The 97th Academy Awards (Cláudio's Version)

by Cláudio Alves

ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT | © Janus Films / Sideshow
It's been a week and change since the 97th Academy Awards. At this point, we have to start saying goodbye to the season that was and start looking ahead to a new cinematic year. And yet, there's still some business to take care of - some Fernanda Torres ruminations, the traditional Best Picture in black-and-white business, top tens and personal awards. Speaking of which, while Nathaniel is busy with the Film Bitch Awards, I thought about presenting my own ideal Oscar ballot. Those things led to great discussions in the past – remember my 1980s acting lineups? – so, let's bring that idea back. Following strict Oscar eligibility rules, my 97th Academy Awards are rather different from the real deal. Better, in my opinion, but maybe not in yours.

Across 20 feature film categories, I nominate 70 distinct projects. All We Imagine as Light is my big winner, but no single film won more than two prizes. I'm a big believer in spreading the wealth…

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Almost There: Daniel Craig in "Queer"

by Cláudio Alves

Apart from Call Me By Your Name, awards voters rarely see anything worth celebrating in Luca Guadagnino's cinema. In some ways, this season seemed to be a change of pace on that front, with Challengers and Queer going into Oscar nomination morning with some hopes. Sadly, they both got blanked. And while the tennis melodrama was mostly vying for "below the line" honors, Queer had its sight set on a Best Actor nomination, the first piece of Academy Award recognition for the erstwhile Bond, Daniel Craig. Ultimately, the William S. Burroughs adaptation was probably too weird for AMPAS' tastes, but we're here to recognize a performance that's nothing if not Oscar-worthy…

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Category Confusion '24: LEAD or SUPPORTING – Part Two

by Cláudio Alves

As promised, the debate about category placement shall continue to encompass new releases as we all head into the awards season proper. This year seems especially ripe with category fraud, so there's a lot for us to discuss – there's a world of possibility where no supporting performance gets nominated at the 97th Academy Awards. In any case, let's think back to the first round of voting. Last time, when deciding if a given performance was lead or supporting, you deliberated on various titles that have become more widely available since. So, feel free to go back and cast your vote if you have just now seen such pictures as Emilia Pérez, Blitz, and A Real Pain…

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TIFF '24: From the Lido to Lake Ontario

by Cláudio Alves

Dea Kulumbegashvili's APRIL won the Special Jury Prize in Venice.

For many critics who don't attend the big European festivals, TIFF marks their first chance to see some of the circuit's most talked-about titles. This year, I spent a good portion of my time in Toronto catching up with Venice films – the two events overlapped as they usually do – and managed to watch a whopping eleven titles from its official competition. Elisa already reviewed many of the big ones, and Abe also shared his take on Kill the Jockey, so I won't bother with those titles past a capsule. However, there's much to say about the yet-unreviewed April and Vermiglio, two Venice prizewinners that rocked my world. Dea Kulumbegashvili did it with a formalist assault, vicious and visceral, while Maura Delpero opted for a pastoral meditation, as peaceful on the surface as the gradual changing of the seasons…

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Venice 2024: Luca Guadagnino's "Queer"

by Elisa Giudici

Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey in QUEER (photo: Yannis Drakoulidis)

Luca Guadagnino's 2024 double feature, early release Challengers and the new premiere Queer, explore the intricate and slow process of calibrating love. In both,love is a delicate balancing act where one person loves intensely, perhaps even desperately, while the other remains more passive, content to be loved without being deeply invested in the relationship. The fundamental difference between the two lies in how they resolve this imbalance...

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