Helen McCrory (1968-2021)

by Nathaniel R

It is with great sadness that we share the unexpected news that the always wonderful British actress Helen McRory has passed away. She died of cancer (a diagnosis she had kept hidden as she continued on with charity work during the pandemic) at the age of 52 on Friday.

She made her big screen debut inauspiciously, as so many stars do, playing a doomed young woman in Interview with the Vampire (1994)...

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Links: Lansbury, Midsommar, Olivier Awards, and "Shallow" at #1

We haven't done a link roundup in too long. Not all of these are "new" but they might be to you:

• Vanity Fair Edge of Tomorrow (2014) may finally get that sequel that's been hoped for by fans
• Billboard "Shallow" has gone to #1 following that Oscar performance by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. It had previously peaked at #5 on the Hot 100 and it's Gaga's first number one in 8 years!
• People former teen idol and current Riverdale co-star Luke Perry has died at 52
• AV Club Director Joe Wright and star Tom Hanks going back to World War II with a new film In the Garden of the Beasts...

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Emmy FYC: Eva Green and Christian Camargo, "Penny Dreadful"

Team Experience shares their dream Emmy nominations. Consider it an FYC as nomination ballots are out...

by Dancin' Dan

Showtime's now cancelled gothic horror show Penny Dreadful has never been one to receive much awards love, even when it should have been (has there been a better villain on any television show in recent memory than Helen McCrory's Evelyn Poole in the show's second season?). Part of this had to do with timing: Airing always began around June, near the time the Emmy nominations for the previous season were voted on, meaning that by the next nominating period, it was long forgotten. The other part is the nature of the show itself. Emmy has rarely favored genre shows, much less ones as bloody and occasionally over-the-top as this.

Sadly this has meant that the series's leading lady, Eva Green, has been ignored despite giving the most committed, most fearless, and best performance on television...

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Costume Guild Nominees: Hail Caesar, AbFab, Doctor Strange, Etc...

The Costume Designers Guild has spoken their mind in 7 categories. Let's look at their nominees shall we?

Excellence in Period Film
The Dressmaker – Marion Boyce, Margot Wilson
Florence Foster Jenkins – Consolata Boyle
Hail, Caesar! – Mary Zophres
Hidden Figures – Renee Ehrlich Kalfus
Jackie – Madeline Fontaine

You might think "oh, that's the Oscar list!" but clutch your pearls or other design accessories. There are so many more options for the Academy in period that missed here (Silence anyone?) and in the other categories with Contemporary (which might have a contender this year with La La Land) and Fantasy nominations... which Oscar takes almost as seriously as Period Pieces in this category...

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5 Wishes for the Production Design Emmys

By Daniel Walber.

The Emmys can be, for lack of a better word, boring. Television is in a "Golden Age," or so everyone says, but its Academy has a tendency to reward the same shows every year. This phenomenon doesn’t only happen at the top of the ticket, either. Game of Thrones has been as much of a mainstay in tech categories as Modern Family was in Best Comedy Series.

And so, rather than fully handicapping the five production design races, I’d like to share some more modest hopes for this year’s winners. Here are some selections from my favorite work in the category, regardless of the odds.

Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Contemporary or Fantasy Program (One Hour or More)

This is the Game of Thrones category, and it’ll probably stay that way. That said, I find the work on Penny Dreadful a lot more intriguing, at least for this season. 

 In just one episode, “Evil Spirits in Heavenly Places,” there are at least three sets worthy of recognition. The work so lavish that one wonders if it was canceled because it was too expensive...

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