Robert Altman @ 100: “Nashville”

By Juan Carlos Ojano

To continue celebrating Robert Atman’s centennial anniversary, I have decided to finally take care of a longtime cinematic blind spot: his seminal 1975 opus Nashville. Released during the heyday of New Hollywood, the film tracks the lives of twenty-four main characters — singers, dreamers, and others — as they navigate their lives in the titular city within five days as the presidential campaign of a populist candidate is set to mount a political rally cum concert. 

For my first encounter with this film, I decided to watch this film twice within a three-day period. And how powerful the experience is...

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Oscar Volley: "Anora" takes the lead in Best Original Screenplay

The Oscar Volleys are back for some post-nomination talks. Today, Abe Friedtanzer and Eurocheese discuss Best Original Screenplay...

ANORA | © NEON Rated

ABE: Eurocheese, always a pleasure to get to talk to you about movies! I think we got a great category this time - Best Original Screenplay - which is actually quite a competitive race! The WGA rules meant that only two of the Oscar nominees are recognized by that guild too, which did make room for one of my favorite movies of the year, My Old Ass. But at the Oscars we have a race that's legitimately a three-way competition. I think we can safely rule out September 5, a film which I think is excellent but which didn't get any other nominations, including Best Film Editing, so I can't see a scenario where it has a path to victory here.

Similarly, A Real Pain, initially conceived as a potential frontrunner, missed the Best Picture list and only scored one additional nomination (which it can probably win) for Kieran Culkin. It's hard to see it having enough support here. That brings us to the other three nominees. I would have said Anora was the clear number one pick here, but precursors aren't looking that way.

Where do you think the race stands?...

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Robert Altman @ 100: Susannah York was Almost There

by Cláudio Alves

For the second part of the Robert Altman tribute, consider a crossover with the Almost There series. Throughout his career, the director proved to be one of the best at working with actors within the New Hollywood state of play, whether his movies were tightly focused psychodramas or the more sprawling fare that we tend to associate with Altman. It's no surprise, then, that many of his performers received some buzz, often figuring in the awards season, whether or not they got an Oscar nomination at the end of it all. Today, let's look at Susannah York in the second of Altman's portraits of women on the verge of madness. After That Cold Day in the Park, there was 1972's Images…

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Oscar Volleys: Best International Film aka “Emilia Pérez” vs. the World

The Oscar Volleys are back for some post-nomination talks. Today, Eric Blume and Nathaniel Rogers discuss Best International Film...

EMILIA PÉREZ | © Netflix

ERIC:  Nathaniel, what fun to have you all to myself to discuss the nominees for Best International Film (which I sometimes still call Best Foreign Film, because that's been in my brain too long).  I think we have five pretty terrific nominees this year.  Before we get into their Oscar-ability, what is your personal take across the five films?  I wouldn't be mad at a ranking!

NATHANIEL:  I share the same nomenclature waffling but we both were Oscar watching since the 1980s so who can blame us?...

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Robert Altman @ 100: "That Cold Day in the Park"

by Cláudio Alves

One hundred years ago today, Robert Altman came into this world. A WWII veteran who got his start in industrial films, he'd become one of the most important figures in American cinema during the heyday of New Hollywood. His career is a sprawling tale of transformations, genre experiments, broad murals of humanity. Sometimes, his work could be claustrophobic, zero-ing on individual psyches, but it often reached for epic proportions and giant ensembles, juxtaposed dialogue galore. Over the next few days, various The Film Experience writers will say their piece about Altman, exploring his films from swinging sixties origins to 21st-century late works.

For our jumping-off point, let's go back to 1969, after Altman had moved from industrial shorts to theater to TV and then to feature cinema. Around the decade's twilight, the director kickstarted an unofficial trilogy about mad women that would later lead to Images and the glory of 3 Women. Yet, before those examinations of the feminine grotesque, it began That Cold Day in the Park…

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