Peter Dinklage Is Made for Romance

by Cláudio Alves

Rebecca Miller's new film, She Came to Me, is a bit of a mess, stitching themes and storylines, wild tonal swerves, and overwrought ideas that don't fit together all that well. This fate's especially disappointing because the project seemed ripe with promise and potential. Most of all, it looked like an excellent opportunity for Hollywood to embrace actor Peter Dinklage as a romantic figure. Though he reached peak fame by playing Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones, a performance of wit and projected stratagem, it can be argued that his best calling card is an ability to illustrate the heart's amorous yearnings…

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Oscar Volley: Best Costume Design, Makeup & Hairstyling

Team Experience is discussing the various Oscar categories. Here's Cláudio Alves, Gabriel Mayora, and Nathaniel Rogers to discuss the Best Costume Design and Best Makeup & Hairstyling races.

NATHANIEL ROGERS: Hello Cláudio and Gabriel. Ready to get dressed up? Picture me speaking to you in Stanton Carlisle tux and blindfold from Nightmare Alley and tell me what you're wearing. So many outfits from the five Oscar-nominated films are fully visible to me even with my eyes closed they were so memorable. In short, I think this is a strong Oscar list, even if my own ballot only overlaps by two pictures.  The Costume Design Guild Awards were held last week and Cruella, Dune, and Coming 2 America emerged as the winners for Period, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, and Contemporary respectively. Since Oscar rarely honors contemporary work only the prior two are nominated at the big show on March 27th. They're up against Cyrano, Nightmare Alley, and West Side Story. Though I am constitutionally opposed to the all too common internet and pundit trend of handing out Oscars before all the films have been screened in any given year, I will admit that this was a rare case when I did. At least inside my own head. As soon as Cruella reached its garbage-dress reveal, my jaw-dropped and I thought 'game over. Engrave the Oscar' while sitting in the theater. Way back in May...

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Tweetweek

curated for your distraction/amusement so you don't have to spend time on twitter...

I was today years old when I found out “MARISA TOMEI” is an anagram for “IT’S-A ME, MARIO” pic.twitter.com/4clxH1Jzl2

— tim leong (@timleong) February 16, 2022

More after the jump including a perfect Nicole Kidman FYC, Cyrano, Screenplay truths, Honorary Oscars, Barry Keoghan, and Laine Kazan's amazing pipes (we had no idea)...

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Almost There: Class of 2021

by Cláudio Alves

Another year, another class of actors who got close to Oscar glory but failed to make the cut. Like last year, here are capsules of 15 unnominated but buzzy performances. At the end of the article, you'll get to vote for who you think should get the full "Almost There" treatment. Since I already wrote extensively about Ruth Negga in Passing and Simon Rex in Red Rocket, those two won't be here, though my heart mourns for their dashed Oscar dreams. 

First up, let's start with the season's wildest race...

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Review: Swoony "Cyrano" is a must-see

by Catherine Springer

There is a whole lot of love behind the new musical film Cyrano, directed by Joe Wright and starring Peter Dinklage. That's quite appropriate for one of literature’s all-time classic love stories. Screenwriter Erica Schmidt, who adapted the screenplay from her own 2019 stage adaptation of the classic Edmond Rostand play, is married in real life to the film's star Dinklage, who also played the title character in the off-Broadway production, while director Joe Wright is married in real life to Haley Bennett, who plays Roxanne, the object of Cyrano’s affection. While all four artists are consummate professionals, there is no doubt that a certain amount of personal affection seeped in during this project, as the end result is a sumptuous, warm and truly heartfelt ode to love, a beautiful work of art made by artisans unafraid to explore their passions.

The setting is seventeenth-century Paris and Roxanne, a beautiful but poor noblewoman, has fallen in love with a man she sees across a crowded theatre. When she finds out that the man is Christian de Neuvillette (Kelvin Harrison, Jr.), a new cadet in the French army battalion stationed in the city, she calls upon her lifelong friend, Cyrano de Bergerac...

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