Review: “Across the Spider-Verse” is a Pinnacle of Animation

By Ben Miller

I am not prone to hyperbole but I'm having a difficult time not calling Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse the greatest animated film ever made. Maybe some time and distance will back that up. For now, let's call it a monumental feat of both animation and entertainment.

Following the events of Into the Spider-Verse, Miles Morales (again voiced by Shameik Moore) is now protecting his city and universe as its Spider-Man. He encounters a new and inexperienced villain named The Spot (Jason Schwartzman), which attracts the attention of multiversal Spider-Men...

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Emmy Category Analysis: Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

By Abe Friedtanzer

Andrew Garfield in Under the Banner of Heaven

I had fully expected Ben Foster to be here on behalf of the TV movie part of this category for The Survivor, but he’s not, and this race is actually dominated by men from series that didn’t earn a spot in the top race. Only Michael Keaton and Sebastian Stan saw their shows score overall, and both Andrew Garfield and Oscar Isaac represent their series’ only bids. Those statistics make it seem like Keaton wins this in a walk, but these are seriously good performances that are worth considering alongside his. Here are the nominees… 

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Cláudio's Best Shot Pick: Ex Machina (2014)

The next episode of our series, 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot,' arrives Tuesday night. Since Alex Garland's Men is upon us, this week's selection falls on the director's breakthrough feature – the Oscar-winning Ex Machina. You still have time to participate! Here's Cláudio's entry:

Even though one tries to avoid the online discourse around Men – at least until everybody has had a chance to watch it – some grumblings are rather hard to block off. If that wasn't enough to affect the expectations going into the new movie, this look back at Ex Machina certainly does. The sci-fi chamber drama is a formidable reminder that Alex Garland is a better director than a writer, colligating blunt ideas and blunter dialogue with spellbinding form. Within the realm of glances refracted through glass labyrinths, insinuating architecture and eerie eroticism, Ex Machina triumphs. It's when its characters open their mouth to blabber on that the appearance of cinematic greatness gets spoiled. 

Thankfully, Hit Me with Your Best Shot is about visuals, so we're in a safe place with Ex Machina. Whatever misgivings I might have, the film looks impeccable…

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2 Gays, 1 Remake: Drive My Car

Riding the comedown from the Oscars, Cláudio Alves and Nick Taylor speculate on the remake potential of Best International Film winner, Drive My Car.

CLÁUDIO: April Fools' Day is always a frustrating time to be on Twitter. From nobodies to reputable sources, countless accounts share announcements of fake projects, preposterous stuff that nonetheless feels plausible in our current paradigm. One of those jokey posts reported an American remake of Drive My Car. Though false it rings true; "Foreign" awards season juggernauts are often retrofitted for Hollywood versions. Though they haven't yet seen the light of day, Toni Erdmann, Parasite, and Another Round are all to be remade as English-language features and series.

And yet, outrage couldn't last when someone mentioned a brilliant idea – Oscar Isaac in the Hidetoshi Nishijima role! Maybe because I love great acting, perhaps because I like to imagine Isaac being all sad and hot, my curiosity was piqued. As ever, when the matters of sexy hunks and dream castings arise, I had no choice but to turn to my dear friend Nick Taylor…

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Year in Review Beauty Break: Thirst Traps of 2021

by Team Experience

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder... as is thirst. When we polled Team Experience for the hottest actors of 2021, the voting was all over the place and thus fairly close. So we ended up with a dozen people (after the jump) that had at least two ardent fans among our team members in the preferential ballots.  Because the voting was so close they're presented in random rather than ranked order.

Other hotties that earned our lust, admiration, and aesthetic wonder included: Penelope Cruz in Parallel Mothers, Ruth Negga in Passing, Lady Gaga in House of Gucci, Idris Elba in Concrete Cowboy, Benedict Cumberbatch in Power of the Dog, and Rebecca Ferguson in Dune. And because thirst is not always singular, great pairings like Taylour Paige and Riley Keough (Zola), Melissa Barrera and Anthony Ramos (In the Heights), and Daniel Craig and Ana De Armas (No Time To Die) also showed up in the ballots. Speaking of the latter, why wasn't she the main Bond girl of the movie?!? WOW!

Okay, on to the gallery...

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