Thankful for... Cláudio Alves!

This year for our "thankful for" column we're mixing it up a bit. Instead of asking our contributors to share a brief list of favourite things, I'm interviewing them so you can get to know them a bit better. We love them all, here, at TFE HQ and hope you do too. On Thanksgiving's Eve let's talk to our most frequent contributor, CLÁUDIO ALVES. 

Cláudio first joined us two and a half years ago and it makes all kind of sense that his first piece was on the potential of Oscar's costume design race of 2019. He blesses us with his expressive writing so often it's hard to choose favourites or even know where to point you but if you're just joining us but our most popular series, currently, is his "Almost There" column on performances that didn't quite win Oscar favor so start there! Other passions of his include film festivals and International Cinema and Hollywood History. Any links in this interview go to related beautiful pieces of his, too.

Here's our short interview...

When did you first fall in love with the movies?

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Gotham Nominees: "Faya Dayi"

by Nick Taylor

First thing’s first: Faya Dayi easily ranks as one of the most beautiful 2021 films I have seen. I don’t mean to equate its beauty with an automatic FYC for best cinematography, nor a backhanded comment on style over substance. In cahoots with the editing and sound design, the heavy, monochromatic images cloak Ethiopia in a hazy, dreamlike aura that’s foundational to the film’s tone and point of view, and unspeakably gorgeous to boot. I could've pulled a gallery's worth of screengrabs from the first five minutes alone. Producer/director Jessica Beshir also acts as her own cinematographer, and her ability to endow her images with such clarity and attention to movement, texture, and composition is a stunning achievement.

But is it fashion? Does the gorgeousness of the imagery actually serve the film, or is it too loaded down to carry its own weight? How much movie truly lies underneath all this black and silver? Well...

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Thankful for... Baby Clyde

This year for our "thankful for" column we're mixing it up a bit. Instead of asking our contributors to share a brief list of favourite things, I wanted to share with you, dear readers, why I love the team so and then ask them a few key questions so you can get to know them better. This afternoon one of our newest contributors BABY CLYDE.

Baby has been with us for just a year but he's one of our most Old Hollywood obsessed contributors. He's told us a fun personal anecdotes about Mickey Rooney, expressed big love for Lana Turner and relived a big Cher year (1987 to be specific). In a more contemporary post he sang the praises of Anthony Hopkins in The Father (that Oscar win should'nt have shocked anyone).

Here's our short interview!

When did you first fall in love with the movies?

March 24th 1986 precisely 

Which current actor do you feel truly grateful for?

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Thankful for... Deborah Lipp

This year for our "thankful for" column we're mixing it up a bit and interviewing our team to share our gratitude for them. I first met DEBORAH LIPP through a mutual obsession with Mad Men. I'm proud to call her a friend and had the pleasure of attending her wedding several years back.

Deborah has a busy life (new books out!) so we dont see her around these parts much but she began popping in on occasion way back in 2012. As a James Bond fan she's written about her 007 favourite 007 films (and lots of other Bond posts). She's also wondered if Notorious is Hitchcock's only feminist film and since she loves romoms she's sung the praises of several here including Kissing Jessica Stein, Moonstruck, and and Four Weddings and a Funeral. She most recently popped in to review the final Daniel Craig Bond film No Time To Die.

Our short interview follows...

When did you first fall in love with the movies?

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Movie-Adjacent Grammy Nominations!

by Nathaniel R

"Sour" and "Montero" -definitely two of the most talked about albums of the year.

Each year when the Grammy nominations are announced we dive in to find notes of interest for cinephiles and/or general movie/tv enthusiasts. Jon Batiste, who took home the Oscar for Best Original Score for Pixar's Soul last spring, leads the Grammy nominations with 11 citations. But before we get to the movie stuff, we should acknowledge the three top categories: album, record, and song of the year...

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