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☆ Awards for Acting Categories That Don't Exist at the Oscars
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-18 | by ( Wesley Morris | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Best Attempt to Change Hearts and MindsAunjanue Ellis-Taylor, “Origin"There is a kind of acting that falls outside technique. Maybe you need training to achieve it — but technical soundness is not what you leave a movie theater thinking about. This is heart acting, by folks who manage to get right inside your chest. I struggled with the cogency of Wilkerson’s theory but not with the passion that Ellis-Taylor musters in acting its development. Now I’m following her into ideas I don’t fully believe for one reason: because she does.

Persons: Aunjanue Ellis, Taylor, Sally Field, Hilary Swank, Ellis, Isabel Wilkerson, ”, we’ve, what’s, Taylor’s, Taylor musters, I’ve Locations: India, South Los Angeles

☆ Ava DuVernay's new movie 'Origin' opens on the night of Trayvon Martin's death — here's why
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Palmer Haasch | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ava DuVernay's new film "Origin" is loosely based on Isabel Wilkerson's nonfiction book "Caste." DuVernay told BI that she sought to "humanize" Martin in the film, and obtained his mother's blessing. AdvertisementAva DuVernay's newest film "Origin" is a movie that's as ambitious as its acclaimed source material. Before moving forward with any plans to depict Martin in the film, DuVernay contacted his mother, Sybrina Fulton, for consent. "By speaking to what was shown, you humanize him," she told BI.

Persons: Ava DuVernay's, Isabel Wilkerson's, DuVernay, Martin, —, Aunjanue Ellis, Taylor, Wilkerson, Martin wasn't, Sybrina Fulton, humanize Martin, Fulton Organizations: Service, Business Locations: Nazi Germany, India, Sanford , Florida, Los Angeles

☆ Opinion: A lot of great films by women got snubbed by the Oscars and none of them are ‘Barbie’
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Opinion Hannah Ryan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —It’s Oscars season and “Barbie” is dominating the discourse. But here’s the thing; “Barbie” is neither smart enough nor interesting enough to be inspiring this level of uproar. It’s also important to remember that “Barbie” has most certainly not been ignored by the Academy Awards’ members. It has eight nominations – which is far more than many of 2023’s other women-directed films got. While “Barbie” achieved cultural phenomenon status last year, other films that took a more complicated approach to womanhood were shut out of the Oscars and the mainstream awards circuit completely.

Persons: Hannah Ryan, CNN —, “ Barbie ”, Hannah Ryan Hannah Ryan, Greta Gerwig’s, Margot Robbie didn’t, Robbie, Gerwig, Hillary Clinton, Ryan Gosling, Ken, Barbie’s, Barbie ”, “ Barbie, ”, Frances Ha ”, Barbie, Ken –, It’s, Sofia Coppola’s “ Priscilla ”, Priscilla Presley’s, Elvis –, Molly Manning Walker’s, –, Ava DuVernay’s, Cailee Spaeny, Mia Mckenna, Bruce, Aunjanue Ellis, Taylor, Isabel Wilkerson’s, Priscilla ”, Lily Gladstone, Martin Scorsese, Gladstone, Bird ”, Wes Anderson’s, Rockwell’s, haven’t Organizations: CNN International, CNN, Mattel, Academy, Pulitzer, Cannes Film Locations: The, A.V

But Greta Gerwig not being among the five best director nominees for this year’s Oscars is one of the biggest shocks in recent memory. Here are some other major “snubs” and “surprises” from Oscar nomination morning. Gerwig was previously nominated for best director for “Lady Bird,” and missing out for “Little Woman” was even a snub. “The Super Mario Bros.” movie, the second highest grossing film of the year was completely shut out from nominations including animation. ‘SALTBURN’ GOES DOWN THE DRAINListen, we didn’t really think that Emerald Fennell’s “Saltburn” would make a big splash nominations morning, but it had been trending that way based on its popularity on Prime Video over the holidays.

Persons: Barbie, Greta Gerwig, ”, Oscar, GRETA GERWIG, Gerwig, “ Barbie, Lady Bird, Justine Triet, James Cameron, Joseph Kosinski, Ava DuVernay, Aunjanue Ellis, Isabel Wilkerson, It’s, —, Gina Prince, Bythewood’s, DuVernay’s, Selma ”, Halle Berry, Barrino, CHARLES MELTON, Charles Melton’s, Sterling K, Brown, ” “, Samy Burch, MARGOT ROBBIE OUT, Margot Robbie, America Ferrera, Robbie, DIANE WARREN, BARBIE, Diane Warren, Warren, Barbie ”, “, Ken ”, ” Oscar, Aki Kaurismäki’s, ’, Celine, Greta Lee's, Mario, Princess Peach, Anderson, Pedro Almodóvar, Pedro Pascal, Ethan Hawke, Wes Anderson, Roald Dahl, Henry Sugar, ‘, Sophie Ellis Organizations: “, ACADEMY, Sterling, AMERICA, MARIO Locations: LIPA, France, Cannes, U.S

☆ Niecy Nash-Betts on 'Dahmer,' 'Reno 911!,' 'Origin' & Acting With Her Kids
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

and whether she'd return for a new seasonNiecy Nash-Betts in costume as Raineesha Williams from "Reno 911!" David X Prutting/Patrick McMullan via Getty ImagesYou wore a prosthetic butt while playing Raineesha Williams on "Reno 911!" AdvertisementOn kissing Glen Powell in front of his mom for 'Scream Queens,' and the quote from her character Denise that fans still loveNiecy Nash-Betts as Denise on "Scream Queens." Your "Scream Queens" costar Glen Powell is certainly having a moment with his new movie right now. And also from "Scream Queens," I would want to do something with Keke Palmer.

Persons: Raineesha Williams, Simone Clark, Niecy Nash, Betts, Nash, Ryan Murphy, Ava DuVernay, Dahmer, Jeffrey Dahmer, DuVernay, Isabel Wilkerson, Aunjanue Ellis, Marion, Wilkerson's, Wilkerson, —, David X Prutting, Patrick McMullan, you've, Raineesha, Kerri Kenney, Silver, we've, Glen Powell, Denise, Brad Falchuk, Glenn, Evan Peters, Glenda Cleveland, Evan, I've, Dominick Nash, Donielle Nash, Jessica Betts, Dia Nash, Araya Doheny, Tiffany Haddish, Keke Palmer Organizations: Reno, Los, AMC, Pride, Getty, Netflix, HBO Locations: Murphy's, Los Angeles, Georgia, Chad, Netflix's, New Orleans

With a dearth of new releases in cinemas, Paramount Pictures' Tina Fey-scripted musical “Mean Girls” pushed its two-week total past $50 million, along with $16.2 million internationally. The top 10 films collectively accounted for just $51.3 million in box office, according to Comscore. The Jason Statham thriller “The Beekeeper,” from Amazon MGM Studios, remained in second place, grossing $8.5 million in its second weekend to bring its total to $31.1 million. Warner Bros. “Wonka,” six weeks into its smash run in theaters, was third, with $6.4 million in ticket sales. In its fourth week of release, the Blitz Bazawule-directed film starring Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson and Danielle Brooks, grossed just $720,000.

Persons: Oscar, Tina Fey, it's, Ariana DeBose, Jason Statham, “ Wonka, It's, Sydney Sweeney, Glen Powell, Bridget Jones's Baby, Ava DuVernay's “, Aunjanue Ellis, Taylor, Isabel Wilkerson, Yorgos, Emma Stone, Cord Jefferson's, ”, Jeffrey Wright, Jonathan Glazer’s, Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P, Henson, Danielle Brooks, Comscore, “ I.S.S Organizations: Paramount Pictures, U.S, Bleecker, Audiences, Hollywood, Amazon MGM Studios, Warner Bros, Sony Pictures, Searchlight, Globe Locations: Russia

☆ Opinion: ‘Origin’ brilliantly exposes America’s caste system. Here’s how we tear it down
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( Keith Magee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

And underpinning that racism is what Wilkerson refers to as a caste system so effective at preserving the domination of White people over everyone else that the Nazis were inspired by it. Caste, Wilkerson says, is the system that creates subjugation. We watch Isabel exploring Germany’s poignant memorials to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, discussing in one scene how successfully post-war Germany condemned its 12-year caste system to the past. Among Black Americans, attitudes to race are evolving. Every single one of us has skin in the game, for, as Wilkerson points out, the caste system diminishes us all, wherever we may sit in its fabricated hierarchy.

Persons: Keith Magee, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, “ We’ve, Keith Magee Arron Dunworth, Ava DuVernay, Isabel Wilkerson’s, Wilkerson, ”, —, ” Keith Magee, DuVernay, Aunjanue Ellis, Taylor, Du Bois, Martin Luther King Jr, it’s, Ellis, Isabel, MAGA, Hurt, ” Wilkerson, don’t, It’s Organizations: University College London Institute for Innovation, CNN, GOP, Fox News, Black Locations: White, India, Nazi Germany, Black, Germany

☆ ‘American Fiction,’ ‘Origin’ and the Pressures Black Writers Face
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Salamishah Tillet | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“We younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame,” a young Langston Hughes proclaimed in an essay nearly 100 years ago. “If white people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, it doesn’t matter.”Seeking to establish his autonomy as a Black writer, he concluded, “If colored people are pleased we are glad. Like Hughes, the protagonists of these movies — the journalist Isabel Wilkerson and the novelist Thelonious Ellison, known as Monk — strive to write as they please. But, by depicting their characters’ struggles, the films offer refreshing commentaries on the social construction of race and its devastating consequences for those at the bottom of the hierarchy.

Persons: ”, Langston Hughes, “, Ava DuVernay’s “, Cord Jefferson’s, Black, Hughes, Isabel Wilkerson, Thelonious Ellison, Monk —, ’ Organizations: Negro

☆ Ava DuVernay on her ‘rebellious and radical’ new film ‘Origin’ and the ‘caste system of Hollywood’
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Thomas Page | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

With “Origin,” her latest film, she was forced to dig in a little deeper. She built that film herself – it’s an absolutely Herculean effort.”Jon Bernthal and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor star as a married couple in Ava DuVernay's film "Origin." Atsushi Nishijima/NEON“Origin” began life at Netflix before DuVernay split and pivoted to independent financing (the film is distributed in the US by Neon). “Because we were making a film about this idea of caste, this system of hierarchy, (DuVernay) wanted to do away with that on set,” she said. The streamer had reportedly eyed a 2025 release, but the director wanted the film out well ahead of the 2024 US election.

Persons: CNN —, ‘, ‘ That’s, ” Ava DuVernay, Isabel Wilkerson, namechecked, Barack Obama, “ Selma, ”, DuVernay, Wilkerson, Niecy Nash, Betts, Marion, “, Jon Bernthal, Brett, Wilkerson’s, – it’s, ” Jon Bernthal, Aunjanue Ellis, Taylor, Ava DuVernay's, Atsushi Nishijima, ” DuVernay, Oscar, “ King Richard, that’s what’s, George Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin, Husband Brett, Ellis, ” Brett, Bernthal “, Nash, let’s, ” Bernthal, I’ve, it’s, undersells Organizations: CNN, Pulitzer, Netflix, DuVernay, Reich Locations: United States, India, Nazi Germany, Texas, Delhi, Germany

NEW YORK (AP) — Ava DuVernay kept hearing she had to read “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.” She had Isabel Wilkerson’s book in galleys before it was published in 2020. “At one point, a high-profile director said to me, ‘I heard you got the book,’” DuVernay says. “That’s what I thought.”Political Cartoons View All 253 Images“Origin,” DuVernay’s new film, isn’t a direct adaptation of Wilkerson’s book. It feels like a miracle.”DuVernay calls “Origin” the film she’s proudest of, partly because of how she made it outside the studio system. To not feel like ‘Oh, I didn’t go to film school and I’m just skating by,'" DuVernay says.

Persons: — Ava DuVernay, Isabel Wilkerson’s, Oprah Winfrey, ‘, ” DuVernay, ’, ”, George Floyd, Wilkerson, ” “ Selma ”, “, DuVernay, Aunjaneu Ellis, Taylor, “ She’s Indiana Jones, She’s, Ellis, Taylor hadn’t, Paul Garnes, Garnes, —, Robert Wood Johnson, Melinda Gates, Chris Paul, Trayvon Martin, Jim Crow, Jon Bernthal, Emily Yancy, ” Ellis, Oscar, “ King Arthur, she’s, Selma ’, I’ve, I’m, Martin, doesn’t, it’s, Jake Coyle Organizations: “, Venice Film, Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, NBA, Suns, LBJ, Venice, Walt Disney Co Locations: “, United States, Venice, Nazi Germany, Mississippi, India, American

☆ Ava DuVernay makes history with Venice premiere of 'Origin'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Crispian Balmer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

VENICE, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Award-winning director Ava DuVernay on Wednesday became the first African American woman to present a movie in competition at the Venice Film Festival, overcoming sceptics who had tried to talk her out of applying. "I can't tell you how many times I have been told: 'Don't apply for Venice, you won't get in'. Something happened that hadn't happened in eight decades before, an African American women in competition." DuVernay said it would have been impossible to put together such a cast with a studio in charge. "Origin" is one of 23 movie competing for the coveted Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival, which ends on Sept. 9.

Persons: Ava DuVernay, sceptics, DuVernay, Isabel Wilkerson, Jim Crow, Wilkerson, Suraj Yengde, Selma, Martin Luther King's, Aunjanue Ellis, Taylor, Jon Bernthal, Crispian Balmer, Nick Macfie Organizations: Venice Film, Blacks, Golden, Thomson Locations: VENICE, American, Venice, African American, Nazi Germany, United States, India, Indian

☆ How School Integration Upended a ‘Most Tolerant Little Town’
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Samuel G. Freedman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

A MOST TOLERANT LITTLE TOWN: The Explosive Beginning of School Desegregation, by Rachel Louise MartinIn the dozen years since I read “The Warmth of Other Suns,” Isabel Wilkerson’s narrative masterpiece about the Great Migration, one passage has remained embedded in my mind. It is a description of Black men, women and children picking cotton in the 1920s. I was put in mind of that passage as I read Rachel Louise Martin’s “A Most Tolerant Little Town,” her unsparing account of an early effort at school desegregation in the Jim Crow South. It is another to be confronted with a meticulous, day-by-day reconstruction of relentless bigotry in action. To read “A Most Tolerant Little Town” is to be flooded with cross burnings, mob riots, night-riding raids, bombings, street-corner ambushes and racial slurs.

Persons: Rachel Louise Martin, ” Isabel Wilkerson’s, Wilkerson, boll, Rachel Louise Martin’s “, Jim Crow, Martin Organizations: School, Suns Locations: Little, Clinton, Tenn

LLANO, Texas, April 13 (Reuters) - A rural Texas county's public libraries will remain open while a court battle continues over whether local officials can remove books deemed inappropriate, commissioners decided on Thursday. "Does Llano, Texas, want to be known as the town that closed the public library?" No state bans more books than Texas, according to PEN America. "Public libraries are not meant to serve particular ideological factions," said Kasey Meehan, who directs the "Freedom to Read" project of PEN America. Reporting by Evan Garcia in Llano, Texas, and Brad Brooks in Lubbock, Texas; editing by Donna Bryson and Sonali PaulOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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