Sarah Greenwood: From Narnia to Barbieland

by Cláudio Alves

Gerwig and Greenwood discuss BARBIE in a behind-the-scenes video. | © Warner Bros.Last Sunday, Sarah Greenwood officially became the most nominated production designer without an Oscar, breaking her tie with Nathan Crowley for the "Diane Warren" distinction. This year, she was nominated for Barbie, another triumph among many in a career spanning 1980s BBC miniseries to 21st-century Hollywood blockbusters.

Though many of her best works rely on a sense of material realism, the Greta Gerwig feature aimed for a sort of "authentic artificiality" where denying reality is a sort of reality into itself. For Greenwood, midcentury Palm Springs was a source of real-world inspiration to combine with Mattel's history, adding a sense of internal logic to Barbieland. Moreover, the aesthetic was sustained by old-school techniques like hand-painted backdrops and a practical fake sea, visible wires holding everything together in the loopy transitions between worlds. She used scale as a tool for wonderment, took cues from Gene Kelly musicals, and delivered a screen dream in fifty shades of fuchsia. Indeed, her team used so much pink paint that they caused an international shortage…

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Bella Baxter's Best Looks: A "Poor Things" Top Ten

by Cláudio Alves

The last time an Emma Stone movie won the Best Costume Design Oscar, I ranked her character's many looks. So, it seems appropriate to do the same this year. Once, there was Cruella, but now, one has Poor Things' Bella Baxter to consider. 

Breaking the trend of repeat winners and legendary designers finally getting their due, Holly Waddington is a relative newcomer to the costume design big leagues, even though she has worked with names like Sandy Powell and Jacqueline Durran during her tenure in Angels Costume House. Training her craft in that famed establishment, the designer specialized in period costuming, though she's hardly a stickler for historical accuracy. Bored by exact recreation, the artist prefers to play with anachronism, making her a perfect fit for Yorgos Lanthimos' cinema. Indeed, she met the director through Tony McNamara after she costumes The Great's pilot, another take on period regality with a wacky twist…

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Split Decision: "The Color Purple"

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 Ben Miller and Eric Blume on The Color Purple…

BEN:  When it comes to Blitz Bazuwale's The Color Purple, I am supremely positive on the film. It's nice to have a film filled with unbridled energy and verve. I don't necessarily see it as a big loser when it comes to Oscar, but I think it deserves much more than it got.

What are your generalized thoughts on the film's quality?

ERIC:  Ah Ben we're going to have a good time with this one!  I watched The Color Purple with my jaw dropped, finding it almost unfathomable how terrible it was.  Like, I couldn't quite believe it... 

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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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Almost There: Barry Keoghan in "Saltburn" & Andrew Scott in "All of Us Strangers"

by Cláudio Alves

Earlier this week, the Almost There series returned with a look at Penélope Cruz's failed bid for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. Now, it's time to move on to Lead Actor, where the season's most prominent contender without a nomination was Leonardo DiCaprio in Killers of the Flower Moon. But since you're probably tired of reading my defense of Scorsese's latest, I decided to focus on two others instead. The first victim is Barry Keoghan in Saltburn, for which he was nominated at the Golden Globes, BAFTAS, and Critics Choice Awards. Our second sacrifice is Andrew Scott, whose campaign for All of Us Strangers was full of passion but few actual plaudits. There were nominations at the Globes, Spirit and British Independent Film Awards, little else...

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