529 Invites are out for Academy Awards Membership

by Nathaniel R

As is annual tradition, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has published the list of the people they're inviting to join their 19 branches this year. Being on this list doesn’t mean you’ve become an Academy member; it just means you’ve been sponsored and  invited (you cannot apply for membership – they have to invite you.) The only other way to become a member, outside of sponsorship from a current member, is to be Oscar-nominated. You’re automatically considered, with or without a sponsor if that happens.

More on invitees I’m thrilled about and other particulars after the jump…

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Very Gay Film/Very Straight Guy: "Querelle"

For pride month, straight critic Ben Miller takes a look back at a gay film he otherwise would have never seen

Watching Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Querelle during pride month, I caught myself being drawn into the idea of what pride means. The outward appearance of the gay community has constantly been perceived as unabashed confidence with "we're here and we're queer!" Living out and proud might be the goal, but it certainly wasn't something that happened for most gay people overnight.

Before the parades, representation, and getting to live your true self, there was loads of self-loathing. Fassbinder presents a world completely subservient to the idea of male-on-male pleasure, but still features no characters who want to admit anything about their own sexuality or what it means...

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First Oscar Predictions: The Actors, Lead and Supporting

by Nathaniel R

Can John Turturro hold on to his Sundance buzz for "The Only Living Pickpocket in New York" © Sony Pictures Classics

Whoops. Lost some momentum there to finish the first round of Oscar predictions. Let's take on Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor...

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Review: John Early cooks up a marvelous melodrama with “Maddie’s Secret”

by Cláudio Alves 

Women on screen are more interesting than men. This is a truth universally acknowledged by actressexuals everywhere, and, by the looks of it, John Early is an actressexual like no other. For his feature directorial debut, the openly queer comedian-turned-actor-turned-maverick-filmmaker has decided to take these passions to the next level. Rather than watch from afar, he has become one of the great actresses he’d like to see on screen. And yet, for all it plays with gender, Maddie’s Secret isn’t necessarily a trans narrative nor what one usually expects from a drag queen movie, especially one whose cast comprises so many sketch and stand-up comedians. The film’s genealogy harkens back to Old Hollywood melodrama and its queer revisionisms and reinventions by the hands of auteurs such as John Waters and Todd Haynes. Run a DNA test, and you’ll find some of Polyester in there, some Superstar, but also those moralistic “based on a true story” spectacles that filled the small screen during the TV movie heyday. 

Arriving in cinemas this week, through Magnolia Pictures, Early’s passion project is an essential Pride Month watch…

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The Baeksang Art Awards

by Nathaniel R

THE KING'S WARDEN won three prizes and is a huge hit in South Korea.

You might remember last year that we discussed that South Korea has a robust film awards calendar, with the first awards show of each year in May! I'm sharing it despite being well over a month llate because my number one film of 2025 No Other Choice took the big prize. The Baeksang Arts Awards do more than film -- they're an all around arts awards so they also honor theater and television. Eligibilty runs from April through March each year so it's a mix of late 2025 and early 2026 entertainments. As for the films some were eligible for last year's Oscar submission (No Other Choice prevailed obviously) and some are eligible to become South Korea's Oscar submission this year... though a lot of their competition has not yet opened.

The movie winners and nominations (and where you can watch them) --and a short epilogue on theater and tv -- are after the jump if you're interested...

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