Oscar Volleys: Best Costume Design is all about opulence - you own everything.

Team Experience will be discussing each Oscar category as we head into the precursors. Here's Cláudio Alves and Elisa Giudici with a conversation on Best Costume Design... 

"Babylon" | © Paramount Pictures

CLÁUDIO: Just as we're starting this conversation, I see my TL full of early reactions to Babylon, which was screened at long last. It still feels too soon to predict how the movie will do, whether critically or in the awards race, but it'll be polarizing. Some love it, some hate it, and the same singular elements have been recipients of both praise and loathing. With all this in mind, we can consider Babylon's chances in the Best Costume Design category. Honestly, at this point in the season, it feels like one of only two locks in the race…

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Horror Costuming: "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?"@60

by Cláudio Alves

I had such grand plans for October. There was going to be plenty of spooky season with horror-themed write-ups and the return of my miniseries on scary movie costumes. But then COVID hit, and then the flu -- it's been a perpetual state of foggy-brained sickness. Still, it wouldn't do to let October end without one Horror Costuming post. even if I have to write the damned thing in between coughing fits. Since I already wrote about one one genre pic that won the Costume Oscar (the Eiko Ishioka-dressed Dracula) let's look at another. On its 60th anniversary, let's discuss the essential What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, the genesis of the Grand Dame Guignol craze...

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Who will be nominated for Costume Design?

by Nathaniel R

Shirley Kurata's costumes for "Jobu Tupaki" in EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE are great chaotic fun

Let's tackle each Oscar category while there's still wiggle room for all contenders! Last season Best Costume Design was sewn up (sorry!) unusually early in the year when Jenny Beavan's garbage dress unfurled midway through Cruella (2021) in the summer movie season. From then on it was everyone versus Cruella and Beavan came out on top for the third time in her delicious career. The costumes of 2022 haven't really had one showstopping gown to end everyone else's Oscar dreams so it's anyone's guess at this point.

Let's discuss 8 films we think are major threats for those 5 nomination slots and why. It seems natural to start with two films where fashion is a co-lead of sorts...

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The Best Costumes of 1997

by Cláudio Alves

Before we say goodbye to 1997 and move on to 1951, let's indulge in what has become a Smackdown tradition. After Nathaniel and his panelist do their Supporting Actress analysis and podcast discussion, it's time for some costume-related musings. Like most of the categories in that year's Oscars, the Best Costume Design race was won by Titanic, which shouldn't be surprising. Not only was the movie a sweeper, but its wardrobe has achieved iconic status in the decades since its original release. Deborah Lynn Scott makes for a just victor, not only because of her work's iconographic power but also because it works within the picture's purview of history and romance…

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Review: Lesley Manville in "Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris"

Who wouldn't want to travel with Lesley Manville to Paris this summer?By: Christopher James

Make Lesley Manville the star of every movie. I’m serious, Hollywood. Do it. As the titular character in Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, the Oscar nominated character actress brings heart, humor and gumption to her Cinderella-esque heroine. Even from the trailer alone, you can understand the type of frothy entertainment that awaits. The movie attempts to go a bit deeper at times, but it more or less lives up to what the trailer advertised. This is a light, fun time at the ovies with beautiful gowns and great performances. What takes it from a watch-on-a-plane movie to a must-see matinee is a galvanizing and endearing performance by Manville.

We find our titular character, Ada Harris (Lesley Manville), in the midst of bad news...

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