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The Oscars Make a Statement While Still Staying Safe

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Somehow last night’s Oscars showed that the Academy certainly did care about political movies but not so much they would give them its highest honor.

If you were watching last night you will most likely agree that almost all the films and actors that should have won took home a statue. That was kind of nice. But then Green Book won Best Picture and you could see Hollywood still playing by its old rules.

Before we talk about that though let’s talk about what worked last night. There may have been a bit of a delay but The Academy seems to have finally gotten the #OscarsSoWhite memo as more awards went to people of color than any other year before. And the awards were well deserved. It opened the door for Ruth E. Carter to win for her costume design in Black Panther, a major studio film that focused on Afro Futurism. The film won for production design as well.

In a major upset Into the Spider-Verse took home best animated feature, the first in ages to not belong to Dreamworks or Pixar. This is even more important because not only is the film one of the most creative animated films to come out in years but it revolves around an Afro-Latino superhero. While that detail may seem small it is very important on a cultural level. Bohemian Rhapsody cleaned up as well in a move that really honored everything Freddie Mercury stood for, even if the movie itself had flaws. The whole night seemed to be an apology for years of #OscarsSoWhite.

Then Green Book won Best Picture. The film itself isn’t bad and it has some fantastic actors involved. Anything Viggo Mortensen or Mahershala Ali do is going to be a masterclass in acting. That doesn’t change the fact that the story plays out like a reverse Driving Miss Daisy. A film which, as it turns out, beat out the far superior Do The Right Thing. The same thing seemed to happen last night as Green Book beat out Lee’s exceptional Blackkklansman, a truly timely and hard-hitting film. Even if the Academy ignored Lee’s movie Vice was nominated as well and could have made a statement. It’s as if Hollywood was prepping itself to make a grand statement and backed out at the last minute.

Maybe next year the Academy will be ready to give its highest honor to a more deserving film but for now it seems happy making comfortable decisions that don’t disrupt the status quo.

 

Best Supporting Actress

Emma Stone (The Favourite)

Rachel Weisz (The Favourite)

Amy Adams (Vice)

Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk)

Marina De Tavira (Roma)

 

Best Makeup and Hair

Border

Mary Queen of Scots

Vice

 

Best Documentary

Free Solo

Minding the Gap

RBG

Hale County This Morning, This Evening

Of Fathers and Sons

 

Best Costume Design

Black Panther (Ruth E Carter) – WINNER!

The Favourite (Sandy Powell)

Mary Poppins Returns (Sandy Powell)

Mary Queen of Scots (Alexandra Byrne)

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Mary Zophres)

Best Film Editing

 

Bohemian Rhapsody (John Ottman)

Vice (Hank Corwin)

BlacKkKlansman (Barry Alexander Brown)

The Favourite (Yorgos Mavropsaridis)

Green Book (Patrick J Don Vito)

 

Best Production Design

The Favourite (Fiona Crombie and Alice Felton)

First Man (Nathan Crowley and Kathy Lucas)

Roma (Eugenio Caballero and Barbara Enriquez)

Mary Poppins Returns (John Myhre and Gordon Sim)

Black Panther (Hannah Beachler and Jay Hart) – WINNER!

 

Best Cinematography

Roma (Alfonso Cuaron)

Cold War (Łukasz Żal)

Never Look Away (Caleb Deschanel)

The Favourite (Robbie Ryan)

A Star Is Born (Matty Libatique)

 

Best Sound Editing

First Man

A Quiet Place

Bohemian Rhapsody

Black Panther

Roma

 

Best Sound Mixing

A Star Is Born

Bohemian Rhapsody

First Man

Roma

Black Panther

 

Best Foreign Language Film

Roma (Mexico) – WINNER!

Cold War (Poland)

Shoplifters (Japan)

Capernaum (Lebanon)

Never Look Away (Germany)

 

Best Supporting Actor

Mahershala Ali (Green Book)

Richard E Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

Sam Elliott (A Star Is Born)

Adam Driver (BlacKkKlansman)

Sam Rockwell (Vice)

 

Best Animated Feature

Incredibles 2

Ralph Breaks the Internet

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Isle of Dogs

Mirai

 

Best Live Action Short

Detainment

Fauve

Marguerite

Mother

Skin

 

Best Animated Short

Animal Behaviour

Bao – WINNER!

Late Afternoon

One Small Step

Weekends

 

Best Documentary Short

Black Sheep

End Game

Lifeboat

A Night at the Garden

Period. End of Sentence.

 

Best Visual Effects

First Man

Avengers: Infinity War

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Ready Player One

Christopher Robin

 

Best Original Screenplay

Green Book (Brian Hayes Currie, Peter Farrelly and Nick Vallelonga)

The Favourite (Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara)

Roma (Alfonso Cuarón)

Vice (Adam McKay)

First Reformed (Paul Schrader)

 

Best adapted screenplay

If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins)

A Star Is Born (Bradley Cooper, Will Fetters and Eric Roth)

Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty)

BlacKkKlansman (Spike Lee, David Rabinowitz, Charlie Wachtel and Kevin Willmott)

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen)

 

Best Original Score

If Beale Street Could Talk (Nicholas Britell)

Mary Poppins Returns (Marc Shaiman)

Isle of Dogs (Alexandre Desplat)

BlacKkKlansman (Terence Blanchard)

Black Panther (Ludwig Goransson)

 

Best Original Song

Shallow (A Star Is Born)

All the Stars (Black Panther)

I’ll Fight (RBG)

The Place Where Lost Things Go (Mary Poppins Returns)

When a Cowboy Trades his Spurs for Wings (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs)

 

Best Actor

Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) – WINNER!

Christian Bale (Vice)

Viggo Mortensen (Green Book)

Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born)

Willem Dafoe (At Eternity’s Gate)

 

Best Actress

Glenn Close (The Wife)

Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born)

Olivia Colman (The Favourite)

Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

Yalitza Aparicio (Roma)

 

Best Director

Alfonso Cuarón (Roma)

Adam McKay (Vice)

Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite)

Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman)

Pawel Pawlikowski (Cold War)

 

Best Picture

Black Panther

BlacKkKlansman

Bohemian Rhapsody

The Favourite

Green Book

Roma

A Star is Born

Vice

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The Life and Times of Kota Srinivasa Rao: A Pillar of Indian Cinema Bids Farewell

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On July 13, 2025, Indian cinema lost one of its most enduring lights—Kota Srinivasa Rao, a name that has been woven into the very fabric of Telugu cinema and Indian film history for nearly five decades. He was 77.

To speak of Kota garu is to speak of a man who embodied the soul of acting, not merely performance, but lived truth on screen. As a journalist who has spent years documenting the landscape of Indian entertainment, and more importantly, as a lifelong admirer of its emotional and artistic depth, I find it nearly impossible to separate the arc of my love for Telugu cinema from the face, voice, and commanding presence of Kota Srinivasa Rao.

Born on July 10, 1948, in Kankipadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kota Srinivasa Rao was the son of freedom fighter and dramatist Kota Seetha Rama Anjaneyulu. The stage called to him early, long before the silver screen embraced him. His transition from theater to cinema in the late 1970s was seamless, natural, and even. His debut in K. Viswanath’s Pranam Khareedu (1978) may have seemed modest at the time, but in hindsight, it was the quiet ignition of a force that would later dominate the craft of acting across genres and generations.

Kota Garu was never a man of one shade. He could play a corrupt politician one moment and a hapless, loving father the next—with equal gravitas and complete immersion. Who could forget his roles in Gaayam, Shiva, Aha Naa Pellanta, Pratighatana, Money, Anaganaga Oka Roju, Leader, and Tagore? These weren’t just performances; they were living case studies in human contradiction and nuance.

In Aa Naluguru, his portrayal of a morally grey newspaper editor offered a sobering mirror to society. In comedies like Hello Brother, his deadpan wit was so precise that it could make audiences erupt with laughter on a single line delivery. Every filmmaker—from K. Viswanath to Ram Gopal Varma, Krishna Vamsi to Sekhar Kammula—sought him out, not just for his craft, but for his wisdom. Watching him act was never passive; it was an education.

Kota Srinivasa Rao did not rely on grand gestures. He mastered silence, pauses, and subtle shifts of the eye or lip. His voice—a deep, gravelly cadence seasoned with satire and command—could either be a thunderclap or a whisper that echoed.

To those of us in the audience, especially those who grew up in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, his voice became part of our lives. We knew it like we knew the changing winds before the monsoon. Even when he wasn’t on screen, you could feel his influence in the rhythm of dialogue and the texture of storytelling.

Despite his towering fame, Kota garu remained rooted. His brief but meaningful stint in politics—elected as MLA from Vijayawada East in 1999—reflected his desire to contribute beyond the screen. But he soon returned to his first love: the cinema.

His accolades are many, including the Padma Shri (2015) and multiple Nandi Awards, but what truly set him apart was how loved and respected he was by peers and audiences alike. For young actors and directors, working with Kota garu was a rite of passage.

Jr NTR once said in an interview, “You don’t act with Kota garu. You surrender. And in doing so, you become better without even realizing it.”

As the film industry and fans across India mourn his passing, one thing becomes clear: Kota Srinivasa Rao was not just part of Indian cinema—he was one of its pillars. He leaves behind a legacy that transcends language and time. He proved, over and over again, that you don’t need to be the lead to lead a scene. That character is not just something you play—it’s something you embody.

For those of us who grew up seeing him on VHS tapes, in dusty cinema halls, on cable TV reruns, and later streaming platforms, Kota garu’s presence was a constant. He was a reminder of what cinema was, and what it could be—pure, affecting, transformative.

As I write this not just as a journalist, but as someone whose very identity has been shaped by Indian films, I say: thank you, Kota garu. For the laughter. For the fear. For the wisdom. For the truth. Your performances were never just “roles.” They were lessons in being human.

In Gaayam, you once delivered the haunting line:
“Nijam cheppadam easy kaadu… adhi cheppataniki guts kavali.”
(“Telling the truth is not easy… It takes courage to speak it.”)

You spoke the truth through every role, and we heard you—loud and clear.

Your absence leaves a void, but your art remains. And in that, you are eternal.

Rest in peace, Kota Srinivasa Rao garu. Your voice may have fallen silent, but your cinema will echo forever.

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FX’s Alien: Earth Makes Impact at San Diego Comic-Con 2025 With World Premiere, Epic Hall H Panel, and Immersive Activation

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Get ready to scream, San Diego.

FX is going full-throttle at San Diego Comic-Con 2025, transporting fans into the spine-chilling world of Alien: Earth — the brand-new television series from visionary creator Noah Hawley (Fargo, Legion), inspired by the legendary sci-fi horror film franchise. Between a can’t-miss world premiere in Hall H and an atmospheric, interactive activation titled “The Wreckage,” this year’s FX slate will leave fans trembling in anticipation ahead of the show’s official premiere on Tuesday, August 12 on FX and Hulu.

👽 Enter the Wreckage: FX’s Alien: Earth Immersive Experience
Located on the Hilton Bayfront Lawn, “The Wreckage” lets fans step foot inside the ominous remains of the USCSS Maginot, a ship torn from deep space and crash-landed on Earth. This thrilling, two-part activation features daytime exploration and an after-dark survival horror mission dubbed Code Red — a terrifying twist perfect for the brave.

🔥 Highlights Include:
Alien: Earth: Code Red – A nighttime horror maze experience you won’t forget

Interactive Prodigy Corp Drop Site – Sign up as an FX Insider and unlock VR exclusives and giveaways

Exclusive Merch & Collabs – Enjoy in-world beverages from Chain, the cult-favorite pop-cuisine creators

Podcast Studio – Live interviews with talent, influencers, and creatives all weekend long

🗓️ Activation Dates & Times:

Date Daytime Hours Code Red Hours
Thu, July 24 11am–4pm 4:30pm–8pm
Fri, July 25 10am–4pm 4:30pm–10pm
Sat, July 26 10am–4pm 4:30pm–10pm
Sun, July 27 11am–3pm —

📍 Location: Hilton Bayfront Lawn, 1 Park Blvd, San Diego, CA 92101
🎟️ Admission is free. Ages 18+. Press can skip the line by RSVPing to madison.welsh@civic-us.com

🎬 Hall H World Premiere: Alien Lands at Comic-Con
The hype doesn’t end on the lawn. On Friday, July 25 from 1:25pm–2:50pm, FX takes over Hall H for the world premiere of Alien: Earth, screening the pilot episode before its global release.

Fans in Hall H will be the first on Earth to witness the terrifying new story, starring Sydney Chandler as a young woman who must lead a squad of soldiers through a world where extraterrestrial nightmares have arrived — and they’re not alone.

Following the screening, creator Noah Hawley, executive producer David W. Zucker, and the cast will participate in a Q&A, diving deep into the making of this bold, horrifying new chapter in the Alien universe.

🧬 About Alien: Earth
When a derelict alien spacecraft crash-lands on Earth, a dark and deadly mystery begins to unravel. As humanity faces the planet’s greatest threat yet, survival may rest in the hands of those least expected. Packed with dread, awe, and action, Alien: Earth builds on decades of cinematic legacy while exploring timely themes and fresh characters.

The series premieres August 12 on FX, and will stream on Hulu (and Hulu on Disney+ for bundle subscribers). Internationally, it will stream on Disney+.

🌌 Stay Connected:
🌐 Visit FXSDCC.com for updates and schedules

📱 Sign up to become an FX Insider: fx.tv/alien-earth-insider

📸 Follow @FXNetworks on socials for behind-the-scenes exclusives

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Hank Hill’s Backyard Takes Over SDCC 2025 – Propane and All

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Hulu, the go-to streaming destination for adult animation, is back at San Diego Comic-Con 2025! This year, they are bringing Arlen, Texas, from the iconic King of the Hill franchise to life right outside the Convention Center. Guests will step inside Hank Hill’s Backyard for a big ole cookout, complete with BBQ bites served up throughout the day, classic lawn games, themed photo ops, and a cold can of Alamo (water) to beat the heat.

Located next to the Convention Center on the Bayfront’s Parking Lot (Fifth Ave Landing – Lot A1) – 600 Convention Way, San Diego, CA 92101 – Hank Hill’s Backyard will allow fans to experience what life is like in Arlen, Texas. Starting July 24 at 11:30 am – 7 pm, July 25-26 from 9:30 am-7 pm daily, and July 27 from 9:30 am–5 pm, Hank Hill’s Backyard will transport fans into the world of Arlen, where they can interact with legendary moments from the show.

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