"Shoplifters" wins the APSA. On its way to an Oscar nod?

by Nathaniel R

Hello awards-enthusiasts! Since Glenn Dunks is returning to his Doc Corner series later today after his annual duties at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, we realized we'd forgotten to list the winners and it's quite a good batch. Big prizes went to three currently buzzy foreign film Oscar hopefuls: Shoplifters (Japan), Burning (South Korea) and Capernaum (Lebanon). The first two are in theaters now in the US right now and Capernaum opens on December 14th. They're all terrific films and have to be considered very real threats for Oscar nominations. But it's true that that particular category is super competitive so virtually any high profile title might miss the shortlist. [Before we hear who nabbed the 5 nominations on January 22nd, the Academy will narrow that huge 87 film list down to just 9 contenders on December 17th.]

The list of APSA winners along with a few acceptance speeches after the jump...

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Salim Gives Thanks

Team Experience members were invited to give thanks this week so you'll be hearing from a few of us. Here's Salim Garami...

What's good?

2018 has proven to be a very busy year for yours truly, hence my radio silence here in The Film Experience (I didn't have much time to write on my own personal blog Motorbreath). But it has also proven to be a surprisingly rewarding year for me, both in my personal life after much hassle earlier in the year and run-around later in the year (I have been going back-and-forth between not two but THREE U.S. cities for professional reasons) and in cinema

I think 2018 has been one of the best moviegoing years I've experienced in my whole life. So many surprises and experiments, so many crowdpleasers where I am proudly on that bandwagon, a couple of Oscar contenders that I actually enjoyed. And there's no shortage of music, television, or literature from this year amusing me in some way or another as well so let's dig in...

• Comedic songwriter/teleplay writer/critical writer extraordinaire Demi Adeyugibe has blessed us with not one but TWO funny "fake" credit songs for the nerdiest tentpoles of the summer: Future imitation "Snap" for Avengers: Infinity War and the compulsively catchy Childish Gambino imitation in "L-A-N-D-O" for Solo: A Star Wars Story.

• Tom Cruise trying to figure out where the "payload" is at and finding a giant switch saying "payload" in the helicopter chase climax of Mission: Impossible - Fallout...

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Jóhann Jóhannsson (1969-2018)

by Nathaniel R

Photo by Timothée Lambrecq

Tragic news: The gifted Icelandic film composer Jóhann Jóhannson, who lived in Berlin, died on Friday at only 48 years of age. The cause of his death is not yet known...

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YNMS: Mother!

Jason from MNPP here with our first look at the trailer for Darren Aronofsky's Mother!, or as it's known around these parts That New Michelle Pfeiffer Movie! The exclamation point in the actual title definitely stands for "That New Michelle Pfeiffer Movie!" at least. It's been seven full years since Black Swan came out (I am pretending Noah didn't happen at this point, but perhaps I'll reassess it in another decade) and this feels, at first glance, like similar territory for the director. Watch:

So Jennifer Lawrence is happily partnered with Javier Bardem until Ed Harris and Michelle show up, at which point the walls begin to crumble and swarms of looky-loos come hustling out of the forest? I mean isn't that what happens whenever Michelle shows up somewhere? Let's "Yes No Maybe So" this sucker (and watch me have trouble coming up with the latter two!) after the break...

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Oscar Trivia: "Arrival" and Best Original Score Eligibility

by Chris Feil

Like his Denis Villeneuve Sicario collaboration last year, Jóhann Jóhannsson's score for Arrival is powerful and one of the most memorable components of its film. One of the special aspects of Jóhannsson's work with Villeneuve is how his scores both embody and inform the thematic landscape of the film. The composer was Oscar nominated for his pulsing Sicario score and you can easily imagine him returning this year.

But before we guess too quickly, take stock of the moving final piece that plays over the film's finale because you may have heard it before. The gorgeous track, "On the Nature of Daylight", is actually by Max Richter and has been used in previous films like Shutter Island.

None of this is to discredit Jóhansson's terrifying and soulful work, but one wonders if such prominent and integral use of Richter's work could hurt the composer's nomination chances...

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