Musings from SAG screenings (Pt 1): The Farewell, The Irishman, Marriage Story

Special Secret Guest Post!

This New-York-based performer (and Emmy-nominated writer) has been a SAG member for 19 years, though this is his first time on the SAG Awards Nominating Committee.  He works primarily in television -- most famously, playing a role on a series that has been seen in over 100 countries. We've invited him to share impressions from SAG Nominating Committee screenings which are happening left and right of late. Here we go...

THE FAREWELL:  For what it’s worth, this is the only screening I’ve been to where the movie itself—not the panelist, but the movie itself—got a standing ovation.  I, frankly, wasn’t bowled over by it (I thought, for such a dramatic subject, the emotions were curiously muted—I didn’t feel much during the movie, but maybe that’s me)…But anyway, the crowd loved it.  When Awkwafina came out for the Q&A, the comments were positively effusive. One guy called it a “perfect” movie.  Everything was perfect, he said: the acting, the writing, the directing, the editing. (The editing?) With a celebrity in the room, it’s hard to know when people are really being honest with themselves.  But Awkwafina seemed super cool.

Side note: SAG members ask the dumbest questions.  One person asked Awkwafina how she got her start in the business—which is fine, but I’m thinking, really?  You’re in a room full of peers, you’ve just spent two hours watching something that’s ripe for discussion, and this is what you ask?  Look it up online. At least it gave her an entree to talk about her youtube video “My Vag,” which, amusingly, caught a few people off-guard. 

The Irishman and Marriage Story after the jump...

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Beyoncé's "Spirit" and the Best Original Song Competition

Please welcome new contributor Kyndall Cunningham...

When the soundtrack for this year’s The Lion King remake dropped in July along with the lead single “Spirit,” performed by Beyoncé, fans on Twitter described its long-awaited arrival as the singer “coming to collect her things” - one of those things obviously being an Oscar for Best Original Song. 

The gospel-inspired ballad penned by Beyoncé, the British singer-producer Labrinth and songwriter Ilya Salmanzadeh includes Swahili chants, a choir and, of course, Beyonce’s acrobatic vocals that practically summon thunder by the end of it. The song is noticeably Oscar-baity in its grandeur but also in that a live performance at the ceremony would prompt a long standing O and make for one of the best moments of the night...

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Review: Motherless Brooklyn

by Michael Frank

Edward Norton has accomplished many things. His first major film role in Primal Fear landed him an Oscar nomination. He’s acted in over 40 movies since, earning himself two more Oscar noms, a Golden Globe, an Emmy nomination, and dozens of awards around the globe. His accomplishments speak for themselves. Norton’s new film though, Motherless Brooklyn, won’t add much to that list, though, as he whiffs on a huge swing... 

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Review: The Morning Show

By Spencer Coile 

It feels as though we’ve been discussing The Morning Show for years already. And how could we not? It was a main event for the latest streaming service, Apple TV+. It was headlined by Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, and Steve Carell - three television titans. Plus, its behind-the-camera team - including Aniston and Witherspoon with producing credit, not to mention Mimi Leder and David Frankel directing the first three episodes - was enough to have television and film fans salivating for more.

The only problem is, The Morning Show was talked to death before it even premiered... hence the past tense of this intro...

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Remembering “Precious” on its 10th Anniversary

by Cláudio Alves

Considering I haven't watched it in almost 10 years, it was amazing how much I could accurately recall from Lee Daniel's Precious. As I revisited the Academy-Award winning film to write this piece, I found myself startled at how much of it had seared into my mind. A few line readings were so vivid that, even before hearing them again, they felt like echoes from years ago. Individual scenes had metastazied into memories like vociferous ghosts, brighter than any recollections of my actual life.

The way Gabourey Sidibe says that nobody loves her still hurts, a dagger of vulnerability mercilessly plunged into the audience's heart. No less affecting is Paula Patton's desperate response, assuring Claireece 'Precious' Jones that she is loved. Notice how Mariah Carey shows her social worker's interiority through repressed horror. She wears an armor of acerbity, delivering her lines with a put-upon dryness that both masks and iluminates the hurt inside. Then there's Mo'Nique and her final monologue, a sobbed question tearing through her throat and reminding us that this monster is painfully human. The film even packs some comedic delights. Who can forget Xosha Roquemore telling the class that her favorite color is fluorescent beige?

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