Drag Race RuCap: “One Night Only”

So many queens! Too many?

CLÁUDIO ALVES: The most popular drag contest on television (sorry Dragula) may not be called RuPaul's Best Friends Race, but writing for The Film Experience sometimes feels like it. I've met fantastic people over the few years I've been writing for the site, and some have become close pals. Indeed, it's rare that a day goes by without me chatting the house down with the fabulously-haired Nick Taylor. But, of course, when Drag Race's on the air, those conversations devolve into jokey recaps (rucaps!), so it seemed fitting to fuel that enthusiasm back into the site that made us friends in the first place. Though our usual TFE write-ups may lean serious-minded and long-winded, we can be fun and tight. That said, please don't hold us to that promise – we'll try, and that's good enough…right, Nathaniel?

Without further ado, let's dive into the supersized Season 15 premiere...

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Mixed results for pop stars in the nominations

by Elisa Giudici

The most surprising snub of this round of Oscar Nominations was Lady Gaga missing her earned spot in the Leading Actress category. I am not speaking of quality, but about campaign effort. She did and said literally anything 'an Italian girl living in NY' can to fit the profile of an Oscar-nominated actress, at least 1990s style. I have to confess I am going to miss her ability to offer up a new small, crazy detail or anecdote each interview about how immersive and challenging it was to play Patrizia Reggiani in House of Gucci.

She is in good company. With their glamorous attitude and dazzling personas pop stars tend to catch the attention of Hollywood, but this year the results with Academy voters were not all welcoming...

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Oscar Volley: So many stars, too little shine in the Best Original Song race

Welcome to our Oscar Volley series at The Film Experience. Each day, members of Team Experience will have a conversation about the Oscar categories. Today, Baby Clyde and Josh Bierman tackle the always controversial Best Original Song.

Ariana Grande, Van Morrison, Billie Eilish, Beyoncé

Baby Clyde: Has there ever been such a starry array of contenders with so little to offer? You’d think at least one from a list including Beyonce, U2, Carol King, Van Morrison, Jay Z, Billie Eilish and Brian Wilson would know how to write a good pop song. They’ve previously written some of the greatest of all time! Unfortunately there is an unwritten rule that even the finest tunesmiths turn in absolute garbage when an Academy Award is up for grabs. It’s got to the point where I actually feel bad for Diane Warren...

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Movie-Adjacent Grammy Nominations!

by Nathaniel R

"Sour" and "Montero" -definitely two of the most talked about albums of the year.

Each year when the Grammy nominations are announced we dive in to find notes of interest for cinephiles and/or general movie/tv enthusiasts. Jon Batiste, who took home the Oscar for Best Original Score for Pixar's Soul last spring, leads the Grammy nominations with 11 citations. But before we get to the movie stuff, we should acknowledge the three top categories: album, record, and song of the year...

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"Wicked" Movie announces its Elphaba and Glinda casting! What about the other roles?

by Nathaniel R

After years of fan-casting and online speculation we finally know who will be following in Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth's footsteps in that Emerald City of stage and screen legend. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande will be taking on the iconic roles of Glinda and Elphaba in the big screen adaptation of Broadway behemoth Wicked which is, if you've been sleeping under a rock, about the witches before the events of The Wizard of Oz. The news was announced tonight by the film's director Jon M Chu. 

How are you feeling about this news? Well how am I feeling? Not even sure and I'll tell you why...

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