The 28th Independent Filmmaker Project’s Gotham Awards kicked off awards season by crowning the story of a Midwestern cowboy as the top feature film.

“The Rider” won the the best feature award at the Gotham Awards on Monday night, edging out a number of movies widely considered to be major contenders for Oscar nominations including “If Beale Street Could Talk” and “The Favourite.” 

Directed by Chloé Zhao, “The Rider” follows a Lakota rodeo rider who was once a rising star on the circuit. But his hopes are sidelined when a riding accident causes brain damage and affects his motor skills. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017 and Sony Pictures Classics released it in the U.S. in April.

Oscar-nominated screenwriter Terry Rossio has apologized for using a racist slur in a tweet defending people who are opposed to vaccinations. 

“In a recent Twitter post arguing against stereotyping and hate speech, I referenced the 'n-word' (the actual word) as an example of what not to do,” Rossio tweeted Saturday. “That was a mistake. I am sorry.

“I now understand that the word has no place in any conversation, ever,” he added. 

Awards season is well underway but the Sundance Institute is already looking to start the conversation on the next group of potential critical darlings.

The lineup of feature films set to compete at the annual film festival will be announced Wednesday, Nov. 28, at 1 p.m. PT and The Times will be home to the exclusive livestream analysis with festival director John Cooper and programming director Kim Yutani. The two will be joined by Times film reporter and The Reel host Mark Olsen to discuss the big picture trends from this year’s lineup, what to watch for and what else to expect from new director Yutani. The 2019 Sundance Film Festival runs Jan. 24-Feb. 3, 2019 in Park City.

Be sure to bookmark latimes.com/entertainment and follow the Los Angeles Times on YouTube and Facebook for Wednesday’s livestream as well as full analysis of the feature film lineup.

Vernita Lee, Oprah Winfrey’s mother, has died at age 83, the family confirmed Monday. 

Lee died on Thanksgiving Day at home in Milwaukee and has already been laid to rest in a private funeral, the family said in a statement. 

She is survived by daughters Winfrey and Patricia Amanda Faye Lee, the latter of whom she put up for adoption and later reconnected with, as well as her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her two other children, son Jeffrey Lee, who died in 1989, and daughter Patricia Lee Lloyd, who died in 2003. 

The Emmy Awards will return to Fox — and to Sunday night — in 2019.

The 71st Primetime Emmy Awards will air live Sept. 22, 2019, the Television Academy and Fox announced Monday. The ceremony will take place at the Microsoft Theater at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles.

Fox, along with fellow broadcasters CBS, ABC and NBC, share broadcasting rights for the ceremony, with each network hosting the awards once every four years. 

Alec Baldwin appeared in a New York court Monday for a hearing related to his November arrest on suspicion of assault and harassment over a parking dispute. 

The actor, 60, said nothing as he was arraigned on violation- and misdemeanor-level charges that prosecutors had reduced to harassment and attempted assault, the Associated Press reported.

He did not enter a plea. 

In news that only 2018 could provide, Jerry Springer has landed a new television gig, this time as a fake judge.

Springer’s “Judge Jerry” is scheduled to debut in national syndication in fall 2019 and has already been sold to 75% of the U.S. via major station groups, according to the announcement made by NBCUniversal Television Distribution on Monday.

“ ‘Judge Jerry’ will merge Jerry’s talent for connecting with people, his incredibly relatable and funny personality and his legal training and governing experience to bring viewers a more entertaining court show,” Tracie Wilson, executive vice president of creative affairs at NBCUniversal TV,  said in a statement.

“Morning Joe” co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski are finally married, MSNBC reported Monday. 

The ceremony was a small one, held Saturday in Washington, Willie Geist said in announcing that the regular hosts would be taking the week off from their show. 

The secret event was held at the National Archives, home of the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. The couple’s families and their children from previous marriages attended, plus some friends, and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) officiated. Cummings conducted a ceremony that he and Scarborough wrote together, Geist said. 

I don't consider myself slick at all. Sometimes I'm like, 'How the hell did I run around in those leather pants?'

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