1 day til Oscar. What's your #1 wish for the ceremony?

A simple prompt today. The Oscars are tomorrow night. You've read our predictions, our category reviews, voted on the charts (hopefully), and seen most of the movies you wanted to.

So what's your #1 biggest wish for Hollywood's High Holy Night?

I'll go first: I want The Father to win Best Film Editing. That might seem like a strange request since it's not one of the headline categories but in most of the marquee categories, I'm either excited about the presumed winner or there are extenuating circumstances (usually previous rewards or loving the performances in similar amounts) preventing me from being too invested in the outcome. 

How about you? 

Westerns and the Best Cinematography Oscar

by Cláudio Alves

With News of the World nominated for the Best Cinematography Oscar, I started thinking about the relationship between the western and this particular craft and awards category. My relationship with the intrinsically American genre hasn't always been one of admiration, and for years I counted it among my least liked genres. However, some historical research and the watching of many fascinating classics made me reappreciate the possibilities of the western. I gained a new respect for its importance. The wondrous feats of cinematography had a lot to do with it… 

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Final Oscar Predictions. What a thrillingly confused year!

This article was originally published in a slightly altered version at Towleroad.

by Nathaniel R

The 93rd annual Academy Awards, happening this Sunday night, will not be business as usual. Yes, there are still message movies, biopics, expertly acted dramas, and various movie stars milling about dreaming of golden statues, but otherwise things are different. We’re already in late April for one when the Oscar season is usually a distant memory. The COVID-19 pandemic has made all awards shows into Zoom meetings with breakaway rooms, considerably lowering their appeal (and ratings). It’s been ages since we’ve been able to see celebrities on red carpets, interacting with each other, and holding their trophies. Frivolous as these pleasures may be, they are missed! Nevertheless the show must go on. This year’s ceremony is doing things a bit differently — how differently we won’t know until Sunday night — including a pre-show “Oscars: Into the Spotlight” where all five Original Song contenders will be performed.

So who is going to win this year? It’s anyone’s guess. Oscar pundits agree that this is the most confusing Oscar race ever in quite a few categories. That’s exciting and potentially embarrassing for anyone who loves the guesswork. Let’s get right to the possibly terribly misguided assumptions…

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John Waters @ 75: Polyester (1981)

Team Experience is celebrating John Waters for his 75th birthday this week

by Eric Blume

John Waters’ 1981 film Polyester satirizes the “women’s picture” genre, but in the way that only Waters would spin it.  His heroine, Francine Fishpaw, played of course by muse Divine, is trapped in a horrific marriage to the owner of the local porn movie palace.  Her daughter is a nympho and her son has taken his foot fetish to a comically violent place.  Sex and vice surround Francine, and she’s just soldiering on, nobly of course.

The beauty of Waters and his sensibility is this:  imagine someone making this movie today.  You can’t, because the basic elements are too far out there...

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2 days til Oscar.

by Nathaniel R

Streep's 2 wins

Our final predictions will be up tonight but until then let's share a bunch of lists using the number two as inspiration...

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