Steve Pond's Blog, page 2013
January 13, 2020
Spike Lee Named President of 2020 Cannes Jury
Spike Lee has been named jury president of the 2020 Cannes Film Festival, which will be held May 12-23. The announcement comes two years after Lee’s last film “BlacKkKlansman” premiered to a standing ovation at the 2018 edition of the festival.
“Spike Lee’s perspective is more valuable than ever. Cannes is a natural homeland and a global sounding board for those who (re)awaken minds and question our stances and fixed ideas,” the Festival’s board said in a statement. “Lee’s flamboyant personality is sure to shake things up. What kind of President of the Jury will he be? Find out in Cannes!”
In his own statement, Lee said he “was shocked, happy, surprised and proud all at the same time,” and he credited the festival for having a huge role in his career success. “To me the Cannes Film Festival (besides being the most important film festival in the world – no disrespect to anybody) has had a great impact on my film career. You could easily say Cannes changed the trajectory of who I became in world cinema,” he said.
Also Read: Antonio Banderas Believes the Oscars Are Finally 'Becoming a Worldwide Award'
“It started way back in 1986 – my first feature film ‘She’s Gotta Have It,’ which won the Prix de la Jeunesse in the Director’s Fortnight. The next joint was in 1989 – ‘Do The Right Thing,’ an Official Selection in Competition. And I don’t have the time nor space to write about the cinematic explosion that jumped off, still relative to this, 30 years later,” Lee continued.
“Then ‘Jungle Fever’ 1991 – Official Selection in Competition, ‘Girl 6’ 1996 – Official Selection out of Competition, ‘Summer Of Sam’ 1999 – Director’s Fortnight, ‘Ten Minutes Older’ 2002 – Official Selection in Un Certain Regard and then ‘BlacKkKlansman’ 2018 – Official Selection in Competition where it won the Grand Prix, which became the launching pad for the world theatrical release which led to my Academy Award for screenplay. So if you were keeping score that’s 7 Spike Joints to be chosen.”
Lee added that he is “honored to be the first person of the African diaspora (USA) to be named President of the Cannes Jury and of a main film festival.”
“The Lee family sincerely thanks the Festival de Cannes, Pierre Lescure and Thierry Frémaux and the great people of France who have supported my film career throughout four decades,” the director concluded, “I will always treasure this special relationship.”
The full jury for the 2020 Cannes film festival will be announced in April.
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Colbert Helpfully Offers Donald Trump a Spelling Lesson After ‘Eminent’ Mistake (Video)
Stephen Colbert is well known for not being particularly fond of Donald Trump, but on Monday’s “The Late Show,” he set aside his animosity to offer a helpful word usage and spelling lesson after the president tweeted an amusing typo earlier in the day.
But don’t worry, Colbert still mocked Trump a little for the mistake.
The bit came during a discussion of Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s not-very-well-received television appearances on Sunday, where he directly contradicted Trump’s claim that U.S. embassies faced direct threats of attack, which Trump used to justify ordering the assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.
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“The Trump administration, they’re like a couple who doesn’t coordinate their lie before leaving a party,” Colbert joked. “‘Well, we gotta head out. Babysitter called – what’s that? My wife said it’s because our embassies are under threat? Yeah it was, they were threatened by the babysitter, she’s a maniac.”
That’s when Colbert pivoted to his helpful grade school English class lesson. Colbert noted that on Monday, Trump tweeted: “The Fake News Media and their Democrat Partners are working hard to determine whether or not the future attack by terrorist Soleimani was eminent or not, & was my team in agreement. The answer to both is a strong YES, but it doesn’t really matter because of his horrible past!”
“Now,” Colbert said, “you may have noticed that Trump used the wrong word there, Eminent, which means ‘famous or respected within a particular sphere.’ I’ll use it in a sentence: Donald Trump is the most eminent example of a man who doesn’t know how to spell ‘imminent.'” Ohsnap!
Also Read: 'One Day at a Time' on Pop TV Will Have to Sacrifice That Catchy Theme Song (Video)
We don’t know if Trump found Colbert’s lesson helpful, but we can report that later in the day, he deleted the tweet and then tweeted the statement again, this time with the correct word, imminent. Which, for some reason, was in quotes.
Watch the clip below:
TONIGHT: President Trump and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper can’t seem to get their stories straight. #LSSC pic.twitter.com/wRYCBvDOj9
— The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) January 14, 2020
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‘One Day at a Time’ on Pop TV Will Have to Sacrifice That Catchy Theme Song (Video)
“One Day at a Time” on Pop TV will be less one minute of its catchy theme song.
On Monday, the series’ co-showrunner Gloria Calderón Kellett told TV critics and reporters that her cable version won’t have room for the one minute, two-second Gloria Estefan ditty from the Netflix seasons. Bummer.
The whole thing will just be a sing-songy version of the show title, Calderón Kellett said. That was not only news to us, it was news to star Rita Moreno.
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“It’s a minute, it’s 50 seconds,” Calderón Kellett said of the beloved full version, “we don’t have it.”
“What?!?” Moreno asked her boss.
“Yeah, it’s gone. That’s OK. It’s on YouTube,” Calderón Kellett said. “Gloria Estefan’s gonna be OK.”
Also Read: 'One Day at a Time' Returns: Season 4 Gets Premiere Date From New Home Pop TV
“We’ll tell people that it’s [on YouTube]. We’ll certainly still tweet about it, because I love the opening title sequence,” Calderón Kellett said. “But we don’t have that 50 seconds, we need it for the show.”
“Oh, am I surprised,” a disappointed Moreno said.
We’ll always have the internet. The theme song is memorialized there, watch it via the video above.
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This season, which was made possible by Pop’s salvation following Netflix’s cancellation, will find Penelope (Justina Machado) exploring a surprising relationship and her mother Lydia (Moreno) experiencing a religious crisis — as well as revealing the details of her surprise trip to Cuba with Dr. Berkowitz (Stephen Tobolowsky). Plus, Schneider (Todd Grinnell) finds his relationship with Avery (India de Beaufort) growing deeper, and Elena (Isabella Gomez) begins to prepare for college at the same time that Alex (Marcel Ruiz) starts to date.
“ODAAT” is produced by Act III Productions, Inc., Snowpants Productions and GloNation in association with Sony Pictures Television, with Norman Lear, Mike Royce, Calderón Kellett and Brent Miller serving as executive producers.
“Once Day at a Time” Season 4 premieres on Pop TV on March 24 at 9:30 p.m. ET. “ODAAT” moves to 9 o’clock beginning April 14, after new lead-in “Schitt’s Creek” takes its final bow.
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‘Schitt’s Creek’ Co-Creator Dan Levy on Possibility of a Future Revival: ‘Of Course I’d Be Open to Anything’
When it comes to the possibility of a return to “Schitt’s Creek” down the line, never say never.
“Of course I’d be open to anything,” co-creator and star Dan Levy said at the Television Critics Association press tour on Monday when asked if he’d be open to the possibility of a revival or a movie continuation down the line.
Levy, along with his castmates Catherine O’Hara, Annie Murphy and Eugene Levy, made one final appearance at the TCA press tour to promote the currently airing sixth and final season of the show. The panel opened with misty-eyed response to Pop TV’s farewell sizzle reel for the show, which just recently wrapped production last summer.
“The reason we’re all so upset is that none of us wanted to end it,” Levy said. “I could work with this team of people forever.”
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Levy was briefly interrupted by a chipper “Okay!” from Murphy and a quip from his father (“I fought to keep it going, even if my character was the only character on the show.”), but he eventually circled back around to saying that he felt confident that six seasons was the right amount of time for the life of “Schitt’s Creek.”
“You have to respect the viewer — the viewer who has tuned in to 80 episodes of your show,” he said. “I don’t want to disrespect them, and for me it was the right time to end it.”
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If “Schitt’s Creek” were to return in one form or another down the line, it would have to live up to that same purpose of serving the viewer, Levy explained.
“Obviously we could keep working together forever,” he said. “So yes I hope that there comes a point where it feels necessary to tell that story. I would love to revisit all of these characters; I would love to write for them again. I just think it has to be the right time, and it has to mean something.”
“We have to have a reason for it,” he continued. “So here’s hoping that we find a reason.”
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‘One Day at a Time’ Returns: Season 4 Gets Premiere Date From New Home Pop TV
Pop TV has announced the return date for former Netflix series “One Day at a Time,” which it saved from cancellation in June with a Season 4 pickup in response to an impassioned social-media outcry from fans who weren’t ready to say goodbye.
The Alvarez family returns on Tuesday, March 24 at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT, right after all new episodes of the final season of “Schitt’s Creek.” Then, “One Day at a Time” will move to the 9 p.m. time slot starting April 14.
The series, which was inspired by Norman Lear’s 1975 series of the same name, will tell the story of the Cuban-American Alvarez family with 13 new episodes in Season 4.
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This season finds Penelope (Justina Machado) exploring a surprising relationship, her mother Lydia (Rita Moreno) experiencing a religious crisis – as well as revealing the details of her surprise trip to Cuba with Dr. Berkowitz (Stephen Tobolowsky), and Schneider (Todd Grinnell) finding his relationship with Avery (India de Beaufort) growing deeper. Meanwhile, Elena (Isabella Gomez) begins to prepare for college and Alex (Marcel Ruiz) starts to date, according to Pop TV.
“The enthusiastic response from fans since announcing our new season of ‘One Day at a Time’ has been thrilling,” said Brad Schwartz, President of Pop TV. “The series is more important than ever with its unmatched ability to tackle topical social issues through the lens of a relatable, loving family. The exceptionally talented team behind and in front of the camera make us proud to have ‘One Day at a Time’ at home at Pop TV.”
“One Day at a Time” is produced by Act III Productions, Inc., Snowpants Productions and GloNation in association with Sony Pictures Television. Lear, Mike Royce, Gloria Calderón Kellett and Brent Miller are executive producers.
“One Day at a Time” returns March 24 at 9:30/8:30c on Pop TV.
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Antonio Banderas Believes the Oscars Are Finally ‘Becoming a Worldwide Award’
Much of the discussion about the 2020 Oscar nominations has concerned the lack of diversity among nominees in the major categories. But Best Actor nominee Antonio Banderas has a more optimistic view:
“It’s taking time, but I think the Oscars are more and more each year, are becoming a worldwide award rather than an American award,” Banderas told TheWrap.
“It’s very different than the Academy I found many decades ago because it is so much more open than it was back then to the styles and cinematography of filmmakers of other countries,” the “Pain & Glory” star said. “People in American film are looking around the corner to see what is happening in other cultures of the world, and I think that’s a part of how connected our world has become.”
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“When I first came to Hollywood, the door was not as open as it is now. It was more difficult to get people open themselves to a point of view and a voice they were not used to,” he continued. “But now it is normal to have not only Spanish actors but also that I spoke Spanish in the movie and that people in America have been so open to that speaks a lot about the changes in the Academy.”
The universality of Pedro Almodovar’s “Pain and Glory” was the main reason why Banderas was so drawn to the role of Salvador Mallo, a physically ill film director that Almodovar based heavily on himself. Addicted to heroin, in a creative rut, and stuck with thoughts of regret over his life and career, Salvador learns to reconcile with his past and find a reason to continue on with both moviemaking and living.
Almodovar bounces his film between Salvador’s present and past, mixing Banderas’ slow road to recovery with flashbacks of his childhood under the care of his hard-working mother Jacinta, played by Penelope Cruz, while living in a village of cave houses. Many of Banderas’ most poignant moments come from unspoken flashes of recognition across his face as he comes across fragments of that childhood, but while those scenes were filmed, Almodovar never let Banderas see any of the footage he did with Cruz.
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“I’ve done eight films with Pedro and he never lets anyone see material that has been filmed unless it’s fundamental for the character. But for me, I was just directed by my own character, by the emotional information I was receiving from Pedro. There was one scene for example where Salvador reconciles from his mother, and I could tell just from the emotion Pedro was showing as he was describing the scene what sort of state of mind Salvador was in during that moment.”
“From that moment, it was a sort of ping-pong between the two of us. I could see what kind of emotional response my performance was getting from Pedro, which in turn helped me going forward. It was unlike anything I’ve ever done in my career. I’ve never done a film in which my director was also my character.”
“Between pain and glory, Salvador finds healing and the ability to forgive others and himself through art,” Banderas said. “He was isolating himself from both physical and psychological through pain and trying to escape through drugs, and of course that doesn’t work. But through art, he rediscovers the truth that life is worth experiencing and finds love for both others and himself.”
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Pop TV Plots Post-‘Schitt’s Creek’ Future: Comedy With ‘Heart’ Not ‘Snark,’ Brad Schwartz Says
Pop TV has come a long way in the last half-decade, but with “Schitt’s Creek” coming to an end, the cable channel must now build on the attention the beloved Dan and Eugene Levy-created comedy brought to the former TV Guide Network
So what does Pop look like in its post-“Schitt’s” era? We took that question straight to the top.
“It was not even five years ago that we were the TV Guide Network and we still had the scroll on 30% of our screens,” Brad Schwartz, president of Pop TV, told TheWrap Monday at the Television Critics Association press tour.
“In those early days of being a rebranded network, of being what people would call an emerging or smaller network, people don’t know whether to trust you or not,” Schwartz said. “Until you find your ‘Mad Men,’ and then people are like, ‘Oh, now they have ‘Mad Men’… what’s next?'”
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In this analogy, “Schitt’s Creek” is Pop’s “Mad Men.” As huge fans of both series, we can’t argue with that.
“Now, what I’m hoping we’ve earned is your trust and your attention. When you do get something from Pop, you’re gonna be like, ‘Oh my God, that’s the channel that has ‘Schitt’s Creek’ and ‘One Day at a Time’ — I should pay more attention to ‘Florida Girls,”” he said. “Now, the future of Pop is we need our ‘Breaking Bad’ and eventually our ‘Walking Dead.'”
“I’m really excited about our future… to become a smaller under the radar network to now an Emmy-nominated network in less than 5 years, I don’t think you see that type of trajectory in TV anymore,” he continued. “So I’m excited about what ‘Schitt’s Creek’ has done for us and put us on the map, and that kind of sentiment will always be part of our DNA. And now to use that to be like, OK, you know what, we have found this lane in really smart, fresh comedy, new comedic voices — but comedy that also has a heart. It’s not snarky comedy; it’s comedy that’s right for these social media, divisive times. I think that’s what ‘Florida Girls’ is, that’s what ‘One Day at a Time’ is.”
“And now being a part of Viacom-CBS kind of opens us up to Paramount Studio, CBS Television Studio, the libraries and IP of both of those networks — and we still have a long runway ahead. So I think this is the pivot for Pop TV to be really great. And of course, what we need now is a high batting average.”
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‘Homeland': How Carrie Mathison Spends the Final Season in Nick Brody’s Shoes
“Homeland” is flipping the script on its lead character for its final season.
The eighth and final season, which debuts in February, sees Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) suffering trauma and falling under suspicion from the U.S. government that she may have been turned into a Russian spy, after spending time as a Russian prisoner. If that sounds like its similar to the show’s first season, it is. The first season it was Mathison who was suspicious (correctly, it turned out) that Damian Lewis’ Nick Brody, who was returning from a years-long stint in captivity, had been turned into an enemy asset.
“Homeland” co-creator Alex Gansa said the symmetry of using the role-reversal storyline for the final season came as a happy accident, given the seventh season ended with Carrie getting out of a Russian prison after seven months. “That just naturally led to the idea that she would become Nick Brody in a way,” Gansa told TheWrap Monday during the Television Critics Association press tour. “For her, the roles were reversed. Her memory is fractured from that time.”
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During the show’s panel later on Monday, Danes said that the role-reversal leads to Carrie’s worst nightmare: Getting accused of being an enemy of the United States.
“I thought that was very elegant storytelling. There’s that perfect symmetry. Just psychically, it fused Carrie with Brody in a way that felt right,” Danes said. “She is so clear about her patriotism. She can be challenged in every way, but if her patriotism is questioned, I think that is probably the most profound insult she can imagine.”
Just don’t expect Brody, who died in the third season, to make any kind of physical appearance in the show’s end game.
“We tossed around a bunch of ideas. But, you know, he did kind of come back in Season 4. I don’t think we wanted to repeat that,” Gansa continued. “Brody, like Quinn [Rupert Friend], is alive in the series, just not physically alive. The idea of both of those guys is really prevalent through the last few episodes.”
“Homeland” premieres its eighth and final season on Sunday, Feb. 9 at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT
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‘Joker’ Leads With 11 Oscar Nominations, Followed by ‘Irishman,’ ‘1917’ and ‘Once Upon a Time’
Todd Phillips’ “Joker” led the 2020 Oscar nominations with 11 nods, while “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood,” “The Irishman” and “1917” tied in second place with 10 nominations each.
“Little Women” came in third with seven nominations, while “Marriage Story,” “Jojo Rabbit” and “Parasite” scored six each. James Mangold’s “Ford v. Ferrari” was nominated four times, while “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” “Bombshell” and “The Two Popes” received three nominations.
“Joker’s” nominations include Lead Actor for Joaquin Phoenix, Achievement in Cinematography, Costume Design, Film Editing, Best Picture and Directing. “Once Upon a Time” received nods for actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt as well as Best Picture, while “The Irishman” received nominations for Al Pacino and Joe Pesci as Supporting Actors, as well as Directing, Best Picture and Cinematography. “1917” as well was nominated for Best Picture, as well as Directing and Cinematography.
Also Read: Oscar Nominations 2020: The Complete List
More to come…
John Williams Earns Record 52nd Oscar Nomination for His Final ‘Star Wars’ Score
John Williams has expanded his lead on the all-time Oscar nominations list, earning an unprecedented 52nd Oscar nomination on Monday for his score for “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.”
Williams has said that the final film in the Skywalker Saga will also be his final “Star Wars” score. He has been nominated alongside Hildur Gudnadottir for “Joker,” Alexandre Desplat for “Little Women,” and cousins Randy and Thomas Newman for “Marriage Story” and “1917”
Williams received his first Oscar nomination in 1967 for his score for “Valley of the Dolls” and his first win four years later for the score for “Fiddler on the Roof.” He has won five Oscars in his career, most recently in 1993 for “Schindler’s List.” He has also earned an Oscar nomination for all three score for Disney’s “Star Wars” sequel trilogy.
More to come…
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