by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent You can literally pin down three “F” words to describe nearly every Darren Aronofsky film from his early work in PI (1998) to best-loved film REQUIEM FOR A DREAM (2000) to Mickey Rourke in THE WRESTLER (2008) to Natalie Portman’s Oscar-winning turn in BLACK SWAN (2010) to obsessive Russell Crowe in NOAH (2014). Fixated. Fragile. Freakish. Herein lies the latest work by this Harvard-trained filmmaker, MOTHER!, complete with an exc...

Producers Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd today announced the third slate of presenters for the 89th Oscars®  telecast.  Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, the Oscars will air live Sunday, February 26, on the ABC Television Network. The presenters, including past Oscar® winners and nominees, are Amy Adams, Riz Ahmed, Javier Bardem, John Cho, Dwayne Johnson, Felicity Jones, Leslie Mann, Janelle Monáe, David Oyelowo, Emma Stone and Charlize Theron. “No matter who you ...

Javier Bardem and Alejandro Gonzelez Inarritu/ "Biutiful" at Cannes 2010   Move over Jeff Bridges, here comes Javier Bardem's jaw dropping performance as a father/husband, who is involved in a life of corruption and dis-ease, is diagnosed with cancer and given a limited time to get his affairs in order, yet continues to demonstrate strength as he continues on with his responsibilities of daily life. From the director of "Babel', and "Amores Perros", "Biuti...

                                         Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is in unknown territory this year. The director presented his in-competition film, Biutiful, Monday at the Cannes Film Festival (Grand Theatre Lumiere 8:30 AM, 3:00 PM, 7:00 PM). This is Inarritu's first film without his usual screen writer, Guillermo...

Penelope Cruz fans were angered at the premiere of her new movie Vicky Christina Bobby. After some waited almost in hour in the rain, they were not even allowed to watch the Woody Allen directed feature with the cast in attendance. Upon entering the Grand Théâtre Lumière, attendees were directed up the stairs and right out the theatre! They were then taken to an adjacent theatre to see the movie. The funny thing is that not only were “regular” people ushered out, but also famous people li...

 Friday, February 22--------European films and talents are poised for Oscar wins, when the golden statuettes are handed out at the Kodak Theater this coming Sunday in Los Angeles. For the past three months, there has been a lingering cloud of doubt about whether the ceremony was going to happen at all. A strike by the Writers Guild of America, that effectively shut down film and television production and forced the cancellation of the Golden Globe Awards, was only recently settled, in part beca...

After Javier Bardem received the Montecito Award, a long-time Santa Barbara tradition. Montecito is the town just south of Santa Barbara on the 101, most of it tucked within hills and behind trees, a playground with class.   Javier Bardem has class and piercing eyes, and good looks that often get masked behind the intense roles he plays, and the dizzying variety in his body of work. He’s Spanish, from Madrid (where he walks everywhere and doesn’t have to drive a car—so he doesn’t drive)...

I have to blog and write reviews and festival experiences so my way of making it through the theaters, award ceremonies and parties is by not drinking at the festival parties. Well, some people are a bad influence. Take blogger Craig Smith for example, now he’s a bad influence. Both of us were at the intimate, post-Javier Bardem tribute party at the Sacks Fifth Avenue Store. No red wine was served, but there was plenty of white, along with vodka-enhanced mixed drinks. There was no shopping to ...

 Sunday, January 27---------Joel and Ethan Coen, the writer/director brother team, won the top prize from the Directors Guild of America last evening for NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. This gives the directorial duo the inside track for the same honor at the Academy Awards, where their film is nominated for 8 prizes, including Best Film of the Year. The Coens, who were nominated for the DGA Award for FARGO but did not win,  were only the second two-person team to receive the Directors Guild honor,...

Thursday, July 19------In yet another sign of Brooklyn's growing cache as a cultural destination, the Gotham Awards, one of the stellar events on the New York film industry calendar, is moving from its current site in Manhattan to Brooklyn's Steiner Studios, the largest studio facility in the city, located on the Brooklyn waterfront. The 17th Annual Gotham Awards, produced and presented by the Independent Feature Project (IFP), a national producers organization, will be presented at the ...