DAVID LYNCH (1946-2025)

by Cláudio Alves

David Lynch as John Ford in his last big-screen appearance, in THE FABELMANS (2022).

Somewhere in LA, in the middle of a concrete nowhere, an open door beckons. It tugs, a jerky motion that makes you fly through space, into Club Silencio. The insides are old, the red velvet memory of a place that is no more. And yet, despite the unease, it's time to sit down and attend the MC's lugubrious presentation, a swirl of lies and jest, fakery that denounces itself in a spectacle that's a bit like a threat, a lot like a spell. Blue swaths over red, it glows, and then, at long last, the diva makes her entrance – Rebekah Del Rio will be singing "Llorando." But of course, it's not her voice, for she falls, and the ghostly tune persists. Somehow, that doesn't matter. In a palace of illusions, the false still rings true. And look, truthful tears stream down your face.

Watching this scene in Mulholland Drive feels like falling an endless fall, free-floating across the void, suspended in nothingness. It feels like pure beauty born of nightmares, pain and ravishment. It feels like nothing else in the world. Like something only David Lynch could have imagined. And what can we do other than surrender to that feeling on this day of all days when we must say farewell to the man, the artist, and the great? David Lynch has died…

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"Dune: Part Two" does well with the WGA and VES

by Cláudio Alves

DUNE: PART TWO | © Warner Bros.

Due to understandable circumstances, the awards season calendar has been thrown into disarray. Last week was supposed to be dominated by the Hollywood guilds announcing their nominees, but many chose to postpone such fanfare in the face of the LA wildfires. Still, there are two more guilds to account for now, as the VES and the WGA have issued press releases with their members' best-of-the-year picks. For those trying to predict the Oscars, the re-emergence of Dune: Part Two as a contender is a notable development, especially since Denis Villeneuve just received a Best Director BAFTA nomination. Then again, when discussing the Writers Guild, the sheer number of illegible contenders makes their precursor status a bit iffy…

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"Conclave" leads the BAFTA nominations

by Cláudio Alves

Isabella Rossellini and Ralph Fiennes are both nominated for CONCLAVE. | © Focus Features

The BAFTAs are upon us, and this year's nominations are a return to the institution's 2000s penchant for precursor-ism. By that I mean that its choices are keeping in tune with the Oscar favorites in most races. That's unsurprising considering that, for the first time since 2020, the British Academy did away with juries and committees in the acting and directing categories. Many may rejoice at this populist comeback, but I miss the more unexpected choices we enjoyed during those years. In any case, Conclave leads the nomination tally with 12 mentions, while Emilia Pérez is a close runner-up with 11, including a Supporting Actress double dip. Next comes The Brutalist with nine nods, Dune: Part Two, Wicked and Anora have seven, A Complete Unknown six, while The Substance and Nosferatu each nab five…

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Drag Race RuCap: “Drag Queens Got Talent”

Like in the last couple of years, Nick Taylor and Cláudio Alves are following and recapping the new RuPaul’s Drag Race season…

Condragulations, LEXI! You're a winner, baby.

CLÁUDIO: Call me Nostradamus because I foresaw the bitchtrack epidemic, an autotune apocalypse, crunchy dips as far as the eye can see. This is the state of the Drag Race Talent Show industrial complex, and I am not happy about it. Or call me Old Methuselah because being in your thirties now means having one step in the grave, according to a bunch of drag babies who dare call Lexi Love a grandma. I can’t wait to see the 34-year-old diva crush those brats’ dreams under her hooker heels. Or her rollerblades, as the case may be. She’s now my pick for season 17 winner, a choice I come to out of spite but also admiration. Because, make no mistake, “Drag Queens Got Talent - Part 2” was Miss Love’s episode, and all those other whores were fighting for runner-up honors. Call me Grandpa Grumps because this episode got me grumpy as fuck, almost as much as it entertained me. 

NICK: Lexi Love fuckin’ owned this episode. No one touched her in the talent show or the top 2 lip sync. I’m honestly glad she and Suzie Toot did their performances on different nights, even if tonight’s portion of the talent show was much less entertaining on average than last week. Would I have loved to see Suzie tap to “Alter Ego”? Obviously. And thank fuck Lexi Love didn’t have to settle for “Woman’s World”. But we’ve now got two top-tier divas at the head of the pack with a win under each of their belts…

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Interview: "Clodagh" Director Portia A. Buckley

By Ben Miller

Director Portia A. Buckley is in the middle of a whirlwind experience. Not only has her short film Clodagh been listed on the BAFTA longlist for Best Short Film, it was also announced as a finalist for the Best Live Action Short Oscar. I recently spoke to her about the chaos of awards season, her relationship with cinematographer Jomo Fray, prepping her for bad interview questions, and keeping her film lighter in tone...

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