TIFF 51: Jury of Two, Part II

Time for another break from those TIFF and NYFF reviews. Cláudio Alves and Eurocheese have appointed themselves juries to choose the best of the Toronto fest. From Casting to Picture, let's go!

How many prizes can Eurocheese give to LA BOLA NEGRA? To quote a 22-year-old comedy classic, "the limits does not exist."

CLÁUDIO: Hello again, my friend. I guess it's time for the second round of these. Or third, if we count that gargantuan Best Actress conversation that spanned from Oscar frontrunner Julianne Moore to such underrated international thespians as Rejane Faria. And speaking of acting, why don't we start the next part of our jury-of-two journey with the category AMPAS hosted for the first time last season?

BEST CASTING 

First up, casting legend Nina Gold deserves praise for the miracles she does for Tender Loving Care and Clarissa. The former is full of small, one-scene roles that need to jump off the screen and feel as lived-in as our main quartet. Somehow, she got it right every single time, be they Leigh regulars, British theater and TV vets, or newcomers like Kaedon Skerritt. In the Nigerian Mrs. Dalloway adaptation, the main cast is more sprawling, and casting different versions of the same characters adds another layer of difficulty. Somehow, she aces it, sometimes by not insisting on superficial similarities between performers but by getting the right energy for the role at two such distinct phases of their lives that they might as well be different people altogether...

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TIFF 51: Jury of Two, Part I

Let’s take another break from those endless TIFF reviews, with Cláudio Alves and Eurocheese appointing themselves juries to choose the best of the fest, beyond Best Actress chatter.

I AM ROCKY was the People’s Choice Award runner-up at TIFF, just behind LA BOLA NEGRA. Will its popularity be reflected in Cláudio and Eurocheese’s picks?

EUROCHEESE: Having covered our favorite leading ladies at the Toronto International Film Festival this year, Cláudio and I will be naming our favorites in a number of categories. To start things off, let’s stick with the actressexual theme.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Many actresses were considered for this category, and there were some formidable runners-up. Adia matched her on-screen father, Mahershala Ali, in Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, where Cláudio was right to call out the intensity of their scenes together. Olivia Colman may have a small part in Elsinore that registers mostly as a potential detractor, but of course she still finds enough notes in it to make her scenes with Andrew Scott sing. I also appreciated Gemma Chan’s loving but inadequate parenting in Josephine. In the end, though, there was a clear top choice…

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TIFF 51: Who were the best lead actresses at the fest?

Cláudio Alves and Eurocheese pause the current onslaught of TIFF reviews to discuss a topic near and dear to their hearts – actressing! 

Julianne Moore might just fake-smoke her way to a second Oscar with THE DEBUT.

CLÁUDIO: For years, I dreamed of attending TIFF, always following coverage of the festival by my favorite critics and pundits. The Film Experience was my favorite haunt in that regard, and I can still recall how much I yearned to be part of the conversation when Nathaniel, Nick Davis, Joe Reid and Katey Rich would congregate for a very special podcast episode. And yet, coming to my fourth year of actually attending and covering the festival, that youthful excitement started to fade into a half-forgotten memory. Well, the feeling blossomed again when I finally got to meet you in person, dear Eurocheese, and read your perspective on the event, still full of the old excitement I suddenly felt coming back to life within my jaded, withered heart. For that, you have my eternal gratitude.

But we're not here to be sentimental - though that's often my role around these parts - so we might as well get to it. Let's talk Best Actress at TIFF...

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Are the new Best International Film rules a good idea?

As the summer stands between us and the awards season to come, Cláudio Alves and Juan Carlos Ojano discuss some of this year’s new Oscar rules, focusing on their beloved Best International Film race.

Visar Morina's SHAME AND MONEY became the first film eligible for the Best International Feature Oscar this season, when it won the World Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival.

CLÁUDIO: Much was said about the Oscar rule changes when they were first announced at the beginning of May, with various opinions going around. While the possibility of actors double-dipping in the same category for the first time since the 1930s is enticing, the transformations to the Best International Film race are perhaps more important and worthy of discussion. And who better to discuss it with than Juan Carlos Ojano, the only person I know who has seen every single nominee in the category's history and discussed them through The One-Inch Barrier podcast? But first, let's assess the rules themselves…

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Team Experience Predictions: FINAL RESULTS!

by Cláudio Alves

Looking back, it's notable that, of the four acting winners, Michael B. Jordan was the only one some predicted would be snubbed of a nomination altogether. Eric and Nathaniel had him out of their final five in our first round of predictions. Look at him now!

The Oscars are over, and the next week of posts here, at The Film Experience, shall be dedicated to saying goodbye to the season that was before looking forward to the cinematic year that’s still just starting. One of the first matters to resolve is that of the team's predictions. Every year, we compete to see who’s most accurate out of the lot, both at the nominations and winners’ stages. Last year, Eric was the most accurate pundit at guessing the nominations, but Lynn Lee beat him in predicting the right victors. This year, Baby Clyde was the best of us all at sussing out who AMPAS would nominate. However, wins-wise, a new champion has been crowned. Or maybe two. Let me explain…

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