Film academy branching out
In choosing its newest members, the film academy went for younger and more diverse.
Kevin Hart, Common, Emma Stone, Dev Patel and “Whiplash” writer-director Damien Chazelle were among the 322 new academy members announced Friday.
“It’s really gratifying to see the big increases in genre, people of color, age and national origin,” academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs said in an interview.
Other new inductees include Benedict Cumberbatch, David Oyelowo, Sergio Mendes, Elizabeth Banks, John Legend, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tom Hardy and “Dope” director Rick Famuyiwa.
Membership in the 6,000-member international Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is by invitation only. Oscar nominees are automatically invited; others must be sponsored by two members of their branch of filmmaking.
Taylor’s album a landmark
After more than four decades as a recording artist, James Taylor finally has a No. 1 album.
Taylor’s “Before This World” sold 97,000 albums last week, topping the Billboard 200 chart and edging out Taylor Swift’s “1989,” which sat at No. 2 on the same chart.
With “Before This World” coming 45 years after his first album “Sweet Baby James” made Billboard’s list, Taylor is now the artist with the second-longest span between his Billboard chart debut and having the top album. Only Tony Bennett waited longer, according to Billboard — 54 years from 1957 to 2011.
‘Screech’ apologizes for brawl
Dustin Diamond, who played Screech on the 1990s TV show “Saved by the Bell,” apologized Thursday for his part in a Wisconsin barroom stabbing before being sentenced to four months in jail.
Diamond, 38, was sentenced to 15 months’ probation and ordered to report to jail Sunday. He was convicted earlier this month on two misdemeanor counts stemming from a Christmas Day barroom fight.