The Honoraries: Danny Glover in "Places in the Heart"

We'll be celebrating each of the upcoming Honorary Oscar winners with a few pieces on their career. First up is Danny Glover who turns 75 today. Happy Birthday to a fine American actor!

by Eric Blume

Danny Glover shows up about fifteen minutes into director Robert Benton’s 1984 Oscar winner Places in the Heart, looking dapper and handsome in his worn suit, with an effortless charm that belies his character’s backstory.  He insinuates his way into the life of widowed Edna Spalding (that year’s Best Actress winner, Sally Field) and into the film’s narrative. Sadly he always stays on the sidelines but Glover provides a radiance and a verve that display his burgeoning talent and resourcefulness.

Places in the Heart marked Glover’s first large-scale film role, and he seizes the role of drifter Moses and does everything he can with it...

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Venice 2021: The Jury

by Nathaniel R

With Cannes wrapped we move on to the fall festival buzz. Next up is Venice (September 1st-11th) and we are thrilled to report that Elisa Giudici, our Italian correspondent who did such a fine job covering Cannes, will repeat that trick for Venice. The 78th Venice festival has just announced the complete jury for its competition films. Like Cannes, they've chosen a majority female jury this time around. Unlike Cannes they went big on very recent Oscar nominees and winners...

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Yes, we're working on the Oscar charts...

For those of you who have been asking. Yes, the Oscar charts will go up soon with first predictions of the year. I'll confess right up front that this year is mighty confusing. That's partially because we're still in pandemic mode and a lot of the big studios are playing it coy about release dates and there are surely numerous sales still to happen. One assumes the studios are all watching each week's box office reports and other much more vague indicators (like streaming numbers which are rarely public and always unverifiable even when they are) to decide on the best way forward in this tough time for the industry. 

Another reason this year feels confusing is that A24 has a truckload of promising films but very few with actual release dates (and they've been known to really only focus on one once things heat up). Meanwhile MGM/UA, not usually a big player, has multiple promising titles...

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Almost There: Jim Carrey in "The Truman Show"

After a two-week hiatus, the Almost There series is back!

by Cláudio Alves

Blessed with an elastic face that can as easily twist into a clownish visage or a mask of tragedy, Jim Carrey is an actor prone to exaggeration. His maximalist tendencies don't always work, but they're sure to leave a lasting impression, whether playing up his funnyman routine or trying another register. While his legacy is built on comedies, awards bodies have responded better to Carrey when he's stretching himself as a dramatic performer. After his star rose with vertiginous speed in the mid-90s, the actor's first real foray into the Oscar race happened in 1998. It was then that, working with director Peter Weir, Carrey found the point where sitcom disintegrates into existential crisis, using his comedic skills to trace an odyssey of self-discovery. Despite AMPAS' marked disinterest, The Truman Show is one of Jim Carrey's greatest achievements…

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Bo Burnham's 'Inside' is going to cinemas this week (so let's rank the songs)

By Glenn Dunks

Was Promising Young Woman your first interaction with Bo Burnham, playing the too-good-to-be-true doctor? Was it his directorial debut Eighth Grade with its acute insight into social media culture of young adults? Or was it maybe his career as a stand-up comedian, a sort of Weird Al Yankovich for the millennial age? Maybe it was Inside, Burnham’s quarantine inspired one-man musical Inside, which is now receiving a one-night only screening in theatres across the United States on the July the 22nd.

I have watched the Netflix special several times already, as well as multiple trips to its various musical sequences while the soundtrack remains on constant repeat. I think it’s brilliant for all the reasons Cláudio explained (and more). A true swing-for-the-fences achievement that makes elaborate use of its lo-fi trappings, straddling a delicate line between sarcastic mockery of cultural taboos and politically aware understanding of the times that are indeed changing.

Inside became instantly famous for a lot of reasons, landing six Emmy nominations despite being released on the very last day of eligibility. So to celebrate its brief detour to theatres, I am going to rank all 20 songs that appear in it! Keeping in mind, of course, that there isn’t a single dud out of the bunch. 

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