Split Decision: "F1 The Movie"

In the Split Decision series, our writers pair up and face off on an Oscar-nominated movie one loves and the other doesn't. Or, in this case, both are "split" on. Today, BEN MILLER and NATHANIEL R discuss F1 The Movie...

F1 THE MOVIE - nominated for 4 Oscars including Best Picture

BEN: Of the Best Picture nominees, F1 is clearly the one that barely made the list.  We talked a bit about director Joseph Kosinski and his film during our Best Director discussion, but I'm curious where your thoughts on the film land.  

Personally, I feel like F1 is an entertaining carbon copy of Top Gun: Maverick, but with Formula One race cars instead of Navy fighter jets (in a good way).  It certainly did not sniff my top films of the year, but it felt like the Academy needed another mainstream hit to shut up the discourse machine for a few days.  On that front, I think they did a great job.  But, like I said, there is no world where F1 is one of the top ten films of the year, despite liking it.  It's too long and lazy at times, but I was never anything less than entertained.  I have a feeling you are not as high on it as I, and I'm pretty middling on it as it is...

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An Annual Round of Oscar Trivia Following The Nominations...

by Nathaniel R

Amy Madigan breaking things onscreen and off!

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THIS LIST IN THE COMMENTS. These stats will also probably show up on the Oscar charts too but why not collect them here first or simultaneously while still hopped up on Oscar fever...

RECORDS BROKEN OR SET

• Longest Gap Between Acting Nominations for a Woman
Weapons standout Amy Madigan's 40 year gap between Oscar nominations (her first nomination was in 1985's Twice in a Lifetime) is not an all time record but it is the record for a female actor...

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César Winners: David Fincher, "The Night of the 12th" and surprise presenter Brad Pitt

by Arnaud Trouve

Brad Pitt and Virginie Efira present the Honorary César to David Fincher

The 48th French César Awards were just held and, as expected, The Night of the 12th was the big winner. It won Best Film, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor and Best Male Newcomer, just like last year's champion Lost Illusions. Its two additional prizes were for Best Sound and Best Director. Dominik Moll almost broke the record at the Césars for the longest time between two directing wins (he previously won 22 years ago for the thriller With A Friend Like Harry)...

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Best of the 80th Golden Globes. Plus: Complete Winners List

by Nathaniel R

Colman Domingo presenting "Best DIrector" to Steven Spielberg

An awards shows on a Tuesday night? Chaos. But we kinda liked it. As the 80th Golden Globes evening began on the red carpet we learned (among other things) that red was the color of the moment, Jenna Ortega choreographed her own (viral) dance for Wednesday, Letitia Wright's favourite movie is I Tonya (of all things!) and Margot Robbie can cry on cue as precisely as Nelly does in Babylon. The night that followed was hit and miss. The hits were familiar: the palpable joy that so many stars expressed at being back in rooms together, the sight of very enthusiastic and possibly drunk tables (Abbott Elementary, Banshees of Inisherin, The Fabelmans and Everything Everywhere All At Once showcased most prominently), and as ever moving speeches, and even a few stellar presenter “bits”.

There were misses, too, including at least four absent winners (Zendaya, Costner, Seyfried, Blanchett) which always brings the mood down...

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Split Decision: "Babylon"

No two people feel the same exact way about any film. Thus, Team Experience is pairing up to debate the merits of each of the big awards season movies this year. Here’s Chris James, Ben Miller and Glenn Dunks duking it out over Babylon.

CHRIS: Hey Glenn and Ben, happy to chat with you on the most talked about/least seen movie of the holiday season. Oscar winner Damien Chazelle's big budget tale, Babylon, opened with $3.6 million over the holiday weekend. I hate to be the person to kick a movie when it's down. It benefits no one for an original auteur project to flop. However, I found Babylon to be an all-out disaster. Its grand scale debauchery grows stale with each passing scene, with nothing ever exuding sexiness or splendor. 

Much could be saved if Chazelle had a clear thesis with the movie, or engaging characters to follow. Unfortunately, Chazelle never quite knows whether to vilify or exalt Hollywood; instead, we just get a confused portrait of the silent era that feels neither real nor heightened. Despite a game performance from Margot Robbie, none of the central three characters jump off the screen because they don't have a strong, propulsive want. They do wild and crazy things, but the movie never bothers giving any of their actions a strong enough motivation. Maybe I'm just being the Grinch of Babylon. What are both of your thoughts on Babylon? Were there any elements that really worked - or didn't - for either of you?

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