TIFF 50: Musical mayhem in "The Testament of Ann Lee"

by Cláudio Alves

Why do we make musicals? What compels us to sing and dance our emotions, our spirits, our many meanings? Is it the communion of making yourself heard and seen by others? Is it the need to be witnessed? Does it have anything to do with a search for what lies beyond our everyday lives, an exuberant gesture reaching toward transcendence? It could be all of these possibilities at once or none whatsoever. Perhaps it's the same thing that compelled the Quakers to shake. By telling the story of Ann Lee, the founding mother of the Shaker sect, Mona Fastvold draws parallels between the two, studying, testing, and preaching the form of the musical, much like some might proselytize the Bible's teachings. 

The result is a movie musical like few others, a complicated mess of ideas and wild impulses, animated by a spirit unbound, unafraid to alienate or risk ridicule. The Testament of Ann Lee is, without a doubt, one of the most fascinating films of the fall festival season and, since experiencing it at TIFF 50, I haven't been able to stop thinking about what Fastvold wrought…

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The 13th Annual Team Experience Awards: WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT!

by Cláudio Alves

THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG | © NEON Rated

A couple of days before AMPAS announces their winners, it's time for the Team Experience to do the same. Nominations were announced ten days ago, with The Brutalist leading the tally board, earning mentions in seven different categories. However, unlike last year, the nomination leader did not take the top prize. Instead, The Seed of the Sacred Fig is our Best Picture pick, with Brady Corbet's Oscar-hopeful and Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine as Light tied for runner-up honors. Speaking of ties, we have three to report this year, including in the Best Director race.

Like always, remember that these honors are decided by The Film Experience writers, except Nathaniel, whose Film Bitch Awards are their separate thing. With that out of the way, here are our winners…

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Oscar Volleys: Best Director Looks Like Baker v Corbet

The Oscar Volleys are back for some post-nomination talks. Today, Eric Blume and Nick Taylor discuss the Best Actor race...

A COMPLETE UNKNOWN | © Searchlight Pictures

ERIC: Nick, it's time for us to go tete à tete encore with another Oscar volley, this time for Best Director.  Before we get into the race itself, which seems probably between Brady Corbet and Sean Baker, how do you feel about the nominated five?

 

NICK: It's a respectable bunch! Generally speaking, I am a fan of the sheer ambition represented by everyone who is not James Mangold, and the success at realizing their vision represented by everyone who is not Jacques Audiard...

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Oscar Volley: "Anora" takes the lead in Best Original Screenplay

The Oscar Volleys are back for some post-nomination talks. Today, Abe Friedtanzer and Eurocheese discuss Best Original Screenplay...

ANORA | © NEON Rated

ABE: Eurocheese, always a pleasure to get to talk to you about movies! I think we got a great category this time - Best Original Screenplay - which is actually quite a competitive race! The WGA rules meant that only two of the Oscar nominees are recognized by that guild too, which did make room for one of my favorite movies of the year, My Old Ass. But at the Oscars we have a race that's legitimately a three-way competition. I think we can safely rule out September 5, a film which I think is excellent but which didn't get any other nominations, including Best Film Editing, so I can't see a scenario where it has a path to victory here.

Similarly, A Real Pain, initially conceived as a potential frontrunner, missed the Best Picture list and only scored one additional nomination (which it can probably win) for Kieran Culkin. It's hard to see it having enough support here. That brings us to the other three nominees. I would have said Anora was the clear number one pick here, but precursors aren't looking that way.

Where do you think the race stands?...

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Split Decision: "The Brutalist"

In the Split Decision series, two of our writers face off on an Oscar-nominated movie one loves and the other doesn't. Today, Nick Taylor and Abe Friedtanzer discuss The Brutalist...

NICK TAYLOR: Hi Abe! I hope the cinematic year of 2024 and the numerical year of 2025 have been treating you well! Today we’re here to talk about The Brutalist, which is one of my favorite films from 2024 and one of the most nominated films at this year’s Oscars. Because this is the Split Decision series, I’m gonna guess you are not a fan of this film, or you’re at least more ambivalent about it than I am. But an object this self-consciously huge deserves to be argued about, and I would love for you to start us off by sharing what you think of The Brutalist.

ABE FRIEDTANZER: Hey Nick! I will say that I didn’t hate this film, and even found much to admire about it. I saw it at a morning press screening at the Toronto International Film Festival back in September, so early enough to not have heard much about it and to be able to fully appreciate it. I knew very little of the story, and so naturally my interest was piqued. As soon as the film ended, I wanted to research the true story, only to find out that its events were invented. I had seen Brady Corbet’s previous film Vox Lux (which I hated with a passion) as well as The Sleepwalker (directed by Mona Fastvold with a screenplay by her and Corbet, a role reversal of their duties on this film), which I liked much more. From what I could find, and have been able to since, it doesn’t seem like either of them are Jewish or have any Jewish heritage. Those two factors have irreversibly impacted my perception of the film and made it hard to truly process it in a positive way...

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