FYC: Elizabeth Olsen, "WandaVision"

by Matt St Clair

Since Elizabeth Olsen burst onto the scene with her stunning debut in Martha Marcy May Marlene ten years ago, she has managed to deliver quality performances in films like Ingrid Goes West and Wind River that allowed her to make good on that early promise. Yet, she hadn’t found a role that reached the same rich, intricate heights as that debut... until now. 

After a supporting role as  Wanda Maximoff (aka The Scarlet Witch) in multiple films from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Olsen was given her own miniseries with WandaVision. Though the movies underutilized her, the series proved a strong acting showcase where she could play all sorts of notes between tragedy and humor...

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Emmy FYC: The cast of "Small Axe"

by Cláudio Alves

As Christopher James mentioned in his overview of the Limited Series Emmy race, much of the discourse surrounding Small Axe has focused on categorization. Is it TV or cinema? To be perfectly blunt, I don't care. Indeed, it's been pretty disheartening to see how so much energy was spent debating this matter instead of simply appreciating the work. To me, the five Small Axe films are a miracle of audiovisual expression and historical narrative, perchance Steve McQueen's most important masterpiece. When it came time to write these Emmy FYCs, I jumped at the chance of singing the anthology's praise. Honestly, the only problem was singling out just one element to promote.

While I could just as happily have written about Shabier Kirchner's luminous cinematography or the sensuous textures of Jacqueline Durran's costumes, I've decided to focus on the actors…

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FYC: A conversation about "Mare of Easttown" and the great Kate Winslet

As an FYC for all things Mare of Easttown, Eric and Nathaniel got together for a conversation about what a rich viewing experience the HBO miniseries was. 

ERIC BLUME: Nathaniel, now that Mare of Easttown has wrapped, I'm sure viewers will want to talk about it, least of all because it features Kate Winslet giving one of the greatest performances of her life.  But more on that later.  First, let's talk about overall impressions of the show.  While it certainly has its flaws, one of the things I loved about it the most was its capture of small details in the lives of the characters and the setting.  I spent the first 18 years of my life in Pennsylvania, and the show captures so many of the nuances of PA life.  I loved how everyone was a cousin (cousins are a thing in PA); how people just walked into the front door of the homes of their friends; how everyone has a nickname (Lori is mostly called "Lor"). 

The production design was incredible. Every home, exterior and interior, looks like the house a middle-class Pennsylvania person lives in.  Jean Smart's afghan alone should win that team an Emmy...

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Emmy FYC: "For All Mankind" for Drama Series

by Lynn Lee

If you’re old enough to remember the Challenger explosion – my earliest memory of watching a national disaster on TV – you may, like me, see it as the de facto end of the Space Age.  Not that NASA abandoned its mission or that space ever completely lost its grip on the public imagination.  One need only look to the Mars Rovers and the recent advances made by SpaceX and Blue Origin for evidence to the contrary.  But even the most exciting breakthroughs no longer command the universal attention that the Apollo missions or, yes, the Challenger debacle did back in their day.  There’s also a growing sense that space travel has become the province of the ultrarich, and that as a species we should– taking a page out of Gil Scott-Heron – maybe think about fixing our problems here on Earth before laying claim to other worlds.

For those who hold onto the ideal of outer space as a gauntlet for human progress, there’s a tendency to look back wistfully at the golden age of space exploration, notwithstanding the more uncomfortable facts underlying the myth...

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Emmy FYC: The directing of “The Handmaid’s Tale”

by Juan Carlos Ojano

It’s probably an odd thing to say that I love The Handmaid’s Tale so much, given how challenging it can be for its audience. I even wonder why I love it sometimes. There is never an episode of the show that can be considered easy. And yet, there is also something deeply cathartic about watching its main character June (Elisabeth Moss) as well as the other characters survive, persevere, and even fight the institutionalized misogyny in the Republic of Gilead.

One thing that I always go back to is the top-notch filmmaking in the show...

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