'The Woman in the Window' delayed again

by Murtada Elfadl

Remember the 2018 Oscars? Amy Adams was nominated for Vice and there was a time early in the season when we talked about the possibility of her winning because of the 6 nominations that she had amassed so far. That was of course before the Golden Globes when Regina King won for If Beale Street Could Talk on her way to the Oscar podium. Even then some said well King isn't nominated for SAG, Adams is bound to win there and start her narrative, Emily Blunt won for A Quiet Place, and at BAFTA Rachel Weisz won for The Favourite. Then we all looked at what’s next for Amy. For sure that would be her Oscar vehicle. Adams has given many great performances and is an actress who deserves to have an Oscar on her mantle.

The Woman in the Window was next... 

Click to read more ...

Horror Actoring: Max von Sydow in "The Exorcist"

by Jason Adams

"I think the point is to make us despair. To see ourselves as animal and ugly. To make us reject the possibility that God could love us."

Re-watching The Exorcist this weekend for the gazillionth time -- but for the first while under the Coronavirus quarantine here in New York -- was an interesting experiment. Like a lot of you I've been locked up in my apartment now for three days, just watching movies and binging TV shows and doing whatever I can to avoid looking at the news (or god forbid Twitter). But still it's proven impossible not to see each successive thing through the lens of now -- the characters in whatever I'm watching will go to a bar or hug and I will wince, thinking "Socially distance yourselves dammit!" before I can even catch myself.

One week ago (a lifetime in itself, at this point) Max von Sydow died and Nathaniel wrote up a lovely memorial and asked me if I'd like to switch up our "Great Moments in Horror Actressing" series for an actor who we loved like an actress, and one who did his fair share of time mucking about in the horror genre. Max had a face for dallying with Death, be it over a chess board or a little girl's bedside; as gaunt and serious as the grave, as a medieval plague etching, but also capable and strong enough to smile, knowingly, back at it. Max Von Sydow always looked like he knew things he wasn't telling us...

Click to read more ...

Almost There: Donald Sutherland in "Ordinary People"

by Cláudio Alves

Donald Sutherland is one of those actors who seem to be Oscar nominees even if they're not. Like Mia Farrow or John Goodman, Sutherland has been in so many awarded productions that he feels like the sort of person who should have the words "Academy Award nominee" appear before his name in trailers. He's almost an institution of American Cinema, his filmography full of historically important titles such as MASH and Klute. To think such a respected actor is still without an Oscar nomination is slightly inconceivable, but the lack of accolades never shocked Donald Sutherland himself.

In 1980, he was the only main actor of Best Picture-winner Ordinary People to be ignored by the Academy. When asked about the snub, he said: "I'm not surprised. I know that community and I didn't expect a nomination." That doesn't mean he didn't deserve one…

Click to read more ...

Photos from 2020's West Side Story

by Murtada Elfadl

Vanity Fair has the exclusive first photos from Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story. They are certainly colorful, in more ways than one, if your main concern about this remake was the usual grayish color palette of Spielberg and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski.

Authenticity in casting is what differentiates this version, according to Spielberg.

Click to read more ...

You Chose... Only Angels Have Wings (1939)

Our reader's choice "streaming film club" is going weekly since we're all soon stuck at home in this brave new world of Covid-19. This week you selected the Howard Hawks adventure romance classic Only Angels Have Wings (1939) starring Cary Grant and Jean Arthur so we'll be discussing that on Monday March 23rd so queue it up on the Criterion Channel. In second place was Disney's Pollyanna (1960) so we'll also discuss that on Wednesday March 25th so watch that one on Disney+ if you'd like to play along. Okay? 

Last week's runner up film to Lady in a Cage was the romantic comedy Cactus Flower (1969) and Murtada and I decided to discuss it on the podcast (returning very soon) since it was such a close vote. So see, we're doing double duty to keep you thinking about movies when you're no longer allowed to go see them in theaters! *sniffle*

Stay safe out there and wash your hands.

Previous Readers Choice Posts
Voyage of the Damned (1976)
Lady in a Cage (1964)