JESSE COLLINS, STACEY SHER AND STEVEN SODERBERGH TO PRODUCE THE 93RD OSCARS®
Emmy®-nominated producer Jesse Collins, Oscar®-nominated producer Stacey Sher and Oscar-winning filmmaker Steven Soderbergh will produce the 93rd Oscars®, Academy President David Rubin announced today. It will be their first involvement with the Oscars, which airs live on ABC and broadcast outlets worldwide on Sunday, April 25, 2021.
“The upcoming Oscars is the perfect occasion for innovation and for re-envisioning the possibilities for the awards show. This is a dream team who will respond directly to these times,” said Academy President David Rubin and Academy CEO Dawn Hudson. “The Academy is excited to work with them to deliver an event that reflects the worldwide love of movies and how they connect us and entertain us when we need them the most.”
“We're thrilled and terrified in equal measure. Because of the extraordinary situation we're all in, there’s an opportunity to focus on the movies and the people who make them in a new way, and we hope to create a show that really FEELS like the movies we all love,” said Collins, Sher and Soderbergh.
“Jesse, Stacey and Steven are the ideal storytellers to harness the uniqueness of this moment and celebrate the artists who are dedicated to telling stories that stand the test of time,” said Craig Erwich, president of Hulu Originals and ABC Entertainment. “By enlisting this incredibly talented team of television and film producers, I’m confident we will deliver a prestigious event that will be remembered for years to come.”
Collins has produced numerous awards shows and events including the Grammy Awards®, BET Awards, UNCF An Evening of Stars®, Black Girls Rock! and Soul Train® Awards, and such television series and specials as “John Lewis: Celebrating a Hero,” “Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices,” “Change Together: From the March on Washington to Today,” “Sunday Best,” “American Soul,” “Rhythm + Flow” and “The New Edition Story.” He earned an Emmy nomination for the 61st Grammy Awards in 2019. Collins also has been tapped to co-executive produce the upcoming Grammy Awards and executive produce the Pepsi Super Bowl LV Halftime Show, both in early 2021. He is the founder and CEO of Jesse Collins Entertainment, a full-service television and film entertainment production company.
Sher earned Best Picture Oscar nominations for “Django Unchained” (2012) and “Erin Brockovich” (2000). She has produced or executive produced more than two dozen major motion pictures, including such notable films as “Pulp Fiction,” “The Hateful Eight,” “Contagion,” “Garden State,” “Man on the Moon,” “Out of Sight,” “Gattaca,” “Get Shorty” and “Reality Bites.” Her television credits include such series as “Mrs. America,” which earned 10 Emmy nominations, “Reno 911!,” “Into the Badlands” and “Sweet/Vicious.” She also served as an executive producer on the Oscar-winning documentary short subject “Period. End of Sentence.” (2018). Sher is currently a producer on the Aretha Franklin biographical film “Respect,” starring Jennifer Hudson, set for release in August of 2021.
Soderbergh won a Directing Oscar for “Traffic” in 2000 and earned a nomination for directing “Erin Brockovich” that same year. He also earned a writing nomination for “sex, lies, and videotape” (1989), his feature film directorial debut. A prolific writer, director, producer, cinematographer and editor, he has directed more than 30 films in a three-decade career, including “Magic Mike,” “Contagion,” the “Ocean’s” trilogy, “Out of Sight” and, most recently, “Let Them All Talk,” premiering this month. He also has produced or executive produced a wide range of projects for both film and television, including “Bill & Ted Face the Music,” “The Report,” “Ocean’s Eight,” “Citizenfour,” “Michael Clayton,” “Good Night, and Good Luck.” and two seasons of his own series, “The Knick.”
The 93rd Oscars will be held on Sunday, April 25, 2021, and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.
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ABOUT THE ACADEMY:
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a global community of more than 10,000 of the most accomplished artists, filmmakers and executives working in film. In addition to celebrating and recognizing excellence in filmmaking through the Oscars, the Academy supports a wide range of initiatives to promote the art and science of the movies, including public programming, educational outreach and the upcoming Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
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Wednesday, December 9, 2020
Jesse Collins, Stacey Sher, and Steven Soderbergh Announced as Producers of 2020 Oscars Ceremony
Tuesday, December 8, 2020
Movie Review: "Bloodshot" Surprises
Bloodshot (2020)
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
Running time: 109 minutes (1 hour, 49 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, some suggestive material and language
DIRECTOR: David S.F. Wilson
WRITERS: Jeff Wadlow and Eric Heisserer; from a story by Jeff Wadlow (based on the Valiant Comics character)
PRODUCERS: Vin Diesel, Toby Jaffe, Neal H. Moritz, and Dinesh Shamdasani
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jacques Jouffret (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Jim May
COMPOSER: Steve Jablonsky
SUPERHERO/FANTASY/SCI-FI/ACTION
Starring: Vin Diesel, Guy Pearce, Eiza González, Sam Heughan, Lamorne Morris, Alex Hernandez, Toby Kebbell, Talulah Riley, Siddharth Dhananjay, and Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson
Bloodshot is a 2020 superhero and science fiction film directed by David S.F. Wilson. The film features the Valiant Comics' character, Bloodshot, that was created by Kevin VanHook, Don Perlin, and Bob Layton. Blooshot focuses on a slain Marine brought back to life as a super-powered weapon.
Bloodshot introduces U.S. Marine Ray Garrison (Vin Diesel). After leading a successful rescue operation in Mombasa, Ray and his wife, Gina (Talulah Riley), travel to a beachside town on Italy's Amalfi Coast for a holiday. However, a notorious terrorist, Martin Axe (Toby Kebbell), kidnaps Ray and Gina and demands that Ray reveal the source of the information the Marines used for the Mombasa hostage operation. Then, things turn ugly.
Ray awakens in a lab at the headquarters of RST (Rising Spirit Tech), a company that specializes in developing cybernetic enhancements for disabled United States' military personnel. The company's CEO, Dr. Emil Harting (Guy Pearce), tells Ray that he is the first successful candidate that they have resurrected using a special “nanite technology.” As he embarks on his first kill-mission, Ray does not realize that very little of what he believes is true.
While watching Bloodshot, I realized that Vin Diesel has starred in a lot of science fiction and fantasy films. They are an odd lot of high concepts and box office misfires – for the most part. Bloodshot is one of those films that had its release truncated by the closure of most movie theaters in North America by the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown. I am not sure if Bloodshot would have been much of a box office hit if it had had a full release...
...But it is a surprisingly enjoyable movie. The truth is that this is something I would enjoy watching on DVD (which is how I saw the film via DVD Netflix), but, because it is based on a comic book, there is a good chance that I would have made a trip to the movie theater to see it. Now, that I have seen it, I want to recommend it to fans of movies based on comic books and also to Vin Diesel fans. Bloodshot is not a “Fast & Furious” film, but its action is... fast and furious... coincidentally.
Bloodshot's revenge-fantasy-within-a-revenge-tale plot delivers a lot of good action sequences. This narrative's themes, built around the ideas of freedom, choice, control, and reality actually resonate. While watching this movie, I often found myself asking questions like, “How free am I really?” and “How much freedom of choice is actually of my choosing?” Bloodshot is like a story by the late author, Philip K. Dick, in which the lead character faces the truth that the reality in which he thinks he lives... is not real... or at least, it is not in his control.
Bloodshot is not a mindless action movie, and it is certainly a stronger take on the story of a military-type discovering that his body or part of it has been stolen than the 2019 Will Smith vehicle, Gemini Man. However, Bloodshot would be a much stronger film if Vin Diesel were a better actor. Diesel's acting range mostly runs from smooth guy to menacing guy to enraged guy. This film's script certainly gives him plenty of scenes when Diesel has to be angry or at least to seethe. Whenever Diesel's Ray Garrison has to be thoughtful, the film quickly moves on.
As for the supporting characters, the film's writing also doesn't offer anything more than familiar character types. Still, actor Lamorne Morris manages to make his character, the coding rebel-genius, Wilfred Wigans, excellent comic relief. Both actor and character are worth seeing again.
So I can honestly say that director David S.F. Wilson delivers a film that is more (at least, a little more) than it seems on the surface. Bloodshot does not have any of those awful dry moments that make me want to fall asleep when watching an alleged action movie (which happens a lot... the aforementioned Gemini Man). It is pretty much a fast-moving, highly-entertaining thrill machine. Bloodshot has an excellent last act featuring a eye-spinning epic battle in and around an elevator shaft, and remember: the writing is smart enough to take its themes and ideas seriously. In fact, Bloodshot is good enough to warrant a sequel – even if the box office... reality might keep that from happening.
6 of 10
B
Monday, September 28, 2020
The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.
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Monday, December 7, 2020
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