TIFF ’24: Conviction of Character in “Quisling – The Final Days”

By Abe Friedtanzer

Those with unshakable principles are typically fascinating subjects for film and television, even if those principles contrast sharply with what audiences believe to be right and moral. In the opening scene of Quisling – The Final Days, Vidkun Quisling (Gard B. Eidsvold), the minister president of Norway during the Nazi occupation, announces the death of Adolf Hitler over the radio and frames it as a great loss for the nation. His arrest and imprisonment by the new government follow swiftly, and he remains steadfast that he did the right thing at every turn throughout the entire ill-fated process…

Click to read more ...

Would you rather? (gay thirst double-size edition)

Instagram is such a timesuck. But it pretty. So, would you rather...

Tomás Matos (Fire Island) is always serving lewks• Sing in the car w/ Billy Magnussen and friends?
• Get the message from Chris Meloni?
• Lift weights alongside Orlando Bloom?
• Visit Anguilla with Giancarlo Esposito?
• Literally hang around on a photoshoot w/ Yoo Ah-in?
• Wake up with Lil Nas X?
• Have an ice plunge bath w/ Stephen Amell?
• See Zion National Park w/ Charles Melton?
• Feel the gratitude like Austin Butler?
• Read voraciously w/ Daniel K Isaac?
• Serve lewks with Tomás Matos?
• Cozy up to a bunny (and) Anders Danielsen Lie?
• Walk the runway w/ Jordan Firstman?
• Do a charcoal face mask like Luke Evans? 
• Joke around in the fx makeup chair w/ Dacre Montgomery?
• Get some sun and "restore" like Colman Domingo?

Which will it be? Pictures are after the jump to help you decide

Click to read more ...

Film Bitch Awards ~ Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, and more are up!

With the arrival of that Top Ten List you knew this was coming. The 22nd (gulp) annual Film Bitch Awards have commenced. We'll try to get all the Oscar-adjacent nominees up before Tuesday...

Page 1 - BEST PICTURE, DIRECTOR, SCREENPLAYS, ANIMATED FEATURE
Various honors for C'mon C'mon, Flee, In the Heights, Mass, Passing, Power of the Dog, West Side Story, The Worst Person in the World (finally in theaters!), and Zola

Page 2 - BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR & BEST ACTOR
You might have deduced these first five acting nominees (Colman Domingo, Mike Faist, Troy Kotsur, Anders Danielsen Lie, and Kodi Smit McPhee) given our noisy enthusiams! The lead actors are also up. Guess who!

Page 3 - CINEMATOGRAPHY, MAKEUP 
Page 4 - ORIGINAL SONG, SOUND
Honors for Annette, Cruella, Dune, Encanto, French Dispatch, Green Knight, Tragedy of Macbeth etcetera with more to come...

National Society of Film Critics picks "Drive My Car"

by Nathaniel R

The National Society of Film Critics, founded in 1966, is one of the three most prestigious critics group in the US, alongside NYFCC and LAFCA (and sharing some members from each). The society works with the National Film Preservation Board of the Library of Congress as well as providing the American delegate to  FIPRESCI, the international federation of members of the film press. This year, of their nine regular awards, only two (Cinematography and Supporting Actress) went to English language films which is we suspect record international dominance (77%) even though the group has always liked international films.  Here are their awards this year...

Click to read more ...

Year in Review: 2021 Entertainers of the Year

by Team Experience

Olivia Colman photographed by Amelia Troubridge from The Guardian

In our final "Team Experience Year in Review" post before the 10th annual Team Experience Awards and Nathaniel's own Film Bitch Awards (both in January), we wanted to pay tribute to the stars who worked overtime to keep us smiling, crying, laughing, and altogether wide-eyed in 2021. We asked contributors to cite ten choices as "Entertainer of the Year". The catch was the celebrity in question had to have had more than one project during the year. Quantity and Quality.

Names that didn't quite make the list but are nevertheless worthy of our sincere gratitude include actors Olivia Colman (Landscapers, Mitchells vs the Machines, The Lost Daughter, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain), Bradley Cooper (Nightmare Alley, Licorice Pizza), Vicky Krieps (Old, Next Door, Bergman Island), and auteurs Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy), and Ridley Scott (House of Gucci, The Last Duel). Technically speaking both Jamie Dornan and Oscar Isaac  made the following list but since we already sufficiently highlighted them yesterday in "Thirst Traps of the Year" we've ceded their spots to others. Spread the wealth is always our motto...

"ENTERTAINERS OF THE YEAR"
(a dozen wonders in no particular order) 

Click to read more ...