"Emily" and the mastery of Michael O'Connor

by Cláudio Alves

Frances O'Connor's directorial debut is available on PVOD starting today. Emily is a modern twist on the biography of Emily Brontë, regarding the Wuthering Heights author through a fictionalized prism. There are many reasons to watch the film, from Emma Mackey's performance in the titular role to Abel Korzeniowski's bewitching score. For costume aficionados, however, it's all about the Michael O'Connor-designed fits. As ever, the Oscar-winner blesses the project with a commitment to period veracity, capturing the detail and idiosyncrasy of the past even when it looks silly, fussy, or unattractive to contemporary eyes. He even pays the same attention to main actors and background players, upper-class characters and the poorer circles of society. The result is dramatic immersion, a sort of realism supported by on-screen materiality that's rare even in the most lavish of period pieces...

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Links: Irish cacophonies, crowded rooms, and guild prizes

• IndieWire did you see SNL's sketch lampooning Ammonite and Portrait of a Lady on Fire as "Lesbian Period Drama"
• Towleroad Tom Holland to play Billy Milligan the first person to successfully use Dissassociative Identity Disorder as a criminal defense in the series The Crowded Room
• The Guardian asks a very real and interesting question: which films have missed their moment given the pandemic. Lots of films benefit from feeling 'of the moment' and not all of the films coming out in 2021 and 2022 will.

 More after the jump including trouble for film production in Georgia, Bowen Yang's Titanic hilarity, and the Art Directors Guild Awards...

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Streaming Roulette (March 18th-31st) Last chance for lots of classics!

Farewell Amor, which we discussed a few times last year, is now on Hulu

Time for another round of streaming roulette where we point out titles that are new(ish) to streaming or about to leave and just for fun, freeze frame them at totally random places in the scroll bar and whatever comes up we share...

Have you seen the movie Tell Me You Love Me?

MONSOON WEDDING (2001/2002) leaving on March 31st
Mira Nair's colorful layered empathetic classic is a must-see. Check it out on Criterion and then read Cláudio's recent piece; It was the first time he had ever seen it...

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"Minari" leads the Dorian Award nominees but LGBT films underperform

by Nathaniel R

The Society for LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, to which I and a few of our writers here belong, have revealed their nominations for the film year with Ammonite, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, I Carry You With Me, Supernova, and Uncle Frank up for best LGBTQ Film though only one of them (Ma Rainey) secured any other nominations. Minari leads with the overall nominations with six and Nomadland is just behind with five.

You can see all the nominations after the jump...

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Oscar Chart Updates: Costume Design

by Nathaniel R

The costume design branch loves Michael O'Connor's film work. Could Ammonite bring him his fourth nomination?

Let us know ask our crystal ball about the robust possibilities in the Costume Design race at the Oscar. This contest don't feel quite as wide open as Best Supporting Actor or as Best-Picture-related-simple as Adapted Screenplay or as 'what the hell will they choose?' unusual as Visual Effects and Makeup. But it does present several interesting options for a nominated quintet.

Oscar's three favourite living costume designers (Atwood, Canonero, Powell) aren't around this year -- well, Sandy Powell is but does anyone think the Academy will watch The Glorias? -- so where will the Academy's costume branch look?

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