The Surprise MVP of Matrix Resurrections

by Tony Ruggio

Response to The Matrix Resurrections over the past few weeks has not been unlike response to The Last Jedi. A legion of fans loathe it for reasons of defied expectations. That's a typical response when fandom has a set idea of how a long-running tale should continue to unfold, often years later. Others love it, though, enraptured by its discursive saga and meta commentary. I fall somewhere in between, just as I did on The Last Jedi, admired and tickled by Lana Wachowski’s daring narrative excursions. She attempts to unravel and re-frame the myths and myriad cliches, but she could and should have gone even further.

The Last Jedi, for all of the belly-aching by fans, was still very much a Star Wars film beholden to black-and-white notions of good and evil, wherein the Jedi are heroes and the Sith are villains. Rian Johnson had an opportunity to dispense with such binaries and have Rey join forces with Ren to defeat both sides of the aisle. The picture waxes frequently about leaving old habits in the past, and then proceeds to follow old habits to the very end. To her credit, Lana at least one-ups that polarizing sequel by dispensing with one of the binaries central to her creation...

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The shortest review you will read of "The Matrix Resurrections"

by Nathaniel R

Cons: I didnt understand a lick of The Matrix Resurrection (did you have to memorized the first three?), especially the last act "rescue" involving brain switching which played like a techno-babble illogic exposition in order to give us a botched Sense8 body-switching visual. On the other hand, writer/director Lana Wachowski claiming such ownership from behind the camera felt satisfying despite playing at times like meta snark. Definitely did not enjoy the suggestion that therapists are evil even though the cat with the bell was damn cute. 

Pros: Absolutely loved Jonathan Groff as the new "Mr Smith". Witnessing Keanu & Carrie-Anne fall back in love was a good time; they've always looked sensational together and age-appropriate, too, so that was a rare doublesexy 50something thrill. This has been my review. 

Yours?

Emmy Category Analysis: Will "Hamilton" Win With Three Nominees?

Team Experience is looking at episode submissions for all the major Emmy categories...

Three "Hamilton" men are nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie - Anthony Ramos, Daveed Diggs and Jonathan Groff.

By Christopher James

Can Daveed Diggs come one step closer to an EGOT? The actor already has a Tony and Grammy for his work and he could very well add an Emmy to that haul… all for the same performance in Hamilton. He’s not the only Hamilton star vying for the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie. Even in such a long and lofty category title, considering the filmed performance of Hamilton in this category feels like a bit of a stretch. While this could ding the Emmy chances for Hamilton, voters didn't seem to be bothered by it, as the Limited Series acting categories all suggest.

Diggs’ Emmy is far from assured though. Three of the buzziest miniseries each have a young, breakout actor nominated here. I May Destroy You, The Queen’s Gambit and Mare of Easttown are all huge Emmy players this season, showing up in multiple categories. Coattails for any of these shows could help one of these men beat the trio of Hamilton nominees. Let’s take a look at the nominees for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie (*NOTE SPOILERS AHEAD):

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Meryl Streep and Renée Zellweger are up for Grammys...

We don't really cover the Grammys here at TFE as it's rather beyond our wheelhouse but to give you a general sense of that awards landscape, Taylor Swift ("Folklore"), and Dua Lipa ("Future Nostalgia") dominated and Beyoncé, too, despite the lack of a new album. Everyone's fav obsession at the moment, BTS, disappointingly scored only one nomination for Pop Duo/Group Performance for "Dynamite". Insane that that wasn't up for Record of the Year.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

• Black Pumas -Deluxe Edition (Black Pumas)
• Chilombo (Jhené Aiko)
• Djesse Vol 3 (Jacob Collier)
• Everyday Life (Coldplay)
• Folklore (Taylor Swift)
• Future Nostalgia (Dua Lipa)
• Hollywood's Bleeding (Post Malone)
• Women in Music Pt III (Haim)

But as we do we focus on categories that fall more under our umbrella here. So after the jump the categories for visual media as well as actors and composers who work primarily in film and television who are up for Grammys this year...

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You Couldn't Get Those "Hamilton" Tickets?

by Eric Blume

Good news, as Disney is bringing a filmed version of the Broadway sensation Hamilton to movie theaters October 15, 2021, with the original cast. It will not be a fully-imagined film like this summer's other Lin-Manuel Miranda musical In the Heights.  Instead, it will be a "live capture" of the stage performance, shot in the Richard Rodgers Theater before the original cast started to disband.  

I was lucky enough to see this cast in the original incarnation at the Public Theater, and then again when it moved to Broadway with different actors.  No disrespect to the excellent work of the actors from round two, but there is truly nothing like seeing the original cast of a show...

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