93rd Academy Awards: The saga of Best Original Song

By Glenn Dunks

Quick, hum the melody of any of this year’s Best Original Song nominees (except “Husavik”). Hell, recite a single lyric from any of this year’s Best Original Song nominees (except “Husavik”).

Several years ago for The Film Experience, I ranked every winner of the original song category while hypothetically ranking each of that year’s nominees. We struck out with “Writing’s on the Wall”, which instantly became one of the worst winners of this beleaguered and controversial category. I unfortunately do not hold out much hope for this year’s crop of song contenders, only one of which deserves to win and only one of which would rank among the category’s finest winners. No need for suspense: that song is “Husavik”.

But we must and we shall look at this year’s nominees.

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25 Italian Finalists for Oscar Submission

by Nathaniel R

Italy doesn't really make it easy for their selection committee! Most countries pick a handful of finalists (if they have a finalist list at all) before making their Oscar selection. Even France, which makes lots of movies each year, narrows it down to just three or four before the choice is made. But Italy has a list of 25 (gulp) titles to decide between for their Oscar submission which they'll announce on November 24th. Italy is a powerhouse with Oscar as the #2 most often nominated country (behind only France) and the #1 most winning country (ahead of France). The 25 titles they're looking at are after the jump if you're interested...

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Podcast: Hillbilly Elegy, The Life Ahead, and Gotham nominations

with Nathaniel R & Murtada Elfadl

We're back !

Index (60 minutes)
00:01 Gotham Award Nominations. There is lots to discuss including First Cow, The Assistant, Nicole Beharie, Riz Ahmed, and longshots in Oscar races
28:00 Sophia Loren's star vehicle The Life Ahead
35:10 Ron Howard's Hillbilly Elegy. Amy Adams stars. We still think Glenn Close as "Mamaw" has a good shot at a nomination despite the rough reviews
54:30 Randomness to wrap up + Nathaniel finally saw Mulan 

Related Reading:
• Complete Gotham nominations
• Murtada's review of Miss Juneteenth
• Jason's review of First Cow
• Time interview
• Claudio's review of The Life Ahead

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? 

Hillbilly, Gothams, Life Ahead

What did you see this week?

Though theaters in LA and NYC never reopened, in places they did many are now closing again due to skyrocketing COVID rates. Sigh. This pandemic will be with us until there's a vaccine and not a day sooner because 40% of the country is insane and the GOP have politicized basic decency and believing in science as into bad things. WEAR A F'IN MASK. Jesus. Anyway. I personally had a heavy viewing week taking in The Life Ahead, Sound of Metal, First Cow, Mulan, The White Tiger, Pieces of a Woman, and Hillbilly Elegy. More on most of those soon.

On the internet, The Life Ahead hit Netflix and I Am Greta arrived on Hulu. Meanwhile in limited theatrical release The Climb and Ammonite opened and earned $103 and $85k respectively.  What did you see this week?

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (WIDE... SUCH AS IT IS THESE DAYS)

1. Freaky *new* (serial killer comedy) $3.7 million
2. Let Him Go (Diane Lane and Kevin Costner thriller) $1.8 (cum. $6.8)
3. The War with Grandpa (Robert DeNiro comedy) $1.3 (cum. $15.2)
4. Come Play (horror)  $1.1 (cum. $7.3) 
5. Honest Thief (Liam Neeson action) $800k (cum. $12.3)
6. Tenet (Christopher Nolan sci-fi) $735k (cum. $56.3)

Review: Sophia Loren returns with "The Life Ahead"

by Cláudio Alves

The Movie Star and Her Director Son

Even before we see her face in The Life Ahead, it's impossible to draw the eyes away from Sophia Loren. Following in the tradition of European realism, Edoardo Ponti's camera captures an Italian marketplace with shaky energy. However, no matter how shabby the framing might be, the colors depart from the standards of realism. Angus Hudson's cinematography makes everything a bit too bright, the sun shining on the streets like golden flames, every saturated color intensified. It's reality as if painted with crayons by an enthusiastic child. 

In this sunny landscape, a shot of bright blue, bluer than the sky, stands out, crowned by a mess of gunmetal hair. Dressed in azure, Loren may have lost some of the youthful glow of her heyday in the midcentury, but the star power is intact, her magnetism as strong as ever. Furthermore, the director, her son, knows how to pay reverence to the screen legend without making it too obvious or too elegiac…

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