Review: The High Note

by Chris Feil

Are VH1 Movies That Rock still a thing? The kind of movie that the VH1 programming gods connected through the vague thematic tissue of music, casual comfort viewing meant to be consumed on repeated Sunday afternoons, structured flawlessly to pause for snack breaks? It’s as if those gods had carved The High Note from gold for how much the film embodies that vibe.

The film centers around a music icon Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross) and her assistant Maggie (Dakota Johnson). As Grace attempts another relaunch of old music, Maggie’s music producer ambitions clash against Grace’s tried-and-true formula for success - and the star’s wariness that her assistant might be using her coattails. But Maggie begins to grow her producer chops (and a little romance) with a fledging singer songwriter (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), and struggles to balance her goals with her loyalty to her demanding boss within an uncrackable industry...

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Who's Next to the Triple Crown?

by Eric Blume

I’m sure we’ve all found ourselves in some sort of YouTube hole at some point during lockdown.  Mine has led me to rewatching snippets from Tony Awards ceremonies from about a decade ago.  I had completely forgotten that Eddie Redmayne had won a Tony for his work in the play Art, which is strange because I saw his performance in that show and he was staggeringly good.  He absolutely deserved that Tony.

I then realized that since he has since won an Oscar, he is only an Emmy away from the Triple Crown of Acting.  This triple-crown honor (you can see the actors who have won all three big awards of the Tony, Oscar, and Emmy here) has been nabbed by only 24 actors in the history of show business awards!  It’s a very elusive accomplishment and prestigious list of people. In just the last five years, though, there's been a lot of movement -- we've recently seen Helen Mirren, Frances McDormand, Jessica Lange, Viola Davis, and Glenda Jackson all secure this title.

That got me to thinking:  wow, it seems highly likely that Eddie Redmayne would find a big role in a series or miniseries to win that Emmy and be in this company?  He’s young, still at the top of his game, and while I don’t think he’s quite in the league of the other major actors who have won all three, he is surely a likely candidate.

But who are some others...

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Nightmare Alley (1947)... and (2021)

by Nathaniel R

Greg Hildebrandt riff on a Nightmare Alley posterThe urge to remake is an arguable scourge on cinema but much of what there is to argue about is who is doing the remaking and why. Oftentime the motivations are corporate cynical "cash grab for lazy audiences who will only look at new things... especially if they sound famliar". When true auteurs go there, though, especially with films that aren't enormously famous, there's more room for debate about intention and possibility and aesthetic necessity. The best possible outcome is that we get two very different equally strong films and the "new" model stirs up more interest and appreciation for the OG.

We hope that will be the case when Guillermo Del Toro finishes Nightmare Alley in... 2021? (Production was halted due to COVID-19). The original Nightmare Alley (1947), is a beautifully shot circus noir that's ripe for both rediscovery and reinterpretation...

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I can't believe she won

by Cláudio Alves

To love the Oscars is to live in perpetual disappointment. The Academy can celebrate cinematic excellence and their choices may even serve as a gateway to a cinephile's love for the seventh art. However, more often than not, great artistry is left unrewarded while more conventional fare coasts by and triumphs. When it comes to actors, it isn't rare to find stupendous professionals whose labor was and will never be recognized by AMPAS. Perchance their filmography is too foreign, their style too outré or their directors too artsy. Whatever the reason may be, an Oscar obsessive quickly learns that a lot of their favorites will never get close to winning that little golden man.

Sometimes, though, there can be wonderful surprises. One such event took place in 2007. Quite frankly, all these years later, I still can't believe this happened…

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Joan Crawford in '47

by Cláudio Alves

After more than a decade as one of MGM's brightest and most formidable stars, the 1940s were a turning point for Joan Crawford. While she struggled to reinvent herself during these middle years of her career, many of the actress's best movies came from this phase. She left behind a series of lackluster offerings from her original studio, finding new power when carefully choosing projects at her new home, Warner Brothers. It wasn't easy, but she triumphed, winning an Oscar for 1945's Mildred Pierce and going on to get two other Best Actress nominations. More importantly, she solidified her legacy, challenged herself as an actress, and proved to everyone she was more than a flapper or talentless glamour girl.

During this period of Crawford's filmography, 1947 was a particularly auspicious year. She broke our hearts in a romantic tragedy, impressed AMPAS with explosive neurosis, and went on to star in one of Hollywood's most interesting post-war melodramas…

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