Since the best documentary feature category was first established at the Oscars in 1942, the nominees have been like a snapshot of the year: wars and social concerns, heroes and headlines. This year is no exception. On paper, each of the five nominees look as if they’re ripped from the headlines, chosen for some metric … Read more
Jalet, who choreographed Luca Guadagnino’s horror movie “Suspiria,” knew Saldaña only from the movie “Avatar.” When he discovered “Center Stage,” he grasped that she would take movement seriously. “It was such an amazing relief to feel that, “Oh, she’s a dancer,” he said. In the original conception, Saldaña had just one dance scene: Rita walks … Read more
The jokes might not land, but the drama hits hard. ‘My Dead Friend Zoe’ Directed by Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, this film follows Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green), a veteran who returns home from Afghanistan and must adjust to civilian life and grapple with the death of her friend Zoe (Natalie Morales). From our review: After World War II, … Read more
Actors may deliver impassioned speeches about achieving their “childhood dreams,” but we don’t often hear about how those sculpting wounds with clay and bubbling skin with latex are fulfilling their lifelong fantasies. “Teenager treats” is how Pierre Olivier Persin, the special effects designer nominated for an Oscar for makeup and hairstyling for “The Substance,” described … Read more
Then, there’s “Dune: Part Two,” a movie so expensive looking, so smoothly, tastefully, artfully done that it’s easy to remain passive in the face of all that’s weird about it. But look! It’s Stellan Skarsgard, plumped, pursy and a-vape, as a baron whose kink, in part, arises from stadium-size gladiatoring. When this series is complete, … Read more
“Emilia Pérez,” the movie about a transgender Mexican cartel leader whoreconciles with her past, enters the Academy Awards on Sunday with 13 nominations, the most of any film this year. It is also the most nods ever for any non-English language film. The film has already won several accolades, including best comedy or musical at … Read more
The streets of Rio de Janeiro have been littered with Fernanda Torres imitators. They drink beer, clutch plastic Oscars and deliver the impromptu acceptance speeches that they hope their idol, the Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres, will give on Sunday night at the Academy Awards. “It’s the peak of fame in Brazil: to become a costume … Read more
Years after Gene Hackman retired from acting, he was at dinner with a friend in New Mexico who wanted to know how actors were able to cry on cue. “He put his head down at the table for about 30 seconds and raised his head up and there are tears coming down,” the friend, Doug … Read more
A Movie Game: Can You Match the Oscar-Nominated Film to Our Headline?
When Clint Eastwood needed a performer who could persuasively go boot-toe to boot-toe with him in his brutal 1992 western “Unforgiven,” he needed an actor who was his towering equal onscreen. Eastwood needed a performer with strange charisma, one who could at once effortlessly draw the audience to his character and repulse it without skipping … Read more