Octavia Spencer/Tate Taylor
A little ‘Help’ from their friendships When they met 16 years ago as production assistants on Joel Schumacher’s “A Time to Kill,” Tate Taylor and Octavia Spencer had no idea they were sowing the seeds for a symbiotic friendship that would one day put both in the thick of the Oscar race. Still, it took a fortuitous contribution from a third member of […]
Tom McCarthy
Versatile McCarthy isn’t sinister, he just acts like it You might not recognize the name, but you’ll certainly recognize the face of Tom McCarthy, the much-sought-after character actor whose boyishly handsome face belies his often sinister roles.Name a crime, and there’s a good chance that one of McCarthy’s array of miscreants has committed it. Let’s […]
Paul Giamatti (2011)
Giamatti went from Pig Vomit to an awards darling Paul Giamatti has been landing movie and TV gigs for more than two decades, mostly in supporting roles. But it wasn’t until he played Pig Vomit, Howard Stern’s conniving, tantrum-prone boss in “Private Parts” (1997), that people started noticing the pudgy, far-from-handsome actor. A few years […]
Emma Stone (2011)
Busy Stone is taking world by storm Like her native Phoenix, Emma Stone is sizzling hot. You might even go so far as to say that there is no escaping her. Just look at the past four weeks. During that small crease in time, she’s stolen movies from under the heels of Ryan Gosling (“Crazy, […]
Julie Delpy (2012)
Once again, the multi-talented Delpy does it all One of the most pleasant movie surprises of 2007 was Julie Delpy’s “2 Days in Paris,” a sweet – and sardonic – look at love, jealousy and the hazards of introducing your cynical American boyfriend to your eccentric French parents. Not only was the film a riot, […]
Elizabeth Banks (2012)
Banks admits being shaky about getting high She’s played first lady Laura Bush, enticed a 40-year-old virgin and flirted with amateur porn stardom, but never has Elizabeth Banks’ career reached the heights of “Man on a Ledge.” It’s a tall story about being 22 stories up, precariously perched on a 14-inch sill outside New York’s […]
Diane Lane (2010)
With ‘Secretariat,’ Lane is not horsing around When you’ve made the cover of Time at the ripe old age of 14, what else is there in life to accomplish? If you’re Diane Lane, plenty, including an Oscar nomination for her sizzling turn as a horny adulteress in “Unfaithful,” an Emmy nomination for her portrayal of […]
Io Capitano (2023)
‘Io Capitano’ puts a human face on migrant crisis Matteo Garrone’s Oscar-nominated “Io Capitano” could not be more urgent, as the world faces its most dire immigration crisis since World War II. It’s an issue the United States knows all too well, but we are hardly the only nation being overrun by families fleeing war, […]
My Oscar Picks for 2024
‘Oppenheimer’ is at the top of my Oscar picks When stories of dwindling TV ratings upstage news about who actually won Academy Awards, it’s time to shake things up with the annual Oscars telecast. And the academy and its partner, ABC, have responded by … starting the show an hour earlier! That’s it? It’s sort […]
NCFCA Awards (2023)
‘Oppenheimer’ is top pick by North Carolina critics The North Carolina Film Critics Association (NCFCA) is pleased to announce its winners for the 12thannual awards for achievements in film with a record-breaking year. Four films were recognized inmultiple categories; Oppenheimer was honored with 10 awards, Barbie earned five honors, and TheHoldovers and Spider-Man: Across the […]