Oscar Volley: Let's dig into that Best Director field... who should win?

Team Experience is discussing the various Oscar categories. Here's Eric Blume and Nick Taylor discussing Best Director.

Portrait of a young director via THE FABELMANS

ERIC BLUME: Hi Nick! I'm excited to talk Best Director with you.  This year's line-up, while I'd swap out a name or two in there personally, is extraordinarily strong, perhaps one of our best ever?  Before we get to each one, who were personal favorites of yours that didn't make the ballot?

NICK TAYLOR: It’s a very strong lineup! Only one of the names Oscar picked would be close to my own ballot, but I see plenty of strengths in the work the Academy nominated, and the competitiveness of this field leading up to nomination morning means nobody coasted to their slots...

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Best Ensemble, Casting, Stunts, and More...

by Nathaniel R

EEAAO an easy choice for "Best Ensemble" discussions.

With the SAG Awards airing tonight -- we expect to see encore speeches from Blanchett, Fraser, Bassett, and Quan since the acting winners tend to get set in stone once televised ceremonies begin -- let's talk acting categories that Oscar doesn't have. Here are my personal favourites for Casting, Ensemble, Stunts, and Juvenile Performances, a couple of prizes which SAG has and two that they don't...

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Oscar Volleys: Best Film Editing might be a nailbiter this year

Team Experience is discussing each Oscar category in the lead up to the ceremony.  Here's Ben Miller and Eurocheese to talk Best Editing

Ben Miller: Well Eurocheese, we're back again.  Pre-nominations, Nick Taylor and I talked about Best Editing being more of an alternative Best Picture lineup.  Low-and-behold, all five Editing nominees are also up for Best Picture. Before we get to talking about the actual nominees, let's pour one out for films that should have gotten a notice in this category.   Personally, I thought the editing in All Quiet on the Western Front was pretty spectacular.  When it comes to coherent action sequences, my main gripe is a sense of place and atmosphere.  For a while, any action or war film was edited with insanity and incoherence.  God bless George Miller because Mad Max: Fury Road showed a first-class way to convey clear, heart-pumping action without throwing you out of sorts.  All Quiet isn't renowned for its action sequences, but when it shows up, it is crystal clear about direction, orientation, and presence.  

What film did you personally want in the lineup, no matter how unrealistic?

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BAFTA goes its own way and shakes up the race

by Cláudio Alves

After it earned 14 out of 15 possible nominations, we should have known that All Quiet on the Western Front was a major threat as far as the BAFTAs were concerned. And yet, this seemed like The Banshees of Inisherin's time to shine. Well, the British Academy has announced their victors, and though they loved Martin McDonagh's latest, it couldn't defeat Edward Berger's Netflix juggernaut. The German Oscar submission won seven awards, including Best Film and Director. Banshees had to settle for four prizes, the same number of wins Elvis amassed. Beyond those three, no other title managed to take home more than one statuette, not even the the Oscar frontrunner Everything Everywhere All At Once.

But what does it all mean? Let's assess after the jump…

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Split Decision: "The Banshees of Inisherin"

Team Experience is pairing up to debate the merits of each of the big awards season movies this year. Here’s Abe Friedtanzer & Eric Blume on one of the Oscar frontrunners...

ERIC:  Abe, here we are again with another split decision.  But unlike our discussion about The Whale, which you loved and I didn't, we're swapping sides for The Banshees of Inisherin.  I absolutely loved this film.  I'd go as far as to say it's close to a masterpiece.  It's a piercing and painful meditation on loneliness, a heartbreaking and lyrical stare in the face at death.  Martin McDonagh is tackling The Big Themes with ferocity and honesty, and I was deeply moved.  But let's start with why you didn't care for the film...

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