Happy Cannesiversary to "Dheepan"

by Nick Taylor

Hello, TFE readers! If you're like me, you'll be sitting out Cannes this year, using the time to read press coverage or finally see that one thing you've been meaning to watch while others swan across the croisette, conduct interviews, and shill merch for Troma Studios. I'll be spending the 78th Cannes Film Festival and the site's 10|25|50|75|100 series to visit ceremonies of years past, making new friends and revisiting familiar faces. To kick things off, we'll be spending the next few days with some Palme d'Or winners!

Some of you might remember I did not particularly like Emilia Pérez, last year’s genre-explosive musical about a cartel leader striving to reconnect with their family after getting gender-affirming care, as facilitated by her lawyer/hostage/business partner. I will not linger on that mess too much, but there’s a nub to the discourse about Jacques Audiard’s failure to meaningfully engage with any aspect of Mexican culture I did have a problem with. Namely, the idea that him being a cis white French man means he’s inherently incapable of having anything to say about someone who falls outside any of those identity markers. Yes, we can and should discuss if the French as a nation are capable of empathy, but I don’t believe artists cannot and should not make art about people outside their demographics and lived experience . . . .

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Triple Crown of Acting: Who's Next?

by Eric Blume

Kieran Culkin will have to wait a bit longer before he can add a Tony to his SUCCESSION Emmy and A REAL PAIN Oscar. | © Searchlight Pictures

Back in 2016, I wrote an article here when one of my favorite actresses, Jessica Lange, won a Tony for Long Day’s Journey into Night, thereby joining the club of elite actors who had achieved the Triple Crown of Acting (competitive Oscar, Emmy, and Tony). Only 24 actors have ever achieved this, and since Lange eight years ago, only two people have joined that list (Viola Davis in 2017 with her Emmy; Glenda Jackson in 2018 with her Tony).

I thought it would be fun to take a look at who is a realistic possibility to join that club.  I’m reminded of it because, until just a few days ago, there was a chance that person was going to be Kieran Culkin!  Culkin had been largely predicted to be nominated for a Tony Award (and possibly win!) for his performance in the revival of Glengarry Glen Ross.  Alas, Culkin was shut out of the nominations on May 1.  Had he won, he would be the first person to win all three awards in such tight timing (he just won his Emmy for Succession and Oscar for A Real Pain within the last three  years).   It took Jessica 33 years and Glenda 47 years!

So since it's not going to be Kieran Culkin, let’s take a look at who might be next.  I’m working on probability here, not possibility:  meaning that I’m not counting likelihood for actors who rarely or never work in that given medium.  Here are some thoughts…

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Tony Nominations 2025: "Death Become Her" and more...

by Nathaniel R

Movie to musical adaptations "Death Becomes Her" and "Buena Vista Social Club" dominated the Tony nominations with 10 each. But they weren't alone. The critically acclaimed original musical about two robots in love "Maybe Happy Ending" tied them -- that's a lot of productions in the double digits this year despite robust competition in terms of eligibility (41 or 42 ? were eligible, split roughly in half between musicals and plays).

The 78th Annual Tony Awards will be held June 8th in New York City, and broadcast on CBS Paramount+. This year's festivities will be hosted by Tony and Grammy winner and three-time (already!) Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo. The nominations and a few comments are after the jump... 

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Congratulations to La Pfeiffer!

Congratulations to the one and only Michelle Pfeiffer who was immortalized in the classic Hand & Footprint ceremony in Hollywood this past Friday. She's giving interviews that everyone has been forwarding me (you know how I get with La Pfeiff) and she's saying her most iconic moments are still ahead of her.

Gurrrrrl. I hope. But you'll have to get back to work to make it so instead of taking years off between projects. Every time she 'comes back' she immediately leaves again...

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Chita Rivera Awards: 2025 Nominations for Film and Broadway

by Nathaniel R

We've mentioned the low-profile Chita Rivera Awards a few times here at The Film Experience. The awards, named after the legendary Broadway performer of West Side Story, The Rink, Chicago, and Sweet Charity fame are a fun idea, honoring dance in both feature films and on Broadway (the more common place for dance to be honored). Since we love all three art forms and the namesake we are all for this! The 2025 honors will be their 7th installment.

This year's ceremony will be held in NYC on May 19 with the amazing Tony & Emmy winner Bebe Neuwirth (Chicago, Cheers) as host. The most famous nominee this year is surely Jonathan Groff. While we've had an enormous crush on him for years, we swear that it's his abundant talent and not his beauty that have kept the fires burning. Plus mad respect for the surely difficult but highly welcome balancing act he's been doing mixing feature films, tv shows, and Broadway shows fairly consistently for years. Groff is involved in both the stage and film categories this year. Read on for the nominations and a few comments...

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