Venice: "Wild Horse Nine" is an Instant Oscar Contender

Elisa Giudici reporting from Venice

WILD HORSE NINE © Searchlight

Two days into Venice, and the new Martin McDonagh movie already seems close to ending the competition for the Golden Lion. There are more than a few dark horses and wild cards waiting over the next ten days of the festival, but the enthusiastic applause at the end of the press screening and John Malkovich's immediate entrance into the Oscar conversation as a leading actor should give everyone a clear idea of just how strong and convincing the film is. Believe the hype: this is a very solid movie about male friendship (no surprise here) that really does not shy away from the political.

McDonagh will not be the last filmmaker arriving here at the Lido with a movie that is quintessentially his creature, "just" another version of his usual work. Nevetheless this one is written and directed with such control and cocksureness, that the result is impressive in its formal perfection...

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Who deserves Emmy nominations from White Lotus (S3)?

by Nathaniel R

The third season of White Lotus is currently all the rage online as everyone sounds off on the finale. Before I share a few thoughts on the third season (after the jump) let's talk Emmy possibilities. The first season competed as a Limited Series at the Emmys and scored 8 acting nods (two wins) and the second season upped the ante for 9 acting nods (one win). This is way too many acting nominations for ANY series no matter how well acted, but that's how the Emmys roll with their current rules that preference highly-watched shows. So who do you think is most deserving of an Emmy nod this season. Choose your top 7 here and let's see how it plays out.

online polls

The photo up top is how I'd rank worthiness for nominations - but don't let me influence you. I've included the other dozen, also in preference order, just for kicks after the jump...

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Emmy FYC ~ Supporting Actresses

by Nathaniel R

Parker Posey in "The Staircase", Natasha Rothwell in "The White Lotus", Sydney Sweeney in "Euphoria", and Sheryl Lee Ralph in "Abbott Elementary"

Have you ever actually gazed at those gargantuan Emmy ballots?  No matter how much TV you're watching you will know, looking at the options, that you won't be able to give every acclaimed performance a fair shake. Some shows you may not have even heard of. This is why Emmys definitely need rounds of voting or juries or some winnowing process to help voters (and by extension the public) to discover great work beyond just listing all the names from the shows they do watch each year, whether or not the actor had a good season. Imagine the Oscars if there weren't all those critics awards all over the place, multiple precursors, and top ten lists and the like pointing people to performances and the result was regulary 3-5 actors from 2-3 films taking up most of the 20 slots.

We know that that happens consistently at the Emmys. For example, just last year The Handmaid's Tale filled literally half the ballot in Supporting Actress in a Drama Series and three years back Game of Thrones made up  more than half of the nominated shortlist...

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Linker by the Dozen

• NYT Governors Awards. Kyle Buchanan reports on the Honorary Oscars Friday night. Such a pity these aren't televised
• /Film Paramount+ has its highest watched premiere for the new series Halo
• AV Club Lin-Manuel Miranda has to skip the Oscars this year. His wife has tested positive for COVID
• Vulture Joe Reid ranks every Oscar nominee. This is lots of fun and a quick read given the 53 films

More after the jump including Parker Posey, snarky Oscar commentary, animated short, Everything Everywhere All At Once and recent reviews...

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Tweetweek

We're usually fans of spreading the wealth, but we can't disagree on this one...

Kirsten Dunst could be cast in every movie and still not be in nearly enough movies pic.twitter.com/1gJe6lgwDo

— It's Turkey Time, Gobble Gobble (@Nico_Lang) December 5, 2021

The most relatable part in WEST SIDE STORY is during the Quintet when Anita sings about how excited she is to get absolutely railed that night

— Jorge Molina (@colormejorge) December 4, 2021

Imagine seeing critics group winners and getting upset that it doesn’t push an Oscar narrative.

— Brian Formo (@BrianFormo) December 3, 2021

We're going to be seeing a lot of the latter probably! It's such a weird part of the awards circus.

More curated tweets for amusement and discussion after the jump including a killer Rami Malek impression, Adam Driver ubiquity, and Thomasin McKenzie's voice...

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