Gold-Standard Roles: From Tony to Oscar

by Cláudio Alves

This season, Wicked hopes to translate some of its Tony glory to the Oscars, twenty years after the musical competed for Broadway’s highest honors. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, in particular, are now part of a long tradition of performers who took Tony-heralded parts and made them into Oscar success stories. Time will tell if either of them finishes the season with little golden men clasped tightly in their hands. Still, it’s already possible to contextualize them within this peculiar dynamic, this Tony-to-Oscar pipeline. Because we love lists and statistics here at The Film Experience, let’s recall every case when a Tony-nominated role earned itself AMPAS’ seal of approval…

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MONSTRO BEST ACTRESS - Vote Daily!

by Nathaniel R

THE SUBSTANCE

We’re updating all Oscar charts this weekend (if we can manage) and of course we start by spotlighting Best Actress, the category we live for as actressexuals. As is silly tradition, we like to mush all the contenders together and see what we’ve got. A unique caveat: it feels a little weird to play this game in a year where one of the nominees comes from a movie that does create a creature, “Monstro Elisasue”, by fusing women together. ANYWAY… If you stitch all of this season’s Best Actresses together your Bride of Frankenstein beauty is a 47 year old raven-haired American actress (with family ties to the UK and Brazil) enjoying her first ever nomination. Read on for more craziness...

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(Pt 2) Everything you wanted to know about the International Feature race: Stars & Auteurs

by Nathaniel R

Michael Fassbender co-stars in Ireland's KNEECAP

In part one of our breakdown of the Best International Feature Film Oscar race, we looked at recurring themes, LGBTQ appeal, and running time. But there is still a lot to discuss in the collection of 85 films competing first for 15 "finalist" spots (December 17th) and then for the coveted nomination (January 17th, 2025). Let's look at the famous actors and directors who are back again hoping for some gold dust on their films...

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(Pt 1) Everything you wanted to know about the International Feature Film race... but were afraid to ask

by Nathaniel R

BEAUTIFUL EVENING, BEAUTIFUL DAY - Croatia's gay entry

Though 89 films were originally announced as submitting to the Best International Feature Film Academy Award competition this year, only 85 became official contenders. We’ve done a deep dive of the list, updated the charts, and crunched some stats and sought out any patterns to bring you this report. We'll start with the LGBTQ+ competitors, genre classifications, chronology of stories, running time stats, and unintentional 'twins' if you will. Hope you enjoy...

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When will AMPAS embrace Horror makeup?

by Cláudio Alves

Between its box office numbers and pop culture footprint, The Substance has been one of the year's most unexpected success stories. MUBI's biggest release is also its most profitable, growing steadily through word of mouth and an aggressive campaign unafraid to highlight the picture's extreme body horror, its sheer grossness. Indeed, the Cannes Best Screenplay prizewinner is among the year's most-watched original films, having found its audience without the aid of IP recognition or all those shiny notions that excite Hollywood execs. In a world where genre bias wasn't a thing and snobbery didn't run rampant in film circles, one might expect Coralie Fargeat's provocation to factor heavily into the awards season. We don't live in that world. 

While one might suppose The Substance's rhapsodies of aged and mutated flesh, exaggerated voluptuousness, and grandiose gore would score an easy Best Makeup & Hairstyling nomination, that's not a safe bet. As the genre most dependent on makeup effects and where technical innovations often manifest, horror should have a place of honor in the category. Sadly, it doesn't. It hardly ever did…

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