Actualités

The Oscar-nominated doc Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat is layered and unconventional, as sprawling in its critique as it is unusual in its delivery.

The same can be said of its director who told THR last year that “our materialist vision of the world is obsolete.”

Johan Grimonprez’s essayistic film focuses on the colonial powers’ suppression of Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo — while also telling a story of jazz, Nikita Khrushchev, Black Power and the fractious United Nations.

Grimonprez is his own eclectic mix. A cultural theorist preoccupied with mass media and fear; a fast-talking professorial Belgian who never met a historical rabbit hole he didn’t like; and an impassioned anti-corporatist now living a utopian life on the small Greek island of Andros.

So what would happen when THR would hop on a Zoom to ask Grimonprez about his film?...

Call it a blue wave. A host of actors, directors, musicians, journalists and other prominent people are dumping X (formerly Twitter) and flocking to social media platform Bluesky.

In the past week, an increasing number of bold-faced names have announced that they plan to post less on X, or leave the platform altogether, citing myriad issues with the social media company, including far right content, hate speech, transphobia, racism, harassment, pornography, crypto scams, bots and the political views of owner Elon Musk, the billionaire oligarch who is a vocal supporter and financial backer of Donald Trump.

Musk’s ownership of X and his updates to content moderation on the platform have been pushing brands and media groups closer and closer to the exit. This week, The Guardian media group announced that it will stop posting on X, describing the site as a “toxic media platform.” On Nov. 4, the Berlin Film...

Ever since she brought Edward Snowden’s story to the masses with the Oscar-winning “Citizenfour,” Laura Poitras has built a career out of chasing the truth, even at the expense of her own safety. Last fall, it came at the expense of her job. In an open letter published Thursday, the documentary filmmaker said she was fired from First Look Media, the nonprofit investigative journalism entity that owns Field of Vision, the documentary production company where she did much of her work.

Poitras said the company terminated her contract in November after she criticized the company’s publication, The Intercept, for its handling of whistleblower Reality Winner in a story published in 2018. Winner is an Nsa specialist who shared classified documents about U.S. cybersecurity efforts to meddle in Russian elections. She was arrested by federal investigators before the story was published and is currently serving a five-year prison sentence,...

First Look Media co-founder Laura Poitras published an open letter Thursday, writing that she’s been fired from First Look, the nonprofit that owns investigative journalism outlet The Intercept and the documentary studio Field of Vision. Poitras said the firing, which happened back in November, came after she publicly criticized The Intercept’s handling of whistleblower Reality Winner. She says the organization is betraying its founding mission to serve as a public watchdog anchored in deep, investigative reporting.

The Oscar-winning documentarian wrote that she was terminated on November 30, ostensibly without cause, but she connected the move to her speaking out about the way The Intercept handled the Winner case. Winner, an Nsa intelligence specialist, in 2017 sent the publication classified documents about Russian meddling in the US election. Federal investigators traced the documents back to Winner before The Intercept published its story; she is serving a five-year sentence for the leak.

Exclusive: Visual journalism outfit Field of Vision is teaming with Spotlight production co Topic Studios to offer $250,000 in emergency financial help for struggling documentary freelancers during the coronavirus lockdown.

The two companies are divisions of First Look Media, the org set up by eBay founder and philanthropist Pierre Omidyar with doc heavyweights Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill, and Laura Poitras.

More from Deadline'Lambs Of God': Streamer Topic Takes North American Rights To Australian Drama Starring Jessica Barden, Essie Davis & Ann DowdAwkwafina Teams With Topic Studios For Feature Exploring Role Of Chinatown Restaurants In Rise Of West Coast Punk SceneStreamer Topic Picks Up 10 Fremantle Shows, Including 'The Miracle' From 'Young Pope' Producer Wildside

Industry freelancers have been particularly hard hit by the economic aspects of the crisis, with film and TV production halted around the world. As such, the fund is aiming to support the most vulnerable by providing life assistance grants,...

Updated, 4:14 Pm: Hardball host Chris Matthews apologized for a remark he made during MSNBC’s Nevada caucus coverage Saturday in which he compared the inability of establishment Democrats to stop Bernie Sanders to France’s futile hopes against Germany’s invasion in 1940.

At the top of his show on Monday, Matthews said: “Senator Sanders, I’m sorry for comparing anything from that tragic era, in which so many suffered, especially the Jewish people, to an electoral result in which you were the well-deserved winner. This is going to be a hard-fought, heated campaign of ideas. In the days and weeks and months ahead I will strive to do a better job myself of elevating the political discussion.”

Matthews congratulated Sanders on his lopsided victory in the state.

His comments on Saturday drew a backlash, as Sanders and his campaign team have complained about the tenor of the network’s coverage.

Laura Poitras became a rock star of the documentary world with 2014’s Oscar-winning “Citizenfour,” an explosive and definitive account of the Edward Snowden story that brought Poitras’ investigative filmmaking to a global audience. Since then, she has completed just one feature, the Julian Assange portrait “Risk,” but supported countless others as the co-creator and executive producer behind Field of Vision, the documentary film unit designed to support investigative filmmaking on a wavelength similar to her own.

Now, she’s ready to return to her filmmaking full time. Poitras is stepping down from her leadership position at Field of Vision to focus on her next feature, though will remain onboard at parent company First Look Media. Charlotte Cook, who co-founded the project with Poitras and filmmaker A.J. Schnack in 2015, will continue to lead the organization.

“In the last year, I felt like that Field of Vision established itself in the documentary field,...

Showtime is developing a one-hour series about private military contractors with David Ayer, Variety has learned exclusively.

Ayer is attached to write and direct the series, currently titled “The Company.” It is described as an irreverent look at the military contracting industry during its Wild West heyday post 9/11. Further described as an “anti-procedural,” it will take the larger than life personalities that fight our wars out of the shadows and put them on display.

Ayer will also executive produce along with Chris Long from Cedar Park Entertainment. Jimmy Fox of Main Event Media, an All3Media America company, will also executive produce along with Jeremy Scahill. The show will be a co-production between Showtime and eOne.

Should the project go to series, it would mark the third TV series of Ayer’s career. He also has “Deputy” for Fox, which launches in the 2019-20 television season. “Training Day” — the Oscar-winning...

The editorial staff at investigative digital news site the Intercept has unanimously ratified its first contract, negotiated by the Writers Guild of America East.

The guild and the site, founded by Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill, and Laura Poitras, made the announcement Wednesday.

The three-year collective bargaining agreement includes a first-of-its-kind diversity provision that ensures at least two candidates from groups traditionally underrepresented in journalism will be interviewed for any vacant bargaining unit position not being created for a specific candidate or for purposes of promoting an existing bargaining unit employee.

The contract also creates a Diversity Committee of both bargaining unit members and editorial management that will meet quarterly to discuss, assist, and partner with human resources and management on current and potential diversity and inclusion initiatives at the Intercept.

Management has also agreed to conduct an annual demographic survey providing newsroom employees with an anonymous opportunity to self-identify with respect to,...

MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” discussed the on-going White House beef between top advisers Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner, with co-host Joe Scarborough declaring Bannon can’t even implement “making a ham sandwich.” The former Breitbart boss and Trump’s son-in-law seem to have ideological differences, but Scarborough said that in the end, family “always wins.” “The family could tell you how many Breitbart stories attacked the family over the weekend,” Scarborough said. “I don’t know who he thinks he’s playing with here and I’m not being smug. If he thinks he’s can leak something to Breitbart...

Jeremy Scahill, co-founder of The Intercept, slammed mainstream media outlets for their coverage of Donald Trump’s missile strike against a Syrian base this past week on CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” with Fareed Zakaria and Brian Williams being the biggest targets of his criticism. When asked by host Brian Stelter for his thoughts on how the media has handled the first big demonstration of military force in Trump’s presidency, Scahill called it “atrocious” and called on CNN to stop using retired generals and colonels as military analysts. Zakaria, who said on CNN that Trump “became the President of the United States” with this.

Bill Maher is taking credit for the swift downfall of Milo Yiannopoulos. In a New York Times interview posted online this morning, Maher suggests that Yiannopoulos’ appearance on last Friday’s Real Time With Bill Maher was the “disinfectant” needed to expose the now-ex Breitbart News provocateur. Maher’s decision to book the right-wing loudmouth came under considerable fire last week, most notably when scheduled fellow guest Jeremy Scahill refused to appear on the same…...

Writer/comedian Larry Wilmore did not hide his feelings for fellow guest Milo Yiannopoulos when they appeared together in the “overtime” segment with the panel on Friday’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” in a fiery — and Nsfw — exchange. Before he even appeared on the show, Yiannopoulos had already made news when Jeremy Scahill of The Intercept […]...

Aside from the controversy of booked guest Jeremy Scahill refusing to come on Real Time with Bill Maher last night, the appearance of Breitbart’s British enfant terrible Milo Yiannopoulos netted little red meat — and overall was a disappointment. So much so that Maher jokingly said to his guest, decked out in numerous strands of pearls, that the left had little to worry about over “a little British f***” who he later said reminded him of the late Christopher Hitchens. Maher opened the interview by saying: “I think you’re colossally wrong on a number of things. But if I banned...read more...

Bill Maher sat down with Milo Yiannopoulos on Friday's Real Time to talk free speech, religion and the controversy surrounding the self-proclaimed internet troll.

In explaining why, despite the uproar surrounding the Breitbart editor, Yiannopoulos was invited to the show, Maher said, "I think you're colossally wrong on a number of things… if I banned everyone from my show who I thought was colossally wrong, I'd be talking to myself."

Maher – who at one point compared Yiannopoulos to Sacha Baron Cohen's Bruno character – and Yiannopoulos also discussed what they...

Former Republican congressman Jack Kingston certainly isn’t taking Jeremy Scahill’s lead, saying he’s looking forward to being on Real Time with Bill Maher tonight with the controversial Milo Yiannopoulos. But Kingston, one of CNN’s go-to supporters of President Donald Trump, might be in for a disappointment — he won’t be sharing the panel with the flame-throwing Breitbart provocateur. “Milo tees it up,” Kingston tweeted today (see it below), a reference to Yiannopoulos…...

The host of HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher” released a statement responding to journalist Jeremy Scahill’s decision to cancel his appearance on the show in protest of Maher’s booking Breitbart’s Milo Yiannopoulos.

In a statement made on Twitter, Scahill, founder of the left-leaning news site The Intercept and a frequent “Real Time” guest, said that while he has “deep respect” for Maher, he “passionately disagree(s) with—and find(s) offensive— some of Bill’s views, particularly when his comments on Islam and Muslims veer into vitriol.”

Read More: Watch: Australian Comedian Jim Jeffries Fires Back at Trump Fan Piers Morgan on Explosive ‘Bill Maher’ Episode

Maher defended his decision, saying in a statement:

“My comments on Islam have never veered into vitriol. Liberals will continue to lose elections as long as they follow the example of people like Mr. Scahill who’s[sic] views veer...

Bill Maher has defended booking right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos for Friday’s episode of HBO’s “Real Time” after The Intercept co-founder Jeremy Scahill canceled his appearance on the episode in protest. The host also took issue with Scahill’s suggestion that Maher is anti-Islamic. “My comments on Islam have never veered into vitriol,” Maher said in a statement obtained by TheWrap. “Liberals will continue to lose elections as long as they follow the example of people like Mr. Scahill who’s views veer into fantasy and away from bedrock liberal principles like equality of women, respect for minorities, separation of religion and state,...

Insisting that his own comments on Islam “have never veered into vitriol,” Bill Maher has responded to his protesting (and now former) Real Time guest Jeremy Scahill with a pointed critique of both Scahill and liberalism. “Liberals will continue to lose elections,” Maher says, “as long as they follow the example of people like Mr. Scahill whose views veer into fantasy and away from bedrock liberal principles like equality of women, respect for minorities, separation of…...

Journalist Jeremy Scahill has cancelled his appearance on this week’s Real Time With Bill Maher in protest at the booking of right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos. Blogger-turned-Breitbart-News-editor Yiannopoulos is set to top the show with a one-on-one chat with Maher this Friday. But last night Scahill, the founding editor of The Intercept news website, used Twitter to pull out of the show because of the British provocateur’s appearance. A recent speaking engagement by Yiannopoulos at Berkeley University was cancelled because it caused a riot. Scahill, a frequent Real Time guest, was set to be a panelist on this Friday’s episode, before explaining why he was pulling out in...read more...

The Intercept co-founder Jeremy Scahill is cancelling his planned appearance on “Real Time With Bill Maher” this week due to the show booking Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos. In a statement posted on his Twitter feed, Scahill said that he respects Maher and has enjoyed appearing on his show many times in the past. “But Milo Yiannopoulos is a bridge too far,” Scahill wrote. “He has ample venues to spew his hateful diatribes. There is no value in ‘debating’ him.” Also Read: Bill Maher to Interview Alt-Right Firebrand Milo Yiannopoulos on 'Real Time' “Appearing on ‘Real Time’ will provide...

Updated, 3:55 Pm: Journalist Jeremy Scahill, a frequent guest of Real Time with Bill Maher, has canceled his appearance set for this Friday in protest of the show’s booking of Milo Yiannopoulos, the controversial Breitbart News editor who Scahill says will use the HBO platform to “legitimize his hateful agenda.” Real Time has replaced Scahill with Malcolm Nance, author of The Plot to Hack America: How Putin's Cyberspies and WikiLeaks Tried to Steal the 2016 Election…...

All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception, And The Spirit Of I.F. Stone screens Friday February 10th through Sunday February 12th at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium (470 East Lockwood). The movie starts at 7:30 all three evenings.

Independent journalists Amy Goodman, Glenn Greenwald (Snowden), Jeremy Scahill (Dirty Wars), Matt Taibbi and others are changing the face of journalism, providing investigative, alternatives to mainstream, corporate news outlets. Cameras roll as they expose government and corporate deception – just as the groundbreaking journalist I.F. Stone did decades ago. With government deception rampant, and intrusion of state surveillance into private life never more egregious, many journalists are finding that to aggressively investigate governments rather than act as “stenographers to power”, they need to abandon mainstream corporate news media to work at alternative, web-based sites. All Governments Lie will forever change the way you watch and read the news.

The critics love All Governments Lie: Truth,...

Laura Poitras isn’t waiting for traditional media to tell the stories that will change the world. One year after co-founding Field of Vision, the visual journalism unit of First Look Media, Poitras and co-founders Aj Schnack and Charlotte Cook are doubling down on their efforts to commission original works of nonfiction that address global events.

Read More: Field of Vision Launches New Website and New Slate of Short-Form Documentaries

While Poitras will be leaving The Intercept, the journalism outfit co-founded by Glenn Greenwald and Jeremy Scahill, to focus on expanding Field of Vision, her day-to-day work of commissioning films and short form work will not change, and the two organizations will continue their collaboration on nonfiction storytelling. Field of Vision commissioned 22 nonfiction shorts, three episodic series and two feature-length documentaries in its first year, but Poitras and her team are working to expand their collaborations with filmmakers, reporters and...

At its best, journalism should have an adversarial relationship with power, constantly questioning or combatting it in a relentless pursuit of the truth. Unfortunately, modern media conglomerates have a vested interest in making money over uncovering lies, and thus are willing to be spokespeople for the powerful instead of the ones who hold their feet to the fire. Fred Peabody’s new documentary “All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception, and the Spirit of I.F. Stone” takes on the inherent flaws of the modern news media and how they are increasingly reluctant to investigate or criticize government policies.

Read More: The 75th Annual Peabody Awards Announce Latest Group of Winners: ‘Mr. Robot,’ ‘UnREAL,’ and More

In “All Governments Lie,” Peabody explores the legacy of I.F. Stone, whose groundbreaking reporting filled his tiny 4-page newsletter from 1953 to 1971. He inspired many of those changing the face of journalism who are featured in “All Governments Lie,...

After a promising initial line-up, the Toronto International Film Festival has delivered more titles with their full Canadian slate. Among the line-up is Xavier Dolan‘s It’s Only the End of the World, Bruce MacDonald‘s new feature Weirdos, Deepa Mehta‘s Anatomy of Violence, as well as Two Lovers and a Bear, starring Tatiana Maslany and Dane DeHaan, which we have the first trailer for today.

We said in our review from Cannes, “Kim Nguyen’s Two Lovers and a Bear is a film that suffers from a bit of an identity crisis. Like an indie playlist stuck on constant shuffle, unapologetically reveling in a sort of manic unclassifiable genre. This isn’t always necessarily a bad thing, but, for some reason, Nguyen’s scattershot tonal shifts — which hop between a romance on the rocks; a self-serious study of grieving; and a surreal buddy comedy — can prove quite jarring.

In a miss it if you don’t read the fine print, First Look Media (company motto is Entertainment with something on its mind) announced a new addition to their company structure and the good news: they are developing a film script from writer/director David Riker (La Ciudad, The Girl with Abbie Cornish) based on an unreported, certainly hot topic politically infused report from Jeremy Scahill.

Continue reading...

The company has hired Annie Marter as senior vice-president, feature film, as it seeks to broaden its activities.

First Look Media, who co-financed best picture Oscar-winner Spotlight, also announced it is developing a screenplay from Dirty Wars writer David Riker.

Marter served in executive roles on films like Sunshine Cleaning, Let Me In, Traitor, and The Visitor.

She also produced Transcendence and reports to First Look Media executive vice-president of programming and content Adam Pincus.

The Riker script is based on unpublished reporting by investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill, a founding editor of The Intercept, which is dedicated to producing adversarial journalism.

First Look Media is involved in Laura Poitras’ Cannes selection Risk, which Praxis Films produced in association with First Look Media and Field of Vision.

Former CIA operative Mike Baker took aim at Intercept editor Jeremy Scahill and other journalists as “celebrity f—ers” after the site published an explosive whistleblower story on Thursday that exposed the Obama administration’s secret drone program. “These guys are celebrity f–kers; Juliane Assange and Glenn Greenwald, they love the attention, they love the celebrity and the fame that it brings them; if they say they don’t, they’re lying,” he told TheWrap in an interview. Baker, who spent 17 years as a covert operations officer and now runs security and investigations company Diligence, said the eight-part report...

The Intercept’s explosive eight-part investigation, published on Thursday, sent the media world into a frenzy. The series, exposing the inner workings of the U.S. drone program, is based on documents leaked by an unnamed high-level source in the intelligence community who supposedly worked on the covert operations. “The Drone Papers,” written by Jeremy Scahill and his colleagues at The Intercept, claims that the whistleblower “decided to provide these documents because he believes the public has a right to understand the process by which people are placed on kill lists and ultimately assassinated on orders from the highest echelons of the.

With an ambitious new visual-journalism unit at The Intercept, the Citizenfour director is planning to take non-fiction film-making into the unknown

Laura Poitras doesn’t like to rest on her laurels. Less than a year after winning a Pulitzer prize for reporting on Edward Snowden’s Nsa revelations and netting an Oscar for the ensuing documentary Citizenfour, she’s back in the spotlight with Asylum: a new short-form episodic series. In it she shadows Julian Assange as he publishes classified diplomatic cables and seeks asylum in Ecuador’s London embassy.

Three episodes of her series, which serve as a prequel of sorts to Citizenfour, premiered on Sunday at the New York film festival. The shorts – scored by Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails – were completed under the banner of Poitras’s new visual journalism unit, Field of Vision, which she recently launched with fellow film-maker Aj Schnack and producer/writer Charlotte Cook,...

When I interviewed Laura Poitras for "Citizenfour," I asked about how the U.S. government kept harassing her whenever she entered the country as well as foreign airports. More than 50 times over six years, in fact, she had to undergo repeated searches and interrogations. Her ongoing treatment eventually led her to leave the U.S. and live in Germany. Having not heard back on her 2013 request to obtain documents via the Freedom of Information Act relating to her repeated targeting, Poitras is fighting back. She's suing the U.S. government. She filed a complaint on Monday demanding, reports The Intercept, her website founded with Glenn Greenwald and Jeremy Scahill, "that the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence release any and all documentation pertaining to her tracking, targeting and questioning while traveling between 2006 and 2012." “I’m filing...

Recently, the news has been filled with stories about the Islamic State, the group of Sunni extremists who control territory in Iraq and Syria and are threatening to expand into other areas of the Middle East. The ferocity and the theocracy of Isil has brought attention back to the conflict in the region thanks to their repeated acts of barbarism, and there’s concern that further military adventures in Iraq and neighboring countries might be necessary to stop them. Here’s the thing, though: the War on Terror never really took a break. The troops came home, yes, but in 21st century warfare, the troops need not necessarily be in the theater of war to do damage.

The simply named Norwegian documentary Drone takes a serious and unflinching look at one of the things that truly changed the face of warfare: unmanned aerial devices, or, as they’re more commonly known,...

Where there are winners there are also losers, and as TheWrap already declared our our top 5 media winners of 2014 so must follow the year’s most prominent losers.

Fortunately, in the media world, it’s not a challenge to see who is in a funk and who is in full-on demolition mode.

Also Read: Top 5 Media Winners of the Year: TheWrap’s Best & Worst 2014

Here are the top 5 media losers of 2014.

Getty Images

1. When journalists and billionares collide: Pierre Omidyar

For a guy who had the vision, determination and talent to create eBay, Pierre Omidyar sure seems to have trouble running a media company.

By Anjelica Oswald

Managing Editor

Director Lauren Poitras traveled to Hong Kong in 2013 with journalist Glenn Greenwald to meet with Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency contractor known for revealing information about the Nsa’s massive surveillance efforts, and what she filmed while meeting with Snowden resulted in Citizenfour.

The documentary premiered at the New York Film Fest and was met with a standing ovation and high praise. The film made the Academy’s documentary feature shortlist and could land a nomination at the 87th Academy Awards.

The film could join these ten Oscar-nominated documentaries that question American government’s military and/or political conduct (in chronological order):

The Panama Deception (1991)

Barbara Trent’s documentary offers a critical look back on the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama, which resulted in the ousting of General Manuel Noriega, and the deceptive reasons for U.S. involvement. The documentary also captures biased media coverage and suppressed information.

Acclaimed writer Matt Taibbi has left start-up news operation First Look Media eight months after joining from Rolling Stone, the company announced Tuesday. Also read: Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi Joins Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill at First Look Media Taibbi, known for his biting and rabble-rousing writing style, joined First Look Media in February after 10 years at Rolling Stone. Upon joining, Taibbi told The New York Times ,”It's obvious that we're entering a new phase in the history of journalism.” He hinted at a digital magazine zeroing in on financial and political corruption, but months later, with the site still not.

Last year, RADiUS scored at the box office and in Awards Season with its documentary 20 Feet From Stardom (nearly $4.95 million and Best Documentary Feature Oscar win). This year, it may have another non-fiction awards behemoth, hitting theaters this weekend.

Citizenfour, directed by journalist and filmmaker Laura Poitras, tells the story of Nsa leaker Edward Snowden as he disclosed massive domestic U.S. government spying. The film unfolds in real time as Poitras and Guardian colleague Glenn Greenwald, working on a long-term project about government surveillance, were contacted online by a mysterious source calling himself “Citizenfour.” The film, completed in secret while Poitras was in self-imposed virtual exile, alleges even more Nsa overreaching at home and abroad than just what came out of the massive pile of U.S. documents Snowden leaked.

Another potential awards contender also arrives in U.S. theaters this weekend: Sweden’s entry for Foreign Language Oscar,...

Seamless and as darkly riveting as any John le Carré or Graham Greene thriller, Laura Poitras’ Citizenfour puts an indelibly human face on Nsa whistleblower Edward Snowden, while ripping away any mask of pretense that the most massive and sophisticated breach of privacy in American history had grounding in reality, let alone the law.

Almost defiantly avoiding most of the technological gimcrackery we’ve come to expect in advocacy filmmaking, and rushed to completion (though never looking it) in time for its world premiere last night at the 52nd New York Film Festival, Citizenfour is likely to open the eyes — not to say change the minds — of doubters who would like to see Snowden tried for treason.

It’s a devastating account of how 9/11 was used to justify the abrogation of civil liberties on an unimaginable, even global scale as the National Security Agency spread a metastasizing net to intercept...

Oscar 2014 winners and nominees (photo: Oscar winners Lupita Nyong’o and Jared Leto chat at the 2014 Oscar ceremony) Best Picture: American Hustle, Charles Roven, Richard Suckle, Megan Ellison, Jonathan Gordon; Captain Phillips, Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca; Dallas Buyers Club, Robbie Brenner, Rachel Winter; Gravity, Alfonso Cuarón, David Heyman; Her, Megan Ellison, Spike Jonze, Vincent Landay; Nebraska, Albert Berger, Ron Yerxa; Philomena, Gabrielle Tana, Steve Coogan, Tracey Seaward; 12 Years a Slave, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen, Anthony Katagas; The Wolf of Wall Street, Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, Joey McFarland, Emma Tillinger Koskoff. Best Foreign Language Film: The Broken Circle Breakdown, Belgium; The Great Beauty, Italy; The Hunt, Denmark; The Missing Picture, Cambodia; Omar, Palestine. Best Actress: Amy Adams, American Hustle; Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine; Sandra Bullock, Gravity; Judi Dench, Philomena; Meryl Streep, August: Osage County. Best Actor: Christian Bale, American Hustle; Bruce Dern, Nebraska; Leonardo DiCaprio,...

The 86th annual Academy Awards were really fun to watch. Ellen Degeneres did a fantastic job hosting, and I enjoyed the show she put on. It was also insanely predictable, at least, for me it was. Overall, I'm happy with all of the films that won. My favorite win of the the night was Spike Jonze taking home the Oscar for Best Original screenplay for Her. That was such an amazing movie, and I really wanted it to win that award, but I wasn't sure it would happen. My favorite speech of the night came from Best Actor winner Matthew McConaughey. I was never really a big fan of his, but over the last couple of years he has sure blown up into an amazing actor who has starred in some really incredible films. Then that speech he gave last night won me over, and now I'm on team McConaughey.

After a lengthy awards season that lasted three long months, the race for the Oscars came to a conclusion tonight at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

This year’s 86th Academy Awards saw a split between Best Picture and Director. 12 Years A Slave won three, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Lupita Nyong’o.

Backstage, producer/actor Brad Pitt said, “ I love this movie. I ‑‑ just as a film, as a lover of film, the filmmaking, the ‑‑ this heroic story of a man in this inhumane situation trying to get back to his family. I love this film. I love the filmmaking. It’s counterintuitive to the way we’re making films today. It’s a real achievement by Mr. McQueen here. I love this movie. I think it’s important. I think it’s important because it deals with our history that we haven...

And in the end, it was a predictable Oscar night! The frontrunners were true frontrunners with "12 Years a Slave" taking home the Best Picture trophy while "Gravity" won all technical awards. In the acting categories, Cate Blanchett won Best Actress, Matthew McConaughey was awarded the Best Actor trophy, while Jared Leto and Lupita Nyong'o received the Supporting Actor and Actress awards, respectively.

I think Ellen did a great job hosting the award, and the best musical performer for me was Pink singing "Over the Rainbow" in tribute to "The Wizard of Oz."

And here are the winners of the granddaddy of the Awards Season -- the 2014 Oscars:

Actor in a Leading Role

Christian Bale in .American Hustle.

Bruce Dern in .Nebraska.

Leonardo DiCaprio in .The Wolf of Wall Street.

Chiwetel Ejiofor in .12 Years a Slave.

Winner: Matthew McConaughey in .Dallas Buyers Club.

Actor in a Supporting Role

Barkhad Abdi in...

Another year has gone by with some simply fantastic movies and yes, it’s the night of the Oscars yet again. We’ll be up throughout the night tweeting from @HeyUGuys and we’ll be updating this post as we go throughout the night.

If you miss a winner, fear not as they’ll all be here as we go or if you’re reading this in the UK in the morning, welcome and we’re no doubt asleep!

The Tally:

Gravity: 7 Dallas Buyers Club: 3 12 Years a Slave: 3 The Great Gatsby: 2 Frozen: 2 Blue Jasmine: 1

—————————

Best Picture

“American Hustle” Charles Roven, Richard Suckle, Megan Ellison and Jonathan Gordon, Producers “Captain Phillips” Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca, Producers “Dallas Buyers Club” Robbie Brenner and Rachel Winter, Producers “Gravity” Alfonso Cuarón and David Heyman, Producers “Her” Megan Ellison, Spike Jonze and Vincent Landay, Producers “Nebraska” Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa,...

Screen is updating the Oscar winners live here…winners so far include Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, Frozen, The Great Beauty, 12 Years A Slave and more.

The winners are being announced at the 86th Academy Awards in Los Angeles.

The winners are listed below, followed by the nominees.

Best motion picture of the year“American Hustle” Charles Roven, Richard Suckle, Megan Ellison and Jonathan Gordon, Producers“Captain Phillips” Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca, Producers“Dallas Buyers Club” Robbie Brenner and Rachel Winter, Producers“Gravity” Alfonso Cuarón and David Heyman, Producers“Her” Megan Ellison, Spike Jonze and Vincent Landay, Producers“Nebraska” Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa, Producers“Philomena” Gabrielle Tana, Steve Coogan and Tracey Seaward, Producers“12 Years a Slave” Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen and Anthony Katagas, Producers“The Wolf of Wall Street” Nominees to be determinedPerformance by an actor in a leading roleChristian Bale in “American Hustle”Bruce Dern in “Nebraska”[link...

The Oscar nominations for the 86th Academy Awards have been announced but who will win and who should win? In a banner year for great movies, 2013 gave us thought-provoking and entertaining experience at the cinema. On Oscar night, Steve McQueen.s .12 Years a Slave. will take home the top prize but Alfonso Cuaron.s .Gravity. will win all the technical awards including Best Director. Quite fitting since one provoked (.12 Years.) and the other entertained (.Gravity.).

And for those who know me, the Academy Awards is my Super Bowl! I.m a nerd when it comes to the Oscars! So I tried to predict the winners to help you with your Oscar pool.

And here's my complete and utterly fearless 2014 Oscar predictions:

Actor in a Leading Role

Christian Bale in .American Hustle.

Bruce Dern in .Nebraska.

Leonardo DiCaprio in .The Wolf of Wall Street.

Chiwetel Ejiofor in .12 Years a Slave.

Matthew McConaughey...

Contributed by Michelle McCue, Melissa Thompson and Gary Salem

Funny how fast an Oscar season goes by… only last year Argo was being given the Academy Award for Best Picture. The big night is almost here and nothing about this year’s Academy Awards is a sure bet. With so much time between the nominations in January, the various guild awards and the Olympics thrown in, the 6,028 AMPAS voters have had a long time to mull things, and their votes, over.

The winner’s acceptance speeches at the Golden Globes, the Screen Actor Guild Awards (SAG) and the British Academy Awards (BAFTA) have never been more important as they have during this past month and a half. Voting for the Oscars closed on Tuesday, February 25, at 5 p.m.

Even the avid pundits are in a muddle and would give their eye teeth to see the final tallies. Will hopefuls Leto,...

On Wednesday evening of Oscar Week, the Academy introduced the five films nominated for Best Documentary Feature and Documentary Short Subject at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

Host Rob Epstein introduced the event by welcoming the packed house to the “Temple of Films.” Represented by the nominees in both categories, the program included clips from all of the films nominated and panel discussions with filmmakers from each group.

First up were the Documentary Short Subject films.

On hand were nominees Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed, directors of the “The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life,” the story of 109 year old, Alice Herz Sommer, the world’s oldest pianist and Holocaust survivor who shares her story on how to achieve a long and happy life through music, laughter and optimism. It was apparent that both were still deeply affected by this woman who passed away on Sunday.

There are reasons to value each best documentary nominee this year, but only one makes history. That honor doesn’t belong to “The Square,” Jehane Noujaim’s stirring account of Egypt’s tumultuous revolution, which certainly does a capable job of documenting history in action. It’s also not applicable to “Dirty Wars,” a competent account of journalist Jeremy Scahill’s underground work exposing U.S. efforts throughout the Middle East to cover up mismanaged espionage missions, assassinations, and other unflattering efforts, based on the reporter’s book of the same name. And while “Cutie and the Boxer” eloquently chronicles the romance between an eccentric painter and his devout partner, its appeal lies in its story’s intimacy rather than any larger thematic context. But Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The Act of Killing” is more than just a movie that tackles consequential issues; it’s the cinematic equivalent of hitting the...

An infuriating and depressing look at how American foreign policy and warfare have been transformed in highly undemocratic ways, and a reminder of what real journalism looks like. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

What the hell does the United States consider legitimate warfare today? Drone attacks on civilians in places where no declared war exists. Targeted assassinations of American citizens. Military raids that do nothing but turn indifferent or even friendly foreigners into enemies, ensuring that peace can never be achieved and making no damn sense at all, unless self-perpetuating warfare is actually the goal. If you’re already aware of how American foreign policy and warfare have been transformed in highly undemocratic ways, it’s partly down to veteran war correspondent and military journalist Jeremy Scahill; you’ve seen him on The Rachel Maddow Show...

It's almost over. Voting for the 86th annual Academy Awards ends tomorrow at 5pm Pt. Most ballots have already been turned in, of course, and many were probably coming in early, as paper ballots somehow again hit mailboxes a week ahead of the official opening of online polls on Feb. 14. What will one of the most competitive seasons on record have to show for itself on Sunday night? When the dust settles, we'll certainly have seen one of the more campaign-heavy seasons to date. No one has just rolled over and some have pulled out all the stops. Just look at Paramount's push for "The Wolf of Wall Street," which just went for it with a vibrant "Because It's Awesome" outdoor campaign. Warner Bros. tapped a more emotional vein in TV spots for "Gravity," highlighting it as more than "just" a feat of craftsmanship. And though characteristically reserved on a...