Michael Cieply
Deadline Hollywood
San Antonio, TX, United States
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Past articles by Michael:
‘Everything Everywhere’ Is Unbeatable–But So Was ‘Brokeback Mountain’
Where does it come from, that shiver of doubt about Everything Everywhere All At Once and its Best Picture prospects? (Almost) everyone says it’s the winner, far and away. The picture is unbeatable… → Read More
Remembering Howard Bragman, Who Always Made Things Memorable
The late crisis PR manager Howard Bragman had a way of making things memorable, and fun. → Read More
Weird Thought: Will Some Museum Members Someday Get An Oscar Vote?
Pondering last weekend’s vibrant, three-day “Regeneration Summit” at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures—it was a celebration keyed to the museum’s Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971 exhibit—I was struck by a wild fantasy. → Read More
The Film Academy And Its Oscars Manage To Feed On Their Own Mistakes
Weird but true, people are never so interested in the Academy and its Oscars as when they do wrong. → Read More
C’mon Voters: The Oscars Could Use A Little Sequel-itis
With another 33 hours to vote, it's not to late to upend the Oscar race by nominating some mighty sequels. → Read More
As The Political Dust Settles, Let’s Take A Minute To Fret About The Movies
With the Speakership settled, J6 vigils behind, and Twitter Wars in the trenches, can we finally talk about movies--and the Globes--for a minute? → Read More
Searching (In Vain) For A ‘Citizenfour’ At Sundance
Can you remember the last time a documentary actually took your breath away? I can. It happened on the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2014, in a theater at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The f… → Read More
With An Eye Toward 2028, Film Awards Face The Future
As Hollywood's film Academy braces for change in 2028, others in the awards game should do the same. → Read More
In The Financial Details, New Reality And A Little Turmoil At The Film Academy
The big picture was clear enough in the fiscal 2022 financial report released by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences last Tuesday: Income down, expenses up, rough going overall in a tough financial climate. But the finer points take a little digging, both in and around the 39-page report. On closer inspection, and […] → Read More
Film Academy Financials Reflect A Rocky Fiscal Year
Investment income crashed, awards expense rose, museum operating costs kicked in: All in all, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has had a rocky time of it, according to its just-released financial report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022. As the dust settled, net assets fell to $844.5 million from $893.8 […] → Read More
To Walk Or Watch: Our Critic Sticks With ‘Emancipation’
It was fascinating to see my good colleague Valerie Complex describe, in her review of the Antoine Fuqua/Will Smith slavery drama Emancipation, having almost walked out of the film, not because it was unworthy, but because she found the depiction of Black suffering and death almost too much to watch. In the end, Complex stuck […] → Read More
Looking For Lessons In The ‘She Said’ Box-Office Beatdown
When a film as heavily promoted and well-regarded as Universal’s She Said gets body-slammed at the box office, it’s wise to pay attention. This weekend, the journalism procedural drama, about the pursuit of sexual predator Harvey Weinstein by two reporters from The New York Times, will take in perhaps $2.27 million in 2,022 theaters. That’s […] → Read More
In A Joyless Film Awards Season, What Will Finally Lift Us?
Has there ever been such a joyless film awards season? I mean, other than 2020, when Covid closed the theaters, or 2001, after the terror attacks. Personally, I can’t remember one. Abortion clinics are promoting Call Jane. Weinstein trial jurors are warned not to watch the She Said trailer, lest angry movie-think taint their judgment. […] → Read More
Travis Bickle. Rupert Pupkin. David DePape. We Need A Movie.
Where’s Robert De Niro when you need him? De Niro, who has a way of elevating weird character roles into commanding lead parts, made a cottage industry of portraying the sort of person who now stands accused of attacking Paul Pelosi, in what is alleged to have been a scheme to take hostage his wife […] → Read More
Sacheen Littlefeather: Fact Or Fiction? The Academy Museum Owes An Exhibit
Sacheen Littlefeather's Native American identity has been challenged by her family; Hollywood's film museum, having celebrated the activist, should sort things out. → Read More
As SCOTUS Tackles Affirmative Action, The Film Academy Should Keep A Wary Eye Out
Those who run the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences might want to keep an eye—just one eye, not two, but a sharp one nonetheless—on the Supreme Court of the United States, as the court deliberates the future of affirmative action in college admissions. The court, as has been widely noted, will hear oral […] → Read More
From A Rough September To A Tough October: The Movies Are Playing An Insiders’ Game
Predictions are always a hazardous thing. And I truly hope this one is wrong. But it sure looks like the movie box office, disastrously low in September, will be stuck on the bottom again this month. September is rarely a great month for ticket sales, but last month is better left undiscussed. Putting aside the […] → Read More
With ‘She Said’, The New York Times Faces Itself On Screen Yet Again
One problem with being The New York Times—big, lumbering, important—is that you sometimes get in your own way. It happens even when you cover the movies. Every now and then, you find yourself looking at a picture that’s looking at you. And that can be awkward. Just such a moment is pending, as The Times […] → Read More
From The Nooks And Crannies Of Saturday’s Academy Meeting, A Swirl of Detail
At a membership meeting on Saturday, leaders at Hollywood's film Academy swept out the closets and churned up a swirl of information. → Read More
A Plea To The Movie Museum: Do That ‘Boyz N The Hood’ Tribute Without Apology
Film Academy chief executive Bill Kramer dropped a reminder in Toronto on Saturday, that his group’s movie museum will in February devote space to the late director John Singleton’s Boyz N The Hood. So here’s a gentle plea to the museum: Do this one without apology. For the moment, the Academy and its museum are […] → Read More