April. It's a Wrap

April tends to be a slow month here at TFE but we'll hopefully pick back up now for summer movie season which is also Emmy nominating season so expect more Game of Thrones and Fosse/Verdon shortly. If you're just rejoining us here are a dozen highlights from the month...

Donna Lynne Champlin in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015-2019)

Best of April
• Complete West Side Story Casting - Meet the new Sharks and new Jets
• Serial Mom 25th Anniversary - Salim looked back at the John Waters classic
• Smackdown of 1972 -Donna Lynne Champlin and more special guests joined us to talk The Poseidon Adventure, stage to screen acting, and the difficulty of playing drunk scenes
• Farewell Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - Dan says goodbye to TV's genius musical comedy
• Oscar Rule Changes - Makeup and Hair and Foreign Film get minor adjustments
• Howard Keel Centennial - Lynn, Tim, Deborah, and Nathaniel looked back at three of his musicals and one late career sci-fi flick
• Beyoncé's Homecoming - Glenn on the hot concert doc
• Podcast Questions - Murtada and Nathaniel answer yours!

Most Discussed Posts
• Dumbo and Tim Burton - a list heavy look at the auteur's filmography
• April Foolish Predictions - Nathaniel's first crack at this year's Oscar charts
• Renee Zellweger turns 50 - Eric pens a love letter
• The New Classics - Michael's new column kicked off with an ode to Michael Clayton 

COMING IN MAY
Anne Hathaway and The Hustle, Disney's Aladdin, the celebrity fashion doc Halston, Amy Poehler's Wine Country, and Zhang Yimou's stunning wuxia pic Shadow. We'll also celebrate anniversaries for Midnight Cowboy, Julia, The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus, and Anne Heche.

Our 'year of the month' leading up to the next Smackdown (June 2nd, to avoid the holiday weekend at the end of May) will be 2001 so expect a good deal of that film year along with the 'now' of 2019 summer movie season.  Any requests?

How has March been for you?

It's true that there are three days left in March but we're recapping early because we're willing the month to end. The point is that March is always a bit slow at TFE given the post Oscar-crashing and then the malaise that hits. But we do what we can. Expect much more in April now that we're getting back on the dance floor. Here are a dozen highlights from the month that is almost up that we hope you didn't miss.

• Us Reviewed - Jordan Peele does it again
• Jennifer Jones Centennial - because Love is a Many Splendored Thing
• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - what a tease
• Shrill with Aidy Bryant - already one of 2019's best TV shows
• Four Weddings and a Funeral - still nearly perfect on its 25th anniversary
• Tea with the Dames - Judi + Maggie + Joan + Eileen =  a soothing streaming distraction
• Posterized: Julianne Moore - because the ginger goddess is on fire again
• Soundtracking: Gloria Bell - spin with joyful Julianne
• Doc Corner: Leaving Neverland - sure got people talking
• Nathaniel's 2018 Top Ten List - the Film Bitch Awards wrap-up
• Christian Petzold talks Transit - his haunting German melodrama
• Stage Door: Kiss Me Kate - Kelli O'Hara delights again 

COMING IN APRIL
Weekly rotating coverage of Fosse/Verdon, the 2019 Tony Award races (The Prom, Aint too Proud etc), the MCU wraps up its loooooong world-conquering game plan with Avengers: Endgame, Laika debuts what we hope is another animated winner with Missing Link, for the Howard Keel Centennial we'll dive into big 1950s musicals like Annie Get Your Gun and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and for The Supporting Actress Smackdown of 1972 will take you back to The Poseidon Adventure, Butterflies are Free, and other gems for a bit of context. And other as yet undecided fun. Any requests?

Come play with us every day, won'cha?

Film Bitch Awards: Casting, Ensemble, Breakthrough, Young Actors

by Nathaniel R

We're still hoping to have the Film Bitch Awards wrapped up before Oscar night. Tonight, the remaining "extra" acting categories. We've already shared the Best Cameo performances so here's four more prizes to discuss and consider. Please do share your own favourites in these categories, too.

BEST CASTING / BEST ENSEMBLE
Some might argue that these categories go hand in hand (the way others object to the notion of Picture/Director splits) but we think of them as two different though highly complimentary accomplishments...

Click to read more ...

January. It's a Wrap

Only one month of the film year left to go - haha. We all know the film year doesn't end until Oscar night, right? But we have technically begun another calendar year and we're already 1/12th done with it. We were reminded not by the calendar but by Murtada and Abe's Sundance coverage which is nearing completion. And the end of Sundance always means the end of January.

Herewith highlights we don't want you to have missed...

• 10 Reasons to Stream Support the Girls -Ilich's funny ode to this great indie
• Say a Prayer for Serenity - Jason's must-read review of a future camp classic
• Toni Collette: The Interview - Nathaniel talks to the great actor about her iconic performances and her feelings about grief and horror
• Soundtracking: Best of 2018 - Chris surveys the best recent musical movie moments
• Podcast Special - Murtada and Nathaniel answer reader questions
• Mary Poppins vs Mary Poppins Returns - Lynn compares their ensemble of kooks
• A Simple Favor's Design - Mark's ode to the very best of 2018's contemporary costuming
• Ben Foster: The Interview - The Leave No Trace star is in a good life & career place
• Months of Meryl: The Epilogue - Matt & John wrap up their year-long Streep series with a 10 best list
• Film Bitch Visual Awards - the 12 most beautifully shot movies of the year, plus other eye candy

Most Discussed Articles

• 7th Annual Team Experience Awards - The Favourite wins big
• Post Nomination Eulogies - odes to the Oscar-snubbed 
• Glenn Close Is Not Going To Be Ignored - Murtada on the actress's emotional Globe speech
• Kevin Hart and a Crisis Of Oscar's Own Making - Nathaniel has words for The Academy (and Ellen)
• Was 1993 the best "Best Supporting Actor" linup ever?- Ben looks back
• 12 Things we learned from the Oscar nomination - RT scores didn't matter, Alfonso Cuarón's precursor acceptances definitely did...

Hiccup is all grown up! COMING IN FEBRUARY
Oscar night obviously. But until then, a handful of new interviews with filmmakers and actors, the completion of the Film Bitch Awards as we wrap up the year in film coverage, favourite screen kisses, favourite acceptance speeches, the 25th anniversary of Reality Bites, the Berlinale, the return of the Supporting Actress Smackdown, and new releases like Birds of Passage, Alita Battle Angel, and How to Train Your Dragon 3. 

Any requests as we near Hollywood's High Holy Night?

December - It's a wrap!

BE SAFE OUT THERE TONIGHT. PARTY RESPONSIBLY! New Year's Eve is legit your host's least favourite holiday so I'm just going to curl up with screeners and comfort food and call it a month... er, year! Of course the film year, for our specific purposes, still rages on until the Oscars are handed out. Here are some highlights from the month that was here at the site ...

• Fav Line Readings "I am your MOTHER" "Oh no... he died." etcetera
• A Star is Born Hits $200 Million appropriate ways to celebrate
• What's Eating Gilbert Grape aging well 25 years on
• While You Were Sleeping yes, it should be a holiday perennial
• An Unfortunate Julia Roberts Headline... though she'd probably laugh
• Boy Erased unfortunately quite relatable
• Chris Feil's Top 20 List with a video montage!
• Toni Collette loves Roma also talks about her bold acting choices
• Into the Spider-Verse  the best Spidey movie in ages
• Best 2018 Dance Sequences Suspiria, Mary Poppins Returns, more...
• Months of Meryl: The Post - the last regular episode of this year long journey!

Most Discussed
• Our chat with Glenn Close she's very honored by the tributes
• Best Actress winners in bad movies an opinionated list
• "Worst" of the Year Ready Player One, Beautiful Boy, and more...
• SAG Nominations / Ensemble Expose what a strange year for SAG
• Globe Nominations 

COMING IN JANUARY: Anne Hathaway in Serenity, M Night Shyamalan's double-sequel Glass, lots of Golden Globe partying, the Sundance Film Festival, the 75th anniversary of Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat, more celebrity interviews, and of course the Oscar Nominations themselves.