Oscar Volley: Best Actress. You can sit with us.

Team Experience is discussing the various Oscar categories. Here's Nathaniel, Ben Miller, Mark Brinkerhoff and special guest Nick Davis to discuss Best Actress.

NATHANIEL: I've been thinking a lot about what the characters and not the nominated actresses would make of all the competitive hoopla around the Best Actress Oscar this year. Photographer Janis (soulfully embodied by Penélope Cruz) wouldn't quite want all the eyes on her but she'd keep busy and turn her lens on her fellow nominees. She'd stick around for all the events.  Professor Leda (Oliva Colman in all her complexity) and Princess Diana (anxiously inhabited by Kristen Stewart), who I'd never otherwise pair in thought, would both surely acknowledge the honors while eyeing the nearest exit and counting the minutes until they could escape. They would skip anything non-mandatory.  Lucille Ball (surprisingly portrayed by Nicole Kidman) would be the consummate star and pull all the focus... but what would she actually be thinking about in the glow of all the lights? Only Tammy Faye (enthusiastically reincarnated by Jessica Chastain) might truly enjoy it. She would be very extra about campaigning and thoroughly enjoy the circus of it all.

Am I stalling due to utter suspense about who might win? Sure...

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Oscar Volley: Who will win Song & Score?

by Team Experience

NATHANIEL R: Hello Matt, Eurocheese, and our special guest Thomas Mizer, who has guest blogged here before and who is an Emmy-nominee as a lyricist for The Marvelous Mrs Maisel. We won't ask Tom to sound off on the Best Song nominees (too close to home) but we do need his input on Best Original Score. In fact, I personally need all of your input on Original Score. I recognize fully that Scores are way up there with Editing in how they can make or break a movie, but unlike with editing (which I am fairly well versed in), I am not particular adept at noticing what composers are doing or how they're doing it. I hate to admit this because I love Nicholas Britell's work (generally speaking) but I honestly didn't realize Don't Look Up had a score. I thought while watching it that it was mostly song cues and dialogue. So I need your collective help. Who are you rooting for and why and who do you think might win? 

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Oscar Volley: Best Costume Design, Makeup & Hairstyling

Team Experience is discussing the various Oscar categories. Here's Cláudio Alves, Gabriel Mayora, and Nathaniel Rogers to discuss the Best Costume Design and Best Makeup & Hairstyling races.

NATHANIEL ROGERS: Hello Cláudio and Gabriel. Ready to get dressed up? Picture me speaking to you in Stanton Carlisle tux and blindfold from Nightmare Alley and tell me what you're wearing. So many outfits from the five Oscar-nominated films are fully visible to me even with my eyes closed they were so memorable. In short, I think this is a strong Oscar list, even if my own ballot only overlaps by two pictures.  The Costume Design Guild Awards were held last week and Cruella, Dune, and Coming 2 America emerged as the winners for Period, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, and Contemporary respectively. Since Oscar rarely honors contemporary work only the prior two are nominated at the big show on March 27th. They're up against Cyrano, Nightmare Alley, and West Side Story. Though I am constitutionally opposed to the all too common internet and pundit trend of handing out Oscars before all the films have been screened in any given year, I will admit that this was a rare case when I did. At least inside my own head. As soon as Cruella reached its garbage-dress reveal, my jaw-dropped and I thought 'game over. Engrave the Oscar' while sitting in the theater. Way back in May...

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Oscar Volley: Best Picture in the final days...

Team Experience is discussing the various Oscar categories. Here's Baby Clyde, Elisa Giudici, Abe Friedtanzer and  Eric Blume to discuss Best Picture. We're not saving it for last. This conversation began BEFORE the PGA went to CODA but ends afterwards...

the five films with the most nominations this year.

ABE FRIEDTANZER: I'm thrilled to be talking the top Oscar prize with my esteemed colleagues Eric, Elisa, and Baby Clyde. I do think there's plenty to discuss here, but I believe that one film is very far out in front. That's The Power of the Dog, of course, which some may doubt after it missed out on an ensemble nomination from SAG. There is absolutely momentum for CODA after its win there and its triumph the night after that with the Hollywood Critics Association. But Dog also underperformed with nominations from the latter group, so the comparison isn't all that helpful. There just isn't enough going against Jane Campion's western for it to lose, in my opinion. But there are nine other nominees, and at least a few of those will siphon votes. Aside from CODA, King Richard gets a boost from its ACE Eddie win, and Drive My Car is worth considering since it hasn't been in competition with many other groups. What films do you think are still in the mix?

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Oscar Volley: A deep dive into Best Actor

Team Experience is discussing the various Oscar categories. Here's Cláudio Alves, Michael Cusumano, and Elisa Giudici to discuss Best Actor.

ELISA GIUDICI: Last year, we thought this Oscar was locked by Chadwick Boseman's intense performance. Yet we were surprised by the outcome, with Anthony Hopkins winning the golden statuette. The Academy was so confident about Boseman’s victory they moved the Best Actor category after Best Picture, the traditional one that closes the ceremony… only to stare at an empty stage, because the winner Anthony Hopkins was at home, sleeping. In 2022, Will Smith is the frontrunner in the Best Actor category. The odds are clearly in his favor…

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