Sunday
Jun282015
Ask Nathaniel... Plus Next Week's Festivities
Sunday, June 28, 2015 at 8:00AM It's time for another round of reader questions, so, ask yours in the comments. There's no particular theme for the questions this week but we need a new banner so the "question of the week" recipient will get to choose our next theme. I'll answer a handful or so of your questions on Tuesday.
P.S. On Tuesday or Wednesday we'll start a few days of "Halfway Mark - Year Thus Far" festivities. If you'd like a teaser check out my new piece at Towleroad where I look at the year through the lens of Inside Out's emotions (and no, as you may have guessed, I didn't much like Jurassic World). Naturally we'll go into more cinema nerd detail here by naming Best Performances and the like.
tagged Ask Nathaniel, Year in Review
Ask Nathaniel, Year in Review
Reader Comments (26)
If you could resurrect any particular actor who died way before his/her "time", in order to see how their life and career was actually going to play out, who would it be and why?
Please share your thoughts on Robert Redford, both as an actor and as a filmmaker.
What supporting performance that you wish to have been the leading instead in a movie?
You've played this game on here before, putting an actress in another's roles. I believe with Moore/Pfeiffer. Let's play another round with someone you adore and someone some of the readers adore.
Cast Nicole Kidman in 3 of Cate Blanchett's roles and vice versa. And tell us why.
Uma Thurman, Michelle Pfeiffer, Shailene Woodley and Jennifer Jason Leigh are starring in a movie together (hypothetically). Describe this movie (plot, director, co-stars etc.) in such a way that a non-actressexual (or at least one who is not a big fan of these actresses) would be first in line at the box office on the day it opened.
Which Best Actress performance nominations do you think would have won if they had been categorized as supporting. A few I believe would have fared better, Talia Shire "Rocky", Valerie Perrine "Lenny", perhaps even the Bening in "Kids are Alright". Another less awards question; what actor or actress have you seen an interview with, and seeing their true nature and personality, changed your cinematic vision of them, positive or negative, Politics excluded from this interview , just how they carried themselves.
I love that TFE has focused more on TV lately, but I've been wanting know more about your thoughts on "classic" shows predating the '80s and '90s. Were you ever a Nick at Nite junkie? Does Mary Tyler Moore (my personal favorite) turn your world on with her smile?
If you could choose one lesser-known movie each from the 70s, 80s, and 90s that everyone should see, what would they be (and why)?
Dan: Throw Jessica Chastain's Zero Dark Thirty nomination on there as well. I watched it recently and, though it would be kind of fraudulent if it happened, the Academy has also nominated MUCH larger parts in "supporting", including JK Simmons just last year.
What is more polarizing Vanessa Redgrave's acceptance speech or the women she lost to on her last two Oscar bids: Sally Field for Places in the Heart and Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny?
Now that the Emmys have a strict rule on how to distinguish between Guest Acting and Supporting Acting for category fraud, what if the Oscars had one to distinguish between Supporting Acting and Lead Acting? What would your specific qualifications be if you could make a steadfast rule on the subject be and what are some of the performances it would affect?
Can you shed some light on Sam Cohn, the super agent to Streep and Paul Newman? I am fascinated by the 70's and 80's era of show biz.
To celebrate Mariage Equality in the US, can you name your 3 favorite gay couples (Female or Male) in movies?
Do have any thoughts on Marilyn Monroe, as an actress and / or as a star? I think she is a solid actress, but a mesmerizing movie star.
What are some of your favorite closing shots in movie history?
Back in the day, many thought the exceptionally talented, young & beautiful cast of Friday Night lights would go on to be superstars. Hasn't quite happened yet, but some have not done too bad for themselves.
Of the Friday Night Lights alumni (excluding Eric & Tami Taylor, of course):
a) Who at the time did you think would have the best career?
b) Who do you now think will have the best career?
c) Any of these actors surprise you since the show ended?
d) Whom do you think are actually the best actors of the bunch?
e) Anyone you wish we saw more of?
Lots of great characters here: Tim Riggins, Landry Clarke, Matt Saracen, Lyla Garitty, Tyra Collete, Jason Street, Smash Williams, Vince Howard, Jess Merriweather, Luke Cafferty, Becky Sproles...etc.
Think fast: what are your three most anticipated films from the rest of the year? Anything you're dreading?
Or... What is the last Oscar film that you were dreading that ended up surprising you with how good it was?
How do you feel about critic score sites such as RottenTomatoes or Metacritic ; Like or Dislike?
Do you consider a C+, such as you gave Mirror Mirror, should be classed as rotten by RT? (They don't have any recent reviews from you.)
Since people always complained that gay actors are not believable in playing straight characters, or straight actors should not portray gay / trans characters, I am curious to know: Was there ever a straight role in any movie that ended up too gay for you, or a gay character ended up too straight?
People always talk about Oscar wins that seemed like a good idea at the time but in retrospect look rather foolish, but are there any Oscar wins you can think of that didn't look good at the time but in retrospect don't seem like such bad choices? Part of me would like to say this applies to Marisa Tomei's win. The performance itself probably still isn't considered Oscar-worthy, but the fact that her reputation as an actress has subsequently improved makes her win not seem quite as silly as it did when it happened. Any wins that you didn't like at the time that don't seem so bad to you now?
If we don't see a strong frontrunner emerge, could Inside Out be the film that wins Pixar their Best Picture honor, at last?
In the wake of this week's events who would you cast in the movie about the most recent Supreme Court? Seems ripe with possibilities for great character actors.
Name an actor and an actress with two of the most expressive pairs of eyes in cinema.
Nathaniel, do you think we'll have a Rosalind Russel/Loretta Young situation again in Best Actress where the front runner's movie is just too something for votes to endure that a dark horse slips in for the win?
How many leading roles can a film have? I tend to stick to 3, though in films where there are only 4 characters of note, I make exceptions (Closer, Carnage etc)
Does the trend now that animated films only use "names" for voice work mean that we'll never see the likes of Pat Carroll again?