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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Podcast: Gratitude, Globes, and some Must-Sees

The podcast has been hibernating for so long that you've surely forgotten it exists. But last week Nathaniel and  Nick jumped on a quick phone call to discuss the Globes so the Podcast is...uh... back for a moment. For those who aren't subscribed, we figured we'd share on the blog in case you missed it and feel like listening in on one last "precursor" conversation before the Oscar nominations are announced! 

56 minutes
00:01 Golden Globe reforms, Jerrod Carmichael, and Awards Show hatred
15:00 Wins & Speeches: Ke Huy Quan, Angela Bassett, and Gratitude
37:00 Nick on movies he loves this year including: Donbass, EO, Happening, Till, and Aftersun

You can listen to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher or Spotify or download the attachment below. 

Globes & Gratitude

NYFCC loves "TÁR" and "Banshees of Inisherin"

by Nathaniel R

TÁR

The New York Film Critics Circle was founded way back in 1935 and they hold a lofty place in film history given their publishing-giant of a city and their own rich history of interesting choices. For their 88th awards TÁR and The Banshees of Inisherin emerged victorious with two wins each, though a few of the other wins were quite surprising...

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"TÁR" and "Aftersun" lead the 2022 Gotham Award Nominations

by Nathaniel R

The Gotham Awards, the East Coast indie prizes that pair nicely with the West Coast's much-later Spirit Awards, have announced their nominations for the 2022 film year so we're officially off! Todd Field & Cate Blanchett's collaboration TÁR and Charlotte Wells' debut film Aftersun (both fairly new in theaters) most impressed the various juries that the Gothams assign to categories each year. They led the way with four nominations each across the 8 film categories. Other films that have reason to celebrate today include but are not limited to Everything Everywhere All At Once and two films that have not yet opened for moviegoers, the gay military drama The Inspection (Nov 18th) and Sarah Polley's return with Women Talking (Dec 2nd).  Finally we've got a double acting nominee this year despite so few categories with Ben Whishaw nominated for both film  (Women Talking) and television work (This is Going to Hurt). 

Full list of nominees after the jump...

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"All the Beauty...", "Banshees of Inisherin" and "Bones and All" win big at Venice

by Nathaniel R

Cate Blanchett, Director Laura Poitras, and Colin Farrell all took home prizes

While The Whale and Don't Worry Darling hogged a lot of the press here in America, they weren't favourites of this year's Venice jury, both going home empty-handed. Julianne Moore presided over this year's jury which included Mariano Cohn, Leonardo Di Costanzo, Audrey Diwan (the Golden Lion winner last year -- our interview!), Leila Hatami, Kazuo Ishiguro and Rodrigo Sorogoyen. They gave the top prize to a buzzy documentary about Nan Goldin, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed. Though they didn't win the top prize both Martin McDonagh's The Banshees of Inisherin and Luca Guadagnino's Bones and All took home two prizes each...

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