Ask Nathaniel (and Sundance Delayed)
Sunday, July 26, 2015 at 8:34AM 
It's time for another Q&A round. Ask some questions in the comments, get some answers. Maybe. I'll choose a handful or two to answer for Tuesday.
Meanwhile: Sundance Delayed
Last night I took my two besties to Tangerine and they both l-o-v-e-d it. We had such a good time (and I finally figured out what the title refers to though I'm not saying because it's such a good easter egg in the movie). Hopefully some of you have seen it by now. It was just as hot the second time, so funny, so lived-in, so authentically seedy LA, so high energy, so sneakily moving. We discussed it on the podcast last week in case you missed it.
Isn't it weird how randomly festival titles hit movie theaters? Several films from this year's Sundance have arrived or will arrive by the end of August (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Lila & Eve, Strangerland, Tangerine, Dope, Grandma) but we're still waiting on hard-to-get tickets from January's fest like The Witch (which A24 bought if I recall) and also had several titles from 2014's fest emerge with tiny or VOD releases in 2015. And if Xavier Dolan's Tom at the Farm arrives as currently scheduled in August, we'll even have a title from TIFF 2013. I wish distributors wouldn't be so weird and wishy washy about their pickups and release dates but what can you do?
Reader Comments (29)
Living abroad really brings to my attention the problems of film release dates. For example I might have to wait an entire year to watch a film that I would highly anticipate. I wish I could see Tangerine but sadly I don't know if it will even come to by side of the Atlantic. I wish we could reach a day where films are released the same day all over the world but unless something drastic happens I don't see it happening in my lifetime.
With Netflix now getting into film production I feel we are getting an inch closer to films being seen all together at the same time but that is online and is not what I would define as film. Also the release strategy of foreign films is so weird because while they could be eligible for foreign film one year the next they could compete in major categories (e.g. Ingrid Bergman even mentioned it in her Oscar speech and that was over 40 years ago and nothing has changed).
What actress of yesteryear do you think would have kicked ass in an action role? (question spurred by the fact that I'm still happy that Charlize got another chance to show off her action credentials in Mad Max, I loved her in Aeon Flux even thought it was a mess. Actresses get so few chances to flex those muscles even if they're gifted that way)
How do you rank those 5 leading french ladies
Isabelle Adjani
Isabelle Huppert
Catherine Deneuve
Juliette Binoche
Marion Cotillard
Do you think it's possible that feminists and writers paying attention to racial equality were making wayyy too big of a deal of Ana D.'s snub in Selma (as well as David Oyelowo?). Neither were in the top 3 in their category and neither were even a threat to win. On top of that very few directors (Wes Anderson and David Fincher are examples) get nominated for their first films. I view all this hoopla as disrespectful to guys like Bradley Cooper and Steve Carell who earned their nominations fair and square.
You are hosting a fantasy Hollywood dinner party. The invitations are limited to twelve -- six men and six women. And since this is a fantasy, six guests are deceased and six are living. Who would be your invitees? And as an added bonus, you can choose any Hollywood entertainer to perform for your guests.
More and more literary awards are putting out longlists before they announce their nominations and victors. Now, this is in part to give judges more time to ponder (Booker judges, for example, read between 100 and 120 books per season). Do you think it would be a good idea for AMPAS to try something like that?
Do you think there needs to be more of an effort to nominate young actors by the academy. I'm thrilled Michael Fassbender, Eddie Redman and Benedict Cumberbatch have Oscar nominated in front of their name but they were all snubbed for deserving performances before eventually earning their moms and guys like Joseph Gordon Levitt and Arnie Hammer still haven't been rewarded. In the interim pretty much every woman under 30 has a mom and they often upset pretty established veterans.
Nat, Leonardo DiCaprio is often accused but when do YOUactually think is an actor/actress truely "Oscar hungry/thirsty/desperate"?
(Aren't we all?)
Why are there so many precursor awards and why does every city's press decide to have a big awards vote and announcement. Is there any part of the awards season that you think diminishes the fun or the overpredictability of the big final night (for me it's SAGS and individual city papers)?
I think siblings Jake and Maggie getting nominated in the same year would be fun bease we'd get all this press about how one family can produce two such great actors and the two would play up the sibling love quite adorably. Has two siblings in the same year ever happened before?
Also, how do you think the press would approach a year in whicharge Voight and daughter Ameliaare both nominated. I hear they're estranged or maybe such a year would shed light on whether they are truly estranged or not? Maybe all the press junkets and red carpets would be a therapuetic experience for those two?
Is wasting an actor really a thing? I think of this becauseif the way the very talented Judy Greer has been used lately. Just because I know howbgood she is, should that mean I expect a filmmaker to warp a supporting part around her? Or does her skillset being ignored work as a spotlight on an inferior character?
Favourite interview and/or talk show appearance by an actor/actress?
What is your favourite decade of actresses? Could it be the 40's femme fatale's, the 60's musical leads or the 70's no nonsense women to name a few.
Since we had a HMWYBS for music videos, I'm curious. What have been some of your favorite music videos of all time? If that's too big of a question maybe pick one a decade or just in the last 15 years even.
Why are best 100 films ever lists almost exclusively male in focus (directed by men and starring men)? Related project for you: best 100 films directed by or starring a woman.
Since the Smackdown is coming up, why don't you talk a bit about your favorite films from 95?
Inside Out as a serious threat for Best Picture winner, as a way of honoring Pixar's whole line with one of their best: realistic possibility or total fantasy?
How well do you think Meryl Streep's recent string of nominations (from 'The Devil Wears Prada' onward) will be received in, say, 20 years? I personally think this batch contains a mix of her best ('DWP') and downright worst ('Doubt'; 'The Iron Lady'; 'August: Osage County') performances.
Also, which of these performances do you most wish had been played by a different actress (and which actress)?
@ Orrin: Selma is DuVernay's third feature, and neither Anderson nor Fincher were nominated for their first films.
Also, de Havilland/Fontaine (1942). Fontaine won.
Lynn/Vanessa Redgrave (1967). Liz Taylor beat them.
I've been thinking a lot about billion dollar grossing films with Jurassic Park shooting up the record charts and with your post about best picture nominees, that wouldn't have been nominated if not for their universal appeal I got thinking!
Which film is your favourite to gross over 1 billion?
Which is your least favourite?
Which least deserved to make 1 billion? Please note that the only correct answer here is Eyesore in wonderland which is still another fascinating case in itself - how on earth did it get there?
@Paul
I was saying that w Anderson and David Fincher weren't nominated for their first several films which is why ppl should be less upset that Ana D got snubbed
@Andy: Grace Zabriskie and Laura Linney for AOC with William Friedkin directing, and no Julia Roberts. Meryl, Cherry Jones or Jessica Lange for Doubt, although Lange later played a heavy-handed nun on AHS, so who knows what actress-writer revenge fantasy was being worked out there. Mike Nichols to direct Doubt instead of John Patrick Shanley. Meryl for Iron Lady but David Fincher as director.
When you're not feeling well or are under the weather, are there a couple of films you tend to watch to be comforted by?
What's your favorite swimming pool scene from a movie?
Which performances from this century so far that weren't nominated by the Academy do you think people are going to look back on as the worst snubs?
For which performances (if any) would you have liked to have had the Oscar go to Claude Rains, Thelma Ritter, Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole?
I know how you love the works of Tennessee Williams, excepting "Orpheus Descending". Is there a particular supporting performance in one of his films or plays that stands out in your mind that might not have received much attention over the year? Also, is your opinion about "Orpheus" based on the Vanessa Redgrave production, or Anna Magnani film?
Favorite film perfectly suited for a drive-in movie theatre?
(Yes, some of these places still exist--there's a great one in Wellfleet on Cape Cod for folks on the East coast.)
Since you're so great at snagging interesting interviews, have you thought about trying to interview a distributor (or someone else behind the scenes who would know) on this blog about release dates, film festivals, etc.?