Split Decision: “American Fiction”

No two people feels the exact same way about any film. Thus, Team Experience is pairing up to debate the merits of this year’s Oscar movies. Here’s Lynn Lee and Cláudio Alves on American Fiction...

LYNN LEE: Hi Cláudio - looking forward to a friendly fisticuffs (is there such a thing? at TFE, yes!) on American Fiction, one of my favorite movies of 2023. 

I have to admit I'm a little self-conscious about ranking it so high in a year filled with noteworthy films.  It wasn't a cultural behemoth à la Barbenheimer.  It's not the work of a known auteur or a rising one; it doesn't have the weird-cool vibe of a Poor Things or the wistful-cool cachet of a Past Lives.  Visually, it's not particularly interesting.  Thematically, it follows in the footsteps of other, similarly themed movies about Black artists confronting racial pigeonholing and stereotypes - from The 40-Year-Old Version to Bamboozled all the way back to Hollywood Shuffle - but made significantly more palatable (I won't say diluted) for mainstream audiences...

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Godzilla's Not-So-Anonymous Oscar Ballot

by Cláudio Alves & ???

Despite new Academy rules prohibiting such activity, the final Oscar voting period once again coincides with a slew of anonymous ballots. Now, here at The Film Experience we don't want to incur AMPAS' ire, but we also suffer from FOMO when seeing all those other publications with their horrid insight into the Oscar voter's mindset. And wouldn't you know it, TFE got exclusive access to one of last year's biggest stars. So, why not capitalize on that and discuss how one titanic performer will cast their votes? Faced with this irresistible possibility, we couldn't help ourselves. All that to say, please welcome to The Film Experience none other than Godzilla, star of Godzilla Minus One and one of Japanese cinema's most beloved personalities…

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Split Decision: “Society of the Snow”

No two people feels the exact same way about any film. Thus, Team Experience is pairing up to debate the merits of this year’s Oscar movies. Here’s Eric Blume and Cláudio Alves on Society of the Snow...

ERIC: Hi Cláudio, there are few finer, smarter people to discuss a film with than you.  So I'm looking forward to diving into J.A. Bayona's Oscar-nominated Society of the Snow.  To me, Bayona has delivered one of the best films ever in the "survival genre," a tiny slice of cinema that admittedly isn't for everyone.  And perhaps I'm a sucker for these tales, as I also loved the best most recent example, Danny Boyle's 127 Hours, as well.  But what I feel Bayona accomplished here, and it's no small feat, is a one hundred percent believable environment where he gets his actors to a level of despair and desperation very, very high, very, very early in the film and sustains it for almost two hours…

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More Oscar News: The Winners’ Circle is Back!

by Cláudio Alves

On the heels of yesterday's presenters announcement, AMPAS has revealed that it'll be reviving the winners circle presentation of the 81st Academy Awards. That means five past victors will present the acting categories, each presenter dedicating a little speech to one of the year's nominees. As someone who's yearned for its return since 2009, I can't begin to tell you how over the moon I am about this news. And judging by social media, I'm not alone. Oscar obsessives everywhere are rejoicing in anticipation while also theorizing about what stars the Oscar producers will pair together. Judging by the previous list of names, we can make some assumptions, but why not share one's own ideas instead?

If it was up to me, here's who I'd choose to present the acting nominees…

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Are we getting a "Scarface" reunion at the Oscars?

by Cláudio Alves

As the first lists of Oscar presenters are released, it's fun to try parsing out potential connections between invited names. Even if it's nothing but a brief shot of nostalgia at seeing two familiar faces backed by a classic's main theme, there's something thrilling about the whole apparatus. Since the Oscars have grown so allergic to celebrating cinema's past – unlike the Grammys - these tidbits feel extra special. When perusing the first batch of celebrities, a couple of names stood out. First, we have Michelle Pfeiffer, eternal Film Experience favorite. And then there's Al Pacino, who starred with the blonde star in Brian De Palma's Scarface. The picture just celebrated 40 years last December, making an awards show tribute especially timely.

Would you like to recall Pacino's iconic Tony Montana and Pfeiffer's chilly, sensual Elvira? I know that in my ideal world, she'd have been a Best Supporting Actress contender in 1983, while her costumes would have earned an Oscar. And these are far from the only big names presenting at the 96th Academy Awards…

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