‘The Academy informed the assembled nominees of the real purpose of the Zoom call: to tell them the plan to pre-tape eight Oscar categories before the live ceremony started…. Attendees reacted to the news with ‘stunned silence.’ They peppered mid-level AMPAS officials with so many questions that Academy CEO Dawn Hudson was summoned… ‘The CEO of the Academy was pulled into the Zoom meeting to defend her decision. That was not the original plan. She was brought in because people were not happy. This meeting was organized with the intent to try to answer people’s questions and be forthright. But I think it was just more upsetting than expected.’ … Another attendee said Hudson ‘was very kind but was patronizing.”
Oscar Constituency Reactions To Dawn Of On-Air Category Deletions Range From Miffed To Pissed To “Shit The Bed”

“Like many, I considered him a comedy genius. Still do,” Jill St. John wrote. “Unfortunately, one should not confuse the artist with the man. Making the film was an extremely unhappy and disappointing experience. Rather than detail my previous bitterness about filming with someone no longer on this planet, and who cannot rebut, I prefer to say that a good time was not had by all.”
Jerry Lewis Reportedly Abused Female Co-Workers

The Accompanying Nine-Minute Video By Kirby Dick And Amy Ziering, Through A Glass Darkly

IFC Films President Arianna Bocco Joins Drive To Preserve One Of New Jersey’s Last Single-Screen Moviehouses, The 1915 Bradley In Monmouth

Francis Coppola On Collating The Trashed Bits Of The Godfather, Plus, Yes, “Megalopolis”

“A movie’s length has the potential to [affect] budget, profits and word-of-mouth. With millions of dollars on the line, those precious minutes are never arbitrary. In an age when there’s no shortage of entertainment options, directors, producers or executives don’t need anyone to exit a movie and think: ‘It was good, but it was way too long.’ It may not be scientifically proven, but sometimes it feels like movies are, indeed, getting longer. Many of this year’s biggest releases—No Time to Die (2 hours, 43 minutes), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2 hours, 28 minutes), Dune (2 hours, 35 minutes), Eternals (2 hours, 37 minutes) and The Last Duel (2 hours, 32 minutes)—may as well have run forever and a day.”
Variety Proffers Long, Lame Thumbsucker On Movie Runtimes

Sample The Slamdance Channel

Kim Masters: “Eliminating Jeff Zucker as the head of CNN was likely part of the Discovery chief’s long-term plan — but not now, in such a spectacularly messy way, just as the WarnerMedia merger is about to close.”

Confronting Jerry Lewis: “Jerry, bullshit. Is that your excuse for bad behavior—that you’re sick and people are supposed to excuse that? Well, I don’t excuse that. It was the most unprofessional leading man/leading lady relationship I’ve ever had in my 20 years as an actor. Just think how much better we could have been if you’d been professional and cooperated. You ever think about playing a heavy—a real son of a bitch? Because you’re really good at that. People wouldn’t believe it, but we both know that’s who you really are.”

“Nominees in the awards categories that will be awarded prior to the show were informed of the overhaul during a Zoom call on Tuesday… ‘The new plan will allow more time for comedy, film clips and musical numbers.’“
Academy Pronounces: We No Longer Give A Shit About Film Editing, Original Score, Production Design, Documentary Short, Animated Short, Live-action Short, Sound, Makeup And Hairstyling

Kyle Buchanan From 2018: “The Oscars Should Always Be Long”

Oscar Will Dump Eight Categories From Live Broadcast

Mark Harris: “So this will save virtually no time, annoy the entire internet when the winners leak an hour early, still bore the people the Academy is terrified of boring, and create a start-and-stop live-to-tape-to-live-to-tape herky-jerky rhythm that has never benefited any show.”

Farran Nehme: ‘The public’ my ass. This is like the Democrats who chase all-day Fox viewers. It’s as bad as the ‘Governors Awards.’ The Oscars need to wise the hell up to who cares about movies and who does not and what’s more, never will. Unbelievable. Sure sure, who cares about film editing or production design, not like those affect the damn movie. Just hand it over to Disney. Have awards for Best Triceps or Best Faked Destruction of a National Landmark or whatever.”

Tarak Ben Ammar Finalizes Acquisition Of Luc Besson-Connected Studios of Paris

1983 Miyazaki Graphic Novel Coming To America

The Power of the Dog Producer Tanya Seghatchian: “We have a symbiotic energy which has come from me having watched her work all my adult life and being profoundly influenced by it. She has a way of seeing which is, I think, unlike any other. From the days of Sweetie and An Angel at My Table, the first iteration in her way of filmmaking was remarkable. Her voice was so uncommon and original, and I absorbed that and realized that was a way of seeing. Then, from The Piano through to Bright Star, I think she was able to encompass and access so much of the romantic imagination and big emotions I had previously only found voiced through literature. We both love literature, and when we became friends, we talked a lot about books. In addition to a shared literary passion, we also share the desire to be creatively playful together, which is really important to her—that the process is about intimately sharing every step of the way, being able to weather the vicissitudes of filmmaking together, whether they are the good bits or the terrifying bits. And I think you can only have that confidence together if you see the world the same way.”

Bill Murray Signs On For Untitled Aziz Ansari Directorial Debut At Searchlight; Based On Atul Gawande’s “Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End”

Maya Cade On Why She Created The Black Film Archive: “How Does Blackness Exist Across Time?”

Behold The Buñueloni!

“COVID safety protocols have been extended and updated to include booster shots. The return-to-work protocols were originally set to expire on April 30, 2021, but were extended with no major modifications:”