TCA Nominations 2021

The Television Critics Association has announced its nominees for the season and they make an interesting parallel kudo-party with the Emmys both in their sameness and where they diverge. I'm told voting closed before the Emmy nominations were announced so these are simple disagreements as opposed to statement making...

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA

Michaela Coel, I May Destroy You – HBO
Ethan Hawke, The Good Lord Bird – Showtime
Thuso Mbedu, The Underground Railroad – Amazon
Elizabeth Olsen, WandaVision – Disney+
Mj Rodriguez, Pose – FX
Omar Sy, Lupin – Netflix
Anya Taylor-Joy, The Queen’s Gambit – Netflix
Kate Winslet, Mare Of Easttown – HBO

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Cannes at Home: Day 9

by Cláudio Alves 

Today was a busy one for Spike Lee's jury. Because this year's Main Competition is so extensive, with 24 films vying for the Palme d'Or, some days feature three consecutive screenings. Still, that doesn't seem to abate anyone's enthusiasm. Lee himself was seen giving a standing ovation to Sean Baker's Red Rocket, the American director's first film to compete at Cannes. Hungarian Ildikó Enyedi also premiered The Story of My Wife, while previous Palme d'Or winner Jacques Audiard presented his Paris, 13th District. To celebrate these selected cineastes, we shall recall some of their best efforts to date. Among our program, we even find a drama led by one of Lee's fellow jurors, the recently Golden Globe and BAFTA-nominated Tahar Rahim…

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Cannes Diary #08: Huppert, Damon, "Titane", and peculiar babies...

by Elisa Giudici

Today a dream of mine came true: I was finally able to attend an event with Isabelle Huppert. She is quite popular on the film festival circuit but lately she is working in theatre a lot (right now some Chekhov, just like the protagonist of Drive My Car), so I was so excited to finally meet her at the "Rendez-vous avec Isabelle Huppert" event. Let me fangirl a little. She is truly a charismatic person with a serious attitude and kind smile. Her event had two moderators but they were quite nervous (I totally understand!) so the conversation was a bit repetitive if still interesting. The most iconic moment was when someone asked her if she ever experienced stage fright or if she was ever a little scared by the legendary directors she worked with. She immediately answered that she never feels intimidated by anyone. It is an attitude she is not interested in exploring; I wish my brain would listen and be more like that! On Haneke, she said that he obsesses over realistic movements, and gives actors a lot of boundaries but almost never any advice  on how to act...and she likes it that way,

In these kind of events moderators are crucial to create an interesting dialogue. I am not that much into Matt Damon's filmography but I found his Rendez-vous a memorable experience, too, because the interviewer prepared the list of questions well so that the whole event was engaging. Of course Damon's friendly attitude helped. He is a charming person and knows how to make an audience happy revealing small inside details from his long carrier. 

On to the movies...

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Cannes Red Carpet, mid week edition

by Nathaniel R

Sharon Stone is at Cannes!

The sartorial splendor of closing weekend events is just ahead of us but let's catch up on recent Cannes fashion. If you missed the previous reports they are here (opening night) and here (first few days). Now let's take a look at the glamour of midweek. Who takes your best-dressed crown? You can click on any of the images to enlarge them...

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Doc Corner: 'No Ordinary Man'

By Glenn Dunks

In No Ordinary Man, a groundbreaking biography emerges out of the tragic throes of history. Populated almost exclusively by the voices and experiences of transgender individuals, this riveting and decidedly trans-positive documentary from co-directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt has the power and the depth to deserve a place in the queer canon (if such a thing exists). It dismantles the very politics of disclosure, and tells its story of self-discovery with empathy and tenderness while utilising film craft in a way that offers genuine inclusive insight.

It tells the story of Billy Tipton, an acclaimed jazz musician, husband and father who, upon his death, was discovered to have been assigned female at birth. At first mocked on the daytime talk show and tabloid entertainment circuit as a ‘unimaginable’ fraud who deceived his family and society for personal gain (women had little access to the jazz scene), No Ordinary Man charts how Tipton’s story was just one of many in a society that was woefully ill-prepared for the complexities of human behaviour. And how Tipton inspired a generation to live authentically.

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