César Winners: Cate Blanchett, 'Annette', and 'Lost Illusions'

by Nathaniel R

Cate Blanchett and Isabelle Huppert backstage at the Césars (that's Ronald Chammah, Isabelle's man, between them)

France's top awards, the Césars, were held last night. The historical costume drama Lost Illusions which had led the nominations took home the most prizes including Best Film. But all was not lost for its competition since all but one of them won at least one César. The thorny musical tragedy Annette was the runner up in terms of wins even repeating the Best Director win at Cannes for Leos Carax. And of course Cate Blanchett took the Honorary César and was introduced by Isabelle Huppert herself.

The winners and comments and a few videos from the show are after the jump. (If we've written about the film, it's linked up)...

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César Nominations: 'Lost Illusions' and 'Annette' score but 'Titane' struggles

by Nathaniel R

France's own Oscar-like ceremony the Césars will take place this year on February 25th and they've just released their list of nominations. In a mild surprise this past summer's Palme d'Or winner Titane did not do well in the nominations scoring in only 4 categories (Director, Female Newcomer, Cinematography, and Visual Effects). Instead the nominations were led by the costume drama Lost Illusions (15 nominations) which premiered at Venice. Other quick items of note: Canadian writer/director/actor Xavier Dolan, a perennial favourite at Cannes, picked up his first César nomination (Best Supporting Actor). Adam Driver also received an acting nomination for the musical Annette (it's very rare for US stars to be nominated there). Cate Blanchett will be receiving the Honorary César this year. 

The nominations and a few comments are after the jump. If we've written about the film, it's linked up, and since we love French cinema we've covered quite a few of these...

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"Happening" and "Annette" win at the Lumières

by Nathaniel R

Some of you may recall that we were thrilled when Happening (also known as L'Evenement) won the Golden Lion at Venice this past September. Audrey Diwan's abortion drama, set in the 1960s when the procedure was still illegal in France, is a riveting film with a superb lead performance. It's also apparently popular in France since it's just won the top prize at the 27th annual Lumière Awards, France's other big movie award beyond their top industry prize (the César). César nominations hit on January 26th so we'll see how films like Titane and Happening and Annette do there, but we already know what the Lumières thought of those three films. The complete list of nominations and wins are after the jump. If we've written about the films there's a link...

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Original Song Oscar Finals: Listen to the Shortlisted Songs

Power couple Beyonce and Jay Z could fight it out at the Oscars this year.Last week, the Oscars published a list of 105 songs that qualified for the award. Today, that list has been winnowed down to 15 hopefuls, vying for the five Oscar nomination slots. Ten categories just got narrowed down today, and The Film Experience will be covering them all (such as International Feature). The Original Song category has gone through many ups and downs. It used to be the place for the biggest hits, such as “Last Dance” by Donna Summer and “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion. At its worst, it contained only two songs, one of which was “Real in Rio” from Rio. Will this year be a hit or a bust?

The fifteen shortlisted song includes songs from Grammy winners, Best Picture hopefuls, musicals and both Beyonce and Jay Z. Check them out after the jump.

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FYC: "So May We Start" for Best Original Song

by Cláudio Alves

On December 21st, the Academy will announce their shortlists in several categories, including Best Original Song. As usual, some mainstream triumphs feel like locks already, maybe not for the final lineup but certainly the roster of 15 finalists. Even before the movie was released, Billie Eilish had already won a Grammy for her Bond theme, "No Time to Die." Beyoncé seems like an inevitable nominee thanks to King Richard's "Be Alive." As for Lin-Manuel Miranda's work for Encanto, it's never a good idea to bet against Disney. In the midst of it all, the weird glory of Leos Carax's Annette may be forgotten, despite its vast score of original songs by the Sparks (Ron Mael and Russell Mael). Please, dear reader, allow me to make the case for that musical's first and best tune…

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