Reviewing the Drama: Broadway, Off-Broadway, Ballet, Movies, and TV Reviews

The 87th Academy Award nominations were announced today! Without any further ado, here are the nominees: Best Picture American Sniper Birdman Boyhood The Grand Budapest Hotel The Imitation Game Selma The Theory of Everything Whiplash   I'm glad to see The Grand Budapest Hotel on here, even though I think this race comes down to Boyhood and Birdman . (However, Hotel does have several nominations in the design and other technical categories, even though it did not receive any acting nominations. It's not a runaway for Boyhood or Birdman .) With room for ten nominees, though, the Academy only chose eight nominees, leaving off worthy contenders, like Nightcrawler and Into the Woods. Also note that Interstellar is not on this list, either. Making the list is American Sniper . If you scroll through the nominations, it appears the Academy liked this quite a bit. Best Actor in a Leading Role Steve Carell , Foxcatcher Bradley Cooper , American Sniper  Bened...

Happy New Year! I hope you enjoyed last week's Year in Review. Below is a quick whip-around of this and last week's goings on. Though Side Show is concluding its Broadway run, the new cast recording is slated for release on February 17 . Rolling Stone 's Peter Travers has a message for Academy voters: don't forget these performances! Buzz Feed has a (fairly comprehensive) round up of the most anticipated movies and TV shows/movies of 2015, including Sisters , starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler , and The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore . Nominees for the American Cinema Editors' Eddie Awards were announced this week. Editors for Birdman , Into the Woods , Whiplash and Nightcrawler , among others, are nominated. The Hollywood Reporter has the full list. Tony Kushner ( The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures ) is working on several projects, Playbill reports , including a film with Steven Spielberg...

Nominees for the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards have been announced. Winners will be announced and honored on Sunday, January 25, 2015, and the celebration will air on TNT and TBS. Herein, the full list of nominees. Movies Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Birdman Boyhood The Grand Budapest Hotel The Imitation Game The Theory of Everything While I haven't seen Into the Woods , I think after I do I will be a little bummed it was left off, though the ensemble of Wes Anderson regulars and newbies in The Grand Budapest Hotel was outstanding. Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Steve Carell , Foxcatcher Benedict Cumberbatch , The Imitation Game Jake Gyllenhaal , Nightcrawler Michael Keaton , Birdman Eddie Redmayne , The Theory of Everything I've only seen two of the nominated performances (so far) so I can't declare a favorite. I'm glad to see Gyllenhaal, who's preparing to make his Broadway debut, on ...

Some people have been calling Dan Gilroy 's Nightcrawler  a modern-day Network . Though the plots don't track at all, I can understand the comparison in the sense that both films comment on the state of news media. But I think drawing comparisons takes away from the unflinching, skillfully directed  Nightcrawler 's own merits. (Gilroy wrote and directed the movie.) Set during the overnight hours in Los Angeles, Nightcrawler  follows Lou Bloom, played with conviction by Jake Gyllenhaal , in top form. Lou is straightforward. He is curt and precise; he is obsessive to the point you think he has Asperger's. He's also incredibly creepy. He puts those traits to use in an endeavor to be a successful stringer, someone who captures (on video) crime scenes during the "graveyard shift," and sells his footage to news stations. (Lou develops a relationship with the news director, Nina ( Rene Russo ), at one news station.) It's kind of a seedy job. It require...