Split Decision: “Society of the Snow”

No two people feels 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 Eric Blume and Cláudio Alves on Society of the Snow...

ERIC: Hi Cláudio, there are few finer, smarter people to discuss a film with than you.  So I'm looking forward to diving into J.A. Bayona's Oscar-nominated Society of the Snow.  To me, Bayona has delivered one of the best films ever in the "survival genre," a tiny slice of cinema that admittedly isn't for everyone.  And perhaps I'm a sucker for these tales, as I also loved the best most recent example, Danny Boyle's 127 Hours, as well.  But what I feel Bayona accomplished here, and it's no small feat, is a one hundred percent believable environment where he gets his actors to a level of despair and desperation very, very high, very, very early in the film and sustains it for almost two hours…

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Review: "About Dry Grasses" has a Novelistic Scope

by Nick Taylor

Are you, like the rest of us here at The Film Experience, furiously racing to catch up with some of last year’s most celebrated films before March 10th? Depending on where you live, there’s another certified banger making its way across the US and Canada this weekend. Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s About Dry Grasses likely made its biggest headlines out of Cannes for Merve Dizdar’s semi-surprising Best Actress prize against more internationally recognizable competition like the May December gals and newly Oscar-nominated Sandra Hüller. If you can believe it, Dizdar’s win is wholly deserving, and the film itself is remarkable…

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A Very French Scandal

by Cláudio Alves

The César Awards ceremony happens tomorrow, with Anatomy of a Fall poised for a sweep befitting its status as an Oscar darling. For some, its victory will taste like justice after what many have decried as a scandalous snub. After all, despite its acclaim, Justine Triet's film wasn't selected to represent France in the Best International Film race. Instead, the selection committee went with Trần Anh Hùng's The Taste of Things, which competed against Anatomy in Cannes, losing the Palme d'Or but nabbing the Best Director prize. The decision generated much press, with people decrying it as undue punishment toward Triet, who criticized Emmanuel Macron's government in her Palme acceptance speech.

However, this perceived indignity has led to its own backlash. Hùng's film has been belittled nonstop, including by Triet on social media. It all culminated with the César nominations, where France's Oscar submission got three "below-the-line" nominations and nothing else…

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Review: Mexico's Oscar Submission "Tótem" Is Finally In Theaters - See It As Soon as Possible

by Nick Taylor

You may have noticed the Oscar nominations were announced last week. I’m not super enthused about this year’s lineups, which has some predictable excellence without giving me any surprises to be psyched about. I’ve spent this week catching up on the International Film category, and for the second year in a row, I’m mostly underwhelmed by Oscar’s choices. But rather than solely ragging on the Academy’s choices, I’m here for celebration and advocacy. Tótem, the second film by writer/director Lila Avilés and Mexico’s Oscar-shortlisted submission, has been slowly rolling out in the US and other countries for the past week, and thank God for that. It’s one of the very best films of 2023 and deserves as big of an audience as it can get. Go watch it...

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The Oscar Shortlists are Here!

by Cláudio Alves

Like Scorsese's film, SOCIETY OF THE SNOW got into four different shortlists.

AMPAS has announced shortlists for ten categories, from International Feature to Makeup and Hairstyling. One can deduce plenty from the results, seeing what films overperform and which titles don't meet expectations. Well, at least that's true for the more general races. In something like International Feature, one can surmise other things, like the Academy's European bias, or how some titles are popular enough to make it there and Best Documentary. All in all, this should shake up predictions beyond these ten prizes, so there's much to analyze. After the jump, discover the complete lists and some additional commentary…

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