News

There was great news for film buffs last month in Los Angeles with the grand reopening of one of the city’s architectural movie treasures. The United Artists Theater on Broadway and 8th street experienced an auspicious rebirth as a venue for live performances when it hosted a three-day inaugural run by the Los Angeles Dance Project, a modern dance troupe that has taken up residence in the beautifully renovated UA.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association recently flew to a remote CIA operating base in an undisclosed location – ok, it was an ex-factory on the outskirsts of London and the “base” was an elaborate filming set for the extremely classified production of 24 – Live Another Day. That’s tight as everyone knows by now, after a five-year hiatus, Jack Bauer will be back next May in the highly anticipated reboot of the 24 series, trying once again to beat the clock and save the world in a new series of action-packed episodes.

The HFPA recently got a special treat: A sneak behind-the–scenes peak at the set of the upcoming animated film The Boxtrolls. The story, adapted from Here Be Monsters, the children’s book by Alan Snow, is coming to life at Laika studios, a 150,000-sq.

A long-standing tradition of the Hollywood Foreign Press has been to encourage our journalists to attend film festivals all over the world for the purpose of cultural exchange, to explain the goals of our association, to meet international filmmakers and invite them to submit their movies for Golden Globe consideration. We represent the HFPA at important international events like Cannes, Venice, Berlin or Sundance; we also recognize smaller festivals, where a shared passion for the art of cinema creates an exciting and fertile atmosphere.

Hollywood mourns the loss of writer-director-actor and all around comic genius, Harold Ramis today. The Chicago native was a seminal figure in American movie comedy from his beginnings with the legendary Second City comedy troupe to his collaboration with National Lampoon (he authored the script for the John Belushi classic Animal House), to his work as screenwriter and actor on the groundbreaking Ghostbuster films that delighted generations.

The Independent Spirit Awards handed out top honors to 12 Years a Slave, Dallas Buyers Club and Nebraska at the 29th ceremony honoring independent films. Blue Jasmine, Fruitvale Station, Blue is the Warmest Color, Short Term 12, This is Martin Bonner and 20 Feet from Stardom also received awards at the traditional pre-Oscar affair which is held in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica.

Elaborate designs and fashion were the focuses of the 2014 Costume Designers Guild Awards on February 22 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel hosted by Scandal’s Joshua Malina. Veteran costume designers April Ferry and Sharon Day were honored with the career achievement award and the distinguished service award, respectively.

New York Fashion Week, which is held February and September of each year, is one of the most anticipated events for the fashion industry. For seven to nine days, international fashion designers congregate in the Big Apple to show their collections to buyers, press, and fashion aficionados from all over the world.

Danish director Gabriel Axel, a Golden globe nominee for his Babette's Feast (1987) died last month at age 95. His was one of seven Golden Globes nominations garnered by Danish films over the history of the Awards, from The Word, (Carl Theodor Dreyer's penultimate movie, and his only critical and commercial success) that won Best Foreign Film in 1956, to Susanne Bier's In a Better World, the 2011 winner.

Celebrating the top films from the past year, the 2014 EE British Academy Film Awards took place in London, England tonight (February 16). Snagging wins in the Best Supporting Actor/Actress categories were Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips) and Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle), respectively.