Ireland's "Kneecap" leads the BIFA nominations

by Cláudio Alves

In a fascinating turn of events, the official Oscar submission from Ireland is the most nominated film at the British Independent Film Awards. Kneecap, a comedy about the homonymous Belfast hip-hop group, scored a grand total of 14 nods, including five for its director, Rich Peppiatt. In the second place, we find Rose Glass's Saint Maud follow-up, Love Lies Bleeding. A thriller flirting with body horror, it nabbed 12 honors. Coming in third, there's The Outrun which continues to grow its awards season profile. The Scottish drama scored nine nominations overall, but its best bet is probably Best Actress, where Saoirse Ronan is aiming for gold. If things go according to Sony Picture Classic's plans, the film might add an Oscar nomination to its bounty before the season's over…

Click to read more ...

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...

Click to read more ...

Halfway Honors: The Gold Digger's 2024 Mid-Year Awards Have Been Announced!

by Nick Taylor

DUNE: PART TWO leads with 16 nominations, though CHALLENGERS is swaggering right behind it into that sauna with 15

As some of you may remember from last year, guest contributor Patrick Gratton has been spearheading a group known as the Gold Diggers Awards since 2018. Comprised of critics, cinephiles, festival circuit regulars and trusted besties around the globe, the organization is once again back with their Mid-Year Awards slate. As is tradition, these nominations are solely cultivated from films that received a US release in the first half of 2024. Also in keeping with tradition, these lineups are an eccentric mix of mainstream, arthouse, underground, and international cinema. Where else will you see Dune: Part Two duke it out with the likes of The People's Joker for Best Effects, or held up against Lea Seydoux's other sci-fi thrill The Beast? I love these nominations, and not just cuz I'm a member.

For the best of the best in 24 categories, follow me below the cut . . . .

Click to read more ...

Berlinale #6: Kirsten Stewart in "Love Lies Bleeding"

by Elisa Giudici

LOVE LIES BLEEDING © Anna Kooris

A young woman hitchhikes along the edge of an American road, wearing shorts, a T-shirt, and carrying a backpack with her belongings. Jackie or Nomi? It's just one of the passages in Love Lies Bleeding that brings to mind Paul Verhoeven's Showgirls. The two films have a lot in common, starting with a rare attitude in American cinema: looking at an "unpresentable" American reality from within, while completely abstaining from any kind of judgment, morality, or dramatic commentary. Other similarities include the dream of the Vegas show (Jackie wants to participate in a bodybuilding competition) and a constant male presence as a judge and dangerous force. Director Rose Glass demonstrates the same ability as Verhoeven to make such bold and decisive choices, with a certain taste for the quip, that the film will inevitably be divisive.

With this introduction, I don't mean to say that Love Lies Bleeding is looking to reference Showgirls...

Click to read more ...