Academy Awards are 'for white men'

People in the movie world are angry that the movie industry is run by "old white men". People complained after the Oscar nominations came out because all 20 of the actors who could win an Oscar are white. There are no women in the directing or writing categories. The Los Angeles Times carried out a survey on who the members of the Academy are. The members choose the men and women who are nominated for an Oscar. The survey found that the members of the academy were 94 per cent white, largely male, with an average age of 62. Critics say there is too little diversity in the Oscars.

Civil rights campaigner Al Sharpton criticised the Academy. He said: "The movie industry is like the Rocky Mountains - the higher you get, the whiter it gets." He added that: "The lack of diversity in [the] Oscar nominations is [terrible]." He pointed out that a movie nominated for this year's 'Best Picture' award, 'Selma,' was about racism, but no non-white actors were up for an award. The president of the Academy said the members do nominate the best people, regardless of their colour or gender. However, she hoped Hollywood would become more diverse. (Breaking News English)

Pedro Almodóvar's new film takes to the skies

'Los amantes pasajeros' is being filmed currently at Ciudad Real Airport.

The new film from Pedro Almodóvar will be shot in the inactive Ciudad Real airport where the airspace has been closed since May.
The film, ‘Los amantes pasajeros’ is said to be very light comedy, and stars Javier Cámara, Cecila Roth, Lola Dueñas and Blanca Suarez among others.
The action takes place inside a plane which is full of passengers. An A-380 plane fuselage has been constructed for the project and we know the plot includes an emergency landing.
Almodóver said in press conference in Cannes that his return to humour and the comedy of the 80s would ‘have its limitations’. (typicallyspanish.com)

'Vertigo' Named Best Movie Ever

Alfred Hitchcock's psychological thriller Vertigo has been named as the best movie of all time by the British Film Institute (BFI). The 1958 film replaced Orson Welles' movie Citizen Kane as the greatest film of all time, a position it had held for an incredible 50 years. The BFI poll has taken place once every ten years since 1962. Its panel is made up of 846 international film critics, movie directors, academics and writers. They voted for 2,045 different movies in this decade's survey. Nick James, a BFI spokesman, said the voting "seems to be not so much about films that…use cinema's entire arsenal of effects to make a grand statement, but more about works that have personal meaning to the critic".
Hitchcock called Vertigo his most personal. It is about a retired police detective suffering from acrophobia (a fear of heights) who is hired as a private investigator to follow the wife of a close friend to find out the reasons for her bizarre behaviour. The film received mixed reviews upon its initial release, but has gone on to amass considerable acclaim over the decades. The BFI said: "Vertigo is the ultimate critics' film because it is a dreamlike film about people who are not sure who they are but who are busy reconstructing themselves and each other to fit a kind of cinema ideal of the ideal soul mate." A separate poll of 358 international film directors chose Yasujiro Ozu's Tokyo Story (1953) as its greatest ever movie. (Breaking News English)

The Artist, War Horse, Tintin all up for Bafta awards

He stole the show at the Golden Globes, and it looks like Uggie the dog might be putting on his bow tie to go to the Baftas!
The silent black and white movie The Artist which stars Uggie leads this year's nominations with 12 including Best Film and Best Director.
The 3D action adventure Hugo, set in 1930s Paris gets nine nominations including Best Director.
Best Animation nominees includes Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin.
Spielberg's adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's War Horse has five nominations, mainly for its special effects, but John Williams - the man behind the music of Star Wars has been recognised for War Horse's score.
The awards ceremony will take place at the Royal Opera House in London on 12 February. (CBBC Newsround)