Star Wars: Charting Queen Amidala's Style

by Cláudio Alves

You never forget your first, or so they say. In this case, it's one's first costume obsession. Mine, to be precise. It came to be in 1999 when I was five years old, and my dad took me to see Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Like many men of his generation, he was a fan of George Lucas's space fantasy, eager to share that love with his kid. It started with the original trilogy on VHS tapes and then came the movie event of the season. Though many hated the prequel, we two didn't share that feeling. Indeed, little Cláudio was besotted.

Sure, the lightsaber duels were memorable and the score was stirring, the CGI was out of this world and Ewan McGregor left such an impression I went as Obi-wan Kenobi to the following year's Carnival. But what most shook me was Queen Amidala, played by Natalie Portman bedecked in Trisha Biggar's costumes…

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My Miyazaki Ranking: Part Two – Princesses & Pigs

by Cláudio Alves

If you've ever seen the Never-Ending Man documentary, you'll be familiar with Hayao Miyazaki's complex relationship with new technologies, in animation and otherwise. The film's most famous quote relates to AI, which the Ghibli co-founder strongly feels is "an insult to life itself." However, there's more to it since Miyazaki has attempted and succeeded in combining the possibilities of CGI with traditional techniques. You can see this in the same non-fiction work as the director unsteadily creates Boro, the Caterpillar, one of those shorts exclusively screened at the Ghibli Park and Museum. Still, even as the result may dazzle, the process to get there is a barrage of frustrations for the old master.

Today's Miyazaki tryptic goes against hybridized approaches. Instead, it finds an embrace of hand-drawn animation in its purest form, divested of computerized witchcraft and the like…

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Bella Baxter's Best Looks: A "Poor Things" Top Ten

by Cláudio Alves

The last time an Emma Stone movie won the Best Costume Design Oscar, I ranked her character's many looks. So, it seems appropriate to do the same this year. Once, there was Cruella, but now, one has Poor Things' Bella Baxter to consider. 

Breaking the trend of repeat winners and legendary designers finally getting their due, Holly Waddington is a relative newcomer to the costume design big leagues, even though she has worked with names like Sandy Powell and Jacqueline Durran during her tenure in Angels Costume House. Training her craft in that famed establishment, the designer specialized in period costuming, though she's hardly a stickler for historical accuracy. Bored by exact recreation, the artist prefers to play with anachronism, making her a perfect fit for Yorgos Lanthimos' cinema. Indeed, she met the director through Tony McNamara after she costumes The Great's pilot, another take on period regality with a wacky twist…

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Ranking ALL of John Williams' Oscar Nominations

by Cláudio Alves

INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY earned John Williams his 54th Oscar nomination.

Last week, John Williams celebrated his 92nd birthday, so it seems proper to shine a light on the legendary composer before the month ends. After all, in January, he also became the oldest person ever to secure an Oscar nomination, as he got into the Best Original Score lineup with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. It was his 54th honor - he's won five Oscars as well - making him the most nominated living artist and runner-up for most nominated individual ever. That record is still held by Walt Disney, with 59.

In American Film History, there will never be a more iconic and influential composer than John Williams. If you don't believe it, join me as I go through his 54 nominations and offer my ranking…

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The Saturn Awards will also celebrate the year of "Barbenheimer"

by Nathaniel R

The 51st Annual Saturn Awards will take place on February 4th this year in Los Angeles. Universal has reason to celebrate as the nomination leader with films like Oppenheimer, Renfield, and M3GAN in the mix. While Paramount is not far behind with titles like Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Dungeons and Dragons. The Saturn awards have been honoring genre film and television for decades and they once had that all to themselves but in the 21st century mainstream awards bodies like the Oscars and the Emmys aren't as afraid of genre entertainment as they once were so a few of the honorees each year are also awards player in the more mainstream ceremonies.

The Saturn Awards don't run with a full calendar year so there's always a mix of last year's titles and this year's. Avatar The Way of Water, released in 2022, is the nomination leader this time with 12 citations (a record) while 2023's atypical summer blockbuster Oppenheimer is just behind with 11 nods. Given its zeitgeist appeal, Barbie also competes in a few categories..

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