News

This Friday on NBC, viewers are in for a gripping and chilling experience with “Dr. Death” at 8:00 Pm. Based on the podcast of the same name, the series delves into the harrowing real-life stories of medical professionals who abused their positions, letting their egos lead to harm and even death for their patients.

“Dr. Death” unfolds a narrative that sheds light on the dark corners of the medical world, exploring the consequences when those entrusted with the care of others betray that trust. The series offers a captivating portrayal of the events surrounding these healthcare professionals, unraveling the complexities of their actions and the impact on the lives they touched.

Tune in at 8:00 Pm for an evening of suspense and revelation as “Dr. Death” unfolds the true stories that shook the medical community. The series serves as a stark reminder of the grave consequences when professional ethics are compromised,...

On Friday, October 6, cinephiles were given a precious gift when Showtime dropped one last film by the late, great William Friedkin: an adaptation of Herman Wouk’s play “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial.” The film is classic Friedkin, a clinic in blocking, editing, and camera movement reminiscent of earlier theatrical adaptations like “The Birthday Party,” “The Boys in the Band,” and “Bug.”

While there are many filmmaking lessons to be learned from studying the piece, one notable Friedkin disciple had the chance to examine the director’s process firsthand: Guillermo del Toro, who shadowed Friedkin throughout production as a backup in case the 87-year-old filmmaker was unable to complete the movie.

Long before he ever met Friedkin, del Toro was an admirer of his work. “He is an original,” del Toro told IndieWire. “He blends the lessons of documentary with complex and precise technology and narrative prowess. Every decision he...

It's been a long road, getting from there to here.

One might recall in June of 2023, it was announced that several key executives and programmers at Turner Classic Movies were callously canned by the new management at their parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery. For many, this was tantamount to nixing TCM altogether. CEO David Zaslav made this decision at the end of a string of bad decisions that made him look like the film world's most callous villain. After the weird rebranding of HBO Max to merely Max, it was starting to look like Zaslav didn't give a damn about film history.

It certainly looked that way to Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Paul Thomas Anderson, three lovers of vintage film and advocates for the preservation of classics. The trio famously called Zaslav to appeal for the retaining of TCM and the re-hiring of some of their old staff. A...

Those surprised to see Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro in the latest episode of “Barry” may also be surprised to learn the cameo was del Toro’s idea – not that he thought it would actually happen. Creator and star Bill Hader says the “Pan’s Labyrinth” director has always been a fan of the HBO series, and told Hader at the end of Season 3 that he’d love to be in the show.

“It just so happened we had a part of this guy who sets up Hank and Cristobal with Los Amigos Gadgets, so I thought that’d be great for Guillermo and then we named the character Toro,” Hader told TheWrap during our breakdown of Season 4, Episode 3. “He seemed surprised that I actually did it. I was like, ‘You asked me and I wrote you a part, it’s called Toro.’ And his reply was, ‘Oh s–t, I...

[Editor’s Note: The following interview contains light spoilers for “Barry” Season 4, Episode 3, “you’re charming.”]

When NoHo Hank (Anthony Carrigan) needs to hire a hitman to kill Barry Berkman (Bill Hader), he texts Toro.

When Bill Hader needs to hire an actor to play the yet-unseen handler, he texts Guillermo Del Toro.

Who else?

“Guillermo sent me a funny text [asking], ‘Could I be in ‘Barry’?” Hader said, explaining how the three-time Oscar winner came to be in Episode 3, “you’re charming,” of the HBO black comedy’s final season. Del Toro has long been a fan of the series — expressing his enthusiasm on Twitter from the very beginning — but Hader wasn’t sure how serious the “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “Pinocchio” director was about joining the ensemble.

“I think he didn’t think I would [ask him],” Hader said. “People say [they want to be in the show] sometimes, and it never happens. But then I thought, ‘Actually, there’s a part that he’d be really good in.’ I called him and said, ‘Yeah,...

Los Angeles, Jan 11 (Ians) Biggest global stars, including names such as Ram Charan, Ntr Jr, S.S. Rajamouli, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ana De Armas and Selena Gomez, among many others, are hitting the red carpet for the 2023 Golden Globes.

Hosted by Jerrod Carmichael, this year’s ceremony, the first since the Hollywood Foreign Press Association faced a nearly two-year boycott due to the lack of diversity among its membership, is shaping up to be a celebrity-filled comeback.

Nominees attending include Austin Butler, Steven Spielberg, Michelle Williams, Ana de Armas, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michelle Yeoh, Kevin Costner, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Julia Garner, Jenna Ortega, Kaley Cuoco, Jessica Chastain and Jeremy Allen White. Original song nominees Rihanna and Taylor Swift are also possible attendees, reports ‘Variety’.

The Golden Globes in India airs on Lionsgate play.

Indian actor N.T. Rama Rao Jr. rocks a black tuxedo with sunglasses on the Golden Globes red carpet.

Click here to read the full article.

Here’s a look at this week’s biggest premieres, parties and openings in Los Angeles and New York, including red carpets for M3GAN, Pinocchio, 1923, The Best Man: The Final Chapters and The Recruit.

People’s Choice Awards

Kenan Thompson hosted the awards show live from Santa Monica on Tuesday, where Ryan Reynolds accepted the People’s Icon Award, Shania Twain received the Music Icon Award, Lizzo accepted the People’s Champion Award and Ellen Pompeo and the cast of Grey’s Anatomy reunited onstage to accept the drama show of 2022 award.

Ryan Reynolds Lizzo and James Corden James Pickens Jr., Kelly McCreary, Ellen Pompeo, Caterina Scorsone, Chandra Wilson, Jake Borelli and Camilla Luddington

Pinocchio NY premiere

On Tuesday, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio celebrated its New York premiere at the Museum of Modern Art with stars Finn Wolfhard and Gregory Mann.

Though it received a Best Picture nomination at the 94th Academy Awards in 2022, Guillermo del Toro's re-adaptation of the William Lindsay Gresham novel "Nightmare Alley" hit theaters the same day as "Spider-Man: No Way Home" and was overshadowed by that movie's juggernaut success amid the pandemic. It makes the most of those shadows, though, filling them with smoke and "the poetry of disillusionment and existentialism," as del Toro has called it. This is a movie that lives at the carnival, where you're less likely to see any spider-men and more likely to see a woman with a spider's body warning children about the sins of lust and pride.

Co-written by Kim Morgan, the del Toro version of "Nightmare Alley" takes its cues from Gresham's book and was not intended as a remake of the black-and-white 1947 adaptation starring Tyrone Power. However, that movie is a classic and it's worth...

Exclusive: The Saturn Awards have unveiled nominations for their 50th anniversary edition, with organizer the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films saying that the ceremony to reveal winners is set for October 25 in an event that will be livestreamed on ElectricNOW.

Warner Bros/DC’s The Batman, directed by Matt Reeves, is the top-nominated film with 12, featuring in categories including Best Superhero Film, and acting noms for Robert Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz, Paul Dano and Colin Farrell. Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley from Searchlight Pictures is close behind with 10 nominations including Best Thriller Film, Best Direction (del Toro), and Writing (del Toro and Kim Morgan).

Marvel Studios dominated this year’s noms in the Film and Streaming categories with movies like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Thor: Love and Thunder, Sony’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, as well as Disney+ series like Loki,...

As HBO Max continues to grow in popularity, it is constantly adding new and popular movies to its lineup. HBO Max is excited to announce a slate of new movies ready for viewing on the platform! There are plenty of new HBO Max movies for everyone, whether you’re a fan of action, comedy, or drama.

What’s Good on Netflix: Watch 50 Popular Movies and Shows Now

Check out the list below and find something new to watch today.

Moonshot (2022)

If you’re looking for a new movie to watch on HBO Max, look no further than Moonshot. This science-fiction romantic comedy follows two college students as they join forces in order to be reunited with their significant others, embarking on a lively journey that takes them wildly off course. Moonshot is sure to please viewers looking for a fun and romantic movie with a twist.

The film stars Cole Sprouse,...

From visionary filmmaker Guillermo del Toro comes Nightmare Alley a noir-style psychological thriller starring Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett.

When a manipulative carnival man (Cooper) teams with an equally deceptive psychiatrist (Blanchett) to grift the wealthy in 1940s New York society, he learns that his new partner in crime might be his most formidable opponent yet. Nightmare Alley is directed by del Toro, who co-wrote the film with Kim Morgan, based on William Lindsay Gresham's novel.

Onwards!

Hello, everyone! This week’s Blu-ray and DVD offerings are quite an eclectic bunch, as we have a few recent titles coming out on Tuesday, but we also have a few classic horrors from Mexico finally getting a release, which is pretty darned cool. In terms of the newer horrors, Guillermo del Toro’s masterpiece Nightmare Alley is heading home to various formats, and if you missed it when it was airing, now you can finally catch up on the Dexter: New Blood revival this week as well. As mentioned, Indicator is showing some love to two classic horror movies from Mexico—La Llorona and The Phantom of the Monastery—on Blu-ray this week, and Richard Elfman’s Modern Vampires is getting the HD treatment, too.

Other home media titles coming home on March 22nd include 6:45, Blood Claws, Grave of the Living Dead, Bryan Loves You: Collector’s Edition,...

None of the 13 precursor prizes announced winners before Oscar nominations were revealed on February 8. However, all but one of them — the Casting Society of America — revealed their roster of contenders before the start of Oscar nominations balloting on January 27. The CSA, which chimed in on February 1, will be the only guild to hold its ceremony after final Oscar voting ends on March 22; the Artios Awards are the next day.

Before Oscar voting kicked off on March 17, we heard from eight guilds. The makeup artists and hairstylists weighed in on Feb. 19 while the actors were heard from on Feb. 27. Two guilds — art directors and film editors — held ceremonies on March 5. The visual effects wizards handed out prizes on March 8, the costume designers on March 9, the directors on March 12 and the sound editors on March 13.

The producers and sound mixers met on March 19 while the cinematographers and writers did so on March...

“Don’t Look Up” and “Coda” have won the top feature film awards from the Writers Guild of America, which held its annual WGA Awards on Sunday evening.

On the heels of its Producers Guild Award victory on Saturday, “Coda” kicked off the show by winning the first award of the night, for Best Adapted Screenplay. The category also included “Dune,” “Nightmare Alley,” “tick, tick…Boom!” and “West Side Story” — but two of the biggest challengers to “Coda” in the Oscar race for adapted screenplay, “The Power of the Dog” and “The Lost Daughter,” were not eligible for the award because of WGA regulations.

In the Best Original Screenplay category, “Don’t Look Up” scored a surprise victory over “Licorice Pizza,” which was favored to take the award, and “King Richard.” Two other Oscar nominees, “Belfast” and “The Worst Person in the World,” were ineligible.

Television awards included “Succession” and “Hacks” for drama and comedy series,...

The 2022 Writers Guild Awards are underway Sunday in a virtual ceremony that will see winners crowned in three motion picture, 17 television, and three radio and audio categories along with one category for promotional writing. A Black Lady Sketch Show and Ted Lasso scribe Ashely Nicole Black is emceeing the event, during which honorary awards will be bestowed on talk show icon Dick Cavett and Barry Jenkins, the latter of which is up for a WGA Award tonight for his limited series The Underground Railroad.

Last year at the WGA ceremony, Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman won the Original Screenplay category while the team behind Borat Subsequent Moviefilm won for Adapted Screenplay. Promising Young Woman went on to take the Oscar in the same category; Borat was nominated for an Oscar but missed out, with The Father eventually taking the Academy Award.

This year’s 74th annual WGA race in...

You made it through the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Directors Guild Awards, and the Producers Guild Awards, too. The wait for the Oscars is almost over, but one more major guild had yet to give out its trophies before the Academy Awards. Tonight, Hollywood’s top writers came together for the Writers Guild of America Awards, which honored the finest achievements in film and television writing.

On the film side, the nominees were actually quite different from what you’ll see at the Oscars next week. In the Original Screenplay category, “Licorice Pizza,” “Don’t Look Up,” and “King Richard” were still nominated, but “Belfast” and “The Worst Person in the World” were replaced with “Being the Ricardos.” The Adapted Screenplay category was even more distinct, with only two Oscar contenders (“Dune” and “Coda”) nominated.

But it ultimately did not matter, as two Oscar nominees took the top prizes. “Coda...

Sunday’s 74th Writers Guild of America Awards will wrap up the guild season, along with the American Society of Cinematographers Awards. Will the winners be an Oscar preview?

“Licorice Pizza,” written by Paul Thomas Anderson, and “Coda,” by Sian Heder, are favored to win Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay, respectively. However, they are not facing off against many of their Oscar rivals as the WGA’s rules have rendered several scripts ineligible, including Oscar nominees “Belfast” and “The Worst Person in the World” in original, and “Drive My Car,” “The Lost Daughter” and “The Power of the Dog” in adapted. But if they both prevail, they will have bagged the two top industry prizes as they won at BAFTA last weekend right in the middle of final Oscar voting (it ends Tuesday).

The TV field features heavy-hitters “Succession” and “Ted Lasso,” both of which are expected to...

The 74th Writers Guild of America Awards took place Sunday, one of the last guild stops of Oscar season (the American Society of Cinematographers Awards were the same night). Did they provide clarity on two of the closest Oscar contests, Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay?

The thing about the WGA Awards, of course, is that the guild’s rigid rules stipulate that only members can compete, rendering numerous Oscar contenders ineligible every year. And there were quite a few this go-round. Ineligible original scripts include “Annette,” “Belfast,” “A Hero,” “Mass,” “Parallel Mothers,” “Pig” and “The Worst Person in the World.” Adapted screenplays forced to sit out include “Cyrano,” “Drive My Car,” “The Lost Daughter,” “Passing” and “The Power of the Dog.”

In original, the WGA nominated “Being the Ricardos” (Aaron Sorkin), “Don’t Look Up” (Adam McKay & David Sirota), “The French Dispatch” (Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola & Hugo Guinness & Jason Schwartzman...

Succession, Mare Of Easttown enjoy another good night after PGA television wins.

Apple TV+’s Coda and Netflix’s Don’t Look Up were the big film winners at Sunday’s (20) virtual 2022 Writers Guild Awards hosted by the East and West Coast chapters the day after Coda boosted its Oscar hopes by claiming the PGA’s top prize.

Adam McKay’s script for Don’t Look Up took the WGA’s original screenplay prize and Sian Heder prevailed in the adapted category for Coda, which is based on French La Famille Belier.

Both are nominated for their respective Oscar categories although there...

After another politically and socially turbulent year, the Writers Guild of America is ready to celebrate the best that its members have to offer, while reflecting on the ever-changing social and entertainment landscape.

The WGA’s annual awards event, a joint venture between Wgaw and Wgawe, will be held on Sunday, March 20th, and similar to last year, will be handled as a virtual event. With Covid still firmly lingering in the space of the populace, the guild’s priorities have naturally shifted in ways that couldn’t have been anticipated, while still staying true to its collective core values.

This year’s WGA film award nominees represent a roster of high-caliber talent. Nominees in the Original Screenplay category Aaron Sorkin (“Being the Ricardos”), Adam McKay & David Sirota (“Don’t Look Up”), Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola & Hugo Guinness & Jason Schwartzman, Zach Baylin (“King Richard”), and Paul Thomas Anderson (“Licorice Pizza”). Adapted...

Don’t look for three of our predicted 10 Oscar contenders for screenplay (the original script for “Belfast” plus the adaptations of “The Lost Daughter” and “The Power of the Dog”) in the 2022 Writers Guild of America Awards nominations announced January 27. They didn’t qualify for consideration under the guild’s guidelines or those of its international partners.

We are predicting that “The Power of the Dog” will win Best Adapted Screenplay at the Oscars with “The Lost Daughter” running a close second. Their three likeliest Oscar competitors — “Coda,” “Dune” and “West Side Story” — contend at the WGA Awards as do “Nightmare Alley” and “tick, tick … Boom!”

The Original Screenplay Oscar frontrunner “Licorice Pizza” is in the running here as are three of its likeliest rivals: “Being the Ricardos,” “Don’t Look Up” and “King Richard.” With second-place Oscar hopeful “Belfast” ineligible at the guild kudos that race is rounded out by “The French Dispatch.

Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” and “Ted Lasso” were the big winners at Sunday night’s Critics Choice Awards, as was Will Smith. But when the statuettes weren’t being handed out in front of the camera, there was plenty going on off stage.

Waiting Game

The show had even started yet, but everywhere you turned there was a bottleneck. Members of the press were stuck in line checking in up to the minute before the carpet opened because a computer glitch apparently lost everyone’s registration with proof of vaccination and negative Covid test. Then once the carpet opened, security wouldn’t allow many celebs, including Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo and “It’s a Sin” star Olly Alexander, to walk the arrival line when things got a bit too congested. “Evil” star Andrea Martin was the last person allowed onto the carpet. Danielle Brooks summed up it...

After hitting HBO Max and Hulu, Nightmare Alley will arrive on digital and home media in March! Here's a look at the official cover art and release details:

From the imaginative filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and Searchlight Pictures arrives an electrifying film noir, Nightmare Alley. Available on Digital March 8 and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on March 22.

The suspenseful psychological thriller is nominated for 4 Academy Awards® including Best Picture, 8 Critics’ Choice Awards, a Screen Actors’ Guild Award for Supporting Actress for Cate Blanchett, and BAFTA, Sdsa, Mpse, Adg, CDG, Ves, and WGA Awards.

Film Synopsis

When charismatic but down-on-his-luck Stanton Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) endears himself to clairvoyant Zeena (Toni Collette) and her has-been mentalist husband Pete (David Strathairn) at a traveling carnival, he crafts a golden ticket to success, using this newly acquired knowledge to grift the wealthy elite of 1940s New York society. With the virtuous Molly...

“Nightmare Alley Is All Around Brilliance” – Jazz Tangcay, Variety

Academy Award Best Picture Nominee Nightmare Alley Appears on Digital March 8 and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on March 22

From the imaginative filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and Searchlight Pictures arrives an electrifying film noir,Nightmare Alley. Available on Digital March 8 and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on March 22.

The suspenseful psychological thriller is nominated for 4 Academy Awards® including Best Picture, 8 Critics’ Choice Awards, a Screen Actors’ Guild Award for Supporting Actress for Cate Blanchett, and BAFTA, Sdsa, Mpse, Adg, CDG, Ves, and WGA Awards.

NA_02045.Arw

When charismatic but down-on-his-luck Stanton Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) endears himself to clairvoyant Zeena (Toni Collette) and her has-been mentalist husband Pete (David Strathairn) at a traveling carnival, he crafts a golden ticket to success, using this newly acquired knowledge to grift the wealthy elite of 1940s New York society. With the virtuous...

The Searchlight Pictures noir drama Nightmare Alley is a Best Picture nominee, one of four noms for the film that stars Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara and an ensemble that includes Willem Dafoe, Ron Perlman, Toni Collette, David Strathairn, Richard Jenkins, Holt McCallany, Clifton Collins Jr, began its theatrical run as a color film, but now an atmospheric black and white version is in theaters. This is the first film del Toro has directed since The Shape of Water, which won him Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director. Before that, he was nominated twice for Pan’s Labyrinth. He wrote Nightmare Alley with Kim Morgan, adapting the William Lindsay Gresham novel.

“I am very happy and grateful,” del Toro told Deadline. “The key is to be in the conversation. We are very proud of our film and the work everyone delivered. This is a great blessing. We are in...

This article contains spoilers for both versions of Nightmare Alley.

“Mister, I was made for it,” versus “Mister, I was born for it,” sums up the major psychological distinction between the 1947 Nightmare Alley and Guillermo del Toro’s 2021 remake. Neither line from the end of their respective movies is in the 1946 novel by William Lindsay Gresham. That book concludes just short of the revelation or confession (depending on the actor who says it). Bradley Cooper’s Stan Carlisle finds it downright hilarious that he is about to become a geek. Tyrone Power’s The Great Stanton only grants himself temporary clemency. The geek is their destiny. Chicken necks are their shared fate.

The first major difference between the two movies is the most obvious. One employs all the tricks of black and white filmmaking, the other shades its colors in a muted noir. The next immediately recognizable difference comes at feeding time.

There are many different types of existing works from which a film’s screenplay can be adapted, and Oscar voters have honored scripts built from just about every source material imaginable. Voters typically reveal their preferences by consistently choosing scripts based on certain source materials over others. Examining the most recent Best Adapted Screenplay lineups is the most effective way of predicting the next one. Here is a list of the category’s nominees and winners, as well as their sources of origin, from the last five years:

2021:

Winner: “The Father” – Play

“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” – Existing film

“Nomadland” – Nonfiction book

“One Night in Miami” – Play

“The White Tiger” – Novel

2020:

Winner: “Jojo Rabbit” – Novel

“The Irishman” – Nonfiction book

“Joker” – Comic books

“Little Women” – Novel

“The Two Popes” – Play

2019:

Winner: “BlacKkKlansman” – Memoir

“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” – Short stories

“Can You Ever Forgive Me?” – Memoir

“If Beale Street Could Talk...

With the announcement on Feb. 1 of the contenders for the Artios Awards, which are bestowed by the Casting Society of America, we’ve now heard from all 13 guilds. The CSA was the only group to hold off till the end of Oscar nominations voting. The actors, art directors, cinematographers, costume designers, directors, film editors, makeup artists & hairstylists, producers, sound editors, sound mixers, visual effects wizards and writers all weighed in on or before the start of balloting on Jan. 27.

“Dune” had racked up a perfect score by reaping nominations with each of the first dozen guilds but was snubbed by the CSA.”West Side Story” is next with 10, missing out for film editing and lensing. The stylish “No Time to Die” has eight.

Of the other leading Academy Awards contenders for Best Picture, only “Licorice Pizza” went four for four with the big guilds. Both “Belfast” and “The Power of the Dog...

Searchlight’s “Nightmare Alley” takes place mostly in 1939-41, but its sensibility is contemporary. It’s a time-capsule movie: If future generations want to know what life was like in the 21st century, tell them to see this film.

“Nightmare,” written by Guillermo Del Toro (who directs) and Kim Morgan, depicts a world of liars and charlatans who manipulate the truth to gain wealth and/or power. And the general public is surprisingly gullible. As Lilith (Cate Blanchett) says to Stan (Bradley Cooper), “You don’t fool people, Stan, they fool themselves.”

Del Toro tells Variety, “We are in a moment of great anxiety, post-discourse, post-truth, almost as if we, as a society, are going through a psychotic episode. Everybody curates the reality of the world, every piece of information, to fit their own ‘truth. And I mean everybody; this is not about a particular person or party. This is...

Before we get to parsing the list of Writers Guild nominations, let’s look at those who were ineligible. This year’s list is massive, from UK entries Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast” (Focus Features), Rebecca Hall’s “Passing” (Netflix), and Joe Wright’s “Cyrano” (MGM/UA) to Netflix contenders from Jane Campion (”The Power of the Dog”) and Maggie Gyllenhaal (“The Lost Daughter”). Among last year’s ineligibles were 2021 Oscar nominees “Nomadland” and “Minari.”

The WGA maintains jurisdiction over whether scripts are produced under a Writer’s Guild contract, and who finally gets credit on a screenplay. The guild insists on withholding non-signatories from being part of the WGA Awards.

A WGA nomination isn’t essential for Oscar nomination. Exceptions include American indie “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” Iranian Oscar-winner “A Separation” Oscar-winning British films “Les Miserables,” and “The Favourite,” and all Pixar animated contenders, from “Up” to “Incredibles 2.” European...

Before we get to parsing the list of Writers Guild nominations, let’s look at those who were ineligible. This year’s list is massive, from UK entries Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast” (Focus Features), Rebecca Hall’s “Passing” (Netflix), and Joe Wright’s “Cyrano” (MGM/UA) to Netflix contenders from Jane Campion (”The Power of the Dog”) and Maggie Gyllenhaal (“The Lost Daughter”). Among last year’s ineligibles were 2021 Oscar nominees “Nomadland” and “Minari.”

The WGA maintains jurisdiction over whether scripts are produced under a Writer’s Guild contract, and who finally gets credit on a screenplay. The guild insists on withholding non-signatories from being part of the WGA Awards.

A WGA nomination isn’t essential for Oscar nomination. Exceptions include American indie “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” Iranian Oscar-winner “A Separation” Oscar-winning British films “Les Miserables,” and “The Favourite,” and all Pixar animated contenders, from “Up” to “Incredibles 2.” European...

Winners to be unveiled on March 20.

The Writers Guild of America has unveiled its feature nominations with The French Dispatch, King Richard, Coda and West Side Story all in contention for top awards.

The Guild announced its nominees in the original screenplay, adapted screenplay and documentary screenplay categories. Winners will be honored at a joint 2022 Writers Guild Awards virtual ceremony by the East and West Coast chapters on March 20.

Original Screenplay

Being The Ricardos

Written by Aaron Sorkin

Don’t Look Up

Screenplay by Adam McKay, Story by Adam McKay & David Sirota

The French Dispatch Of The Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun

Screenplay by Wes Anderson,...

The 74th annual Writers Guild Awards film nominations are officially in.

The Original Screenplay category is a tight competition, with Aaron Sorkin nominated for “Being the Ricardos” alongside Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza” and Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch,” among others.

“Coda,” “Dune,” and “Nightmare Alley” lead the Adapted Screenplay category, rounding out a mix of streaming day and date premieres with theatrical releases.

The winners will be announced March 20 at 74th Annual Writers Guild Awards. The WGAs announced its TV, new media, news, radio/audio and promotional writing nominees last week. To note, Oscar contenders are ineligible for the Writers Guild of America Awards.

See below for the full list of film noms:

Original Screenplay

“Being the Ricardos,” written by Aaron Sorkin; Amazon Studios

“Don’t Look Up,” screenplay by Adam McKay, story by Adam McKay & David Sirota; Netflix

“The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun,...

The Writers Guild of America has penciled in the film nominees for its 74th annual WGA Awards, which will be virtual again this year.

The Original Screenplay category will see the scribes behind Being the Ricardos, Don’t Look Up, The French Dispatch, King Richard and Licorice Pizza vying for the hardware.

The Adapted Screenplay race will be among Coda, Dune, Nightmare Alley, tick, tick…Boom! and West Side Story.

On the documentary side, Being Cousteau, Exposing Muybridge and Like a Rolling Stone will battle it out for the WGA trophy.

See the full list of nominated writers and screenplays below.

Winners will be feted at the joint 2022 WGA Awards on Sunday, March 20 — the last majors awards show before the 94th Oscars. This year’s eligibility period is March 1-December 31, 2021.

Read the WGA’s TV nominations here.

The WGAs honor outstanding achievement for original and adapted screenplays and documentary films, but...

The screenplays for “Don’t Look Up,” “Licorice Pizza,” “Nightmare Alley” and “King Richard” have been nominated for the 2022 Writers Guild Awards by the WGA, West and WGA, East, the two guilds announced on Thursday.

Other nominees are “Coda,” “Dune,” “West Side Story” and “tick, tick…Boom!,” which join “Nightmare Alley” in the adapted-screenplay category, and “Being the Ricardos” and “The French Dispatch,” which join “Don’t Look Up,” “Licorice Pizza” and “King Richard” as original-screenplay nominees.

Eligible screenplays that were missing from the slate of nominees include Joel Coen’s Shakespeare adaptation, “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” and Mike Mills’ original story, “C’mon C’mon.”

Because the WGA created its award to be a prize for its members and those who write under its jurisdiction, a Writers Guild nomination is a less accurate predictor of Oscar success than noms from the other three major Hollywood guilds, the Screen Actors Guild, Producers Guild and Directors Guild.

The Writers Guild of America Awards announced its 2022 nominations, where huge boosts were given to films such as “Being the Ricardos,” “Don’t Look Up,” “The French Dispatch,” “King Richard” and “Licorice Pizza” in original screenplay.

Adapted screenplay includes “Coda,” “Dune,” “Nightmare Alley,” “Tick, Tick … Boom!” and “West Side Story.” Missing from the lineup are “C’mon C’mon” from Mike Mills and “The Tragedy of Macbeth” from Joel Coen.

On the adapted screenplay side, notable awards contenders that were ineligible included “Benedetta” (IFC Films), “Cyrano” (MGM/United Artists Releasing), “Drive My Car” (Janus Films/Sideshow), “The Lost Daughter” (Netflix), “Passing” (Netflix), “The Power of the Dog” (Netflix), “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (Sony Pictures) and “Zola” (A24).

“The Harder They Fall” (Netflix) was moved from original to adapted for the WGA nods, but will remain in its campaigned category for the Oscars.

In the original screenplay category, the ineligibilities comprised of “Annette” (Amazon Studios...

A tsunami of buzz and Oscar-telling indicators drop on Thursday, with the major guilds announcing award nominations. The Directors Guild of America (DGA), Writers Guild of America (WGA), Producers Guild of America (PGA) and American Cinema Editors (Ace Eddies) all serve as critical barometers for the Academy Awards, especially in the race for best picture.

DGA has averaged four of their five nominees landing in the Oscars’ best director category, including last year with Aaron Sorkin (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”) getting bumped for Thomas Vinterberg (“Another Round”). The first-time directors’ category, with the exception of Jordan Peele for “Get Out” (2017), has gone on to get a nod at the Academy.

The PGA always provides some big blockbusters and Academy flare, which bodes well for either “No Time to Die” or “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” The WGA has a lot of ineligibilities that won’t provide a strong enough indicator for the screenplay categories.

Writer/director Guillermo del Toro discusses a few of his favorite movies with Josh and Joe.

Show Notes:

Movies Referenced In This Episode

Nightmare Alley (2021)

Nightmare Alley (1947) – Stuart Gordon’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Drive My Car (2021)

Wicked Woman (1953) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022)

Modern Times (1936)

City Lights (1931)

The Great Dictator (1940)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Dennis Cozzalio’s review, Dennis Cozzalio’s Muriel Awards capsule review

Vertigo (1958) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary, Brian Trenchard-Smith’s review

The Man Who Would Be King (1975) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)

The Young And The Damned (1950)

Gone With The Wind (1939)

The Golem (1920) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Sunrise: A Song Of Two Humans (1927)

Alucarda (1977)

Greed (1924) – Dennis Cozzalio’s Muriel Awards capsule review

Taxi Driver (1976) – Rod Lurie’s trailer commentary

District 9 (2009) – John Sayles...

The fight for women to be recognized for their directorial achievements stretches back for decades, but, too often, the screenwriters aren’t given that same spotlight. However, this year presents a unique situation where female filmmakers have also penned the top awards contenders for adapted screenplay. These leading contenders include Jane Campion (“The Power of the Dog”), Maggie Gyllenhaal (“The Lost Daughter”), Rebecca Hall (“Passing”) and Siân Heder (“Coda”).

If three of the writer-directors are nominated for best adapted screenplay, it’ll be the most female-written films recognized since 1991, which included “Europa Europa” (Agnieszka Holland), “Fried Green Tomatoes” (Fannie Flagg and Carol Sobieski) and “The Prince of Tides”. If all four manage to receive noms, it would be the most in Academy history, as well as the most that have been directed by women.

Three of the women were recognized by the USC Scripter Awards, whose previous nominees have a solid translation to Academy attention.

At the 2021 Oscars, playwright Florian Zeller shared in the Oscar win for Best Adapted Screenplay with Christopher Hampton for bring his stage hit “The Father” to the screen.In his directorial debut Zeller bagged Anthony Hopkins his second Best Actor Oscar. (Scroll down for the most up-to-date 2022 Oscars predictions for Best Adapted Screenplay and be sure to check out our predictions for Best Original Screenplay.)

Screen versions of stage works had won Best Adapted Screenplay at the Oscars 15 times before. The most recent of these was in 2017 when “Moonlight” director Barry Jenkins and playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney prevailed for adapting the latter’s un-produced play “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue.” Prior to that you have to go all the way back to 1989 when Alfred Uhry won for adapting his hit play “Driving Miss Daisy.”

At the 2020 Academy Awards, “Jojo Rabbit” director Taika Waititi won for bringing Christine Leunens novel...

The USC Scripter Awards has announced its nominees for its 34th annual ceremony, recognizing the best film and television adaptations. Netflix dominated the film category with three films making the cut, all from women screenwriters who also directed their movies: “The Lost Daughter” from Maggie Gyllenhaal, “The Power of the Dog” from Jane Campion and “Passing” from Rebecca Hall. This is the first nomination for all three acclaimed filmmakers.

Joel Coen, a two-time nominee for “No Country for Old Men” (2007), for which he won with his brother Ethan, and “True Grit” (2010), was recognized for adapting his black-and-white interpretation of “The Tragedy of Macbeth” for Apple Original Films and A24. This is a huge pick-up for the movie, as no film adaptation of the cursed play has been recognized in the screenplay category at the Oscars.

Another significant boost was given to “Dune” and its three scribes, Eric Roth, Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve.

Editors note: Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series debuts and celebrates the scripts of films that will be factors in this year’s movie awards race.

“I wanted to render a classic story in a very alive and contemporary way – I wanted people to feel they are watching a story pertinent to our world,” says Nightmare Alley director and co-writer Guillermo del Toro, whose penchant for stylishly crafted horror stories took a turn for the decidedly noir with his latest film.

Del Toro and his writing partner Kim Morgan, an accomplished film journalist and essayist, turned to author William Lindsay Gresham’s fatalistic 1946 novel – now widely regarded as a classic of the hard-boiled, doom-suffused noir genre and the basis for the equally admired 1947 film starring Tyrone Power. Gresham’s tale follows the ascent of rough-hewn carnival roustabout Stanton Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) into a successful, polished café society mentalist, and his...

Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on Wbgr-fm on December 16th, 2021, reviewing the film noir remake of “Nightmare Alley,’ directed by Guillermo del Toro, in theaters on December 17th, 2021.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

This is his remake of a 1947 film noir that starred Tyrone Power in the original. Here Bradley Cooper is Stan, a drifter who ends up at a 1930s carnival, where he learns to be a “mind reader” from Peter (David Strathaim) and Zeena (Toni Collette). He falls in love with Molly (Rooney Mara) and they run away to start a popular nightclub act in Chicago called The Great Stanton. One audience member is Lilith (Cate Blanchett), who is a therapist of Chicago’s elite. She recruits The Great Staton to scam the rich, feeding him their secrets in exchange for blackmail cash.

“Nightmare Alley” opens in theaters on December 17th. Featuring Bradley Cooper,...

Although the latest film from director Guillermo del Toro, Nightmare Alley, exhibits many of the director’s signatures, it also manages to produce a pleasingly pulpy noir tale that effectively carries on the director’s motifs and aesthetics.

The film begins with a man apparently disposing of a corpse by reducing it and the house it is in to ashes. This is our introduction of aimless, yet charismatic drifter Stanton Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) – or the man disposing of the corpse – that eventually finds his way to a traveling carnival in 1929. Once ensconced as a jack-of-all-trades by the proprietor of the carnival – a man named Clem (played by Willem Dafoe) – Carlisle endears himself to the troupe’s resident clairvoyant, Zeena (Toni Collette), and her once-great mentalist husband Pete (David Strathairn). After feeling he has mastered all of the tricks that this pair had to offer him, Carlisle convinces fellow performer, Molly...

Time to share a secret: as much as I respect and admire Guillermo del Toro–not just for many of his films, but for his genuine love of cinema and particularly of genre, and his championing of the latter in all forms–his last several movies have left me cold.

Pacific Rim (2013) and Crimson Peak (2015) were both disappointments, technically impressive and stunning to look at, but lacking in the humanity and emotional resonance that fueled his personal masterpieces like The Devil’s Backbone (2001) and Pan’s Labyrinth (2006). His 2017 Best Picture and Best Director winner, The Shape of Water, was a step back in the right direction, melding his genre concerns with a newfound interest in adult sexuality, but its narrative was so predictably laid out that the film never felt surprising or fresh.

So it’s ironic to have the opposite reaction to Nightmare Alley, this week’s new neo noir and psychological thriller,...

Nightmare Alley Searchlight Pictures Reviewed for Shockya.com by Abe Friedtanzer Director: Guillermo Del Toro Writer: Guillermo Del Toro and Kim Morgan Cast: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, Mary Steenburgen, David Strathairn Screened at: Blakeley Theatre, Fox Lot, LA, 12/1/21 Opens: December 17th, 2021 People are often […]

The post Nightmare Alley Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

A column chronicling events and conversations on the awards circuit.

“It feels just like old times,” one awards voter told me at one of the many live events taking place all over town even as the pandemic still rages. The ‘old times’ to which he was referring is what seems like the now ancient 2019 Oscar season which came in just under the wire before the world shut down.

After basically operating the traditional awards season out of our caves last year with a fairly dreary and meh lineup of films and zoom Q&As we could only watch at home, this season is increasingly edging back to the heated campaign of old despite Omicron and Delta variants and all the doomsayers. The quality of the movies may be helping too. “This year there are just so many good movies out there. I am still catching up. We can’t wait to see West Side Story.

The world is one big carnival, and we’re all just suckers — or “marks,” in the parlance of the traveling grifters so effective at fleecing those poor rubes who are not with it — in Guillermo del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley.” A perfect match of material to auteur, William Lindsay Gresham’s pulpy 1946 novel and the shockingly dark studio picture it inspired give the helmer, hot off his Oscar win for “The Shape of Water,” a chance to go full-film noir, resulting in a gorgeous, fantastically sinister moral fable about the cruel predictability of human nature and the way entire systems — from carnies and con men to shrinks and Sunday preachers — are engineered to exploit it.

Building on the rise-and-crash arc of his “A Star Is Born” has-been, Bradley Cooper delivers another terrific tragic turn as ambitious huckster Stanton Carlisle, proving an even better match for the picaresque protagonist than Tyrone Power...

There are two movies within Searchlight Pictures’ “Nightmare Alley.” One makes eight-time nominee Bradley Cooper a long overdue Oscar winner. The other would add another statue to the shelf of visionary director Guillermo del Toro. Depending on which one entices an Academy voter, they could fall for one, both or neither of the options. The darkly complex and gruesome outing may prove to be more difficult for some conservative movie-goers to take in. At minimum, the race for best production design may have just ended tonight.

To be clear, I loved nearly every bit of “Nightmare Alley” and it very well could be the best movie del Toro has ever made. However, my feelings here are irrelevant. The question is will the Academy go for it?

The directing branch, along with the rest of Hollywood adores the essence of Guillermo del Toro. No one makes movies the way he does,...

Exclusive: It has been nearly two full years since Guillermo del Toro started shooting Nightmare Alley. But now, finally, four years to the day since The Shape of Water’s US release, the cast and crew are preparing to gather in New York City for the movie’s global premiere at Alice Tully Hall Wednesday night. A simultaneous premiere will happen in Los Angeles and in other cities, and the events are taking place in association with Film at Lincoln Center, TIFF and the Telluride Film Festival, a nod to the disruption that meant Nightmare would not be able to complete the same festival circuit that had started Shape on its journey to becoming a four-time Oscar winner.

That disruption, of course, was a global pandemic that shut down production in March 2020. While Nightmare Alley became the first major Canadian production to return, it would take six months to do so.