Review: "Impeachment" Doesn't Live Up to Previous "American Crime Story" Seasons

by Christopher James

Boy you know exactly what you did in that White House.Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story is back with more facial prosthetics and famous impersonations than ever. On its face, Impeachment was billed as the story of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. However, there is definitely a lot more on the show’s plate. In fact, it feels more squarely in Linda Tripp’s perspective. This could be an interesting lens to view the Clinton scandals and it’s nice that the show has some curveballs.

Unfortunately, it appears Impeachment is more about celebrity mimicry than properly dramatizing the Clinton scandals. There are plenty of great performances, particularly from Beanie Feldstein as Monica Lewinksy and Annaleigh Ashford as fellow Clinton accuser Paula Jones. It’s enough to keep people tuning in, but we’re a far cry away from the quality of the other American Crime Story seasons...

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SXSW: Hysterical, Potato Dreams of America, Introducing Selma Blair, and Broadcast Signal Intrusion

by Christopher James

There’s a lot that the pandemic has made harder. The one thing it has made easier has been attending film festivals from all around the country. Pre-pandemic, covering SXSW would’ve required a flight to Austin, Texas, inflated lodging costs and lots of pre-planning. Now, the only lines festival goers have to battle are online. Food is just an arms reach away in the kitchen (no more popcorn dinners). 

Last year, SXSW was one of the first things cancelled as COVID-19 spread across the country. The festival is very different this year, but the quality of content is still great. The Film Experience will be covering the fest through the weekend.  Here are a four takes from Day One. One comedy doc, an intimate celebrity piece, a noir, and a Russian comedy... 

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Emmy Review: Period Costumes

by Cláudio Alves

In the past three seasons, The Crown and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel have won the Best Period Costumes Emmy. This year, they are again competing for the prize. If history repeats itself, Netflix's royalty porn will triumph over Maisel's midcentury stylings, but we never know. After all, two new contenders are joining the race in the form of two Emmy-loved limited series Hollywood and Mrs. America. Pose  is also there, but the FX show seems to bound to go the Mad Men route, always a worthy nominee, never a winner…

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Better Things Season 3: Back and Better Than Ever

By Spencer Coile 

Better Things being renewed for a third season was the miracle we all deserved. Since co-creator/ executive producer Louis C.K. was fired, any worries about the series maintaining its high-wire act of cynical humor and raw emotion should be put to rest. Where the magic of Better Things laid all along was is in its leading lady's craftsmanship. Writing, directing, and playing single mother and working actress Sam, Pamela Adlon is a 2019 force to be reckoned with. 

Better Things has arrived in the wake of a highly contentious Oscar season, and it could not have come back at a better time. Built into every moment is a snapshot (sometimes literal) of the mundane, almost thoughtless acts we so often take for granted. Adlon has rendered these minuscule details into something finely tuned and deeply felt...

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"ACS: The Assassination of Gianni Versace", Finale

by Jorge Molina

Episode 8: “Creator/ Destroyer”
Though the penultimate episode is a deeper origin story for Andrew, we open again a Versace vignette: their only appearance in the episode. But this one does not feature Edgar Ramirez, or Penelope Cruz. We see Gianni as a young boy in Italy, developing a passion for dressmaking. His mother is supportive enough to not only understand this passion, but fosters it. “You can do whatever you want in life, but you have to work for it.” Despite his classmates’ teasing and the repression of other adults, Gianni takes on the craft from his mother.

The show continues to make thematic connections between Andrew Cunanan and Gianni Versace, implying that their life paths and goals were remarkably similar. They are both immigrant stories chasing the American Dream against a system and a society that constantly looks down upon and underestimates them. They are two different sides of the same coin. I think the show is oversimplifying a much more complex issue and boiling it down to thematic parallels, but it is effective in the context of a somewhat fictional miniseries... 

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