Oscar Contenders Are Scarce After 2020 Fall Festivals

Murray Schisgal, the comedy writer who received two Tony nominations for his work on the 1960s Broadway hit Luv and an Oscar nomination for his contribution to the screenplay for Tootsie, has died. He was 93.

Patrick Hipes Executive Managing EditorNewFest is hosting a reading of Ang Lee’s groundbreaking Brokeback Mountain at its New York LGBTQ Film Festival on October 18, employing an all-trans cast for the event that commemorates the film’s 15th anniversary.The cast features Leo Sheng (The L Word) as Ennis, Brian Michael Smith (911: Lone Star) as Jack, Jen Richards (Tales of the City) as Alma, Alexandra Grey (Empire) as Lurleen and Disclosure director Sam Feder as the narrator.The original film

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaThe 58th edition of the New York Film Festival is unlike any of the previous 57 iterations. Coronavirus restrictions on public gatherings forced the festival’s organizers to overhaul their usual approach to highlighting the best of cinema.

Francis And The Godfather, focusing on the making of The Godfather.Isaac will play Francis Ford Coppola, who directed the 1972 classic, while Gyllenhaal has been cast as producer Robert Evans.The film is set to be directed by Barry Levinson, who also made Rain Man and Good Morning, Vietnam.Francis and the Godfather will map Coppola’s struggle at the age of 31 to convince studios to make the film.

Bethenny Frankel posted a rare video with her 10-year-old daughter Bryn after confirming she and Jason Hoppy are still legally married.The Real Housewives of New York alum, 49, shared the clip via her Instagram Story on Friday, September 25, ahead of Bryn’s first day of school.“On my way to get a mammogram today just ahead of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Hope you’re doing well,” Frankel said in the video.

Andrew Barker Senior Features WriterJust judging by the slate, last year’s New York Film Festival offered a testament to the nearly six-decade-old fest’s place in the fall awards circuit firmament, and in New York filmgoing culture.

Also Read: New York Comic Con 2020 Schedule: Here Are All the Must-See 'Metaverse' Virtual PanelsGames were first partially included in the Tribeca awards roughly a decade years ago, the organization said, when Rockstar Games’ detective thriller “L.A. Noir” was the first video game to be an official selection in the festival.

Janet W. Lee NewFest, New York’s LGBTQ film and media organization, has announced its program for the 32nd New York LGBTQ Film Festival.

Patrick Hipes Executive Managing EditorThe hybrid in-person/virtual New York LGBTQ Film Festival will kick off October 16 with the Kate Winslet-Saoirse Ronan movie Ammonite as its opening-night film.

2020 Emmys offered a teachable moment for Zendaya fans, who were apparently confused by the meaning of “upset.”The 24-year-old’s surprise victory for her portrayal of Rue Bennett in HBO’s “Euphoria” over acting vets Jennifer Aniston, Laura Linney, Olivia Colman, Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh left groupies shocked — over the New York Post’s tweet announcing Zendaya’s Lead Actress in a Drama Series win.“Biggest upset: Zendaya wins Emmys 2020 over Jennifer Aniston, Laura Linney,” read The Post’s tweet,

Earlier in the week, the 2020 incarnation of the New York Film Festival got underway officially, with one part of Steve McQueen’s Small Axe anthology, Lovers Rock, serving as the Opening Night Selection. Having seen it, the movie serves as both a strong start for NYFF this year, as well as a smaller and far less awards friendly selection.

Dade Hayes Finance EditorApplause is often the soundtrack of film festival screenings, especially on opening night.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film CriticIn the most transporting scene of Steve McQueen’s “Lovers Rock,” we’re at a London house party that has just hit its smoky seductive dirty-dancing groove. It’s 1980, and most of the revelers have West Indian roots.

Todd McCarthy Watching Lovers Rock is akin to going to see Romeo and Juliet and only staying through the first act, to departing a basketball game after the first quarter, to sipping the soup and skipping the rest of the meal. A mere wisp of a thing, Steve McQueen’s 68-minute feature, the only fictional section of a five-film anthology called Small Axe about London’s West Indian community between the late 1960s and 1980, steeps you in the atmosphere and music of the latter date.

canceled altogether, while this month’s New York Film Festival will mix mostly online viewing with a few outdoor screenings in Brooklyn, Queens and The Bronx. Only Venice has been totally brick-and-mortar.The pandemic has taught us a few things: For starters, more straight-to-digital releases from major studios will come in the future and many of us will work from home indefinitely.

Madonna has teamed up with Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody to pen the story of her life for a big-screen biopic.Madonna will direct and produce the film, and also lead the search for a young unknown who will portray her.The movie, which Madonna has teased may be called Live to Tell, will chronicle the pop superstar’s rise from unknown New York dancer to chart-topper.“I want to convey the incredible journey that life has taken me on as an artist, a musician, a dancer – a human being,

The 58th New York Film Festival is right around the corner. Early next week, the virtual press screenings begin, while the fest officially starts up on September 17th (running from then all the way until October 11th).

Clayton Davis In a surprising twist to an already crazy year for movies, the New York Film Critics Circle, one of the most prestigious and oldest film critic groups in the country, announced that the organization will not take cues from the Academy Awards and extend their voting deadline. Instead, the group will vote for their 2020 plaudits on Dec.