Category Analysis: Can Morgan Freeman take down a quartet of "SNL" performers?

Team Experience will be taking a regular look at the episode submissions for major Emmy categories until the big night. 

Will Morgan Freeman win an Emmy for casually stopping by an acting course?

Saturday Night Live usually cleans up in the guest acting categories, but this is a whole new level of dominance. Four of the five nominees in Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series come from the legendary sketch comedy juggernaut. Morgan Freeman is the odd man out in this category, contending for his work in The Kominsky Method. 

Which SNL actor will prevail? Could they split the vote, leaving Morgan Freeman a chance to win? Let’s dig into the nominees...

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Oscar Predictions: Who will compete for Costume Design and Cinematography?

by Nathaniel R

"Cyrano" with Peter Dinklage was a hit Off Broadway. Will this musical version transfer well to the screen?

By now you've gotten a sense from the predictions for most of the craft categories which films we think Oscar voters might be fond of come January when they're voting on nominations. Now let's talk more in depth about two of our favourite races to keep eagle eyes on each year: Costumes and Cinematography.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Of Oscar's four favourite living costume designers --  Sandy Powell (15 nominations and 3 wins), Colleen Atwood (12/4), Jenny Beavan (10/2), Milena Canonero (9/4), and Jenny Beavan (10/2) -- only Colleen Atwood is sitting out this cinematic year...

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Smackdown '98: Kathy, Brenda, Dame Judi, Rachel, and Lynn

Welcome back to the Supporting Actress Smackdown. Each month we pick an Oscar vintage to explore through the lens of actressing at the edges. This episode takes us back to 1998. 

THE NOMINEES  A politically savvy lesbian, a bawdy working-class mother, a theater-loving Queen, a failed musician / devoted sister, and a homophobic immigrant housekeeper in Hollywood walk into the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion...

For the 1998 film year, the Academy invited one new actress (Rachel Griffiths) to their Supporting club while offering a second nomination to four respected women of a certain age (Dame Judi Dench, Brenda Blethyn, Lynn Redgraves) only one of whom (Kathy Bates) had already won.

THE PANELISTS Here to talk about these performances and films are (in alpha order) DJ Rob Champion, Writer/Director Leslye Headland, Journalist and playwright Jenelle Riley, Actor/writer Mitch Silpa, Illustrator Dashiell Silva and, as ever, your host Nathaniel R. Let's begin...

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Category Analysis: Will sketch comedy prevail in Outstanding Guest Actress?

Team Experience will be taking a regular look at the episode submissions for major Emmy categories from now until the big night. 

Former "Saturday Night Live" cast members Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig face off against each other in Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.

by Christopher James

Sketch comedy thrives in the guest acting categories. While Saturday Night Live hosts have long been a staple of this category, HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show has recently had success here, too. Those two shows take up four of the six guest acting slots in the Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series category. The other two nominees are a famous actress in an underappreciated show (Bernadette Peters - Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist) and an underappreciated actress in an Emmy favorite (Jane Adams - Hacks).

In short, there are many ways the Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series category could go this year. With the Emmys, it’s always best to expect the unexpected. So who is most likely to win? Let’s dig into the nominees and their episode submissions...

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"Parallel Mothers" - Teaser and Release Date

This is both agonizing timing and perfect timing. Sony Pictures Classics have just released this teaser for Parallel Mothers and have announced that the movie hits theaters on December 24th in the US. We fear that's way too late to build up the steam for a major Oscar play. International features often require a larger lead time to get conversation going. Factually speaking, all five of Pedro's Oscar-nominated films  (Women on the Verge, All About My Mother, Talk to Her, Volver, Pain and Glory) have begun their stateside rollouts in November.  On the other hand it's perfect timing for our about to launch "All About Pedro" series which begins this Thursday with his first feature Pepi Luci Bom (1980). This is entirely accidental but that means the new movie arrives the day after our series wraps up!