Split Decision: "Bugonia"

In the Split Decision series, our writers pair up and face off on an Oscar-nominated movie one loves and the other doesn't. Tonight, ERIC BLUME and CLÁUDIO ALVES discuss Bugonia...

ERIC: Cláudio, a friendship is nothing without honesty, so I'll honor our friendship by saying I've been putting off our conversation on Bugonia, because it's a film that brought me such perverse joy and basic movie-movie satisfaction...and I know you are not a big fan of Lanthimos' aesthetic and style, his partnership with Emma Stone, and some of Stone's key performances.  They all mean a lot to me, so diving into this pit seems a bit challenging. 

But what is the purpose of being a passionate cinephile if you can't dive into the pit, right?  I'll start by saying that I think Bugonia is great, crazy, zany fun, and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time.  That's just basic-level movie audience talk, but it's true, and I can't say that about a lot of movies, not even a few that I rank higher in my top ten list this year!  Now, proceed, my friend.

CLÁUDIO: For the record, I'm not anti-Lanthimos nor am I anti-Stone…

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Split Decision: "F1 The Movie"

In the Split Decision series, our writers pair up and face off on an Oscar-nominated movie one loves and the other doesn't. Or, in this case, both are "split" on. Today, BEN MILLER and NATHANIEL R discuss F1 The Movie...

F1 THE MOVIE - nominated for 4 Oscars including Best Picture

BEN: Of the Best Picture nominees, F1 is clearly the one that barely made the list.  We talked a bit about director Joseph Kosinski and his film during our Best Director discussion, but I'm curious where your thoughts on the film land.  

Personally, I feel like F1 is an entertaining carbon copy of Top Gun: Maverick, but with Formula One race cars instead of Navy fighter jets (in a good way).  It certainly did not sniff my top films of the year, but it felt like the Academy needed another mainstream hit to shut up the discourse machine for a few days.  On that front, I think they did a great job.  But, like I said, there is no world where F1 is one of the top ten films of the year, despite liking it.  It's too long and lazy at times, but I was never anything less than entertained.  I have a feeling you are not as high on it as I, and I'm pretty middling on it as it is...

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Split Decision: “Blue Moon”

In the Split Decision series, our writers pair up and face off on an Oscar-nominated movie one loves and the other doesn't. Tonight, CLÁUDIO ALVES and NICK TAYLOR discuss Blue Moon...

CLÁUDIO: Since I'm the one organizing the Split Decision convos, I end up trying to assign everyone at least one film they love, or like, so they have something to defend against the naysayers. Sadly, that usually means I get to fill in the grumpy contrarian roles in most of the volleys I do. Not so this year, since I made sure to assign myself Blue Moon. I caught it at TIFF right after Nouvelle Vague, ready to be disappointed as I was by Linklater's French misadventure. And yet, what I got was one of the director's best films in a while, a text besotted with the musicality of florid verbiage and performances to match. It was love at first sight. I gather your experience was very different. Please share with the class, dear Nick. 

NICK: It was not! I really wish Linklater had given Blue Moon the same stylistic care he applied to Nouvelle Vague…

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Oscar Volley: Is "Best Actress" tied up with a bow for Jessie Buckley?

The Oscar Volleys continue. Today, LYNN LEE and NICK TAYLOR discuss the surprisingly stable Oscar race for Best Actress.

Jessie Buckley in HAMNET | © Focus Features

LYNN: At the risk of stating the obvious, Nick, Best Actress has been the most predictable stable of the four acting races by far. Is there a world in which Jessie Buckley doesn’t take this? And are we basically fine with that?

NICK: I mean, where else is there to start? Buckley’s the surest winner of the acting categories, and among a handful of artists (PTA, Ludwig Göransson) who have to know they’re winning the Oscar. I’m not complaining. Buckley’s been delivering ambitious, awards-worthy turns since she debuted with Beast in 2017, and her turn as Agnes is such an ideal use of her screen persona. The practical intelligence, the precise-yet-walloping emotions, the way her characters are so irreducibly themselves that their odd edges and peculiar beliefs doom them to black sheep status even when things are looking their way. She’s incredible, and just because the grieving mother is an easy type for awards groups to notice shouldn’t diminish how powerful her work is in Hamnet...

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Oscar Volley: Will “Best Cinematography” make history?

The Oscar Volleys continue. Today, ERIC BLUME and CLÁUDIO ALVES discuss the potentially historic race for Best Cinematography.

With SINNERS, Autumn Durald Arkapaw might become the first woman to win the Best Cinematography Oscar. | © Warner Bros.

ERIC: Hi Cláudio, I'm the lucky man who gets to talk to you about one of Oscar's most exciting categories, Best Cinematography.  Except, for me, it is not a very exciting category this year.  Usually, this branch has at least one or two truly inspired nominations that feel exclusive to their expertise.  This year, much like the Production Design category I just discussed with Ben, I feel like we broke more into the "default" films that popped up in every category. 

What's your initial impression of the five nominees:  Frankenstein, Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, Sinners, and Train Dreams?

CLÁUDIO: My initial reaction is that the cinematographers branch should collectively see an optometrist, while the Academy at large needs to watch more movies than the twelve or so titles left contending for a Best Picture nod at the end of December. Alas, that is not the world we live in…

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