Awards Season Catchup: The Bad Guys

By Abe Friedtanzer

One of this year’s most successful contenders for Best Animated Feature was released way back in April. It hasn't been as present on the awards circuit as its success and generally positive reviews would suggest. Whatever prizes it ultimately wins would only add to the fact that this family-friendly caper comedy, based on Aaron Blabey’s book series, is highly enjoyable and very much worth seeking out.

Wolf introduces audiences to his team of notorious thieves, who commit major heists and other crimes as regularly as possible. They do it partly for the big takes, but also for the specific joy from getting away with it...

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Oscar Volleys: Four locks, and the race for the fifth spot in Best Actor

Continuing our Oscar Volley series at The Film Experience. Tonight Gabriel Mayora and Ben Miller on Best Actor in a Leading Role

Ben Miller: My big question: is this a race only for the fifth slot? Will Smith, Benedict Cumberbatch, Andrew Garfield, and Denzel Washington all feel locked in. Is there any vulnerability in that top four?

Gabriel Mayora: I am surprised by how excited this self-professed raging actressexual™ (thank you to Nathaniel for that genius term) is to discuss this year's Best Actor category. Most years I find it hard to muster much enthusiasm for this category, but maybe after seeing the race take some surprising shifts last year, I have a renewed interest. I  agree with you that Smith, Cumberbatch, Garfield, and --to a slightly lesser extent, maybe? -- Washington are all locks, there is little room for surprise come nomination morning.

And while my first instinct is to complain about the Academy's lack of originality, I can't say I blame them. Those four are all so good...

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Emmy Category Analysis: Will "Hamilton" Win With Three Nominees?

Team Experience is looking at episode submissions for all the major Emmy categories...

Three "Hamilton" men are nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie - Anthony Ramos, Daveed Diggs and Jonathan Groff.

By Christopher James

Can Daveed Diggs come one step closer to an EGOT? The actor already has a Tony and Grammy for his work and he could very well add an Emmy to that haul… all for the same performance in Hamilton. He’s not the only Hamilton star vying for the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie. Even in such a long and lofty category title, considering the filmed performance of Hamilton in this category feels like a bit of a stretch. While this could ding the Emmy chances for Hamilton, voters didn't seem to be bothered by it, as the Limited Series acting categories all suggest.

Diggs’ Emmy is far from assured though. Three of the buzziest miniseries each have a young, breakout actor nominated here. I May Destroy You, The Queen’s Gambit and Mare of Easttown are all huge Emmy players this season, showing up in multiple categories. Coattails for any of these shows could help one of these men beat the trio of Hamilton nominees. Let’s take a look at the nominees for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie (*NOTE SPOILERS AHEAD):

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Review: "In the Heights" sets the bar high for modern movie musicals

by Nathaniel R

A young man stares out of his bodega window, his favourite block coming alive in the reflection. This shot of Usnavi, our leading man and guide into the film version of Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights is already beloved and with good reason. It gives you character (this man is something of a dreamer, caught between two places), world-building (the vibrant Latinx community of Washington Heights) and joyful genre specificity (the musical). It's not even the first clever moment in the movie at that, but something In the Heights builds up in its ever-escalating opening number after already providing you with gorgeous aerial shots romanticizing NYC as 'a city made of music', sounds from hoses, traffic, manhole covers, and alarm clocks as musical accompaniment, and introducing us to most of the main characters.

Above all else this visual beat as well as the larger song sequence that contains it, instills immediate confidence that the creative team, especially director Jon M. Chu (of Crazy Rich Asians fame) understand the oft-forgotten cinematic language of the film musical...

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Born in '91 Fun. Who will get an Oscar nomination first?

by Nathaniel R

It occurred to us this morning, since we're celebrating 1991 this month, that no one born in 1991 has yet been nominated for an acting Oscar! Which begs the question: who will be first among them? The following actors are all turning 30 next year and the early 30s is a GREAT time for movie star ascendancy if you have the skill and magnetism and also happen to get the opportunities and have some good luck (three of the four are required!). We narrowed it down to a dozen options for you (in random order) though of course the first to get there could be someone we haven't even heard of yet getting a late start. Make your case for which of these actors it'll be in the comments...

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