 10:08 am
Award Season Campaigning Everyone was in Palm Springs yesterday The Palm Springs International Film Awards were last night as part of the Palm Springs Film Festival. We’re getting into the thick of awards season now, and with most of the categories either wide open or in a three-way split, everyone who is remotely a contender was out in By Sarah • Jan 06, 2023 10:03 am
Movie Reviews and Previews The Actresses Show Up To Campaign Unlike the Best Actor category which I posted about earlier, the Best Actress category for Oscar this year is much more competitive. We have our frontrunners, no doubt, but there are several other women with legitimate claims to the few remaining spots. And it’s looking like it’s a By Lainey • Nov 21, 2022 01:41 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews The Woman King campaigns The Woman King came out of TIFF with good reviews. Then it opened at #1 at the box office. In the weeks since it has pretty much recouped its budget, and with strong word of mouth, it should continue to see steady business; I went on Saturday and my theatre By Lainey • Oct 04, 2022 12:31 pm
Viola Davis The Woman King is Crowned As many have made mention of over the last few days, we may not see a female sovereign wear the British crown for a long time. At the same time, a Woman King ascended the cinematic throne this weekend. The cast of The Woman King, led by Viola Davis, was By Lainey • Sep 19, 2022 10:29 am
Movie Reviews and Previews TIFF Review: The Woman King A battle epic in the vein of Braveheart and Gladiator, The Woman King is based on the Agojie, the women warriors of the Kingdom of Dahomey in 19th century Western Africa (the territory of Dahomey now lies within Benin). Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and written by Dana Stevens—with a By Sarah • Sep 12, 2022 03:29 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Don’t fail The Woman King A couple of months ago, we got a first look at The Woman King, the film Viola Davis calls her “magnum opus”. Now, ahead of its September release date, we have a trailer for The Woman King and it does, indeed, look epic and cool. Davis stars as Nanisca, the By Sarah • Jul 07, 2022 01:10 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Ben Affleck’s All-Star Cast Ben Affleck continued work on his Nike movie with Matt Damon this week. Ben and Matt worked on the script and are co-producing, Ben is also directing, and the cast includes Viola Davis too so there are three Oscar winners in this movie which will come up in the promotion, By Lainey • Jun 30, 2022 12:31 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Viola Davis’s “magnum opus” Viola Davis has given no shortage of great performances—and at least one baffling one, with whatever she’s doing in The First Lady—but her new film already has people spun up about the epicness of her role. Back during CinemaCon, Davis won the “Trailblazer of the Year” award, By Sarah • May 12, 2022 11:22 am
Judy Greer The First Ladies rally One of the splashiest drama due this year is Showtime’s anthology series, The First Lady, which depicts the lives of three former first ladies. Viola Davis stars as Michelle Obama, Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford, and Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt. The cast also includes Kiefer Sutherland, Aaron Eckhart, By Sarah • Feb 22, 2022 10:47 am
Movie Reviews and Previews Sandra Bullock’s second Netflix holiday In 2018, Sandra Bullock starred in one of Netflix’s big breakout movies, Bird Box. That film was a holiday season stand-out, and now she’s back on Netflix just in time for the holidays with The Unforgivable, an awkward title for this remake of the 2009 British mini-series, Unforgiven. By Sarah • Oct 27, 2021 02:32 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews The Suicide Squad, take two First of all, yes, James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad is better than the 2016 Suicide Squad. That movie is a mess, this one isn’t, it’s not even a contest. Gunn, who writes and directs, also seems to have freer rein than David Ayer did, as Gunn got By Sarah • Aug 06, 2021 10:38 am
Oscars 2021 Viola Davis asked for McQueen Here’s the complicated thing about that frequently-repeated stat about Viola Davis and all her Oscar nominations. In case you hadn’t heard, she is the most-nominated Black actress in history, with four. And as she has shared, and I’m paraphrasing, if she’s getting nominated all the time, By Lainey • Apr 26, 2021 07:22 am
SAG Awards 2021 Viola, Carey, and the Best Actress Race As I mentioned in today’s open, this year’s Oscar race is one of the most wide open we’ve seen in a long time, especially in the Best Actress category. Last night at the SAG Awards, Viola Davis was the actors’ choice, which seemed like it was a By Lainey • Apr 05, 2021 09:55 am
Movie Reviews and Previews Re-meet The Suicide Squad The first trailer for The Suicide Squad the sort-of sequel, mostly reboot of Suicide Squad, is here in all its red-band glory to try this whole villain team-up thing all over again. Some of the characters featured in David Ayer’s dismal movie are back, such as Margot Robbie as By Sarah • Mar 29, 2021 12:59 pm
Top Reads Viola Davis: “We’re dope” Viola Davis was a double winner at the NAACP Image Awards on Saturday, recognised for her performances in How To Get Away With Murder and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, for which she’s been nominated for an Oscar, becoming the most-nominated Black woman in Academy history. This factored into By Lainey • Mar 29, 2021 11:52 am
