HollyShorts Pt 1. Riz Ahmed and more...

By Ben Miller

The 17th annual HollyShorts Film Festival is underway virtually and live in Los Angeles and will be running through Friday, October 1.  This festival features a wide array of talented filmmakers presenting films which are under 40 minutes in length. I covered the festival last year where Oscar-winning animated short If Anything Happens I Love You (and other Oscar prospects) premiered. 

The opening days cover a number interesting short films, so here are notes on 9 that I screened including films starring Riz Ahmed and Jovan Adepo...

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Yes No Maybe So: P.T. Anderson's "Licorice Pizza"

by Nathaniel R

Paul Thomas Anderson's ninth feature film is almost upon us. As one of America's most singular auteurs that's reason to celebrate whether or not this turns out to be top tier Anderson or his nadir. Licorice Pizza (which went by the equally odd title Soggy Bottom previously) is due to open on November 26th in select cities followed by a nationwide bow around Christmas. The trailer uses "Life on Mars" by David Bowie from 1971 as its primary soundtrack. The presence of hairdresser turned movie producer Jon Peters (Bradley Cooper) in his Barbra Streisand phase places us even more specifically in the mid 1970s during the peak of Bab's movie stardom when practically every film was a smash hit (Peters and Streisand started dating in '73 and he helped produce A Star is Born in 1976) so on the timeline we're sandwiched directly inbetween Anderson's Inherent Vice and Boogie Nights if you want to rewatch his movies chronologically as they take place for kicks. 

Let's break down the trailer with our Yes No Maybe So system after the jump...

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Almost There: Jessica Chastain in "A Most Violent Year"

by Cláudio Alves

Everything's coming up Jessica Chastain, it seems. While The Eyes of Tammy Faye didn't scrounge up much box-office success, the actress' performance as the famed televangelist has earned her career-best reviews. The acclaim catapults her to the front of the pack in the current Best Actress race, one that feels fated for biopic domination. Furthermore, Chastain's doing impressive work on TV alongside Oscar Isaac in an English-speaking remake of Ingmar Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage. Taking all this into account, it's fitting to dedicate this week's Almost There write-up to the fabulous actress, recalling her previous collaboration with Isaac in J.C. Chandor's A Most Violent Year. As Anna and Abel Morales, these beautiful thespians deliver some of their best work ever…

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Introducing the Smackdown Panel for '37

On Sunday the next Supporting Actress Smackdown and its companion podcast arrive, with a discussion of the 1937 Oscars and the Supporting Actress nominees. You know what that means. For maximum enjoyment (re)watch Best Picture nominees the Bogart noir Dead End, the actress-stuffed dramedy Stage Door and the epic In Old Chicago as well as two films that were both nominated for two acting Oscars, the thriller Night Must Fall and weepie classic Stella Dallas (all of which are readily available online) and send in your votes by Friday October 1st. Let's meet your fellow panelists, shall we? 

PLEASE WELCOME...

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Beauty Break: Tony Awards Best Dressed

by Nathaniel R

BERNADETTE PETERS, LESLIE ODOM JR, JEREMY POPE

The following stars are presented In no particular order, just the looks we loved the most on Tony night. Turtlenecks are definitely back for men as is lots of color (which has been decades in coming and for which we could not be more grateful) and as with the Emmys, basic black for women is gaining renewed force. 

Fashion is of course highly subjective and what looks great on one person could well look hideous on other but that's why it's fun to gawk at and think about. Which were your favourite looks from the big night?

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