Nathaniel's Top Ten List. The Film Bitch Awards Begin...

by Nathaniel R

 

For this cinephile, the film year doesn’t officially end until the naked gold men are handed to their blessed new owners, deserving or otherwise. (If you’re looking for my predictions that article is here or in various Oscar volleys) So as we enter the third month of 2025 the books must now close on 2024. It’s time for even champion procrastinators like myself to participate in their mandatory subjective “Best” proclamations. For the next week or three I’ll be posting the Film Bitch Awards, the public honors for my private darlings, beginning with this Top Ten List / Best Picture, announcement today. These awards are the site's most enduring annual tradition and though I agonize over them (call it ‘permanent record’ anxiety as I never change them after the fact because I want them to feel respectable in a time capsule way) I deeply love the process of listing and favoriting and ranking. It’s one small ritual to bring order to the chaos of life. I imagine I’ll still do it even after the world collapses in three years time and we’re all living in a hellish installment of the Mad Max Saga. What will there be to rank… Rocks? Cancerous growths? Abandoned ruins? Who knows but I’ll do it. Until then we have civilization and the movies...

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Oscar Volley: No matter who takes Best Animated Film, we’re all winners!

The Oscar Volleys are back for some post-nomination talks. Today, Cláudio Alves and Nathaniel Rogers discuss Best Animated Film...

FLOW | © Janus Films / Sideshow

CLÁUDIO: Last year, I got to go to the Annecy Animation Film Festival and was lucky enough to watch Gints Zilbalodis' Flow shortly after its Cannes premiere. I loved it on the spot, besotted by complicated camera choreography and the cuteness of its feline lead, but couldn't imagine what was to come. Looking at my original review, I even mentioned hopes that it'd get international distribution, which, at the time, wasn't guaranteed for the small Latvian production. Goodness, how things have changed. It turns out that Flow was the tiny film that could, storming through the awards season like a meowing underdog. Beyond becoming a cause célèbre for its home country, the film overcame Pixar's blockbuster hit Inside Out 2 to become The Wild Robot's biggest competition for the Best Animated Feature Oscar. 

And the best part is that, whichever of the two wins, we'll have a fantastic champion in our hands, something both of us know shouldn't be taken for granted. Isn't it wonderful?

NATHANIEL: It is bliss, yes. Both films are in my top 20 of the year (top ten list coming very soon)…

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Oscar Volleys: Best International Film aka “Emilia Pérez” vs. the World

The Oscar Volleys are back for some post-nomination talks. Today, Eric Blume and Nathaniel Rogers discuss Best International Film...

EMILIA PÉREZ | © Netflix

ERIC:  Nathaniel, what fun to have you all to myself to discuss the nominees for Best International Film (which I sometimes still call Best Foreign Film, because that's been in my brain too long).  I think we have five pretty terrific nominees this year.  Before we get into their Oscar-ability, what is your personal take across the five films?  I wouldn't be mad at a ranking!

NATHANIEL:  I share the same nomenclature waffling but we both were Oscar watching since the 1980s so who can blame us?...

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Team Experience Oscar Prediction: Final Scores

by Cláudio Alves

No one predicted I'M STILL HERE in Best Picture. | © Sony Pictures Classics

We're still reeling from this morning's Oscar nominations announcement but it's time to check predictions and assess the numbers. Like last year, various members of the Team Experience put forward their best guesses. While the point of this exercise is to see how different folks see the race, it's also a little competition of sorts, with a pundit ranking at the end. Overall, our collection of writers did better than last year, averaging a 75% success rate when excluding those tricky short film categories. These predictions also help us grasp what the day's big surprises truly were, both in terms of shocking selections or notorious snubs. Without further ado, here's the final score…

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A Few Thoughts on the Golden Globes

by Nathaniel R

Screenshot from the Golden Globes 

Did you watch the Golden Globes Sunday night? The show was (mostly) bereft of the kind of shocks we got in the pre-reform era but in a year where crystal Oscar balls are still foggy with possibility -- seriously, which film is going to win Best Picture? -- there was still inherent drama in the opening of envelopes. At least on the film side; the TV prizes were a complete snooze fest, merely rubber-stamping September's Emmy wins! Spreading the wealth should not be such a difficult concept for awards voters but we live in an age of monopolies and oligarchs so maybe abundance it's just not a vibe for the entertainment industry these days. 

Emilia Perez (4 wins) and The Brutalist (3 wins) were all the rage with Globes voters. But did anyone else get a boost heading toward Oscar nominations?

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