Tuesday, January 19, 2021 at 9:00AM 
5 random things that happened on this day, January 19th, in showbiz history
1962 Tender is the Night opens in movie theaters. The film stars Jennifer Jones.
1964 Joan Crawford stars in Strait-Jacket, new in theaters which is now a total cult classic. Here's one of my favourite posts I ever wrote.
1990 Another cult classic, Tremors, debuts on this day...
Monday, January 18, 2021 at 10:00PM 
Right in the middle of seemingly thousands of critics’ prizes for film work, today we got the TV nominations for the Critics Choice Association, nearly three weeks ahead of their corresponding film lists. It’s the first major mid-year opportunity to see what television may still be in the conversation from the Emmys and what new series have been strongly received. There’s plenty to say about this list that isn’t entirely consistent, nominating certain performers from some shows while questionably ignoring their costars. It’s also worth noting that not a single one of the comedy or drama winners from last year were eligible this time around, though that’s just as much about series that ended (Fleabag, Watchmen) as shows that have yet to premiere their latest seasons (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Succession).
For the second year in a row, Schitt’s Creek is nominated in all five eligible categories, and it’s joined this time around by three drama series in pulling off that same feat – nominations leaders The Crown and Ozark (each with six total bids due to a second cited performer in one of the categories) and new series Lovecraft Country. The best residual breakthrough from the Emmys appears to be What We Do in the Shadows, which scored four acting bids, for all except my favorite series regular, Kayvan Novak. I’m particularly pleased that a slew of actors who missed out on Emmy nods, like Josh O’Connor, Tobias Menzies, Bob Odenkirk, Tom Pelphrey, Janet McTeer, Nicholas Hoult, and most importantly, Daisy Edgar-Jones, did manage to score here. Read on for the full list of nominees, with some more commentary by category...
Monday, January 18, 2021 at 8:00PM 
On this MLK Day, we couldn't help but think back to Selma (2014), which was just a bit ahead of its time in terms of Oscar recognition... or perhaps right on time, helping to usher in the current understanding that awards organizations and honors needed to be more diverse, depending on how you look at its performance that year. Though the movie did well at the box office it had a disappointing awards run finishing the season with zero SAG nods and only two Oscar nominations (despite a strong showing at the Globes and the Critics Choice): Best Picture and Best Original Song ("Glory" which won). One of my favourite memories from that year was a NYC fyc party where "Glory" was performed live with so many of the film's luminaries in the room. It was so incredibly moving so I've embedded it below from way back in 2014. What would you have honored Selma for in its year?
Monday, January 18, 2021 at 3:20PM ;)
Nathaniel has recently shared the Best International Feature Contenders List and given us an overview of the stars and directors and stats. Like last year, I'll be reviewing as many of the contenders as I can get my hands on, beyond the reviews already shared here at The Film Experience for the submissions from Czech Republic, Georgia, Guatemala, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Palestine, Romania, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Venezuela. The number of contenders is at an all-time high!
To start our voyage around the world, let's take a look at the submitted films from the last three champions of the category: Chile (2017, A Fantastic Woman), Mexico (2018, Roma), and South Korea (2019, Parasite)…
Monday, January 18, 2021 at 1:00PM A series by Christopher James investigating the 'Gay Best Friend' trope
Both Madonna and Rupert Everett made some key mistakes in "The Next Best Thing."Gay men love their one named divas, and with good reason. Madonna is in the upper echelon of gay icons. Her outspoken nature, incredible discography, ever-evolving persona and culture-defining fashion have given her a remarkably enduring legacy that should be lauded. Still, every gay icon has a few flops in their closet.
The Next Best Thing has been virtually wiped from the world. Unavailable from all streaming platforms (including transactional video on demand services), in order to gaze upon this Sodom and Gomorrah of filmmaking I had to order a used DVD from an Amazon seller. The Next Best Thing both did and did not disappoint. It's an epically misguided trainwreck not just in scope (the film takes place over a 7 year period) but in the colossal ways it fails its characters, stars, director and the media of filmmaking itself. Adding insult to injury, it also is an early digital film, making it look like part home movie and part snuff film. Move over The Room, The Next Best Thing is a midnight trash-terpiece...
