Capsule Review: Tech Triple Threat - "Super-Pumped," "The Dropout" and "WeCrashed"

by Christopher James

Which new show about the rise and fall of a major tech company prevails in the end?Do you ever get deja vu while watching a TV or movie? Trends always lag a year or two when it comes to pop culture. More so than ever, the minute a story or documentary takes off, production companies are working on the scripted version of the story. In the course of a month, there will be three separate miniseries dramatizing famous tech flameouts from the last decade. Showtime was the first out the gate with Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber, which has already been renewed for season two, centering around Facebook. Next up was Hulu with The Dropout, which cast Amanda Seyfriend as Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes. By the end of the month, Apple TV+ will premiere WeCrashed, where Oscar winners Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway star as the charismatic couple behind WeWork, Adam and Rebekah Neumann.

It’s easy to make comparisons when so many similar series come out in quick succession. Between the three shows, there’s a clear winner and clear loser. Which is which? Read on to find out...

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Best Film Editing Oscar Volley

Team Experience is discussing the various Oscar categories. Here's a particularly volatile race given that BAFTA, CCA, and ACE Eddie Awards all chose different winners.

ERIC BLUME: Tim and Carlos, we're the lucky gang to discuss the Oscar nominees in the Best Film Editing category.  This year our five nominated films are: 

• Don't Look Up
• Dune
• King Richard
• The Power of the Dog
• tick, tick...Boom!

Last year's win for The Sound of Metal was uniquely exciting as it was an out-of-the-box winner in terms of its smallness (this award often goes to "big" movies). Maybe that means people are thinking a bit more carefully about this category?  I bring this up in hopes there might be some genuine support for my  favorite pick of this bunch, which is the editing duo for tick, tick...Boom...

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Best of the Critics Choice Awards: Will Smith, Melanie Lynskey and more...

by Nathaniel R 

Lady Gaga literally watching the CCAs from London. Did you watch and if so where from?

Just hours after BAFTA had wrapped last night, the Critics Choice Awards were held. That means we've reached the end of the televised precursor awards; there are still a couple of non-televised precursors next weekend (the Producers and Writers Guild) but we're now in the home stretch. So let's discuss the highs of the CCA ceremony as well as what it all means (and doesn't) for Oscar, category by category...

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SXSW: Exploring Volcanoes in ‘Fire of Love’

By Abe Friedtanzer 

I’m grateful that SXSW includes a “Festival Favorites” section that includes titles that have played elsewhere and been popular since it’s often not until a festival has ended or all of its screenings have concluded that I hear about something I’m told I have to see. Fortunately, the documentary Fire of Love which was acquired by National Geographic (for quite a sum), meaning that those without access to film festivals will be able to see this inventive and visually striking film soon enough…

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'Power of the Dog' takes the top BAFTA but 'Dune' wins the most awards

by Nathaniel R

Ariana DeBose wins again

It was a spread the wealth kind of night at the BAFTAs with the score going like so The Power of the Dog (2), CODA (2), West Side Story (2), and Dune (4) all winning prizes though The Power of the Dog was able to cinch Best Film, despite only Best Director also falling in its column. Belfast had to make due with one prize, Best British Film. We'll never understand why BAFTA doesn't broadcast live. We almost never watch the full ceremony because there's just no suspense and drama when the winners are released ahead of time and we know they edit everything before hand (which rules out any quirks or accidents that make live viewing so fun). 

We'll add acceptance speeches to this post as they become available but for now the winners and a few comments...

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