‘Monica,’ ‘The Color Purple’ and More Films Bringing Queer Representation Into Oscar Race

Zack Sharf Digital News Director The 2024 Oscar nominations have arrived, and it was a huge morning for the likes of Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things” as predicted. Nolan’s atomic bomb epic led the pack with 13 nominations, further cementing its status as a best picture frontrunner after winning top prizes at the Golden Globes and Critic’s Choice Awards earlier this season. As is always the case on Oscar nominations morning, dozens of critically-acclaimed films found themselves with zero nominations.

Billie Eilish’s ‘What Was I Made For?’ and Ryan Gosling’s ‘I’m Just Ken’ are among the tracks nominated for Best Original Song at this year’s Oscars.The two compositions for the film Barbie are among the five nominees in the category, which were announced earlier today (January 23).The other songs to get a nod were ‘Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)’ from Killers of the Flower Moon, with music and lyrics by Scott George, ‘It Never Went Away’ by Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson, from American Symphony, and ‘The Fire Inside’ by Diane Warren, from Flamin’ Hot.It is the second Oscar nomination for Eilish, who previously won in this category in 2022 for writing and performing the title track of the James Bond film No Time to Die. She wrote ‘What Was I Made For?’ with her brother Finneas O’Connell, and it has also been nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the Grammys.Were she to win, Eilish would join an elite group of composers to have won multiple Academy Awards for Best Original Song, a list that includes Elton John, Randy Newman, Burt Bacharach, Tim Rice and Giorgio Moroder.‘I’m Just Ken’ was written by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, the latter of whom is the frontman of Swedish electro-pop band Miike Snow.

Matthew Perry and Angus Cloud.Towards the end of the ceremony, which took place on the early morning of January 16 (January 15 in the U.S), Charlie Puth and singer-songwriter duo The War And Treaty performed for the award show’s In Memoriam segment, paying their respects to the deceased.Puth kicked off the performance with a piano-led arrangement of ‘See You Again’, and was joined in by The War And Treaty after its first chorus.

Michaela Zee The African American Film Critics Association has announced the winners of the 15th annual AAFCA Awards, which honors outstanding achievement in film. “American Fiction,” “The Color Purple” and “Origin” all scored multiple honors, with “American Fiction” and “The Color Purple” leading with four wins apiece.

The stars of The Color Purple are here at the 2024 Critics Choice Awards!

On this morning’s Crew Call, we talk with The Color Purple producers Oprah Winfrey and Scott Sanders on blazing a path for their Broadway musical to the big screen.

After spending 30-plus years honing his craft for stage and screen, Colman Domingo is more than ready for his close-up. Considering the actor’s versatile resume, which includes memorable performances in Selma, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Fear the Walking Dead, or his Emmy-winning role on Euphoria and a handful of Tony nominations, it’s bewildering that his recent portrayal of civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, in Netflix’s Rustin, marks his first leading role and Golden Globe nomination. Also, this year, Domingo features in another highly acclaimed film, The Color Purple, where he plays the dastardly Mister.

The sisterhood between Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks began on Broadway. That is, the sisterhood of the order of The Color Purple. Both women starred on stage in the musical adaptation of Alice Walker’s 1982 Pulitzer-prize winning novel. Barrino spent 10 months in 2007 playing Celie, the poor country girl who survives an abusive step-father and husband and realizes her worth.

Director Steven Spielberg’s 1985 version of Alice Walker’s classic, “The Color Purple,” has always been heavily debated. Many knock it for being too tidy and toning down the lesbian love story at its heart. Others, though, consider it a classic and a film that has withstood the test of time a lot better than the movie it lost the Best Picture Oscar to, “Out of Africa.”

during a live Q&A session on Friday with the film’s cast. According to the actress, they also were not given any food. “You corrected it for us,” Brooks told Winfrey, 69, who said she heard about the situation from Henson, 53.

Hello and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast. I am Valerie Complex, an associate editor and film writer at Deadline.

Danielle Brooks and Taraji P. Henson pose together on the red carpet at the 2024 Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards.

Nick Clement The way an actor approaches and prepares for a role can be different with each project, and in some instances, the material presents specific obstacles that make the experience even more personally fulfilling or transcendent. This is true for actors of any age but is especially notable for a trio of younger talent in this awards season. One of the year’s best performances arrived in last summer’s coming-of-age dramedy, “Are You There, God? It’s Me Margaret,” from the now-15-year-old Abby Ryder Fortson.

Alliance of Women Film Journalists have announced the winners of the annual AWFJ EDA awards. “Barbie” took home multiple awards in the “Best Of” category, including Best Director for Greta Gerwig, Original Screenplay for Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, Supporting Actor for Ryan Gosling, and the film’s casting directors Lucy Brava and Allison Jones also took home an award.

Carrie Bernans was left critically injured after a hit-and-run in New York City.

The Color Purple” in 2007 because of trauma from a sexual assault that resurfaced when she took on the role.“That was around the time that my life was so crazy, so it was almost like carrying my cross and Celie’s cross. I didn’t know how to come out of the character,” Barrino, 39, told People.Nevertheless, Barrino reprised her role as Celie — who was also a victim of sexual assault — in “The Color Purple” film, which was released last week.The songstress revealed that she almost didn’t accept the part when director Blitz Bazawule asked her to star in the film.

Fantasia Barrino is sharing how she really felt about playing the lead role of Celie in The Color Purple on Broadway.

The movie The Color Purple is currently in theaters and winning over audiences around the country!

Oprah Winfrey was part of the original 1985 film cast of The Color Purple, but decided not to make a cameo in the 2023 version in theaters now. If you don’t know, Oprah portrayed the role of Sofia in 1985 and was Oscar nominated for her role. She acted as a producer this go around.

Steven J. Horowitz Senior Music Writer Nestled amid a tale of hardship and torment, “Keep It Movin'” is a bright spot in the newly released adaptation of “The Color Purple.” Just as sisters Nettie and Celie (Halle Bailey and Phylicia Pearl Mpasi) are about to be torn from one another, they find a brief moment of respite and optimism as they sing to one another on the beach. “Nothing’s gonna take you down, oh / Just let it go / Life can never break your soul,” sings Nettie, instilling a feeling of hope that flickers and wanes in Celie as the film endures.