Contender Reviews: "September 5"

by Cláudio Alves

Since many of this year's Oscar nominees haven't yet been reviewed here at The Film Experience, I'll be going over a bunch of them in the coming weeks. Think of it as an AMPAS-minded sibling to Nick Taylor's series of Spirit Awards analysis. To start things off, let's go over the season's one lone screenplay nominee – Tim Fehlbaum's September 5. Once considered a threat for the Best Picture trophy by some major publications, the historical drama failed to meet pundits' expectations – its biggest miss was probably Editing. Today, it premiered on VOD, so it seems like a fitting time to consider the film…

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Let's play the presenter game!

by Cláudio Alves

Over the past few weeks, we've heard news from the Academy about the 97th Oscars ceremony. For example, none of the Original Song nominees will be performed, a break with tradition that has caused some uproar within the industry. We'll also get to see the return of the Fab Five format for presenting the acting categories, where past victors introduce the year's nominees. In some ways, it feels like a welcoming of new faces to the Circle of Winners, though using these celebratory mini-monologues isn't to everyone's taste, especially when they came at the expense of proper Oscar clips. However, I confess that I am a fan, and just like last year, I invite you all to a game of conjecture. Let's see who'd be the perfect pairing for each nominee…

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Drag Race RuCap: “RDR Live!” (again)

And just like that, a villain is born.

CLÁUDIO ALVES: It’s a testament to how much I’m enjoying this season that, even with a challenge as chronically unfunny as RDR Live, I still finished the hour of television ready to proclaim the return of old-school Drag Race fun. Girl, Jinkx Monsoon has been spritzing her fragrance all over the Werk Room because these bitches are delusional, already splitting into cliques and badmouthing each other like we’re in season 3. Some seem to think runways count as much as main challenges, and there’s tension so thick you can cut with a knife. And like with season 5, the folks deemed soft and unstylish are unbothered and thriving, while the resident sourpusses get pressed like paninis. For once, Untucked is essential viewing, and I feel as if I spent most of it cackling like Onya Nurve. Bless this mess.

NICK TAYLOR: The confidence these bitches have exuded so palpably has really begun to curdle...

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The Eternal Hotness of Paul Newman

Before our next Centennial celebration begins (Robert Altman) here's one last ode to the late great Paul Newman, born in 1925

by Baby Clyde

Happy belated centenary to my Golden Age Hollywood husband Paul Newman. My esteemed colleagues here at The Film Experience have been busy over the last few weeks lauding the man for his impressive career, full of era defining performances and classic films with legendary directors. I’m going to lower the tone somewhat for this finale and talk about the thing that matters most. He is really, really HOT!

It’s the impossibly high cheek bones that swoop down into a prominent nose off set by the surprisingly full lips and cheeky, boyish grin that can turn wolfish all within the same smile. And then there are of course the heart melting, ice blue eyes. It’s as if Technicolor was invented specifically for them. How we all would have missed out had his heyday been in the B/W era...

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Oh, the long-windedness of Best Pictures!

by Nathaniel R

If THE BRUTALIST wins it will become the third longest Best Picture winner of all time.

Each Oscar chart is now up though details are not yet ironed out on some of them. We've talked about Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor as the charts went up, so now let's talk Best Picture. On the chart you can vote on your favourite daily and you can see the films ranked by all sorts of silly criteria (you're welcome to suggest other criteria) such as MPAA ratings, death count, horniness, release dates, the Bechdel Test, reviews, box office, my personal preference, and of course their running times. 

Oh the longwindedness of our current times! The average length of the Best Picture nominees this year is an astonishing 149 (2 hours and 29 minutes) which is not quite a record but close to it...

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