Stilted Humanity: Acting Lanthimos

by Cláudio Alves

Since his third feature opened at the 2009 Cannes Film festival, Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos has been something of an international sensation. Dogtooth, that masterpiece of perverted domesticity, even conquered a surprising Academy-Award nomination along with its sterling reviews. From relative obscurity, Lanthimos thus became a household name for cinephiles all over the world and his next projects were followed with breathless anticipation. The formalistic precision, violent nature of his scenarios and the unsettling horror of the stories enchanted many and disgusted even more.

All of these choices are transgressive as it's fitting of the cinema of the Greek Weird Wave. However, such elements aren't as uncommon as many suppose. If you look hard enough through the wilderness of festival offerings, it's easy to find many similar aesthetic and narrative propositions. Yorgos Lanthimos does them with rare perfection, but that doesn't mean they are radically rare. Much more off-beat and idiosyncratic is the way this provocative filmmaker works with actors…

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10 years, 10 unforgettable Oscar moments

by Cláudio Alves

We may quibble and despair over the Oscars but we still tune in every year and love them despite it all. If we didn't, why would we obsess over predictions, rejoice at worthy victors or grimace when injustices occur? Looking back at the last decade of the awards, there are many indelible moments that energized us and made us applaud, that had us at the edge of our seats, crying through a heady mix of surprise and mirth.

Honorable mentions and a top ten list after the jump...

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A Decade of Oscar Fashion: Top 10 Looks

by Cláudio Alves

Despite dwindling ratings and ever-growing criticisms, the Academy Awards ceremony is still one of Hollywood's grandest nights. For Oscar enthusiasts, it's like Christmas. For fashion lovers, it's a glamour fest like few others. As we look back at a decade of past ceremonies, we can't help but be dazzled again by the stylish wonders we saw parading through the red carpet each golden night. Since we love list-making, it seems fit to consider such a topic through the lenses of a top 10, elaborating on what were the most memorable and beautiful outfits of Oscar's last decade.

Before we get to the very best, we must celebrate some honorable mentions. From Billy Porter's take on a classic tuxedo to Quvenzhané Wallis' puppy purse, the last ten years were made more glamourous by these Hollywood beauties…

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Not Without My Lost Daughter

by Jason Adams

Variety has just announced that Maggie Gyllenhaal will be making her directorial debut with an adaptation of Elena Ferrante's bestselling book The Lost Daughter, and it will star Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, Mr. Maggie Gyllenhaal aka Peter Sarsgaard, and the Wild Rose herself Jessie Buckley...

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Backstage and in the Audience at the Oscars

by Murtada Elfadl

One of the most indelible images we saw on sunday night was Tom hanks and Charlize Theron leading the audience in a chant of "Up, Up" to bring back the Parasite crew to finish their best picture acceptance speeches. But there were many other moments backstage and in the audience that we weren't captured by the TV cameras. Here are a few:

Margot Robbie chatting with Colin Jost and Scarlett Johansson...

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