Awards Season Catchup: "Blonde" on Netflix

By Abe Friedtanzer

It’s hard to wait to watch a film months after its release and not be at least somewhat affected by what the public thinks about it. To say that the Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde has not received favorable mentions is an understatement. Still everyone has opinions so it seemed possible that there might be something worthwhile about it, like Ana de Armas’ Golden Globe-nominated performance or the Oscar-shortlisted makeup and hairstyling. Seeing the NC-17 rating and the daunting 2-hour-and-47-minute runtime at the start of the film sets up certain expectations, and, somehow, this film still manages to surprise, and not in a good way.

Blonde opens in black-and-white on a young Norma Jeane Mortensen (Lily Fisher) and her mother Gladys (Julianne Nicholson), who shows Norma a photo of a celebrity she claims is her father. Gladys quickly descends into a manic state, driving her young daughter straight towards a fire while everyone else is running the other way...

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Category Analysis: Was It Kathryn Hahn All Along in Limited Supporting Actress?

Team Experience takes a look at the episode submissions for Emmy categories. 

Who will win Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie?

By: Christopher James

It was Agatha All Along! Or was it?

There are several high profile performances nominated this year in the Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie category. Pairs of Hamilton and Mare of Easttown women fill up a majority of the lineup. Additionally, character actress extraordinaire Kathryn Hahn finally got a major chance to shine in Disney+’s hit WandaVision. Rounding it out is a surprise nominee - Moses Ingram - from last fall’s water cooler hit The Queen’s Gambit. It’ll be a real race for the win. Let’s take a look at the nominees...

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Emmy Watch: Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

By Nathaniel R

Whoopi Goldberg in "The Stand"

The Emmy nominations are just under two weeks away so soon we'll have actual shortlists to discuss rather than speculation. But let's wrap up the acting categories with a discussion of Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series Or Movie. This category isn't quite as heavy on honoring a single show as the parallel supporting actor category tends to be -- we'll generally get two nominees from one series here (though last year Mrs America took up half the list). According to Emmy ballots there are 116 women in the running which means there will be 6 nominees which has become the standard for this category.

MOVIES
Though this category includes stand-alone movies made for television, and stage shows that were filmed,  there's generally little room in the nominee circle for performances that weren't in limited series. It's been three years since a live event muscled in here (Sara Bareilles in Jesus Christ Superstar: Live in Concert) and four years since an actress from a standalone telefilm was nominated (Michelle Pfeiffer in Wizard of Lies)...

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FYC: A conversation about "Mare of Easttown" and the great Kate Winslet

As an FYC for all things Mare of Easttown, Eric and Nathaniel got together for a conversation about what a rich viewing experience the HBO miniseries was. 

ERIC BLUME: Nathaniel, now that Mare of Easttown has wrapped, I'm sure viewers will want to talk about it, least of all because it features Kate Winslet giving one of the greatest performances of her life.  But more on that later.  First, let's talk about overall impressions of the show.  While it certainly has its flaws, one of the things I loved about it the most was its capture of small details in the lives of the characters and the setting.  I spent the first 18 years of my life in Pennsylvania, and the show captures so many of the nuances of PA life.  I loved how everyone was a cousin (cousins are a thing in PA); how people just walked into the front door of the homes of their friends; how everyone has a nickname (Lori is mostly called "Lor"). 

The production design was incredible. Every home, exterior and interior, looks like the house a middle-class Pennsylvania person lives in.  Jean Smart's afghan alone should win that team an Emmy...

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Oscar's International Race - Pt 2: Random Stats and Key Trivia

Now that we have the whole list of 93 films vying for the Oscar for Best International Feature Film, it's time for a collection of trivia regarding this particular vintage...

LONGEST FILM
The Painted Bird (Czech Republic) is just 11 minutes shy of three hours. Lots of films are that long but given that this movie has been referred to as 'the child rape Holocaust movie' three hours sounds utterly punishing. Naturally then, it's split audiences between 'masterpiece' and 'unwatchable' camps. Runners up: Domain (Portugal) and Truth or Justice (Estonia) are just a little bit shorter, both about two hours and 45 minutes long.

SHORTEST FILM
Poisonous Roses (Egypt) is just 70 minutes long. It's reportedly a mood piece about life in lower-class Cairo that primarily focuses on the relationship of a sister and brother. Runners up: The light documentary When Tomatoes Met Wagner (Greece) is just two minutes longer than that one. Belgium's Our Mothers, Belarus's Debut, Lithuania's Bridges of Time, Albania's The Delegation, and Montenegro's Neverending Past are the other really short titles, all clocking in at 80 minutes or less.

Movie stars, languages, and gayness are after the jump...

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