"Helmut Newton’s photos conveyed such complex sexual tension that the British press dubbed him “the King of Kink.” People speculated about his relationship with models, what his actual wife looked like, what she knew, what she didn’t know, and what there was to know. One of the sexiest photographs he ever took was of June lighting a cigarette at a dinner table, her dress pulled open to expose her breasts. Married for 56 years, citizens of the world, childless, they loved each other."

May 5, 2021

Michael Koresky: "Though beloved by many, James L. Brooks’ domes­tic tragicomedy starring Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger was an untouchable object in my house, spoken of in hushed tones and head-shakes. I actually cannot remember when my mother first showed it to me; it’s one of those movies that’s just always been there. Its title is so iconic at this point that it even seems to have lost its specific and elegant double mean­ing. Terms of Endearment. It’s just… a title. Out of the almost 100 Best Picture Oscar winners, it’s one of the very, very few that one could ever call a “women’s picture,” and the only one in the history of the awards that centers almost exclusively on the relationship between a mother and a daughter—stories of dads, sons, and godfathers are more the speed of traditionally masculinist Hollywood cinema. It’s not an aesthetically difficult film by any measure, yet my mother remembered Terms of Endearment as a challenge, even radical in what she perceived as a betrayal of the audience’s trust. 'We were sitting in the theater laughing so hard, and then…' She trailed off. 'I thought, what is this? We were shocked. We felt like we got punched in the stomach.'"

Slate | May 5, 2021

Martin Scorsese: “We are thrilled to finally start production on Killers of the Flower Moon in Oklahoma. To be able to tell this story on the land where these events took place is incredibly important and critical to allowing us to portray an accurate depiction of the time and people. We’re grateful to Apple, the Oklahoma Film and Music Office and The Osage Nation, especially all our Osage consultants and cultural advisors, as we prepare for this shoot. We’re excited to start working with our local cast and crew to bring this story to life on screen and immortalize a time in American history that should not be forgotten.”

May 5, 2021

"We talked about that in January. It’s our belief — that I think is not unfounded — that actors’ speeches tend to be more dramatic than producers’ speeches. And so we thought it might be fun to mix it up, especially if people didn’t know that was coming. So that was always part of the plan. And then when the nominations came out and there was even the possibility that Chadwick could win posthumously, our feeling was if he were to win and his widow were to speak on his behalf, there would be nowhere to go after that. So we stuck with it. I said if there was even the sliver of a chance that he would win and that his widow would speak, then we were operating under the fact that was the end of the show. So it wasn’t like we assumed it would, but if there was even a possibility that it would happen, then you have to account for that. That would have been such a shattering moment, that to come back after that would have been just impossible."
Soderbergh On Searching For An Ending

LA Times | May 5, 2021

Warner Search For Black Superman

Hollywood Reporter | May 5, 2021

"The Guardian is not the only newspaper to declare that it has a higher purpose than transmitting the day’s events in order to make a profit. But it might be unique in having held on to that sense of purpose for two centuries."
The Grauniad Turns 200

The Guardian | May 4, 2021

Rotten Tomatoes Is An Asian-American Success Story

May 4, 2021

From the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's Four Page-Draft Of Reform Proposals

• Admit 20 new members, up from the current 86, "with a specific focus on recruiting Black members and building an environment to allow for their success.”
• Increase membership by 50% over the next 18 months. "All current members will be required to meet the same standards as incoming members for reaccreditation of their membership; the Southern California residency requirement will be eliminated to expand eligibility 'to any qualified journalist living in the U.S. who works for a foreign publication.'"
• Retain professional management that could include a chief executive officer and chief financial officer, as well as a diversity, equality and inclusion strategist.
• Revise its code of conduct and review its committee structure, travel policies and conflict of interest disclosures.
• Accepting promotional gifts would be prohibited.

LA Times | May 4, 2021

Photos From The "May the 4th Be With You" Opening At Disneyland

LA Times | May 4, 2021

"Verizon Media, the business housing Yahoo and AOL, is to be renamed (yet again) to Yahoo (losing the exclamation point), and the sale will include its advertising technology business. They will become the property of private equity firm Apollo Global Management in a deal worth $5 billion. Verizon will retain a ten percent stake in the newly formed media group, Guru Gowrappan, the head of Verizon’s media business, who will lead the new Yahoo, was optimistic in a note to employees: 'This next evolution of Yahoo will be the most thrilling yet.'"

The New York Times | May 4, 2021

The Great Belgian Cinematographer Willy Kurant Was 87; Films Include Les Creatures, Masculin féminin, Le départ, Immortal Story, A Grin Without a Cat, Night of the Following Day; “Dinky Hocker”; Work with Serge Gainsbourg; Pootie Tang

May 3, 2021

“The unproductive meeting showed just how sclerotic and ineffectual the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has been in responding to mounting pressure from outside groups to reform. The organization’s efforts at change thus far have sputtered amid a series of missteps and miscalculations. Many Hollywood institutions are closely watching the reform efforts; the Golden Globes, a high-visibility lead-in to the Academy Awards, are a powerful marketing tool for studios and networks. But with the HFPA’s own deadline drawing near and the association’s standing badly tarnished, many in the industry are wondering whether the 78-year-old organization can survive.”

LA Times | May 3, 2021

"Endeavor represents Hollywood’s biggest talents such as Dwayne Johnson and Charlize Theron, owns giant sports + modeling agency IMG + the Miss Universe pageant. In 2016, Endeavor became a partial owner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship... Trading valued the entertainment company at $10.44 billion"

Wall Street Journal | April 29, 2021

"The letter sent to Commons by Sean Bailey, the president of Walt Disney studios motion pictures, says: “Chinese regulations prohibit foreign producers from operating independently and require them to partner with a Chinese production company.” It explains Disney hired Beijing Shadow Times Culture, a private company it said had worked with, 'to provide production-related services in China.' Those mentioned in Mulan's credits for thanks include the publicity department of CPC Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Committee and the police bureau in Turpan, an ancient Silk Road city in eastern Xinjiang that has a large Uyghur population. 'It is standard practice across the film industry worldwide to acknowledge in a film’s credits the cooperation, approvals and assistance provided by various entities and Disney individuals over the course of a film’s production,' Bailey wrote. 'In this case, the production company, Beijing Shadow Times, provided our production team with the list of acknowledgments to be included in the credits for Mulan. The Walt Disney Company has no separate, independent or ongoing relationship with government authorities in the Xinjiang autonomous province.'"

The Guardian | April 28, 2021

Gregory Nava on Working With Kubrick: "We once spent hours figuring out how to say "c---'—out of all the swear words, it’s different in Mexico than in Argentina. So it was an interesting experience with him because he was really, really specific. That guy wanted to know everything about everything in the film. He really shot his movies. He was really the DP of Barry Lyndon. Someone else got credit, he had to do that, but I think he was probably the greatest director of photography in the history of cinema. His techniques and ideas were just absolutely brilliant, and he didn’t operate on The Shining. He told me that he stopped operating with The Shining because as he got older, his eyes weren’t as sharp as they used to be, but he operated on A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon. He was a real hands-on filmmaker."

Roger Ebert | April 28, 2021