Oscar Volley: Is there space for supporting actors in the Best Supporting Actor race?

The Oscar Volleys are back! Tonight, it's time for Eric Blume and Cláudio Alves to discuss Best Supporting Actor...

Stellan Skarsgård in SENTIMENTAL VALUE | © Neon

ERIC: Hi, Cláudio. I'm very excited to tackle this year's Best Supporting Actor race with you! This is often the most boring acting category, but am I naive to think this year might be different? There are a lot of really fantastic performances that are not only nomination-worthy but win-worthy in my opinion. Are we to be disappointed that once the precursors start naming nominees, things will narrow too small too quickly? 

For the moment, it's an open book. I would love to discuss with you the two performances that do seem like locks even at this early stage: Sean Penn for One Battle After Another and Stellan Skarsgård for Sentimental Value…

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Venice: Noah Baumbach's Awards Hopeful "Jay Kelly"

by Elisa Giudici

George Clooney and Adam Sandler in "JAY KELLY" Photo by Peter Mountain © 2025 Netflix ,Inc

When Noah Baumbach presented White Noise on Netflix, expectations were sky-high: a star-studded cast, major ambitions, and the aura of a filmmaker fresh off Marriage Story. The film’s muted reception, however, seemed to threaten his trajectory, leaving a lingering sense of failure. Jay Kelly, his latest feature, feels like a response to that setback. Not so much a radical departure, but a project with a clearer aim: to offer George Clooney and Adam Sandler two roles carefully designed for visibility, prestige, and perhaps even awards...

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Almost There: Class of 2022

by Cláudio Alves 

The Oscar nominations have been announced, and, while some celebrate, others commiserate. The word snub is getting its yearly workout, though it's easy to see why it's on the tip of everybody's tongue. This was a hard-to-predict year full of volatile lineups, not to mention a couple of dark horses crashing the party after most had considered them over. Grassroots campaigns won out while the precursors' importance keeps dwindling, and first-time nominees are more numerous than they've been in decades. Amid the chaos, it's time to fulfill an annual tradition here at The Film Experience, honoring those performances that probably came close to Oscar gold but missed the ballot at the last moment. Without further ado, let's give a warm welcome to the Almost There class of 2022…

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Review: Adam Sandler's SAG-nominated ‘Hustle’

By Abe Friedtanzer

Twenty long years ago, popular comedian Adam Sandler was in serious awards conversation for the first time for his dramatic collaboration with Paul Thomas Anderson in Punch-Drunk Love. Three years ago, a handful of prominent citations and an Independent Spirit Award for Uncut Gems looked like it might finally help him breakthrough to a first Oscar nomination (it did not). Now, Sandler is somewhat unexpectedly making an awards play (sports reference?) again thanks to a surprise SAG nomination for his basketball drama Hustle, which is streaming on Netflix.

Sandler stars as Stanley Sugerman, a scout for the Philadelphia 76ers who becomes tired of missing his daughter’s birthdays each year while he’s traveling throughout Europe or somewhere else in search of the next great talent...

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An Awards Night in New York

by Murtada Elfadl

Award events where the winners have already been announced have a particular way about them. The speeches are mostly prepared before, and the winners  - or their publicists and the people behind their movies - have a say in who gets to present them with the award. Last night the New York Film Critics Circle presented their 2019 awards and here are some of the presenter / winner pairings and why perhaps they’ve been chosen.

Yahya Abdul Mateen / Lupita Nyong’o…. He played her dad in flashbacks in Us

Claire Denis / Mati Diop …. Diop was in Denis’ 35 Shots of Rum...

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