“The Academy has made a slew of maddening and desperate decisions to pander to some mythical audience it thinks it’s losing out on by producing an Academy Awards telecast instead of an MTV Movie Awards.”
Kevin Fallon: “Can Anyone Stop The Oscars From Shitting The Bed?”

Four New Yorker Writers On Why They’re Fucked Up Over Sex Scenes

Locarno Promises New Take On Sirk

Goodbye ViacomCBS, Hello Paramount Global

“In a pre-recorded video to launch the event, Redstone and ViacomCBS Chief Executive Bob Bakish were depicted racing through city streets in a yellow hot-rod, Bumblebee.”

“The rebranding also demonstrates how ViacomCBS and other traditional firms are attempting to straddle two worlds: running legacy businesses that still provide the majority of profits while competing with deep-pocketed technology giants Netflix, Amazon and Apple. Paramount also must keep pace with longtime and larger rivals, including Warner Bros., NBCUniversal and Walt Disney Co.”

Jason Reitman:
“I’ve lost my hero.
All I want is the chance to tell my father one more story.
He came from a family of survivors and turned his legacy into laughter.
Thank you for the kind messages. Enjoy his movies and remember his storytelling gifts. Nothing would make him happier.”

“Did you ever imagine that National Review would name Ghostbusters one of the best conservative movies?” 
“I never knew that. I’ve always been something of a conservative-slash-libertarian. The first movie deals with going into business for yourself, and it’s anti-EPA—too much government regulation. It does have a very interesting point-of-view that really resonates.”

P. J. O’Rourke Was 74

Schwarzenegger On Reitman: “If you knew him, Ivan had a way of making himself a part of your story, and he certainly wrote a chunk of mine. I’ll always be grateful that he took a chance on this Austrian action-hero in a comedy during a time when the studios just wanted me to focus on finding new ways to kill bad guys, blow things up, and show off some muscles.”

Village Roadshow Widens Legal Fight With Warner Bros. Over Film Sequels, Remakes

Seymour Wishman, 79, First Run Features President

“Sharon Stone Chose Her Most Iconic Basic Instinct Costume—And She Kept It”

Your 2022 Oscar Hosts: Amy Schumer, Regina Hall, Wanda Sykes

CAR Max: “WarnerMedia OneFifty has acquired the Japanese road drama Drive My Car to premiere on HBO Max on March 2. A Sideshow and Janus Films release, the film received nominations for the 94th Academy Awards in four categories: Best Picture, Directing, International Feature Film, and Adapted Screenplay. It is the first Japanese film ever to be nominated for Best Picture.”

“New Plaza Cinema—started in the wake of the closure of beloved Upper West Side theater, Lincoln Plaza Cinema—has found a home. They will now be located at The West End Theatre at the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew on W. 86th Street.”

Film Fate Of San Francisco’s Castro Theater Still Up In Air

“We’re thrilled to partner with Twitter to help build an engaged and excited digital audience leading up to this year’s ceremony. Through these activations [sic], social media users around the world now have more opportunities to engage with the show in real time, find a community and be a part of the experience in ways they’ve never been able to before.”
Oscar Ceremony To Note Film Chosen As Audience Favorite By Twitter Hashtag

“Critics have balked at the spectacle of the rich and famous encouraging viewers to gamble on a risky and speculative market that has been plagued by grifters. Skeptics say the cryptocurrency and NFT craze has primarily benefited wealthy early adopters… who could afford to get in early. Analysts see clear parallels in the crypto space to the dot com bubble. That earlier hype cycle reached a pop culture apex at the 2000 Super Bowl. That game featured ads by companies like Pets.com, which quickly collapsed.”

Tom Rothman: “Tonight, the lady with the torch weeps, as do all of us at Columbia, and film lovers around the world. Ivan Reitman was an inseparable part of this studio’s legacy, but more than that he was a friend. A great talent and an even finer man; he will be dearly missed. We send his family all our condolences.”

IVAN REITMAN WAS 75

Wesley Morris: “What I’d felt was the ancient power of art to make a puddle of us. E.T. led me into a love affair with being made to cry among strangers in the dark. I almost typed ‘being reduced to tears,’ except where is the reduction? Crying for art is an honor, an exaltation, a salute. It’s applause with mucus and salt. I’m not the only person who lost it at E.T. It was the No. 1 movie of 1982. And what I presume we all experienced was a willingness to give ourselves over to the ridiculous beauty of a story about feeling everything.”