Team Experience: Final Oscar Predictions!

by Cláudio Alves

ANORA | © NEON Rated

The Oscars are almost upon us, but the posting continues here at The Film Experience, with some volleys still waiting in the wings and maybe something more. For now, it's time to present the Team Experience's final predictions in all Oscar categories, from Best Picture to those pesky unpredictable Short Film races. At the end of this crazy awards season, most of our writers lean toward Anora taking the top prize, while Best Director is more evenly split between Corbet and Baker. The acting categories may look locked up, but some surprises could happen, and the "below the line" honors are a headache and a half as far as punditry's concerned. All in all, only seven categories inspired unanimous predictions…

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The 13th Annual Team Experience Awards: WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT!

by Cláudio Alves

THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG | © NEON Rated

A couple of days before AMPAS announces their winners, it's time for the Team Experience to do the same. Nominations were announced ten days ago, with The Brutalist leading the tally board, earning mentions in seven different categories. However, unlike last year, the nomination leader did not take the top prize. Instead, The Seed of the Sacred Fig is our Best Picture pick, with Brady Corbet's Oscar-hopeful and Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine as Light tied for runner-up honors. Speaking of ties, we have three to report this year, including in the Best Director race.

Like always, remember that these honors are decided by The Film Experience writers, except Nathaniel, whose Film Bitch Awards are their separate thing. With that out of the way, here are our winners…

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The 13th Annual Team Experience Awards: NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCEMENT!

by Cláudio Alves

THE BRUTALIST | © A24

The Brutalist leads the nominations for the 13th annual Team Experience Awards. Brady Corbet's Oscar player scored in seven categories, including Best Picture, Director, and Actor. The film premiered on digital today, so if you missed it in theaters, it's time to give this epic a look. Many other Oscar frontrunners appeared on our ballots, with every one of AMPAS' Best Picture nominees featured in one category or another. As always, it's a fascinating mix of prestige fare and outré offerings, awards magnets, and obscure titles that got here on the basis of a few writers' burning passion. These awards are a testament to the variety of opinions featured on The Film Experience, having been voted by several members of its team. With the notable exception of Nathaniel, whose Film Bitch Awards are another matter altogether.

Discover the full list of nominees in 20 categories after the jump…

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Split Decision: "The Brutalist"

In the Split Decision series, two of our writers face off on an Oscar-nominated movie one loves and the other doesn't. Today, Nick Taylor and Abe Friedtanzer discuss The Brutalist...

NICK TAYLOR: Hi Abe! I hope the cinematic year of 2024 and the numerical year of 2025 have been treating you well! Today we’re here to talk about The Brutalist, which is one of my favorite films from 2024 and one of the most nominated films at this year’s Oscars. Because this is the Split Decision series, I’m gonna guess you are not a fan of this film, or you’re at least more ambivalent about it than I am. But an object this self-consciously huge deserves to be argued about, and I would love for you to start us off by sharing what you think of The Brutalist.

ABE FRIEDTANZER: Hey Nick! I will say that I didn’t hate this film, and even found much to admire about it. I saw it at a morning press screening at the Toronto International Film Festival back in September, so early enough to not have heard much about it and to be able to fully appreciate it. I knew very little of the story, and so naturally my interest was piqued. As soon as the film ended, I wanted to research the true story, only to find out that its events were invented. I had seen Brady Corbet’s previous film Vox Lux (which I hated with a passion) as well as The Sleepwalker (directed by Mona Fastvold with a screenplay by her and Corbet, a role reversal of their duties on this film), which I liked much more. From what I could find, and have been able to since, it doesn’t seem like either of them are Jewish or have any Jewish heritage. Those two factors have irreversibly impacted my perception of the film and made it hard to truly process it in a positive way...

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Split Decision: "A Real Pain"

Split Decision returns to TFE. In this series two of our writers face off on a movie one loves and the other doesn't. Today, Eric Blume and Cláudio Alves discuss the season's Supporting Actor frontrunner and Original Screenplay nominee, A Real Pain...

ERIC BLUME: I'm thrilled to discuss one of my very favorite movies of the year, A Real Pain, with you.  I think Jesse Eisenberg made a major film with huge ideas, packed in a tight, 90-minute breezy package:  something we almost *never* see nowadays.  I think it's thematically rich, briskly paced, surprising, and most interesting, light and deep at the same time.  Where do you stand on the picture? 

CLÁUDIO ALVES: While I like A Real Pain, I wouldn't call it a major film by any metric, shape, or form…

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