LAKEITH STANFIELD

Netflix could be a dominant force at next month’s 53rd NAACP Image Awards.

Regina King, Idris Elba and LaKeith StanfieldBy Dwight Brown NNPA News Wire Film CriticThey’re roughriders. Eight years later, after a perfect gestation period, The Harder They Fall comes to theaters and Netflix and its genius is no fluke. Nat Love (Jonathan Majors, The Last Black Man in San Francisco) has been trailing and killing badmen who messed with him and his family decades ago. The last one standing is the killer whom he despises most, the cunning and elusive Rufus Buck (Idris Elba). Samuel’s ability to mix old, new and Black culture differentiates him from those two, and Black Westerns (e.g., Mario Van Peeble’s Posse) are a genre all their own.

Daniel Kaluuya has used a lead role to win a best supporting actor Oscar.

Anthony Hopkins has won his first Oscar since he was victorious for playing Hannibal Lecter.

(Sony Pictures Classics/Warner Bros. Pictures, Netflix, A24, Searchlight Pictures, Focus Features, Amazon Studios, Netflix via AP)Normally, Academy Award nominations mean an Oscar bump in box office. This year, streaming services and digital rental platforms may get a bounce. On March 26, it will become available to rent on premium on-demand platforms and soon after for digital rental. — “Promising Young Woman”: Emerald Fennell's pitch-black #MeToo revenge comedy, from Focus Features, is available for $19.99 rental on digital platforms. Fennell, in her directorial debut, was nominated for best director and best screenplay, and star Carey Mulligan is up for best actress.

It’s a rare year when most of the Oscar nomination surprises are good ones, but 2020 was also a rare year for moviegoing and awards campaigns. Here’s our rundown of the snubs and surprises in the 93rd Academy Award nominations. FEMALE DIRECTORS GET THEIR SHOTFor 92 Academy Awards, only 5 women had ever been nominated for best director and never more than one in the same year. This year, the dubious honor goes to Glenn Close for her portrayal of Mamaw in Ron Howard’s adaptation of J.D. Starring Mads Mikkelsen, the film was well received, but seemed like a long shot for the major Oscars categories.

Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week. One nominee, “Judas and the Black Messiah," arrives on HBO Max (as well as in theaters) on Friday. Ad— Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo's last writing partnership turned out pretty well. Ad— AP Film Writer Jake CoyleMUSIC— Sia’s Golden Globe-nominated directorial debut, “Music,” will be accompanied with a 14-track album. Ad— “Silence of the Lambs” is three decades in the rearview mirror, but only a year has passed as CBS’ “Clarice” picks up the story of FBI Agent Clarice Starling.

The Ryan Coogler-produced Fred Hampton film will have its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival before heading to HBO Max and theaters, programmers announced Tuesday. (Glen Wilson/Warner Bros. Entertainment via AP)The Ryan Coogler-produced Fred Hampton film “Judas and the Black Messiah” will have its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival before heading to HBO Max and theaters, programmers announced Tuesday. The 2021 Sundance Film Festival, which kicks off Jan. 28, is going largely virtual this year due to the pandemic. “Judas...” is among the 2021 Warner Bros. films that are debuting simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max. It’ll be available for HBO Max subscribers in the U.S. starting Feb. 12.

Cynthia Erivo, John David Washington, Eva Longoria, Zendaya and Awkwafina are among the 819 people who have been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. If they accept, which most do, those in the new class will have voting privileges at this years Oscars. A handful of actors from this years best picture winner Parasite, including Jang Hye-Jin, Jo Yeo-Jeong, Park So-Dam and Lee Jung-Eun, were also invited to join. The Academy said that 49% of the new invitees are international and represent some 68 countries. It has since surpassed those goals and continues to infuse membership classes with both women and people from underrepresented communities.