Netflix rules SAG awards
Stranger Things was the surprise Screen Actors Guild Awards' top TV winner, with Shameless star William H. Macy scoring his own upset victory over Jeffrey Tambor of Transparent. Stranger Things, Netflix's supernatural thriller deprived three-time consecutive winner Downton Abbey of one last trophy for its final year. The streaming service claimed four awards as the traditional broadcast networks were shut out. Macy's win as best TV comedy actor came despite Tambor's awards haul for his Transparent character, including last year's SAG trophy, two Emmys and a Golden Globe. . Netflix's big night included Orange Is the New Black, which won best ensemble in a comedy series for the third consecutive year. Other winners include Denzel Washington for Fences; Emma Stone for La La Land; Mahershala Ali for Moonlight and Viola Davis for Fences. Hidden Figures won for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture. AP and AFP
Oscar-nominated Iranian director says he will not attend Oscars
Asghar Farhadi, the Iranian director of the Oscar-nominated film The Salesman has announced that he will not attend the Oscars ceremony next month, even if an exception to the ban were possible. An executive order issued last week temporarily bans the entry of citizens from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen. The administration says it is necessary to keep out potential terrorists while stricter vetting procedures are put in place. Farhadi became the first Iranian to win an Oscar, for his 2011 film, A Separation. Farhadi said he had initially hoped to attend the awards and express his opinions in the press surrounding the event. "However, it now seems that the possibility of this presence is being accompanied by ifs and buts which are in no way acceptable to me even if exceptions were to be made for my trip." he said. -AP
Split tops the weekend box office
Split, the latest M Night Shyamalan thriller about a man who imprisons three teenage girls in an underground bunker, topped the North American box office for a second week. The movie, by the Indian-American director also responsible for the Sixth Sense and other films in the horror genre, stars James McAvoy as a man with 23 different personalities who preys on three girls. It earned $26.3 million in ticket sales over the weekend. Family-friendly A Dog's Purpose about a canine who continually comes back to life as different dogs searching for meaning, pulled in $18.4 million in its first week. The film came in second despite a call by animal lovers for a boycott after video footage emerged of an apparently terrified German Shepherd being forced into rushing water on the set. -AFP