News

Joan Chen is finally getting her flowers.

At the Critics Choice Association Celebration of Aapi Cinema and Television, Chen received a standing ovation as she accepted the career achievement award.

Chen, who was recognized for her work on “Twin Peaks,” and “The Last Emperor,” stars in Sean Wang’s “Didi.” She had received glowing reviews for her performance as Chunsing Wang in the coming-of-age story. The actress told the audience, “This film has brought me more recognition than I ever received for ‘The Last Emperor,'” she said referring to the 1987 film which made her a Hollywood star.

During her speech, Chen stressed the importance of diverse storytelling and how she has begun to see “more Asian faces on screen.” She added, “It took Hollywood quite a long time to come to the realization that diversity is our great unique strength and beauty. The progress that we have made is worth celebrating.

In his Morning Briefing series on TikTok, Polk County, Florida Sheriff Grady Judd posts daily videos about criminals who have been apprehended by his office. The clips are just a taste of the popular Sheriff’s personality. He’s irreverent, often characterizing the arrest of prisoners with aphorisms: “Play stupid games, win stupid prizes,” or “He said he wanted to go to heaven. We made the arrangements for him,” about a suspect who died in a gunfight. Video captions are often more succinct: “Don’t do meth, K?” While his...

Exclusive: Max Martini (The Tender Bar), Kirk Acevedo (Band Of Brothers) and Patricia De Leon (Mayans M.C.) have joined the Season 2 cast of Taylor Sheridan’s Lioness in recurring roles.

Lioness stars Zoe Saldaña, who also executive produces, Laysla De Oliveira, Genesis Rodriguez and Michael Kelly, with Morgan Freeman, and Nicole Kidman, who executive produces.

Inspired by an actual U.S. Military program, Lioness follows the life of Joe (Saldaña) while she attempts to balance her personal and professional life as the tip of the CIA’s spear in the war on terror.

In Season 2, as the CIA’s fight against terror moves closer to home, Joe (Saldaña), Kaitlyn (Kidman), and Byron (Kelly) enlist a new Lioness operative to infiltrate a previously unknown threat. With pressure mounting from all sides, Joe is forced to confront the profound personal sacrifices she has made as the leader of the Lioness program.

Warning: Spoilers ahead from Emily in Paris season 4 part 1.

As Emily in Paris season 4 part 1 makes its premiere, everyone will obviously be talking about Emily's complicated love triangle with Gabriel and Alfie and who she chooses. While Emily does make her choice that some might not agree with, her bestie Mindy also has a bit of relationship drama happening with the two men in her life, Benoit and Nicolas.

In season 4 part 1, Mindy's in a committed relationship with Nicolas (played by Ashley Park's real-life boyfriend Paul Forman) and working with Benoit in their band with Etienne. The trio of performers have been selected to represent France in Eurovision, but they need the expensive funds necessary to make their performance really pop.

Throughout the first five episodes of the season, Mindy's personal and professional storylines take various turns that will have viewers choosing sides between her bandmate and her billionaire heir boyfriend.

Pop singer and former Dance Moms / Nickelodeon star JoJo Siwa is facing online backlash for apparently lifting Tool’s wrench design, used as the cover of their 1991 demo 72826 and various merch, for an apparent new merch drop of her own.

Siwa took to TikTok to unveil a vest and T-shirt design that only slightly varies from the Tool’s infamous phallic wrench. The main differences: The top head of Jojo’s wrench is angled to the right; “Jojo” replaces the “Tool” text on the handle; and the two bottom heads of the wrench have a different inner profile.

The merch looks to be tied to the release of Siwa’s new EP Guilty Pleasure, which drops on Friday (July 12th). A teaser of the music video for the title track shows a construction theme in line with the aforementioned merch.

As of this posting, the items bearing the wrench design...

Hello, and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast!

I am Valerie Complex, an associate editor and film writer at Deadline. Today, I am chatting with actress Dolly De Leon, veteran stage and screen actress from the Philippines whose star is on the rise in Hollywood.

She received her long-overdue international breakout role in Ruben Östlund’s 2022 critically-acclaimed feature Triangle of Sadness, which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and was released in theaters by Neon.

De Leon was awarded the Best Supporting Actor prize by the LA Film Critics Association and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress and the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role—the first Filipino to be nominated in an acting category at either association.

More recently, De Leon starred in the Filipino box office sensation A Very Good Girl co-starring Kathryn Bernardo, the drama...

Dolly de Leon realized she needed to say goodbye.

The Filipino actress who landed on Hollywood’s radar last year with her turn in “Triangle of Sadness” as Abigail, a toilet cleaner who becomes the domineering leader of the pampered survivors of a cruise ship disaster, had become so deeply entwined with her character that it was starting to take a toll.

“I was carrying Abigail for a long time,” de Leon says via Zoom from her hotel room in Germany, where she’s about to start shooting the Hulu series, “Nine Perfect Strangers.” “She was getting in the way, without me being even aware of it. It was driving me a bit crazy.”

But even as she struggled to turn the page on “Triangle of Sadness,” which earned her Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations, de Leon moved seamlessly from one project to another. At this year’s Sundance, she has two new movies,...

Getting impatient for Kenneth Lonergan to get his act together and make another great movie? Ghostlight should scratch that itch and more besides, being a funny, intelligent and yet at times almost unbearably sad movie that takes a searing family tragedy and spins it into a riveting redemption story that, while a little predictable in the more familiar second half, somehow never hits a false note. Although technically an ensemble piece, with a lovely cast of supporting players whose thespian antics will ring a bell with actors of all generations, it rests squarely on a powerhouse performance from Chicago stage veteran Keith Kupferer, whose career must surely about to enter a whole new phase, perhaps to the fill the void left by the late, great Brian Dennehy.

Directed by Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson, who caused a splash at SXSW in 2019 with Saint Frances, Ghostlight opens with a curtain-up, as...

Emmy winners Annie Murphy (Schitt’s Creek) and Christine Baranski (The Gilded Age) have been tapped to star in the upcoming second season of Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers. Also set as series regulars in the new installment are Lucas Englander (Transatlantic) and musician King Princess in her acting debut.

They join previously unveiled cast members Murray Bartlett, Dolly de Leon (Triangle of Sadness), Maisie Richardson-Sellers (Undeclared War) and Aras Aydin.

The octet will play members of the new group of titular strangers opposite Nicole Kidman, who is finalizing a deal to return as star and executive producer.

Based on Big Little Lies author Liane Moriarty’s book, Nine Perfect Strangers hails from David E. Kelley, Bruna Papandrea’s Made Up Stories, Kidman’s Blossom Films and Fifth Season.

Season 2 is said to be following the general formula of the first installment in a new location,...

Murray Bartlett, Annie Murphy, and “The Good Fight” alum Christine Baranski have signed on to star in Season 2 of Hulu’s “Nine Perfect Strangers” as series regulars along with Dolly De Leon, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, King Princess, Aras Aydin and Lucas Englander.

Bartlett is set to portray Brian; Murphy and Baranski will take on the roles of Imogen and Victoria, respectively. Variety previously reported on Bartlett being in talks to star in June.

De Leon is attached to star as Agnes. Richardson-Sellers will portray Wolfie. Aydin will star as Matteo, and Englander will step into the role of Martin. In her acting debut, musician King Princess will play Tina. Additional character details have yet to be released.

Season 1, which debuted on Hulu in August 2021, followed nine stressed strangers from the city as they venture to a boutique health-and-wellness resort that promises healing and transformation in an attempt to get on a...

by Cláudio Alves

The Los Angeles Critics Love actresses, and Sandra Hüller most of all.

Many bristled (and still do) when some awards bodies started changing their acting awards to genderless categories. One of the principal complaints was that this would mean fewer artists awarded and that men would dominate. Or, in the Lafca's case, a new name on the same system since having two winners each for Lead and Supporting meant they could go on giving prizes equivalent to the gendered divide of yore. That happened last year when Blanchett and Nighy took the Lead, Quan and de Leon Supporting. This year, however, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association decided to forego tradition altogether. Their four acting prizes went to women, making this their first edition without a single male actor among the honorees.

Come discover the complete set of winners and a lot of statistics, after the jump…...

Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...

Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...

Kathryn Bernardo, known as the Queen of Philippines Cinema, and Triangle Of Sadness star Dolly de Leon are both almost unrecognizable in their new movie, A Very Good Girl, which Abs-cbn and Star Cinema are opening at the U.S. box office today (October 6).

Bernardo, who is famous for her roles in romantic dramas, plays a woman hell bent on revenge against a former employer who sacked her – a glamorous retail tycoon called Mother Molly, played by De Leon. Bernardo’s character switches between her true self – down-trodden, working-class girl Mercy, now forced to scam foreigners online for a living, and her faux persona as high-rolling socialite Philo, out to trick her former boss.

“I specifically asked Star Cinema to pitch me something a bit out of the box for me – something about empowerment or a bit dark,” says Bernardo, when asked what she liked about the project. “My fans...

Now, this is the America we love: A bunch of little kids started a circle pit in the parking lot of a GameStop in Texas.

The beautiful moment happened as people were waiting for the midnight release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, where long-running Texas death metal band Severance set up a gig to entertain the crowd as they stood in line.

From there, the kids took over, forming a circle pit as Severance delivered a crushing performance.

In a YouTube video (below), Chris De Leon, the current singer of Severance, explained how the gig came together. The vocalist said he is a “huge gamer” and had befriended this particular GameStop’s manager, who invited the band to play the Zelda release event.

“[Before] the very last song [we played that night] … I saw these little kids just really getting into it in front of us, and one of them started doing a circle pit motion,...

Jason Schwartzman and Carol Kane are starring in “Between the Temples,” a new film from writer and director Nathan Silver that’s being described as “an anxious comedy.” It’s the story of a cantor who is locked in a crisis of faith and finds his world turned upside down when his grade school music teacher re-enters his life as his new adult Bat Mitzvah student.

The supporting cast for this humorous exercise in neurosis boasts Dolly De Leon, who was just nominated for her scene-stealing work in “Triangle of Sadness.” Other ensemble members include Screen Actors Guild award-winner Caroline Aaron (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), longtime funnyman Robert Smigel (SNL’s “TV Funhouse”), stage and screen actress Madeline Weinstein (“Beach Rats”) and indie film regular Matthew Shear (“Mistress America”).

Principal photography wrapped in Kingston, N.Y., on the film. CAA Media Finance is handling domestic sales.

“Between the Temples” was...

Having worked a variety of production jobs before, Mike de Leon stepped into the director's chair with a vengeance as his debut feature “Itim” shows him to be worthy of the acclaim garnered since the films' release. Responsible for being the start of Charo Santos-Concio before her prolific producing career, the chance for more to discover this early genre gem shouldn't be overlooked as many of the prominent elements of his later career are explored here.

Click on the image below to check the whole tribute

Arriving in a remote village, photographer Jun (Tommy Abuel) comes to the area looking to do a story on the religious practices observed by the locals who are about to observe a dedicated Holy Week during his visit. As his invalid father Dr. Tores, (Mario Montenegro) is also in the area, his trip is complicated by tending to his ailing condition as well as...

Rae de Leon discovered a disturbing pattern while working as a reporter at the Center for Investigative Reporting. It seemed that, nationwide, there was a pipeline from women reporting sexual assault to the police to criminal charges made against them.

Director Nancy Schwartzman follows de Leon’s solo investigation in her Netflix documentary feature “Victim/Suspect,” a film that unveils how policing across the U.S. enables law enforcement to turn survivors of sexual assault into accused criminals.

Leon and other journalists use video and audio footage of police interrogations, firsthand accounts from these young women and interviews with legal experts to get a better sense of where potential flaws in the police system may lie. “Victim/Suspect” premiered this year at Sundance Film Festival and will be released on Netflix on May 23.

Schwartzman’s documentary debut, the Peabody nominated feature “Roll Red Roll,” follows a similar beat, investigating a sexual assault...

“Citizen Jake” marked the return of Mike De Leon to directing movies after a hiatus of almost two decades, in a style, though, that was quite different from the movies that made him famous during the 80s, although the critique on the regime is here once more. “Citizen Jake” was meant as a tribute to the now defunct Lvn Studios which was run by his grandmother and father while also interesting is the fact that the protagonist, Atom Araullo, is a real life journalist and the film was his debut in cinema.

Jake Herrera, although coming from a rich and powerful family, and his father, Jacobo Herrera Sr was a loyal Marcos Crony who still yields much authority, has distanced himself from him and his brother, Roxie, instead choosing to live in Baguio where he runs a blog that deals with corruption. In there, he has made his own life...

As I have mentioned many times before, violence has been repeatedly used in cinema as a medium of intricate commentary, mostly revolving around sociopolitical, psychological and philosophical themes. This tactic finds one of its apogees in “Batch 81”, a film that deals with the underground tactics of the university fraternities, but is also an allegory regarding fascism and the Marcos regime. The film premiered at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival during the Directors' Fortnight, screened alongside de Leon's 1981 “Kisapmata”. The Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino (Filipino Film Critics) included it on their list of the Ten Best Films of the Decade. In 2017, it was digitally restored with the support of the Asian Film Archive, with a theatrical premiere at the 74th Venice International Film Festival as part of the Venice Classics section.

Also of note is the fact that Mark Gil, who plays the protagonist Sid Lucero, is the father of Timothy Mark Pimentel Eigenmann,...

“Kisapmata” is another notorious as much as significant movie in the history of Filipino cinema, for a number of reasons. For starters, the plot was inspired by the crime reportage “The House on Zapote Street” written by Nick Joaquin, with the piece chronicling the events leading up to the highly publicized familicide committed by Pablo Cabading, a retired policeman. The film included the first major treatment of incest in the history of the country's cinema, while its message was perceived to be against both patriarchy and the regime of then President Ferdinand Marcos, which expectedly led to issues with the Censorship Board. Despite all its issues, the film premiered at the 7th Metro Manila Film Festival, where it won 10 awards, including Best Film, while it was also screened at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival during the Directors' Fortnight. Furthermore, the Filipino Film Critics included it in their list of Ten Best Films of the Decade,...

Exclusive: Amazon Studios has begun setting the supporting cast for its Paul Feig-helmed action-comedy Grand Death Lotto, with Ayden Mayeri (Somebody I Used to Know), Seann William Scott (Welcome to Flatch), Dolly de Leon (Triangle of Sadness) and Donald Elise Watkins (Project Artemis) signing on for roles.

Related Story Michaela Coel And Anne Hathaway To Star In Pop Music Epic ‘Mother Mary’ For David Lowery And A24 Related Story Amazon Laying Off Thousands More As Job Cuts In Sector Expand Related Story Toni Collette Reveals "Intimacy Coordinators Make Her More Anxious" While Filming Love Scenes

John Cena, Awkwafina and Simu Liu lead the ensemble of the pic now in production, as previously announced.

The Amazon Original Movie is set in a very near future, in which a Grand Lottery has been established in economically challenged California. The only catch? You’ll need to kill the winner before sundown in...

Ruben Östlund has had tremendous success at the Cannes Film Festival. The famously bold writer-director has twice won the prestigious Palme d’Or prize, first for “The Square” in 2017 and most recently for “Triangle of Sadness” in 2022. The success of the latter film there catapulted it into the Oscar conversation for the 95th annual awards, and it sustained its buzz all the way through nominations morning when it secured three citations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. Should the film pull off a surprise victory in Best Picture, it would become just the third Palme d’Or winner to also nab the top Oscar, following “Marty” in 1956 and “Parasite” in 2020.

“Triangle of Sadness” is a satire about class, gender, and beauty that frequently shape-shifts during its two-and-a-half-hour run time. The film begins as a character study of two models, Carl (Harris Dickinson) and Yaya (the late Charlbi Dean...

Triangle of Sadness not only marks producer Erik Hemmendorff’s first Oscar nomination, but it is also his first English-language feature film. Alongside producing partner Ruben Östlund, who wrote and directed the satire, Hemmendorff set out to cast international actors like Harris Dickinson, Woody Harrelson and Charlbi Dean (who died three months after the film premiered at Cannes), to pair with the global theme of the fashion industry.

Hemmendorff recently spoke with THR about what the Oscar nominations mean for the Swedish film industry, the legacy Dean left before her death in August at age 32 due to bacterial sepsis and the challenges they faced during production.

What does the Academy’s recognition mean to you?

From my point of view, we already won. I’m really proud that the film has made a name for itself, and it means a lot because in the Swedish context, it’s already historical.

When the Swedish writer-director Ruben Östlund woke up on Oscar nomination morning to find out he’d scored nominations for picture, directing and original screenplay for his feature “Triangle of Sadness,” it was a moment few could have predicted. And while few are giving the outrageous dark comedy to have much chance of converting any of the film’s three bids into wins – if it were somehow to win Best Picture, it would be perhaps the biggest upset in Academy Awards history – that didn’t stop Östlund and his esteemed costar Woody Harrelson from gabbing about the movie and their clear fondness for one another in a 20-minute virtual Q&a. Watch their interview of one another above.

“Triangle of Sadness” tells the story of what happens when the super-rich couple Carl (Harris Dickinson) and Yaya (Charlbi Dean) onboard a hyper-luxury yacht are forced to deal when the vessel is shipwrecked after a storm,...

Late in the Netflix documentary “Victim/Suspect,” a police detective sits across from a journalist. When they meet, the Center for Investigative Reporting journalist Rachel de Leon has been her working for three years on a project about women who, having reported their sexual assaults, are then arrested, charged and in some cases sentenced for “false reporting.” It is her first solo project, and director Nancy Schwarztman (“Roll Red Roll”) hews to de Leon as guide and protagonist.

Bridgeport, Conn., Detective Walberto Cotto Jr. turns out to be the only law enforcement officer involved in such a case to agree to speak with de Leon and on camera for the documentary. He is also the only investigator who admits to employing deceptions or “ruses” to turn a suspect.

In 2016, Nikki Yovino, an 18-year-old student at Sacred Heart University in Bridgeport, reported that two college football players pulled her into a bathroom...

Sexual assault is one of the most underreported crimes in the United States, and it’s rare for a perpetrator to be prosecuted. Headlines, though, would have us believe the opposite: that the legal system is beset by a rash of false reports from vindictive and/or unhinged women. As to the dismaying disconnect between reality and perception, the eye-opening Victim/Suspect uncovers an unholy combination of factors: a predisposition to distrust the accuser when the subject is rape, a lack of motivation on the part of some law enforcement to dig up the actual evidence in such a case, manipulative interrogation techniques, and a hideously antiquated notion of consent. “He didn’t hold you down, that’s not rape,” one accuser recalls being told by a cop.

As she did in her previous documentary, the powerful and unsettling Roll Red Roll, director Nancy Schwartzman aims a damning light on...

In 2015, on Oscar nominations morning, Swedish director Ruben Östlund became something of an internet meme. Östlund and his producing partner Erik Hemmendorff, inside a room in New York’s Trump Hotel, filmed their reaction to not getting a nomination for their popular foreign-language film, the ski slope farce “Force Majeure.”

But this morning, eight years later, was different. In the intervening years, Östlund has twice won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, for 2018’s “The Square” and 2022’s “Triangle of Sadness.” On Tuesday, that latter film, a raucous English-language comedy set aboard a luxury yacht, scored three major Oscar nominations: Best Original Screenplay, Best Director and Best Picture.

“For us, it was the exact opposite reaction,” Östlund told TheWrap from his native Stockholm. He was gathered at a restaurant with friends when the nominations were announced, the day after “Triangle of Sadness” won six top awards at the Guldbagge Awards,...

While “Victim/Suspect” has touched audiences across Park City following its Sundance screening, director Nancy Schwartzman hopes the documentary translates into real change through a federal mandate against deceptive evidence in sexual assault cases.

“We hope this film can awaken an understanding that deceptive evidence as a tactic should no longer be allowed in police departments,” Schwartzman told TheWrap’s Executive Editor Adam Chitwood alongside film’s subjects Rae de Leon, Emma Mannion, Dyanie Bermeo and Carl Hershman during a conversation at TheWrap’s Portrait and Video Studio at The Music Lodge. “There’s a way we hope this can push a federal agenda, possibly, to really mandate that this go differently, that if you’re investigating a sexual assault, you do it thoroughly before closing it and deciding that it’s false and arresting them.”

The documentary shines a light on the exploitative practice known as deceptive evidence, in which...

“Triangle of Sadness” had a tremendously successful Oscar nominations morning, earning three bids for Best Picture, Director, and Original Screenplay. But one surprising omission from its haul was scene stealer Dolly de Leon, who took command of the final third of the film, dominating the screen with an unforgettable performance. How did the supporting actress miss out on a bid, even though her film performed so well?

See Oscar nominations: ‘Everything Everywhere’ leads with 11, ‘All Quiet’ and ‘Banshees’ at 9

A good showing for “Triangle of Sadness” was certainly not out of the question. But our combined odds did not predict it to nab that coveted Best Picture slot, ranking it in 12th place, just two notches shy of the top 10. Writer-director Ruben Östlund was an even bigger surprise, ranking 13th, far afield of the final five. He edged out the likes of Edward Berger (“All Quiet on the Western Front...

In the all-too-early hours of Jan. 24, the nominations for the 95th annual Academy Awards were announced. Actors Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal) and Allison Williams (Get Out) did the honors. Sadly, they were not joined in the festivities by Williams’ deadly-singing-robot co-star M3GAN, though she was surely there in spirit.

With a quartet of blockbuster films in contention — Top Gun: Maverick, Avatar: The Way of Water, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, as well as Elvis — this year’s Oscars had a golden opportunity to expand its global audience beyond record-low viewership of 10.5 million in 2021. So,...

Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Netflix releases the film on its streaming platform on Tuesday, May 23.

If anything, Nancy Schwartzman’s “Victim/Suspect” too calmly lays out its case over the course of a tight 90-minute running time. The “Roll Red Roll” filmmaker is again taking on the topic of sexual assault in America with her latest film, which follows investigative reporter Rachel de Leon as she unspools tale after tale of alleged sexual assault victims suddenly, horribly being turned into suspects when the very cops meant to investigate their allegations accuse them of faking all of it. Even worse: They are then charged with a litany of crimes, fully completing the cycle from, yes, victim to suspect.

It’s the kind of story that should make viewers rage — at the cops, the system, the world — but Schwartzman sidesteps emotion to cede her story to de Leon,...

For the past several years there have been countless reportings of injustice on the part of American police forces, which for too long and too often have acted with impunity. Documentation — through filmmaking and journalism — have exposed years of this abuse of power, be it racial, sexual, or otherwise.

Nancy Schwartzman’s searing new documentary “Victim/Suspect” exposes yet another new cruelty: instances in which police forces have forced an alleged sexual assault victim to confess to fabricating their attack and pressing charges against them.

Schwartzman’s documentary focuses on reporter Rachel “Rae” de Leon’s investigation into these police-coerced confessions through her work at the Center for Investigative Reporting. In the process of uncovering the real stories behind these false confessions, she speaks with several young women, focusing on Emma Mannion, a former student at the University of Alabama, as well as Nikki Yovino, who faced jail time for her false confession,...

I get it, Oscar voters. You’ve never voted for a Marvel actor before now and, frankly, you probably felt a bit of trepidation when it came to marking off Angela Bassett‘s name on your Best Supporting Actress ballot. But in a world where two different Jokers can win acting Oscars (Heath Ledger in 2008’s “The Dark Knight” and Joaquin Phoenix in 2019’s “Joker”), why not Queen Ramonda, who dominates every moment of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” with sheer regal ferocity?

Voting for the first-ever Marvel performance won’t lose you any awards cred — in fact, it may make you cooler than ever. Let me put it another way: the Marvel Cinematic Universe isn’t going anywhere. It’s the biggest franchise in box office history and will continue raking in billions of dollars for decades to come. One day — if not now, then in the near future — lightning...

Filmmakers and critics rarely spend time in the same spaces, which is probably good for the mental health of the former and the physical health of the latter. But on Saturday night, they peacefully — even joyously — coexisted in a ballroom at the Biltmore hotel in downtown Los Angeles for the 48th Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards.

Things got off to a convivial start with a reel of clips highlighting each of Lafca’s 2022 honorees, which were announced last December. People chuckled at a scene of best actress winner Cate Blanchett melting down in Tár, aww-ed at a clip from best film not in the English language winner Eo and clapped along to the “Naatu Naatu” musical number from Rrr, the winner of best music/score.

Acceptance speeches were uniformly compact and generous. M.M. Keeravani, Rrr’s composer and a writer of “Naatu Naatu,” explained how impacted he had been by the score of Jaws,...

by Juan Carlos Ojano

Warning: This article contains mild spoilers on Triangle of Sadness.

2022 has been a year unlike any other for the Philippines. The past year brought an unprecedented amount of Filipino actors to the international film scene. Leading the pack is Dolly de Leon as yacht cleaner Abigail in the Palme d’Or-winning satire Triangle of Sadness. As Abigail, de Leon showed the feisty resolve of an underdog waiting to be unleashed after a disruption in the social order. Together with other films this year discussing class divide like The Menu and Glass Onion, Triangle of Sadness struck a chord with audiences. With a slew of critics’ groups mentions, Dolly de Leon has enters the current Oscar nomination voting period strong: An Lafca win, a Golden Globe nomination (a first for a Filipina), and a longlist mention at the BAFTAs. Any attention is much needed given a crowded Supporting Actress field.

After 30 years in TV film and theater, where she has performed in plays by Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter and Shakespeare, Filipina actress Dolly De Leon made news stories all around the world during Cannes 2022 for playing a cleaner. But not just any cleaner; as the savvy Abigail, who turns the tables when a luxury cruise ship capsizes in Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or-winning social satire Triangle of Sadness, De Leon gives a masterclass in skewering lazy clichés and assumptions about her home country. Proving the power of De Leon’s performance is the response from countries all around the world, notably the U.K., where she made the Bafta longlist, and the U.S., where she is in the running for a Golden Globe.

Related Story ‘Triangle Of Sadness’: Read The Screenplay From Ruben Östlund That Takes On Our Obsession With Beauty Related Story How To Watch The...

[The following article and interview contain spoilers about ‘Triangle of Sadness.’]

“I think that this is probably the best time I’m having in my life,” shares Dolly de Leon about the whirlwind journey she has been on in recent months thanks to her film “Triangle of Sadness.” The actress has received widespread acclaim for her performance in writer-director Ruben Östlund’s latest work, as well as accolades that include, so far, a Golden Globe nomination, numerous film critics prizes and citations, and a spot on the BAFTA longlist. “It’s been a little wild, it’s been a little strange and really crazy,” says the performer about the experience, adding, “I’m overwhelmed, at the same time, excited.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.

In “Triangle of Sadness,” de Leon plays Abigail, a staff member aboard a luxury yacht who becomes the leader of group of survivors when the ship gets attacked and crashes near a deserted island.

Spoiler alert: The above clip is from late in the plot of “Triangle of Sadness”

Set partly aboard a luxury yacht, Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or-winning comedy “Triangle of Sadness” is a robust satire of privilege among the jet set. But it’s a satire in which the most memorable character is a middle-aged “toilet manager” named Abigail, played by Filipina actress Dolly De Leon, who is seen along with Harris Dickinson in the exclusive clip above.

Not well known outside of her native Philippines before the film’s Cannes premiere, De Leon has received vast acclaim from critics and audiences for her sly, unpredictable performance as Abagail. So far, she has won a Los Angeles Film Critics Association award and been nominated for a Golden Globe and a London Critics Circle Film Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Also Read:

‘Triangle of Sadness’ Director Ruben Östlund on Getting That...

Click here to read the full article.

Some of this year’s best supporting performances in film didn’t arise from your classic scenery-chewing powerhouse monologues or even a de rigueur prolonged cameo by a stalwart veteran — the kinds of smaller dramatic roles that net major industry awards. For every heartrending speech in Women Talking, The Whale and The Fabelmans, there are still dozens of biting one-liners and sidesplitting visual gags in a handful of 2022’s strongest comedies that should not go ignored. Comedies are often honored for their screenplays, but it takes distinctive talent to bring those vibrant pages to life.

At the top of my personal ballot are the performances I was not expecting when I settled in to watch their films. Thanks to the marketing materials for movies like Triangle of Sadness, Everything Everywhere All at Once and The Menu, for example, I anticipated that I would...

Welcome to Oscar Experts Typing, a weekly column in which Gold Derby editors and Experts Joyce Eng and Christopher Rosen discuss the Oscar race — via Slack, of course. This week, we try to make sense of the Best Supporting Actress race, which looks a lot different now than it did two weeks ago.

Christopher Rosen: Hello, Joyce! The stockings are hung by the chimney with care and we’re ready to type about the acting race with more contenders than Santa has reindeer. I’m referring, of course, to Best Supporting Actress, which has maybe just one person I’m ready to say will definitely get nominated — and 10 other actresses who could conceivably make a legitimate argument to reach the final five. Let’s start with the One True Thing: Kerry Condon from “The Banshees of Inisherin.” Remember that hot five minutes when I thought she wouldn’t even get nominated?...

Considering the dispiritingly youth-obsessed leanings of Hollywood, 2022 has been an encouragingly banner year for older actors in muscular roles.

The array of brawny films led by strong quinquagenarians included Tom Gormican’s “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” with the 58-year-old Nicolas Cage playing a fictionalized version of himself across high-wire action sequences, generously paying homage to the action films of his past.

Joseph Kosinski’s “Top Gun: Maverick” was perhaps the leading title of this quiet trend. Maybe because we are accustomed to seeing Tom Cruise doing his own stunts with mind-blowing acrobatics across countless action films, we often forget that our ageless movie star is now at 60 years of age.

Gina Prince-Bythewood’s fierce “The Woman King” was another remarkable example of this group, with Viola Davis’ Nanisca in the lead of a group of female warriors protecting the African Kingdom of Dahomey.

“When I first went into it,...

Los Angeles city council member Kevin de Leon is speaking out amid scrutiny that has kept him from making public appearances for months. He is one of four local politicians embroiled in an ongoing controversy that has led to three resignations and protests calling for the resignation of defiant De Leon.

In a year-old audio recording leaked in October, De Leon and his colleagues could be heard making profane and offensive remarks about black people, Oaxacans, Jews, Armenians and other groups, as well as discussing how to redistrict the city for their own benefit.

De Leon has kept a low profile since the leak but showed up to a council meeting last week, which he left shortly after arriving as the other members started shouting at him. The meeting almost immediately went to recess. Later that night, De Leon was captured on video grabbing and pushing a protestor at a holiday party.

Embattled Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de León defended his decision not to resign, as colleagues continue to shun him and, last week, he got into a physical altercation with an activist at a community event.

De León told CNN that he planned to attend a council meeting on Tuesday, even though proceedings have been interrupted and even delayed as activists shout calls for him to step down.

“Let me say this Kate, and let me be very clear about this: In a democracy voters make the decision, not folks who are in the peanut gallery, or political pundits, or even my own colleagues,” he said.

He also addressed members of the council who walked out of the meeting last week, as he made his first appearance in the chamber since October.

“Tens of millions of Americans go to work every single day with folks that they don’t like.

One of the biggest surprises of the 80th annual Golden Globes nominee announcement bright and early on Monday morning was the inclusion of Brendan Fraser, star of “The Whale” and a heavy favorite to snare an Oscar nomination, if not a win, as well. He had already announced that he wouldn’t attend the ceremony even if nominated due to his history with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and an allegation made in 2018 that he was groped at the 2003 Globes by then-hfpa President Philip Berk. Yet Fraser received a nom, anyway, perhaps because it would have been a monumentally egregious snub had such a popular and praised performance been passed over.

A perhaps more mild surprise in an announcement that largely went according to form was Ana de Armas receiving a nom as Actress in a Motion Picture Drama for her performance as Marilyn Monroe in “Blonde.” She had been...

It was the west coast critics’ turn to hand out honors for the best films and performances of 2022, with the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (Lafca) landing on a tie for their top honors, between A24’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and Focus Features’ “Tár.” It was the fourth time the group tied in its 48-year history after “Dog Day Afternoon” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975), “Network” and “Rocky” (1976) and “Gravity” and “Her” (2013).

Along with the top prize for “Tár,” Todd Field won both director and screenplay prizes for the film. His leading woman Cate Blanchett walked away with the best lead performance honor, which she shared with British veteran actor Bill Nighy for his work in Oliver Hermanus’ “Living.”

It was the first year the group switched to gender-neutral acting categories, which they announced back in October.

This marked Blanchett’s second Lafca win after “Blue Jasmine...

Update: The Los Angeles Police Department’s Detective Support and Vice Division, Threat Management Unit says it is investigating an altercation that occurred involving a Los Angeles City Councilmember during a community event.

Police said they responded around 6:30 Pm Friday in the 3500 block of Valley Boulevard to a radio call of a large fight. Police said Councilman Kevin De Leon “was approached by multiple community members who blocked his path of travel as he attempted to leave the building. It was during this encounter that an allegation was made by one male, identified as Jason Reedy, of headbutting, pushing, and punching Councilmember De Leon.”

The fight escalated, police said, with De Leon and Reedy continuing the altercation outside of the building. Reedy left before officers’ arrival. Shortly after the incident, officers completed a battery report for Councilmember De Leon. “Several hours later, Reedy also completed a battery report at a local police station,...

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Dolly de Leon had to be convinced to audition for Triangle of Sadness, the Palme d’Or-winning comedy directed by Ruben Östlund, which has earned her rave reviews. She had been grinding away at auditions for commercials in her native Philippines, booking about 45 percent of the jobs and feeling hopeless about her career. “I just thought, ‘No one ever chooses me, so I’ll just go and have fun with it,’ ” she says of her approach to each gig. The attitude ended up serving her well.

As Abigail — a worker on the cleaning staff of a luxury yacht, who starts leading the same people who looked down on her when a pirate attack leaves them marooned on a remote beach — de Leon balances deft comedy, visceral anger and potent sensuality, and the 53-year-old actress has become one of the breakout stars of the fall movie season.

“One problem we have is that we have a really hard time to climb down the ladder. As soon as we have gotten up in a certain position, we are going to fight to keep that position,” reflects Ruben Östlund on why money and privilege often cause people to do such terrible things. Those themes abound in the writer-director’s film “Triangle of Sadness,” a riotously funny and disturbing satire exploring beauty, wealth, and survival. Watch our exclusive video interview above.

“Triangle of Sadness” begins as a character study of two models, Carl (Harris Dickinson) and Yaya (the late Charlbi Dean), who have hit some rough waters early on in their relationship, arguing about who should pick up the bill after a lavish dinner. Östlund based this scene on an experience from his own life when he had just started dating his wife. He shares that translating this personal memory felt “very painful to do,...

The Los Angeles City Council is set to resume in-person meetings next week in the council chamber, according to the city clerk’s office.

This week’s meetings were either delayed, adjourned, canceled or held virtually as protesters filled the council chamber demanding the resignations of the council members involved in the City Hall racism scandal. While former Council President Nury Martinez has resigned, Councilmen Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo have defied calls for their resignations.

De León, in an interview with ABC7 late Friday, claimed he couldn’t step down because in doing so, he sould be betraying them.

“No, because — this is ultimately — it’s not about me. It, ultimately, it’s about the voice of my constituents for [Council District] 14 — a district that for decades, if not for generations, has been historically marginalized for a variety of reasons. If I were to step down, then they’d have no voice in City Hall.