TCA Nominations 2021

The Television Critics Association has announced its nominees for the season and they make an interesting parallel kudo-party with the Emmys both in their sameness and where they diverge. I'm told voting closed before the Emmy nominations were announced so these are simple disagreements as opposed to statement making...

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA

Michaela Coel, I May Destroy You – HBO
Ethan Hawke, The Good Lord Bird – Showtime
Thuso Mbedu, The Underground Railroad – Amazon
Elizabeth Olsen, WandaVision – Disney+
Mj Rodriguez, Pose – FX
Omar Sy, Lupin – Netflix
Anya Taylor-Joy, The Queen’s Gambit – Netflix
Kate Winslet, Mare Of Easttown – HBO

Click to read more ...

Cannes at Home: Day 7

by Cláudio Alves

Last year, while the Cannes Film Festival did not occur, the organizers revealed a list of titles selected. Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch was among them, and, unlike many other films slotted for the 2020 Croisette, it rescheduled all release plans so it could still premiere at the festival. After a one-year delay, it's finally upon us, and the reviews skew positive. Let's hope it's worth the wait. Another main competition title to take its bow today was Kirill Serebrennikov's Petrov's Flu. It's the Russian director's second film to compete for the Palme d'Or and his first release since a controversial conviction for embezzlement. Still banned from leaving Russia, he attended the festival by FaceTime. More on that later. For now, let's look back at these directors' previous successes – a bittersweet comedy on dysfunctional families and a galvanizing political allegory about modern Russia…

Click to read more ...

Links: Korean Actors, Fun Director Interviews, etc...

• Observer a strong piece on the pros and con for both movie theaters and streaming at this juncture
• Variety has a piece up asking if the $60 million Black Widow made on premiere streaming (at $30 a pop) is good or not. And why is Disney being "transparent" about something so vague and impossible to confirm? 
• The Actor is Present The Korean Film Council has a huge guide to current Korean actors (200 of them!) so I'd check it out if you're into Korean cinema or television

More after the jump including Zola, Catherine Zeta Jones...

Click to read more ...

Cannes at Home: Day 6

by Cláudio Alves

We hit our halfway mark with was a hectic day at the Cannes Film Festival. Mia Hansen-Løve, Nanni Moretti, and Ryûsuke Hamaguchi all premiered films vying for the Palme d'Or. That last one is an especially curious case since, earlier in 2021, Hamaguchi already won big at the Berlinale, taking home a Silver Berlin Bear for his other 2021 movie, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy. Beyond those three, attendees were spoiled for choice. In other programs Clio Barnard, Radu Muntean, and Sergei Loznitsa presented their latest. Even in the realm of retrospective screenings, the offer was rich, with JFK, Mulholland Drive, and the Palme d'Or victor Black Orpheus getting another day in the sun.

For simplicity's sake, this home-viewing program shall focus only on past work from the three competition directors…

Click to read more ...

Cannes at Home: Day 5

by Cláudio Alves

After the virulently negative reviews that befell The Last Face, it's surprising to see Sean Penn back in the main competition so soon. Flag Day marks Penn's third directorial effort to vie for the Palme d'Or after winning big in Cannes as an actor. The reactions, so far, seem primarily positive, and that's a big step-up from last time. Another main competition screening was Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen's Compartment No. 6, which some have already compared to Before Sunrise. Back in 2016, he won the Un Certain Regard section with The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki, so this promotion to the big league feels especially earned. To celebrate the occasion, our alternative program shall focus on these directors' earlier successes…

Click to read more ...