Category Confusion '24: LEAD or SUPPORTING – Part One

by Cláudio Alves

With the first batch of awards season honors coming in hot, questions of category fraud are bound to come up. And this year will be a doozy in that regard, with various leading actors campaigning as supporting for convenience's sake. It's a tried and true strategy that tends to block actual supporting and character actors from getting their flowers, forever living in the shadow of big stars in the wrong category. Well, if you're a regular at The Film Experience, you probably have read all this before, so let's not belabor the point. Instead, let's have some fun with polls like we did last year. This is just part one, of course, since many contenders still haven't been released beyond the festival circuit...

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Abe’s Sundance Jury of One

By Abe Friedtanzer

Pedro Pascal in Freaky Tales | Sundance Institute

This was my ninth time being in Park City for the Sundance Film Festival, and even though a family occasion meant I only arrived on Sunday (the festival started Thursday), I still saw twenty-five films in person and three before the fest. I did three days of five movies back-to-back, which is an incomparable thrill that can also prove quite exhausting. Fortunately, there was plenty of good fare worth remembering, and some of it is even coming soon to a screen of some sort near you!

Because there’s just so much playing, I didn’t actually see most of the official award winners, but you can peruse that list here. For my “jury of one,” here are my top ten films and a few other assorted honors. My reviews, if available, are hyperlinked, as well as notes on distribution if available...

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TV: "Succession" Course-Corrects With Third Episode of Final Season

By Christopher James

Some episodes of TV are above and beyond the show’s they’re housed in. Season four, episode three of Succession raised an already strong show to new heights. A twist early enough in the episode sets the final season in a new direction and gives Emmy-ready tapes for its crew of actors.

In full honesty, I was working on an article about Succession jumping the shark. A once dynamic series which captivated audiences and critics was just spinning its wheels tossing business jargon and curses into an incomprehensible word salad. Much of season three featured the Roy clan rehashing more of the same. However, episode three of the new season is flooring. 

SPOILERS TO IMMEDIATELY FOLLOW...

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Emmy Category Analysis: Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

By Abe Friedtanzer

Billy Crudup is the only actor not competing with a costar

This category feels sort of neat in terms of how it’s split: 8 slots, 4 shows. 4 returning nominees from 2 years ago, and 4 actors from new series. The only actor representing his show solo is also the only one who’s won before - Billy Crudup. There's no definitive frontrunner this time which is sort of exciting. (Diversifying the number of series represented by the nominations would surely help make it even moreso) Brief descriptions of the nominees and the analysis after the show...

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Gay Best Friend: Wallace Wells in "Scott Pilgrim vs the World"

by Christopher James

Get your hot topic graphic tees and turn on some Clash inspired rock music, we’re going back to 2010 for this week’s installment of Gay Best Friend. Inspired by comments from readers Scott C and Jesus Alonso, we returned to Scott Pilgrim vs. The World for the first time since seeing it in theaters 10 years ago. It turned out to be a fascinating watch in more ways than one, so thank you for the suggestion!

It’s fitting we’re examining the role of Wallace Wells, played by Kieran Culkin, 10 years later. Culkin has graduated from “Maculely Culkin’s talented brother” to stardom thanks to his Emmy-nominated work in Succession. Additionally, in a movie stuffed with zaniness and stylization, Wallace’s role as the GBF is more as a stabilizing, grounding force. While it’s a small role, the film makes Wallace an interesting, modern portrait of a gay man that strays away from typical characterizations...

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