Jeffrey Wright Says Studio Hired a Replacement Actor to Dub Him After He Refused to Censor the N-Word in a Film: ‘Nah. That’s Not Happening’

Composer Laura Karpman received her first Oscar nomination on Tuesday for Amazon MGM Studios’ American Fiction in Music (Original Score). 

The nominations for the 2024 Oscars are finally here, and we have the full list for you to see!

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The Oscars nominations might not have given everything the people wanted, but diversity in the acting categories had several high points to celebrate. Lily Gladstone made history as the first Native American nominated for best actress, for her towering role as Mollie Burkhart in the crime thriller “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Colman Domingo became the first Afro Latino nominated in best actor for his powerhouse performance in the civil rights drama “Rustin.” He’s joined by fellow Black nominee Jeffrey Wright for “American Fiction.” This is only the second time in Oscar history where more than one Black actor, who wasn’t either Will Smith or Denzel Washington, was nominated for the leading prize.

Golden Globes and Emmy Awards aired. This year’s ceremony will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, marking his fourth time as emcee.“We are thrilled about Jimmy returning to host and Molly [McNearney] returning as executive producer for the Oscars,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang previously said in a statement.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director One of the boldest movies premiering at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival is “The American Society of Magical Negroes,” directed by Kobi Libii. The film takes aim at the Magical Negro stereotype and centers on a young man (Justice Smith) who is recruited into a society in which African American members are tasked with ensuring that white people’s lives remain easy. Libii, Smith and co-star David Alan Grier visited the Variety Studio presented by Audible and spoke about the reactions to their button-pushing satire.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Jodie Foster said at the Variety Studio presented by Audible while at the Sundance Film Festival that the $1.4 billion success of “Barbie” helps prove that Hollywood no longer views women directors as too much of a risk. That wasn’t always the case, as Foster often saw women filmmakers being marginalized during her career ascent in Hollywood. “I’ve had the beauty of being able to be in the business since the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and so on,” Foster said to Variety’s Rebecca Rubin.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Jodie Foster graced the cover of Time magazine in 1991 when she was 28 years old and set to direct her first feature, “Little Man Tate.” She said at the time that “this is not a business that is kind to women” who aspire to be directors, but her tune has changed 32 years later. “Sometimes I read things I said in my 20s and I’m like, really? But that’s a pretty good one,” she recently told Time in 2023 during an interview for her role on HBO’s “True Detective: Night Country.” “When I was young, there were really no American women directors, maybe a few,” she said. “I didn’t think I was allowed to be a director.

Jaden Thompson The complete program for the 39th Santa Barbara International Film Festival has been announced. Taking place from Feb. 7-17, the festival will open with the world premiere of the documentary “Madu,” directed by Matt Ogens and Joel ‘Kachi Benson.

Ava DuVernay’s time-hopping drama Origin, debut filmmaker Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction, and Blitz Bazawule’s musical take on The Color Purple lead the winners at the 15th annual African American Film Critics Awards. Scroll down for the full list. 

There are so many celebs in attendance at the 2024 Critics Choice Awards and we have all the red carpet photos for you in one place!

The 2024 Critics Choice Awards show is happening this weekend and we’re here to remind you about the nominees!

Jeffrey Wright, star of Cord Jefferson’s provocative debut feature American Fiction, says he felt a personal affinity with his character Thelonious ‘Monk’ Ellison in the film, in part because of the challenges Monk experiences with regard to family issues. Monk is an author and a professor of English literature who discovers he may have to lower his standards to attain some kind of glory in the phony world of publishing. We follow him as he takes an enforced leave of absence to care for his ailing mother, a situation that the actor himself is painfully familiar with — Wright’s mother died a year before he received Jefferson’s script.

“Satire is a dangerous game In Hollywood,” Billy Wilder once observed. “It invites self-immolation.” Still, the satiric spirit looms large in many of this year’s buzzworthy movies: American Fiction, Poor Things, Saltburn, Air, The Holdovers and even Barbie.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The SAG Awards nominations provided an exciting blend of usual suspects and stunning omissions. For some awards season strategists — particularly the ones behind critically adored films like “Anatomy of a Fall” and “May December” — there’s no choice but to ask, “what happened?” The SAG Awards’ pearl anniversary brought expected mentions for Oscar contenders such as the two summer smash hits “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” leading the tally for all movies with four nominations each. In addition, the crime epic “Killers of the Flower Moon” and the satirical dramedy “American Fiction” managed three mentions.

Jaden Thompson AARP The Magazine has announced the nominees for the annual Movies for Grownups (MFG) Awards. “Barbie,” “The Color Purple,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Maestro” and “Oppenheimer” will contend for best picture/best movie for grownups.

Amid the flood of awards-season nominations comes AARP, whose Movies for Grownups Awards noms arrived today. Oppenheimer leads the way with six mentions, followed by Killers of the Flower Moon with five. Both will vie for Best Picture alongside Barbie, The Color Purple and Maestro.

The Best Actor nominees are hitting the red carpet.

Jaden Thompson Paul Giamatti dedicated his Golden Globe win to teachers, accepting the award for best performance by an actor in a motion picture – musical or comedy. Giamatti stars in Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers” as a curmudgeonly New England prep school instructor who must stay on campus over winter break, forming bonds with a student (Dominic Sessa) and the school’s cook (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). “It’s a movie about a teacher.

Searchlight Pictures’ Poor Things rounded out the top ten this weekend and American Fiction from Amazon MGM Studios continued its slow burn with both films in the running for big awards at the Golden Globes tonight.

There was a big party last night ahead of the Golden Globes!