How Necessary is "American Horror Story: Cult"?

By Spencer Coile 

A Ryan Murphy production is anything but subtle. They rely on over-the-top scares, extravagant set pieces, and his usual band of actors (notably Sarah Paulson). American Horror Story: Cult is no exception. It begins with the bleakest opening imaginable, a night that will live in infamy: 2016 election night. As characters rejoice, cry, vent their frustrations, it felt as though Murphy was attempting to hone in on the social panic that swept the country in the wake of the election results. It was a bold opening, one that hit close to home. 

And then the rest of the episode happened.

Click to read more ...

The Big Link

What happened these past two weeks that I need to know about? We haven't done a link roundup yet this month (due to the critics institute retreat I was attending) so I have no idea what happened in my absence. But let us not get further behind. Herewith some news stories as well as a few random good reads.

News

• IndieWire Sofia Coppola responds to the backlash regarding her adaptation decisions on The Beguiled
• Theater Mania Josh Lucas and Uma Thurman to star in a new Broadway political play opening this fall The Parisian Woman
• Audra McDonald is going on a North American tour so get your tickets! The six time Tony winner's voice is utterly sublime.

Click to read more ...

Thoughts and Questions about "American Horror Story: My Roanoke Nightmare"

by Eric Blume

Despite five years of shifting locals and time frames and characters, American Horror Story remained essentially the same beast. Season 6 is shaking the formula up but I couldn't be more bewildered.  Here are three general questions. Perhaps we could work out the answers together?

01. What the hell is happening? 
We are meant to be watching a “true crime TV show” but what show like that looks like this?  When re-enactments are made in a show of this nature, they’re never dramatized at length like the extended scenes in My Roanoke Nightmare. Even if we grant them structural leeway...

Click to read more ...

CAS Nominees & Oscar Predictions. Do you like the sound of these movies?

The Cinema Audio Society, which awards the sound mixing in movies, is our only real clue beforehand of how the two sound categories (mixing and editing) at the Oscars might go. The MPSE, which honors their brethren, the sound editors, doesn't announce its nominees for "The Golden Reels" until two weeks after the Oscar nominations. So this morning's announcement is another last minute reminder that Nathaniel (c'est moi) needs to get both his final Oscar predictions on (TODAY AND TONIGHT) and publish those Film Bitch Award nominations -- at least the Oscar correlative categories (TODAY AND TOMORROW) -- which are his own long-running film honors and should not to be confused with the Team Experience Awards which come from the contributors here and are going up in one week's time. 

So basically ALL of that is happening... simultaneously. Maybe. Definitely. Hopefully. But how ???

Surveillance footage of TFE Headquarters, shows Nathaniel stockpiling snacks, Motrin, and water bottles. The latter he will both drink from and pee in, as he's not allowed to move until Friday morning once Oscar noms have sufficiently sunken in. But first he is downing pots of coffee, typing this very post you're reading and begging himself to quit typing in the third person.

CAS Nominees for the film year, as well as both Oscar Predictions and Film Bitch Awards. Yes we're doing it all (Yipee) after the jump

Click to read more ...

Costume Designer's Guild Nods: Sandy Powell x 2. And More...

It's Guild Week. The week when many artists get their hopes up for nominations since the guilds have so many categories for their particular craft unlike Oscar's mere 5 for the altogether. But since we love costumes, the more the merrier. Congratulations to the nominees who we'll discuss after the jump...

Click to read more ...