The silent wins of the Golden Globes

by Nathaniel R

No film truly dominated with Power of the Dog winning 3, and West Side Story 2

The Golden Globe ceremony did not air this year for only the second time in our lifetimes here at TFE. Some of you may recall the ceremony was cancelled once before due to the writers strike and the names were merely read out on television in a glorified press conference. This time, even less hoopla, given Hollywood turning their backs on the group and NBC refusing to telecast them this year. Neverthless they went ahead with their normal rounds of choosing nominees and winners. It's tough to expect that these prizes will mean anything more than, say, any winner lineup from a regional critics group, this year. Televised awards, with their red carpets and celebrity speeches and celebratory atmosphere are the only awards that receive enough mainstream attention to noticeably and consistently influence the Oscars, which always close "awards season".

Winners list and more commentary after the jump...

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25th Anniversary: "The Portrait of a Lady"

by Nick Taylor

Happy Holidays! We are celebrating a very dear, tumultuous season - awards season - and the current wave of critics prizes has left us with some very exciting developments. It’s perhaps not the biggest shock that Jane Campion’s austere, sensual Western The Power of the Dog has become such a critical darling. It’s the first time in nearly two decades that one of Campion’s phone is in serious consideration but the film’s remarkable showing with awards bodies and the sheer number of Best Director wins she’s accrued are both tremendously deserved and, given the overall trajectory of her career, something of a surprise. 

Releasing her first film since 2009’s Bright Star (and after showrunning the acclaimed series Top of the Lake for two seasons), Campion’s favor with the Academy and critics at large has shifted wildly over the years. As rapturously as The Piano was received, her 1996 bold, purposefully hard-edged adaptation of Henry James’s The Portrait of a Lady scuttered a lot of that goodwill, and as abrasive as that film is, I can’t for the life of me understand why this torpedoed her prestige reputation so badly...

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Yes No Maybe So: "The Northman"

The 2021 film year will stretch well into 2022 -- that happens with late Oscar ceremonies -- but we finally have a title we're really excited about to look forward to the month after the Oscars. Robert Eggers' viking drama The Northman starring Alexander Skarsgård hits theaters on April 22nd. Let's discuss the trailer with our Yes No Maybe So™ system...

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Review: "Being the Ricardos"

By Ben Miller

Writer/director Aaron Sorkin is no stranger to historical drama and Being the Ricardos adds to the list.  With a deft ensemble and a dynamite lead performance from Nicole Kidman, the film will be an enjoyable time for fans of I Love Lucy and Sorkin fans alike.  Fair warning though: If Sorkin isn't your cup of tea, this film can be hard to swallow.

Lucille Ball (Kidman) is at the height of her powers. Alongside her husband and co-star Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem), their sitcom I Love Lucy is the most popular show on television.  But in 1953, Senator Joseph McCarthy was on the hunt for Communists within the United States.  Word gets out among the CBS executives that Ball was interviewed by his committee. Ball and Arnaz begin to question the viability of the show if this information became public...

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Kidman rising, Stewart holding for Best Actress. But who else?

by Nathaniel R

Our favourite category! Not that Oscar chooses well but it's always the best acting category IN THEORY. So let's discuss Best Actress. You know you want to.

THE SURE THINGS
While Kristen Stewart has maintained the early frontrunner lead handily for her work as Princess Diana in Spencer, response to this past week's screenings of Being the Ricardos have suggested that Nicole Kidman could overthrow her for Oscar #2 for her work as Lucille Ball. She's sensational in the film, doing really interesting work (vocally and physically) differentiating between Lucille Ball and Lucy Ricardo, and also marrying some elusive internal issues like creativity, inspiration, ambition, with external stuff like a chain-smokers voice and the drama of the plot and multiple interpersonal conflicts. Ball's tetchy relationships and hot/cold rapports with each I Love Lucy cast and crew member is brilliantly differentiated and articulated. Besides, if any current one-time acting winner deserves a second statue, it's Kidman. This theoretical competition between Stewart and Kidman is interesting because both films originally raised eyebrows with their casting...

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