Venice 2023: Musica, Maestro!

by Elisa Giudici

Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein in "Maestro"

In this entry of the Venice Diary, we delve into the world of music, exploring two titles that defy expectations by focusing on the personal lives of musicians rather than just their artistic endeavors.

MAESTRO by Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper, it's clear, isn't content with being just a good director. He aspires to be a legitimate auteur, a distinct voice in American cinema. Maestro boasts numerous scenes seemingly crafted to showcase his directorial prowess. However, what truly defines Cooper as an artist to date is his ability to captivate audiences, to touch their hearts and create a seamless cinematic experience...

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Best Lead Actor - First Round Predictions

by Nathaniel R

Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) and Colman Domingo (Rustin) are both working the classic 'biopic' angle

As with the first round of Best Supporting Actor predictions, we're opting to pretend that the strike will be resolved in time for most of the movies that are scheduled for awards season to continue with their current plans. We use the word "pretend" because it feels increasingly likely that this awards season will be an unprecented combo of fewer than usual releases and zero celebrity campaigning. We hope the studio powers-that-be will wake from their incessant greed and learn to share the wealth with the people without whom they can't make money (actors/writers) but we're not going to hold out breath lest we asphyxiate.

On to Best Actor. This category is often heavy on biographical 'great men' roles and there's little reason to expect this year will be any different. Cillian Murphy, Colman Domingo, Bradley Cooper, Joaquin Phoenix, and Adam Driver will all potentially benefit from that tried and true awards-appeal genre...

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Bradley & Carey as Leonard Bernstein & Felicia Montealegre

Bradley Cooper & Carey Mulligan in character for "Maestro"

Thoughts? Here's how the real couple looked...

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Best Limited Performances, Breakthrough Actors, and more...

by Nathaniel R

I'm currently in a mad-dash effort to wrap up the 2021 film year before the Oscars. This means our own awards need to be completed. On the Film Bitch Award pages you've already seen the Oscar parallel categories but now the "Extra" Acting categories are complete...

• Best Actress in a Limited Role
• Best Actor in a Limited Role
• Breakthrough Performer
• Best Juvenile Performance (Under 18)
• Best Vocal of MoCap Performance (new category)
• Best Ensemble
• Best Casting 

So click on over for odes to Vanessa Bayer, Ana de Armas, Harriet Samson Harris, Moses Ingram, Britne Oldford, David Clavel, Bradley Cooper, Barry Keoghan, Chris Messina, Channing Tatum, Stephanie Beatriz, Mike Rianda, Woody Norman, David Alvarez, Simu Liu, and many more...

Oscar Trivia: Who has had the most consecutive acting nominations?

by Nathaniel R

Given that this year brought us only one repeat acting nominee from last season (Olivia Colman, from The Father to The Lost Daughter)  we thought it would be a fun detour to look back at thespians that Oscar was obsessed with for a relatively intense stretch of time. Which of the 20 actors nominated this year will be back again next year and start a run towards this rarefied list?Care to make a guess? Maybe it'll be Olivia Colman a third consecutive time. We could see it if Empire of Light opens in time.

Now, it's pretty easy to return again and again at The Emmys given that one series can last for several years (and the TV Academy falls out of love slowly), but for the Oscars, where it's new projects and characters every year, it's very dificult to hold interest for years on end...

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