Oscar-Nominated Doc ‘All the Beauty and the Bloodshed’ Headed to HBO, HBO Max March 19, Digital Feb. 28

The Oscar-nominated HBO documentary film All the Beauty and the Bloodshed debuts March 19 on HBO and on HBO Max.

The film will be available to rent or own digitally beginning Feb. 28.
 
From Participant, Neon and Academy Award-winning filmmaker Laura Poitras (HBO and Participant’s Citizenfour), the film is an interconnected story about internationally renowned artist and activist Nan Goldin told through her slideshows, interviews, photography, archival family snapshots and rare footage of her personal fight to hold the Sackler family accountable for the opioid overdose crisis.
 
The critically acclaimed film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in the main competition, where it became the second documentary ever to win the Golden Lion for best film. It was the only film to play at Venice, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, and New York Film Festival in 2022. The film was only the second documentary to be selected as the centerpiece for New York Film Festival.
 
The political film interweaves Goldin’s past and present, from the actions of Prescription Addiction Intervention Now (P.A.I.N.) at renowned art institutions to Goldin’s photography of her friends and peers through her epic “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency,” and her legendary 1989 NEA-censored AIDS exhibition “Witnesses: Against Our Vanishing.” 

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In these works, Goldin captures her friendships with beauty and raw tenderness. These friendships, and the legacy of her late sister Barbara Holly Goldin, anchor all of Goldin’s art and are integral to the film. Goldin’s early experiences in suburbia and the effect of toxic families led to her ongoing resistance against a society that oppresses the most stigmatized.
 
The film follows P.A.I.N., a group Goldin founded to shame museums into rejecting Sackler money, destigmatize addiction, and promote harm reduction. Inspired by Act Up, the group orchestrated protests to expose the Sacklers and the crimes of their Purdue Pharma, the makers of OxyContin.
 
The film garnered top film critic awards including Best Documentary from the New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and National Society of Film Critics. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed has also been nominated for the BAFTA, Independent Spirit, ACE Eddie, and DGA awards.

Oscar-Lauded ‘Women Talking’ Due on Digital Feb. 21, Disc March 7

Orion Pictures’ Academy Award-nominated drama Women Talking will be available to own on digital Feb 21 from MGM, and on Blu-ray and DVD March 7 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

An adaptation of Miriam Toews’s internationally best-selling novel of the same name and inspired by true events, the film, about a remote colony’s fight for freedom against all odds, follows the women of an isolated religious community who grapple with reconciling their reality with their faith.

The film has been nominated for two Oscars, Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, and was named one of the top 10 films of 2022 by the National Board of Review and American Film Institute.
 
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Written and directed by Academy Award nominated filmmaker Sarah Polley, Women Talking stars Academy Award winner Frances McDormand (Nomadland, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Critic’s Choice Award winner Rooney Mara (Carol, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Emmy Award winner Claire Foy (“The Crown,” First Man), BAFTA Award winner Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter, Wild Rose), and Sheila McCarthy (I’ve Heard the Mermaids Sing), along with Emmy Award winner Ben Whishaw (“A Very English Scandal,” No Time to Die).

‘The Whale’ Headed to Blu-ray and DVD March 14 From A24 and Lionsgate

The drama The Whale, which earned Brendan Fraser an Oscar nom for Best Actor, arrives on Blu-ray (plus digital) and DVD March 14 from A24 and Lionsgate.

Directed by Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan, mother!), and based on the play by Samuel D. Hunter, The Whale follows the story of a reclusive English teacher who attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter.
 
The film has also earned Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress for Hong Chau, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling for Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Anne Marie Bradley.

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The Whale also stars Academy Award nominee Samantha Morton (2003, Best Actress, In America), Sadie Sink (TV’s “Stranger Things”) and Ty Simpkins (Jurassic World, Avengers: Endgame, Iron Man 3, TV’s “The Guiding Light”).

Oscar-Lauded ‘Cyrano’ Headed to Blu-ray and DVD April 19

Cyrano, nominated for an Oscar for Best Achievement in Costume Design, will be released on Blu-ray and DVD April 19 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

A re-imagining of the timeless tale of a heartbreaking love triangle, the film follows Cyrano de Bergerac (Peter Dinklage), who dazzles with both ferocious wordplay and brilliant swordplay but is convinced that his appearance makes him unworthy of the love of his devoted friend Roxanne (Haley Bennett). Roxanne has fallen in love at first sight with Christian (Kelvin Harrison Jr.).

Special features include a making-of featurette.

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Samba TV Data: ‘Don’t Look Up’ Most Viewed, ‘Nightmare Alley’ Posts Biggest Post-Nom Viewership Jump Among Best Picture Oscar Contenders

Netflix’s Don’t Look Up has tallied the most views, while Nightmare Alley — streaming on both Hulu and HBO Max — has garnered the most views post nomination, according to a Samba TV analysis of the streaming patterns of films nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Don’t Look Up has swept the others with nearly double the viewership of runner-up Dune since it premiered. The darkly comic satire has been viewed by 10.3 million households vs. 5.3 million households for the sci-fi film based on the Frank Herbert novel. (Note: Data does not take into account the fact that some titles were available for longer periods of time.)

CODA, streaming on Apple TV+, tallied the highest increase in percentage of viewership from pre-Oscar announcement to post, although it trailed in overall viewership.

Meanwhile, viewers in  Los Angeles, where many of the Oscar voters live, preferred West Side Story, which started streaming March 2 on HBO Max and Disney+.

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While Don’t Look Up has garnered the most views, only 6% of its views occurred post-nominations, while every other title clocked more than twice that percentage uptick (averaging 15%) during that time. 

“There is a tight race forming for this year’s best picture,” Cole Strain, Samba TV’s VP of measurement products, said in a statement. “While much of the media attention has focused on frontrunners like CODA and The Power of the Dog, if streaming audiences decided the winner, then we might be in for an upset for either Nightmare Alley, which has picked up streaming momentum since February, or Don’t Look Up, which has been streamed by more households than any other best picture nominee. If Academy voters who live in Los Angeles have their way, we might see another upset, as Los Angeles seems to have embraced West Side Story as the only movie to overindex in the market, perhaps giving Steven Spielberg the inside track to pick up another best picture win.”

Samba TV tracks 46 million addressable TV devices globally.

Whip Media: ‘Don’t Look Up’ Most-Viewed Best Picture Oscar Nominee

Netflix’s Don’t Look Up is the most-viewed Best Picture Academy Award nominee, according to data from Whip Media’s TV Time app.

Ahead of the Oscars March 27, Whip Media gathered data on the Best Picture nominees with the most views. 

The analysis is based on data insights from Whip’s TV Time app, which has 21 million registered users globally following their favorite shows and movies on the app. 

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The 10 Best Picture nominees ranked based on view share according to Whip Media’s TV Time app:

1. Don’t Look Up
2. Dune
3. West Side Story
4. Nightmare Alley
5. The Power of the Dog
6. King Richard
7. Licorice Pizza
8. CODA
9. Belfast
10. Drive My Car 

Fandango Survey: ‘Dune’ Top Best Picture Pick

Warner Bros.’ Dune was the top pick for Best Picture and for Best Adapted Screenplay in a Fandango consumer survey taken in anticipation of the 94th Academy Awards taking place March 27.

Fandango and Vudu surveyed more than 2,000 film fans, asking them which movies and performers are most deserving of Oscar’s top honors this year. Many of the awards contenders can be found on Fandango’s transactional VOD service Vudu at its curated awards section.

Among the other picks of those surveyed, “Spider-Man” vets Andrew Garfield (tick, tick … BOOM!), Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog), and J.K. Simmons (Being the Ricardos) were chosen for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor, respectively, while Kristen Stewart (Spencer) was chosen as Best Actress.

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Steven Spielberg (West Side Story) was chosen as Best Director, Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast led for Best Original Screenplay, and Disney’s Encanto was the top choice for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song (Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Dos Oruguitas”).

Dune is grand-scale entertainment that marvelously transports you to another place and another time, introducing characters who are instantly memorable and a story that is unforgettable,” said Fandango managing editor Erik Davis in a statement. “Fans love Dune the most because of its big ideas and its incredible visuals. This was very much a film that reminded audiences of the power of big-screen moviemaking, and deserves top honors.”

The Academy Awards air March 27 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on ABC.

Oscar-Nominated ‘Parallel Mothers’ Headed to Digital March 22, Disc April 5

The Oscar-nominated Parallel Mothers, written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, will be released on digital March 22 and on Blu-ray and DVD April 5 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

The film has garnered nominations for Best Actress (Penelope Cruz) and Best Original Score (Alberto Iglesias).

In the film, two women, Janis and Ana, coincide in a hospital room where they are going to give birth. Both are single and become pregnant by accident. Janis, middle-aged, doesn’t regret it and she is exultant. The other, Ana, an adolescent, is scared, repentant and traumatized. Janis tries to encourage her while they move like sleepwalkers along hospital corridors. The few words they exchange in these hours will create a very close link between the two, which by chance develops and complicates, and changes their lives in a decisive way.

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David Lean Classics ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’ Available in 4K Steelbooks June 7

Two David Lean classics, Lawrence of Arabia and The Bridge on the River Kwai, will be released in separate limited-edition 4K Ultra HD Steelbooks June 7 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Both releases feature Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.

Celebrating its 6oth anniversary and winner of seven Academy Awards — including Best Director for Lean and Best Picture of 1962 — Lawrence of Arabia stars Peter O’Toole as T.E. Lawrence, the audacious World War I British army officer who heroically united rival Arab desert tribes and led them to war against the mighty Turkish Empire.

Special features on companion Blu-ray Discs include Peter O’Toole revisiting the film; making-of documentaries; and directors Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and William Friedkin reflecting on the film.

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Celebrating its 65th anniversary, Lean’s epic World War II adventure The Bridge on the River Kwai won seven 1957 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Alec Guinness) and Best Director (Lean). In the film, when British POWs build a vital railway bridge in enemy-occupied Burma, Allied commandos are assigned to destroy it.

Special features include the “Crossing the Bridge: Picture-in-Picture Graphics Track”; a making-of documentary; “The Steve Allen Show” with William Holden and Guinness; The Bridge on the River Kwai premiere narrated by Holden; the “Rise and Fall of a Jungle Giant” featurette; a USC short film introduced by Holden; an appreciation by filmmaker John Milius; a photo gallery; and theatrical trailers.

Oscar-Nominated Documentary ‘Writing With Fire’ Due on DVD April 26

The Indian feature Writing With Fire, nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary, will be available on DVD April 26 from Music Box Films.

In the film, reporting from a social environment built to divide based on caste and gender, a fearless group of journalists maintain India’s only women-led news outlet. The women of Khabar Lahariya (“Waves of News”), all from the Dalit (“untouchables”) caste, prepare to transition the newspaper from print to digital even though many of their reporters don’t have access to electricity at home. Armed with smartphones, chief reporter Meera and her team of investigative journalists confront some of India’s biggest issues — exposing the relentless discrimination against women and amplifying the voices of those who suffer from the oppressive caste system.

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The film chronicles the astonishing determination of these local reporters as they empower each other and hold those responsible for injustice to account.

Bonus features include “Firemaking: The Story of Writing With Fire,” a filmmaker Q&A from the DOCNYC premiere, deleted scenes and the theatrical trailer.