BAFTA goes its own way and shakes up the race

by Cláudio Alves

After it earned 14 out of 15 possible nominations, we should have known that All Quiet on the Western Front was a major threat as far as the BAFTAs were concerned. And yet, this seemed like The Banshees of Inisherin's time to shine. Well, the British Academy has announced their victors, and though they loved Martin McDonagh's latest, it couldn't defeat Edward Berger's Netflix juggernaut. The German Oscar submission won seven awards, including Best Film and Director. Banshees had to settle for four prizes, the same number of wins Elvis amassed. Beyond those three, no other title managed to take home more than one statuette, not even the the Oscar frontrunner Everything Everywhere All At Once.

But what does it all mean? Let's assess after the jump…

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Cláudio's 2022 Top Ten

by Cláudio Alves

While the Academy mulls over its nominees and decides on winners, the awards season reaches its last phase. Campaigns are at their apex, precursors shake the race, and speeches are aplenty. So, here at The Film Experience, it's time to share personal favorites, getting closure on the cinematic year as we do so. Indeed, Nathaniel's Film Bitch Awards are on its way, with some categories already announced – go check them out. In the meantime, I'm here to share my own top ten, which runs the gamut from apocalyptic gore to the year's best performance, from Jesus-y donkeys to Catholic guilt with a side of gay longing...

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Best of Animated Features, Shorts, and Voice Work

by Nathaniel R

Wagner Moura and Antonio Banderas do fine voice work in "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish"

For today's installment of Oscar talk and our own Film Bitch Award nominations, let's discuss cartoons. Our nominations are up for Best Animated Feature which you can see here and include the thoughtful eccentricities of Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio,  the witty propulsivesness of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, and the strangely undervalued hormonal marvel that is Turning Red. Three clear worthies that are difficult to choose between! It's a more mainstream list than we usually have but that's the way the year panned out (and we only have 3 nominees each year due to, well, sanity).

Apologies to the punk riot of Inu-Oh which is an intermittent thrill. As for Marcel the Shell...

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Almost There: Danielle Deadwyler in "Till"

by Cláudio Alves

The Oscars are less than a month away, but our collective hearts still ache for those who the Academy snubbed. Indeed, you showed up in force when asked to vote on which unnominated performance deserved a complete analysis. The two definitive winners were Danielle Deadwyler and Dolly De Leon, who, when combined, won 58% of the total of over 800 votes. We'll get to the Triangle of Sadness shipwreck survivor closer to the ceremony, but first, let's consider the lead of Chinonye Chukwu's sophomore feature. Playing Mamie Till Mobley, Deadwyler delivers a powerhouse performance tasked with sustaining a historical narrative so painful it's sometimes hard to watch…

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Split Decision: Top Gun: Maverick

No one feels the same way about any film. Thus, Team Experience is pairing up to debate the merits of each of the big awards season movies . Here’s Chris James, Travis Cragg and Cláudio Alves duking it out over Top Gun: Maverick.

CHRIS: I couldn’t think of a better movie to have reignited the box office this summer than Top Gun: Maverick. The sequel arrived 36 years after the first became a blockbuster in 1986. Personally, I never loved the original. Despite fun, pop-culture defining moments, it often felt like a scattershot action movie with nauseating jingoism. My expectations for the sequel were low, but the film blew past them like a fighter jet passing Mach 10.

Central to my enjoyment of Top Gun: Maverick is the renewed focus on character over spectacle...

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