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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ board of governors announced some sweeping changes to the Oscars recently, and pretty much all of them were bad. In an effort to cut the telecast down to three hours, the Academy has decided that not all 24 awards are worthy of being handed out during the actual show, and thus will announce select Oscar winners off-air during commercial breaks. There are many problems with this (which I outlined here), but I wanted to zero in on the other big change: the addition of a category for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film....

The SundanceTV seriesRectifyhas consistently been one of the best dramas on television since it premiered in 2013, making you fall in love with its characters, feel sympathy and understanding for them, and have your heart broken by them, in the most human of ways. Now in its fourth and final season, we have eight episodes left before we have to bid farewell to Daniel Holden (Aden Young), the man who returned to his small hometown in Georgia after serving 19 years on death row, and hope that he can get to a place of happiness, hope and purpose in his life....

For the first time in SAG Awards history, people of color took home the coveted prize in all four film acting categories.Viola DavisandChadwick Bosemanwon for their leading roles inMa Rainey’s Black Bottom, whileDaniel KaluuyaandYuh-Jung Younwon for their supporting performances inJudas and the Black MessiahandMinari, respectively. Viola Davis beat out fierce competition, includingAmy Adams(Hillbilly Elegy),Vanessa Kirby(Pieces of a Woman),Frances McDormand(Nomadland), andCarey Mulligan(Promising Young Woman). Davis embodied Ma Rainey’s fearlessness and demanding presence....

Today at the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas, our own Steve Weintraub was on hand to snap some shots of the studios' displays for a variety of upcoming movies and TV series. The expo is where vendors get a chance to see what they might want to spend their money on in the coming months (or years), similar to last week’s TV Upfronts, where ad buyers get a song and dance about how “the best is yet to come, so give us your billions!...

Well it’s notMan of Steel 2, but Warner Bros. is officially developing aSupergirlmovie. The news comes via Deadline, who reports thatOren Uziel—whose credits range from22 Jump StreettoThe Cloverfield Paradoxto writing and directing the Netflix filmShimmer Lake—is working on the script. Beyond that, there’s really not much else. This is a project that is in the very early stages, and doesn’t even have a producer yet, but clearly Warner Bros. and DC are interested enough in bringingSupergirlto the big screen to get the ball rolling....

TheTerminator: Dark Fatepanel is underway at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con and producerJames Cameronhas dropped a couple bits of fascinating information. First up, he says thatEdward Furlongis on board to return as John Connor. This will mark the first time in theTerminatorfilm that an actor has played the role of Connor more than once. Furlong, who played the character first inTerminator 2: Judgment Daywas followed byNick StahlinTerminator 3: Rise of the Machines....

Robert Pattinsonrecently spilled the details on his audition forThe Batman. Unlike most audition stories, this one sees the actor trying to outsmart hisTenetdirector,Christopher Nolansince Pattinson was filming the delayed Warner Bros. feature whenThe Batmanauditions came around. To read Pattinson’s words is to know true sympathy because the actor’s game plan for sneaking away from set should ring very true for those of us who’ve been looking for a new job while still at our old job....

With the Apple TV+ seriesThe Morning Shownow streaming in over 100 countries and regions around the world, I recently sat down withKaren PittmanandNéstor Carbonellfor an exclusive interview. If you’re not familiar withThe Morning Show, the series is inspired by journalistBrian Stelter’sbook,Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TVand starsJennifer Aniston,Reese WitherspoonandSteve Carell. As the series begins, Aniston and Carell are the hosts of the number one morning news program (thinkGood Morning Americaor theTodayshow) titled The Morning Show....

Alright folks, end of the line! FX hired on some big guns forThe Strain’s Season 2 finale, bringing onSpliceandCubedirectorVincenzo Natali(most recently know for some MVP directing onHannibal). He’s a natural fit for the series, and with Natali behind the camera,The Strain’s technicolor palette is cranked up to overdrive, a wash of blue, red, green and orange. Most importantly, Natali delivers a rousing conclusion to a fun season fraught with consistent story issues....

Fans ofperiod romances and dramasare having their day in the sun as far as television is concerned. WithBridgertonbeing a certified hit, bringing in eyes and bucks to Netflix, not only has the streamer raised the bet in the form ofQueen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, but other platforms have also been trying to surf this wave. The newest entry to the list of shows that appeal to fans of the ton — who are still waiting for Season 3, by the way!...

Whether you do it in a book, movie, or TV series, crafting a whodunit (a murder investigation story) is never easy. Authors have to make sure that 100% of the story checks out, especially for spectators who feel like experiencing your work more than once. OnWednesday, showrunnersAl GoughandMiles Millarhad the task of making the audience curious as to who (or what) was killing the Nevermore students, and they decided to put all cards on the table and leave nothing hanging mystery-wise by the end of Season 1....

The moral of the story for the Thanksgiving box office is, “It’s good to be Disney.” The studio not only won the weekend outright with a stellar launch for the animated featureMoana, but also scored a new record for the continued box office of Marvel Studios’Doctor Strange. Moanagrossed an estimated $81.1 million for the five-day holiday, which ranks as the second-highest Thanksgiving debut ever behindFrozen, which hit $93.6 million over the five-day holiday in 2013....

As the Super Bowl weekend inches towards the big game, another tense show-off looks to be going on at the box office. As we reported yesterday,Rings, the latest, staggeringly dull take on Japan’s belovedRingufranchise, took the top spot on Friday, beating outM. Night Shyamalan’s surprisingly strongSplit. It makes sense that it would take Friday, especially for a country that’s increasingly devoted to the genres of horror and thrillers. Most people who are interested have already seenSplitandRingsis the new horror movie in town, so they went for that on opening night....