The 97th Academy Awards ceremony will take place on March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, with Conan O’Brien hosting for the first time. The ceremony will feature performances by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, and a tribute to the late Quincy Jones, with Queen Latifah.
Author Archives: Jake Coyle
AP Entertainment Writer
Posted inTV and Film
Black director Nia DaCosta makes her mark on Marvel history with ‘The Marvels’: Fall movie preview
By Jake Coyle, AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Nia DaCosta, director of the upcoming “The Marvels,” has a diagnosis for the recent struggles of superhero movies. It basically comes down to, she says, “Mo’ money, mo’ problems.” Success inevitably breeds bigger budgets. Box-office expectations get inflated. Even superhero spandex can’t sustain endless cycles […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Year after the slap, Chris Rock punches back in new special
By Jake Coyle, AP Film Writer A year after Will Smith smacked him on the Academy Awards stage, Chris Rock finally gave his rebuttal in a forceful stand-up special, streamed live on Netflix on March 4, in which the comedian bragged that he “took that hit like Pacquiao.” The 58-year-old comedian on Saturday night performed […]
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Chris Rock to finally have his say in new stand-up special
By Jake Coyle, AP Film Writer A year after Will Smith smacked him on the Academy Awards stage, Chris Rock is poised to finally have his say. The 58-year-old comedian on March 4 will perform his first stand-up special since last year’s Oscars. He’s doing it in “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage,” streaming live on Netflix […]
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AMC to charge more for good seats in movie theaters
By Jake Coyle, The Associated Press Middle seats at many U.S. movie theaters just got more expensive. AMC Theaters, the nation’s largest movie theater chain, on Jan. 6 unveiled a new pricing scheme in which seat location determines how much your movie ticket costs. Seats in the middle of the auditorium will cost a dollar […]
Posted inTV and Film
Apple TV+ to release ‘Emancipation’ with Will Smith, months after actor’s physical assault of fellow comedian
By Jake Coyle, The Associated Press After holding it in limbo following Will Smith’s assault of Chris Rock at the Academy Awards in March, Apple will release the actor’s next big project, “Emancipation,” this December. In the fallout of Smith’s smack of the comedian, the fate of “Emancipation” — a $120 million runaway slave thriller […]
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Rihanna to headline 2023 Super Bowl halftime show
By Jake Coyle, The Associated Press Rihanna will take center stage at February’s Super Bowl halftime show. The singer, who declined to perform in the 2019 Super Bowl halftime show out of solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, will headline the 2023 Super Bowl, the NFL announced Sunday along with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation and Apple Music. Rihanna […]
Posted inTV and Film
Fall Preview: ‘The Woman King’ comes for the throne
By JAKE COYLE, AP Film Writer Gina Prince-Bythewood didn’t get very far into reading the script for “The Woman King,” a historical epic about a real West African army of female warriors, before she knew she wanted to direct it. “Literally five pages into it I knew it was going to be my next film,” […]
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“Loudmouth,” documentary on
“Loudmouth,” documentary on
Al Sharpton, closes out Tribeca
Film Festival
By Jake Coyle, The Associated Press On the eve of Juneteenth, the Tribeca Festival came to a close with the documentary “Loudmouth.” The premiere united Civil right giant Rev. Al Sharpton and legendary director, screenwriter and actor, Spike Lee, on the stage— two towering New York figures who have each been vilified and celebrated for […]
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Black fashion designer Virgil Abloh dies of cancer at 41
By Jake Coyle AP Film Writer Virgil Abloh, a leading designer whose groundbreaking fusions of streetwear and high couture made him one of the most celebrated tastemakers in fashion and beyond, has died of cancer. He was 41. Abloh’s death was announced Nov. 28 by the luxury group LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy) and Abloh’s […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Giving the Western some swagger in ‘The Harder They Fall’
By Jake Coyle AP Film Writer If you had any doubt that Jeymes Samuel, the director of “The Harder They Fall” and the British musician known as the Bullits, loves Westerns, then you haven’t heard him sing Dean Martin’s “My Rifle, My Pony and Me” from John Ford’s “Rio Bravo.” “When Dean Martin pops up […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Pioneering comic Paul Mooney, a writer for Pryor, dies at 79
This March 29, 2016 image released by Meet The Blacks, LLC shows Paul Mooney posing at the premiere of “Meet the Blacks” in Los Angeles. Mooney, a boundary-pushing comedian who was Richard Pryor’s longtime writing partner and whose sage, incisive musings on racism and American life made him a revered figure in stand-up, died of […]