Scene 2 Seen Podcast: Cord Jefferson And Jermaine Johnson Address The Underlying Message Of ‘American Fiction’

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. 

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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.

Variety rounded up some of our favorite creators behind several films recently shortlisted by the Academy to discuss the work that goes into making these now iconic cinematic moments. From “American Fiction’s” score to the heartrending tunes of “Flora and Son,” the artisans went deep on their process and revealed the layers of thought and intent inside their work.

Nominations for the 30th annual SAG Awards were announced Wednesday, with Barbie and Oppenheimer mirroring their big summers at the box office by leading the way with four nominations apiece in the movie races, while on the TV side the last season of Succession scored five noms to lead the field.

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!

The Hollywood awards season kicks into full gear this weekend with Sunday’s Golden Globes ceremony, and actors are pondering how to enjoy the onslaught of attention and survive the ups and downs.Britain’s Carey Mulligan, a two-time Oscar nominee who is vying this year for a Best Actress Golden Globe for her role in “Maestro,” cuts to the chase: “Oh, just enjoy it and have fun and don’t take it too seriously.”Mulligan said she is delighted by what she calls “a lovely sisterhood” of actresses nominated this year, including Margot Robbie, Emma Stone, Lily Gladstone and Greta Lee.Oscar-winning Stone, nominated for a Best Actress Golden Globe for “Poor Things,” acknowledged that the awards season is both “very nerve-wracking and very exciting.”On the arrivals line at the Palm Springs Film Festival this week, Golden Globe nominees shared their mix of elation, disorientation, and the need to take care of one’s mind, body, and spirit. The season runs through the Oscars on March 10 and includes several awards show stops and countless interviews.“It is a lot of attention on the project, that’s good, but at the same time I can understand how someone can get a little sideways with this runaway circus,” said Jeffrey Wright, nominated for best actor for “American Fiction,” adding, “I want our film to be seen.”Colman Domingo, vying for his first Golden Globe for best actor in “Rustin,” said the advice he gets from actors who have been through the awards season is to focus on self-care.“So don’t think about who is winning, don’t think about those things,” Domingo said.

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

Da’Vine Joy Randolph is one of the biggest breakout stars of the year and she’s getting a lot of awards love right now!

Stuart Miller Hollywood being what it is, “This Is Us” star Sterling K. Brown has spent years deflecting roles to yet again play “a Black guy in a white family who’s finding his way in.” Brown said no because he’s adamant about not getting pigeonholed, as he demonstrated this year by shifting to “Biosphere,” a post-apocalyptic two-hander with Mark Duplass, and then “American Fiction,” which is simultaneously a family drama, a meta-literary satire and a commentary on race in America today. “I wouldn’t want to do three movies in a row with the same kind of role,” he says.