Thursday, August 29, 2024

The Interested Bystander’s Broadway Fall 2024 Preview

Romeo and Juliet (c) Emilio Madrid

The 2024 Broadway fall season has some promising shows lined up with a starry roster of actors (Robert Downey Jr., Audra McDonald, Jim Parsons, Mia Farrow, Nicole Scherzinger) and intriguing new plays, musicals and revivals by The Avett Brothers, David Henry Hwang, Elton John and Jake Shears, Leslye Headland, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Thornton Wilder and yes, William Shakespeare. Get your credit cards ready.


 Go. 

Tuesday, August 20, 2024

The Interested Bystander’s Oscar Reminders: August 2024

Dune: Part 2 (c) Warner Bros Pictures

The fall film season is revving to go with the start of the four major film festivals (Toronto, Venice, Telluride and New York) in quick succession. Many films will be touted for Oscars with maybe half falling by the wayside after they are finally screened and deemed just ok. Some have already opened at Sundance and Cannes and have great buzz for the fall but haven’t yet opened widely, like Sean Baker’s call-girl-turned-wife film Anora, Francis Ford Coppola’s personal pet project Megalopolis, Kieran Culkin’s award-touted performance in Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain and Jacques Audiard’s musical drama Emilia Perez starring Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez. The fall festivals have films by big names, too, like Pedro Almódvar, Paul Schrader, Mike Leigh and a second film by Luca Guadagnino. Portentously, there are not many films directed by women or people of color in the conversation right now.


But before the onslaught of these new films, let’s give a shout out to the ones that came out in the first eight months of 2024. Odds are against them to get the same attention for award consideration but usually one of two from that part of the calendar make it through (remember: Everything Everywhere All at Once opened in March the year it dominated the Oscars). Let’s take a look at who I think should still be in the conversation come December. 


Enjoy. 

Monday, August 12, 2024

The GALECA Critics Bestow Their Dorian TV Awards to "Hacks, "Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire," "Fellow Travelers" and "Chucky"(!)

Fellow Travelers (c) Showtime

Los Angeles / New York – Monday, August 12, 2024 -- GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics announced today the winners for the 2024 Dorian TV Awards, honoring the best in television and streaming networks. In the 16th go-around of GALECA’s TV honors, Max’s Hacks leads with four wins including Best TV Comedy, Best Written TV Show; AMC’s Anne Rice’s Interview With A Vampire with three wins including Best TV Drama, Best LGBTQ TV Show and Best Genre TV Show, and Showtime/Paramount+’s Fellow Travelers earns two acting wins: “Best TV Performance – Drama” for Matt Bomer and Best Supporting TV Performance – Drama, Jonathan Bailey.