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Thursday
Jul272023

The Strange History of Iconic TV Characters That Never Won Emmys.

by Eric Blume

It seems inconceivable that Brian Cox will not win an Emmy for his towering, iconic performance as Logan Roy, the heart and soul (relatively speaking) of one of television’s all-time greatest shows, Succession.  And yet, it appears he will not!  Cox only has a handful of episodes, far less a cumulative punch than his fellow nominees for Best Actor in Drama Series.  He simply didn’t have enough screen time in this final season to pull through with a victory. If Kieran Culkin and Sarah Snook win the lead Emmys (which I strongly believe they will), that means that all of Cox’s key co-stars will walk away from the series with the industry’s highest honor, while its central figure will go unrewarded.  It’s a great example of the randomness and silliness of awards shows.  It's not that his co-stars didn't absolutely deserve it, but it's crazy that the mighty Cox will go Emmyless.

Still, he’s in good company. After the jump let's look at a few other actors who created truly quintessential characters on major shows, but despite many nominations, never won the elusive Emmy for their creation...

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Wednesday
Jul262023

Jacqueline Durran: From Kubrick to Barbie

by Cláudio Alves

Two-time Academy Award winner Jacqueline Durran is undoubtedly on the path to another Oscar nomination, maybe even a third victory. The British costume designer brought the pink paradise of Barbie to life, delighting audiences with a mixture of archival recreations sized-up from doll scale and original creations in line with Greta Gerwig's reality-hopping narrative. The movie is a delight for costume lovers everywhere as soon as its first scene when it contrasts the graphic modernity of the 1959 swimsuit-clad Barbie with the attire of midcentury girlhood, their look defined - perchance shackled - by domestic aspiration. Then comes a series of classic Mattel outfits, a flurry of rosiness, and our welcome to BarbieLand. It's a colorful explosion of femininity as understood by kids' imaginations... 

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Tuesday
Jul252023

Saving Private Ryan @ 25: Robbed or Not?

by Cláudio Alves

As Oppenheimer enjoys tremendous success worldwide, another World War II movie turned summer blockbuster celebrates a quarter century. Though, of course, while Christopher Nolan's movie ponders history away from the battlefield, Steven Spielberg drops the viewer in the middle of carnage, violence smeared on your face until you can't take it anymore. Yes, it's been 25 years since Saving Private Ryan opened in cinemas, receiving immediate critical acclaim and frontrunner status by the awards pundits at most major publications. Come Oscar night, though, the war story took 'only' five awards. It lost the Best Picture trophy to Shakespeare in Love in an upset that angers many people to this day. 

To mark the anniversary, let's celebrate the film's undeniable qualities, investigate some of its drawbacks, consider its competition at the 71st Academy Awards, and relitigate the controversy. Was Saving Private Ryan robbed? Well…

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Monday
Jul242023

Box Office: Two SmashHits Temporarily Reinvigorate Movie Theaters

by Nathaniel R

By now even people who don't pay attention to the movies (a depressing large amount of people) know that this weekend was historic. Barbenheimer broke all kinds of records and in just three days rescued the overall numbers of this summer.  People seemed genuinely thrilled to be at the movies this past weekend, didn't they? At least they did in NYC where we witnessed the pink-clad mania. Oppenheimer viewers were harder to spot --no color uniting them -- but they were also out in droves as both movies had enormous, even historic weekends. So much for Hollywood's recent-history belief that you shouldn't open big movies opposite each other. Competition used to be the norm but it's been rare in recent years...

Weekend Box Office
July 21-23
🔺 = new or expanding /  ★ = Recommended 

WIDE (Over 600 Screens) LIMITED / PLATFORM 
BARBIE THEATER CAMP

1🔺★ BARBIE $162 *NEW* 4243 screens  

1  PAST LIVES $563k (cum. $10) 629 screens  

2 🔺 OPPENHEIMER  $82.4 *NEW* 3610 screens

2 🔺 THEATER CAMP $280k (cum. $687k) 51 screens

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Monday
Jul242023

Return to Dust: Against Censorship

by Cláudio Alves

Barbie this, Oppenheimer that, the Barbenheimer double feature wasn't the only title worth watching to arrive in theaters last week. Indeed, one of 2022's most controversial titles finally enjoyed its American release well over a year after it competed at the Berlinale and incurred the wrath of the Chinese government. Ruijun Li's Return to Dust deserves the attention of every cinephile, both because one shouldn't bow to the pressures of censorship but also because it's a remarkable bit of social realist filmmaking. Its ability to touch on hard truths made it an unlikely box office success before all that attention ruffled some feathers…

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