Oscar History
Film Bitch History
Welcome

The Film Experience™ was created by Nathaniel R. All material herein is written by our team.

This site is not for profit but for an expression of love for cinema & adjacent artforms. 

Powered by Squarespace
DON'T MISS THIS

Follow TFE on Substackd 

COMMENTS

Oscar Takeaways
12 thoughts from the big night

 

Keep TFE Strong

We're looking for 500... no 390 SubscribersIf you read us daily, please be one.  

I ♥ The Film Experience

THANKS IN ADVANCE

What'cha Looking For?
Subscribe

Entries in FYC (244)

Sunday
Dec082019

Ana de Armas and the perils of playing a good person

by Cláudio Alves

When looking at the 94 performances which have conquered the Best Actress Oscar, some jump out as weird anomalies. It's not so much a question of the actor's work as it's an issue of character type. Good people are rare. Not those who are idealized icons or martyred by nightmarish cruelty, but the few that are just regular decent folk. That's one of the reasons Emma Thompson's Margaret Schlegel from Howards End seems so out of place, for instance. She's an average person who seems intrinsically decent but whose goodness isn't simplistic sainthood. More importantly, she's all that but isn't boring to watch.

That's a rare feat and few actors can accomplish it. In screenplays, such roles tend to look simplistic and lacking in substance. Just think of how insufferable Cosette tends to be in Les Misérables or how unconvincing Jane can be in Pride & Prejudice adaptations. Tom Hanks is one of those rare performers who can take such a role and play it to perfection, bringing humanity to decency and making ordinary kindness interesting to watch. Emma Thompson is another. And, in a delightful surprise, so is Ana de Armas…

Click to read more ...

Tuesday
Nov262019

FYC: Lulu Wang for Best Director

by Cláudio Alves

With the advent of Awards Season, we have to contend with the disappointment that always comes hand-in-hand with the excitement and the joy. No matter how much great work is nominated and rewarded, there's always a snub to point out and cry over. The recent Independent Spirit Awards nominations perfectly exemplify such dynamics. This year, they decided to spread the wealth and ignored the Siren's call of just nominating Oscar-viable titles. All in all, it's a wonderful collection of honors and achievements, but even here there is cause to complain about the dreaded snubs.

Why didn't Lulu Wang score a nomination for Best Screenplay or Best Director? How can The Farewell be up for Best Feature and not for either of those awards?...

Click to read more ...

Monday
Oct212019

The costumes of “Judy”: Fantasy vs Reality

by Cláudio Alves

When dressing a real-life story, there’s always a complicated relationship going on between a designer and History. The balance of fact and fiction, raw reality and cinematic fantasy, must be achieved and thought through. Depending on the project, the scales might tip towards one or the other, but both are always dancing hand-in-hand. Such sartorial dynamics might reflect the production’s relationship with fact or even contradict that preoccupation, either supporting an idea of History or silently challenging it.

For Judy, costume designer Jany Temime helped transform Renée Zellweger into Judy Garland, a process that was much more complex than simply looking at archival material and reproducing past fashions…

Click to read more ...

Friday
Oct042019

FYC: "Hustlers" for Best Costume Design

By Cláudio Alves

The Academy rarely recognizes the greatness of contemporary costume design. They're caught in an endless love affair with period pieces and fantasy extravaganzas. I Am Love is the last true contemporary-set film (give or take La La Land’s dreamy vision of Los Angeles) to receive such an honor without any fantastical element and that was almost a decade ago. 

This year would be a great time to break with tradition. In fact, no snub in the upcoming Best Costume Design category will hurt as much as Hustlers'. Lorene Scafaria’s electrifying drama is a luxurious feast of late aughts fashion and purposeful ostentatiousness... 

Click to read more ...

Thursday
Oct032019

Will the Academy honor the epic feat of "Avengers: Endgame"?

by Abe Fried-Tanzer

Back in July, Avengers: Endgame surpassed Avatar for the title of the highest-grossing film of all time worldwide. You’d think that would mean that nearly everyone who goes to the movies has seen it. At a guild screening in Los Angeles earlier this week, however, nearly half the audience put their hands up when asked if they were seeing this three-hour blockbuster for the first time. Writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who were on hand for a Q & A, were surprised and almost delighted by this showing...

Click to read more ...