Monday, November 28, 2022 at 11:00AM We'll be polling Team Experience biweekly to get their (collective) take on the Oscar race. This week, the 'Big Six' categories and Screenplay prizes.
THE FABELMANS
;)
Click to get expanded view.It’s a dangerous business to be an early frontrunner. However, if anyone can handle that title, it’s Steven Spielberg...
Tuesday, November 15, 2022 at 9:30PM 
With The Crown's fifth season comes a new opportunity for the world to bask in the glory of Lesley Manville. As Princess Margaret, she's a charismatic scene-stealer, indulging in all the melodrama thrown at her whilst brandishing a cigarette holder like a conductor's baton. Though a fair share of high-class glamour characterizes both her new Netflix gig and the role that earned her an Oscar nomination, that's not always the register within which Manville moves. You could even argue that she built her career on playing the opposite sort of people, working-class characters like the titular Mrs. Harris in this year's Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris – another outstanding performance.
Another example is Mary in Mike Leigh's Another Year. Prior to Phantom Thread, that 2010 drama surely marked the closest the actress had ever come to Oscar gold…
Tuesday, November 8, 2022 at 11:00PM 
Happy belated birthday to Thandiwe Newton, who turned 50 last Sunday. From Flirting (1991) to God's Country (2022), the British actress has impressed across a variety of genres and roles, be they prestige melodrama or pulpy sci-fi. There's a tremendous flexibility to her screen presence, a vast range showcased even in projects that never quite rise to her level. Such is the case of Crash, Paul Haggis' divisive Best Picture winner, where Newton is just one thread within a broad tapestry of tricky racial dynamics, each storyline intertwining with ten others. Hyperlink cinema was all the rage in the 00s, and this particular example surely propelled Newton closer to the Oscar race than she'd been before or since.
Though it's no fun to look back on Crash, we shouldn't let the picture's general awfulness bleed into the memory of Newton's work. She's a beacon of quality, shining brightly amid the offensive generalizations which crash into sanctimonious incompetence…
Saturday, November 5, 2022 at 7:30PM by Nathaniel R
Kerry Condon is brilliant in "Banshees of Inisherin". Oscar nomination forthcoming
Early December has a way of suddenly narrowing down Oscar nomination dreams but until we get there, the year's most volatile acting category feels like Best Supporting Actress. From the plethora of films with multiple options (Women Talking, The Woman King, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Glass Onion, Tár, She Said) to stand-outs in films with male leads (The Banshees of Inisherin, Armageddon Time, Triangle of Sadness, The Whale, The Inspection) and one key still-to-screen performance (Jean Smart in Babylon), there are a lot of valid choices for Academy members. And that isn't even all of the options if they're feeling freethinking and adventurous this season (rare but one can always dream).
At this point we're predicting...
Sunday, October 16, 2022 at 10:06PM by Nathaniel R
Modering a Stephanie Hsu Q&A at Middleburg Film Festival
Here's the thing with weekend festivals. They are brutal with either/or decision-making. At the longer festivals you can promise that you'll catch up with a film later (or delude yourself into thinking you can... which has the same effect). At weekend festivals there's often only one chance to see a particular film. And the whole thing can feel over in a flash. I'm typing this on day four, closing day, because I haven't been able to get to it before now. On Day two I wasn't able to squeeze in many movies between one moderation gig (a special screening of Everything Everywhere All At Once with Stephanie Hsu, pictured above) and two sit down interviews but at least both of the movies were must-sees in terms of the Best Actor Oscar race...
