Oscar Volleys: As usual, Best Live-Action and Documentary Short Film are hard to predict

The Oscar Volleys continue, even as the Academy Awards ceremony draws ever closer. Tonight, Cláudio Alves and Ben Miller discuss the Best Live-Action and Documentary Short races...

ANUJA | © Netflix

CLÁUDIO: Well, we're starting to run out of Oscar categories to discuss at The Film Experience. But we couldn't go into the season's pinnacle without giving some attention to the two least-loved races - Best Live-Action and Best Documentary Short Film. And look, I get it. AMPAS rarely showcases good short-form cinema, having a bizarre predilection for miserabilism and stupid twists, moral lectures, and very little audiovisual invention. Where is Godard, or John Smith, or Leos Carax, or Steve McQueen, or Laura Citarella, or Takashi Miike? Nevertheless, AMPAS' favorite miniature pictures deserve to be considered, and there's even a highlight or two to celebrate. Do you agree?

BEN: Every year, these categories give me something that really knocks my socks off. Even if you have something like Animated Short, those are usually very digestible or play in front of a wildly popular Pixar film.  That's not the case with these.  You really have to go out of your way to see these shorts, but they are so very worth it...

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The 13th Annual Team Experience Awards: WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT!

by Cláudio Alves

THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG | © NEON Rated

A couple of days before AMPAS announces their winners, it's time for the Team Experience to do the same. Nominations were announced ten days ago, with The Brutalist leading the tally board, earning mentions in seven different categories. However, unlike last year, the nomination leader did not take the top prize. Instead, The Seed of the Sacred Fig is our Best Picture pick, with Brady Corbet's Oscar-hopeful and Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine as Light tied for runner-up honors. Speaking of ties, we have three to report this year, including in the Best Director race.

Like always, remember that these honors are decided by The Film Experience writers, except Nathaniel, whose Film Bitch Awards are their separate thing. With that out of the way, here are our winners…

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Nathaniel's final predix: What kind of Oscar night will we be having?

by Nathaniel R

The big story from the SAG Awards last weekend was the continuing rise of Conclave and A Complete Unknown in the awards race. The fires in Los Angeles had previously wreaked havoc on people’s lives, many of whom work in the industry we obsess over so the event carried that story forward. More superficially (we recognize that this hardly matters in context!) the fires disrupted the usual flow from December’s mandatory “Best of” list explosion through the call and response of the various precursors and on to Oscar night. This makes it far more difficult than usual to predict what’s coming as there’s not necessarily any cause and effect from one event to the next given the messy timelines of voting. 

How much did the Emilia Perez scandal hurt a film oscar voters clearly loved in January? How many more voters watched I’m Still Here AFTER its surprising success on nomination morning? Do people love The Brutalist or merely admire it? Is Anora really out front as the DGA and PGA suggest? Will Conclave prove the adult contemporary tune that tops the charts amongst a sea of rowdy garage band hits (Anora, The Substance), folksy callbacks (A Complete Unknown) and would-be operatic bangers (The Brutalist, Emilia Perez, Dune Part Two)? I have so many questions...

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Oscar Volleys: Best Director Looks Like Baker v Corbet

The Oscar Volleys are back for some post-nomination talks. Today, Eric Blume and Nick Taylor discuss the Best Actor race...

A COMPLETE UNKNOWN | © Searchlight Pictures

ERIC: Nick, it's time for us to go tete à tete encore with another Oscar volley, this time for Best Director.  Before we get into the race itself, which seems probably between Brady Corbet and Sean Baker, how do you feel about the nominated five?

 

NICK: It's a respectable bunch! Generally speaking, I am a fan of the sheer ambition represented by everyone who is not James Mangold, and the success at realizing their vision represented by everyone who is not Jacques Audiard...

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Drag Race RuCap: “The Wicked Wiz of Oz: The Rusical!”

THE WIZARD OF OZ looks...different.

NICK TAYLOR: Can you believe our luck, going from a disappointingly mid Snatch Game to a snappy, entertainingly performed, bizarrely conceived Rusical? With a fabulous runway and a lip sync for your life where both queens are actively serving? That’s just about everything one could ask for on this show, with my one caveat being the least deserving finalist got the win this week. Even so, I loved this episode of Drag Race, which threw so many portents and standbys at me that I somehow convinced myself this episode’s somewhat inevitable elimination could surprise us with an unexpected victory. There’s so much drama, all of which is organically felt and most of which is seamlessly edited into the rhythms of the episode. Were you as big a fan of this episode as I was? 

CLÁUDIO ALVES: The only thing that would make it better would have been Onya messing up another girl’s outfit. But I guess we need to wait ‘till next week for that…

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