Jack Fisk: From "Badlands" to "Flower Moon"

by Cláudio Alves

Jack Fisk as "Man in the Planet" in David Lynch's ERASERHEAD.

From Malick to PTA, going through De Palma and Lynch, Jack Fisk's contributions to American cinema are enough to take one's breath away. This year, he collaborated with Martin Scorsese for the first time and earned his third Oscar nomination for Killers of the Flower Moon. According to the designer, his director wanted his film to be "wide, big, like a western," and Fisk delivered.

Working primarily from historical documents, he dove deep into Osage country records to figure out the reality of the characters' lives, including which houses they once inhabited. He also dug through old buildings in search of period foundations and used original plans of buildings like the train station to recreate them as faithfully as possible. For the oil derricks, he recycled research he'd done for There Will Be Blood. In total, Fisk and his team built over forty interior sets, plus entire houses like Hale's ranch, and two blocks of Pawhuska restyled to represent the town of Fairfax across a decade of bloodshed. It's impossible to overstate the scale of his achievement. And yet, what would be other artists' crowning glory is just one among many such triumphs in Fisk's career…

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Split Decision: "Poor Things"

No two people feel the exact same way about any film. Thus, Team Experience is pairing up to debate the merits of this year’s Oscar movies. Here's Abe Friedtanzer and Nick Taylor on Poor Things…

NICK: Hello Abe! Congratulations on Poor Things winning the Team Experience Award for Best Picture. I’m glad a film that moves, sounds, and dresses in such an offbeat manner has become such a critical and popular hit. It’s always nice to see weird art winning. That being said, I don’t count myself as a fan of Poor Things, and have a lot of complaints I could throw at its many, many, unapologetic excesses. Still, I like starting these Split Decision panels on notes of praise, and I’d really love to hear what you think of Poor Things.

ABE: Hey Nick! Always happy to chat about movies. I had the pleasure of seeing Poor Things at the New York Film Festival back in September right after May December, a film that many liked that I did not. I've been a fan of Yorgos Lanthimos' since the incredible Oscar-nominated Greek film Dogtooth, and I found both The Lobster and The Favourite extremely interesting and engaging. I was very turned off, however, by The Killing of a Sacred Deer. Lanthimos' offbeat nature and his winning blend of pitch-black comedy and drama is usually quite effective, but Poor Things is a departure even from that…

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Split Decision: "Killers of the Flower Moon"

No two people feel the exact same way about any film. Thus, Team Experience is pairing up to debate the merits of this year’s Oscar movies. Here's Juan Carlos Ojano and Nathaniel Rogers on Killers of the Flower Moon...

CARLOS: Hi, Nathaniel! So excited to talk to you about this film. Confession time: this is the first time I've seen a Martin Scorsese film on the big screen, even though his works (Taxi Driver, Casino, The Departed, The Wolf of Wall Street, Silence, The Irishman) usually end up in my favorite films of their respective years. Maybe he is one of my favorite directors? But my respect for him goes beyond 'favorite'. This is also my first time seeing Leonardo DiCaprio (one of my favorite actors) on the big screen, with my "relationship" with him now spanning from Titanic to this. And my gosh, after months of buzz after its Cannes premiere, I can say I was floored and destroyed. Just in awe. I think it is one of the most powerful films I've seen from last year… 

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Drag Race RuCap: “See You Next Wednesday”

Like last year, Nick Taylor and Cláudio Alves are following and recapping RuPaul’s Drag Race season sixteen…

In design challenges, these two are unbeatable. They're dressmaking monsters!

CLÁUDIO: Another design challenge! What’s this, season 3? 

Regardless of repetition, it’s time for this year’s batch of queens to refamiliarize themselves with the sewing machines, for Drag Race has devised a challenge to celebrate Neo-Goth style. But of course, it’s closer to a Tim Burton lovefest, complete with Wednesday references and whatnot. Indeed, as much as I appreciated Kaia Gerber’s presence on the panel, MTV should have found a way to nab Colleen Atwood as the episode’s Extra Special Guest Judge - now there’s someone who knows how to make magic happen with black fabrics and a spooky outline. But maybe I’m getting ahead of myself...

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Best Supporting Actor Ballot, Theirs and Mine.

by Nathaniel R

OPPENHEIMER

Last time we discussed TFE's second favourite category (Best Supporting Actress)... or is it actually our favourite category given how often we speak of it? (hmmm).  Now it's time for the male half. Historically Best Supporting Actor, is dullest acting category at the Oscars. It's not just that the roles aren't always as interesting as those the women get to play, but that Oscar chooses so weakly.

Once again this season it's a category that feels a little thin with an obvious future winner who definitely has fine moments but doesn't exactly do anything with his role that dozens of other solid actors wouldn't have. You can guess that RDJ is not on my own ballot! Nevertheless, let's discuss Oscar's choices and my own dozen favourites from 2023 (and your favourites in the comments)... 

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