Emmys Watch: Will Anya Taylor-Joy win in the crowded Lead Actress in a Limited Series category?

Our team is breaking down the top contenders in all the major Emmy races and highlighting some of our favorites over the next few weeks. 

So far, Anya Taylor-Joy has won the Golden Globe, SAG Award and Critics Choice Award for "The Queen's Gambit." Is an Emmy next?By: Christopher James

The limited series field became the go-to place for stories about women this past year. Great performances from Oscar winning actresses go head to head with buzzy, zeitgeisty performances from rising stars. There’s no shortage of contenders, but a shortage of slots. Only five women will earn nominations when they are announced on July 13th. Perennial winner Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit) will likely show up. Will she win though once up again Oscar winner Kate Winslet (Mare of Easttown)? Could a critical favorite like Michaela Coel (I May Destroy You) or Thuso Mbedu (The Underground Railroad) surprise? Or will they end up as a shocking snub?

Read on to see who might be in contention this year...

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Almost There: Forest Whitaker in "Bird"

by Cláudio Alves

After two Cannes Best Actress winners who failed to nab an Oscar nomination, the Almost There series arrives at one of the French festival's male acting champions. In 1988, Forest Whitaker starred as legendary bebop innovator and jazz saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker in a Clint Eastwood-helmed. At Cannes, he won the big prize, and, on paper, the movie does seem like an obvious awards contender. It's from an acclaimed auteur, a traditional epically long biopic, and it came just two years after critics and the Academy had embraced the similarly-themed 'Round Midnight. However, Bird was only nominated for -and ended up winning- the Best Sound Oscar, leaving its leading man unheralded…

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FYC: Elizabeth Olsen, "WandaVision"

by Matt St Clair

Since Elizabeth Olsen burst onto the scene with her stunning debut in Martha Marcy May Marlene ten years ago, she has managed to deliver quality performances in films like Ingrid Goes West and Wind River that allowed her to make good on that early promise. Yet, she hadn’t found a role that reached the same rich, intricate heights as that debut... until now. 

After a supporting role as  Wanda Maximoff (aka The Scarlet Witch) in multiple films from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Olsen was given her own miniseries with WandaVision. Though the movies underutilized her, the series proved a strong acting showcase where she could play all sorts of notes between tragedy and humor...

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How Had I Never Seen… the "Valley of the Dolls" movies?

by Cláudio Alves

As part of a robust Pride-themed selection, the Criterion Channel has added Russ Meyer's 1970 Beyond the Valley of the Dolls to its streaming roster. The Roger Ebert-penned follow-up cum send-up to the 1967 trashterpiece Valley of the Dolls is as campy as its predecessor, making the lurid underbelly of show business into the stuff of dragtastic entertainment. In other words, it's a perfect flick to put on whilst celebrating Pride Month. As I'd never seen either picture, I decided to take this as an opportunity to explore them both and share my thoughts with you, dear readers. I don't know what I was expecting from this double feature, but it wasn't what I found. Suffice it to say, I was surprised, gooped, and gagged…

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Emmys Watch: Lead Actor in a Limited Series currently has no frontrunner

Our team is breaking down the top contenders in all the major Emmy races and highlighting some of our favorites. Today, we’re looking at Outstanding Lead Actor In A Limited Series

Ethan Hawke's performance as John Brown in "The Good Lord Bird" looks to win the star his first Emmy.

By: Christopher James

Heading into Emmy nominations for this particular category, we don’t have a single actor who has won a precursor. We’re in a race without a frontrunner! The past year of awards all went to Mark Ruffalo for I Know This Much Is True, who also won the Emmy. This makes the race all the more exciting. Will the Emmys award the star of a series nominated in many categories, or will they go for a big name actor in a series that doesn’t show up anywhere else. They went with the latter last year, as Ruffalo was the only nominee for I Know This Much is True.

Read on to see who might be in contention this year...

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