Ranking "Dragula: Titans" S1.E1 (and learning to love Horror)

by Nathaniel R

The Boulet Brothers, hosts of Dragula

Do any of you readers watch the Shudder drag competition Dragula? Though horror has never been the most natural fit for yours truly, other members of Team Experience are much more into the genre. That said I have grown more fond of the spooky stuff over the years, largely due to recommendations from my teammates. There's also the not so small matter of my own actressexuality that has converted me; It's hard to stay averse to Horror when great actresses keep delivering in transcendent ways within the genre. In the past ten years alone the Film Bitch Awards right here (my own annual prizes) have thrown three medals to such performances: Toni Collette in Hereditary and Lupita Nyong'o in Us both won Gold and Essie Davis took silver for The Babadook. Through careful exposure therapy (ha) I've learned which kinds of horror films are absolutely not for me without having to risk visual trauma. So the rest I can sample freely and enjoy!

So it was that last year I subscribed to Shudder where I ended up watching season four of the drag competition Dragula.  This week the new sidebar season (essentially "All Stars") Dragula Titans began. All drag or lipsynch competitions will of course be endlessly compared to the phenomenally successful  RuPaul's Drag Race. That's unavoidable...

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Links/News

• NYT Fun Avatar Way of the Water discussion with James Cameron, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldaña, and Sam Worthington
• Mashable a list of family-safe horror movies if you like spooky but hate gore (this describes me!)
• IndieWire first gushing reactions to Black Panther Wakanda Forever
• Parade Comprehensive Jessica Chastain interview. She wants to remake Death Becomes Her which... sorry, why not just a legacy sequel with new character? Streep & Hawn are still with us

More after the jump including Paul Mescal, Lupita Nyong'o, James Gunn, Jennifer Lawrence and Everything Everywhere All At Once Oscar campaigning...

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Almost There: Anthony Hopkins in "Magic"

by Cláudio Alves

This fall will be a lovely time for Anthony Hopkins fans. The actor co-stars in both Armageddon Time (Oct 28th) and The Son (Nov 25th), playing important grandfather figures in both films. While he's said to be a warm presence in James Gray's movie memoir, the actor's second collaboration with Florian Zeller (The Father) seems better positioned to showcase the bitter and biting side of Hopkins' screen persona. After a few decades in less than stellar projects, it's a great joy to see the thespian return to form in such interesting endeavors, regardless of the mixed reactions both films have garnered. Though another Oscar nomination feels unlikely at this point in the season, watching Hopkins thrive in his 80s is its own reward.

Because spookiness is in the air, let's remember when Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins was neither a knight nor an Oscar nominee. We're going back to 1978 when Richard Attenborough's Magic saw him play a creepy ventriloquist and maybe come close to his first Academy Award nomination…

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'Everything Everywhere All At Once' triumphs at the Saturn Awards in a strong year for Asian talent

by Nathaniel R

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE won four prizes at the Saturn Awards

The 47th annual Saturn Awards, which are actually their 50th anniversary (it's confusing but mostly blame the pandemic) were held Tuesday night. Their calendar of eligibility runs summer to summer and they honor genre films and genre tv though they fudge a bit in some categories (kicking sci-fi fantasy and horror to the curb every once in a while for a drama or comedy or even musical they love). Though The Batman (2022) and Nightmare Alley (2021) led the nominations and both won a couple things, the night's big winner was A24's leggy hit and Oscar hopeful Everything Everywhere All At Once which took four prizes: Fantasy Feature, Lead Actress, Supporting Actor, and 4K Special Edition Release. On the TV side of the equation Better Call Saul was the top series with four prizes (three of which were for its actors)

It was a landmark year for Asian films and performers in general with RRR nabbing International Film (the fifth consecutive Asian film to win this prize after The Handmaiden, Baahubali 2, Burning, and Parasite), EEAAO's overall dominance, and six of the acting prizes going to actors of Asian descent (Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Ming-Na Wen, Awkwafina, Iman Vellani, and Jennifer Tilly). The list of winners and a few comments after the jump...

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Who will be nominated for Production Design?

by Nathaniel R

As we did with Costume Design, let's look at the most likely Oscar contenders in its sister Eye Candy category (i.e. the "Moulin Rouge!" categories), Best Production Design. The following nine films are not ranked but grouped in 'types'-- in fact I don't think the last two have much of a prayer but in a just world, they would! Oscar voters vote solely on the category achievement itself (as they should) but on all sorts of things first and foremost being whether they like the film itself. It also helps to belong to the right genre and, in the case of craft categories, to have a showy "Most" feeling... 

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