Tribeca 2018: Mary Elizabeth Winstead stuns in "All About Nina"

by Jason Adams

If you hear a sliver of Margo Channing's famous warning echoing across All About Nina you should know it's not just because the title's a riff on that Bette Davis classic. It is indeed going to be a bumpy night, a series of them actually, for Nina (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and for everybody that comes into contact with her. Although there are interstitial daylight-breaks, Nina's life revolves around nights and the things that bump them. She's a comedian, and we know well by now how those lives are structured. Bump, bump, POW. Fasten them seat-belts, baby...

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Afternoon Break with Baby Daniel Kaluuya

A friend sent me the link to this video. I have no idea what it is. It looks like some sort of British short comedy series - there are several episodes. Maybe it was part of a sketch show?Whatever it is, it's delightful if only for showing us a young Daniel Kaluuya. We already knew he gave good face, and apparently he always did!

If anyone knows anything about this series, tell us in the comments. Otherwise tell us what else have you seen Kaluuya in, prior to Get Out and Black Panther, that other people should check out.

Isle of Dogs and Japanese culture: Riff, love letter, or appropriation?

by Lynn Lee

A friend on Facebook recently asked me, after I posted a positive response to Isle of Dogs, what I thought about the controversy over Wes Anderson’s alleged cultural appropriation of Japan.  My initial answer was that it bothered me a little bit, but not enough to mar my enjoyment of the movie.  Later I realized that I’d just implicitly accepted the charge that there was cultural appropriation and, as an Asian American, felt mildly guilty that it didn’t bother me.  But on further reflection, I’m not sure either of those knee-jerk reactions was warranted.  It’s more complicated than that.

The question of cultural appropriation can be broken down a few different ways...

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One Season at a Time

Spread the good news, Netflix has renewed "One Day at a Time" for a third season! They made it official with this clever promo spot using one of Season 2's best jokes.

If you haven't been watching, you really should tune in and catch up. It can be a bit of an adjustment if you resist the traditional sitcom format (as I do) but it's worth the mental switch. The writing is incredibly strong (so many good jokes in every episode) and the characters are across the board endearing. If there's any justice in the world the legendary Rita Moreno will snag the Emmy nomination she was mysteriously denied last season for her even better work in season 2. 

Review: Love Simon

Stepping in briefly from vacation to celebrate Love, Simon. This review was originally published in Nathaniel's column at Towleroad.

Vanilla is a delicious flavor. Especially if you’re in the right mood for it. Loving vanilla doesn’t mean you can’t love more daring or less common flavors. But you deserve a good scoop of vanilla on occasion. The best thing that can be said of Love, Simon — and this is stronger praise than it sounds — is that it’s very vanilla. Imagine a cross between classic rom-coms like Sleepless in Seattle and Never Been Kissed and then just flip it a teensy-tiny bit until it’s gay. Not queer, mind you; we’re going for vanilla.

Love, Simon, the new film directed by gay TV power-producer Greg Berlanti (Flash, Riverdale, Brothers & Sisters, etcetera), is based on the novel “Simon vs. The Homo-Sapiens Agenda”. Though the novel’s title (I haven’t read it) suggests something less pro-heteronormativity, the film version is quite happy with assimilation. The only thing about Simon (Jurassic World’s Nick Robinson) that “reads” as gay or at all discomfited by his suburban nuclear family life is his inner monologue in which he tells us about his “huge-ass secret”...

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