MCU Catch-Up: ‘Ant-Man’ and ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’

By Abe Friedtanzer

I see a lot of movies. Still, I sometimes miss big releases if a) I don’t see the film either at a press screening or right when comes out and b) it’s not an awards contender. With the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there’s so much to keep up with. At a certain point, there are some entries that I just never get around to seeing. Among the few I was missing up until recently were Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp, the lead-ups to the forthcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Thanks to a long flight last week and two Disney+ downloads ahead of time, I’m now caught up with everyone’s favorite shrinking hero…

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Best Director Closet Picks... and Polls!

by Nathaniel R

The Oscar charts are complete for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplays with "who should win" polls on each page. So vote for your favs daily!  Each page also has trivia and factoids and listicles for your entertainment. For the first time in Oscar's 95 year history Director and Original Screenplay are an exact match and each of the directors also wrote or co-wrote the screenplays. We still can't get over that. Not just in 'how did it happen' but also in 'how did it never happen before?'. Do we just have more multi-hyphenates than we used to in Hollywood? (Probably) Or was it just a matter of the unique field of contenders this year? (Also possible)

Speaking of writer/directors. Today, February 10th, is Dan Kwan's 35th birthday and he has a lot to celebrate this year with 3 Oscar nominations for his 3rd feature Everything Everywhere All At Once. Remember his dance moves in "Turn Down For What?"  Speaking of "Daniels"... what did you think of their Criterion Closet visit? 

"Triangle of Sadness" wins big at the Guldbagge Awards

by Nathaniel R

Sweden's Guldbagge Award, designed by Karl Axel Pehrson, looks like something out of a Cronenberg movie and we respect that. It doesn't look much like any other golden film award. It's chased in copper and enameled before the gold enters the picture. The Guidbagges were first handed out in 1964 when the late Ingmar Bergman, still Sweden's most famous auteur, took home Best Film and Best Director for The Silence. Other Swedish classics that have won the top prize include other Bergman masterpieces like Persona, Fanny & Alexander, and Cries and Whispers, arthouse auteur pics like You the Living and Border, Oscar darlings like The Emigrants, Pelle the Conquerer, and My Life as a Dog, and LGBTQ favourites like the teen lesbian drama Show Me Love and gay dance drama And Then We Danced.

This year's big winner was Oscar-nominated satire Triangle of Sadness which took home six prizes... 

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Drag Race RuCap: “Old Friends Gold”

NICK TAYLOR: Well girl, it finally happened: Drag Race did a Golden Girls themed challenge! The Girl Group challenge - an infrequently repeated challenge that’s more of a fixture on All-Stars and the international spin-offs than the main stage - is the Golden Girls Group this year. It’s also the first challenge of season 15 where I find myself out of step with the judge’s decision-making on several fronts, even if I see why they made their choices. What do you think of the girl group challenge historically, and how does that stack up with today’s episode?

CLÁUDIO ALVES: I really love the girl group episodes, especially on international seasons. If you asked me to replace a mainstay maxi challenge, I’d probably erase the obligatory makeover/family resemblance nonsense with this musical trial. However, I can’t quite say “Old Friends Gold” ranks high amid its girl group sisters. Part of it is the rushed edit, but another big factor is, as you say, the judging. The judges and I were watching two different performances this week...

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11th Annual Team Experience Award - WINNERS

From the team…

The team is just as obsessed with Lydia Tár as she is of herself.
Preferential balloting can do crazy things. It was neck and neck over the course of five rounds, with different films taking the lead at different moments. In the end, TÁR prevailed in the Best Picture race. Overall, the team of Film Experience writers decided to spread the wealth, rather than give Lydia Tár all the awards under the sun. In fact, this year’s Best Picture winner only won two other categories - Best Actress (tied) and Best Original Screenplay. Everything Everywhere All At Once also won three awards - Director, Supporting Actor and Film Editing.

Check out the rest of the winners after the jump...

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