Review: Season 1 of 'Pachinko'

by Lynn Lee

from 'Pachinko's opening credits. © Apple TV+

Can a country truly be your home if it never fully accepts you?  Can a country still be your homeland if you left behind your life there and have never gone back?  

These questions haunt the lush, sweeping AppleTV+ period drama series Pachinko, which recently concluded its first season.  So far, so universal: the yearning for roots, for a sense of belonging, should resonate with anyone who’s ever been displaced or separated from their family or place of origin.  At the same time, the show – based on the best-selling novel by Min Jin Lee – focuses on a very specific chapter of history that isn’t well known outside of Korea and Japan, yet in many ways echoes the frictions, tensions, and injustices underpinning the history of race and immigration in other countries...

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93rd Academy Awards: 10 Best-dressed

by Cláudio Alves

After an awards season full of Zoom ceremonies and no red carpets to speak off, Oscar night was a breath of fresh air. While most stars have spent the past few months attending shows from their homes, that didn't mean there wasn't fashion to appreciate. However, there's something special about the spectacle of the red carpet, something ineffably magical. With that in mind, I decided to explore, list, and rank the best looks of the night. From ingenues to aged thespians, male provocateurs, glamorous goddesses, there was much to appreciate. 

First, though, I'd like to make an honorable mention… 

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What went right and what went wrong at the 93rd Oscars.

by Nathaniel R

Which Steven Soderbergh film begins with a ton of promise before getting bogged down in the middle due to its relentless seriouness? Which of his films comes chaotically lurching back to messy life near the climax but still can't stick to the landing? I don't have an answer for this question except to say "The 93rd Academy Awards if it counts!"  And should it?

The Soderbergh produced ceremony made good on its intentions to not be like every other Oscar ceremony. Not that that was ever in doubt given the worldwide pandemic that put such a dampening slog on awards season (among other admittedly more serious effects). More satisfying than the arbitrary changes in presentation or category order -- thrilling even -- was the pre-show buzz that this would feel more like a movie which the "opening scene" bore out...

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Some Oscar Night Related Tweets

We were soooo sick yesterday -- WORTH IT TO BE FULLY VACCINATED! -- so we're just catching up now. But if you're not on twitter we wouldn't want you to miss these bon mots. Enjoy.

Anthony Hopkins reacts to his #Oscars win and pays tribute to fellow Best Actor nominee, Chadwick Boseman. pic.twitter.com/z5MkFfR7wi

— Film Updates (@TheFilmUpdates) April 26, 2021

Apparently Olivia Colman was supposed to do the speech for him but Joaquin Phoenix didn't realize or some such. Now we feel doubly cheated...

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Supporting Actress Smackdown '20: Bakalova, Close, Colman, Seyfried, and Youn!

Welcome back to the Supporting Actress Smackdown. Each month we pick an Oscar vintage to explore through the lens of actressing at the edges. For the season premiere we're starting with the current Academy Awards competition honoring the films of 2020.  

THE NOMINEES 2020's shortlist, chosen much later than we're used to in 2021 due to the pandemic reschedulings, collects one breakout young Bulgarian actress (Maria Bakalova), one Hollywood legend (Glenn Close), a popular recently Oscar-winning British treasure (Olivia Colman), a former Mean Girl who continues to expand her range (Amanda Seyfriend), and a revered South Korean actress (Youn Yuh-Jung).

THE PANELISTS Here to talk about their performances and films are, in alpha order:  actress/playwright/comedian Grace Aki (Tell Me on a Sunday), awards columnist Scott Feinberg (The Hollywood Reporter), writer/producer Peter Knegt (CBC Arts), writer/podcaster Jorge Molina (Just to Be Nominated), and awards pundit Matt Neglia (Next Bext Picture). As ever the event is hosted by TFE's mastermind, Nathaniel R. Let's begin...

SUPPORTING ACTRESS SMACKDOWN + PODCAST  

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