Review: Jordan Peele strikes again with thrilling overstuffed "Nope"

by Nathaniel R

We name them. We train them. We live with them. Some people work with them. But do we ever really know our animal friends? Since we can't speak directly to them, their emotions and thoughts are mostly guesswork on our part. Nope takes place largely at a horse ranch. It's run by the Haywood family, Father Otis (Keith David), son OJ (Daniel Kaluuya), and daughter Emerald (Keke Palmer). The Haywoods have been training horses for movie and television shoots for generations. OJ, perpetually tense, quiet, and observant, notices it quickly; something is off with the horses. But what? The answer, without spoilers, is this: they know it's a horror film before the Haywoods do.

What kind of a horror film it is, though, is another question...

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Red Carpet Lineup: Best of the BAFTAs & the CCAs

by Nathaniel R

Lady Gaga, Juliette Lewis, and Alana Haim all looking very glam over the weekend

Last night the stars had to choose between the BAFTAs and the Critics Choice Awards but the nominations did some of the choosing for them. For the Hollywood stars that were nominated in both locals, the choice was easy: BAFTA across the pond! When it comes to fashion, beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder so I can't begin to pretend that you'll agree with these selections as "best" or the roughly ascending order.  But consider this weekend's ceremonies a warm-up to Oscar fashions. Apologies to Jada Pinkett Smith and Melanie Lynskey -- couldn't find full length images but they looked elevated in their style but also exactly like themselves which is often the perfect choice for a  glamourous night out.

Okay, before the top nine, six looks to consider and share your opinion of, please...

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Category Analysis: Can Morgan Freeman take down a quartet of "SNL" performers?

Team Experience will be taking a regular look at the episode submissions for major Emmy categories until the big night. 

Will Morgan Freeman win an Emmy for casually stopping by an acting course?

Saturday Night Live usually cleans up in the guest acting categories, but this is a whole new level of dominance. Four of the five nominees in Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series come from the legendary sketch comedy juggernaut. Morgan Freeman is the odd man out in this category, contending for his work in The Kominsky Method. 

Which SNL actor will prevail? Could they split the vote, leaving Morgan Freeman a chance to win? Let’s dig into the nominees...

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An automatic "yup" for "Nope"

click to see it big if you so desireApologies for two movie poster posts in a row but you know time is; sometimes you have it sometimes you don't. Oscar winning Jordan Peele's third film will be called Nope and star Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, and Steven Yeun. It arrives in almost exactly a year's time. The supporting cast features Barbie Ferreira (Unpregnant), Brandon Perea (The OA), and Michael Wincott (The Crow).

After his zeitgeist horror hits Get Out and Us, Peele is either sticking with horror for good or he's just working through a trilogy of terror before he tries his very talented hands at some other movie genre. Normally super generic and impossible to search on the internet titles make us shudder, and not in the good horror movie way. But Peele's films have thus far earned their simple titles and somehow made them ultra-memorable moments within the films. So we're hoping the "nope" scene in Nope inspires lots of yaaaaaassss from audiences. 

Questions for the comments

1. On a scale of 1-10 how excited are you for his third effort?

2. Do you think aliens are involved since we're seeing the stars and that cloud obviously ain't no natural cloud?

3. How often do you become absolutely furious remembering that Lupita Nyong'o wasn't even nominated for what should have been an Oscar-winning star turn in Us. Sorry. Maybe that's just... us. 

93rd Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor (aka Best Lead Actor Overfill)

by Christopher James

(from left, clockwise) Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, Paul Raci, Leslie Odom Jr. and Sacha Baron Cohen make up the 2020 Supporting Actor race.Category fraud has been talked about extensively at The Film Experience. Yet, year after year the supporting categories are filled with leading performances. This year, one could argue that four-fifths of the Supporting Actor field is made up of leading performances. How is a true supporting actor supposed to compete with a lead performance that has been strategically "demoted."

Bad blood aside, the field is filled with many interesting performances from a diverse group of nominees. Even better, four of the five nominees are celebrating their first acting nomination this year. The Oscars can often be accused of repeatedly nominating their favorite actors, whether or not they deserve it, so it's nice to see fresh blood...

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