Emmy Review: Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie

by Juan Carlos

We now reach this hotly contested category, consisting of Emmy favorites, Oscar winners, and a breakout performer. Aside from Regina King and Cate Blanchett, pundits were trying out several combinations of who would fill the remaining slots, especially with the decrease from six to five nominees. Unbelievable is competing for Limited Series, but neither of its widely predicted leads Merritt Wever or Kaitlyn Dever made it. Previous Emmy winners and nominees that were also in the running but didn't make it included Reese Witherspoon, Michelle Dockery, Helen Mirren, Ellie Kemper, and Aunjanue Ellis.

Without further ado, let's consider the lucky five who were nominated...  

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Emmy Review: Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie

By Juan Carlos Ojano

Herewith a strange category in that all of the nominees have considerable hurdles to overcome to win this Emmy. As it stands, this group is an eclectic mixture of the young (Mescal, Pope), the old (Irons), and the superheroes in between (Jackman, Ruffalo). Do note that this category as well as Best Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie do not have episode submissions. Instead, the performance from the entire series will be considered...

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Review: "Away" on Netflix

by new contributor Christopher James

What role does space play in our current world? Today, getting on a plane during COVID almost feels as risky as embarking on a mission to Mars. 

Netflix’s new bright, shiny and expensive looking drama, Away, tries to contextualize space travel in its pilot episode. At a press conference, a reporter asks the Atlas crew, “Why should we care more about Mars than our own planet.” Hilary Swank’s commanding officer, Emma Green, delivers an impassioned speech on how much the US spends on the military and war. Wouldn’t it be better if we repurpose these tools for “discovery, not destruction.” This sets the stage for an exciting space mission where traveling to Mars could possibly save us from ourselves. Unfortunately, Away dodges this interesting, if thornier, premise as if it were a meteor heading straight for its shift. Rather than take a risk, it heads into safer territory, being a digestible family drama...

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Emmy Review: Period Costumes

by Cláudio Alves

In the past three seasons, The Crown and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel have won the Best Period Costumes Emmy. This year, they are again competing for the prize. If history repeats itself, Netflix's royalty porn will triumph over Maisel's midcentury stylings, but we never know. After all, two new contenders are joining the race in the form of two Emmy-loved limited series Hollywood and Mrs. America. Pose  is also there, but the FX show seems to bound to go the Mad Men route, always a worthy nominee, never a winner…

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Emmy Review: Lead Actress in a Comedy

By Abe Friedtanzer

I’m still sad that Elle Fanning isn’t here for The Great and I can’t understand how Better Things gets nothing but rave reviews and somehow Pamela Adlon isn’t nominated? That said, the list of actresses here is strong, And you'd think that previous winner Rachel Brosnahan would be the frontrunner with last year’s tough competition, victor Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) and six-time consecutive champ Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep) out of the way. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel may be the comedy nominations leader, but Brosnahan isn’t likely to eclipse Moira Rose. 

I’ll try to avoid major plot details in my analysis – but if you’d like more spoiler-filled descriptions, click on the episode titles. Let’s consider each nominee…

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