Split Decision: "The Zone of Interest"

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 Ben Miller and Nick Taylor on The Zone of Interest...

BEN: Hey Nick!  I will freely admit that The Zone of Interest haunted me in a way that I won't soon forget.  I consider it among the absolute best of the year and one of the most impactful Holocaust films to come out in some time.  The praise for the film is near universal, so I know that you thought it was just as exceptional as I did. We can be in agreement, and then call it a day.  Quick and painless...you thoughts?

NICK: I am definitely haunted by it! There’s plenty to admire in Jonathan Glazer’s direction, and I can’t deny I was taken aback by its provocations when I watched it. But even without the comparison to Glazer’s previous stone-cold masterpieces, I felt myself disengaging from the movie’s rhythms as it went on. Intellectually, I get why we’re kept at such a remove from the Höss family, and what the oppressive sound design and spycam cinematography are meant to convey about these people. I swear I do. But this did not connect with me the way it clearly has with you, and I would love to hear more about why this is one of the best movies of the year for you . . . .

Click to read more ...

"Anatomy of a Fall" wins big at the Césars

by Nathaniel R

the great Juliette Binoche announcing Best Actress at the César Awards on Feb 23, 2024 in Paris

This has not been an awards season full of surprises. The expected winners just keep on winning whether we're talking awards bodies in the US, UK, or France. The 49th annual César Awards took place Friday in Paris with the expected winner, Justine Triet's Anatomy of a Fall, taking home six prizes. The nomination leader, Thomas Cailley's mutant adventure The Animal Kingdom also won multiple prizes with five statues in total... all for craft awards.  As expected the stupidly maligned but brilliant Oscar submission The Taste of Things was shut out from any wins after a paltry nomination showing.

The winners of each category and a few comments after the jump... 

Click to read more ...

Did She Do It?

by Cláudio Alves

Between Messi charming his way through the Nominees Luncheon and last Sunday's BAFTA victory in Best Original Screenplay, Anatomy of a Fall is entering the Oscar voting period with an upswing of exposure and widespread love. Justine Triet's Palme d'Or champion has proven a beguiling mystery, sustained by a performance that leaves the viewer drowning in ambiguity. According to Sandra Hüller, she was directed to play a writer accused of murdering her husband as if she were innocent, but the film never discloses whether Sandra did it or not.

Indeed, when perusing reviews, online reactions, or just conversations between cinephiles, nobody seems to agree. Some find it evident that she's guilty, while others believe there's no way her husband's death was murder…

Click to read more ...

BAFTA makes a split-decision on "Barbenheimer"

by Nathaniel R

Sandra Hüller scored double nominations with BAFTA. Can she repeat that trick at the Oscars?

While "Barbenheimer" has largely led the American precursor system's many many many many many awards bodies / nomination tallies, the British felt differently. They'll take only the latter half of that summertime phenom; Oppenheimer nabbed 13 nods but Barbie only received 5. The runner up to Oppenheimer's British dominance was Poor Things with 11 citations (though none of those went to either of its two supporting actors who've had a curious precursor season despite being in such a popular film.) Killers of the Flower Moon and Anatomy of a Fall and Germany's Sandra Hüller (double-nominated) were also very popular with BAFTA voters. 

All the nominations and commentary are after the jump...

Click to read more ...

Barbenheimmer and "Killers of the Flower Moon" are all over the BAFTA longlists

by Cláudio Alves

Even at the BAFTAs, these three are inescapable.

Since its 2020 overhaul, the British Academy has been changing its rules, aiming for more diversity within its ballot. So far, the effort's been relatively successful, though last year's choices were too Oscar-y for some people's tastes. I tend to prefer when BAFTA maintains a certain idiosyncratic identity, honoring less-seen national gems along the way. Judging by the just-released longlists, it seems we're heading down a similar path to last season's, with three Oscar frontrunners scoring in fifteen categories. That doesn't mean the Brits have lost their uniqueness. Look at the love for All of Us Strangers, including listings for all its principal cast…

Click to read more ...