Thursday, December 26, 2024

“The Tragedy of Macbeth” Is No Oscar Campaign for Denzel, Free IMAX Screenings This Sunday

What is the real tragedy of Macbeth?

Joel Coen’s brilliant film of the Shakespeare play opened the New York Film Festival and then disappeared like the lost city of Atlantis. Few have seen it or even heard about it. When I’ve mentioned it to civilians, so to speak, they’ve never heard of it. Even Ruth Negga, who’ll be playing Lady Macbeth on Broadway later next winter with Daniel Craig, was fuzzy about it.

“The Tragedy of Macbeth” stars Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Kathryn Hunter (who is completely unknown to every Academy voter), Corey Hawkins, Brendan Gleeson and exceptional cast. Bruno Delbonnel did the amazing black and white cinematography. Carter Burwell supplied the gorgeous score.

Yet, Denzel is totally AWOL on this one. He has a movie he directed, “A Journal for Jordan,” rumored to be coming from Sony/Columbia on Christmas Day. So far I’ve heard zilch about that one, too.

Denzel will not be part of a Q&A broadcast to IMAX theaters this Sunday, December 5th when there’s a free showing of “Macbeth” around the country. Here’s a link to the cities, theaters, and showtimes. I didn’t get this from a publicist, but by following A24 on Twitter. (I think A24 just expects to get a lot of National Bored of Review nominations this week and the rest, whatevuh.)

What about Kathryn Hunter? Maybe a critics group will recognize her as the three witches in this production. I have a feeling she’s going to be the lost gem of 2021. Too bad.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

Read more

In Other News