Is it finally Blunt's time?

by Cláudio Alves

With Pain Hustlers new on Netflix, Emily Blunt continues to stake her claim in 2023. Indeed, we're heading into an awards season that could end with the British actress becoming, at long last, an Academy Award-nominated thespian. For over a decade, she has persisted as a contender who never makes it to the finish line, stranded with precursor support but no love from AMPAS itself. Hell, when the Almost There series eventually comes back, one could dedicate an entire month, if not more, to Blunt's many failed bids – from The Young Victoria to her SAG-winning turn in A Quiet Place. Keep in mind that The Devil Wears Prada, arguably her most egregious snub, was already covered a while ago.

In any case, hopes are high for Blunt fans, even if few would argue her performance in Oppenheimer represents the height of her talents. Not that it's any sort of meritless hack job…

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Ellen Mirojnick: From "Fatal Attraction" to "Oppenheimer"

by Cláudio Alves

There is little heroic about J. Robert Oppenheimer, whether in real life or on the big screen. Yet, in Christopher Nolan's latest, the commonplace act of getting dressed for the day is treated with the gravitas of a superhero movie's "suit up" scene. If nothing else, the moment highlights Ellen Mirojnick's work, another feather in the costume designer's cap. As with every one of the picture's elements, each choice is carefully deliberated, a negotiation of intimacy and immediacy that tries to transmit a first-person take on the period film. Two-piece tan suits rhyme with sky blue shirts, echoing the Los Alamos landscape, while a turquoise-inset silver belt buckle and porkpie-crowned cowboy-rimmed hat wink at Western iconography. It's a uniform as much as a costume, the men's "mythic look" as described by Mirojnick, who kept hats out of the other character's looks to make her protagonist stand out. 

This could be a lucky year for Mirojnick, awards-wise. Oppenheimer just might result in the designer's first Oscar nomination. Considering her vast career, it's hard to believe she's yet to be honored by the Academy…

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The beauty of Hoyte Van Hoytema's cinema

by Cláudio Alves

Oppenheimer approaches on July 21st! Christopher Nolan's latest promises a great deal, from the historical examination of a man that changed the world to an ambitious test of how far the director's practical-over-digital effects philosophy can hold in the face of such a challenge. I'm more skeptical about it than some, though some things seem sure. Chief among them is that the picture will look great, another feather in the cap of Dutch-Swedish cinematographer genius Hoyte Van Hoytema. In his honor, let's revisit the Oscar nominees' biggest hits, from vampirical hauntings to 'Jean Jacket'…

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13 Links

• Tom and Lorenzo Jessica Chastain goes full disco queen at the premiere of The Eyes of Tammy Faye
• Out Very sad about this. HBOMax has cancelled the excellent queer series that you aren't watching Genera+ion. We can only hope its ferociously talented leading man Justice Smith gets another role as good soon. Martha Plimpton the shows other MVP is never lacking for work so we don't worry about her
• Forbes why Chris Nolan chose Universal as he leaves his longtime Warner Bros home

Betty Boop, Simu Liu, Miriam Margolyes, Stephen Sondheim, The Bodyguard, and more after the jump...

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Best Editing: The Art of Disorientation

by Cláudio Alves

There seem to be two big schools of thought regarding what good film editing is. On the one hand, classic Hollywood precepts indicate a preference for the invisible, cutting so organically enmeshed with the rhythms of the story one barely notices its mechanisms. On the other hand, there's a showier style, editing that calls attention to itself and demands applause, especially in the realm of action cinema. In either case, an unwritten rule posits clarity of information and storytelling as a defining tenet. Editing should facilitate the movie-watching process by allowing the audience to follow along with the narrative or thesis, its emotional beats, spatial awareness, and chronology. Nonetheless, two of this year's biggest contenders in the race for the Best Editing Oscar do the exact opposite, choosing to engage with the art of editing as a tool of disorientation rather than clarification, chaos instead of order…

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