BSFC, LAFCA, and NYFCO winners

by Nathaniel R

"ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED" won three more prizes today

A big Critics awards day today the night before Oscar begins voting on its finalist lists for the categories that use that process (i.e. not the ones that get the most press). After the jump one of the three most important critics associations, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, plus the enduring and usually interesting Boston Society of Film Critics, and the relatively new group New York Film Critics Online (not to be confused with the biggie, NYFCC, which already announced).

Today's three critics groups had some similaries but agreed unanimously on two things: Ke Huy Quan for Best Supporting Actor and All the Beauty and the Bloodshed for Best Documentary. We're happiest of course with complete disagreements since TFE loves the spreading of wealth. Best Animated Feature and Best Supporting Actress for example, resulted in a different winner at each of these orgs. Winners and a few comments are after the jump...

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Review: "One Fine Morning" is the gentlest of gut punches

by Cláudio Alves

Autofiction isn't a new phenomenon, whether in film or other arts. Nevertheless, more and more directors are dipping their toes into pools of navel-gazing introspection. For some auteurs, however, there has never been another way of making art. Take Mia Hasen-Løve as an example. Her cinema has always manifested as a reflection of lived experience, pulling from personal details in gradations of openness, extrapolating narrative honesty as a conduit for building humanistic pieces. Empathy is the tenet of her cinema, not just between audience and characters but between the filmmaker and her creation. At least, that's the feeling that persists after one leaves the theater, still dazed by the director's work. 

Within this context, it means a great deal to state that One Fine Morning, Mia Hansen-Løve's latest, might be her most personal project to date…

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Oscar Volley: How do you choose only 15 finalists for "Best International Feature"?

Team Experience will be discussing each Oscar category as we head into the precursors. Here’s Elisa Giudici and Abe Friedtanzer…

Argentina, 1985

ELISA: Abe, have been handed one of the toughest Oscar volleys of the year. The Best International Film category is maddening: more than 90 possible contenders, the majority of whom are still unavailable. My first impression this year is that no movie has already locked up a nomination. There is no Parasite, no Another Round, no crystal-clear, 100% sure contender who can sleep tight until the nomination morning. Do you have the same impression? 

There are of course some strong contenders in the category, such as Argentina, 1985. I saw this movie in Venice and underestimated its crowdpleasing power...

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Golden Globe Predix. Which movies / celebrities will they love most?

by Nathaniel R

Do people remember that the original AVATAR triumphed at the Globes. Might AVATAR THE WAY OF WATER repeat?

The Golden Globe nominations arrive on Monday morning. The HFPA has been (mostly) dormant since their broadcast banishment but they hope to be back on the mainstream audience's radar this year. They've been doing internal reforms and recruiting new members, so predicting them is theoretically a whole new ballgame.

Both Tom Cruise and Brendan Fraser have both been outspoken anti-Globe celebrities and the Globes have also been taken to task for racial biases. Either of these things might play into voting or they might not. Because you need a guiding principal for wide open contests like this, the one I've chosen is assuming they'll love Elvis (a very Globes-friendly film) and Banshees of The Inisherin the most.  Who knows how they'll vote but let's try to predict anyway.  But let's try anyway... 

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Best International Film Reviews: Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela

by Cláudio Alves

Sometimes, it feels as if Latin-American cinema is doomed to be forever underappreciated. Earlier this month, the Sight & Sound list notably ignored films from the Americas beyond US-made pictures. At the Oscars, the situation isn't much better. Since 2010, one can only find six Latin-American nominees out of sixty in Best International Film. (Sadly, the problem persists, though Argentina, 1985 and Bardo both might make the shortlist this year.) In no way does this reflect the realities of international cinema or even the quality of Latin submissions for the 95th Academy Awards. There are plenty of outstanding achievements to appreciate once you look beyond the buzzy titles…

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