A24’s Paul Mescal Double: 'Aftersun' and 'God’s Creatures'

by Eurocheese

A24 has had a killer 2022 so far, and they’re not slowing down. The effusive love for Everything Everywhere All at Once has indeed been everywhere: tributes to all the actors (including Middleburg last week), Park Chan-wook adding his name to the list of celebrities declaring their love for the film, reports of Academy screenings going like gangbusters – the weird little blockbuster-that-could has done everything it can to stay front and center in the Oscar race. On top of that, there’s the critical success of several A24 films in their bread-and-butter category of horror/thriller (X, Bodies Bodies Bodies, Pearl) and a couple of gems that are enchanting discoveries for those that seek them out (After Yang, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On). What more could we ask of them? 

As it turns out, we can expect them to showcase the brilliant (not to mention gorgeous) Paul Mescal in two films that highlight his ability to be heartbreaking and ice cold in polar opposite performances...

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Who will be nominated for Costume Design?

by Nathaniel R

Shirley Kurata's costumes for "Jobu Tupaki" in EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE are great chaotic fun

Let's tackle each Oscar category while there's still wiggle room for all contenders! Last season Best Costume Design was sewn up (sorry!) unusually early in the year when Jenny Beavan's garbage dress unfurled midway through Cruella (2021) in the summer movie season. From then on it was everyone versus Cruella and Beavan came out on top for the third time in her delicious career. The costumes of 2022 haven't really had one showstopping gown to end everyone else's Oscar dreams so it's anyone's guess at this point.

Let's discuss 8 films we think are major threats for those 5 nomination slots and why. It seems natural to start with two films where fashion is a co-lead of sorts...

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Interview: 'Mars One' director on Brazilian politics, representation, and hope

by Juan Carlos Ojano

Gabriel Martins' Oscar submission Mars One tells the story of a working class Brazilian family on the brink of the election of far-right president Jair Bolsonaro. The family is composed of a father working at a high-rise, a mother dealing with trauma, a daughter on the verge of coming out to her family, and a young boy who dreams of going to Mars. The film is a beautifully restrained examination of contemporary Brazil through the lens of class, race, and gender.

Mars One is Brazil's contender for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards. In our interview, writer/director Gabriel Martins discusses the development of his film coinciding with the rise of Bolsonaro's divisive politics, how the long-gestating journey of the film helped him shape the final output, and how recent developments in Brazilian cinema have given him hope...

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EFA Nominations: Comedy, Short, Animated Feature

by Nathaniel R

LITTLE NICHOLAS - HAPPY AS CAN BE (France/Luxembourg)

The European Film Awards announce in lots of small increments for reasons that have never been entirely clear to us. But here we are. So it is today that we learned that Italian Director Marco Bellochio has won Innovation in Storytelling for his miniseries Exterior Night (a follow up to his 2003 feature Goodmorning Night) and full nominations for three categories have been announced including Animated Feature (now updated with winners as of 12/12)...

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Streaming Roulette (Oct 21st-27th): A school for Good and Evil in the woods

A weekly series in which we survey new-to-streaming titles (on various services) freezing the scroll bar at random and sharing what comes up. 

So you're saying -- I can't believe I'm actually saying this -- if Sophie were to kiss her true love...

THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL (2022) on Netflix
Came to this one with high hopes given that Paul Feig often makes blissfully funny and stylish movies (Spy, Bridesmaids, A Simple Favor) and the source material (yes, I've read it) is great fun...

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