Column: Last News

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV CriticA great frustration for me as a critic of television, and a viewer of television, has been the ongoing dominance of “The Bachelor” franchise — a series that requires herculean endurance on the part of the viewer to find moments of genuine oddity. Over the course of punishingly long episodes, “The Bachelor” tends toward the most rote sorts of provocation, placing contestants who have been cast for their ability to approximate normalcy into extreme situations.After all, “The Bachelor” runs on happy endings, and so we must be rooting for its leads (the Bachelor or Bachelorette, and the credible options for them to pick at the end) to really find love.

Mark I. Pinsky If the increasingly bare-knuckle battle between Florida’s conservative Republican Gov.

Jay Ruderman There were several beautiful, gratifying moments at the 94th Academy Awards. But you would not necessarily know that by watching the viral videos circulating social media that emerged in the immediate aftermath of the ceremony, which focus on one particular distasteful incident.Today, it is time to let the dust settle on the so-called “slap heard around the world” and shift the conversation to “CODA,” enabling this year’s Best Picture winner to receive the attention and accolades it deserves.The narrative surrounding the success of “CODA” — which also took home Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Troy Kotsur) and Best Adapted Screenplay — encompasses much more than initially meets the eye.

Nick Jarjour As we head into Grammy weekend, Harvey Mason Jr, the CEO of the Recording Academy, deserves to be commended for restructuring the organization to credit and support songwriters like never before. Among the positive changes under his watch: establishing a songwriter wing and including writer credits on albums.

Mitch Glazier Guest ColumnistNon-fungible tokens (or NFTs) have exploded in popularity, with everything from digital artwork to basketball highlights being minted to the blockchain. It’s exciting and full of promise and opportunity — but unfortunately also a fast-moving vector for new forms of fraud and misuse.An NFT is a unit of data recorded on an infinite digital ledger — a blockchain.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film CriticSometimes, it comes down to one very simple thing — and by it, I don’t just mean the best picture race. I mean that thing we call movies.At the movies, people want to be moved. They also want to be thrilled, staggered, transfixed, seduced, immersed, mystified, mesmerized, drawn outside of themselves.

Chris Willman Music WriterWhen Dua Lipa played a two-night stand at L.A.’s Forum this past week, with her U.S. tour just a few dates away from coming to a close, there was a sheet-cake bearing her image backstage in the VIP Forum Club area, a custom that’s de rigueur for headliners coming through the storied arena.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film CriticFrom the moment it premiered at the Venice Film Festival last September, Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” has been a divisive film. Yet the divisiveness has had an element of being foggy and vague, hard to get a fix on. In part, that’s because those who command the media megaphone, and are loudest in the debate, have mostly showered the movie with acclaim.

Editor’s note: Mooky Greidinger is CEO of the world’s second-largest exhibitor, Cineworld, which also owns Regal in the U.S. A staunch supporter of the theatrical experience, Greidinger grew up in the industry and is avowedly passionate about the movie business. But as Oscars weekend arrives, he is confounded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, as, in his words, “many of the largest and most influential films of today remain unrecognized.” Greidinger penned the guest column below in which he calls for the Academy Board to convene an “industry emergency committee… to brainstorm and identify a more sustainable solution.”

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV CriticIn a scene in the first season of the Ukrainian sitcom “Servant of the People,” the newly-elected president of Ukraine is attempting to get the attention of his parliament, which has devolved from bickering into a physical brawl. Gently clearing his throat and murmuring for some peace and quiet won’t do, and this head of state is too green to command much respect from those serving alongside him in government.

Editors note: Todd Lieberman is the Oscar-nominated producer of The Fighter with credits including Beauty and the Beast, Wonder and The Muppets. A member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, he contributes occasional guest columns for Deadline.

Editors note: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has had tragic consequences for the Ukrainian people, and the wider ramifications of the conflict are only beginning to be understood. As the West imposes economic sanctions on Russia, the country is facing a period of isolation unseen since the Cold War. Here, acclaimed Russian novelist and journalist Dmitry Glukhovsky, author of the sci-fi novel series Metro 2033, writes about how Russian propaganda has taken hold of his fellow countrymen. He is based in Europe. The column is translated from Russian by Marian Schwartz.

Donna Kaz Donna Kaz is a multi-genre writer and the author of “Un/Masked, Memoirs of a Guerrilla Girl On Tour,” which covers her relationship with the late William Hurt and her path to becoming an activist fighting domestic violence. Kaz writes about her emotional response to the news of his death.   I will never forget the first time I saw him, standing by the front door of Jimmy Day’s bar in Greenwich Village where I waited tables. The sun behind him made him appear almost godly.

Editors note: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has had tragic consequences for the Ukrainian people, and the wider ramifications of the conflict are only beginning to be understood. As the West imposes economic sanctions on Russia, the country is facing a period of isolation unseen since the Cold War. Deadline invited one high-profile Russian producer to pen a column discussing their perspective on the situation. At their request they are being kept anonymous for fear of reprisal from Putin’s government as it cracks down on free speech.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film CriticFor years I’ve said that “The Dark Knight” is the one great comic-book movie. The films you might consider to be runners-up — “Spider-Man 2,” “Superman II,” “Guardians of the Galaxy” — are splendid entertainments, but none of them earn the G-word. Not really.

Pete Ganbarg Pete Ganbarg is a two-time Grammy-winner, president of A&R for Atlantic Records and also president of Atco Records. His most recent signing is Gayle, a 17-year-old pop artist from Dallas via Nashville whose debut Atlantic single, “abcdefu,” topped the singles charts in several countries.  His “Rock & Roll High School” podcast, a series of interviews with legends of contemporary music, is available on all DSPs.I recently asked my A&R department at Atlantic Records to create playlists of the songs that best define them. It was an exercise as much for me as it was for them.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film CriticThe Oscar campaign for “CODA” has touted the film as “history-making.” If you wanted to be a literal-minded curmudgeon about it, you could say that the history it’s talking about was already made — when Marlee Matlin, in 1986, became the first deaf performer to win an Academy Award for best actress, for her great, ardent, wounded performance in “Children of a Lesser God.” Matlin deserved to win (the other nominated actresses that year were Jane Fonda for “The Morning After,” Sissy Spacek for “Crimes of the Heart,” Kathleen Turner for “Peggy Sue Got Married,” and Sigourney Weaver for “Aliens,” which is the only one I’d put in Matlin’s league).Nevertheless, history works in waves. Sidney Poitier made history by becoming the first Black actor to be a Hollywood star, as well as the first to win an Academy Award for best actor (in 1963, for “Lilies of the Field”).

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film CriticLet’s start with something most of us can agree on: Jimmy Kimmel, who I’m a fan of, is probably not the ideal messenger for how to fix the Oscars, if indeed they need fixing. Kimmel hosted the Academy Awards in 2017, and did a lively enough job of it that he was asked back to host again the following year.

Kay Hanley Guest ColumnistKay Hanley, best known as the frontperson for Letters to Cleo and co-founder of the activist group Songwriters of North America (SONA), felt gratified when Spotify was put in the spotlight by some musicians who hadn’t weighed in before in the wake of the Joe Rogan controversy. She writes a guest column for Variety amplifying these thoughts: “COME FOR THE ANTI-SCIENCE SMACKDOWN, STICK AROUND FOR THE WORKERS’ REVOLT.” — @DAYNAKURTZThank you for your assistance, Mr.

Editors note: When we think of Robert De Niro and Italy, it’s easiest to focus on the Sicilian town of Corleone, because of his Oscar-winning turn in The Godfather: Part II. But De Niro wanted to focus on Naples, which director Paolo Sorrentino brought to life in The Hand of God. De Niro was so moved, he wrote a guest column for Deadline on why the film touched him so dearly.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorJohn Stankey and Brian Roberts are wrestling with different sides of the same problems.For Big Media, the fourth-quarter earnings revelations so far have reinforced predictions that 2022 is the year the honeymoon ends for the promise of new streaming ventures. Now it’s entrenching time.