VistaVision @ the Oscars

by Cláudio Alves

With The Brutalist, Brady Corbet and cinematographer Lol Crawley revived VistaVision for a 21st century cinema. In the process, they also brought the format back to the Oscar stage, becoming the first film since Alfred Hitchcock's To Catch a Thief to win the Best Cinematography Oscar for a VistaVision lensing. If you've read my reviews over the years, you might have noticed I have a passion for film form. This fascination encompasses the innovations that took over the medium in the midcentury, with the introduction of new aspect ratios, processes, and techniques after decades under the 4:3 Academy ratio hegemony. 

I really love VistaVision, a happy medium between more extreme widescreen propositions and the classical square-ish proportions that dominated pre-1950s cinema. It's quite beautiful, harmonious and the technique itself lends itself to rich images, full of detail, crisp yet not in the sometimes bloodless way of digital filmmaking. But what is VistaVision exactly? And how have films shot in this widescreen variant performed at the Oscars? Let's find out…

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Kim Stanley @ 100: "Séance on a Wet Afternoon"

by Cláudio Alves

From the late 1940s to the mid-60s, Kim Stanley was one of the most important actresses in American theater. Her career is the stuff of legend, going through Tony nominations and the Actors Studio at the height of its influence, culminating in a disastrous performance of Chekhov's Three Sisters on the other side of the pond. Forever volatile and insecure, perchance suffering from mental illness or the fragilities of a great diva, Stanley swore never to act on stage again, depriving theatergoers of a goddess whose glory was as bright as it was short-lived. One would think Stanley's departure from theater could have meant more big screen gigs, but she kept herself away from such fare. TV appearances were more to her liking, and she got two Emmy wins for her trouble, including for the ultimate Big Momma in the 1984 TV movie version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. 

She'd only count five credits in the movies, one of them voice-only. And still, two of those turns resulted in Oscar nominations, reflecting her talent and reputation among thespians. She was an actors' actor, alright. Today, on her centennial, I invite you to join me on a trip to the past, to Kim Stanley's second and last lead role in a film for which AMPAS nominated her. It's time to remember, mayhap summon, the hauntings of Séance on a Wet Afternoon…

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Oh, the long-windedness of Best Pictures!

by Nathaniel R

If THE BRUTALIST wins it will become the third longest Best Picture winner of all time.

Each Oscar chart is now up though details are not yet ironed out on some of them. We've talked about Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor as the charts went up, so now let's talk Best Picture. On the chart you can vote on your favourite daily and you can see the films ranked by all sorts of silly criteria (you're welcome to suggest other criteria) such as MPAA ratings, death count, horniness, release dates, the Bechdel Test, reviews, box office, my personal preference, and of course their running times. 

Oh the longwindedness of our current times! The average length of the Best Picture nominees this year is an astonishing 149 (2 hours and 29 minutes) which is not quite a record but close to it...

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Paul Newman @ 100: "The Hustler"

by Nathaniel R

Paul Newman's second Oscar nomination came for THE HUSTLER (1961). All screenshots sourced from FilmGrab.

A smiling illustration on salad dressing bottles, a serious visage on movie posters, a guest on television talk shows? I can't recall when I first became aware of Paul Newman. He was always there, an unmoving fixture of popular culture. When I was a kid he'd already been in the movie business for 30 years. For most stars, two back-to-back lead Oscar nominations in your late 50s (Absence of Malice and The Verdict) would be a winding down or a swan song but Paul Newman was the definition of "enduring". When I started hitting movie theaters on the regular he was just 30 years into a career but there was still tank in the gas. He'd be back to the Oscars as a nominee thrice more, four if you count the Honorary statue.

For today's celebration, we're travelling way back to his second Oscar nomination to meet "Fast Eddie" Felson in The Hustler (1961)...

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Happy Birthday, Julie Andrews!

by Cláudio Alves

Julie Andrews accepting her AFI Tribute Award in 2021.

Here, at The Film Experience, we keep to a 10|25|50|75|100 model when it comes to birthdays and anniversaries. Yet, as the world of entertainment lost so many bright lights in the past few days – Maggie Smith, Kris Kristofferson, Gavin Creel, Ken Page, John Amos, and Kalen Gorman – it feels right to take a moment and show some love to those who are still with us. Case in point is the jubilant Julie Andrews, who celebrates her 89th birthday today. This living legend of stage and screen is beyond compare, with a career that spans across eight decades, from entertaining the troops with her parents in the mid-40s to recent voice-over work in such projects as Aquaman and the Bridgerton franchise, for which Andrews has received three Emmy nominations.

All that said, the actress will always have a special place in my heart for reasons that go beyond her body of work. Allow me to share a personal musing…

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