Cannes Diary: "Limonov: The Ballad"

by Elisa Giudici

LIMONOV - THE BALLAD © Cannes Film Festival

A final surprise, though not a good one. With the exception of a fully committed star turn by Ben Whishaw, I would never have thought I'd use the adjectives "timid" and "indecisive" to describe Liminov: The Ballad on my Cannes festival bingo card. Not when the film is  helmed by someone as bold in his views and choices as Kirill Serebrennikov. Yet here we are...

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Contemporary Costume Watch: "Passages"

by Cláudio Alves

Like it happens every year, as the awards season dawns, I complain that voters should pay more attention to contemporary narratives when recognizing design achievements. In 2023, their reluctance will be especially aggravating since there's such a deep well of costuming excellence within modern contexts. Take Khadija Zeggaï in Passages, for example. 

Ira Sachs' latest feature finds Franz Rogowski playing a Paris-based German director entangled in a bisexual love triangle of his own making. As Tomas, the actor is a sartorial tease whether he's in mesh or ratty green knits, while Ben Whishaw is more modest as his artist husband, Martin. Finally, Adèle Exarchopoulos is Agathe, a teacher who dresses like a young Bardot at the height of the Nouvelle Vague - all tight fits, high hems, and lingerie as outerwear. Across the board, fashion defies heteronormative tenets, everything is unisex and sexy to the nth degree. Clothes articulate tricky character dynamics while offering editorial-worthy queer spectacle…

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Sundance: An Entertaining Love Triangle in ‘Passages’

By Abe Friedtanzer

What happens when you put Franz Rogowski (Great Freedom), Adèle Exarchopoulos (Blue is the Warmest Color), and Ben Whishaw together in a film directed by Ira Sachs (Married Life)? The result is Passages, a love triangle drama layered with humor about a filmmaker who finds himself simultaneously drawn to two different people…

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Oscar Volley: Two locks for Supporting Actor... and then it's wide open?

Here are Chris James and Eric Blume to discuss one of Oscar's trickiest categories, Best Supporting Actor:

ERIC:  Chris, so happy to be reunited with you, this time to discuss the Best Supporting Actor Oscar.  This category is always one of the weirdest and often the worst... I'm still not done being angry that arguably-bad Troy Kotsur beat the genius work of Kodi Smit-McPhee last year.  But that's how this award often goes.  

Let's start with our "locks".  I think we have two:  Brendan Gleeson and Ke Huy Quan.  And that's great news, because they're both splendid performances and either would be one of the best winners in this category for the last decade.  Gleeson is the embodiment of tragicomedy, and Quan finds that perfect note between farce and realism in an incredibly playful piece of acting.  How do you feel about Gleeson and Quan personally, and would you agree they're locks? 

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Lots of winners at a 'spread the wealth' kind of Gotham Awards

by Nathaniel R

Gay Joy! The "Fire Island" cast, in one of Gothams many tributes, were honored for their ensemble work

A24's Everything Everywhere All At Once triumphed at the Gotham Awards last night in NYC winning two prizes: Best Feature and Best Supporting Performance (Ke Huy Quan). Since the Gothams have very few categories, the nomination leaders Tár and Aftersun had to settle for one prize each. The big awards story of the night, punditry-wise if not at the actual event since she wasn't there, was Danielle Deadwyler taking Best Lead Performance for Till. That's a nice feather in her cap and when you're less famous than your competition, every bit of media attention helps. It's always been hard to win third Oscars so perhaps Best Actress will end up very competitive and not just a cakewalk for Blanchett?  Full list of winners plus a few quotes and notes after the jump...

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