Cate Blanchett complains about “the televised horse race of it all” while accepting a Critic’s Choice Award; Damien Chazelle is glad some people don’t like Babylon; A list of our favorite Netflix true crime documentaries and docuseries. All in today’s Movie News Rundown.
But First: Our latest list of the Best Places to Live and Work as a MovieMaker will be out tomorrow, Wednesday, January 18, at noon PT/3 ET. We have new cities at the top of the Big Cities and Smaller Cities and Towns lists and we’re excited about all the new film hubs joining both sections of the list for the first time. Also, because we’ll be emailing out the list, we won’t email out the Rundown tomorrow — we try to keep emails to the minimum, believe it or not. See you tomorrow!
True Crime, Please: If you, like me, are questioning whether you might be addicted to watching true crime, then I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is I compiled a list of 10 of the best true crime docs on Netflix. The bad news is I compiled a list of 10 of the best true crime docs on Netflix.
Awards Chatter: Variety‘s Clayton Davis thinks that Everything Everywhere All At Once and Brendan Fraser’s wins at the Critics Choice Awards prove that they have a real chance of winning the best picture and best actor prizes at the Oscars in March. Voting for Oscar nominations is closing today, so we don’t know what the pool will look like for sure yet, but we will soon — and Fraser (The Whale) will likely be up against Austin Butler for Elvis and Colin Farrell for Banshees of Inisherin, the latter of which will also likely be in the best picture race against Everything Everywhere along with probably Tár and The Fabelmans (again, these are just educated guesses).
The Scariest Thing About of M3Gan: On the latest Low Key podcast, your hosts Keith Dennie, Aaron Lanton and Tim Molloy talk about how the murders in M3GAN aren’t so scary — what’s scary is the film’s very solid observations about the dangerous interface of technology and children. They also talk about The Dance. Listen on Apple or wherever you get your podcasts or here:
Julia Louis-Dreyfus: Is a movie star now. She stars in You Hurt My Feelings, premiering this upcoming week at Sundance. I’m headed there tomorrow, and I can’t wait to see it. She plays a writer who overhears her husband talking smack about her work, which leads her to question all the praise he’s given her over the years. Variety has a very nice profile on Louis-Dreyfus in which she shares a similar anecdote about hearing criticism from her father.
If You Like Cool VFX: Then meet Zechariah Thormodsgaard, the Minnesota-based founder of motion design and visual effects company Gaardhouse. He’s also the director and producer of a new sci-fi short film called “Convergence” about an astronaut who confronts multiple realities while on a mission to destroy a deep-space anomaly threatening Earth. Read our profile on Thormodsgaard here.
Damien Chazelle Is Glad, Actually: That not everyone liked Babylon. “It’s good to have something that stimulates conversation and debate and a lot of fierce opinions on either side. We all knew the movie was gonna ruffle some feathers and get some people mad, and I think that’s good. More movies should do that,” Chazelle told Insider.
Cate Blanchett Has Something to Say: The actress won a Critics Choice Award for best actress in Tár, and her acceptance speech has made headlines for calling out the “patriarchal pyramid” of awards shows. “I can’t believe I’m up here. This is ridiculous! I’m so old! Thank you, and thank you to all my fellow nominees. Look, I would love it if we would just change this whole fucking structure,” Blanchett said. “It’s like, what is this patriarchal pyramid where someone stands up here? …Why don’t we just say there was a whole raft of female performances that are in concert and in dialogue with one another? And stop the televised horse race of it all?” she added. “Can I tell you, every single woman, whether television, film, advertising, tampon commercials, whatever, you’re all out doing amazing work that is inspiring me continually. So thank you, I share this with you all.” Watch her speech below:
Main Image: Cate Blanchett in Tár courtesy of Focus Features
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