Defending The Irishman's costumes

by Cláudio Alves

While we may love to criticize the Academy, sometimes we're also a little bit to blame for the perpetuation of their prejudices. For instance, Oscar watchers love to deride the way voters confuse "Best" with "Most". This is especially true in Best Costume Design, where period work rules and contemporary styles are locked out. Still, when a movie is nominated for a wardrobe that's not very glamorous or showy, that prioritizes male attire instead of women's fashion, the grumblings take on another color. Suddenly, it's as if such design work is lesser because it isn't showy.

It's not erroneous to criticize the costume branch for being so myopic this year, having only singled out Best Picture nominees. However, to look at the costumes of The Irishman and say they're unworthy of praise is utter nonsense…

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Can Thelma Schoonmaker beat her own record?

by Cláudio Alves

Throughout the History of the Academy Awards, two filmmakers have received eight nominations in the Best Editing category. They are Michael Kahn and Thelma Schoonmaker. They also happen to be among the four people currently tied for the title of 'most awarded film editor of all-time'. Daniel Mandell and Ralph Dawson as well as Kahn and Schoonmaker have all won three statuettes (though Schoonmaker and Kahn lead the nomination tally). Both of those champion editors are still active, so one of them may beat these Oscar records. As of the moment, Martin Scorsese's most important collaborator is in contention to win her fourth Oscar for The Irishman.

If it happens, she'll become the undisputed queen of film editing in Hollywood. In regards to the Academy Awards, that is…

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Interview: Rodrigo Prieto on working with great auteurs and "The Irishman"

Rodrigo Prieto has long been one of the most versatile cinematographers in the world. He first came to international fame with the gritty Oscar nominated Mexican drama Amores Perros (2000) though filmmakers in Hollywood, we learned in our interview, had noticed his skill even earlier than that. Since then he's worked all over the world and in an impressive array of genres and styles.

We gave you a teaser of our long sit down with this great visual stylist a couple of months ago (we had to grill him about Brokeback Mountain first) but we were meeting to discuss The Irishman. Martin Scorsese's latest Best Picture nominee had yet to open when we spoke but it was a critical darling immediately and Prieto secured his third Oscar nomination for his contributions to the mournful epic. We spoke to him about his visual choices, what he loves about his job, and working with auteurs like Martin Scorsese and Ang Lee. How do they differ on set and which of Prieto's films had they seen to convince them to begin their long collaborations?

[This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity]

NATHANIEL: Your first several movies were in Mexico. It was Amores Perros (2000), wasn’t it, when Hollywood came calling? Could you feel your career exploding? 

RODRIGO PRIETO: It was actually a little bit before. My fourth movie All of Them Witches got international recognition. That's what got me my agents. I did another movie called  Un embrujo (1998)  that Carlos Carrera directed that got an award in San Sebastian  for cinematography. It put me on the “10 to watch list” in Variety. That's the one that made me think, you know, people might have started hearing my name a little bit...

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Best Picture in Monochrome

by Cláudio Alves

The trend of rereleasing critical darlings in black and white is apparently here to stay. After George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road and James Mangold’s Logan, it’s time for Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite to be revisited in sharp monochrome. The artistic value of such exercises is dubious, but they do offer a chance to reflect upon a film’s visual idiom and aesthetic construction. After all, do these works gain something by being in color? Is that an intrinsic part of their form or simply a consequence of convention? Would they be better, at least better looking, in black and white?

Those answers will have to remain unanswered, but as a fun exercise here are some from this year’s Best Picture nominees. They’ve been drained of color for your pleasure…

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Podcast: Oscar Nom Rants & Raves

In this hour long conversation Murtada and your TFE mastermind Nathaniel rant and rave on Oscar Nomination Morning (aka our Christmas).  We try to stay positive but there are a lot of things worth ranting about so it's a mix.

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you? 

Nomination Rants and Raves