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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Oscar Volley: Is an upset possible in "Best Editing"?

It’s that time again! Lynn Lee and Eurocheese discuss the Oscar race for Best Editing.

the Best Editing nominees

LYNN: Happy peak Oscar season, Eurocheese! Excited to discuss the editing category with you. Overall, this is a strong if relatively unsurprising lineup. I, for one, am absolutely delighted Sentimental Value made it in – that final scene in itself deserves all of the awards. And I can see the merits in the other selections, even if the Academy once again went with all Best Picture nominees (yawn). But then it’s been almost a decade since they included any non-BP nominees. So I will just sit in the corner and shed my own quiet tear for the unsung A House of Dynamite, which deserved more awards love in general but in this category in particular. At least the BAFTAs recognized that!

What are your thoughts on the nominees? And do you think the winner will also win Best Picture (for the fourth year in a row)?

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Eye Candy Predix Pt 1: Who will be nominated for Best Cinematography?

by Nathaniel R

F1 The Movie - shot by Claudio Miranda

Eye-candy. It's a good chunk of the reason we obsess over cinema, a gloriously visual artform. Films which don't maximize the capabilities of cinematography, costumes, and production design often risk looking dull or under-thought by comparison to those that use everything the cinematic toolbox has to offer. It should go without saying that Oscar predictions do not necessarily mean that these are the titles which will excel in any given craft area -- we all know that Best Picture heat gets you further than it ought to  in every category... yes, even the ones you deserve to be competitive in! All categories should be judged on their own exquisite merit. Neverthless here is some guesswork about what Oscar voters might respond to this year in terms of these visual arts...

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Last night I caught an IMAX screening of Joseph Kosinski's latest all quadrant hopeful, F1: The Movie. It's received a bit of breathless Variety hype for Chilean DP Claudio Miranda's work...

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