Best of October

Sniffle. There are only two more days of October left but we're working through our grief at saying goodbye to our favorite month each year by doing it a bit early... oh and Happy Halloween y'all! Here are some highlights from October that you might have missed.

Dozen Favorites
• Diane Warren Sings! Her new song "I'll Fight" and a tribute concert
• Green Book it's a bonafide crowd pleaser
• Posterized: Tilda Swinton Her biggest roles and essential roles
• Months of Meryl on the rewatchable delights of It's Complicated (2009)
• Carey Mulligan in Wildlife Murtada is wowed
• Amazing Carey Mulligan impression from comic actress Desi Domo
• Exciting 30 Year Old Actors because Nathaniel fancies himself a casting director
• Brian Dennehy LOVES Saoirse Ronan thinks she's one of the all time greats
• Foreign Film Oscar List the trailers to the 87 contenders
• Private Life Chris on the new Tamara Jenkins on Netflix
• The Favourite Olivia, Rachel and Emma's triple-dynamism in one of the year's best films

Most Discussed by You!
• Best Horror Film Performances from Carrie to Hereditary
• Gotham Nominations The Favourite and First Reformed lead the pack
• Yes No Maybe So: Vice Christian Bale does his Cheney mimicry
• A Star is Born is a Drama at the Globes so where does that leave Best Comedy/Musical?
• A Star is Born Nathaniel's review

Coming in November
Parker Posey's 50th birthday, Addams Family Value's 25th anniversary, Honorary Oscar Recipients actress Cicely Tyson, producers Frank Marshall & Kathleen Kennedy, and composer Lalo Schifrin, If Beale Street Could Talk, Widows, The Front Runner, Foreign Film contenders including Israel's The Cakemaker, Japan's Shoplifters, Argentina's El Angel, and new on DVD/BluRay: Blindspotting, BlacKkKlansman, and Crazy Rich Asians....

Festival Wrap - All The Reviews

We screened them at TIFF or NYFF or Middleburg but you also may have heard about them from Cannes or Venice media coverage. Now that the festivals are wrapped (only AFI remains and we're unable to make it this year *cries*) the rest of the year is all of these treasures and some of the duds hitting movie theaters (hopefully) near you. THEN, THE OSCARS. You know how it goes. It's our very very very favorite time of year. That sound you hear is the squealing of movie fans everywhere.

Nicole making the festival rounds in the fallHere's everything we reviewed from TIFF and NYFF or Middleburg in case you missed any of them...

• Ash Is Purest White (China) - Murtada at NYFF
• Border (Sweden) - Nathaniel at TIFF
• Bulbul Can Sing (India) - Chris at TIFF
• Burning (South Korea) - Nathaniel at NYFF
• Can You Ever Forgive Me? (US) - Chris at TIF
• Climax  (France) - Chris at TIFF
• Cold War (Poland) - Jason at NYFF
• Destroyer (US) - Nathaniel at TIFF  
• Diamantino  (Portugal) - Chris at TIFF
• Duelle's / Mother's Instinct (Belgium) - Nathaniel at TIFF
• A Family Tour (China) - Murtada at NYFF
• The Favourite (UK) - Nathaniel at NYFF
• Fig Tree  (Israel/Ethiopia) - Nathaniel at TIFF
• First Man (US) -Nathaniel at TIFF 

• Giant Little Ones (Canada) - Chris at TIFF
• Gloria Bell (US) - Chris at TIFF
• Green Book (US) - Nathaniel at Middleburg
• Happy as Lazarro (Italy) - Jason at NYFF 
• Her Smell (US) - Jason at NYFF
• High Life (France) - Jason at NYFF
  
  
• If Beale Street Could Talk (US) - Nathaniel at TIFF
• Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy (US) - Chris at TIFF
• The Kindergarten Teacher  (US) Nathaniel at TIFF
• Long Day's Journey Into Night  (China) - Jason at NYFF
• Museo (Mexico) - Nathaniel at TIFF
• Non-Fiction (France) - Jason at NYFF
• The Old Man and the Gun (US) - Chris at TIFF
• The Quietude (Argentina) - Nathaniel at TIFF

• Rafiki (Kenya) -Chris at TIFF
• Ray & Liz (UK) - Murtada at NYFF
• The River (Kazakshtan) - Nathaniel at TIFF
• Roma (Mexico) - Nathaniel at TIFF
• Ruben Brandt Collector (Hungary) - Nathaniel at Middleburg
• Shadow  (Hong Kong) - Nathaniel at TIFF
• Sorry Angel (France) - Jason at NYFF
• A Star is Born (US) - Nathaniel at TIFF
• Tell it to the Bees  (UK) - Nathaniel at TIFF

• That Time of Year (Denmark) - Nathaniel at TIFF
• Too Late To Die Young (Chile) - Murtada at NYFF
• Touch Me Not (Romania) - Chris at TIFF
• Transit (Germany) - Nathaniel at TIFF
• Vita & Virginia  (UK) - Nathaniel at TIFF
• Widows (US) - Chris at TIFF
• Wildlife (US) - Chris at TIFF
• Woman at War (Iceland) - Nathaniel at TIFF

'extras'

• Venice winners - Murtada
• Venice fashion - the gowns -Nathaniel
• Venice thinks pink - Nathaniel
• The men of Venice - Nathaniel
• Toronto Fashion - Murtada
• Nicole in Toronto - Nathaniel
• Jury of One TIFF - Nathaniel's honors
• Best of NYFF Performances - Murtada's honors
• Yalitza Aparacio tribute - Nathaniel at Middleburg
• Diane Warren concert - Nathaniel at Middleburg

It's true we didn't review everything we saw at Festivals but the biggies we didn't get to --  Shoplifters, El Angel, Capernaum, and Boy Erased -- will be in theaters very soon so reviews are forthcoming.

Best of September

Fall is our favorite time of year so we're going to keep relishing it however quickly it vanishes. The movies get really exciting and we don't feel exhausted yet with the holidays + incessant Oscar mania. But alas, the first month of fall is already (just about) a wrap.

Herewith a bakers dozen fav posts from September in case you missed them:

• Wildlife - Chris is thrilled by Carey Mulligan & Paul Dano's beautiful drama
• Funny Girl at 50 - Tim looks at Babs' ageless Oscar-winning star turn
• TIFF Jury of One - Nathaniel hands out honors for 'best in fest'
• Cynthia Erivo to play Harriet Tubman - Murtada is watching her career
• A Prayer for Alessandro - Jason highlights one of the best turns of the year, Alessandro Nivola in Disobedience
• Roma - Nathaniel on Alfonso Cuarón's personal/visual triumph
• Destroyer - Nathaniel watches Kidman transform
• Adventures in Babysitting - Chris takes in lipsync queen Elisabeth Shue in his Soundtracking series
• Black Mirror: USS Callister - Jorge discusses the screenplay of one of TV's brightest moments this past season

And the most discussed posts by you:

• Best Actress race - the post festival rethink
• Best Actor race - the post festival shake-up
• Emmy night - the winners and highlights
• Mary Poppins Returns - the Yes No Maybe so of the new trailer

COMING IN OCTOBER...

A Star is Born mania, More from the New York Film Festival, Rita Hayworth and Teresa Wright Centennials, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Hugh Jackman's 50th birthday, Moon landing spectacular First Man, the 25th anniversary of Nightmare Before Christmas, various Halloween hijinx, the new horrors of Suspiria, Daredevil season 3, the long delayed Smackdown of 1972 (it's not tomorrow -- apologies!), and lots of Foreign Film Oscar race hoopla when the official list is announced (probably a week from now).

August. It's a Wrap

Fall Film Season is here, guys and gals! It's finally here. So we'll start saying goodbye to summer, since Telluride, Venice, and TIFF are kicking off to make those newly updated Oscar charts potentially irrelevant. Here's a quick review of highlights from the dog days of summer. 

Ten Highlights
• BlacKkKlansman - Review
• West Side Story - a tag team retrospective
• Suspiria - are you excited for the remake?
• Blueprints: The Marvelous Mrs Maisel - were you hooked with the pilot?
• Crazy Rich Asians Podcast plus Glenn Close 
• The Wife - Nathaniel's poster blurb
• We the Animals - director interview
• Sharp Objects - the shocking series finale
• Cabaret - a tag team retrospective
• Beauty Break: John Cho - will Searching convince Hollywood?

Six Most Discussed Articles
• New Academy Category = Catastrophe - ARGH
• Oscar's Ten All Time Fav Supporting Actresses - from Amy to Thelma
• Oscar's Ten All Time Fav Supporting Actors - from Tommy Lee to Jack
• Oscar Myth-Busting - The Academy Doesn't... no they DO like popular films
• The Devil Wears Prada -Months of Meryl hits a reinvention peak
• 60 Reasons to Love Madonna - for Cinephiles

COMING IN SEPTEMBER
Joaquin and John are gunning for Jake and Riz in The Sisters Brothers, Emma Thompson returns in The Children Act, Blake Lively asks for A Simple Favor. On DVD and Blu-Ray we'll have a chance to check (back) in with Oceans 8, Hereditary, Hot Summer Nights, and Won't You Be My Neighbor? Nathaniel and Chris will be hitting Toronto for daily reports on that wonderful jam-packed film festival of foreign pleasures and Oscar hopefuls. And the month will end with the 1972 Supporting Actress Smackdown (sorry for the delay but now you have more time to watch all five movies).

July. It's a Wrap

July was the month of Emmy nominations, Ingmar Bergman's Centennial, Mamma Mia! melodies, old and new. It was also the month I failed to convince you to watch Harlots (your loss!). Here are 16 highlights from the month as we say goodbye to July.

Miscellania
• Almodóvar and Penelope - filming collaboration #6, Pain and Glory 
• Yes No Maybe So: Aquaman - another DC tragedy or wet fun?  
• The Dark Knight - a rewatch for its 10th anniversary 
• Rear Window -it's still perfect; We checked. 
• Best of 2018 - thus far at the halfway mark in all categories 
• Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood - Good dish or unethical or both? 

Most Discussed
• Amy Adam's 3 Best - Everyone has an opinion!
• Cats to become a movie - How on earth will that work? 
• Months of Meryl: The Hours - Streep unravels exquisitely
• Yes No Maybe So: Boy Erased - will it be one of the year's best?

Oh and 1943 was our Year of the Month
• Casablanca Quotes -Fun to hear all the different choices for "best," wasn't it?
• Mattes, Moons, and Mountains -on For Whom the Bell Tolls' production design
• Supporting Actress Smackdown -Katina vs Lucille vs Gladys vs Paulette vs. Anne 
• Vintage '43 - Magazine covers, happenings, and box office hits
• Soundtracking: Girl Crazy - Judy & Mickey & the American songbook
• The Seventh Victim - a 'polite' horror movie 

COMING IN AUGUST
New Films: Christopher Robin, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, BlackKklansman, Crazy Rich Asians, and The Happytime Murders. The podcast will return to a weekly schedule and we'll have a three part West Side Story retrospective for Leonard Bernstein's Centennial. Otherwise 1972 will be our Year of the Month and since Nathaniel has more time than usual (loss of a financially stabilizing side gig *sniffle* please donate to the site -- see sidebar!) expect a deeper dive into that particular film year. We'll start with Cabaret tomorrow! 

July Oscar Predictions - All Charts Updated

by Nathaniel R

We've been needing to update all the Oscar charts and now we have! The charts are revamped for how we're feeling in early July about what may come to pass in seven months time or so. Big gains this month for A Star is Born, Widows, and Welcome to Marwen with setbacks for If Beale Street Could Talk, Boy Erased, Everybody Knows, and Peterloo.  Meanwhile the two arguably most talked about performances of the year thus far -- Toni Collette in Hereditary and Ethan Hawke in First Reformed make gains on their charts. 

The freshly revamped charts...

PREDICTION INDEX |  PICTURE | DIRECTOR | ACTOR  | ACTRESS | SUPPORTING ACTOR | SUPPORTING ACTRESS | SCREENPLAYS | FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM | VISUALS | SOUNDS | ANIMATED FEATURES

and in case you missed it: best of Jan-to-Jun (These are NOT related to predictions!)
18 Fav Male Performances
18 Fav Female Performances (this may be the first time in TFE history when an actress post delivered less comments than its male counterpart post!)
18 Biggest Hits of Many Kinds (blockbusters, arthouse, female directed, etc)
Favorites (So Far) in Multiple Categories