Golden Globes Awards Recognizes First Time Nominees and More

The new set design for this year’s Golden Globes Awards featuring New York’s Rainbow Room and Los Angeles’ Beverly Hilton, both sets designed by Brian Stonestreet. Credit: Golden Globe Awards

The Golden Globes are fast approaching and so is the anticipation of who will win this year. The 78th Annual Golden Globe Awards® will air live on NBC coast-to-coast on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021 at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST on NBC.

The HFPA recently hosted a virtual First Time Nominees Event featuring Amanda Seyfried, Andra Day, Elle Fanning, Leslie Odom Jr., Maria Bakalova, Vanessa Kirby, Josh O’Connor, Nicholas Hoult and more. The nominees had a chance to share how they feel about their nominations and what they will wear the night of the big event. 

 “It’s my first award show and I will dress up!” Bakalova said. “I really feel honored to be nominated… I will celebrate it the way it should be celebrated - with a dress, with champagne, and it will be amazing.” Photo Credit: HFPA

“What an amazing way to experience this moment with everybody in my life, even my dog.” Seyfried said. “It’s a once in a lifetime thing and I’m going to get to be with all of them…. I’m not putting my four-year-old to bed early that night. She can stay up as late as she wants!” Photo Credit: HFPA

Andra Day and Leslie Odom Jr., who are not only first-time nominees, but also double-nominees for acting and Best Original Song, shared their similar experiences in finding out about their respective nominations. 

“I was a little delirious because the announcements come in pretty early in the morning, and as Leslie knows, we're musicians so we keep weird hours! But I heard it, and I cried, I did cry.” Day said. “I was just grateful. It makes you think of everything you put into this movie and it made me think of Billie Holiday and being grateful to her.” 

 “I was also asleep!” Odom Jr. said. “It was a really exciting morning because so much of my life was represented. I did my final performance of Hamilton four years ago… and then One Night in Miami is the most recent thing so it was this weird, wonderful confluence mashup of all the hard work and dedication over all these years.”

Nominees also chatted about the different ways they’ll be viewing the ceremony this year, rather than being in-person at the Beverly Hilton. Vanessa Kirby shared she would be watching the show with her sister. “She’s been on lockdown with me for a whole year, and she’s not getting away from me on Sunday at 3:30am!” Kirby said.

First time nominees include: 

Amanda Seyfried (Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, “Mank”) 

Andra Day (Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama; Best Original Song, “The United States Vs. Billie Holiday”) 

Dernst Emile II (Best Original Song, “Fight for You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah”) 

Elle Fanning (Best Actress in a TV Series, Comedy, “The Great”) 

Florian Zeller (Best Screenplay, “The Father”) 

Helena Zengel (Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, “News of the World”) 

Jane Levy (Best Actress in a TV Series, Comedy, “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist”) 

Jon Batiste (Best Original Score, “Sould”) 

Josh O'Connor (Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama, “The Crown”) 

Laura Pausini (Best Original Song, “Io sì/ Seen” from “The Life Ahead”) 

Leslie Odom Jr. (Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture; Best Original Song, “One Night in Miami”) 

Maria Bakalova (Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”) 

Niccolo Agliardi (Best Original Song “Io sì/ Seen” from “The Life Ahead”) 

Nicholas Hoult (Best Actor in a TV Series, Comedy, “The Great”) 

Sam Ashworth (Best Original Song, “Speak Now” from “”One Night In Miami”) 

Tahar Rahim (Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama “The Mauritanian”) 

Tiara Thomas (Best Original Song, “Fight For You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah”) 

Vanessa Kirby (Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama, “Pieces of a Woman”)

The Presenters at this year ceremony include:

Angela Bassett (Golden Globe Award winner)

Laura Dern (five-time Golden Globe Award winner and eight-time nominee)

Salma Hayek (Golden Globe Award winner and two-time nominee)

Jamie Lee Curtis (two-time Golden Globe Award winner and seven-time nominee) 

Anthony Anderson, Awkwafina, Kevin Bacon, Sterling K. Brown, Bryce Dallas Howard, Michael Douglas, Cynthia Erivo, Tiffany Haddish, Kate Hudson, Christopher Meloni, Annie Mumolo, Rosie Perez, Joaquin Phoenix, Margot Robbie, Kyra Sedgwick, Christian Slater, Kenan Thompson, Susan Kelechi Watson, Kristen Wiig, Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones. 

During this Sunday’s celebration, special tributes will be given to Jane Fonda and Norman Lear. Kerry Washington, Ted Danson, Brie Larson and Laverne Cox will pay tribute to Fonda; while Wanda Sykes, Marisa Tomei and Lin-Manuel Miranda will participate in Lear’s tribute package. 

Norman Lear and Jane Fonda. Photo credit: HFPA

The 78th Annual Golden Globe® Awards, hosted by Tina Fey from the Rainbow Room in New York and Amy Poehler from The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, will air LIVE coast to coast on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021 from 5-8 p.m. PT/8-11 p.m. ET on NBC and will be available to stream the next day on Peacock.

A WRITER'S ODYSSEY - A THRILLING SCI-FI RIDE

 

It is rare to find a captivating sci-fi film that takes you in a thrilling ride both into fantasy and reality. I found the new film, WRITER'S ODYSSEY, released by CMC Pictures, to be just that and more. I was captivated by the depth and mastery of the storyline, the visuals, the effects, the acting and the fairytale  adventure. In fact, I was hesitant to move away from my screen, deeply engaged in the film and the story. This has been a rare occurrence for me when it comes to films. 

I was pleasantly surprised and amazed by the theme of the film. A loving father willing to die in order to find his daughter - a story of love and family blended into a chilling adventure. I found the film to be both emotional and entertaining. The brilliant plot, the visuals and the storyline, combined with the superb acting, stunts and effects, put this film into an A-list and a Must-See category for me. This is the first film in Chinese that I had the chance to see and review. I definitely want to see more films made by Chinese filmmakers on such a brilliant level! 

A WRITER'S ODYSSEY tells the story of Kongwen Lu (Dong Zijian, ASH IS PUREST WHITE), the author of a fantasy novel series following a heroic teenager on a quest to confront Redmane. Through a strange twist of fate, the fantasy world of the novel begins to impact life in the real world, leading Guan Ning (Lei Jiayin, THE LONGEST DAY IN CHANG'AN, BROTHERHOOD OF BLADES), to accept a mission to kill the author. A WRITER'S ODYSSEY is directed by Lu Yang (BROTHERHOOD OF BLADES) and also stars Yang Mi, Yu Hewei, Guo Jingfei and Tong Liya. 

A WRITER'S ODYSSEY is out now in theaters and at the Vineland Drive-In in Los Angeles, CA and West Wind Drive-In in San Jose, CA, including newly opened theaters in the San Francisco Bay Area. The film will open in select New York City theaters beginning March 5, 2021. For more information and a list of theaters, please visit: www.CMC-Pictures.com/A-Writers-Odyssey.

 

A WRITER'S ODYSSEY Social Media Channels:

www.Facebook.com/AWriterOdyssey 

www.Twitter.com/AWritersOdyssey 

www.Instagram.com/AWritersOdyssey 

#AWritersOdyssey

INSIDE LOOK AT SUPERVILLAIN: THE MAKING OF TEKASHI 6IX9INE DOCU-SERIES

We live in an age where the line between celebrities and influencers blurs in one thanks to social media platforms, making it easier for anyone to reach the status fame quo. For some who want to have a voice and change the world, it is a great way to do so, but for others it may be a dangerous slope to "Villainhood Ville."

In the three-part series, director Karam Gill (Ice Cold, G-Funk) examines manufactured celebrity through the lens of 6ix9ine’s controversial artistry, personal demons and mastery of social media, as a reflection of our times and the complicity of culture today. It traces how New York City deli clerk Daniel Hernandez manufactured himself into viral hip hop sensation Tekashi 6ix9ine, the ruthless, tattooed face of Gen Z and hip hop’s prince of trolls. Based on Witt’s Rolling Stone feature, “Tekashi 6ix9ine: The Rise and Fall of a Hip-Hop Supervillain,” the series features an exclusive post-prison interview with 6ix9ine following his release last year. Through the narrative spine of Tekashi 6ix9ine’s controversial artistry and personal demons, this complicated story is in many ways the truest reflection of current times as it unpacks the life-shattering results of influence, impact of social media and the disturbing possibilities of a deeply connected world. 

SUPERVILLAIN is produced by Imagine Documentaries, Rolling Stone and Lightbox. Brian Grazer executive produces with Justin Wilkes and Sara Bernstein of Imagine Documentaries, Gus Wenner of Rolling Stone, Jonathan Chinn and Simon Chinn of Lightbox, journalist Stephen Witt and Peter J. Scalettar. The series is narrated by Giancarlo Esposito (Better Call Saul, The Mandalorian). 

In my phone conversation with Keram Gill, he had a lot to say about his new film:

They were looking for someone with a unique point of view but I originally turned down the project. I was apprehensive about making a film on someone who plays such a toxic part in our culture. Then I saw a lot of things happening around our culture, celebrity and pop. A lot of the figures were manufacturing themselves. A lot of these personas were toxic and created alternative realities for themselves. Tekashi is a symptom of our culture. I was interested to propel a larger conversation. It is a cultural film that takes a look how this society manufactures people and causes damage. 

 

As long as we have known, fame has been highly debated and talked about. People are doing crazy things for fame. The difference with this project is for the first time in human history we live in a time where there are no gatekeepers to ascending to fame in these industries. That is the larger thing I’m talking about - a society that is democratized people to create celebrities and also to create monsters. We have seen that in the last four years in American politics. 

My take as a creative person is to think of something bold and different. There are so many great stories but in today's age you have to take risks. In this story, the character was so bizarre that it lead to а creative style. The approach visually was to take place in a manufactured lab. The action figure is put together with а camera movement and surgical nature. It's meant to take into effect how Tekashi came to be. He was very specific and calculated. If he is a manufactured celebrity, let's manufacture and show you how across the culture we went into popularity in this abstract laboratory of sort. 

The idea is that the social media platform democratized fame. Everyone is a celebrity - it is the rule of social media. The social media is now the enabler place where anyone can create what their reality would be. If you want to be an activist and the voice for change and be a hero you can do that; be the instigator. Social media has taken away the gatekeepers and allowed anyone like Tekashi to rise. 

I hope what people take away is to realize that we live in this manufactured celebrity culture. Authenticity is beautiful and appreciating that people who are authentic and real is key. Being able to spot that is to appreciate artists and people that are authentic. 

There has been a lot of conversation and attention on the project. It's important to remember this is not a project whether Tekashi is a good or a bad person. This is not a debate. The point of this project is to take a look at how someone can transform in today's social media from an innocent little boy to a toxic monster and what it tells us as society. 

SUPERVILLAIN: THE MAKING OF TEKASHI 6IX9INE, profiling hip-hop artist Tekashi 6ix9ine’s epic rise to notoriety and spectacular fall to convicted criminal, premiered on February 21 on SHOWTIME. New episodes will debut on-air every Sunday through March 7. The entire series will release for on-demand streaming or download on SHOWTIME and across all SHOWTIME partner platforms on February 21. 

Hopeless Romantic In Review

This Valentine's Day I had the opportunity to watch the comedy Hopeless Romantic directed by six women from the East Coast of Canada, Deanne Foley, Martine Blue, Stephanie Clattenburg, Latonia Hartery, Ruth Lawrence and Megan Wennberg. Lynda Boyd (We Were Wolves, Republic of Doyle) stars as Anna, a recently widowed cardiologist facing romantic challenges. While attending a wedding, Anna discovers she is not alone and bonds with six other women as they each share their unique stories of navigating the complex world of relationships.

This sweet take on women and relationships is entertained not only in the way the women told their stories to one another but also in the truth behind these comic scenes. Often as women we need love, we search for it outside of ourselves only to be disappointed and discouraged at the end. Here, six women tell their stories of finding love that resonates with each of us through stories of loss, grief, divorce, sexual assault, ghosting, and more. At the end, the truth is we can find the love that we need in our own selves, our strength as women and our female friendships, and maybe if we are lucky, the right one might show up at our doorstep by surprise one day.

I recommend this light and very funny female-oriented and empowering comedy 100 percent!

In addition to the St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival Hopeless Romantic played the Female Eye Film Festival in Toronto, and was nominated for Best Feature Film at the Screen Nova Scotia Awards. Kathryn MacLellan won the Best Supporting Actress award at the Screen Nova Scotia Awards for her role in the film. The film was produced by Latonia Hartery, Jay Dahl and Bill Niven, and was shot by award winning cinematographer Jeffery Wheaton. 

Game Theory released Hopeless Romantic on February 12 on all digital platforms including iTunes/Apple TV, Vimeo On Demand and Amazon Prime Direct.

A Look Back to Sex and The City - What Was Wrong With Carrie and the Girls Then?

Courtesy: IMDB.com

As someone who grew up watching the iconic show and later on a move sequel, I decided to take another, more mature and objective look at Sex and The City, and what the fuss was all about back then. Perhaps there was a reason to it - my new look and perspective on the show dawned upon me. I saw the mistakes, the outdated concepts, materialism, selfishness, insecure women willing to do anything to get attention and love, and shoes. There was so much wrong with Carrie Bradshaw and her friends - they were idolized not just for their close friendship, which was the strong theme of the show, but as desperate, horny, materialistic, lost and egocentric middle-aged women.  Millions of girls and women around the globe were watching them on TV, growing up with them, day after day, looking up to them, only to be fed with these broken concepts of female empowerment. I was one of them. So why was everyone looking up to them then? Did we miss the wrong picture from the start? Or was the American way of female empowerment not only portrayed but enforced as such through these women? 

I remember sitting on the couch at my university dorm with my girlfriends binge watching the Sex and the City episodes. We were excited, happy, thrilled and looking forward to the movie sequel. We sat and laughed, while eating popcorn, mesmerized by the lifestyle of these women. While we were bonding we consumed the images that went so deep in our subconscious that we wanted to be just like them. In some weird way, they became our role models. We wanted their lifestyles. Back then we didn't have the knowledge and experience to really see the flaws we were imitating and we missed the whole point of what was wrong with these women seeing only what we wanted on the surface. Instead of trying to be like them, we should have tried to be against them. But if they were so popular and so loved, we wanted to be just like them. That's where the core values of being a woman were missed. We mimicked the insecure, materialistic, egocentric, hypocritical and ignorant Carrie who was simply a lost little girl who didn't know much about life other than sex and shoes, while stuck in a middle-aged woman's body. 

For young women and girls watching this show, there is a very wrong concept embedded that may have caused more damage than good - the concept of the "free woman" or perhaps what that looks like. In Sex and the City the free woman is promiscuous, egocentric, self-centered, insecure, entitled, ignorant and quite "bitchy." Is that the image that America wants to portray now? I believe the show would have been a total failure if it had launched in this day and age, and maybe it worked for a reason back then. So we can work against stereotyping female characters as such and idolizing them as such. Now that the series is up for another season, I hope that we will see Carrie and her friends better, matured and as really confident, educated, strong and less self-centered women, who do not rely on sex, shoes, money and men to feel good about themselves. 

After I rewatched Sex and The City 1 and 2, I was also appalled by the way these women approached a different culture, their ignorance and superiority towards the foreign countries they visited, their constant complaining for small issues, unable to see the beauty outside their small minds, as well as a depiction of the "typical ignorant American." Why didn't I see that back then as an immigrant who dreamed of living the American dream? These women was what was really wrong with America and what needed to be fixed. 

It takes years of living, experiencing, awakening and educating to see all the flaws that existed with Carrie Bradshaw and the gang. As now an ex-fan of the sitcom and characters, I had to rethink the image I was admiring back then and reflect on what really matters now - the need to show better female characters on the screen in a way that is way more diverse, educated, self-aware and less materialistic. My personal view based on interviews I have read and my own professional opinion is that part of the reason why Kim Cattrall, the actress who plays Samantha, didn't want to come back on the new installment of the series is that she didn't want to be part of a show that continues to portray women in such a distorted way, because it simply doesn't work anymore. 

There is a need to reinvent Carrie in a new way - a way that works now. Enough with the princess, weak, horny and self-centered images of spoiled, rich, white women who need sex, money and men for their survival. This is not what female empowerment looks like now or ever. I am in hopes for a better and more improved season of the new chapter of Carrie and Sex and the City in 2021, a world that is more self-aware, spiritual, diverse, compassionate and less self-absorbed and materialistic. These are the women we need to see and be like on the screen! 

SAG Nominees Announced - Another Big Nomination for Maria Bakalova

Photo Courtesy: @mariabakalovaofficial

This week has been one of major wins and history in the making for Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova. Following her big Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in Motion Picture for Comedy/Musical, she just received another one from the Screen Actor Guild Awards, nominated for Best Supporting Actress by her fellow actors. She is competing for the win with Glenn Close, Olivia Colman, Helena Zengel and You-Jung Youn. Maria has proven to be a favorite not just among critics and audiences but also among the stars. Her major breakthrough is a historical achievement for Bulgarians and Eastern Europeans, opening the door for more bright talent to come and shine in Hollywood. 

                                                        Video Courtesy of SAG Awards                                                                             

Nominees for the 27th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® honoring outstanding individual, cast and ensemble performances for 2020 were announced on February 4 by Lily Collins (Emily in Paris, MANK) and Daveed Diggs (Snowpiercer, BLINDSPOTTING, The Good Lord Bird) via Instagram Live. The nominees for outstanding action performances by film and television stunt ensembles were announced this morning by Jason George (Station 19) and Elizabeth McLaughlin (Grand Hotel) who were introduced by SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris. The 27th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be simulcast on TNT and TBS on Sunday, April 4, 2021, at 9 p.m. (ET) / 6 p.m. (PT). An encore will air on TNT at 11 p.m. (ET) / 8 p.m. (PT).

For a full list of the nominees, visit sagawards.org. 

About the 27th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® The 27th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®, presented by SAG-AFTRA with Screen Actors Guild Awards, LLC will be produced by Avalon Harbor Entertainment, Inc. and Hazy Mills Productions and will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Sunday, April 4, 2021, at 9 p.m. (ET) / 6 p.m. (PT). For more information about the SAG Awards®, SAGAFTRA, TNT and TBS, visit sagawards.org/about.

Actress Maria Bakalova Scores Historic Golden Globe Nomination for Bulgaria

Maria Bakalova 
Credit: @mariabakalovaofficial

Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova made history for Bulgaria and Eastern Europe. She scored a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy, which is first not only for her but for Bulgaria as well. She is competing against major names from the Hollywood scene such as Michelle Pfeiffer, Kate Hudson, Rosamund Pike and Anya Taylor-Joy. Bakalova is opening the door for other Eastern European talents and her homeland Bulgaria. She played Tutar in the sequel "Borat 2" along Sasha Baron Cohen. Bakalova also scored numerous other awards and nominations for her role from critics across America, including the New York Film Critics, for her role as Tutar. She is even nominated for a SAG award and that much closer to an Oscar nomination. Her breakthrough performance is both historical and legendary. She was born in Bourgas, Bulgaria, and can be seen in the Bulgarian film "The Father," which gave her a major push in her Bulgarian acting career. "The Father" is the Bulgarian film selected to compete in the Oscar race for Best International Film. 

Credit: Golden Globes

The 78th Golden Globe nominations were announced on Feb. 3 by six-time Golden Globe Award winner, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Golden Globe winner, Taraji P. Henson, on behalf of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). Parker and Henson appeared live on NBC News “Today,” to reveal a select number of categories including Best Motion Picture, Best Television Series, Best Performance by an Actress, Best Performance by an Actor, Best Director, and more. E! News and GoldenGlobes.com streamed the full list of categories. Award-winning comedy icons Tina Fey and Amy Poehler return for their fourth time to host the ceremony, celebrating the best in film and television. The first-ever bicoastal telecast will feature Fey at New York's famed Rainbow Room and Poehler at the iconic Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. Nominees will join throughout the evening's three-hour show from locations across the world. The Golden Globes airs live on NBC coast to coast Sunday, February 28, 2021 at 8:00 p.m. EST/5:00 p.m. PST.

E!’s two-hour Golden Globe Awards Pre-Show Special will begin at 6 p.m. ET/ 3 p.m. PT Giuliana Rancic showcases can’t miss fashion, social moments and talks to nominees and presenters of the 78th Golden Globe Awards live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. The first-ever bicoastal telecast will feature Fey at New York's famed Rainbow Room and Poehler at the iconic Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. Nominees will join throughout the evening's three-hour show from locations across the world. The Golden Globes airs live on NBC coast to coast Sunday, February 28, 2021 at 8:00 p.m. EST/5:00 p.m. PST.

A full list of the nominees announcement below: