(L to R) Lady Gaga and Anthony Ramos in ‘A Star is Born’
The last few years have been monumental in the career of Anthony Ramos. He’s enjoyed success on stage and screen and now, to add to it all, he’s joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
To be completely accurate, he’s joining the Disney+ TV section of the MCU, landing a role in ‘Ironheart’.
With Chinaka Hodge as head writer, ‘Ironheart’ will follow the adventures of genius teen inventor Riri Williams, who creates the most advanced armor suit since Iron Man. She made her comics debut in 2015 from creators Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato and has quickly become popular. Though her storyline in the comics involves Tony Stark, that will naturally have to change for the MCU version.
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Disney announced that a series based on the character among many revelations at last May’s investor day.
‘Ironheart’ doesn’t yet have a set release date; given that it hasn’t started filming yet and with the schedule for the ‘Panther’ sequel, it’s unlikely we’ll see the show screens before next year.
And, in true Marvel fashion, Ramos’ character is a mystery for now. But while he’s only in the small screen branch of the MCU, as we’ve seen from other series, that is no bar to eventually showing up in theaters. And you’ve got to think that hiring a rising star like Ramos means Marvel has plans. Deadline’s report even mentions comparisons of the role to that of ‘Loki’s Jonathan Majors, who is bringing his villainous Kang to ‘Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ to start with.
Ramos has been on something of a roll in the last few years – he was part of the original cast for Broadway sensation ‘Hamilton’ (which itself saw screens in 2020 via Disney+) and, while he’d been working in movies for some time before, had his big break in 2018’s ‘A Star is Born’.
Since then, he’s also shown up in ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ and took the lead in last year’s ‘In the Heights’, also based on a musical by ‘Hamilton’ creator Lin-Manuel Miranda. He’s certainly got the charm and the chops to be able to hang with other MCU characters.
The young actor’s future is busy – in addition to this latest job, he’s worked on the latest live-action ‘Transformers’ movie, ‘Rise of the Beasts’ (due on June 9 next year) and voices Mr. Piranha in DreamWorks Animation’s ‘The Bad Guys’, in theaters on April 22.
Most directors require years to truly hone their craft and start operating at the top of their game. But some, like “Moon” director Duncan Jones, manage to knock it out of the park on their very first time at bat. To celebrate “Moon’s” 10th anniversary, here are the 15 best directorial debuts from the past decade.
Neill Blomkamp – ‘District 9’ (2009)
TriStar Pictures
Neill Blomkamp established a clear formula with his feature film debut, using high concept sci-fi as a way of telling a story about the racial and social inequality rampant in his come country of South Africa. Frankly, he did it best the first time around.”District 9” stars Sharlto Copley as a government bureaucrat who learns firsthand what it’s like to live as an alien refugee on a hostile world.
Duncan Jones – ‘Moon’ (2009)
Sony Pictures Classics
Duncan Jones probably could have coasted through life just having the coolest dad in the world (his dad is David Bowie), but instead he went and established himself as one of the most exciting new voices in science fiction. “Moon” does a whole lot with its limited cast and budget, showing the quiet, desperate plight of a lunar miner who just wants to get back home, yet finds out the job is much more than he bargained for.
Drew Goddard – ‘The Cabin in the Woods’ (2012)
Lionsgate
You could be forgiven for thinking that producer/co-writer Joss Whedon also directed “The Cabin in the Woods,” as it has that same sense of wit and energy common to so many Whedon projects. But it’s actually Drew Goddard steering this ship. What begins as a delightful homage to b-movie horror flicks like “The Evil Dead” winds up going to some pretty bizarre places by the end.
Ryan Coogler – ‘Fruitvale Station’ (2013)
The Weinstein Company
“Fruitvale Station” didn’t just show the world what a promising new talent it had in Ryan Coogler, it also kicked off a very fruitful partnership between Coogler and star Michael B. Jordan. This haunting drama follows the last 24 hours in the life of Oscar Grant III, leading up to the infamous police shooting that sparked unrest in San Francisco.
Chad Stahelski – ‘John Wick’ (2014)
Summit Entertainment
As much as “John Wick” is hailed as the film responsible for bringing star Keanu Reeves back into the action movie spotlight, it’s also a showcase for director Chad Stahelski. This movie simply wouldn’t have worked without Stahelski’s keen eye and the inspiration he drew from Japanese anime and Hong Kong action movies for the many bone-crunching action scenes. Equal credit also goes to Stahelski’s fellow first-timer, uncredited co-director David Leitch.
Dan Gilroy – ‘Nightcrawler’ (2014)
Open Road Films
It’s hard to believe “Nightcrawler” is the work of a first-time director. It’s just so confident and self-assured in its exploration of the seedy underbelly of the Los Angeles news scene. It doesn’t hurt that writer/director Dan Gilroy had an incredibly intense performance from Jake Gyllenhaal to bank on.
Alex Garland – ‘Ex Machina’ (2015)
A24
Alex Garland had built up a strong reputation as a writer on films like “The Beach,” “Sunshine” and “Dredd,” but “Ex Machina” marked his first time behind the camera. Needless to say, he didn’t disappoint one bit. “Ex Machina” is a gorgeously shot and very moody look at a robot coming to terms with her very existence.
Robert Eggers – ‘The Witch’ (2015)
A24
Never let it be said that director Robert Eggers didn’t put in the effort to make his debut film look and feel authentic. Watching “The Witch” is like being transported back to 17th Century New England and seeing firsthand what it’s like to eke out a living in a haunted wilderness.
Tim Miller – ‘Deadpool’ (2016)
20th Century Fox
2016 would have been a lousy year for X-Men fans if Tim Miller‘s “Deadpool” hadn’t shown up to ease the blow of “X-Men: Apocalypse.” Miller gave us a superhero movie that’s unabashedly adults-only, hilariously self-aware and content to tell a much more personal, small-scale superhero origin story. It was the first of several signs that this franchise may actually work best in the R-rated realm.
Travis Knight – ‘Kubo and the Two Strings’ (2016)
Focus Features
Laika CEO Travis Knight shouldered a very different burden for the company by taking the reins of its fourth animated feature. The end result is both one of the most visually stunning animated movies in recent memory and the best Laika film since 2009’s “Coraline.”
Jordan Peele – ‘Get Out’ (2017)
Universal Pictures
A horror movie may not have been what “Key & Peele” fans were expecting from Jordan Peele‘s first feature-length project. But Peele certainly left a strong impression with this satirical yet disturbing look at modern race relations. There’s a reason this one became a cultural phenomenon in 2017.
Greta Gerwig – ‘Lady Bird’ (2017)
A24
Greta Gerwig made the jump from starring in thoughtful indie comedies to writing and directing one in 2017’s “Lady Bird.” Easily one of the most critically acclaimed releases of 2017, “Get Out” draws heavily from Gerwig’s own experiences as a restless teen in Sacramento. The result is a very funny and very authentic coming-of-age tale.
Bo Burnham – ‘Eighth Grade’ (2018)
A24
It’s pretty rare to find a coming-of-age teen movie starring actual teenagers, but that’s one reason why Bo Burnham‘s “Eighth Grade” stands out so much. “Eighth Grade” is another example of a director pulling from their own life (in this case, Burnham’s struggles with anxiety and depression) to craft a refreshing and authentic look at the teen experience.
Ari Aster – ‘Hereditary’ (2018)
A24
“Hereditary” is easily one of the most unnerving horror movies to come around in a long time. Like many great horror films, “Hereditary” works because the supernatural trappings are merely there to accentuate deeper themes of tragedy and loss. This film immediately established Ari Aster as one of the most promising new voices in the genre, and we’ll see if that appeal can carry over to his followup project, “Midsommar.”
Bradley Cooper – ‘A Star Is Born’ (2018)
Warner Bros.
Plenty of big-name actors dabble in directing (it’s one of the perks of Hollywood super-stardom), but few have made the leap behind the camera as deftly as Bradley Cooper. “A Star Is Born” is hardly the first time we’ve seen this story told, but Cooper and co-star Lady Gaga make it their own. Is Cooper destined to become the next Clint Eastwood?
“A Star Is Born” and never dies — at least, now that Bradley Cooper has given fans hope that he and Lady Gaga may reprise their performances from the Oscar-nominated film.
On Thursday’s “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” Cooper shot down the host’s suggestion of a tour featuring the director/actor and his Oscar- and Grammy-winning co-star.
“I mean, no,” Cooper said of a tour. “But what I thought would be a cool thing to do, maybe one night, would be like a live reading of the script and sing all the songs as we read the script, like at the Hollywood Bowl or something.”
That does sound like a cool thing to do, even if Cooper is terrified of performing, just as he was when he and Gaga sang “Shallow” at the Oscars.
“I actually wasn’t nervous, because I worked so hard, and Lady Gaga is so supportive. But it was terrifying,” he said. “Because I’m not a singer and I didn’t sing before this movie, so it was really crazy.”
The soundtrack featuring the Oscar-winning song “Shallow” has now surpassed 1 million copies sold in the U.S., according to Nielsen Music.
“A Star Is Born,” which stars Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper as singers who fall in love, has sold 1,003,000 albums after 24 weeks.
This mark’s Gaga’s fourth million-selling album and her first since May 2011, when “Born This Way” launched with 1.11 million sold in its first week.
The most recent album to hit the million mark was also a soundtrack, “The Greatest Showman.” It was released on Dec. 8, 2017 and reached the million mark in its 23rd week of release. Its total sales now stand at 1.68 million.
It rose from the 21st spot; in October, the song previously peaked at No. 5.
“Shallow” won the Oscar for Best Original Song, the latest trophy in a haul that includes a Grammy and Golden Globe.
This marks Gaga’s fourth Hot 100 No. 1 and, of course, Cooper’s first. The actor made his directorial debut with the movie, but also stunned audiences with his musical ability. With this No. 1 hit, he now can boast a feat that many big-name music stars have yet to achieve— including Bruce Springsteen, James Brown, the Backstreet Boys, and One Direction.
After “Shallow’s” Oscar win, Warner Bros. re-released “A Star Is Born” into theaters with additional footage.
Lady Gaga is shutting down rumors that she and her “A Star Is Born” co-star and director Bradley Cooper are engaged in a real-life romance after a sultry performance of the Oscar-winning song “Shallow” during Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony.
When Gaga stopped by “Jimmy Kimmel Live” Wednesday night to show off her Oscar trophy, the host brought up the topic we all wanted to hear about: “We were watching it at home and wondered, ‘What’s going on between these two?’”
“First of all, social media quite frankly is the toilet of the internet and what it has done to pop culture is abysmal,” she said after rolling her eyes.
“And yes, people saw love, and guess what, that’s what we wanted you to see. This is a love song … the movie is a love story.”
She highlighted how Cooper oversaw every detail of the performance, from the stagehands pushing out the piano on stage to the lighting.
“From a performance perspective it was so important to both of us that we were connected the entire time,” she said.
And if people saw romance in it? “I’m an artist and I guess we did a good job… fooled ya!” she laughed.
As good as Cooper’s directing skills are, his singing is what made Gaga truly gush. “Bradley is a musician,” she declared. “My favorite thing about the whole experience — I was so excited for everyone to see him sing live.”
Fresh off its Oscar win for Best Original Song, the acclaimed movie is returning to more than 1,150 theaters with 12 minutes of new footage starting this Friday.
The special “encore” edition of the film, directed and co-starring Bradley Cooper, contains extended performances of the songs “Black Eyes” and “Alibi,” as well as of Lady Gaga’s impromptu a cappella performance of the Oscar-winning “Shallow.”
Other fresh footage includes Ally singing “Is That Alright?” to Jackson Maine during the wedding sequence; Jack in his studio singing “Too Far Gone”; and Jack and Ally writing a new song called “Clover.”
“A Star Is Born” was a big hit after opening in October, earning $425.4M at the global box office. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
Other Oscar winners are also returning to theaters. Best Picture winner “Green Book” will up its theater count to 2,641. Best Animated Feature winner “Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse” will jump from 743 locations to 2,350. And “The Favourite,” starring Best Actress winner Olivia Colman, will go from 288 theaters to 725.
Just in time for the Oscars, the Best Picture-nominated film hits home video. With this remake, Bradley Cooper makes his directorial debut and stars as the grizzled country rocker Jackson Maine. Stepping into the role of the ingenue who dazzles him and the world with her incredible vocals is Lady Gaga. Their soaring duet of “Shallow” is just the start of an emotional and tear-jerking journey.
The movie arrives on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on February 19 (and is already available on Digital HD). Bonus features include a making-of featurette and music videos.
Melissa McCarthy earned an Oscar nomination for showing off her dramatic side in this film based on a true story. She plays Lee Israel, a writer who once made a living writing celebrity profiles in the ‘70s and ‘80s. But now that her kind of work has fallen out of favor, she gets desperate and turns to forging letters from dead authors. But it’s not long before Lee’s elaborate con goes awry.
The movie arrives on DVD on February 19 (and is already available on Digital HD).
The horror flick that producer J.J. Abrams called “bats–t crazy” follows a group of American paratroopers who are shot out of the sky the night before D-Day and parachute to what seems to be a safe house. Except it isn’t safe — it’s the site of gruesome Nazi science experiments to create the ultimate super soldier.
The movie arrives on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on February 19 (and is already available on Digital HD). Bonus features include six making-of featurettes.
Taron Egerton stars as the titular character in this new adaptation, with Jamie Foxx as Little John and Ben Mendelsohn as the Sheriff of Nottingham.
The movie arrives on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on February 19 (and is already available on Digital HD). Bonus features include a seven-part documentary, deleted scenes, and outtakes.
‘Death in Venice’ (February 19): Criterion rightly celebrates Luchino Visconti’s late-career adaptation of Thomas Mann’s beloved novella, a beautiful interpretation that also seems almost eerily predictive, with one eye looking into the future at the looming AIDS crisis. This deluxe edition, featuring a 2008 documentary about the filmmaker, a 1970 short film made by Visconti about the casting of the film, with vintage documentaries happily resting alongside more recent material.
‘Backbeat’ (February 19): Our friends at Shout Factory have put together a wonderful package for Iain Softley’s underrated formation-of-the-Beatles drama, including deleted scenes, interviews, and an audio commentary with Softley, Ian Hart and Stephen Dorff (who is just so, so good in this season of “True Detective,” right?) If you’ve never seen this movie, it rules.
‘La Vérité’ (February 19): The French drama starring Brigitte Bardot as a woman on trial for killing her lover gets a new 4K restoration on Blu-ray.
‘The Return of the Vampire’ (February 19): In this 1943 film, Bela Lugosi returns as vampire Armand Tesla in this unofficial sequel, which hits Blu -ray with three new audio commentaries.
The Golden Globe-winning drama tells the tale of an unlikely interracial friendship based on a true story. Rough-and-tumble Italian-American bouncer Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen) is hired to drive Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali), a refined black black pianist, on a concert tour through the Deep South. While the film has generated some controversy for its depictions of race relations, it has drawn in many accolades through awards season. Now available on Digital HD.
Julia Roberts stars as Holly, a mother who is thrilled when her 19-year-old son (Lucas Hedges) comes home from rehab. The rest of the family is skeptical and wary, and Holly soon realizes the difficulties of dealing with an addict son. Now available on Digital HD.
A married couple (Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne) who didn’t expect to have kids decide to foster three siblings. But becoming an instant family isn’t quite that easy and hijinks and mistakes ensue. Now available on Digital HD.
Ray Romano and Mark Duplass star in this buddy dramedy as misfit neighbors who bond after the younger man is diagnosed with terminal cancer. The boundaries of friendship are tested when the cancer patient asks for help in procuring medication to end his suffering.
‘Chefs Table: Volume 6’ (February 22)
The award-winning documentary series is diversifying its subjects, after receiving some criticism for featuring so many white male chefs. This season includes the first black chef, Mashama Bailey of the Grey in Savannah, Georgia. The other episodes focus on Sean Brock of the Southern-themed Husk restaurants; Asma Khan of London’s acclaimed Darjeeling Express; and famed Italian butcher Dario Cecchini.
‘Survivor: Edge of Extinction’ Season Premiere, CBS (February 20, 8 p.m.)
The 38th season of the reality competition series pits four returning players against 14 newcomers. There’s also a new twist: Everyone who is voted out goes to Extinction Island, where their will to remain in the game is tested in a physically and psychologically brutal way.
‘The 91st Academy Awards,’ ABC (February 24, 8 p.m.)
A wide-open Best Picture race, controversy over four categories getting kicked to commercial breaks, and lack of a host have made this year’s Oscars the most buzzed-about in years.
‘True Detective’ Season 3 Finale, HBO (February 24, 10 p.m.)
Mahershala Ali is the frontrunner to win his second Oscar on the same night as the finale of the crime drama that will likely net him an Emmy, as the Purcell children’s case comes to a close.
“A Star Is Born” added two Grammys to its impressive awards season haul on Sunday night for its hit anthem “Shallow.”
Songwriters Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt won best song written for visual media. “Shallow” also won best pop duo/group performance, which Gaga accepted on behalf of herself and the absent Bradley Cooper.
“I wish Bradley was here right now,” she said in her acceptance speech. “I know he wants to be here. Bradley, I loved singing this song with you.”
Gaga also addressed addiction and mental illness, the film’s key theme. “I’m so proud to be a part of a movie that addresses mental health issues and a lot of artists deal with that and we’ve got to take care of each other. So if you see somebody that’s hurting, don’t look away,” she implored.
Gaga’s performance of “Shallow” on the Grammys broadcast was decidedly more hard rock than the version heard in the movie:
Bradley Cooper has admitted he “felt embarrassed” by his Oscars snub.
Cooper’s acclaimed film “A Star Is Born” — his directorial debut — earned seven Academy Award nominations. He personally was nominated in the Best Actor category, as a co-writer for Best Adapted Screenplay, and as a producer for Best Picture. But awards pundits and fans were shocked when he was left out of the Best Director category.
His snub was even more pronounced after he was double nominated by the Directors Guilt of America.
As Cooper told Oprah Winfrey during a taping of “SuperSoul Conversations” on Tuesday, he was affected by the snub — at first.
“I’m never surprised about not getting anything. But it’s funny you ask this, because I’ve thought about this. I was with my friend at a coffee shop in New York City, and I looked down at my phone, and Nicole [Caruso, Cooper’s publicist] had texted me congratulations on these other things but didn’t tell me the bad news.
“And I went, ‘Oh, wow.’ And the first thing I felt was embarrassment, actually. Think about it. I felt embarrassed that I didn’t do my part.”
But after reflecting on his initial reaction, Cooper realized, “Even if I got the nomination, it should not give me any sense of whether I did my job or not.”
Cooper called awards consideration “icing on the cake” of an incredible experience.
Awards “play into things that have nothing to do with creative art,” he noted.
“It’s a whole other element of the business. So, it’s really reconciling its effect on you. That’s the thing I have to deal with.”
