ICYMI - Best Picture "Split Decisions"

The "Split Decision" series was created by the Team here because we realized nobody ever fully agrees on any movie; That's part of their fascination and the fun of awards season (if you keep it civil of course... which the internet tends to struggle with). The series will return soon with the final episodes on Top Gun Maverick and Women Talking but if you're just rejoining us we've already covered the other eight Best Picture nominees so we'd love for you to join the conversations on All Quiet on the Western Front (on Netflix), Avatar (in theaters), Banshees of Inisherin (in theaters and on HBOMax) Elvis (on HBOMax)  Everything Everywhere All At Once (on Showtime and rentable), The Fabelmans (in theaters & rentable), TÁR (rentable) and Triangle of Sadness (rentable).

When we started the series we didn't know what would be Best Picture nominated so we also discussed Babylon and The Whale. How far do you suppose they were from the Academy's top 10 vote getters? Or was something else vying for 11th?  Should we do the Split Decisions series again in the future? We'd love to hear your input. 

Team Experience Oscar Prediction Results

How did you do on your predictions? Yesterday we published the final predictions from all Film Experience writers. While many of the expected films (Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Fabelmans, The Banshees of Inisherin) successfully made good on their Oscar promise, even we were stumped on a few nominees. Perhaps we should’ve taken Titanic stars Kate Winslet and Frances Fisher more seriously when they posted about Andrea Riseborough in To Leslie. However, we have the results of which writers came out ahead on our friendly competition!

So who won? Check out the score after the jump...

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Very Quick Oscar Nomination Reactions

by Nathaniel R

Obviously we will say much more (and update the charts) but for now, all the nominees and extremely short takes after the jump...

PICTURE

All Quiet on the Western Front
Avatar the Way of Water
The Banshees of Inisherin
Elvis
Everything Everywhere
The Fabelmans
Tar
Top Gun Maverick
Triangle of Sadness
Women Talking...

quick take

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Why isn't Oscar nomination day a Federal Holiday?

I ask myself this every January when guzzling coffee and settling in to watch the announcement. Who has the mental space to concentrate on other things when the Oscar nominations are read? Who has connections with the White House to make this Federal Holiday happen. This year it's Riz Ahmed and Allison Williams reading the lucky names (obviously we'll have much more to say about this later today and for the next couple of days. Behold...

Split Decision: Elvis

Team Experience has been pairing up to debate the merits of each big awards season movie. Here's episode 11 with Chris James and Glenn Dunks duking it out over Elvis. The series resumes will resume for a few final episodes after the nominations.

CHRIS: Well, well, well, Glenn. We meet again. Excited to talk about Elvis with you. Previously, I was a sourpuss about the cinematic excesses of Babylon. While I have mixed thoughts on Elvis, I think the excesses of this movie are more in service of the film and its titular subject. I went with a few friends to the Chinese Theater in Hollywood to watch it on opening night and had a blast reacting both with and at the movie. As a friend said to me, "maximalism is meant to provoke a response, even laughter." At the very least, Elvis is an enjoyable watch.

It's always good to see a movie for adults become a box office success, especially in the post-pandemic era...

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