Do You Miss StinkyLulu's 'Smackdown'?
You'd better sit down. Here have a grilled cheese sandwich to commemorate the moment.
In the Aughts when film blogging was rapidly progressing from infancy through busy rushed adolescence, quality Oscar-loving actressexuals were tuned in to and turned on by Stinky Lulu's monthly Supporting Actress Smackdown. Each month your host would profile the five Oscar nominees in a given year culminating in a "Smackdown" wherein a handful of fans would chime in on all five nominees and an actress would be crowned as best of that vintage. The restrospective smackdowns ended four years ago with a look back at 1956 (Limbo-dancing Oscar-winning Dorothy Malone prevailed) though one final smackdown was held five months later for the Supporting Actresses of Oscar 2009 and its winner Mo'Nique. Not that the Smackdowners always agreed with Oscar...
I hadn't spoken to Stinky in years and we recently became reacquainted over lunch and a play. I told him how much I missed the smackdowns and it was only the 5,000th time he's heard this from someone. We got to talking and struck up a deal. We're ready to tell you...
THE SMACKDOWN WILL RETURN
There will be a couple of minor adjustments for its new home at The Film Experience but StinkyLulu will be back as emcee for the big event. The monthly smackdowns will resume (at least for a short while) at the end of August. The kick off Smackdown will be the ladies of 1952
- Collette Marchand in Moulin Rouge
- Gloria Grahame in The Bad and the Beautiful
- Jean Hagen in Singin' in the Rain
- Terry Moore in Come Back Little Sheba
- Thelma Ritter in With a Song in My Heart
More details, years, and guest list TBA but please do speak aloud your immediate thoughts in the comments.
Reader Comments (64)
YAAAAY! :D
THERE ARE SO MANY EMOTIONS I AM FEELING RIGHT NOW THAT I -- I -- AAAAAAAHHHH!!! THIS IS THE BEST NEWS I'VE HEARD ALL MOOOOOOOOONTH!!!
So...how does one get on this guest list? ;)
Damn, I love Gloria Grahame.
Woo-hoo! Great idea, and no doubt this will become an instant favorite for readers of TFE. I know I'm stoked.
Yes, Yes, and YES.
Grand news!
Loved this on Stinkylulu's, can't wait :D
Such wonderful news! StinkyLulu used to rule! So it's like a combo of our favorite things, StinkyLulu + TFE! :)
Can't wait!
You have the best blogging team (plus Katey, Joe and Nick in your podcasts)!
HOORAY!
SMACKDOWNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNZ
YESSS! i've missed the smackdowns so much.
i'm a supporting actress obsessive myself, and it's so weird you picked 1952, i wrote about that year a few weeks ago on this tumblr project I'm trying to plug away on.
http://awomanunderthetitle.tumblr.com/post/53631010237/supporting-actress-year-1952-gloria-grahame
great news. i look forward.
Thank you both so much!!!! I cannot *wait* for August!!!
speaking of which, i'd like to be on the guestlist too ;)
Yes! Some good battles as we catch up w. 2010, '11, and '12!!
Great gnus.
the best news i've heard all day!
I feel like the heavens have opened and Thelma Ritter, Ethel Barrymore, and Agnes Moorehead are standing there singing... Or grousing. More likely grousing.
Either way, this is absolutely music to my ears.
I'm delighted this news has gone over well. -- though i am nervous about getting going (so many movies to see!) and these comments are cracking me up.
'
Matthew Eng - you funny.
Jorge -- thank you. i love the team and i feel like they dont get enough credit. they rescue me when i'm stuck and they make great project buddies.
This is so great!
The smackdowns were such a great way of learning about some of the more "minor" nominations that no one talks about anymore. I'm particularly psyched to read about Colette Marchand and Terry Moore.
Big fan of the Smackdown. Very much looking forward to its return!
Wonderful news! I was lucky enough to take part in a few Smackdowns myself, and always had a blast doing it. Can't wait to see it return.
YAASSSSS! I've missed StinkyLulu SO much.
At long last, Hagen's iconic performance will get its due! Or, will it? Dum, dum, dum, dum...
A little trivia (because I used to be obsessed with Stinky):
1. Rita Moreno's performance in 'West Side Story' is the only work to receive five hearts from all smackdowners. Not even Mo'Nique managed to match that feat.
2. Ingrid Bergman gave the only Oscar-winning performance to receive one heart across the board in 'Murder on the Orient Express'. Hence, she's been christened 'The Stinktress'.
I really hope this series will go on at least long enough to see these two records matched.
Thanks, all, for the enthusiasm!
And thanks, Nat, for kicking this into gear!
xo.b
Lovely news. As Canadian Ken, I enjoyed taking part in a great many of the Smackdowns.
Look forward to seeing them reborn. Can't wait for that 1952 train to leave the station!
Sounds like fun. I'm eager for them to start.
Love love love the Smackdowns! I'm sooo excited to see them return, and TFE is a perfect home for them. Hope to see as many of the old gang back, love all the different voices :)
Omg this just made my humid frazzled day.
This is great news that finishes off a wonderful day. Thank you!
tonight i'm going to party like it's 2009
what great news - welcome back, stinky!
Jean Hagen is obviously going to win this round but guys don't forget about Gloria Grahame's collective body of work for that year.
Oh thank Jesus it's back! I always enjoyed ending my week reading the profiles and smackdowns plus the few times I managed to participate (I'm 3-1 in my smackdown record, damn you Penelope Cruz!). Hopefully this also means the Supporting Actress Blogathon will also make a comeback. :)
I just realized that this is Thelma's last chance to win a smackdown! I was always saddened that even the smackdowners couldn't get her a win (that Pickup on South Street loss to Geraldine Page in Hondo was her best chance). :(
HOT DOG. Best news ever.
That's gr8 news.
Great great great news!!!! I loved the Smackdown! A big round of applauses for Stinky (and Nathaniel, of course)
Wait a minute...StinkyLulu is a guy?
Great news! And os, don't be so sure about that. Discerning viewers realize that Miss Grahame deserved that Oscar and a few more to boot. ;-)
@Carl: Basically. ;)
@Santy: About the blogathon, I suspect that'll be back for 2013, though probably at one of my sites, with TFE helping to promote it if he's up for it...
And seeing all y'all's handles in this comment thread is like old home week. (Hi Ken! Hi Par!)
I love the Supporting Actress Smackdowns and it's great to hear they're coming back, but am I the only one who would really like to see Smackdowns for the other acting/picture categories? (I know it kind of defeats the point and I'm probably going to have my head torn off by a bunch of actressexuals now...)
Wait, what, who do I have to f*ck to get on one of the guest lists?? (again) :)
Excited to see this return, although 1952 doesn't seem like a great year for the category. Jean Hagen all the way.
W.J. -- well 1952 does have a good variety within the type of films, though (musical, noir, costume drama, drama, biopic ) so we may be surprised.
This is so weird, I was just missing this a couple days ago out of the blue and went through each completed year! Except a few of the smackdown pages are no longer working for whatever reason.
They should still be there, Ryan. I suspect the problem might have come from the fact that my "stinkylulu.com" domain got totally weird at one point, leading me to abandon it, which did break a whole pile of internal links. But everything should still be there on stinkylulu.blogspot.com. If not, let me know...
Ahh I see what you mean. I went through the supporting actress sunday archive since it was easiest to find them that way. The ones that aren't working don't have that blogspot in the URL. '45, '59, '66, '69, '76, '83, '92, '93, and 2008 weren't working from those links.
Either way I'm excited! My body is ready.
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for the list, Ryan. I think I've fixed the archive page. Now I just need to be sure all of the done years are linked..
ryan -- your body is ready. LOL. those supporting actresses will have their way with you!
great news! and this needs a recap post, with what happened in the previous smackdowns.