Drag Race RuCap: “Villains Roast”

Villains look good in red, don't you think?

NICK TAYLOR: What a maddening episode of television this was. Don’t get me wrong, I had a lot of fun with the Villains Roast. This cast continues to surprise me, for better and worse, and season 17 continues to give us sheer entertainment at a delicious pace. But the cast’s harkening to the shady charisma of OG Drag Race has now manifested some of the most unprompted fits of delusional sabotage we’ve seen in years. Arrietty and Lexi spin out hard over absolutely nothing, falling victim to their inner saboteurs at the earliest possible second, and tearing down Jewels with a petty nastiness that kept bringing me back to Phi Phi O’Hara. They overwhelm the underdog victories of Lana and Lydia, who finally and deservedly get their first stellar critiques of the season. It’s sour enough that I’m really reconsidering Lexi’s long-assumed placement in the final four. How do you feel?

CLÁUDIO ALVES: Oh honey, I have OPINIONS on these bitches…

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What was the first film you watched post-Oscars?

By Juan Carlos Ojano

An unpredictable awards season ended in an ANORA near-sweep at the Oscars.

It's been a week now since the Oscars.

The winners have celebrated, the losers have extended their congratulations (hopefully), the dust has settled, and the noise is slowly fading out. As we collectively move on from the recently concluded awards season, let me pose this question: what was the first film you watched post-Oscars?

Whether it be a leftover from the previous year, a new release from this current film year, or a good old classic, the first film one watches post-Oscars is fascinating to me because I do wonder if other cinephiles - especially those who intentionally subject themselves to the grueling roller-coaster ride of awards season - have a ritual of sorts on how to move forward with the recently concluded season...

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Reader Poll: Which acting nominee will be back again quickly?

by Nathaniel R

One of our recent traditions here at TFE is to guess which of the season's most celebrated actors will be the quickets to be enmeshed in Oscar battles again before you know it? VOTE DAILY (for the next week) on who you think it will be:

online polls

Some history of how well your votes have fared over the last two seasons follow...

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Demi Moore lost the Oscar but she’s still a winner

by Cláudio Alves

THE SUBSTANCE (2024) Coralie Fargeat | © MUBI

Bedecked in a silvery Armani Privé number and Chopard diamonds, Demi Moore arrived at the 97th Academy Awards like a winner. She left a winner, too, despite the lack of a little golden man complementing her crushed ice glamour. Saying such things may seem like a pity party or a way for fans to cope with their idol's losses, but it rings true here. Though she lost the Oscar, Demi Moore effectively changed the narrative of her career and forced both the industry and the public to reassess her worth as a performer, her history, her legacy. From "popcorn actress" to respected thespian, this is a reinvention of miraculous proportions and deeply deserved, too.

In many ways, these things are bigger than AMPAS' golden trophy, and may even have a bigger impact. After this season, nobody will look at The Substance star the same way ever again. At least, I won't…

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"Flow" and the Year of the Cat

by Cláudio Alves

FLOW | © Janus Films / Sideshow

As Nathaniel mentioned in his rundown of new Oscar trivia, records, and similar stats, Flow was the first film about a cat to win the Best Animated Feature Academy Award. This victory for cat people everywhere couldn't have happened to a better movie or to a more fitting cinematic year. After all, 2024 was positively full of felines on the big screen, and even some on the small. They ranged from heroic protagonists to supporting scene stealers, animated to live-action, Hollywood stars to world cinema revelations, from cute to cuter to cutest. There was even a robot kitty for those who love sci-fi. Let's look back on a year of cats…

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