Oscar Volleys: Best Supporting Actor is a Done Deal

The Oscar Volleys are back for some post-nomination talks. Today, Eric Blume and Nick Taylor discuss Best Supporting Actor...

A REAL PAIN | © Searchlight Pictures

ERIC: Nick, I'm lucky enough to be paired with you for two different Oscar volleys this year. Let's start with the easier, our dive into the five Best Supporting Actor nominees. Nathaniel has already written about the incredible strength of this year's nominees, and I agree with him that it's one of our best ever. These gents were all a part of my personal top ten in this category, and there's not a dud in the bunch, in my opinion.  What are your thoughts on the group?

NICK: I’m less enthusiastic about this year’s contenders than you and Nathaniel are. No one’s doing bad work, but I wouldn’t have any of them in my lineup...

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Split Decision: "A Real Pain"

Split Decision returns to TFE. In this series two of our writers face off on a movie one loves and the other doesn't. Today, Eric Blume and Cláudio Alves discuss the season's Supporting Actor frontrunner and Original Screenplay nominee, A Real Pain...

ERIC BLUME: I'm thrilled to discuss one of my very favorite movies of the year, A Real Pain, with you.  I think Jesse Eisenberg made a major film with huge ideas, packed in a tight, 90-minute breezy package:  something we almost *never* see nowadays.  I think it's thematically rich, briskly paced, surprising, and most interesting, light and deep at the same time.  Where do you stand on the picture? 

CLÁUDIO ALVES: While I like A Real Pain, I wouldn't call it a major film by any metric, shape, or form…

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Oscar Volley: Best Supporting Actor suffers from "Succession" nostalgia

...after a brief holiday break, the Oscar Volleys continue with Elisa Giudici and Abe Friedtanzer on Best Supporting Actor...

Denzel Washington in GLADIATOR II | © Paramount Pictures

ELISA: This year’s Oscar race seems wide open for surprises, which, after years of things being more or less decided in advance, is pretty exciting, right? Unfortunately, due to local release schedules, I haven’t seen a few of the candidates, but I wouldn’t bet on anyone being "locked" exactly.

Take Denzel Washington, for example. He’s been widely praised for his performance in Gladiator II—arguably the only part of the film that everyone agrees is of high quality. It’s the classic, showy, theatrical role that could easily land an actor like Washington yet another nomination, especially given the respect and fame he commands...

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Category Confusion '24: LEAD or SUPPORTING – Part One

by Cláudio Alves

With the first batch of awards season honors coming in hot, questions of category fraud are bound to come up. And this year will be a doozy in that regard, with various leading actors campaigning as supporting for convenience's sake. It's a tried and true strategy that tends to block actual supporting and character actors from getting their flowers, forever living in the shadow of big stars in the wrong category. Well, if you're a regular at The Film Experience, you probably have read all this before, so let's not belabor the point. Instead, let's have some fun with polls like we did last year. This is just part one, of course, since many contenders still haven't been released beyond the festival circuit...

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Abe’s Sundance Jury of One

By Abe Friedtanzer

Pedro Pascal in Freaky Tales | Sundance Institute

This was my ninth time being in Park City for the Sundance Film Festival, and even though a family occasion meant I only arrived on Sunday (the festival started Thursday), I still saw twenty-five films in person and three before the fest. I did three days of five movies back-to-back, which is an incomparable thrill that can also prove quite exhausting. Fortunately, there was plenty of good fare worth remembering, and some of it is even coming soon to a screen of some sort near you!

Because there’s just so much playing, I didn’t actually see most of the official award winners, but you can peruse that list here. For my “jury of one,” here are my top ten films and a few other assorted honors. My reviews, if available, are hyperlinked, as well as notes on distribution if available...

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