Paul Newman @ 100: "The Hustler"

by Nathaniel R

Paul Newman's second Oscar nomination came for THE HUSTLER (1961). All screenshots sourced from FilmGrab.

A smiling illustration on salad dressing bottles, a serious visage on movie posters, a guest on television talk shows? I can't recall when I first became aware of Paul Newman. He was always there, an unmoving fixture of popular culture. When I was a kid he'd already been in the movie business for 30 years. For most stars, two back-to-back lead Oscar nominations in your late 50s (Absence of Malice and The Verdict) would be a winding down or a swan song but Paul Newman was the definition of "enduring". When I started hitting movie theaters on the regular he was just 30 years into a career but there was still tank in the gas. He'd be back to the Oscars as a nominee thrice more, four if you count the Honorary statue.

For today's celebration, we're travelling way back to his second Oscar nomination to meet "Fast Eddie" Felson in The Hustler (1961)...

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Will any of the PGA Nominees miss the Best Picture list at the Oscars?

by Nathaniel R

A REAL PAIN scores a coveted PGA nod. Can it beat SING SING to the Oscars?

After the BAFTAs the season is coalescing leaving little room for surprise when the delayed Oscar nominations arrive this coming Friday (January 23). The Producers Guild have also announced their nominations. While the PGA leans more 'mainstream' than Oscar, this looks very much like what we can expect on Oscar nom morning. Still history suggests one (or two) nominee(s) could fall to the wayside. But which...

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10 Questions about the Oscar race

by Nathaniel R

Every Oscar chart has been updated. Late October is always a strange time in the awards race. It's a time when most of the major players have surfaced (at festivals or screenings) but nobody has yet seen everything and no awards groups (beyond festival juries) have sorted and sifted through the abundance. Which means anything is still possible until the critics groups and awards org begin to narrow the focus of Academy voters in ways that tend to be both interesting and disheartening. They'll boost a couple of unexpected but worthy contenders into the conversation but at the same time their hive mind choices will pour abundant love on too few titles and starve other beauties of sunlight and water.

So as you peruse the charts, answer these ten questions in the comments...

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Venice Diary: Ghosts in Mostra

This year, Elisa is once again covering the Venice Film Festival for The Film Experience, writing a daily diary of her cinematic experiences from the Lido. The two opening films that inaugurated the 81st edition—one from the main competition and the other from the Orizzonti section—create a surprising and unexpected dialogue.

BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE (2024). Credit: Warner Bros Entertainment Inc)

by Elisa Giudici

BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE by Tim Burton
Gossip has revealed that much has changed recently in Tim Burton's personal life. He has a new woman by his side, both personally and professionally and a young muse who perfectly embodies his signature gothic aesthetic. Surprisingly, this shift has had a positive impact on Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the sequel that, 36 years after the original, finds a legitimate reason to exist. It’s moderately entertaining, offers some successful sequences, and proves itself more than worthy of opening the 81st Venice Film Festival...

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First & Last 041 - Seeing double

Can you guess the movie from its first and last shot? The answer is after the jump...

Yes, yes, dear reader, but... which one?

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