by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent Sometimes a press release is so good it’s just fine art, or more specifically it’s the holidays and we’re lazy, plus this is great writing from our friends in show business. That said, we’d only put a slightly different headline on it, for the diehard hipsters. Which is “The Dude, AKA Jeff Bridges Now in HIGHWATER, Wins American Riviera Award From Santa Barbara,” whereas our more respectable writing colleagues b...

SPOTLIGHT MEDIA PRODUCTIONS   87TH OSCARS® NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED   By Adrienne Papp   Directors Alfonso Cuarón and J.J. Abrams, actor Chris Pine and Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs announced the nominations for the 87th Academy Awards® today (January 15).  For the first time, nominees in all 24 categories were announced live. Cuarón and Abrams announced the nominees in 11 categories at 5:30 a.m. ...

by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent What better way to usher in the Oscars Nominees than with the real-time footage that had some of us up on the West Coast at 5:30 am. Of course, since they split the announcement in two this year, we had to wait until 5:38 (5:39 actually) to hear the majors above-the-line. But it was a historic first to have below-the-line categories given such a huge nod with J. J. Abrams and Alfonso Cuarón. Here’s the Academy Award Nominees for 20...

SPOTLIGHT MEDIA PRODUCTIONS   OSCAR® NOMINATIONS IN ALL 24 CATEGORIES LIVE, By Adrienne Papp   By Adrienne Papp   For the first time, Academy to announce  OSCAR® NOMINATIONS in all 24 categories live on January 9, 2015 Nominations to be delivered in new two-part presentation. Chris Pine and Academy President  CHERYL BOONE ISAACS to present  nominations  in 13 categories &nb...

  By Liza Foreman   Voltage Pictures has added the Taliban-themed Untitled Drones Project to its Cannes line up. The package, as it is being presented here, includes Chris Pine (Star Trek Into Darkness) in the lead role, with Andrew Niccol (Lord of War, Gattaca) directing and writing. Voltage’s Nicolas Chartier is producing. The story follows a fighter pilot turned drone pilot.  Based in Las Vegas, he fights the Taliban by remote control all day before going home to the...