A Dozen Takeaways from Oscar Night

by Nathaniel R

John Cena presenting Best Costume Design. Screenshot from ABC

There are 23 categories at the Oscars but always about 2,038 things to discuss. What to focus on? Here's an attempt to focus with a baker's dozen of things that stood out for yours truly. Overall it was a fun and well paced night. But your mileage may vary. Would you add any particular moment to this list?

In no particular order...

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Emmy Category Analysis: Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

By Abe Friedtanzer

Andrew Garfield in Under the Banner of Heaven

I had fully expected Ben Foster to be here on behalf of the TV movie part of this category for The Survivor, but he’s not, and this race is actually dominated by men from series that didn’t earn a spot in the top race. Only Michael Keaton and Sebastian Stan saw their shows score overall, and both Andrew Garfield and Oscar Isaac represent their series’ only bids. Those statistics make it seem like Keaton wins this in a walk, but these are seriously good performances that are worth considering alongside his. Here are the nominees… 

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Winona Ryder @ 50: "Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice"

Team Experience is celebrating Winona Ryder this week as she turns 50.

by Ginny O'Keefe

He’s the ghost with the most, babe. It’s Beetlejuice. The wacky, morbid and over the top 1988 Tim Burton joint  revolves around Adam and Barbara Maitland (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) a couple living in an idyllic Connecticut countryside. They are tragically killed after their car swerves off a bridge and into a river. The thing is the film keeps following them and their perspective. Tracing their steps all the way back home which is when they realize…they’re dead! Once home they discover a book titled "Handbook for the Recently Deceased". Soon enough their house is sold to the Deetz family. Charles, his wife Delia and their daughter Lydia all moving out into the country from New York City. They begin to tear apart the house and make it their own. Barbara and Adam want them gone so it’s time to start haunting. Eventually they turn to someone (or something in the form of Michael Keaton) they never should have for help: Betelgeuse (pronunciation: beetle juice). 

The greatness of this film is its supreme wackiness. Nothing is too out there for this movie. It’s got sandworms, moving sculptures, Harry Belafonte musical numbers, dead caseworkers, Catherine O’Hara wearing gloves as a headband, goofy production design, and a perfect balancing of message and escapism. My favorite character in the film is Lydia played by the great Winona Ryder...

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Streaming Review: "Worth"

By Ben Miller

With the 20th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks approaching, Sara Colangelo’s Worth paints a compassionate picture of the victims and their families while attempting to get into the heads of the lawyers in charge of assigning a dollar amount to the victims. While the lead trio are each superb, the host of character actors and actress recounting their lost loved ones tug at the heartstrings.  Poignantly acted and directed, the film lacks the flash and grandstanding of the usual Hollywood fare, but still delivers a heartfelt message on the value of life.

Following the 9/11 attacks, to stave off the potential of economically disastrous lawsuits against the airlines, the United States Attorney General assigns respected lawyer Kenneth Feinberg (Michael Keaton) as the Special Master of the fund allocated to compensate victims and their families of the attacks...

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A Different Take on "The Trial of the Chicago 7"

by Eric Blume

We embrace respectful differences of opinion here at TFE, so with all due respect to my fellow staff writer Tony, who just gave Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 a rave review, I offer a dissenting opinion.  Fortunately thanks to Tony’s great synopsis, I can cut right to the chase.  I love Aaron Sorkin as much as the next guy, thinking his scripts for both The Social Network and Steve Jobs are essentially masterpieces, and even thinking more favorably upon Molly’s Game than most:  it had its own mini-sweep of energy and he tapped into all the things that make Jessica Chastain special. 

But there’s not a frame of Sorkin’s new movie that felt authentic or assured to me...

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