Author: Derrick Murray

Derrick Murray is a Los Angeles based stand up comedian, writer, and co-host for The Jack of All Nerds Show.

The prestigious Sundance Film Festival concluded this weekend, with award winners being announced this past Friday. Sundance 2022 sported a whooping 80 films (feature-length, documentary, as well as shorts) available for viewing, and the last minute change to virtual screenings essentially allowed festival goers to consume as much content as their minds could handle. Due to the rise in Covid-19 Omicron variant, the festival was forced to change course from in-person to online. They even opened up the award winners to the general public after they were announced. This meant that anyone with time and a little cash on hand…

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If we’re being honest, have a separate award ceremony for each individual category for each individual facet of filmmaking is exhausting to cover. It must be even more exhausting to attend all of them, especially when there’s little variance to the films and television shows nominated, and they all take place within the same month. You can see why everyone at the Oscars seem to be a bit jaded and sometimes short with reporters on the red carpet. They’ve literally had to do this like 50 times before we actually get to the ceremony. Nevertheless, the American Cinematic Editors (ACE)…

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You’d hard pressed to find someone that hasn’t watched “The Queen’s Gambit” at this point. The limited series took streaming by storm, with Netflix garnering huge viewership and critical praise as well as numerous awards and nominations for the series. However, with great success comes great responsibility, and it opens the doors for scrutiny and sometimes legal battles. That’s the case here, with a defamation lawsuit brought on by former chess champion Nona Gaprindashvilli. She sued Netflix last September after a line from the show stated that she “had never faced men” during her prominent chess career. This statement is…

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There are honestly too many different award and voting circles to cover them all unless you are an active voter for them. Nevertheless, the Writer’s Guild of America also released their nominees today. This is another barometer for what we can expect for the upcoming Oscar nominations, and help speculative critics like myself have a better grasp on what will and won’t make the final cut. I made my predictions very early, prior to most (if not all) of the award announcements, and minus some of my heart picks, I think I’m going to do very well this year. The…

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Award season is now in full swing, with the Producer’s Guild of America Awards recently announcing their nominees for all of their categories. The PGA Awards are often a key indicator for what we can expect from the Oscars Best Picture category, and highlights the work in both TV and Film. Because this particular award show is more of a behind the scenes kind of honor, you won’t see any performance based categories in the nominations. Like all award ceremonies in the entertainment industry, the recent announcements aren’t without a bit of controversy. Selections often exclude predicted shoe ins and…

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