Which star would you want to haunt your dreams?

by Cláudio Alves

Maybe Mitzi Fabelman was right. Maybe films are dreams you never forget, imagination unbound and projected wide at 24 frames per second. And yet, the reverse trajectory can happen, too. From dreams becoming movies to dreams made from movies– who hasn't been lost in some oneiric reverie with one or two elements borrowed from a cinematic favorite? I know I have on multiple occasions, and sometimes it's not even the pictures themselves but the faces that shine brightly within the frame. Movie stars can feel bigger than life, already a step removed from reality with a foot planted in myth, making them perfect fodder for the unconscious mind. 

In Dream Scenario, soon in theaters, Nicolas Cage stars as Paul, a hapless man manifesting across strangers' slumbering fantasies. He's a nobody whose unlikely place in other people's dreams transforms him into somebody. He's a star of sorts, just like the man playing him…

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"Fallen Leaves" and "The Zone of Interest" lead the EFA nominations

by Cláudio Alves

Because of their specific focus and disconnection from the mainstream release calendar, the European Film Awards are rarely seen as part of the long road to Oscar. Then again, there's always the exception that proves the rule, and this year is exceptional, alright. Many Academy Award contenders showed up across the board, even beyond those submitted for the Best International Film category. Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest and Aki Kaurismäki's Fallen Leaves, for instance, scored nominations for Picture, Director, Actress, Actor, and Screenplay. Sandra Hüller even managed to double-dip, getting recognized for this Nazi nightmare and her turn in Justine Triet's Palme d'Or winner, Anatomy of a Fall.

Discover the complete list of European Film Awards nominations, plus some additional commentary, after the jump…

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Contemporary Costume Watch: "Passages"

by Cláudio Alves

Like it happens every year, as the awards season dawns, I complain that voters should pay more attention to contemporary narratives when recognizing design achievements. In 2023, their reluctance will be especially aggravating since there's such a deep well of costuming excellence within modern contexts. Take Khadija Zeggaï in Passages, for example. 

Ira Sachs' latest feature finds Franz Rogowski playing a Paris-based German director entangled in a bisexual love triangle of his own making. As Tomas, the actor is a sartorial tease whether he's in mesh or ratty green knits, while Ben Whishaw is more modest as his artist husband, Martin. Finally, Adèle Exarchopoulos is Agathe, a teacher who dresses like a young Bardot at the height of the Nouvelle Vague - all tight fits, high hems, and lingerie as outerwear. Across the board, fashion defies heteronormative tenets, everything is unisex and sexy to the nth degree. Clothes articulate tricky character dynamics while offering editorial-worthy queer spectacle…

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Oscars: The Five Club

by Eric Blume

It’s always fun when “the conversation” starts to brew for Oscar nominations every year, seeing which actors are gaining traction for a potential nomination. What’s interesting this year is that there are an unusually high number of actors (six, in fact!) who currently have four acting nominations under their belt who all stand good-to-great chances of joining The Five Club with nods this year. Five Oscar nominations is a big deal. Only 22 actors currently have five, and the names are among some of our best from older Hollywood (Olivia de Havilland, James Stewart), to the modern age (Albert Finney, Anne Bancroft, Susan Sarandon) to contemporary (Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams). It’s very nice company to be in. 

Let’s take a look at the actors who stand a very real shot of being a part of The Five Club this year…

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Review: Meg Ryan’s ‘What Happens Later’ is a Comedic Misfire

by Abe Friedtanzer

Thirty years ago, Meg Ryan and David Duchovny were at the height of their popularity. Ryan starred opposite Tom Hanks in one of the definitive romantic comedies, Sleepless in Seattle, and Duchovny was headlining, along with Gillian Anderson, what would become one of the most popular series of the 1990s, The X-Files. While Duchovny has starred in other series like Californication and Aquarius, and a few films since, you have to go back to 2015 for Ryan’s last screen credit, her directorial debut Ithaca. The two are back together in Ryan’s second try at directing, What Happens Later, a film that falls flat early on and doesn’t get much better after that…

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