Almost There: Class of 2022

by Cláudio Alves 

The Oscar nominations have been announced, and, while some celebrate, others commiserate. The word snub is getting its yearly workout, though it's easy to see why it's on the tip of everybody's tongue. This was a hard-to-predict year full of volatile lineups, not to mention a couple of dark horses crashing the party after most had considered them over. Grassroots campaigns won out while the precursors' importance keeps dwindling, and first-time nominees are more numerous than they've been in decades. Amid the chaos, it's time to fulfill an annual tradition here at The Film Experience, honoring those performances that probably came close to Oscar gold but missed the ballot at the last moment. Without further ado, let's give a warm welcome to the Almost There class of 2022…

Click to read more ...

Sundance: Here are your 2023 winners!

by Cláudio Alves

Another year, another Sundance Film Festival reaches its end, concluding a grand celebration of independent cinema in the snowy Utah landscape. This edition, the reviews were especially glowing across the international press, with many a title earning acclaim - sadly, that's not always guaranteed. One of those productions was the eventual winner of the U.S. Dramatic Competition – A.V. Rockwell's A Thousand and One. The jurors (Jeremy O. Harris, Eliza Hittman, and Marlee Matlin) praised the film's tenderness and how it felt real, so and full of pain. In its citation, the jury further mentioned the project's fearless commitment to emotional truth born of oppressive circumstances. American audiences won't have to wait long to see this award-winning feat in theaters, as the film's scheduled for a March 31st release. 

After the jump, find the full list of winners and some stray observations…

Click to read more ...

Sundance: An Entertaining Love Triangle in ‘Passages’

By Abe Friedtanzer

What happens when you put Franz Rogowski (Great Freedom), Adèle Exarchopoulos (Blue is the Warmest Color), and Ben Whishaw together in a film directed by Ira Sachs (Married Life)? The result is Passages, a love triangle drama layered with humor about a filmmaker who finds himself simultaneously drawn to two different people…

Click to read more ...

Fantasy Cast 2022 Edition: Which Former Acting Winners Should Present For Each Oscar Nominee?

By: Christopher James

Here at the Film Experience, we think the longer the Oscar ceremony, the better - more glitz, more glamor, more movie stars! One of the best examples of this working out was the 2008 Oscars, where previous winners of each acting category gave a special presentation to each acting nominee (see this Supporting Actress example that Murtada wrote about). We did this exercise last year where we paired each nominee with the previous winner we would pair them with for this presentation. Now that we know this year’s acting nominees, we were eager to repeat for the 2022 crop of actors.

See who we would choose after the jump (and Oscar producers, please take these free ideas)...

Click to read more ...

Sundance: A Futuristic Parenting Comedy in ‘The Pod Generation’

By Abe Friedtanzer

Just how far are we from being able to manufacture babies without a woman actually having to be pregnant? According to Sophie Barthes, the writer and director of The Pod Generation, she conceived her film as science fiction but it should now be considered closer to documentary, given medical and technological advances that make its events feel not nearly as distant as they once did. The way in which she presents a couple deciding to have a baby leans decidedly towards the humorous, sending up the way society portrays pregnancy, motherhood, attachment, and much more.

In the near future, Rachel (Emilia Clarke) is a successful employee at a major tech company, and learns that, along with a promotion, she’s also eligible for a large subsidy for the Womb Project, which enables parents to grow a baby in a pod...

Click to read more ...