The “Sound of Metal” writer and director, who was up for two awards and would win neither, had spent the last few days in a last-minute campaign sprint for his drama about a deaf addict while jugging a few commercial shoots. Talking on the phone while he wandered the streets, Marder spoke breathlessly about the psychological effect of getting an 11-year passion project made, only to reiterate that story in the endless zooming of a pandemic awards season....
For chess lifer Bruce Pandolfini, that was one of the key ways to help make sure that the performers on screen in the new Netflix series “The Queen’s Gambit” didn’t break the illusion right away. “Perhaps the most important thing is how they grab and move the pieces. So you really want them to look natural and we worked on that a lot,” Pandolfini said. “It’s like looking at someone handling a baseball bat....
Of course, today’s guardians are already well-aware. Having navigated nearly two years of a deadly pandemic, anyone in charge of a youngster under five is likely struggling to find sustainable childcare, while those responsible for adolescents old enough to get vaccinated still have to deal with added responsibilities like remote learning, breakthrough cases, and furious debates about every institutional policy decision that could affect their children’s lives. Some call these ongoing challenges “insurmountable....
“Since none of my films were ever chosen to be in the New York Film Festival, I was thrilled to be asked to design this year’s poster. I always knew I’d get my ass in there somehow!” Waters said. “What better way to show my respect and irreverence for this prestigious event than to bring along Globe Poster, Baltimore’s famous press that promoted the best rock-and-roll shows all over America for decades?...
“We knew that we wanted this movie to start off very grounded and move deeper and deeper into fantasy,” said director Destin Daniel Cretton (“Just Mercy”). “And we also knew that we wanted the visuals to take a lot inspiration from Asian cinema [including ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’], and we wanted some other things to be brand new visuals for the rings and the creature design in [the magical village of] Tao Lo....
The third act musical extravaganza represents Illumination’s most ambitious work to date in terms of design, costumes, animation, choreography, playlist, and performance. The theme of breaking artistic barriers was also personal to director Garth Jennings, since the “Sing” sequel marked only his second animated feature. “The whole movie, when you break it down into its parts, is incredibly simple and relatable,” Jennings said. “The Clay story and his grief is the emotional soul of the film....
A handful of companies have started to unveil their commercials that will air during the upcoming Super Bowl LV, which will air on February 7 at 6:30 p.m. ET. The 2021 game will feature advertisements from a diverse array of businesses, including Chipotle, Bud Light, Mercari, and Pringles. Though high-profile commercials have long been a Super Bowl mainstay, the 2021 edition of the sporting event will mark the notable absence of several longtime advertisers: The companies behind Coke, Pepsi, and Budweiser ads, which were collectively responsible for some of the most famous Super Bowl moments in the game’s history, recently announced they will not be airing commercials during Super Bowl LV....
