While the Best Supporting Actress Oscar is often awarded to an ingenue, like the 2022 winner Ariana DeBose (“West Side Story”), it can also be a way to reward a more seasoned performer. In 2024, Da’Vine Joy Randolph (“The Leftovers”) won on her first nomination A year earlier Jamie Lee Curtis had reaped her first Oscar bid at age 64 and prevailed for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” In 2021 Youn Yuh-jung, who is renowned in her native South Korea, won at age 73 for her first English film, “Minari.” And in 2020, the academy honored past nominee Laura Dern who finally took home an Oscar for her scene-stealing performance in “Marriage Story.” (Scroll down for the most up-to-date 2025 Oscar predictions for Best Supporting Actress.)
While Dern was clearly a featured player in her picture, two of her rival nominees, Florence Pugh and Margot Robbie, could easily have submitted themselves in lead for their roles in “Little Women” and “Bombshell” respectively.
While Dern was clearly a featured player in her picture, two of her rival nominees, Florence Pugh and Margot Robbie, could easily have submitted themselves in lead for their roles in “Little Women” and “Bombshell” respectively.
- 7/11/2024
- by Paul Sheehan and Jacob Sarkisian
- Gold Derby
To mark the release of Queen of Spades on 23rd January, we’ve been given Blu-ray copies to give away to 2 winners.
St. Petersburg, 1806. Army officer Herman Suvorin (Anton Walbrook) has become obsessed with playing cards, particularly the game of Faro, where the Queen of Spades is considered an unlucky card.
On stumbling upon a mysterious book about the secrets of a notorious Count, Herman becomes convinced that the elderly Countess Ranevskaya (Edith Evans) possesses the secret of winning every game. Desperate to learn the secret for himself, Herman devises a plan to gain access to her house by seducing her young Ward, Lizaveta (Yvonne Mitchell). The plan goes awry when Herman accidently startles the Countess, leading to her death.
At the Countess’s funeral, Herman comes to pay his respects, but when he leans over her open coffin, her eyes open and he lets out a howl of fear.
St. Petersburg, 1806. Army officer Herman Suvorin (Anton Walbrook) has become obsessed with playing cards, particularly the game of Faro, where the Queen of Spades is considered an unlucky card.
On stumbling upon a mysterious book about the secrets of a notorious Count, Herman becomes convinced that the elderly Countess Ranevskaya (Edith Evans) possesses the secret of winning every game. Desperate to learn the secret for himself, Herman devises a plan to gain access to her house by seducing her young Ward, Lizaveta (Yvonne Mitchell). The plan goes awry when Herman accidently startles the Countess, leading to her death.
At the Countess’s funeral, Herman comes to pay his respects, but when he leans over her open coffin, her eyes open and he lets out a howl of fear.
- 1/16/2023
- by Competitions
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Forty-two years after receiving his only film acting Golden Globe nomination for “Ordinary People,” Judd Hirsch is back in the Best Supporting Actor conversation thanks to his brief yet powerful performance as Uncle Boris Schildkraut in “The Fabelmans.” If the 87-year-old does earn his overall ninth Golden Globe notice for his work in the Steven Spielberg film, he will be the third oldest performer ever recognized by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which would put him one step away from making history as the oldest acting Golden Globe winner of all time.
The current record for oldest acting Golden Globe champion has been held since 1989 by John Gielgud. The two-time HFPA honoree was 84 years old when he won Best TV Supporting Actor for the limited series “War and Remembrance.” The only actors older than Hirsch who have ever contended in any Golden Globe category are Ernest Borgnine and Christopher Plummer.
The current record for oldest acting Golden Globe champion has been held since 1989 by John Gielgud. The two-time HFPA honoree was 84 years old when he won Best TV Supporting Actor for the limited series “War and Remembrance.” The only actors older than Hirsch who have ever contended in any Golden Globe category are Ernest Borgnine and Christopher Plummer.
- 12/8/2022
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
Each month before the Supporting Actress Smackdown, Nick Taylor suggests alternatives to the actual Oscar nomination ballot.
by Nick Taylor
For me, Dame Margaret Rutherford sits alongside the likes of Judi Dench and Edith Evans and (insert your favorite British actress/Mark Rylance here) as quintessential examples of British thespians transitioning to remarkably rewarding screen careers later in life, long after establishing their bonafides onstage. What’s recognizable about their screen presences is seemingly integral to every role, though they’re rangier in affect and character-building than one might give them credit for. They almost always deliver, and even when they don't, there's still enough happening in their work for a desperate viewer to latch onto. It takes talent for Rutherford to be compelling enough in The VIPs that you wonder if her performance deserves to be in a better film instead of scraped with the rest of the heap.
by Nick Taylor
For me, Dame Margaret Rutherford sits alongside the likes of Judi Dench and Edith Evans and (insert your favorite British actress/Mark Rylance here) as quintessential examples of British thespians transitioning to remarkably rewarding screen careers later in life, long after establishing their bonafides onstage. What’s recognizable about their screen presences is seemingly integral to every role, though they’re rangier in affect and character-building than one might give them credit for. They almost always deliver, and even when they don't, there's still enough happening in their work for a desperate viewer to latch onto. It takes talent for Rutherford to be compelling enough in The VIPs that you wonder if her performance deserves to be in a better film instead of scraped with the rest of the heap.
- 6/19/2021
- by Nick Taylor
- FilmExperience
Although Oscar voters have favored lengthier supporting male performances over the last decade, they have generally voted for shorter ones on the female side. The vast majority of recent Best Supporting Actress winners have had roles that are indisputably featured ones and represent the intended purpose of these prizes.
Last year, Laura Dern prevailed for appearing in 18 minutes and 36 seconds (or 13.58%) of “Marriage Story.” Although her character’s children were unseen, Dern imbued her with the certain kind of tenacious warmth that mothers often radiate. Hers was the third relatively short maternal role to win in a row, after those of Allison Janney and Regina King.
The 2021 Best Supporting Actress nominees have an average screen time of 28 minutes and 55 seconds, or 27.02% of their respective films. In terms of actual time, their average is the 18th highest in the history of the category, while their percentage average is the 13th highest.
Last year, Laura Dern prevailed for appearing in 18 minutes and 36 seconds (or 13.58%) of “Marriage Story.” Although her character’s children were unseen, Dern imbued her with the certain kind of tenacious warmth that mothers often radiate. Hers was the third relatively short maternal role to win in a row, after those of Allison Janney and Regina King.
The 2021 Best Supporting Actress nominees have an average screen time of 28 minutes and 55 seconds, or 27.02% of their respective films. In terms of actual time, their average is the 18th highest in the history of the category, while their percentage average is the 13th highest.
- 4/10/2021
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
In 1968, 80-year-old Edith Evans broke new ground as the first octogenarian actor to compete for an Oscar. Since then, the academy has nominated 17 other performances given by thespians in their 80s, but prior to this year, none had been recognized in the Best Actor category. With his bid for “The Father,” Anthony Hopkins (83) has finally broken the lead male record set by 79-year-old Richard Farnsworth (“The Straight Story”) in 2000. He is the seventh-oldest acting nominee in Oscar history.
At the upcoming Academy Awards, Hopkins faces off against Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”), Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”), Gary Oldman (“Mank”), and Steven Yeun (“Minari”) in the race for Best Actor. Hopkins previously won the award for “The Silence of the Lambs” in 1992. Oldman is also a past winner in the category for “Darkest Hour” (2018), while the remaining three are all first-time contenders at the Oscars.
“The Father,” which originated...
At the upcoming Academy Awards, Hopkins faces off against Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”), Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”), Gary Oldman (“Mank”), and Steven Yeun (“Minari”) in the race for Best Actor. Hopkins previously won the award for “The Silence of the Lambs” in 1992. Oldman is also a past winner in the category for “Darkest Hour” (2018), while the remaining three are all first-time contenders at the Oscars.
“The Father,” which originated...
- 4/5/2021
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars from Film Awards Editor Clayton Davis. Following Academy Awards history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar predictions are updated regularly with the current year's contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year long: Draft, Pre-Season, Regular Season and Post Season. Eligibility calendar and dates of awards will determine how long each phase lasts and will be displayed next to revision date.
To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit The Collective
Draft>>>Pre Season>>>Regular Season>>>Post Season
2021 Golden Globe Predictions:
Best Actress In A Motion Picture (Drama)
Updated: Feb. 24, 2021
Awards Prediction Commentary: The Golden Globes nominations were announced on Feb. 3, with Netflix’s “Mank” from David Fincher leading with six nods. As the ceremony approaches on Feb. 28, the categories have been...
To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit The Collective
Draft>>>Pre Season>>>Regular Season>>>Post Season
2021 Golden Globe Predictions:
Best Actress In A Motion Picture (Drama)
Updated: Feb. 24, 2021
Awards Prediction Commentary: The Golden Globes nominations were announced on Feb. 3, with Netflix’s “Mank” from David Fincher leading with six nods. As the ceremony approaches on Feb. 28, the categories have been...
- 2/24/2021
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
With a screen time total of 18 minutes and 36 seconds, Laura Dern’s 2020 Best Supporting Actress-winning performance in “Marriage Story” was noted for its brevity. However, it ranks as the 24th shortest to ever win in the Oscar category, proving the academy’s particular and everlasting fondness for smaller supporting female roles. Here is a look at the 10 winners with the least amount of screen time. (And here’s the equivalent list for Best Supporting Actor.)
10. Jo Van Fleet (“East of Eden”)
15 minutes, 4 seconds (12.82% of the film)
After a decade of stage acting, Tony winner Jo Van Fleet earned an Oscar for her film debut as child abandoner and brothel operator Kate Ames. Many of the votes she received were likely in honor of her body of work in 1955, since she also had roles in two other Oscar-nominated films that year (“I’ll Cry Tomorrow” and “The Rose Tattoo”). Her few scenes in “East of Eden,...
10. Jo Van Fleet (“East of Eden”)
15 minutes, 4 seconds (12.82% of the film)
After a decade of stage acting, Tony winner Jo Van Fleet earned an Oscar for her film debut as child abandoner and brothel operator Kate Ames. Many of the votes she received were likely in honor of her body of work in 1955, since she also had roles in two other Oscar-nominated films that year (“I’ll Cry Tomorrow” and “The Rose Tattoo”). Her few scenes in “East of Eden,...
- 12/22/2020
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
The Queen of Spades
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1949/ 1.33:1 / 95 min.
Starring Anton Walbrook, Edith Evans
Directed by Throld Dickinson
One of the pleasures of discovering 1949’s The Queen of Spades is also discovering its director, Thorold Dickinson. Born and educated in Bristol, he abandoned Oxford for London to concentrate on the fine art of film editing and soon found himself behind the camera.
Dickinson made waves with 1940’s Gaslight but Queen was something of a critical flashpoint for the diligent director – called in as a last minute replacement, the project would cement his reputation as an artist whose portentous visual style said as much about his characters as any screenplay. Not coincidentally, those qualities were shared by the film’s associate producer, Jack Clayton.
Based on Alexander Pushkin’s 1834 short story, the film is set in a snowbound St. Petersburg enclave in 1803, a gothic inversion of one of Ernst Lubitsch‘s fairy tale villages.
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1949/ 1.33:1 / 95 min.
Starring Anton Walbrook, Edith Evans
Directed by Throld Dickinson
One of the pleasures of discovering 1949’s The Queen of Spades is also discovering its director, Thorold Dickinson. Born and educated in Bristol, he abandoned Oxford for London to concentrate on the fine art of film editing and soon found himself behind the camera.
Dickinson made waves with 1940’s Gaslight but Queen was something of a critical flashpoint for the diligent director – called in as a last minute replacement, the project would cement his reputation as an artist whose portentous visual style said as much about his characters as any screenplay. Not coincidentally, those qualities were shared by the film’s associate producer, Jack Clayton.
Based on Alexander Pushkin’s 1834 short story, the film is set in a snowbound St. Petersburg enclave in 1803, a gothic inversion of one of Ernst Lubitsch‘s fairy tale villages.
- 10/22/2019
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Movie adaptations of classic texts can be disappointing. Transitioning from one form to the next is dangerous, particularly when nothing original arises from the outgoing medium. Sometimes it’s as if the filmmakers have left the camera pointed at a stage-play or between the pages of a book. But the 1958 film adaptation of Look Back in Anger is a masterful translation of John Osborne’s (now-)classic play – incorporating the essence of the newly-emerging British New Wave and continuing the legacy of the “angry young men” literary movement.
Set in the grey and wet city of Derby, sweet-seller Jimmy Porter (Richard Burton) lives with his wife Alison (Mary Ure) and best friend Cliff (Gary Raymond). He is a stern, explosive individual – consistently aggressive and searingly misogynistic, even by the standards of 1958. Alison feels tired and trapped by him, never finding the right opportunity to say she’s carrying his child.
Set in the grey and wet city of Derby, sweet-seller Jimmy Porter (Richard Burton) lives with his wife Alison (Mary Ure) and best friend Cliff (Gary Raymond). He is a stern, explosive individual – consistently aggressive and searingly misogynistic, even by the standards of 1958. Alison feels tired and trapped by him, never finding the right opportunity to say she’s carrying his child.
- 4/17/2018
- by Euan Franklin
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
“The Shape of Water” is one of two Best Picture Oscar nominees with three acting nominations — the other being “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” — but star Sally Hawkins and supporting players Octavia Spencer and Richard Jenkins are not predicted to win any of them. If they indeed go 0-3 on Sunday and “The Shape of Water” takes the top prize, the fantasy drama will join eight other Best Picture champs that did not convert any of its three-plus acting nominations into wins.
“Birdman” (2014) was the most recent Best Picture winner not to carry an acting award from at least three nominations, as Michael Keaton, Emma Stone and Edward Norton fell to Eddie Redmayne (“The Theory of Everything”), Patricia Arquette (“Boyhood”) and J.K. Simmons (“Whiplash”), respectively. Arquette and Simmons were the supporting frontrunners all season, but Keaton was locked in a tight Best Actor race with Redmayne until the SAG Awards...
“Birdman” (2014) was the most recent Best Picture winner not to carry an acting award from at least three nominations, as Michael Keaton, Emma Stone and Edward Norton fell to Eddie Redmayne (“The Theory of Everything”), Patricia Arquette (“Boyhood”) and J.K. Simmons (“Whiplash”), respectively. Arquette and Simmons were the supporting frontrunners all season, but Keaton was locked in a tight Best Actor race with Redmayne until the SAG Awards...
- 3/3/2018
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
Sam Rockwell (‘Three Billboards’) would be sixth Best Supporting Actor Oscar champ to beat a co-star
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” ended a 26-year drought in Best Supporting Actor, producing two nominees, Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell, from the same film for the first time since “Bugsy” (1991) stars Harvey Keitel and Ben Kingsley lost to Jack Palance (“City Slickers”). By all appearances, it’s smooth sailing for Rockwell for the win, which would be the sixth time a Best Supporting Actor winner defeated a co-star in 18 dual duels.
“Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” (1939) stars Harry Carey and Claude Rains were the first co-stars to be nominated against each other in Best Supporting Actor, but they lost to Thomas Mitchell for “Stagecoach.” It would be another 32 years — with seven pairs of double nominees in between — before a Best Supporting Actor champ, Ben Johnson, beat a co-star, Jeff Bridges, for 1971’s “The Last Picture Show.”
Three years later, Robert De Niro prevailed over fellow “The Godfather Part II...
“Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” (1939) stars Harry Carey and Claude Rains were the first co-stars to be nominated against each other in Best Supporting Actor, but they lost to Thomas Mitchell for “Stagecoach.” It would be another 32 years — with seven pairs of double nominees in between — before a Best Supporting Actor champ, Ben Johnson, beat a co-star, Jeff Bridges, for 1971’s “The Last Picture Show.”
Three years later, Robert De Niro prevailed over fellow “The Godfather Part II...
- 2/22/2018
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
“The Shape of Water” numbers three acting bids among its leading 13 Academy Awards nominations for lead Sally Hawkins and supporting players Richard Jenkins and Octavia Spencer. According to our exclusive Oscar odds none of them is predicted to win on March 4. Should that scenario play out, does that mean that their film won’t win Best Picture?
Not so fast.
While 53 of the 89 Best Picture champs to date include an Oscar-winning performance, 36 of them (40%) did not win any acting awards. And among those three dozen winners are four of the eight films — “The Hurt Locker” (2009), “Argo” (2012), “Birdman” (2015) and “Spotlight” (2016) — decided by preferential ballot under the newly expanded slate of Best Picture nominees.
Surprisingly, an even dozen of the Best Picture winners did not even reap any acting nominations. That is welcome news for “Arrival,” which does not number an acting bid among its eight nominations. However, four of those films...
Not so fast.
While 53 of the 89 Best Picture champs to date include an Oscar-winning performance, 36 of them (40%) did not win any acting awards. And among those three dozen winners are four of the eight films — “The Hurt Locker” (2009), “Argo” (2012), “Birdman” (2015) and “Spotlight” (2016) — decided by preferential ballot under the newly expanded slate of Best Picture nominees.
Surprisingly, an even dozen of the Best Picture winners did not even reap any acting nominations. That is welcome news for “Arrival,” which does not number an acting bid among its eight nominations. However, four of those films...
- 2/13/2018
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
The upcoming Oscar ceremony is their 90th but guess who's having their 75th birthday this year? Oscar's bad seed step-sister The Golden Globes, that's who! We kid. We love the Globes, bad seed reference aside, in all their adorably flawed glory. What should we do to celebrate the Globes 75th birthday this year?!?
To honor their impending anniversary ceremony, here are 10 random times that the Globes were smarter than Oscar:
2010 The Social Network, Best Picture (The King's Speech won the Oscar) 2005 Brokeback Mountain, Best Picture (Crash won the Oscar) 1996-1999 Their choices for Best Supporting Actor always preferrable to Oscars! 1995 Sense & Sensibility, Best Picture (Braveheart won the Oscar) 1984 Kim Basinger was nominated for The Natural instead of Glenn Close at the Oscars for the same movie (Close is a better actress, sure, but Basinger is way better in The Natural) 1980s They recognized that Cher was a brilliant actress long...
To honor their impending anniversary ceremony, here are 10 random times that the Globes were smarter than Oscar:
2010 The Social Network, Best Picture (The King's Speech won the Oscar) 2005 Brokeback Mountain, Best Picture (Crash won the Oscar) 1996-1999 Their choices for Best Supporting Actor always preferrable to Oscars! 1995 Sense & Sensibility, Best Picture (Braveheart won the Oscar) 1984 Kim Basinger was nominated for The Natural instead of Glenn Close at the Oscars for the same movie (Close is a better actress, sure, but Basinger is way better in The Natural) 1980s They recognized that Cher was a brilliant actress long...
- 11/9/2017
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
On this day (August 24th) in showbiz-related history...
1890 "Father of modern surfing" and part time movie actor Duke Kahanamoku born in Hawaii. We've written about him before. Where's his biopic?
1967 The Whisperers premieres in London. It's about an old poor woman living in solitude who is beginning to lose her grip on reality. Dame Edith Evans sterling work was instantly lauded - she won Best Actress at Berlinale and from such disparate groups as the Nyfcc, Nbr and the Golden Globes. She landed her third and final Oscar nomination in the Best Actress lineup (sadly only the winner, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner's Hepburn, was less than superb in that shortlist!). At the time Evans was the oldest Oscar nominee of all time in any acting category having just turned 80 years old. That record has since been undone but she's still the third oldest lead actress nominee after Jessica Tandy...
1890 "Father of modern surfing" and part time movie actor Duke Kahanamoku born in Hawaii. We've written about him before. Where's his biopic?
1967 The Whisperers premieres in London. It's about an old poor woman living in solitude who is beginning to lose her grip on reality. Dame Edith Evans sterling work was instantly lauded - she won Best Actress at Berlinale and from such disparate groups as the Nyfcc, Nbr and the Golden Globes. She landed her third and final Oscar nomination in the Best Actress lineup (sadly only the winner, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner's Hepburn, was less than superb in that shortlist!). At the time Evans was the oldest Oscar nominee of all time in any acting category having just turned 80 years old. That record has since been undone but she's still the third oldest lead actress nominee after Jessica Tandy...
- 8/24/2017
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Presenting the Supporting Actresses of '63. Well well, what have we here? This year's statistical uniqueness (the only time one film ever produced three supporting actress nominees) and the character lineup reads juicier than it actually is - your Fab Five are, get this: a saucy wench, a pious auntie, a disgraced lady, a pillpopping royal, and a stubborn nun.
The Nominees
from left to right: Cilento, Evans, Redman, Rutherford, Skalia
In 1963 Oscar voters went for an all-first-timers nominee list in Supporting Actress. The eldest contenders would soon become Dames (Margaret Rutherford and Edith Evans were both OBEs at the time). Rutherford, the eventual winner, was the only nominee with an extensive film history and she was in the middle of a hot streak with her signature role as Jane Marple which ran across multiple films from through 1961-1965. In fact, Agatha Christie had just dedicated her new book "The...
The Nominees
from left to right: Cilento, Evans, Redman, Rutherford, Skalia
In 1963 Oscar voters went for an all-first-timers nominee list in Supporting Actress. The eldest contenders would soon become Dames (Margaret Rutherford and Edith Evans were both OBEs at the time). Rutherford, the eventual winner, was the only nominee with an extensive film history and she was in the middle of a hot streak with her signature role as Jane Marple which ran across multiple films from through 1961-1965. In fact, Agatha Christie had just dedicated her new book "The...
- 8/14/2017
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
The Supporting Actress Smackdown of '63 is just 3 days away. So it's time to get your votes in on the nominees that year. Readers, collectively, are the final panelist, so grade the nominees (only the ones you've seen) from 1 to 5 hearts. Your votes count toward the smackdown win!
Diane Cilento Tom Jones Edith Evans Tom Jones Joyce Redman Tom Jones
Margaret Rutherford The VIPs
Lilia Skala Lilies of the Field
Now that we're finally getting to this long delayed Smackdown. It's time to meet this month's talking heads...
The Panel
Seán McGovern and Brian Mullin
An Irishman and an American based in London, Seán McGovern and Brian Mullin are the hosts of Broad Appeal, the podcast that looks back at female-driven films from the not-so-distant past. Seán is a film festival programmer with Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Fest and has also worked for the BFI and the National Film and Television School.
Diane Cilento Tom Jones Edith Evans Tom Jones Joyce Redman Tom Jones
Margaret Rutherford The VIPs
Lilia Skala Lilies of the Field
Now that we're finally getting to this long delayed Smackdown. It's time to meet this month's talking heads...
The Panel
Seán McGovern and Brian Mullin
An Irishman and an American based in London, Seán McGovern and Brian Mullin are the hosts of Broad Appeal, the podcast that looks back at female-driven films from the not-so-distant past. Seán is a film festival programmer with Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Fest and has also worked for the BFI and the National Film and Television School.
- 8/11/2017
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Last year's Supporting Actress Smackdown season was way too short with only two episodes so we're starting much earlier this year and aiming for at least 5 or 6 from spring to summer.
Stitch & Bitch with Supporting Actress Shortlists February through August!
Friday February 17th - Best Supporting Actress 2016
Nominees Tba. Since the smackdown is normally a retrospective we will probably approach this 'in-the-moment' event differently but we're still brainstorming.
Friday March 31st - Best Supporting Actress 1963
We've been promising this year forever so we are going to force ourselves through it which should be easier than its been since its only three films! The nominees: Margaret Rutherford in The VIPs, Lilia Skalia in Lilies of the Field and three of Albert Finney's co-stars in Tom Jones: Diane Cilento, Joyce Redman, and '60s Oscar fixture Dame Edith Evans
But what shall we do for April through August (finale)? You get...
Stitch & Bitch with Supporting Actress Shortlists February through August!
Friday February 17th - Best Supporting Actress 2016
Nominees Tba. Since the smackdown is normally a retrospective we will probably approach this 'in-the-moment' event differently but we're still brainstorming.
Friday March 31st - Best Supporting Actress 1963
We've been promising this year forever so we are going to force ourselves through it which should be easier than its been since its only three films! The nominees: Margaret Rutherford in The VIPs, Lilia Skalia in Lilies of the Field and three of Albert Finney's co-stars in Tom Jones: Diane Cilento, Joyce Redman, and '60s Oscar fixture Dame Edith Evans
But what shall we do for April through August (finale)? You get...
- 1/19/2017
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
You thought we'd forgotten the Smackdowns. We have not! Here's what's coming this season. You know you want to join in the movie merriment! We're giving you a headstart so you can get to watching these 13 movies for the first time (or revisiting them) over your summer vacations. More details to follow as we get closer to the actual Smackdowns.
Sunday July 31st
The Best Supporting Actresses of 1977
The Oscar went to the legendary but controversial Vanessa Redgrave for Julia and while she might be impossible to beat, the movies are all juicy in this category. Tuesday Weld co-stars in the provocative Looking for Mr Goodbar, Melinda Dillon was part of the fine cast of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Quinn Cumming charmed voters in The Goodbye Girl, and Leslie Browne, a dancer, debuted in Oscar's all time biggest loser The Turning Point (nominated for 11 Oscars but it lost every category!
Sunday July 31st
The Best Supporting Actresses of 1977
The Oscar went to the legendary but controversial Vanessa Redgrave for Julia and while she might be impossible to beat, the movies are all juicy in this category. Tuesday Weld co-stars in the provocative Looking for Mr Goodbar, Melinda Dillon was part of the fine cast of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Quinn Cumming charmed voters in The Goodbye Girl, and Leslie Browne, a dancer, debuted in Oscar's all time biggest loser The Turning Point (nominated for 11 Oscars but it lost every category!
- 6/8/2016
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
By Todd Garbarini
Jack Cardiff’s 1965 film Young Cassidy, which stars Rod Taylor, Julie Christie, Maggie Smith and Michael Redgrave, will be screened at the Royale Laemmle Theater in Los Angeles. Based upon Sean O’Casey’s autobiography Mirror in My House (he also contributed to the screenplay), the 110-minute film will be screened on Wednesday, January 6th, 2015 at 7:00 pm.
Film editor extraordinaire Anne V. Coates is also scheduled to be on hand following the screening to discuss her work on the film as well as her career.
From the press release:
This vivid film about the early life of celebrated Irish playwright Sean O’Casey was filmed on location in and around Dublin and showcases an extraordinary cast. Rod Taylor plays the title role, and the supporting cast includes Oscar winners Maggie Smith and Julie Christie early in their careers, along with British theater and film veterans Michael Redgrave,...
Jack Cardiff’s 1965 film Young Cassidy, which stars Rod Taylor, Julie Christie, Maggie Smith and Michael Redgrave, will be screened at the Royale Laemmle Theater in Los Angeles. Based upon Sean O’Casey’s autobiography Mirror in My House (he also contributed to the screenplay), the 110-minute film will be screened on Wednesday, January 6th, 2015 at 7:00 pm.
Film editor extraordinaire Anne V. Coates is also scheduled to be on hand following the screening to discuss her work on the film as well as her career.
From the press release:
This vivid film about the early life of celebrated Irish playwright Sean O’Casey was filmed on location in and around Dublin and showcases an extraordinary cast. Rod Taylor plays the title role, and the supporting cast includes Oscar winners Maggie Smith and Julie Christie early in their careers, along with British theater and film veterans Michael Redgrave,...
- 12/29/2015
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
By Patrick Shanley
Managing Editor
Director Tom McCarthy’s true story drama about Boston Globe reporters investigating the local Catholic archdiocese and the surrounding child molestation scandal, Spotlight, is a serious Oscar contender, particularly for its star-studded cast.
The film, which won the best ensemble performance award at this month’s Gotham Awards and the Robert Altman award at the Independent Spirit Awards, boasts serious contenders in the best supporting actor category led by performances from last year’s best actor nominee Michael Keaton and former Oscar-nom Mark Ruffalo.
It seems likely that both Keaton and Ruffalo will receive nominations this year, which would be quite a feat in itself as no film has had two of its actors nominated in the best supporting actor category since Harvey Keitel and Ben Kingsley both earned noms for 1991’s Bugsy (though the supporting actress category has had a number of films with...
Managing Editor
Director Tom McCarthy’s true story drama about Boston Globe reporters investigating the local Catholic archdiocese and the surrounding child molestation scandal, Spotlight, is a serious Oscar contender, particularly for its star-studded cast.
The film, which won the best ensemble performance award at this month’s Gotham Awards and the Robert Altman award at the Independent Spirit Awards, boasts serious contenders in the best supporting actor category led by performances from last year’s best actor nominee Michael Keaton and former Oscar-nom Mark Ruffalo.
It seems likely that both Keaton and Ruffalo will receive nominations this year, which would be quite a feat in itself as no film has had two of its actors nominated in the best supporting actor category since Harvey Keitel and Ben Kingsley both earned noms for 1991’s Bugsy (though the supporting actress category has had a number of films with...
- 11/30/2015
- by Patrick Shanley
- Scott Feinberg
This time on the podcast, Scott is joined by David Blakeslee and Sean Hutchinson to discuss Anthony Asquith’s The Importance of Being Earnest.
About the film:
Oscar Wilde’s comic jewel sparkles in Anthony Asquith’s film adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest. Featuring brilliantly polished performances by Michael Redgrave, Joan Greenwood, and Dame Edith Evans, the enduringly hilarious story of two young women who think themselves engaged to the same nonexistent man is given the grand Technicolor treatment. Seldom has a classic stage comedy been so engagingly transferred to the screen.
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Buy the film on Amazon:
Watch a clip from the film:
Episode Links:
The Importance of Being Earnest (1952) – The Criterion Collection The Importance of Being Earnest – From the Current The Importance of Being Earnest (1952) – IMDb The Importance of Being Earnest (1952 film) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Importance of Being Earnest...
About the film:
Oscar Wilde’s comic jewel sparkles in Anthony Asquith’s film adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest. Featuring brilliantly polished performances by Michael Redgrave, Joan Greenwood, and Dame Edith Evans, the enduringly hilarious story of two young women who think themselves engaged to the same nonexistent man is given the grand Technicolor treatment. Seldom has a classic stage comedy been so engagingly transferred to the screen.
Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes
Buy the film on Amazon:
Watch a clip from the film:
Episode Links:
The Importance of Being Earnest (1952) – The Criterion Collection The Importance of Being Earnest – From the Current The Importance of Being Earnest (1952) – IMDb The Importance of Being Earnest (1952 film) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Importance of Being Earnest...
- 10/5/2015
- by Scott Nye
- CriterionCast
Robert Carlyle's debut feature as a director is galvanised by a brilliant comic performance from Emma Thompson as the hapless hero Barney's formidable, chain-smoking, fur-coat-wearing harridan of a mum. Imagine Dame Edith Evans crossed with Rab C Nesbitt and you'll come close to Cemolina. A former prostitute in her 70s, she is strident and domineering; she loves bingo but has a dark side.
- 7/24/2015
- The Independent - Film
Ron Moody in Mel Brooks' 'The Twelve Chairs.' The 'Doctor Who' that never was. Ron Moody: 'Doctor Who' was biggest professional regret (See previous post: "Ron Moody: From Charles Dickens to Walt Disney – But No Harry Potter.") Ron Moody was featured in about 50 television productions, both in the U.K. and the U.S., from the late 1950s to 2012. These included guest roles in the series The Avengers, Gunsmoke, Starsky and Hutch, Hart to Hart, and Murder She Wrote, in addition to leads in the short-lived U.S. sitcom Nobody's Perfect (1980), starring Moody as a Scotland Yard detective transferred to the San Francisco Police Department, and in the British fantasy Into the Labyrinth (1981), with Moody as the noble sorcerer Rothgo. Throughout the decades, he could also be spotted in several TV movies, among them:[1] David Copperfield (1969). As Uriah Heep in this disappointing all-star showcase distributed theatrically in some countries.
- 6/19/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
We're just 9 days away from the launch of another Smackdown Summer. Rather than announce piecemeal, we'll give you all five lineups in case you'd like more time to catch up with these films (some of them stone cold classics) over the hot months. Remember to cast your own ballots during each month for the reader-polling (your 1979 votes are due by June 4th). Your votes count toward the final Smackdown win so more of you should join in.
These Oscar years were chosen after comment reading, dvd searching, handwringing, and desire-to-watch moods. I wish we had time to squeeze in a dozen Smackdowns each summer! As it is there will be Two Smackdowns in June, a gift to you since this first episode was delayed.
Sunday June 7th
The Best Supporting Actresses of 1979
Meryl Streep won her first of three Oscars while taking her co-star Jane Alexander along for the Oscar ride in Kramer vs. Kramer.
These Oscar years were chosen after comment reading, dvd searching, handwringing, and desire-to-watch moods. I wish we had time to squeeze in a dozen Smackdowns each summer! As it is there will be Two Smackdowns in June, a gift to you since this first episode was delayed.
Sunday June 7th
The Best Supporting Actresses of 1979
Meryl Streep won her first of three Oscars while taking her co-star Jane Alexander along for the Oscar ride in Kramer vs. Kramer.
- 5/29/2015
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
I. The Landmine
In August 1955, George Devine, director of London’s Royal Court Theatre, ventured to meet a promising writer, living on a Thames houseboat. “I had to borrow a dinghy… wade out to it and row myself to my new playwright,” he recalled. Thus began a partnership between Devine, who sought to rescue the English stage from stale commercialism, and the 26 year old tyro, John Osborne. Together, they’d revolutionize modern theater.
Born in London but raised in Stoneleigh, Surrey, Osborne lost his father at age 12, resented his low-born mother and was expelled from school for striking a headmaster. While acting for Anthony Creighton’s repertory company, his mercurial temper and violent language appeared. In 1951 he wed actress Pamela Lane, only to divorce six years later. Osborne soon immortalized their marriage: their cramped apartment, with invasive friends and intruding in-laws, John and Pamela’s pet names and verbal abuse,...
In August 1955, George Devine, director of London’s Royal Court Theatre, ventured to meet a promising writer, living on a Thames houseboat. “I had to borrow a dinghy… wade out to it and row myself to my new playwright,” he recalled. Thus began a partnership between Devine, who sought to rescue the English stage from stale commercialism, and the 26 year old tyro, John Osborne. Together, they’d revolutionize modern theater.
Born in London but raised in Stoneleigh, Surrey, Osborne lost his father at age 12, resented his low-born mother and was expelled from school for striking a headmaster. While acting for Anthony Creighton’s repertory company, his mercurial temper and violent language appeared. In 1951 he wed actress Pamela Lane, only to divorce six years later. Osborne soon immortalized their marriage: their cramped apartment, with invasive friends and intruding in-laws, John and Pamela’s pet names and verbal abuse,...
- 3/7/2015
- by Christopher Saunders
- SoundOnSight
After the marching bands and giants balloon characters parade by on TV… After all the college and NFL football games are played out… After the plates are cleaned of the last turkey drumstick and final piece of pumpkin pie… what better than to cuddle up with our loved ones and watch some good, wholesome family favorites on Thanksgiving!
In honor of the holiday and before you head out the door to catch all the Black Friday sales, check out Wamg’s list of some of our favorite family-friendly movies to watch on Thanksgiving Day.
Wizard Of Oz
For many years this 1939 masterpiece was truly event television. Before home video and cable TV, the only way to see this (outside of revival movie theatres and colleges), was once a year (usually on CBS). Families would gather around the tube for a chance to visit that magical enchanted land (just think of...
In honor of the holiday and before you head out the door to catch all the Black Friday sales, check out Wamg’s list of some of our favorite family-friendly movies to watch on Thanksgiving Day.
Wizard Of Oz
For many years this 1939 masterpiece was truly event television. Before home video and cable TV, the only way to see this (outside of revival movie theatres and colleges), was once a year (usually on CBS). Families would gather around the tube for a chance to visit that magical enchanted land (just think of...
- 11/26/2014
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Episode 37 of 52: In which Katharine Hepburn plays another aristocrat in an odd little movie that makes no sense.
1969 was a really weird year for Kate. At age 62, she’d achieved commercial and critical success unlike any she’d experienced before. The Lion in Winter and Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner had not only earned Katharine Hepburn back-to-back Oscars, but also made her one of the top grossing stars of 1968. But as the 60s blossomed into the 70s, Kate took two very strange steps: an allegory, and a musical. Limitations be damned, she was Kate the Great, and she hadn’t had a flop in 15 years. That was about to change.
The Madwoman of Chaillot works as a curio, but not as a film. Based on a postwar French allegory, “updated” to include topical issues such as student riots and atomic power, the resulting movie is one Be In...
1969 was a really weird year for Kate. At age 62, she’d achieved commercial and critical success unlike any she’d experienced before. The Lion in Winter and Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner had not only earned Katharine Hepburn back-to-back Oscars, but also made her one of the top grossing stars of 1968. But as the 60s blossomed into the 70s, Kate took two very strange steps: an allegory, and a musical. Limitations be damned, she was Kate the Great, and she hadn’t had a flop in 15 years. That was about to change.
The Madwoman of Chaillot works as a curio, but not as a film. Based on a postwar French allegory, “updated” to include topical issues such as student riots and atomic power, the resulting movie is one Be In...
- 9/10/2014
- by Anne Marie
- FilmExperience
Honorary Award: Gloria Swanson, Rita Hayworth among dozens of women bypassed by the Academy (photo: Honorary Award non-winner Gloria Swanson in 'Sunset Blvd.') (See previous post: "Honorary Oscars: Doris Day, Danielle Darrieux Snubbed.") Part three of this four-part article about the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Honorary Award bypassing women basically consists of a long, long — and for the most part quite prestigious — list of deceased women who, some way or other, left their mark on the film world. Some of the names found below are still well known; others were huge in their day, but are now all but forgotten. Yet, just because most people (and the media) suffer from long-term — and even medium-term — memory loss, that doesn't mean these women were any less deserving of an Honorary Oscar. So, among the distinguished female film professionals in Hollywood and elsewhere who have passed away without...
- 9/4/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Behold the Oscar-nominated Supporting Actresses of 1964: two wealthy matriarchs with strained relations to their children, one desperate widow who would very much like relations of any kind, an irritable church group leader watching your every move and one sweaty possessive housekeeper lurking around the corner.
The Nominees
Moorehead, Evans, Kedrova, Cooper, Hall
1964's shortlist is one of the most senior in any acting category ever with an average age of 61. This 50 year old Oscar contest also acted as a finale for three enduring character actresses who Hollywood adored (Cooper, Evans, and Moorehead) but never quite enough at the right time to hand them the gold man. (In truth Dame Edith Evans, who did not attend the ceremony, was nominated one last time and quite deservedly for The Whisperers but that nomination is sadly almost as forgotten as the confused woman she masterfully played.)
This Month's Panelists
The actress Melanie Lynskey (Happy Christmas,...
The Nominees
Moorehead, Evans, Kedrova, Cooper, Hall
1964's shortlist is one of the most senior in any acting category ever with an average age of 61. This 50 year old Oscar contest also acted as a finale for three enduring character actresses who Hollywood adored (Cooper, Evans, and Moorehead) but never quite enough at the right time to hand them the gold man. (In truth Dame Edith Evans, who did not attend the ceremony, was nominated one last time and quite deservedly for The Whisperers but that nomination is sadly almost as forgotten as the confused woman she masterfully played.)
This Month's Panelists
The actress Melanie Lynskey (Happy Christmas,...
- 6/30/2014
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
The Supporting Actress Smackdown of '64 is just 8 days away. So it's time to get your votes in on the nominees that year. Readers, collectively, are the sixth panelists, so grade the nominees (only the ones you've seen) from 1 to 5 hearts. Your votes count toward the smackdown win!
Lila Kedrova Zorba the Greek Gladys Cooper for My Fair Lady Dame Edith Evans The Chalk Garden
Agnes Moorhead Hush... Hush Sweet Charlotte
Grayson Hall Night of the Iguana
But before we here at Tfe get to that particular metaphorical musical-horror mishmash of films with one of the most senior lineups the Academy ever offered up in this category, let's meet our panelists for this 50th anniversary retrospective competition.
The Panel
Special Guest
Melanie Lynskey
Melanie Lynskey is an actor from New Zealand. She made her film debut in Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures (1994) and is currently starring in Joe Swanberg's...
Lila Kedrova Zorba the Greek Gladys Cooper for My Fair Lady Dame Edith Evans The Chalk Garden
Agnes Moorhead Hush... Hush Sweet Charlotte
Grayson Hall Night of the Iguana
But before we here at Tfe get to that particular metaphorical musical-horror mishmash of films with one of the most senior lineups the Academy ever offered up in this category, let's meet our panelists for this 50th anniversary retrospective competition.
The Panel
Special Guest
Melanie Lynskey
Melanie Lynskey is an actor from New Zealand. She made her film debut in Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures (1994) and is currently starring in Joe Swanberg's...
- 6/22/2014
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
When I announced that The Film Experience would be the new home of the long departed series Stinky Lulu's Smackdown last summer I figured you would be thrilled. It's our kind of party. I promised Stinky we'd do at least six smackdowns if we brought it back. With four battles already behind us -- pie throwing 1952, shady and sinister 1968, warm and kooky 1980, and troubled histrionic 2003-- let's wrap it up with four more.
Rather than announce at the end of each month, I figured we'd give you all four lineups in case you'd like more time to catch up over the hot months and cast your votes in the reader polling that accompanies each battle. Those votes count toward the final outcome, so more of you should join in.
These annums were chosen after comment reading, dvd searching, handwringing, and also to rope in prospective panelists (to be announced later...
Rather than announce at the end of each month, I figured we'd give you all four lineups in case you'd like more time to catch up over the hot months and cast your votes in the reader polling that accompanies each battle. Those votes count toward the final outcome, so more of you should join in.
These annums were chosen after comment reading, dvd searching, handwringing, and also to rope in prospective panelists (to be announced later...
- 5/5/2014
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
The poster for Voyage of the Damned makes a bold claim, and maybe those who saw Stuart Rosenberg’s star-studded blockbuster in 1976 have remembered it ever since. Until a couple of weeks ago, however, when I saw it in a list of past Oscar nominees, I had never heard of it, and I don’t think it would be unfair to say that it is a film that has not stood the test of time.
Voyage of the Damned, which chronicles the tragic failed escape of 937 Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany, was nominated for three Oscars (for Best Score, Best Adapted Screenplay, and for Lee Grant for Best Supporting Actress, the lone acting nominee among a boatload of international heavyweights).
Oscar nominations, especially for acting, tend to confer a certain amount of immortality on their recipients (you are forever “Academy Award nominee Lee Grant”) and there are many films and...
Voyage of the Damned, which chronicles the tragic failed escape of 937 Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany, was nominated for three Oscars (for Best Score, Best Adapted Screenplay, and for Lee Grant for Best Supporting Actress, the lone acting nominee among a boatload of international heavyweights).
Oscar nominations, especially for acting, tend to confer a certain amount of immortality on their recipients (you are forever “Academy Award nominee Lee Grant”) and there are many films and...
- 3/1/2014
- by Adrian Curry
- MUBI
Of all the things to pop into my head while watching August: Osage County, quotes from a Noel Streatfeild "Shoes" novel would seem to be the very least likely.
But there it was -- I kept recalling quotes from Theatre Shoes, related to a family of actors in the book. (Bear with me a minute as we digress into young-adult lit.) Sorrel is a 12-year-old girl who is learning to be an actress, and her Uncle Francis is a very grand and haughty actor-manager who "very consciously acted when he was acting and ... thought there must be something wrong with a performance which came naturally and easily."
In another series of quotes, Sorrel and her teacher discuss Uncle Francis's ambitious daughter Miranda taking a turn as Ariel in The Tempest, a role Sorrel also plays:
"Miranda's brilliant -- and yet, as Ariel you give the better performance, and that you'll...
But there it was -- I kept recalling quotes from Theatre Shoes, related to a family of actors in the book. (Bear with me a minute as we digress into young-adult lit.) Sorrel is a 12-year-old girl who is learning to be an actress, and her Uncle Francis is a very grand and haughty actor-manager who "very consciously acted when he was acting and ... thought there must be something wrong with a performance which came naturally and easily."
In another series of quotes, Sorrel and her teacher discuss Uncle Francis's ambitious daughter Miranda taking a turn as Ariel in The Tempest, a role Sorrel also plays:
"Miranda's brilliant -- and yet, as Ariel you give the better performance, and that you'll...
- 1/10/2014
- by Jette Kernion
- Slackerwood
Jean Kent: ‘The Browning Version’ 1951, Gainsborough folds (photo: Jean Kent in ‘The Browning Version,’ with Michael Redgrave) (See previous post: “Jean Kent: Gainsborough Pictures Film Star Dead at 92.”) Seemingly stuck in Britain, Jean Kent’s other important leads of the period came out in 1948: John Paddy Carstairs’ Alfred Hitchcock-esque thriller Sleeping Car to Trieste (1948), with spies on board the Orient Express, and Gordon Parry’s ensemble piece Bond Street. Following two minor 1950 comedies, Her Favorite Husband / The Taming of Dorothy and The Reluctant Widow / The Inheritance, Kent’s movie stardom was virtually over, though she would still have one major film role in store. In what is probably her best remembered and most prestigious effort, Jean Kent played Millie Crocker-Harris, the unsympathetic, adulterous wife of unfulfilled teacher Michael Redgrave, in Anthony Asquith’s 1951 film version of Terence Rattigan’s The Browning Version — a Javelin Films production...
- 12/4/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Stage and screen actor known for playing battle-axe aunts, village gossips and servants
When Mel Brooks visited the film set of Up at the Villa (2000), in which his wife, Anne Bancroft, was starring, he proclaimed Barbara Hicks, who has died aged 89, the funniest woman he had ever met. This stalwart character actor, always lodged some way down any cast list as if to prove the truth of Stanislavski's dictum that there are no small parts, only small actors, was a fund of stories, many of them unprintable. And Hicks, though slight of build, with a long face and asymmetrical features, was certainly not a small actor.
As another admirer, Alan Bennett, once told her wistfully: "When you go, Barbara, there'll be a terrible hole in Spotlight." And so there is, for since first appearing on television in 1962 playing Miss Print, a comedy sidekick to Richard Hearne's popular Mr Pastry,...
When Mel Brooks visited the film set of Up at the Villa (2000), in which his wife, Anne Bancroft, was starring, he proclaimed Barbara Hicks, who has died aged 89, the funniest woman he had ever met. This stalwart character actor, always lodged some way down any cast list as if to prove the truth of Stanislavski's dictum that there are no small parts, only small actors, was a fund of stories, many of them unprintable. And Hicks, though slight of build, with a long face and asymmetrical features, was certainly not a small actor.
As another admirer, Alan Bennett, once told her wistfully: "When you go, Barbara, there'll be a terrible hole in Spotlight." And so there is, for since first appearing on television in 1962 playing Miss Print, a comedy sidekick to Richard Hearne's popular Mr Pastry,...
- 11/7/2013
- by Michael Coveney
- The Guardian - Film News
Hollywood is famously unkind to leading ladies of a certain age, but this is the reverse: Testino's airbrushed portrait is sycophancy
Kate Winslet is on the cover of this month's Vogue and the photo is unbelievable.
I mean, literally unbelievable. The 38-year-old, who does Ok without Mario Testino's help, looks in this portrait like a CGI version of herself. Her hair is detachable plastic; her eyes are like marbles. Her expression, which I guess is her own, albeit under Testino's direction, is sort of mysterious with a touch of, "Help! I've been laminated!"
It is abominably, thrillingly awful.
Like the plastic surgery debate, the airbrushing debate never gets us anywhere. Who, given the kind of scrutiny these women fall under, wouldn't beg and plead for a little help from the art department? Not that they need much encouraging. It's a catch-22: the movie and beauty industries won't change...
Kate Winslet is on the cover of this month's Vogue and the photo is unbelievable.
I mean, literally unbelievable. The 38-year-old, who does Ok without Mario Testino's help, looks in this portrait like a CGI version of herself. Her hair is detachable plastic; her eyes are like marbles. Her expression, which I guess is her own, albeit under Testino's direction, is sort of mysterious with a touch of, "Help! I've been laminated!"
It is abominably, thrillingly awful.
Like the plastic surgery debate, the airbrushing debate never gets us anywhere. Who, given the kind of scrutiny these women fall under, wouldn't beg and plead for a little help from the art department? Not that they need much encouraging. It's a catch-22: the movie and beauty industries won't change...
- 10/17/2013
- by Emma Brockes
- The Guardian - Film News
As we inch closer towards the release date of August: Osage County, the movie adaptation of Tracy Letts‘ Pulitzer winner starring Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Juliette Lewis, and everyone else I’ve ever loved, it’s time to give props to a dying art: movie versions of great plays. I personally loved Rabbit Hole (2010), but was ultimately underwhelmed by Pulitzer-based films Doubt (2009) and the unbelievably awkward Carnage (2011). To preserve the legacy of kickass play adaptations, here are ten legendary examples of stage triumphs that translated wonderfully on celluloid.
10. Amadeus
This Academy Award-winning epic (161 minutes) has a dynamic Mozart in Tom Hulce, but it’s impossible to think about Amadeus without first recalling the gripping and one-of-a-kind work of F. Murray Abraham as his adversary Salieri. (Wow, those two words sounds too much alike.) Jealousy is arguably the most recurring theme in great theater, but the command and despair of Abraham...
10. Amadeus
This Academy Award-winning epic (161 minutes) has a dynamic Mozart in Tom Hulce, but it’s impossible to think about Amadeus without first recalling the gripping and one-of-a-kind work of F. Murray Abraham as his adversary Salieri. (Wow, those two words sounds too much alike.) Jealousy is arguably the most recurring theme in great theater, but the command and despair of Abraham...
- 10/3/2013
- by Louis Virtel
- The Backlot
Movie star Elizabeth Taylor reveals that she is fascinated by football – or at least the brightest talent in the British game
Next Saturday, if you find yourself sitting next to a black-haired beautiful woman with violet eyes who's giving Charlie George a volley, don't chat her up. She's married. Her name is Elizabeth Taylor.
She thinks football has poetry and beautiful movements, but feels she is not an authority on it. "I was fascinated and felt rather sorry for George Best when he went through all his traumas. Fame came to him when he was so young. I've seen it happen to so many young people in the film business. The pressure one gets is enormous and I wonder if managers and, indeed, his critics, understand the pressure of the emotional strain he must have been going through.
"It's a hell of a thing for a lad from his background,...
Next Saturday, if you find yourself sitting next to a black-haired beautiful woman with violet eyes who's giving Charlie George a volley, don't chat her up. She's married. Her name is Elizabeth Taylor.
She thinks football has poetry and beautiful movements, but feels she is not an authority on it. "I was fascinated and felt rather sorry for George Best when he went through all his traumas. Fame came to him when he was so young. I've seen it happen to so many young people in the film business. The pressure one gets is enormous and I wonder if managers and, indeed, his critics, understand the pressure of the emotional strain he must have been going through.
"It's a hell of a thing for a lad from his background,...
- 9/28/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
Victoria and Albert Museum acquires diaries, scripts and photographs of British Oscar-winning actor
Although the world may remember her as the ravishing beauty who was once married to Laurence Olivier, Orson Welles knew the real worth of Vivien Leigh. When in 1951 she won the Oscar for her performance as Blanche DuBois in the film of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, the legendary actor and director immediately sent a telegram from Monte Carlo: "Of course they gave it to you they had to love and kisses from Orson".
His telegram is preserved as part of an archive acquired by the V&A museum covering her life and work, from her teen years to her death from tuberculosis in 1967 aged just 53. It includes diaries, scrap books, heavily annotated scripts, photographs including hundreds of rare early colour photographs she took herself while on tour, and thousands of letters to an extraordinarily...
Although the world may remember her as the ravishing beauty who was once married to Laurence Olivier, Orson Welles knew the real worth of Vivien Leigh. When in 1951 she won the Oscar for her performance as Blanche DuBois in the film of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, the legendary actor and director immediately sent a telegram from Monte Carlo: "Of course they gave it to you they had to love and kisses from Orson".
His telegram is preserved as part of an archive acquired by the V&A museum covering her life and work, from her teen years to her death from tuberculosis in 1967 aged just 53. It includes diaries, scrap books, heavily annotated scripts, photographs including hundreds of rare early colour photographs she took herself while on tour, and thousands of letters to an extraordinarily...
- 8/14/2013
- by Maev Kennedy
- The Guardian - Film News
Paul Henreid: From lighting two cigarettes and blowing smoke onto Bette Davis’ face to lighting two cigarettes while directing twin Bette Davises Paul Henreid is back as Turner Classic Movies’ Star of the Month of July 2013. TCM will be showing four movies featuring Henreid (Now, Voyager; Deception; The Madwoman of Chaillot; The Spanish Main) and one directed by him (Dead Ringer). (Photo: Paul Henreid lights two cigarettes on the set of Dead Ringer, while Bette Davis remembers the good old days.) (See also: “Paul Henreid Actor.”) Irving Rapper’s Now, Voyager (1942) was one of Bette Davis’ biggest hits, and it remains one of the best-remembered romantic movies of the studio era — a favorite among numerous women and some gay men. But why? Personally, I find Now, Voyager a major bore, made (barely) watchable only by a few of the supporting performances (Claude Rains, Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nominee...
- 7/10/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Creative force in the British film industry whose work included The Stepford Wives and Whistle Down the Wind
The director, actor and writer Bryan Forbes, who has died aged 86, was one of the most creative forces in the British film industry of the 1960s, and the Hollywood films he directed included the original version of The Stepford Wives (1974). In later life he turned to the writing of books, both fiction and memoirs.
The turning point for him in cinema was the formation of the independent company Beaver Films with his friend Richard Attenborough in 1958. For the screenplay of their first production, The Angry Silence (1960), Forbes received an Oscar nomination and a Bafta award. Attenborough played a factory worker shunned and persecuted for not joining a strike. His colleagues are shown as being manipulated by skulking professional agitators and to some it seemed more like a political statement than a human...
The director, actor and writer Bryan Forbes, who has died aged 86, was one of the most creative forces in the British film industry of the 1960s, and the Hollywood films he directed included the original version of The Stepford Wives (1974). In later life he turned to the writing of books, both fiction and memoirs.
The turning point for him in cinema was the formation of the independent company Beaver Films with his friend Richard Attenborough in 1958. For the screenplay of their first production, The Angry Silence (1960), Forbes received an Oscar nomination and a Bafta award. Attenborough played a factory worker shunned and persecuted for not joining a strike. His colleagues are shown as being manipulated by skulking professional agitators and to some it seemed more like a political statement than a human...
- 5/9/2013
- by Dennis Barker
- The Guardian - Film News
Bryan Forbes dies at 86: Directed Katharine Hepburn, Leslie Caron, the original The Stepford Wives Director Bryan Forbes, whose films include the then-daring The L-Shaped Room, the all-star The Madwoman of Chaillot, and the original The Stepford Wives, has died "after a long illness" at his home in Virginia Water, Surrey, England. Forbes was 86. Born John Theobald Clarke on July 22, 1926, in London, Bryan Forbes began his film career as an actor in supporting roles in British productions of the late 1940s, e.g., Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s The Small Back Room / Hour of Glory and Thornton Freeland’s Dear Mr. Prohack. Another twenty or so movie roles followed in the ’50s, including those in Ronald Neame’s The Million Pound Note / Man with a Million (1954), supporting Gregory Peck, and Carol Reed’s The Key (1958), supporting Sophia Loren and William Holden. Bryan Forbes director Despite his relatively prolific output in the previous decade,...
- 5/9/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Welsh-born actor and Richard Burton's first wife, she moved to the Us after their split and co-founded a famous New York disco
Sybil Christopher, who has died aged 83, was the injured party in Hollywood's most famous on- and off-screen romance, that between Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor during the making of Joe Mankiewicz's blockbuster epic Cleopatra (1963). Sybil Williams, as she was born, was the girl from the Welsh valleys whom Burton had married in 1949. Theirs was a tenacious and loving relationship that survived the actor's affairs with Claire Bloom and Susan Strasberg, among many others, and his hell-raising exploits.
Having ditched her own career as an actor to follow his star – and raise their two daughters – she always remained discreetly quiet about the marriage, filing for divorce in 1963 on the grounds of "abandonment and cruel and inhumane treatment". Moving to New York, she made a new career for herself on a tide of goodwill.
Sybil Christopher, who has died aged 83, was the injured party in Hollywood's most famous on- and off-screen romance, that between Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor during the making of Joe Mankiewicz's blockbuster epic Cleopatra (1963). Sybil Williams, as she was born, was the girl from the Welsh valleys whom Burton had married in 1949. Theirs was a tenacious and loving relationship that survived the actor's affairs with Claire Bloom and Susan Strasberg, among many others, and his hell-raising exploits.
Having ditched her own career as an actor to follow his star – and raise their two daughters – she always remained discreetly quiet about the marriage, filing for divorce in 1963 on the grounds of "abandonment and cruel and inhumane treatment". Moving to New York, she made a new career for herself on a tide of goodwill.
- 3/11/2013
- by Michael Coveney
- The Guardian - Film News
(Emlyn Williams, 1949, StudioCanal, U)
In 1986 the Welsh-language Coming Up Roses, directed by Stephen Bayly, an American resident in the principality, was the only British movie in the official programme at Cannes, and thought the harbinger of a major revival of Welsh cinema. It wasn't to be. But Wales has a cinematic tradition, and in his invaluable Wales & Cinema: The First Hundred Years, David Berry calls the little-known The Last Days of Dolwyn "one of the most distinctive postwar contributions to the cinema of Wales" and regrets that playwright Emlyn Williams, its writer-director and star, "was not inveigled into directing again". Set in 1892, it's a powerful, poetic, elegiac melodrama about the destruction of a tight-knit community when a Welsh valley is drowned to provide water for Liverpool. Williams plays the vicious agent of capitalism, an aggrieved, anglicised Welshman who persuades the impoverished local aristocrat and her leaseholders to sell out their heritage.
In 1986 the Welsh-language Coming Up Roses, directed by Stephen Bayly, an American resident in the principality, was the only British movie in the official programme at Cannes, and thought the harbinger of a major revival of Welsh cinema. It wasn't to be. But Wales has a cinematic tradition, and in his invaluable Wales & Cinema: The First Hundred Years, David Berry calls the little-known The Last Days of Dolwyn "one of the most distinctive postwar contributions to the cinema of Wales" and regrets that playwright Emlyn Williams, its writer-director and star, "was not inveigled into directing again". Set in 1892, it's a powerful, poetic, elegiac melodrama about the destruction of a tight-knit community when a Welsh valley is drowned to provide water for Liverpool. Williams plays the vicious agent of capitalism, an aggrieved, anglicised Welshman who persuades the impoverished local aristocrat and her leaseholders to sell out their heritage.
- 2/24/2013
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
By Joey Magidson
Film Contributor
***
We’ve been paying a lot of attention to Argo of late in regard to the Oscars, but there are some big races that don’t involve Ben Affleck’s film. Most notably, there’s a competitive Best Actress race going on.
Many pundits have made it out to be a competition between Jessica Chastain and Jennifer Lawrence, with the latter far out in the lead. While I agree that the Silver Linings Playbook actress is certainly ahead of her Zero Dark Thirty competitor, I do think she has to watch out for Emmanuelle Riva in her rear-view mirror. The sleeper candidate from Amour may just wake everyone up on Oscar night and steal the trophy.
Riva is immensely deserving of her nomination, but up until recently, it didn’t seem like many thought she had a legitimate shot at a win. I’ll confess...
Film Contributor
***
We’ve been paying a lot of attention to Argo of late in regard to the Oscars, but there are some big races that don’t involve Ben Affleck’s film. Most notably, there’s a competitive Best Actress race going on.
Many pundits have made it out to be a competition between Jessica Chastain and Jennifer Lawrence, with the latter far out in the lead. While I agree that the Silver Linings Playbook actress is certainly ahead of her Zero Dark Thirty competitor, I do think she has to watch out for Emmanuelle Riva in her rear-view mirror. The sleeper candidate from Amour may just wake everyone up on Oscar night and steal the trophy.
Riva is immensely deserving of her nomination, but up until recently, it didn’t seem like many thought she had a legitimate shot at a win. I’ll confess...
- 2/6/2013
- by Joey Magidson
- Scott Feinberg
Blu-ray Review
The Jazz Singer
Directed by: Alan Crosland
Cast: Al Jolson, May McAvoy, Warner Oland
Running Time: 1 hr 37 mins
Rating: Nr
Due Out: January 8, 2013
Plot: Jakie Rabinowitz (Al Jolson) is the son of a Jewish Cantor who must defy his father in order to pursue his dream of becoming a jazz singer.
Who’S It For? Are you desperate to see where film came from? Then you should be required by law to see this film. Plus, you’ll see the roots for every father/son story Hollywood has recreated, and plenty of Jewish guilt.
Message from Warner Bros.
The Jazz Singer, the first feature-length film with completely synchronized dialogue and musical sequences, will mark another milestone January 8 when Warner Home Video releases the Blu-ray commencing the 2013 year-long 90thAnniversary of Warner Bros. Studios.
Official WB Shop Link: http://bit.ly/YZ0P8Z Images: http://warnervideo.com/art Like...
The Jazz Singer
Directed by: Alan Crosland
Cast: Al Jolson, May McAvoy, Warner Oland
Running Time: 1 hr 37 mins
Rating: Nr
Due Out: January 8, 2013
Plot: Jakie Rabinowitz (Al Jolson) is the son of a Jewish Cantor who must defy his father in order to pursue his dream of becoming a jazz singer.
Who’S It For? Are you desperate to see where film came from? Then you should be required by law to see this film. Plus, you’ll see the roots for every father/son story Hollywood has recreated, and plenty of Jewish guilt.
Message from Warner Bros.
The Jazz Singer, the first feature-length film with completely synchronized dialogue and musical sequences, will mark another milestone January 8 when Warner Home Video releases the Blu-ray commencing the 2013 year-long 90thAnniversary of Warner Bros. Studios.
Official WB Shop Link: http://bit.ly/YZ0P8Z Images: http://warnervideo.com/art Like...
- 1/8/2013
- by Jeff Bayer
- The Scorecard Review
The second part of the first Reel Ink round-up of recent books on film includes the biography of a sometime Hollywood rebel, the history of a now forgotten British studio, a look at a film that remains one of the most controversial ever made in the UK, and a hugely compelling history of cinema by the great David Thomson.
Time was against me so I haven’t been able to get through all the reading goodness I’ve acquired in the past eight weeks or so, but I’ll catch up in January. Happy New Year!
It’s official: Dennis Hopper was an unrepentant douchebag off screen as well as on. The predominant impression that Peter L. Winkler’s Dennis Hopper: The Wild Ride of A Hollywood Rebel (The Robson Press) leaves one with is that Hopper was a deluded, misogynistic gasbag, a moderate talent who likely suffered from...
Time was against me so I haven’t been able to get through all the reading goodness I’ve acquired in the past eight weeks or so, but I’ll catch up in January. Happy New Year!
It’s official: Dennis Hopper was an unrepentant douchebag off screen as well as on. The predominant impression that Peter L. Winkler’s Dennis Hopper: The Wild Ride of A Hollywood Rebel (The Robson Press) leaves one with is that Hopper was a deluded, misogynistic gasbag, a moderate talent who likely suffered from...
- 1/3/2013
- by Ian Gilchrist
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Oscar Wilde died on this day in 1900, and my refrain about the Irish genius remains the same: Not only did he die for (gay) people's sins, he was funny too. That literally makes him better than Jesus, guys. It's just a fact.
I happen to be a pretty big fan of movies based on Wilde's work. I loved Cate Blanchett in the '99 version of An Ideal Husband, and I'm particularly fond of George Sanders and Angela Lansbury in 1945's The Picture of Dorian Gray. But my single favorite performance in a Wilde film? That's easy.
"I know nothing, Lady Bracknell."
"I'm pleased to hear it. I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance."
Killer.
Give it up for Dame Edith Evans in The Importance of Being Earnest ('52, of course!). The unmistakable British actress is an imperial, sneering goddess as Lady Bracknell. Ian McKellen once...
I happen to be a pretty big fan of movies based on Wilde's work. I loved Cate Blanchett in the '99 version of An Ideal Husband, and I'm particularly fond of George Sanders and Angela Lansbury in 1945's The Picture of Dorian Gray. But my single favorite performance in a Wilde film? That's easy.
"I know nothing, Lady Bracknell."
"I'm pleased to hear it. I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance."
Killer.
Give it up for Dame Edith Evans in The Importance of Being Earnest ('52, of course!). The unmistakable British actress is an imperial, sneering goddess as Lady Bracknell. Ian McKellen once...
- 11/29/2012
- by virtel
- The Backlot
We’ve watched the marching bands and giants balloon characters parade by on TV, we’ve watched college football, we’ve had our fill of turkey and all the trimmings… now, what better than to cuddle up with our loved ones and watch some good, wholesome family favorites on Thanksgiving Day? After all, we need our rest so we can rise and shine before the sun comes up on Black Friday to catch all the sales. So, in honor of the holiday and as a way to give you a jump on your holiday viewing schedule, we’ve compiled a list of some of our favorite family-friendly movies to watch on Thanksgiving Day.
Wizard Of Oz
For many years this 1939 masterpiece was truly event television. Before home video and cable TV, the only way to see this (outside of revival movie theatres and colleges), was once a year (usually on...
Wizard Of Oz
For many years this 1939 masterpiece was truly event television. Before home video and cable TV, the only way to see this (outside of revival movie theatres and colleges), was once a year (usually on...
- 11/22/2012
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
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