Review: Jessica Chastain and those "Eyes of Tammy Faye"

By Nathaniel R

A makeup artist fumbles, discovering she can't undo what Tammy Faye hath wrought. It's not a matter of removing the makeup and starting fresh as some of it is tattooed right on. The former televangelist's lips are permanently lined and the raccoon eyes are there to say; mascara as monument. Was this scene at the beginning or the end of the new biopic The Eyes of Tammy Faye? One can never remember with framing devices that flashback to tell you the whole story that got us there but it hardly matters. The point that comes across is not so much how we got there -- though perhaps the filmmakers think go given the framing device-- but that Tammy Faye's clown makeup bioqueen persona is an absolute. She didn't will into it existence so much as uncover and reveal its eternal nature. 

Is this laying it on too thick? The prose, I mean, not the mascara. Of course! But "too much" is just right for anything Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker related...

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Yes No Maybe So: The Eyes of Tammy Faye

by Nathaniel R

The Eyes of Tammy Faye was once the title of a popular 2000 documentary and now it's the title of a biopic about the rise and fall of televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, with the emphasis being on the more sympathetic Tammy (who is no longer with us, having died of cancer in the Aughts). For you youngsters out there they were VERY famous in the 1980s with their scandal and downfall happening in 1989. The movie is directed by Michael Showalter (The Big Sick, Hello My Name is Doris) and gives plum roles to Oscar nominees Andrew Garfield and Jessica Chastain as the famous fallen couple. Will it be great, terrible, a mix of both simultaneously or (most dangerously) blandly mediocre? Will it be up for all the Oscars or none of them? Let's give this the full Yes No Maybe So™ treatment after the jump...

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Creative Arts Emmy Winners 2020

By Abe Friedtanzer and Nathaniel R

The big PrimeTime Emmys night is, of course, tonight but last night they wrapped up their week long 'below the line' festivities known as The Creative Arts Emmys. Among the "firsts" this week: Maya Rudolph won her first Emmy (for Big Mouth) and then her second (for Saturday Night Live), beating herself, the long running History Channel series Vikings and ABC's black-ish won their first Emmys (on the 13th and 19th nomination, respectively since they've been up for at least one prize every season). Three companies also won their first Emmys: Pop TV (via Schitt's Creek and One Day at a Time), Quibi (via the program #FreeRayshawn), and Disney+ (via The Mandalorian).

Our Emmy team correctly called Best TV Movie and both of the comedy guest acting categories but missed the drama guest acting races, all three costume fields, and animated program. Oops. If these awards truly correlated to the main races for Sunday night, we might expect to hear The Mandalorian and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel called as this year's top winners, but we’ll stick with the Succession and Schitt's Creek, which both won outstanding casting honors, as our predictions for the Drama and Comedy winners tonight. Full list of Creative Arts Emmy winners follows after the jump... 

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Emmy Review: Guest Actress in a Drama

By Juan Carlos Ojano

For the last three years, The Handmaid’s Tale has dominated this category with wins for Alexis Bledel (2017), Samira Wiley (2018), and Cherry Jones (2019). This year, Bledel is poised for a victory lap in this category after competing in Supporting last season. Last year’s winner Jones is also back, but for a different show. She even pulled off a surprise win last year over Phylicia Rashad, who reappears in this category. Aside from Jones, Succession gets another nomination for Harriet Walter. Meanwhile, category mainstays Cox and Tyson are in for the fourth and fifth time, respectively, for their characters in their final seasons (though neither has won for these roles).

Let’s consider each nominee...

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Boy Erased Adds Xavier Dolan, Cherry Jones

by Ilich Mejía

Ilich here (I'm new! Say hi). Earlier this summer, Joel Edgerton signed on to write and direct Focus Features' Boy Erased, a timely drama based on Garrard Conley's namesake memoir. The story dives into Conley's experience with gay conversion therapy. Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, and Lucas Hedges were initially cast as the film's central, fundamentalist family. Now, the film has added the Red Hot Chilli Pepper's Michael Balzary, YouTube star Troye Sivan, Cherry Jones (!), and Xavier Dolan (!!) to the already astral cast...

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