Friday
Dec022016
Questions for the Podcast?
Friday, December 2, 2016 at 2:26PM 
Tis the Season. We're feeling festive.
The whole podcast team (Katey, Nick, Joe and Nathaniel) will be recording Sunday morning (possibly the last time in 2016 due to the holiday madness coming up) discussing new films and current awards buzz.
Got any questions for us?
We'll devote some minutes to reader inquiries if you do.
Reader Comments (73)
If there are nine legitimate contenders for Best Actress this year, who gets in and who gets left out? My predictions are : Adams, Bening, Huppert, Portman, and Stone getting in with Negga, Chastain, Henson, and Streep missing out.
How do you guys think the Trump presidency will affect the ceremony or the roster of winners, if at all?
Is there a path for Amy Adams to beat Emma Stone now that Arrival is over performing at the box office, is likely to have a high nomination count, and she has a stronger "overdue" narrative?
My nightmare.
(Not Amy beating Emma, but those two being the two at the top. In that scenario, though: TEAM AMY.)
What newcomer Best Director nomination would most excite you guys?
Elle isn't a movie about sexual assault. Because of Michele's unique situation with her father shapes her into a slightly deranged person the movie makes her atypical response to her assault feel comprehensible. And where the movie loses some of its edge is how hopeful everything resolves itself. It's almost Americanized in its conclusion. Also, despite the humor I wish people would stop referring to Elle as a rape-comedy. If there is such a thing it's Almodovar's Tie Me Up Tie Me Down and Kika which has the most hilarious rape scene ever. I guess Pedro has a niche he never intended to have but deserves all the credit for.
I saw Elle after hearing the initial podcast where Joe said he was interested in a female director's take the material. I think Huppert's input overshadows the limitations of her male collaborators. And Verhoeven himself said he deferred to her to fill in the female perspective. Paul is no Von Trier/Lee Daniels getting off on his female protagonist's exploitation.
Q: Why do we want Film?--When the gatekeepers and participates systematically shut us out and when they do use us or our culture it's for the sake of reinforcing denigrating stereotypes or starting new myths. The lesser mediums of TV and Theater have far more to offer in diversity of voice and content. For all the course correcting it does Film "trumps" everything in significance for the long haul or for the short term.
Do you have any specific traditions for Oscar or Globes night (rituals, foods, champagne, etc) that you do ever year?
Just saw Sing Street following the love from some of you guys... It's great! So, what are some of your go-to charming-uplifting movies? Of 2016 or classics :)
What is the Oscar contender each of you want to champion most this year, and what's the #1 film the Oscars may not recognize that we should check out before picking our year end favorites?
What is your response to the increasing movement (seen this year with both The Birth of a Nation and Manchester by the Sea) that films should be ignored and actors removed from consideration for awards based on off-screen behavior?
A recent article called "There's No Reason to See Manchester by the Sea" (http://themuse.jezebel.com/theres-no-reason-to-see-manchester-by-the-sea-1789600989) ends with the line "If you want to skip Manchester By the Sea, all you’d be missing is a movie that asks its audience to explore white male ennui while also demanding they ignore its lead actor’s offscreen reality. Which is to say you won’t be missing much."
But doesn't EVERY movie demand that we ignore the lead actors' offscreen realities? Why should awards based on acting take anything OTHER than acting into consideration? Are people legitimately arguing that all performers should undergo background checks before they win acting prizes or even star in movies to begin with?
I'd love to hear any thoughts from all of you on this.
I'm interested in seeing what yall think about the "actors on actors" series. I've been watching this year's videos and I have to say there is a good case to be made for actors being better directed and scripted than left to their own devices. Only Bening and Kidman are essentially interesting to hear. Portman, Affleck, Williams are very awkward and dull to listen to. The Bridges/Maconaughy one is unwatchable. Emma Stone and Molly Shannon should be way more entertaining than it is. Adam Driver tries but Michael Shannon though a great actor has this anti-movie star persona that makes him a little bit of a chore to hear. It's always very interesting to me to watch unscripted actors and realize that our fandom is most of the time built on very very artificial grounds.
I feel like I have a very good handle on all your views of many of the best actress contenders (Emma, Negga, Adams, Huppert, Bening) but not so much on Portman.
What do you really think of her performance?
Would her performance be a worthy winner in a field this stacked?
If she had lost for Black Swan, would she be the front runner this year?
If she wins, will there be much backlash?
Do you think her career post Jackie will be much different? (no change, all of a sudden get plum roles and become a perrinneal nominee, have her career fade away like Swank..etc)
I saw "Jackie" - excellent movie. Portman was fine. Nothing really exceptional - hair, outfits, pink suit & hat, she has the voice patterns and eyebrows down. Nothing really exceptional.
I saw "Jackie" - excellent movie. Portman was fine. Nothing really exceptional - hair, outfits, pink suit & hat, she has the voice patterns and eyebrows down. Nothing really exceptional.
/3rtful you are so full of shit
last I come to this website.... It has become so negative and self righteous b--- shit for the past year... I enjoyed here for 8 years when people found the movies fun... not life and death!!!
I like that gif!
Can Isabelle Huppert really upset at the Oscars...is she revered enough within the Academy?
@ rick - Unfortunately, TFE has been on a steady decline for a while now. Everything is seen under the prism of either identity politics or awards race.
As awards race coverage it pales in comparison to the more professional ones (Gold Derby and Awards Circuit, for example) and it does not have the sass of the infamous AwardsWatch forums.
As an identity politics film report, it seems to attract the absolutely worst and most obnoxious people, which made the comment section fall to its lowest levels ever.
This site used to be a Switzerland of sorts, neutral and even-headed content, along with a very positive comments session, brimmimg with people passionate about film. Now it is sort of Salon.com, but for film.
I find myself coming back less and less often, and I used to read the blog daily regardless of where I was in the world.
The difficulty is finding somewhere else with that old feel good vibe, though.
I had a question for the podcast, but I forgot! =P
What if Viola Davis gets the Academy consideration in Best Leading Actress and gets nominated in this category? Wouldn't that be SO delicious? All the pedictions go wrong, potential surprise nominees in the Best Supporting Actress category and one atrocious snub in the Best Actress category (considering the top 5 places seem almost locked at this point of the race) - it would be a Kate Winslet's The Reader Moment!!!
Who could be a lurking surprise in Supporting Actress? We have those four ladies- Davis, Harris, Williams, Kidman- that are fully in the conversation, and then we have that fifth spot. Greta Gerwig is a good idea, definitely fifth most likely at this point, but her miss at the Indie Spirits is alarming to me...why did she miss there? Who are the lurking "Jacki Weaver in Silver Linings Playbook" figures that could pull an upset?
Wow, guys. I like to come on here to comment and sometimes disagree, but this is honestly one of the most joyful places on the internet and has been for years. Nathaniel works hard all year round giving us fantastic content and putting up with our drama. Fair enough to voice your opinion, but I'd be very sad if TFE wasn't here anymore.
And I also should say, excited for another podcast with the whole gang! :) Are we still going to get the Part 2 on Elle? (See, we're endlessly demanding, lol.)
@ carmen sandiego
thank you for the backing and to know it is not just in my head... but if you go back and read the blogs of years past, you find a much more wholesome ( for lack of a better word ) approach to film ... now it is "I hate amy adams" I hate ( fill in the blank... do you know Amy Adams... ? )
Film discussion was once informative here and not divisive ... it is NOT nathaniel's fault... his topics and thoughts are as always intelligent and informative... but the control of he blog has lost its direction RIP
This site has been pretty negative (and political) recently but hopefully with the election over it will be a bit more fun with a positive/joyful focus on great performances, actors, scenes and films. Those are what I enjoy greatly (still do), not the umpteenth political post or comment.
What do you all think of Jackie's award chances?
The film was ignored from NBR and NYFCC. Outside of Portman's nomination, nothing major from Gotham or Critics Choice either. Getting left out of Gotham isn't a big deal but its lack of nods at CC is much more telling since they're usually close to the Academy's picks. On top of this the film on metacritic has dropped from 91% to 79%. Not that crazy but still noticeable.
Do you think this could hurt Portman's chances of a nomination?
Also I'm new the site and I wanted to cosign what eurochesse said. Thanks Nathaniel and co. for all the work you guys do! Also again still waiting on part 2 from the last podcast. Sorry to be a bother Nat.
I come here to cheer myself up,I'll admit all the Election posts turned me off a bit but we're back on topic now,I think we should be thanking bloggers like Nat for their hard work not tearing them down,I also see it's the same few who want to come and whinge,if you don't like the content leave the blog alone till it suits your tastes once again.
I also didn't like the Amy Adams post,Nat could have picked any actress really even Portman but he is entitled to post what he likes and it generates good discussion and he has never said he outright hates her just a little too oscared for his tastes much like I feel about Jessica Chastain,like some of her work but is not all that IMO.
@markgordon
you do not get it... I am not knocking Nat... read my comments again!!!! I am NOT tearing him down...
I agree to an extent with Rick and Carmen.
I was initially drawn to this site in 2006 with Nathaniel's wonderful birthday tribute to Meryl Streep. I stayed with the site for its wonderful awards season coverage but the initial Streep love fest is long gone on this site.
In 2016, if I make any comment about Streep whatsoever, I am usually harassed.
Often times, along with the holidays comes holiday depression. What are your favorite movies to wallow in and feed the depression monster when you're down in the dumps?
/3rtful you are so full of shit
I'm a black cocksucker who makes no apologies. And you're a white guy hanging out with fags while denying you are one.
@/3rtful Alas!! you are right as usual ...
I'm super curious what you guys think about Supporting Actor since that category still doesn't quite seem like it's firming up. Could this be the start of a hot streak for Mahershala Ali? Any dark horses that could spoil it? Any contenders you want to highlight? This race is so loose anyone could make it.
Also, I kind of don't get why the Amy Adams thing is being read as so antagonistic by so many people. She's considered *the* spoiler for the Best Actress lineup, the piece makes a pretty dense argument about why that may not happen after prefacing it with why it might and lauding her performance. Singling her out in itself would be one thing if she wasn't caught in the perfect storms to get and to miss a nomination this year. If there were more evaluations of people on the bubble it might look less odd, but what's there seems pretty fair.
I, for one, appreciated all of Nat's political posts and welcomed the chance to talk here, a community of which I have long been a part, with other like-minded citizens about how devastated I felt. Since those post generated a large response, I don't think I'm the only one.
I saw Jackie and loved it! It hasn't been doing well with the precursors so far (except maybe indie spirits?). What do you guys make of its chances? Is it too out-there for the Academy?
I just finished out-of-the-blue watching John Krasinski and Cheryl Boone Isaacs announce last year's nominations, because that's the kind of nerd I am.
Are there any acceptance speeches or nom announcements that you guys watch regularly (besides, obviously, Salma saying Water)?
Speaking of offscreen realities, what of the recent disgusting admission by Bertolucci that he and Brando planned the sexual assault of Maria Schneider in Last Tango in Paris and filmed it because he "wanted her reaction as a girl, not as an actress."
I'm all for the separation of art from its creator, but holy shit, there are limits. This is a hard one.
It's weird to read these comments which are so negative saying the blog itself is negative.I'd readily agree that the comments section has gotten more negative but ... um... that's not the blog. That's the readers! I'm not sure what to do about how negative some commenters are. I've asked people to be civil and some just won't be.
I'll admit this was a very tough month at the blog and in real life (but it's hard to see your country fasttrack to the apocalypse) but we're back to movies now. and anyone saying we dont love film... you must T be just skipping 3/4th of the content in which we love on it.
I will take constructive criticism to heart every time but these endless "you hate Amy Adams and Meryl Streep" complaints are just... I just really can't take them seriously. I love both of them. I just don't understand where this YOU HATE THEM is coming from... It's like Trump's America where everyone believes what they want to believe regardless of evidence right here (I think Florence Foster Jenkins is super fun and I love Arrival and I've never said any differently all year about both movies or either of those actress performances)
anyway proud of the work we do here. Constructive criticism i will listen to and if you have it i'm all ears but if you say things like "TFE doesn't love movies anymore" or "you hate Streep" as Criticisms of the site. I just... It's like a foreign language to me. I don't get it. There's nothing we can do about that perception because it literally does not compute.
I get that people are tired of politics. That is a constructive criticism. I'm sick of it too. but it's been a tough month.
Nobody was criticizing you ... so get over yourself... read the comments carefully....
amy adams ( for example ) not specifically!!
Podcast question - you can nominate only one moonlight supporting actor. Who?
Every time nathaniel has to defend himself, i get so fucking angry. The man is a legend in the movie blogosphere. He s amazing. His blog is amazing. I don't agree with everytjing he says or he likes but his love for movies gives me life. I m a surgeon. My life is in no way artistic and i visit nate's blog every day. I comment i get into arguments. He has created a queer haven for movie lovers and any fucker who feels like they want to criticize him because he has personal tastes can go fuck themselves a very very ugly fuck.
Rick:
Just go away! You won't be missed. You just atacked 3rtful for no reason.
Rick >> bye :*
TFE: XOXO <3<3<3
And I was going to say: "It must be December..." Like clockwork every year.
Tbh I don't get the people that say the site hates Streep or Adams AT ALL. I agree that that is a baseless criticism; especially this year where they've gotten a ton of praise. People will have different opinions on how much praise they are due, and that is ok - it is all subjective. If you want to see (slightly hilarious and overdone) hate, look at prior years posts on Swank, Steinfeld and Zellweger. NEVER accept an interview with them lest they google their name and TFE! :)
Also as much as I hate the politic talk and glad to hear it will be dying down, this site is still much better than some (cough awards daily cough).
Oh! Actually I've been dying to hear people talk about why sexual assault charges against Casey Affleck are not affecting his status at all. I know there is a racial element to it when compared to Nate Parker's case, but are there any other reaons why people seem to be simply brushing it off?
Question for the podcast -
What are your thoughts on the revelations involving Bertolucci and Last Tango in Paris?
Thank you for taking questions. I look forward to the podcast :)
Whenever one of the Streep fanatics says Nathaniel hates Meryl, it's because he doesn't lick her cooter and praise everything she does. Or it doesn't even have to be that, he can simply mention that she shouldn't be nominated for every movie she makes. And suddenly they come out of the woodwork to say that he hates her and she's amazing and deserves to be nominated etc etc. It's silly.
@Bia
who asked "Can Isabelle Huppert really upset at the Oscars...is she revered enough within the Academy?"
I am not sure how respected Isabelle Huppert is among Academy members -- I guess we'll find out if she scores a nomination (Sally Hawkins both won Golden Globes, LAFCA and NYFCC for Happy-Go-Lucky but did not get an Oscar nod). I think most/majority are in awe of Isabelle's fierce acting talents, her pedigreed collaboration with revered auteurs, and the intelligence she possesses/projects through acting, interviews and off-the-cuff philosophical musings about her film characterisations. Miriam Bale from the New Republic called her (and echoed by A.O. Scott in the New York Times) "actress as auteur". I agree with this assessment. She's as much a film collaborator rather than just a performer being directed by the filmmaker.
I wish there is a bit of awards traction for Christine, and Ralph Fiennes and more love for Julieta and Under the Shadow. But with so many things to celebrate and thank for this year's abundance of cinematic delights, I should not complain.
Thank you for proving my point Phillip.
My above post was talking more about harassing or belittling responses from other readers like yourself then anything personally against Nathaniel's blog content.
@Topper
You know nothing about the last years with /3rttful .... so you go away...
Again I have nothing but praise for Nat ... reread my comments ... I used the word blog incorrectly... soon....