The BAFTAs are embroiled in a controversy again. Their fear of offending a disabled man by being cautious that, oh, I don't know, a guy with Tourette's might blurt out something offensive at a taped broadcast, led to a whole room of people put in an uncomfortable spot listening to a word that is never said (by a white person) shouted loudly into the room. This would be John Davidson shouting out "c*ck sucking whore" to a survivor of rape, for instance,...

The BAFTA's winners proved slightly perplexing in the supporting categories. Stats with BAFTA are tricky, though, because their voting has changed so much over the years. They didn't hold them before the Oscars until 2000. In 2012, their voting changed again. But, given that, we have had years where Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress up to now came from three different groups producing three different winners. There are also some weird factors, like Stellan Skarsgard, who won the Globe, isn't...

The BAFTA Winners as they come in: Best Picture: One Battle After Another Best Actress: Jessie Buckley, Hamnet Best Actor: Robert Aramayo, I Swear Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another Best Rising Star: Robert Aramayo Best British Film: Hamnet International Feature: Sentimental Value Best Costumes: Frankenstein Best Original Score: Sinners Best Sound: F1 Best Cinematography: One Battle After Another Animated: Zootopia 2 Best Editing: One Battle After Another Best Casting: I Swear Best Adapted Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson, One...

Don't forget to enter our BAFTA predictions contest, which you can find here (you do have to login): The BAFTAs, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, have changed their voting procedures a few times since they pushed their awards back before the Oscars (around 2000). Before 2012, according to Grok: In many craft/technical categories (e.g., director, cinematography, editing, production design, etc.), specialist chapters played a strong role early on—often guiding or heavily influencing longlists and nominees via their votes. Full membership...

This is kind of neat news, I gotta say. I like the idea of bringing back the Oscars to the city and for the runners to get their red carpet moment. ASICS Los Angeles Marathon and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Collaborate on Oscars® Red Carpet Experience on March 8 LOS ANGELES, CA – The ASICS Los Angeles Marathon, produced by The McCourt Foundation, partners with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to bring the magic of...

We're in a Fourth Turning, which is an 80-year cycle that functions like the seasons. The Fourth Turning is "winter," when everything dies and a new version of the country -- sometimes the world -- is born. You can read about it in the book by Neil Howe and William H. Strauss. There is another book called Pendulum: how generations of the past shape our present and predict our future. That theory takes the 80-year cycle and breaks it up into two...

The British are coming! The British are coming! Sasha Stone, Scott Kernen, and Jeremy Jentzen predict the BAFTA wins, which air this Sunday. We expect it to be a sweep for One Battle After Another, but maybe there will be some surprises. EXTRAS: Did Parasite really deserve to win Best Picture? Where's Nancy Guthrie?

We are, like, totally in the 80s now. I wish I could tell you that I am thrilled to be writing about the 80s for the next few weeks, but I’m really not. There are some great movies from the 80s, but when it comes to the Oscars, I think they leaned into a more conservative space and chose not to push forward movies that truly stood the test of time. Many of their choices from this decade have mostly been forgotten,...

I saw a clickbait comment by Ian McKellen on Hamnet. He's not interested in it, which means he likely hated Shakespeare in Love, too, since that film tripped the light fantastic inside the mind of William Shakespeare, though they did so in comedy, where Hamnet does it in tragedy. I don't begrudge Sir Ian his opinion, but if this is the kind of binary interpretation of this great work of fiction, then I don't know what he would appreciate, certainly not Wolf...

I don't think there is any saving Hollywood from the clutches of fanaticism. There is still too much pressure from the wealthy and privileged ruling class, who insist that politics is everything. Take, for instance, the kind and generous bravery of the Berlinale Film Festival, which dared to go against the fanatics by asking them to leave politics out of it. Wim Wenders made the mistake of attempting to free art from politics. Yes, thank you! If only the Oscars and every...