Emmy Watch: Which Comedy Series will it be?

by Abe Fried-Tanzer

We’re looking at another Emmy Awards category today – Best Comedy Series. Unlike the corresponding drama field, this one isn’t quite as overflowing with potential returning nominees. That said, it’s still worth taking a closer look to see which shows have the best shot at scoring a bid this year. 

Last year’s big winner, Fleabag, has ended, though there’s always a chance it may return someday if fans clamor hard enough for it. Three-time victor Veep is also over, and both Barry and Russian Doll haven’t yet debuted their newest seasons. Previous winner The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is a sure thing, while the final seasons of Schitt’s Creek and The Good Place are probably safe, though they were both only nominated for the first time last year (for their fifth and third seasons, respectively)...

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"Virtual" Moviegoing - What's New?

by Nathaniel R

Tired of aimlessly scanning choices on Netflix? Treat yourself to a newish movie tonight that you might have been seeing in a theater in a better world! Increasingly the small indie distributors like Kino Lorber and Music Box Films are releasing their movies to pay per view streaming systems which share the ticket purchase price with the movie theater of your choice! So this weekend make some popcorn and pretend you're going to your local arthouse with one of these gems...

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Review: The Other Lamb

by Chris Feil

Fueled by a fevered intensity, Małgorzata Szumowska's The Other Lamb follows the stoic Selah (Raffey Cassidy) as she comes of age in a cult hidden within the American mountainside. Her fellow believers are all women, suggestively separated by uniforms of blue and red, and under the charms of the faux-Jesus man they refer to only as Shepherd (Michiel Huisman). Selah was born into the flock without experience of the outside world or any of its modernity, instead knowing a normalcy of blood ritual and ominous polygamy.

But as the arrival of puberty brings the threat of becoming one of the Shepherd’s many wives, Selah experiences visions that enlighten her to the sinister nature that belies her deceptively peaceful existence, setting into motion her rebellion...

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"Patton" opened 50 years ago today

by Nathaniel R

Here's a timeline to marvel at. The war biopic Patton (1970) opened a half century ago today. The following Monday the Oscars celebrating 1969 were held. And an an entire year and a fortnight later, Patton would win Best Picture at the following Oscars. Isn't it crazy how slowly the movie world buzz used to turn? Now Hollywood never dreams of launching its big Oscar intendeds in the spring (not that they could at the moment but you understand). The only time we witnessed a long stretch from release to Oscar win like this in our moviegoing lifetimes was The Silence of the Lambs which won the Oscar in March 1992, a year and a month and a half after its initial release. 

Which nominee would you have voted for in 1970?

• Airport
• Five Easy Pieces
• Love Story
• MASH
• Patton

We would've been a MASH voter among those five but that's not a stellar vintage. We assume that Women in Love was in the dread sixth spot.

Emmy Watch: What will be up for Drama Series?

by Abe Fried-Tanzer

The current state of world affairs is undoubtedly going to have an effect on the movie year and the ensuing awards, with new streaming eligibility considerations announced for the Golden Globes. The Emmy Awards, on the other hand, won’t be affected to the same degree. While the nominations announcement has already been pushed back two weeks and how, when, and where trophies will be handed out needs to be figured out, the actual content that will be rewarded has, for the most part, already been seen. While a few shows that aren’t major category players these days – like Grey’s Anatomy, The Walking Dead, and The Flash – won’t be able to finish filming their seasons, and the fourth season of Fargo will no longer premiere this spring, almost everything else aired as planned.

The most interesting Emmy category this year is one of the top races: Best Drama Series. In an unprecedented case created in part by the Emmy eligibility window, there are eleven (!!!) programs nominated for their most recent seasons vying for a repeat nomination, and that doesn’t even take into account any new shows for the seven available slots…

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