Japan and the Oscars - a History

by Timothy Lyons

Ryûsuke Hamaguchi and actress Reika Kirishima at Cannes this past summer with "Drive My Car"

One of the more pleasant surprises of this year’s Academy Award nominations announcement was the shortlisting of Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s subtly masterful Drive My Car in Best Picture. In addition to this mention, Hamaguchi himself was nominated for Director and Adapted Screenplay (along with co-writer Takamasa Oe) and the film received an easily predicted nod in International Feature. While there seemed to be enough of a groundswell of support for the film to break into the general field, its inclusion in the top race remains a largely unexpected and refreshingly left-of-center occurrence. Despite now being the very first Japanese film nominated for Best Picture, Drive My Car is not the first to be recognised overall. It is also not the first to find favor beyond the usually ghettoized International Feature category.

Japan’s history with Oscar began in earnest during the 1950s...

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Monica Vitti (1931-2022) What makes a great actor?

by Timothy Lyons

This year’s Best Actress discussion / post-BAFTA nomination shake-up has reached a new height of confused scrambling. Things have, for now, refocused on the single consistent presence throughout precursor season: Lady Gaga as the murderous Patrizia Reggiani in House of Gucci. When watching the film, it became clear to me how much Gaga’s distinctive visage bears striking resemblance to that of the great Italian star Monica Vitti. This came into sad focus today on my learning of the legend’s passing on Wednesday at the age of ninety from complications related to Alzheimer’s.

I will get quickly back to the subject at hand but to help in drawing out Vitti’s unique gifts, a little more on Gaga in Gucci as a comparison…

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Winona Ryder @50: the definitive "Reality Bites"

Team Experience is celebrating Winona Ryder this week for her 50th birthday

by Timothy Lyons

1994 was a watershed year for a young Winona Ryder. It started with her first Oscar nomination (and a Golden Globe win) for her performance in Martin Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence and would come to a close with the Christmas release of Gillian Armstrong’s superior adaptation of Little Women with Ryder’s performance as Jo leading to her second Oscar nomination in as many years (more on that tomorrow). Sandwiched between this diptych of heavily-costumed prestige pics was the release of Ben Stiller’s Reality Bites. Here was a film that would come to define a generation (Generation X) and featured the best, most natural, and luminescent performance of Ryder’s career.

I am a huge Winona Ryder fan - let me get that out of the way before we go further. She does however have a tendency towards the fidgety, the strangely mannered and vaguely uneasy in her performances. Sometimes this can lead to her work feeling slightly blank or disengaged, but more often than not (especially when called upon to play one of many outsiders) it is just right...

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My complicated feelings toward Frances McDormand's third win

please welcome new contributor Timothy Lyons

she likes to work

Frances McDormand’s performance in Nomadland was my favourite of the year. Full stop. Both the film itself and McDormand’s work as Fern blew me away with their deceptive simplicity quietly revealing hidden depths of feeling. Why oh why then did I feel such a crushing sense of disappointment when McDormand took her third Best Actress trophy at this year’s Oscars?

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93rd Academy Awards: "Cinematography as ________ "

Please welcome new contributor Timothy Lyons...

The cinematographers’ branch (like all branches in the Academy) loves a familiar face - think your Lubezkis, your Richardsons and your Deakinses. One of the happy byproducts of an unusual cinematic year mostly void of big anticipated productions and usual suspects, is the higher-than-normal number of newbies recognised across the craft categories for this year’s Oscars. The five nominees for Best Cinematography are made up of: one returning nominee, one longtime veteran of the industry finally getting his due, one up-and-coming darling of the indie scene, one newcomer shortlisted for his feature film debut, and one individual who is (shockingly) on his first nomination despite shooting one of the most picturesque Best Picture winners (!) in recent memory.

Let's explore the five achievements the Academy has chosen to reward these artists for, presented in ascending order of personal preference…

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