FYC: "Drive My Car" for Best Adapted Screenplay

by Cláudio Alves

Ryusuke Hamaguchi's Drive My Car, now in select theaters, is one of 2021's best films. Still, the Japanese Oscar submission is unlikely to feature much in the awards season beyond the International Film category. Or, at least, it seemed that would be the case. In a surprising turn of events, considering its fellow victors, Drive My Car won the New York Film Critics Circle award for Best Film. Whether this victory signals a shift in its fortunes is unclear. Though, if there was any justice in the world, Drive My Car would be one of the season's biggest contenders.

At the very least, it deserves strong consideration for its screenplay, an adaptation of Haruki Murakami's homonymous short story. From little more than 20 pages, Hamaguchi unspooled a majestic three-hour epic…

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"Licorice Pizza" it is for NBR

by Nathaniel R

The National Board of Review has spoken naming Paul Thomas Anderson's Licorice Pizza, the best of the year. The meandering 'California in the 70s' romantic comedy between a directionless 25 year old woman and a 15 year old child star/entrepeneur has delighted critics since it started screening and the NBR (though they're not a critics group) also felt the vibes. It's still shocking to me, personally that the internet isn't outraged about the plot alone (even though the film is careful about not really going there) while at the same time the internet loves to harass fully-grown adult stars with age differences. But... that's a distraction since social media outrage is a very different thing than awards organization proclivities.

The full list of winners, Oscar stats, and more NBR history including their 'recency bias' problems follow after the jump...

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Doc Corner: 138 titles qualify for Best Documentary Feature

By Glenn Dunks

The Academy has released the longlist of titles in competition for the Best Documentary Feature category. The number is 138, a significant reduction from previous years that were well over the 200 mark. According to The Wrap, it is the lowest number since 2015. That certainly makes our job easier as well as that of the Academy’s documentary branch members who now have to get this down to a list 15 before the final five are announced on nomination morning.

Why is the number so much lower? Well, there are three good reasons for that... 

1. There’s still a pandemic happening, so fewer documentaries have been made let alone released.
2. The eligibility year is also shorter given those first few months of 2021 don’t count.
3. A new Emmy rule states that any film on the Academy’s viewing portal cannot then qualify for the television academy’s awards so if producers make this choice now they can't unmake it.

The full list, links to reviews, thoughts and other musings after the jump…

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Best Supporting Actor is unusually confusing for mid-November!

by Nathaniel R

19 of the Oscar hopefuls in this category

If you've been reading The Film Experience for more than a year you already know that we do our best to avoid the typical Punditry habit of giving out Oscar statues before nominations are even announced. That's the super gross reductive part of Punditry and its far more exciting (and generous) to focus on who might and who should be nominated. Every once in a while the awards gods will comply and throw us a truly confusing race. Such is the case with Best Supporting Actor this season.

Depending on how you look at it there are anywhere from 10-20 contenders still in play and this is just the way we like it...

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Best Picture, Directors, Screenplays. Where are we at?

by Nathaniel R

With virtually every late year release, save arguably House of Gucci, meeting an enthusiastic response even if they weren't quite expected to (hello showbiz drama Being the Ricardos and all star satire Don't Look Up) and two more potential behemoths about to start screening (West Side Story and Nightmare Alley) the Best Picture race is yet more crowded and confusing. Let's break it all down...

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