Tag Archives: Industry News

Travel Like Movie Stars: Top 24 Must-Visit Hotels, Resorts for 2024

Element Lifestyle, a premier luxury travel and lifestyle concierge service, has announced its highly anticipated annual list, “Element’s Top 24 Hotels and Resorts for 2024.” Curated by Element’s passionate team, the yearly lineup showcases the world’s most captivating destinations, along with Element’s personally recommended properties – setting the stage for a year of unforgettable travel and meaningful experiences for Element’s clients, colleagues and all curious travelers.

“Amid the twists and turns of the post-Covid landscape, we’re continually inspired by the travel industry’s resilience and purpose,” said Michael Albanese, co-founder of Element. “This is best reflected in how hotel partners worldwide are opening exciting new properties and creating authentic experiences that capture not only a sense of place, but a true spirit of optimism.”

For over a decade, Element Lifestyle remains at the forefront of curating exceptional travel experiences for its private members. And Element’s 2024 list reflects the best of the best across the globe, featuring regular partners who continue to shine, along with some newcomers who have earned well deserved mention on the list.

Below are Element’s top choices of where to travel in 2024 and the finest hotels and resorts to experience upon arrival:

Aman Nai Lert (Bangkok)
www.aman.com/hotels/aman-nai-lert-bangkok

Auberge Collegio Alla Querce (Florence, Italy)
https://aubergeresorts.com/collegioallaquerce/

Belmond Venice-Simplon Orient Express (Italian Riviera) 
www.belmond.com/trains/europe/venice-simplon-orient-express/

Cannua (Colombia)
https://cannua.com

Chable Sea of Cortez (Mexico)
https://seaofcortez.chablehotels.com/

Four Seasons Rabat (Morocco)
www.fourseasons.com/rabat/

Four Seasons Resort Tamarindo (Jalisco, Mexico)
www.fourseasons.com/tamarindo/

Ilma, a Ritz Carlton Yacht (Mediterranean)
www.ritzcarltonyachtcollection.com/ilma-summer-2024-season

Mandarin Oriental Costa Navarino (Greece)
www.costanavarino.com/mandarin-oriental-costa-navarino/

Montage Cay (Bahamas)
www.montage.com/destinations/bahamas/

Nobu Hotel Toronto (Canada)
www.nobuhotels.com/hotel-collection/toronto/

Nujuma, a Ritz Carlton Reserve (Red Sea, Saudi Arabia)
www.ritzcarlton.com/en/hotels/ejhrz-nujuma-a-ritz-carlton-reserve/overview/

One&Only One Za’Abeel (Dubai)
www.oneandonlyresorts.com/one-zaabeel

Pereh Mountain Resort (Galilee, Israel)
https://pereh.co.il/en/

Rosewood Vienna (Austria)
www.rosewoodhotels.com/en/vienna

Borgo Dei Conti (Italy)
www.borgodeicontiresort.com/

Six Senses La Sagesse (Grenada)
https://www.sixsenses.com/en/resorts/la-sagesse

The Corinthia Oasis (Malta)
www.corinthia.com/en-gb/oasis/

The Emory (London)
www.the-emory.co.uk/

The Homestead Lodge (South Africa)
www.homesteadlodge.com/

The Lana (Dubai)
www.dorchestercollection.com/dubai/the-lana

The Vineta (Palm Beach, Florida)
www.oetkercollection.com/hotels/the-vineta-hotel/

The Warren (New York City)
www.firmdalehotels.com/hotels/new-york/warren-street-hotel/

Virgin Limited Son Bunyola (Mallorca, Spain)
www.virginlimitededition.com/en/son-bunyola/

Five bonus picks in the United States:

Hotel Anna & Bel (Philadelphia)
https://www.annaandbel.com/

Hotel Saint Augustine (Houston)
www.bunkhousehotels.com/hotel-saint-augustine

Mollie (Aspen)
https://mollieaspen.com/

Populus (Denver)
https://populusdenver.com/

The Dunlin (South Carolina)
https://aubergeresorts.com/the-dunlin/

A members-only, Conde Nast Top Travel Advisory, Element Lifestyle provides private, luxury travel and lifestyle concierge services. Based in Los Angeles and Atlanta, Element Lifestyle operates discreetly to deliver exceptional results for high-profile clients, leveraging a global network of trusted partners across travel, culinary, nightlife, entertainment, sourcing, and event industries. Creating authentic, unforgettable experiences with meticulous attention to detail, the Element team features a passionate team of proactive and dedicated luxury lifestyle experts. Their sole mission is to enhance the lives of their clients with flawless delivery while surprising and delighting them along the way. Annual membership fees start at $36,000 USD. Learn more about Element’s personally curated travel experiences at Element Lifestyle’s website

Atlanta Film Critics Circle Celebrates “Oppenheimer” with 2023 Awards

Today the Atlanta Film Critics Circle (AFCC) announced its seventh annual awards for the top film achievements of 2023, in which Oppenheimer, the biopic thriller about the life of the titular nuclear physicist, father of the atomic bomb, was selected best picture. Written and directed by Christopher Nolan, the blockbuster film dominated the AFCC’s awards in eight categories, including Best Director (Christopher Nolan), Actor (Cillian Murphy), Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr.), Cinematography (Hoyte van Hoytema), Ensemble, Screenplay (Christopher Nolan), and Score (Ludwig Göransson).

Rounding out the best films of the year for the group in ranked order were: Killers of the Flower Moon, The Holdovers, Past Lives, Barbie, May December, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall and Poor Things.

The Best Supporting Actor race resulted in a tie between performances in two of the year’s iconic films, with Ryan Gosling winning Best Supporting Actor for his role in Barbie as Ken and Robert Downey Jr. winning for his portrayal of politician Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer.

Lily Gladstone won two awards from the AFCC, securing both Best Lead Actress and Best Breakthrough Performer for her work in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon.

Other winners include director Celine Song’s Past Lives, which won Best First Feature, Da’Vine Joy Randolph for Best Supporting Actress in The Holdovers, French film The Anatomy of a Fall for Best International Feature and John Wick: Chapter 4 for the AFCC’s second-ever Best Stunt Work award. The movie Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie won Best Documentary.

Faith-Based Movie Festival Accepting Indie Short Film Entries for 2023 Event  

Organizers of the 20th Annual 168 Film Project are celebrating a new home and a new collaboration with Angel Studios for this year’s faith-based film production competition, with a September 4 deadline for entry. Artists can learn more at www.168film.com and enter at 168film.com/project.

Named for the number of hours in a one-week production, the 168 Film Project last year relocated from California to Georgia, teeing up the 2023 festival to take place near Trilith Studios for the second time. This year the 168 Film Project is collaborating with film distributor Angel Studios.

Members of the 100,000 voter “Angel Guild” will review up to 10 of the 168 Film Project short film entries for potential development, funding and distribution as feature films or TV series.

168 Film Project is a scripture-focused community and proving ground for filmmakers, writers and actors of all levels of experience. 168 Film Project was launched in 2003 in Los Angeles, and the competition has produced more than 1,200 short films at locations all around the world including the feature Final Frequency

Angel Studios is a leading producer of faith-based content including the recent grassroots hit Sound of Freedom.

An Icon Returns: Atlanta’s Rialto Reboots its Cinema Roots

Vintage ad featuring The Rialto

Marking a return to the venue’s roots as an urban movie palace, the Rialto Center for the Arts at Georgia State University announced the installation of a new digital film projector and cinema screen. The additions, the result of a successful multi-year fundraising effort that began six years ago, enable the downtown venue to continue presenting its popular year-round live events series and Georgia State’s student music and stage performances while also offering a new big-screen experience for Atlanta film screenings.

Originally opened as the Piedmont Theatre in April 1916, in December of that year the 916-seat venue’s name was changed to Rialto, meaning an exchange or marketplace, a year before the South’s premiere of the original Cleopatra in 1917. Among the first films of the theatre’s opening week were The Hunted Woman starring Virginia Pearson and The Havoc featuring Atlanta-born star Gladys Hanson Snook.

Vintage ad

The Rialto thrived as a vaudeville and movie destination for several decades—eventually being demolished in 1962 and rebuilt to seat 1,200 in 1963—before declining during the 1970s and eventually closing in 1989. GSU’s purchase and refurbishment during the early 1990s led to its reopening as the Rialto Center for the Arts in 1996, with Bud Greenspan’s documentary film Atlanta’s Olympic Glory premiering at Rialto in summer 1997.

More recently, the Rialto also hosted dozens of premieres or festival and special screenings including Shaft starring Morehouse College alum Samuel L. Jackson in 2000, two Game of Thrones season premieres in 2012 and 2013, and Clint Eastwood’s Oscar-nominated and Atlanta-centric Richard Jewell in 2019. The Rialto also hosted special events and screenings of the Atlanta Film Festival and the TBS Film Festival among its many film events.

The Rialto made today’s announcement with two initial film events already secured for spring. The venue will host a private film premiere event on April 3, and in late April the Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF) will host one of its special screening events at Rialto. Specifics for the ATLFF event—which provides the public with the first opportunity to experience the new projector and screen—will soon be announced by ATLFF.

Vintage ad

For industry professionals or cinephiles, the new projection and screen equipment specifics include:

  • DCP Video provided by a Cinionic Barco 4K resolution, 25,000 lumen laser projector. The upgrade delivers an elevated movie presentation with laser-sharp images, exceptional brightness, deeper contrast, and vivid colors, as 4K is four times as many pixels as 1080 HD.
  • The hoist-animated, motorized screen is a perforated, 35’ x 19’8” Stewart Lexus Grande S8 with any aspect ratios of 2.35:1 to 1:1 square possible with manually adjustable side masking.

Other video projection and 35mm available at the Rialto:

  • HD video projector at 12,000 lumens which may also be used to project images on backdrops or moved on-stage for rear projection.
  • Dual-35mm projection with two matching Century SA film projectors. Rialto can present rare, archival and museum prints with minimal wear and tear because each reel is projected independently.
  • The Rialto is currently a Dolby 5.1 theater utilizing Dolby’s CP650 processor. The in-house Meyer PA system may also be integrated into presentations.

The newly installed projection equipment is compatible with the venue’s current Dolby 5.1 Digital Surround Sound system. Additional funds will help the venue upgrade or replace the entire cinema audio system with eventual installation of new, state-of-the-art audio processors, amplifiers and cinema speakers.

The journey to update the Rialto’s film presentation capabilities was rooted in the venue’s long standing need, and nonprofit financial constraints, to respond to industry trends favoring digital over 35mm projection since the early 2000s. Over time, the cost to rent outsourced, industry-grade equipment, on top of standard venue rental rates, was a deterrent for studio premiere planners and cinema event planners.

Vintage ad

The Rialto Center for the Arts at GSU is the cultural centerpiece of downtown, located in the heart of Atlanta’s historic Fairlie-Poplar district. Thanks to GSU acquiring and refurbishing the building in 1993, and revitalizing the district, the Rialto has stood at the corner of Forsyth and Luckie Streets for over 100 years. Today the intimate, 833-seat performing arts venue is home to the Rialto Series, featuring the best of indigenous and international jazz, world music and contemporary dance, as well as Georgia State’s School of Music performances.  

Local Theatre Saved! Atlanta’s Historic Tara Theatre to Reopen Spring 2023

Atlanta’s historic Tara Theatre will return in spring 2023 through an agreement forged by leaders of another historic cinema. A team led by Chris Escobar, owner of The Plaza Theatre and executive director of Atlanta Film Society, negotiated an agreement with Halpern Enterprises, owners of the Cheshire Square shopping center where the Tara Theatre is located at 2354 Cheshire Bridge Road NE. Escobar announced the return of Tara Theatre, as well as a new nonprofit fundraising campaign in support of the theatre’s long-term viability, during the closing event for the 2023 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival held Tuesday evening.

“For almost 55 years Atlanta’s Tara Theatre entertained and created cherished memories for countless moviegoers,” said Escobar. “It is an honor and privilege for our team to create a sustainable future for this important landmark that will enable new generations of Atlantans and movie fans celebrate films of the past, present and future.”

Escobar’s team also announced creation of Tara Theatre LLC to be structured like Plaza Theatre LLC, the for-profit business created to preserve and operate the Midtown venue since 2017. Escobar’s team also announced creation of Friends of Tara Foundation, a nonprofit organization modeled after the nonprofit Plaza Theatre Foundation as a fundraising division. “The foundations help preserve and share these historic venues with future generations,” added Escobar.

Friends of Tara Foundation’s initial stated goal is to raise more than $50,000 before Tara Theatre reopens on a to-be-announced spring date. Donations will be accepted through the theatre’s new website TheTaraAtlanta.com which will launch in the days ahead. The public may also support the theatre via advance ticket or gift card purchases available through the website.

“The foundations enable anyone to contribute to the financial security and sustainable future of both historic cinemas in that all funds raised supplement the unpredictable ebb and flow of ticket, snack and merchandise purchases at the venues,” said Escobar. “More importantly, the foundations support long-term physical improvements and accessibility at the theatres, also enabling independent artists, film festivals or other nonprofits to engage the community with improved event spaces.”

The Tara Theatre LLC team for the reopening and management of the venue also includes cinema booker/operator Michael Spaeth and his wife, Kris Spaeth, as well as Steve Krams of Magna-Tech Electronic as equity partners with Escobar. Magna-Tech will provide the equipment and installation of Tara’s new projection technology which will include new digital formats as well as historic 33mm and 70mm film projectors, making The Plaza and Tara the city’s only theatres with both types of older film projection units.

“For the first time in more than a decade, The Tara will be a cinema regularly presenting films in their original formats,” said Escobar. He added the Tara will create a robust schedule of events featuring classic film, art house releases and independent films. This format brings back some of the traditions established during the first few decades of operation after Loews opened Tara Theatre in 1968 or “the Lefont years” starting in 1980 through their transition to United Artists.

“Magna-Tech’s investment as a partner for Tara creates drastic cost savings for the project,” said Escobar.

With the creation of Tara Theatre LLC, three employees of Plaza Theatre LLC will be promoted to work with both venues, with C.J. Swank continuing as operations director, Richard Martin as programming director and Kristin Anderson as marketing and events manager.

Escobar said negotiations for the return of Tara Theatre began as soon as he learned of the venue’s closing announced last fall by its previous tenants.

“We owe tremendous gratitude to Kenny Blank, who went to bat for our team to establish and encourage ongoing conversations with Halpern Enterprises,” said Escobar. “Halpern Enterprises clearly valued the input that local management brings to the table in terms of contemporary cinema operations, and we greatly appreciate their willingness to collaborate.”

Kenny Blank, Atlanta Jewish Film Festival executive and artistic director, also commented on the news: “The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival is proud to have worked behind the scenes to champion this exciting initiative to reopen Atlanta’s historic Tara Theatre. We understand the importance of preserving Atlanta’s cultural landscape and Tara’s place as a beloved landmark and beacon of the cinematic arts. AJFF salutes Chris Escobar for his passion and vision, and join him in celebrating this thrilling news, as we welcome festivalgoers and all audiences back to the Tara in the near future and for years to come.”

John Brazovic, regional director of leasing, managed the negotiation for Halpern Enterprises. “We are gratified by the positive response this announcement has elicited from the community and proud to have recruited Chris Escobar and his team to launch this next chapter in the life of the Tara Theatre,” said Jack Halpern, Halpern Enterprises Chairman & CEO.

 More information about Tara Theatre will be posted in the days ahead via TheTaraAtlanta.com and elsewhere online with social media handles @TheTaraAtlanta via Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Anyone interested in more information, joining or supporting Friends of Tara Foundation may donate or contact the theatre team via the website. 

Halpern Enterprises is a privately held commercial real estate firm specializing in retail leasing, management, acquisitions and development. For more than 60 years, our collaborative, hands-on approach has created value for hundreds of tenants and resulted in the long-term success of our shopping centers. Headquartered in Atlanta, Halpern owns and operates more than 50 properties totaling more than 3.7 million square feet in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

2022 Atlanta Film Festival Features 27 World Premieres

The 46th annual Atlanta Film Festival + Creative Conference (ATLFF) revealed key programming highlights, including Opening and Closing Night presentations and the full lineup of selected works from a record-breaking nearly 10,000 submissions. Highlighted by the Opening Night presentation of 892 and Closing Night film Mija, 11 Marquee screenings will combine Hollywood star power with the best of independent film. The 155 total announced creative works from submissions will feature diverse filmmakers who continue to uplift voices and stories from around the world. The film festival and educational conference will take place Thursday, April 21 through Sunday, May 1, 2022, at multiple venues in Atlanta and virtually.

“We’re particularly excited about this year because we are not only back to in-person screenings, but our hybrid format will provide even more opportunities for audiences to participate around the globe,” said Christopher Escobar, Executive Director of the Atlanta Film Festival. “A huge part of our ethos is advocating for diverse voices, which is why it’s even more important that we continue to evolve and connect with communities everywhere in new and innovative ways.”

Kicking off a robust slate of Marquee programming that will be presented throughout the 11-day festival, the Opening Night presentation of Bleecker Street’s dramatic thriller 892 will take place at the Plaza Theatre on Friday, April 22. Starring John Boyega, the late Michael K. Williams, Nicole Beharie, and Connie Britton, the film follows a Marine war veteran who faces mental and emotional challenges when he tries to reintegrate back into civilian life. Director Abi Damaris Corbin will be on-hand for the red carpet screening.

The Closing Night presentation of the Disney+ documentary Mija will be held on Saturday, April 30, at the Plaza Theatre. Directed by Isabel Castro, the film follows Doris Muñoz, who began a career in music talent management and met Jacks Haupt, an auspicious young singer, and both share the ever-present guilt of being the first American-born members of their undocumented families.

Some highlights of the Marquee programming from celebrated filmmakers and Hollywood studios announced today include narrative features Cha Cha Real Smooth starring Dakota Johnson and written and directed by Cooper Raiff (the triple threat behind one of this site’s favorites, the comedyShithouse), Emily the Criminal starring Aubrey Plaza and Theo Rossi, and Summering, a coming of age story directed by Georgia-native and celebrated ATLFF alumni James Ponsoldt. Documentary feature highlights include Look At Me!, an inside look at a gifted young rapper’s tumultuous rise to fame before his death at the age of 20, with never-before-seen footage as XXXTentacion’s inner circle speaks out, and REFUGE, a story about fear and love in the American South from local Atlanta directors Erin Levin Bernhardt and Din Blankenship.

The 12th annual Creative Conference, ATLFF’s popular educational programming extension, returns with in-person panel discussions and one-on-one in-depth virtual conversations focusing on screenwriting, showrunning, pitching shows, podcasting, directing, producing, cinematography, and editing with industry experts from Georgia to NY and LA. The entire Creative Conference lineup of over 25 events will be announced in the coming weeks. 

ATLFF 2022 will be more accessible than ever, offering a mix of in-person and virtual screenings, as well as virtual Q&A sessions with filmmakers. Screenings will be held at three venues, including Plaza Theatre (1049 Ponce De Leon Ave NE), Dad’s Garage (569 Ezzard St SE), and The Carter Center (453 Freedom Parkway), with more to come. All virtual screenings and events will be presented via Eventive.

The full schedule of films and events is available atwww.AtlantaFilmFestival.com and through the ATLFF 2022 app. Festival passes are on sale now on the site. Tickets for individual events will be available at the beginning of April. In-person screening tickets range from $12-50; virtual access is $9.99 per film/panel with an unlimited virtual all-access pass for $85 for both films and Creative Conference. Virtual all-access pass will increase to $100 after Friday, April 1.

Fall 2021 Movie Preview

Real-life stories of Hollywood royalty, chronicles of singing poets and lovers, displays of supernatural super heroics and much more will vie for your attention across multiplex and media as the fall film season gets fully underway. Filmmakers continue to showcase the movies they’ve been safely creating during the pandemic, and you’ll get a variety of new fare to enjoy on both big screens and home streaming in the months ahead.

Anticipated sequels and franchises include No Time to Die, the latest Daniel Craig 007 film; Dune, which covers half of the dense sci-fi novel about outer space wars; Halloween Kills with further mayhem between knife-wielding Michael Myers and scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis; and Maverick, Tom Cruise’s long-awaited follow-up to Top Gun.

True-life sagas range from director Ridley Scott’s chronicle of a murderous fashion family with House of Gucci starring Lady Gaga and Adam Driver to Aaron Sorkin’s Being the Ricardos with Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem as television idols Lucy and Desi Arnaz. Two tragic legends also get the big-screen treatment as Kristen Stewart plays Princess Diana in Spencer and Ana de Armas embodies Marilyn Monroe in Blonde. And King Richard stars Will Smith as the father and coach of the Williams tennis sisters.

After the recent successes of Marvel on television, an emboldened box office run should continue with recent Oscar winner Chloé Zhao’s Eternals featuring an ensemble of immortal gods such as Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek plus the third in the latest Spider-Man trilogy, No Way Home, injecting a bit of twisty multiverse time travel into the teen web-slinger’s adventures.

Dear Evan Hansen with Ben Platt as a troubled teenager opposite Amy Adams and Julianne Moore ushers in a season of musicals, followed by Peter Dinklage in an acclaimed crooning performance as Cyrano, Andrew Garfield as an artist on the brink of hitting it big as he faces an early mid-life crisis in Tick Tick Boom, the Colombia-set Disney animated family feature Encanto about a magical family and Steven Spielberg’s version of West Side Story starring Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler as star-crossed lovers in the gang lands of New York.

Awards season will be in full bloom when Martin Scorsese presents Killers of the Flower Moon starring Leo DiCaprio and Robert DeNiro, Jane Campion showcases The Power of the Dog with Kirsten Dunst and Benedict Cumberbatch, and Guillermo del Toro transports us to Nightmare Alley with Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett. The next movie by the droll Wes Anderson, The French Dispatch, features talent such as Timothée Chalamet and Bill Murray.

Some other anticipated autumn fare includes Don’t Look Up, a crashing comet comedy with DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence; Kenneth Branagh’s personal black and white historical drama Belfast with Jamie Dornan and Judi Dench; and the artsy Last Night in Soho with eccentric leading lady Anya Taylor-Joy. Plus there’s some unexpected casting including Denzel Washington as the title character in Tragedy of Macbeth and Brendan Fraser as a 600-pound man in The Whale.

There’s something for everyone, and expect these and many more to receive their bite-sized reviews weekly here at www.SilverScreenCapture.com.

This story is also syndicated throughout American newspapers this month.

Golden Globes 2021 Watch List

Movies and TV will be honored Feb. 28, 2021 on NBC.

This year the movie and TV awards seasons shifted a bit later than usual, with Golden Globes, a celebration of both media, airing this Sunday, Feb. 28 at 8:00 p.m. ET hosted at the Beverly Hilton by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler with nominees “zooming in” from homes. The mysterious nominating committee – the Hollywood Foreign Press – is known for anointing Oscar and Emmy darlings and also for making some curious choices like calling out a little-seen movie by pop star Sia (Music) and a creepy performance by Jared Leto (The Little Things). Most of the shows and movies are streaming, so you can either catch up on many of these or decide if some should be binged after the winners are revealed.

On the TV front, Golden Globes nominees love royalty, so expect The Crown and two of its stars, Emma Corrin and Gillian Anderson, to receive lots of love. The Globes will also want to show retroactive love for Schitt’s Creek, the popular comedy it neglected for five seasons, and they may show TV veteran Jason Bateman continued affection for his dark thriller Ozark.

Two popular stars, Kaley Cuoco and Jason Sudeikis, are likely to be noticed for offbeat hits Flight Attendant and Ted Lasso, respectively. And the popular Queen’s Gambit and its star Anya Taylor-Joy should checkmate into the winner’s circle for the limited series category. Two intergalactic action movie stars, John Boyega and Mark Ruffalo are big contenders for intimate turns in TV roles on Small Axe and I Know This Much is True.

As far as movies go, expect love for the buzzy films Promising Young Woman, Trial of the Chicago 7 and the Borat sequel. Sacha Baron Cohen is in the latter two, with a drama/comedy double hitter, and the Globes producers will absolutely want to hear him do an acceptance speech. The late Chadwick Boseman may factor in for a posthumous Globe for his impressive role in Ma Rainey’s Black BottomCarey Mulligan of Promising Young Woman and Maria Bakalova as Borat’s daughter in the comedy sequel look to be among the feted. Daniel Kaluuya, who many know from Get Out, appears to have momentum for his charismatic performance in Judas and the Black Messiah.

You should also hear some awards love for the animated Soul and the Korean-American family drama Minari. The just-released trek through unexpected America, Nomadlandis a likely winner for its female director, Chloe Zhao, who we may see again come Oscar time in April.

IPIC Rolls Out the Red Carpet in Atlanta

A luxury movie theatre whose time has come has opened in Midtown Atlanta’s revitalized Colony Square, and if anything could lure folks back into the cinema, it’s this epic IPIC. Atlanta’s IPIC boasts nine high-tech screens and 426 seats in a variety of configurations, including two-person pod options in auditoriums of as few as 18 seats and as many as 72. A pioneer of the dine-in theater concept, IPIC Theaters’ mission is to a create an unforgettable experience for guests. IPIC Atlanta will program the latest Hollywood blockbusters and select films in 4K digital projection, chef-inspired cuisine, signature cocktails, including personalized touches from the moment guests arrive. Guests can enjoy elevated food and beverage service delivered seat-side by “ninja-like” servers for a dine-in-the-dark viewing experience, while relaxing in premium reclining leather seats. IPIC’s curated food and beverage menu focuses on seasonally inspired dishes and signature plates, shareables, and keto and vegetarian-friendly options. A few favorites at the VIP preview night were the spicy tuna, red velvet waffles with chicken wings and popcorn laced with churro spices. Guests can also expect quintessential movie favorites such as classic and gourmet popcorn flavors, candy and innovative treats, plus a kid’s menu. Alcoholic options include a variety of wine, beer, and signature cocktails. The decor is museum-like with modern paintings and artwork of iconic movie stars, and there were a variety of sitting areas pre-show to enjoy food or drinks with small groups. Colony Square, the 50-year-old mixed-use destination, is currently undergoing a $400 million redevelopment by North American Properties. In early 2021, IPIC will also open a 6,635-square-foot destination bar and restaurant, Serena Pastificio next door to the theater. The adjacent eatery specializes in authentic, handmade pasta with simple and fresh ingredients. IPIC offers memberships with benefits, plus its auditoriums are available for special occasions and private screenings (two events got booked before it even opened). All seats may be reserved ahead of time on IPIC’s reservation system online or available on the IPIC app. Additionally, IPIC’s layout naturally reduces capacity between 24% and 57% per auditorium compared to traditional theaters. The layouts organically allow for social distancing between parties with pod-style seating that separates guests, wider rows and individual aisles leading to seats as well as smaller auditorium sizes. IPIC Atlanta is located at 1197 Peachtree St. Suite 350 NE in Atlanta. For a full list of showings and times, please visit: IPIC.com/Movies.


Feature Story: CDC in the Movies

Related: My radio interview on NPR/Georgia Public Broadcasting about CDC on the silver screen.

collageWhat do Elia Kazan, Robert Wise, George Romero, Wolfgang Petersen, Danny Boyle, Francis Lawrence, Steven Soderbergh and Ryan Murphy have in common? All have directed films about infectious diseases and health officials in hot pursuit of a cure. Whether it’s the fictional “Rage” of 28 Days Later or the virus transmitted from the hot zone in Outbreak or the real-life threat of HIV/AIDS addressed in And the Band Played On, Hollywood has been fascinated with the depiction of epidemics and pandemics on celluloid. On this 70th anniversary of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), media outlets such as NPR are examining the portrayal of health organizations in the movies. There’s even an organization called Hollywood Health & Society dedicated to expert information for storylines in the movies and on TV. They’ve consulted on NCIS and The Walking Dead and have been instrumental in shaping realistic portrayals of diseases and those who handle them in multimedia. Epidemics in the movies have run parallel to McCarthyism, to the fallout from Vietnam, from skepticism in the ’80s to survivalist Y2K mentalities to globalization in modern day. Pod people and zombies have often been stand-ins for the emerging threats. I highly recommend Contagion as a hyper-real film whose makers partnered with actual CDC officials to showcase a disease taking shape and transmitting through fomites and The Normal Heart about the struggles of a protagonist to coax government officials to confront AIDS head-on. And if you can find some of these cult movies and curiosities, check out Miss Evers’ Boys, The Andromeda Strain, The Crazies, Panic in the Streets, 12 Monkeys, I Am Legend and John Greyson’s Zero Patience, a Canadian musical about AIDS partially set in a fictional locale called The Hall of Contagion. With varying levels of accuracy, films featuring disaster, disease and dystopian futures wouldn’t be the same without scientists in hazmat suits applying their own brand of heroism.

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