Split Decision: “Maestro”

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 Nathaniel Rogers and Cláudio Alves on Maestro...

NATHANIEL: Being on the defensive about a movie you love is always confusing. The internet has been throwing darts at Bradley Cooper's compelling and curious Maestro for months now and I will say that I'm glad to not be 'perpetually online' as I once was. For the most part I've been able to enjoy Maestro in piece. Until now in the "split decision" series. Haha. I first saw Maestro at the Paris Theater which is a famous old single-screen theater in Manhattan (the last of its kind here!) and located roughly in between Bernstein's two main NYC residences (The Dakota to the west and Park Avenue to the East). The theater was packed with older folks who knew who Leonard Bernstein was. I went with a group of friends who were visiting for Thanksgiving, two of whom are classical music-obsessed. It was the ideal venue and situation in which to see a flamboyant handsome old-school biopic about a 20th century giant who I was already an enormous fan of. I consider West Side Story the greatest musical ever written and Candide, Wonderful Town, and On the Town, all hold distinct pleasant memories for me from multiple periods in my life as a musical theater aficionado.

I bring this up because personal history and context of the moviegoing experience totally affects people's opinions on movies whether they'll admit to it or not. So, before this conversation I watched the first half of Maestro again as a refresher to make sure I wasn't overly influenced by that very memorable happy first viewing. I still love it on second viewing at home in a far less ideal setting…

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Split Decision: "Past Lives"

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 Mark Brinkerhoff and Lynn Lee on Past Lives...

MARK: Past Lives, fresh off its big wins at the Independent Spirit Awards, is, I think it’s safe to say, the indie darling of this Oscar season. American Fiction aside, no 2023 indie film seems to endure with as much feeling in cinephile's imagination than Past Lives, more than a year after its premiere at Sundance. But maybe I’m projecting here, because I love, LOVE, love! Past Lives, the beautiful, heartfelt film debut of real-deal filmmaker Celine Song. What say you?

LYNN: Past Lives is absolutely this year’s indie movie that could – the one that premiered with relatively little fanfare at Sundance only to build a tidal wave of support over the course of 2023. Not just support: love like yours, and not just love from critics, but from regular moviegoers. I can’t tell you how many friends or even casual acquaintances have told me, unprompted, that Past Lives was the best film they’ve seen in a long time...

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Split Decision: "The Zone of Interest"

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 Ben Miller and Nick Taylor on The Zone of Interest...

BEN: Hey Nick!  I will freely admit that The Zone of Interest haunted me in a way that I won't soon forget.  I consider it among the absolute best of the year and one of the most impactful Holocaust films to come out in some time.  The praise for the film is near universal, so I know that you thought it was just as exceptional as I did. We can be in agreement, and then call it a day.  Quick and painless...you thoughts?

NICK: I am definitely haunted by it! There’s plenty to admire in Jonathan Glazer’s direction, and I can’t deny I was taken aback by its provocations when I watched it. But even without the comparison to Glazer’s previous stone-cold masterpieces, I felt myself disengaging from the movie’s rhythms as it went on. Intellectually, I get why we’re kept at such a remove from the Höss family, and what the oppressive sound design and spycam cinematography are meant to convey about these people. I swear I do. But this did not connect with me the way it clearly has with you, and I would love to hear more about why this is one of the best movies of the year for you . . . .

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Split Decision: “American Fiction”

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 Lynn Lee and Cláudio Alves on American Fiction...

LYNN LEE: Hi Cláudio - looking forward to a friendly fisticuffs (is there such a thing? at TFE, yes!) on American Fiction, one of my favorite movies of 2023. 

I have to admit I'm a little self-conscious about ranking it so high in a year filled with noteworthy films.  It wasn't a cultural behemoth à la Barbenheimer.  It's not the work of a known auteur or a rising one; it doesn't have the weird-cool vibe of a Poor Things or the wistful-cool cachet of a Past Lives.  Visually, it's not particularly interesting.  Thematically, it follows in the footsteps of other, similarly themed movies about Black artists confronting racial pigeonholing and stereotypes - from The 40-Year-Old Version to Bamboozled all the way back to Hollywood Shuffle - but made significantly more palatable (I won't say diluted) for mainstream audiences...

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One Week Later - Nomination Joys

by Nathaniel R

Mark Ruffalo in "Poor Things"

You've had time to thoroughly process the Oscar nominations and time to finish the quick grief cycle around "snubs". It's time to look on the bright side. We polled our team on which nominations, above and below the line, gave them the most joy. Here are their answers. We hope to hear yours, too, in the comments...

BIGGEST JOY (Above the Line)

Comedic performances rarely get any sort of recognition, and we had THREE in the same category! 

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