ACS: ...Gianni Versace: "A House by the Lake"

by Jorge Molina

The greatest strength of the second season of American Crime Story has become the amount of care, attention, and empathy devoted to Andrew’s other victims. For the second week in a row, the show steps away from the titular Versace case to tell a self-contained story about the humanity of one of them. This week we focus on David Madson, a boy that Andrew was infatuated with...

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IFMCA Nominations: Phantom Thread, The Post, and More...

by Nathaniel R

Have you ever heard of the IFMCA? I hadn't but that stands for the International Film Music Critics Association and they're now in their 14th year. They've got 65 members (mostly from Europe, the UK and USA) and they've just announced their nominations for the film year. 

Their top nominees are...

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Review: Fifty Shades Freed

by Chris Feil

Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele’s romantic tale of trust and submission comes to a close with Fifty Shades Freed. Opening on their wedding ceremony, the couple still has quite a bit to reconcile before they truly land the fairy tale ending the genre promises. As Anastasia’s career flourishes, her stalker and former boss reemerges to threaten their relationship and the Grey family as well.

Things remain silly. There’s more sex this time around but its handily the least titillating of the three films by good margin. There are car chases, sudden violent attacks, a kidnapping plot, and of course lots of pseudo-kinky coitus to be seen, because the series is nothing if not delightfully ludicrous. This time however is a more snoozy bit of outlandish.

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A quick look back at the Oscar Nominee Luncheon

by Nathaniel R

photo via Rebecca Keegan

The Oscar Nominee Luncheon -- which we must belatedly now obsess over -- is one of the greatest Oscar traditions, for a variety of reasons which have nothing to do with lunching. One of the secrets to its wonderfulness is possibly that it's not telecast so it still maintains some kind of insider cachet. Nevertheless the media are invited so it's not "private" per se. And even if it were, in our social media age the stars serve as their own kind of media outlet, too, with their selfie madness...

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Months of Meryl: The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981)

Hi, we’re John and Matt and, icymi, we are watching every single live-action film starring Streep...

 #6 — Sarah Woodruff, an outcast of ill repute in Victorian England, and Anna, the philandering actress playing her...

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