Who’s our next three-peat champion?

by Cláudio Alves

And just like that, Sean Penn became the eighth actor to win three Oscars.

With One Battle After Another, Sean Penn became the eighth person in Academy Award history to win a third acting Oscar. He follows Supporting Actor king Walter Brennan, most honored thespian ever Katharine Hepburn, Swedish superstar Ingrid Bergman, New Hollywood enfant terrible Jack Nicholson, nomination queen Meryl Streep, method actor extraordinaire Daniel Day-Lewis, and too-cool-for-school Oscar favorite Frances McDormand. This honor comes after a period when Penn was fairly removed from the awards conversation, regularly panned at Cannes for his directorial work while winning the favor of a few critics for underseen performances like those in Daddio and Asphalt City. Indeed, he seems so uninterested in playing the game that he barely campaigned and didn’t even show up to collect his prize.

Disregarding whether he deserves it or not, Penn’s victory leads me to wonder who’s next? Who is closest to joining this exclusive club? There are currently 19 two-time acting Oscar winners alive, each a different case, with some landing in the “just a matter of time” field, while others are surely “not happening.” Join me as I go over these possibilities…

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Paul Newman @ 100: "Road to Perdition"

by Cláudio Alves

When was the first time you saw Paul Newman on the screen? It might be hard to remember for some, but I can pinpoint it exactly. It was a summer holiday in those early years of teenhood, when my parents liked to drive across the border into Southern Spain for the afternoon. I loved those day trips for many reasons, and one of them was this big store in town where they sold movies that I couldn't ever find in Portugal. They were cheap, too, the perfect fit for a young cinephile looking to spend his allowance. At the time, I was just starting to get into the Oscars, so I always looked for films I knew AMPAS had honored.

One of them was Road to Perdition. 

When we got home, I remember waiting for nightfall to watch my new treasures in darkness. And then, there he was, Paul Newman. At the time, I was becoming aware of who he and many other Old Hollywood stars were, though I knew very little. Yet, there was a weight to my discovery of Newman. You see, my mom had pointed him out on the DVD case when she saw me with my new picture and waxed rhapsodic about the fellow who happened to be her favorite actor. She called him a legend, one of the most beautiful men she'd ever seen, his eyes piercing, intense, BLUE like nothing else in the world. She wasn't wrong…

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Saving Private Ryan @ 25: Robbed or Not?

by Cláudio Alves

As Oppenheimer enjoys tremendous success worldwide, another World War II movie turned summer blockbuster celebrates a quarter century. Though, of course, while Christopher Nolan's movie ponders history away from the battlefield, Steven Spielberg drops the viewer in the middle of carnage, violence smeared on your face until you can't take it anymore. Yes, it's been 25 years since Saving Private Ryan opened in cinemas, receiving immediate critical acclaim and frontrunner status by the awards pundits at most major publications. Come Oscar night, though, the war story took 'only' five awards. It lost the Best Picture trophy to Shakespeare in Love in an upset that angers many people to this day. 

To mark the anniversary, let's celebrate the film's undeniable qualities, investigate some of its drawbacks, consider its competition at the 71st Academy Awards, and relitigate the controversy. Was Saving Private Ryan robbed? Well…

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Yes No Maybe So: "Asteroid City"

Sometimes I think I'd feel more at home outside the Earth's atmosphere.

Wes Anderson's new film Asteroid City, which takes place in a fictional townin 1955 arrives in theaters on June 16th. The official synopsis goes like so...

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Split Decision: Elvis

Team Experience has been pairing up to debate the merits of each big awards season movie. Here's episode 11 with Chris James and Glenn Dunks duking it out over Elvis. The series resumes will resume for a few final episodes after the nominations.

CHRIS: Well, well, well, Glenn. We meet again. Excited to talk about Elvis with you. Previously, I was a sourpuss about the cinematic excesses of Babylon. While I have mixed thoughts on Elvis, I think the excesses of this movie are more in service of the film and its titular subject. I went with a few friends to the Chinese Theater in Hollywood to watch it on opening night and had a blast reacting both with and at the movie. As a friend said to me, "maximalism is meant to provoke a response, even laughter." At the very least, Elvis is an enjoyable watch.

It's always good to see a movie for adults become a box office success, especially in the post-pandemic era...

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