Thankful for... Cláudio Alves!

This year for our "thankful for" column we're mixing it up a bit. Instead of asking our contributors to share a brief list of favourite things, I'm interviewing them so you can get to know them a bit better. We love them all, here, at TFE HQ and hope you do too. On Thanksgiving's Eve let's talk to our most frequent contributor, CLÁUDIO ALVES. 

Cláudio first joined us two and a half years ago and it makes all kind of sense that his first piece was on the potential of Oscar's costume design race of 2019. He blesses us with his expressive writing so often it's hard to choose favourites or even know where to point you but if you're just joining us but our most popular series, currently, is his "Almost There" column on performances that didn't quite win Oscar favor so start there! Other passions of his include film festivals and International Cinema and Hollywood History. Any links in this interview go to related beautiful pieces of his, too.

Here's our short interview...

When did you first fall in love with the movies?

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Thankful for... Baby Clyde

This year for our "thankful for" column we're mixing it up a bit. Instead of asking our contributors to share a brief list of favourite things, I wanted to share with you, dear readers, why I love the team so and then ask them a few key questions so you can get to know them better. This afternoon one of our newest contributors BABY CLYDE.

Baby has been with us for just a year but he's one of our most Old Hollywood obsessed contributors. He's told us a fun personal anecdotes about Mickey Rooney, expressed big love for Lana Turner and relived a big Cher year (1987 to be specific). In a more contemporary post he sang the praises of Anthony Hopkins in The Father (that Oscar win should'nt have shocked anyone).

Here's our short interview!

When did you first fall in love with the movies?

March 24th 1986 precisely 

Which current actor do you feel truly grateful for?

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How Had I Never Seen..."Planes, Trains and Automobiles"

By Ben Miller

There isn't a long list of well-regarded Thanksgiving films, but John Hughes' 1987 comedy Planes, Trains and Automobiles is defintely near the top of it.  It took me 30 years to catch up, but I finally have!. Featuring two pitch-perfect performances from stars Steve Martin and John Candy, the film continues to elicit laughter after all these years.

Neil Page (Martin) is an advertising executive on a business trip to New York City.  Eager to return to his family in Chicago for Thanksgiving, he attempts to hail a cab to the airport.  After losing a cab to Jake Briggs (Kevin Bacon from Hughes' She's Having a Baby) and getting extorted by a lawyer, his cab is inadvertently stolen by Del Griffith (Candy)...

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Thankful for... Ben Miller!

This year for our "thankful for" column we're doing things differently. I'm interviewing the team so you can get to know them better. First up, BEN MILLER.

Ben joined Team Experience in the summer of 2017. He lives in Texas with his wife and kids. Like most of us here at TFE he's into Oscars and the related niche trivia fascinations that come with that. In the few years he's been at TFE he's revealed impeccable taste in actresses, caught up with classics he'd missed like Cabaret and reviewed a lot of TV including the final season of Game of Thrones. And though he called his own piece on connecting with his son through WALL•E "corny,"  I personally love his family man perspective. Sometimes sentiment is earned! 

OUR THANKSGIVING QUESTIONNAIRE FOLLOWS...

Okay, Ben, when did you first fall in love with the movies?

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Cláudio gives thanks, 2020

by Cláudio Alves

2020 has been a rollercoaster of a year, as full of dismay as of jubilation. I started it sick, feverish, and bone-tired, a fitting first chapter to an annus horribilis fated to forever be remembered for worldwide disease. As the months unfurled, much happened, including cinematic triumphs whose wonder I couldn't believe, universal despairs I hoped would always be enclosed in my nightmares, loss, and life. 

Thanksgiving isn't a holiday we have in Portugal, but I admire the idea of celebrating gratitude, of giving thanks to what makes our existence happy or at least tolerable. With that in mind, I'd like to express my gratitude for some wonders of cinema, TV, and pop culture, that made living through 2020 just a tiny bit easier…

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