Split Decision: “Avatar: The Way of Water”

No two people feel the exact same way about any film. Thus, Team Experience is pairing up to debate the merits of each of the awards movies this year. Here’s Glenn Dunks and Cláudio Alves on James Cameron’s latest.

GLENN: Hi Cláudio! Welcome to Pandora... the whales are majestic, the grass gets you stones (mmhmmm) and the eyewear are Ray-Bans. An awful lot of ink has been spilled across the 13 years between Avatar movies. Ink about how nobody remembers Avatar. Ink about how it has no cultural imprint. Ink about how nobody knows the characters' names. Ink about how nobody actually even liked the 2009 original and it was purely a hit because of the 3D. And yet here we are with a James Cameron movie already having become (yet again) the highest grossing movie of the year and also potentially (yet again) the leader of the nomination board on Oscar morning 2023…

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Venice Diary #04 - "The Whale" is a major contender

by Elisa Giudici

As festival goers, we are always waiting for that moment in which we can clearly perceive a film moving into a territory of absolute excellence, far above the norm. It's a sensation that is rare and powerful, and the only response is to shout superlative and add to the hype. I'm happy to report that the new Darren Aronofsky feature, The Whale, is one of those gigantic achievements...

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Almost There: Sigourney Weaver in "The Ice Storm"

by Cláudio Alves

As the 1997 Supporting Actress Smackdown approaches, our celebration of that cinematic year continues. But of course, this project wouldn't be complete without a deep dive into the performance that almost made it to the Oscar lineup, representing a previous Academy Queen's comeback after years of unheralded work. In the 80s, Sigourney Weaver seemed poised to be one of those names who'd inevitably win a little golden man. However, after 1988's double nomination, awards organizations lost interest. Because of that, Ang Lee's The Ice Storm felt like a return to form in terms of sheer prestige, positioning Sigourney Weaver as an expected contender for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

Unfortunately, the critical hit failed to secure any Academy Award nomination, a surprising result after a good performance that season. All these years later, Weaver's snub hurts the most…

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"Aliens" Revisited.

by Nathaniel R

How long was I out. HOW LONG? Please."

This week I had the pleasure of guesting on InSession's podcast to discuss James Cameron's sci-fi/horror classic Aliens (1986). When they asked me to guest on the show I secretly thought "What more can I say about it? I've been talking about this movie forever!" but then of course I couldn't shut up and the episode was too short for me to squeeze in everything that was inside of me. So herewith some notes and, of course, the podcast itself...

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Tribeca: Sigourney Weaver Sells 'The Good House'

By Abe Friedtanzer

Film protagonists struggling with alcoholism dates back to the early days of cinema. While treatments, support groups, and the drinking age may have changed over the past century, the difficulty of needing that drink has not. It's interesting to see how films choose to portray such a common subject. The Good House, premiering at Tribeca ahead of a theatrical release this fall, definitely opens with a lighthearted approach.

Sigourney Weaver plays Hildy, a small-town New England realtor who spends as much time directly addressing the camera as she does trying to sell her clients on homes...

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