Look back: "God's Own Country"

by Matt St Clair

The beauty in God’s Own Country, the marvelous directorial debut from Francis Lee whose newest film Ammonite has hit VOD, is not just in the luscious landscapes. It's also in the silence. The two lead actors use their facial glances and body language to confess their infatuation. Minus the ending, there’s no cathartic monologue spoken by either John (Josh O’Connor) or Gheorghe (Alec Secareanu). No 'I love you's because the words aren’t needed. Nor is this a typical “coming out” narrative present within the realm of queer cinema where the characters come to a gradual realization about their sexualities.

It’s clear when God’s Own Country begins that John is already aware of his sexuality. He engages in hedonistic hook ups for minor fulfillment.  He acts out sexually but without intimacy and definitely without kissing. When Gheorghe arrives to help John and his family on their Yorkshire farm, their bond initially starts with wrestling in the mountains...

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"The Crown" S4: An(other) Acting Showcase

by Cláudio Alves

As a staunch antimonarchist and someone who despises Thatcher and her legacy, watching The Crown's fourth season was an oft-frustrating, sometimes fascinating, exercise. Peter Morgan and his team haven't shied away from looking at the dark side of British history and this latest series is no different. However, time constraints, an episodic structure, and attempts at historical ambivalence often result in a lackluster, superficial, occasionally rushed, experience.

Still, the production values are always immaculate, and the dramatization of the 80s features some of the best costumes the program has ever shown. Nevertheless, what always brings me back to The Crown isn't its analysis of politics, its melodrama, or pretty clothes. The show's greatest strength is its cast, with the actors excelling even when their material is lacking. When faced with some of the royal family's most tumultuous years, the performers upped their game and delivered a masterclass in screen acting…

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Our Links Are Sealed

• AV Club Steve Martin and Schitt's Creek cast pay tribute to Eugene Levy
• MNPP Josh O'Connor six times
• Variety uh oh trouble on the new live action adaptation of Avatar The Last Airbender. The original creators are leaving. That's a pity because the last adaptation was widely considered to be horrendous and the animated show is so fun.

After the jump The Go-Gos, Madonna and Diablo Cody, AMC reopening, the musical Diana and more... 

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Emmy Watch: Who are the Supporting Actor Drama Contenders?

Giancarlo Esposito in "Better Call Saul"by Abe Fried-Tanzer

Our Emmy punditry continues with Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. This category has plenty of contenders, but unlike the corresponding female fields, there are more past nominees that aren’t eligible than ones that are. The end of Game of Thrones means three opens slots, and Michael Kelly is also out of the running since House of Cards is (mercifully) over.

What’s especially interesting about this category is that, because of season-skipping, character departures, and category switches, there’s actually only one nominee from the past four years who didn’t earn a repeat bid the next time he was eligible. That happens to be Jon Voight (Ray Donovan), who is indeed a very unlikely possibility this year for the final season of his series after three years of missing out. He’s way behind a number of other actors…

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Review: The new "Emma."

by Lynn Lee

Now that we’ve revisited past Emma adaptations like 1996's Miramax release and 1995's Clueless, courtesy of Claudio, it’s time to turn our attention to the latest version, which just went wide last week.  It’s a production of relative newcomers, marking the directorial and screenwriting debuts, respectively, of photographer Autumn de Wilde and Booker Prizewinning New Zealand novelist Eleanor Catton, and starring a cast of mostly fresh faces headed by rising star Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch).  Whatever it’s lacking in big names it certainly makes up for in indie credit.

The result is an Emma that’s bright, fun, and funny – not attaining the sublime heights of Clueless but more successful than the 1996 Miramax version with Gwyneth Paltrow...

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