Free Republic

By most accounts, the Oscar-nominated “Emilia Pérez” is a terrible movie. Mexican critics panned the film’s portrayal of cartel violence, while trans critics hated how gender transition was used as an empty plot device with a highly inaccurate depiction of the medical process of transitioning. And yet the musical has been nominated for an incredible 13 Oscars, the most of any film this awards season. With an audience score of 16% on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s clear almost everyone hates this movie, it seems, except for Oscar voters. In the casting respect, at least, "Emilia Pérez" gets it right, having cast...

NPR just reported:https://www.npr.org/2025/01/31/nx-s1-5282222/oscar-nominated-actress-karla-sofia-gascon-apologizes-for-old-social-media-postsOscar-nominated actress Karla Sofía Gascón apologizes for old social media postsSpanish actress Karla Sofía Gascón, who starred in the Oscar-nominated film Emilia Pérez, is facing a backlash after old, derogatory posts on X, formerly Twitter, resurfaced Thursday morning.Many of the posts, which were written in Spanish and shared by writer Sarah Hagi in a series of screenshots with Google translations on X, directly vilify Muslims. One post calls Islam a “hotbed of infection for humanity.” Another claims that Islam is “incompatible with Western values.”Did Karla Sofía Gascón apologize because the things she said about Islam were false, or...

The best and worst movies of 2024The Oscar race is, it seems, coming down to a contest between what is unquestionably the worst movie of 2024—Emilia Perez—and what might be the best movie of 2024. That would be Anora, an uncategorizable and unclassifiable story of a lost soul, a 23-year-old stripper in Brooklyn who also trades sexual favors for money. She hits the financial and emotional jackpot when the son of a Russian oligarch falls for her.So it’s a love story, albeit an entirely transactional one—beautifully and precisely observed and unsentimental by its writer-director, Sean Baker. He neither condescends to...

Well, the Oscar nominations are in and I don’t care either. But it is interesting to note that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Other Wastes of God’s Precious Gift of Life, have chosen to nominate movies no one saw, celebrating perversions no one cares about in order to parade a virtue they don’t have to an audience that is no longer there. In doing this, Hollywood is sending a message to the people formerly known as moviegoers. And the message is this: “Screw you. We hate you. Come and see our movies. Die, you scum. Look how pretty...

“Emilia Pérez” star Karla Sofía Gascón was exposed after sending offensive tweets in 2020. The Oscar-nominated star of the Netflix musical is facing backlash after several offensive tweets made their rounds on social media since being uncovered by internet users. Writer Sarah Hagi put Gascón on blast by sharing the messages Jan. 30 on X in a post that garnered well over 3.1 million views as of Friday morning. The actor’s troubling quotes include Islamophobic references and commentary about George Floyd. Gascón recently made history as the first openly transgender person to receive an Oscars nomination. A number of the...

Despite its huge international success, including a leading 13 Oscar nominations, Emilia Pérez faces criticism in Mexico, where the transgender narco-musical has been accused of trivialising raging drug-related violence. The film stars Karla Sofía Gascón as a bloodthirsty narco who, after transitioning to life as a woman, helps relatives of the missing. The movie also features "Avatar" star Zoe Saldaña, singer-actress Selena Gomez and Mexican actress Adriana Paz. Gascón became the first openly trans acting Oscar nominee, in the best actress category, while Saldaña was nominated for best supporting actress. "The film trivialises the problem of the missing in Mexico,"...