It was a grassroots campaign. But was it allowable? (And how exactly was it different from the million-dollar campaigns studios mounted for other stars?) - Washington Post
"Despite the vitriol, people are watching the show; according to HBO Max, Velma was its biggest animated series premiere ever. Problem is, they’re watching it through the lens of the entire history of Velma and the Scooby-Doo franchise as a whole." - Wired
As Hollywood Shuffle joins the Criterion Collection (making him one of the very rare Black directors on the list), Townsend is also coming off a couple of years of steady experimentation with Netflix's Kaleidoscope and the conclusion of the Best Man stories. - Washington Post
Oscar-nominated director Lukas Dhont of Close says, "I believe we can learn many things from listening to 13-year-olds, because they are still so closely connected to the hearts. ... They’re so uncensored." - Los Angeles Times
"It’s always dubious to draw zeitgeist-y conclusions amid all the variables. ... Yet that has rarely stopped any critic and I can confidently assert that, as a culture, we are bummed — but also hopeful!" - The New York Times
The new All Quiet on the Western Front "has been at the receiving end of a critical drubbing, with critics complaining that it turns a beloved literary classic into a spectacle 'horny for an Oscar'" - one or more of which it may well receive. - The Guardian (UK)
Barrymore and an wider backlash on the internet led to permanent changes: "Razzies organisers have apologised and introduced an age limit for the awards." - BBC
Mia Hansen-Love is used to her semi-autobiographical, or perhaps semi-memoirish, movies being "described as autofiction." Her new film about a woman dealing with a dying parent and a new lover walks that same line. - The New York Times
"It's a miracle how she dispenses with the chair. 'Dispenses' isn't even the right word: She repels it. She parries it like an anime character deflecting a beam of supernatural power, like Neo dodging bullets in The Matrix, like King Kong swatting away a helicopter." - The New York Times Magazine
"The (culture) minister, Miki Zohar, of Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling Likud party, has pledged to 'revoke funding that promotes our enemy's narrative' and withhold grants from films that 'present Israeli soldiers as murderers'. … Israeli cinema, including its high-profile documentary industry, is heavily reliant on the state grants." - The Guardian
"Rupert Murdoch sent letters to the board of directors of News Corp. and Fox Corp. on Tuesday, informing both groups he had decided to withdraw his recent proposal to recombine the two companies, which his family, controlling shareholders of both, split apart in 2013." - Variety
The Modi Question examines the anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat state in 2002 and the role in it played by Modi, who was then the state's premier and is now the nation's prime minister. After clips appeared on social media in India. Modi's government used emergency powers to block it. - Time
With the Academy's nod for his score for Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans, the 90-year-old composer has tallied 53 nominations (and counting), trailing only Walt Disney (with 59) for the most individual Oscar nominations in history. - The Hollywood Reporter
"The solution ... is simple: Put new releases exclusively in theaters and give them a real chance to succeed with paying moviegoers. No more muddled hybrid releases, no slow and modest rollouts, and certainly nothing like Netflix’s baffling compromise with Glass Onion." - The Atlantic
