"45 Years," Ten Years Later...

by Cláudio Alves

The past is never gone. You think it is, fall into the comfort of believing it dormant, but one day, it awakens and rocks the foundations of the now. This is true of historical cycles, of political waves and culture and vales. It's true of love affairs, too. Of marriage and cinema. 45 Years is a rumination on such ideas, having premiered at the Berlinale a decade ago today, where it signaled the maturation of Andrew Haigh into one of Britain's most essential filmmakers after his promising beginnings in the realm of queer cinema - Greek Pete and Weekend. It also brought Charlotte Rampling out of the rarefied, vaguely alienated, auteurist plane she existed within for many decades, turning her into someone less adventurous cinephiles came to know and cherish.

She also became a first-time Oscar nominee thanks to Haigh's creation. 45 Years remains the crowning achievement of her career, and the same could be said of Tom Courtenay. The Berlinale Jury was right when it gave them both Silver Bears for their performances…

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Let's play the presenter game!

by Cláudio Alves

Over the past few weeks, we've heard news from the Academy about the 97th Oscars ceremony. For example, none of the Original Song nominees will be performed, a break with tradition that has caused some uproar within the industry. We'll also get to see the return of the Fab Five format for presenting the acting categories, where past victors introduce the year's nominees. In some ways, it feels like a welcoming of new faces to the Circle of Winners, though using these celebratory mini-monologues isn't to everyone's taste, especially when they came at the expense of proper Oscar clips. However, I confess that I am a fan, and just like last year, I invite you all to a game of conjecture. Let's see who'd be the perfect pairing for each nominee…

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Gold-Standard Roles: From Tony to Oscar

by Cláudio Alves

This season, Wicked hopes to translate some of its Tony glory to the Oscars, twenty years after the musical competed for Broadway’s highest honors. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, in particular, are now part of a long tradition of performers who took Tony-heralded parts and made them into Oscar success stories. Time will tell if either of them finishes the season with little golden men clasped tightly in their hands. Still, it’s already possible to contextualize them within this peculiar dynamic, this Tony-to-Oscar pipeline. Because we love lists and statistics here at The Film Experience, let’s recall every case when a Tony-nominated role earned itself AMPAS’ seal of approval…

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MONSTRO BEST ACTRESS - Vote Daily!

by Nathaniel R

THE SUBSTANCE

We’re updating all Oscar charts this weekend (if we can manage) and of course we start by spotlighting Best Actress, the category we live for as actressexuals. As is silly tradition, we like to mush all the contenders together and see what we’ve got. A unique caveat: it feels a little weird to play this game in a year where one of the nominees comes from a movie that does create a creature, “Monstro Elisasue”, by fusing women together. ANYWAY… If you stitch all of this season’s Best Actresses together your Bride of Frankenstein beauty is a 47 year old raven-haired American actress (with family ties to the UK and Brazil) enjoying her first ever nomination. Read on for more craziness...

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A Few Thoughts on the Golden Globes

by Nathaniel R

Screenshot from the Golden Globes 

Did you watch the Golden Globes Sunday night? The show was (mostly) bereft of the kind of shocks we got in the pre-reform era but in a year where crystal Oscar balls are still foggy with possibility -- seriously, which film is going to win Best Picture? -- there was still inherent drama in the opening of envelopes. At least on the film side; the TV prizes were a complete snooze fest, merely rubber-stamping September's Emmy wins! Spreading the wealth should not be such a difficult concept for awards voters but we live in an age of monopolies and oligarchs so maybe abundance it's just not a vibe for the entertainment industry these days. 

Emilia Perez (4 wins) and The Brutalist (3 wins) were all the rage with Globes voters. But did anyone else get a boost heading toward Oscar nominations?

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