Immaculate: How to Sell Horror 101

by Cláudio Alves

This Wednesday, April 3rd, a selection of theaters in the US will be selling tickets for Immaculate at the devilish price of $6.66. This promotion, devised by NEON in partnership with AMC, Regal, Marcus, and Harkins Theaters, is another ingenious step in the movie's pitch-perfect campaign. Horror is an easy sell, as the industry seems to re-discover every six months or so, but the Immaculate team has outdone themselves and surpassed most expectations. The Sydney Sweeney vehicle, which also counts with her as producer, has proven a word-of-mouth hit, slashing a bloody streak across the holy season that combines Easter, Ramadhan, Passover and the new Beyoncé release – thank you for the joke, Ramy Youssef…

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Gotham Awards 2023: What to make of "Reality" in Best Feature?

by Nick Taylor

By far the most surprising nomination from this year’s Gotham nominees was the lone nomination for Reality in the Best Feature category. Not the most obscure film cited, not in any way a quality assessment, not even an anomaly for the Gothams. Hell, The Rider won Best Feature in 2018 with no other nominations to its name (if we don’t count their 20-film Audience Award lineup). But who saw Reality coming, after a positive but wholly unremarkable critical response when it premiered in the US all the way back in May? Who had this on their bingo card, and could they share their guess on this week’s lottery numbers with me?

I’ll be spending November giving full reviews to some Gotham nominees that have yet to receive full coverage on The Film Experience. This was not the first title I watched, but the sheer mystification of its appearance gave it a tantalizing aura. And now that I’ve seen it for myself, my mystification at its Best Feature nomination only grows...

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Emmy Category Analysis: Supporting Actress in a Limited Series

by Cláudio Alves

If you need proof that the current Emmy voting system is broken, you need to look no further than the Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series race. Despite having seven available slots, only two shows appear in the lineup. Unsurprisingly, they are The White Lotus and Dopesick, two of the year's biggest frontrunners. Allowing voters to check an unlimited number of names on their ballots means that the most popular and acclaimed programs will dominate, no matter the specifics of the category. Unfortunately, this takes away slots to honor MVP achievements in less buzzy shows.

For predicting purposes, it also muddies the waters...

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Tweetweek: Hidden talents, Emmy reactions, and that 'Funny Girl' drama

IF ONLY. Think how many wrongs could be corrected.

What if the Bennifer marriage repairs the timeline and resets us to 2004?

— Julyathan Taylor Thomas (@charles_jensen) July 18, 2022

More after the jump including but not limited to Wile E Coyote's underappreciated  talent, Jordan Peele's film titles, Broadway's Funny Girl chaos, and Emmy nomination reactions...

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Podcast: Emmy Noms, Voting Systems, Breakout Newbies

by Team Experience

You already read our immediate reactions to the complete Emmy nominations, and some odes to snubs. But to put the Emmy nomination week to bed, how about a podcast? Nathaniel met with Abe, Chris, Cláudio, and Mark to discuss the nominations for the 74th Annual Emmy Awards. Somehow a lot of past TV shows and Emmy history keep cropping up like Damages, Game of Thrones, Shameless, and Parks and Recreations. 

Podcast - 70 minutes
00:01 Overabundance of noms: White Lotus
07:00 Final seasons: Killing Eve, Ozark, and This is Us
11:00 Guest categories: Hacks & Succession
14:00 Hanging episodes: Stranger Things
17:00 Standout actors: Pam & Tommy, Ted Lasso, The Morning Show
23:00 Weird categorizations and awards as industry promotion
30:00 Limited vs regular: Squid Game, Pieces of Her, White Lotus
33:00 TV Movie Category - What can be done? 
37:00 Peacock, Paramount+, CBS All Access, Starz, etc...
42:00 Severance, Abbott Elementary, Yellowjackets
46:00 Netflix, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime, etc...
49:00 Fav noms: Barry, What We Do in the Shadows, The Staircase
59:00 Final thoughts: Rothaniel vs. The Closer, Sydney Sweeney in Euphoria, release dates of series


You can listen to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher or Spotify or download the attachment below. 

2022 Emmy Nominations