Through Her Lens: 2013 (The 86th Oscars)

A series by Juan Carlos Ojano. Introduction / Explanation

Steve McQueen became the first Black director to helm a Best Picture winner for 12 Years a Slave (2013), telling the harrowing story of African-American freeman Solomon Northup who was kidnapped in 1841 and was sold to slavery. McQueen also became the first Black producer to receive a Best Picture award. Meanwhile, the film’s biggest competition was Gravity, a science fiction-thriller film set in space. Winning seven Oscars, the film was directed by Alfonso Cuarón, becoming the first Latin American to win the Best Director Oscar.

While having these two films as frontrunners is a win for representation at the Oscars,  female directors were still left out of the conversation for majority of the awards season.  Out of the 289 films included in the Reminder List of Eligible Films in 2013 (86th Academy Awards), only 32* (11.1%) were directed/co-directed by women...

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Happy 4th if you celebrate

Happy Fourth of July

Tootsie (1982)

Apologies for the radio silence this weekend -- though we've been updated the Oscar charts -- but we took the weekend to recharge via Fire Island (not Fire Island the movie though that's come up in conversation multiple times). After "The Invasion of the Pines" today, the annual tradition wherein drag queens ferry it from Cherry Grove to the Pines, we're headed back to our less glittery, less eye-candy filled lives *sniffle*. So this post is illustrated with the three photos from the TFE archives that best sum up this weekend...

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Streaming Roulette, July 2022

We never know which films to cover since there are so many channels so please note that we welcome comments and requests for more in-depth coverage of new-to-streaming titles. 

Okay, time for this month's streaming roulette. You know the rules. We highlight new-to-streaming movies and an occasional TV series by freezing them on the scroll bar at entirely random places and just sharing what pops up. No cheating*!

Okay, we're going to have a nice CALM talk like we discussed, right?

LOVE, VICTOR (SEASON 3) on Hulu
Sad this show is ending but also relieved since so few high school shows wrap up at their natural ending point (senior year) before they've overstayed their welcome. Have you started watching the final season yet? Ana Ortiz (who is completely Emmy worthy for season 2) and James Martinez as Victor's parents are both so terrific and not at all the afterthoughts parents so often are in teen soaps...

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Linking up that hill

• Criterion Renate Reinsve (Worst Person in the World) demonstrates marvelous taste while inside the Criterion Closet
• Boy Culture their delicious annual recap of Broadway Bares (lots of photos and video)
• MNPP Pedro Almodóvar is making another short (after that Tilda-starring The Human Voice). This one a gay western starring Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal. Can't wait!

More after the jump including Dakota Johnson, The Lovely Laura Linney, Kate Bush, a new film from Andrew Haigh, and a reinvention of James Bond...

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Film Review: 'Minions: The Rise of Gru' Delivers More of the Same

Wherever the Minions go, mayhem follows.By: Christopher James

Everyone knows what their mileage is on Minions mischief. Since exploding onto the screen in 2010’s surprise animated hit Despicable Me, these goofy yellow helpers have become part of popular culture. Like demented, individualistic oompa loompas, the Minions do not need speech in order to win over their audiences. In fact, they hew closest to the Three Stooges in terms of their appeal. It’s pure physical comedy amped up by the frenetic dexterity that animation allows.

The newest entry, Minions: The Rise of Gru, doesn’t reinvent the wheel, to say the least. It’s broad, loud and frantic, barely stopping for a minute to craft a story. At 107 minutes, the energy sputters out, particularly in a rushed third act. Yet, the movie gives exactly what it promises, a fun ride full of antics galore...

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