Monday
Jul112016
Ask Nathaniel
Monday, July 11, 2016 at 12:20AM 
Let's do another Q&A column. I'll pick 8 to 10 questions to answer this week. So ask away. [Please note that questions requiring top ten lists or big essays to answer are less likely to be answered them simpler ones.]
Reader Comments (32)
Who are your favorite Southern actresses and actors?
Rank the animated movies from the Disney Renaissance (1989-1999). Extra: which is the most underrated?
Is there one unsung veteran actress you would like to see get an award season career boost through Ryan Murphy?
Hi - do you feel the gap is widening between the stories told in mainstream movies and contemporary issues? Oops, that might be an essay. But just curious.
Do you have any thoughts on Anna Magnani? She's one of my Top 10 Actresses of all time, but I don't think I've ever read anything on her from you.
Which acting Oscar winners from the 2000s do you think we can expect to see as a second or third time winner within the future?
For example Kate Winslet seems to stand in good stead for a second win at some point, and is definitely hungry for it. Although he doesn't qualify by my question, Christian Bale is the kind of actor they like, and since crowning him theyve gone in for him for lesser work, suggesting they might want to reward him again sometime soon.
I'm curious for your thoughts.
Who would you like to see host the 2016 Academy Awards?
About the website banner: Have you ever tried (or considered trying) to animate it, i.e., with gifs? This occurred to me when the current one with people laughing first appeared. (I also thought of using subtle ones like this Monty gif.) Would that take too much time to create or slow the site down?
Which movies are the closes equivalent to being on a remote beach, lying on a sunbed with a cold cocktail in hand for you?
Name an actress or two (from either the 90s or 00s that was kind of expected to have been nominated by now) that you'd like to see have a comeback/nomination in the next few years.
To steer away from actressing/Oscar matters... for some reason I've been thinking of Clouzot's Les Diaboliques this weekend. Are you a fan? I think it's so good and so criminally underseen!
I'm kind of obsessed with Tyler Hoechlin in Everybody Wants Some!!! Which are your top five unconsciously homoerotic pictures?
Who would play you in the biopic of your life? Who would direct it? And what would it be called?
I like this idea of the unconsciously homoerotic pictures, but I don't think they are unconcious in most cases. Linklater of course knew what he was doing, like everybody in Ben Hur except for Heston knew what that movie was really about.
I'm in China right now and you are one of the few sites I can access with regularity. So thank you for not pissing off China!
Staying with that theme, what Chinese actor, actress, or director would you most like to see have American crossover success? Which genre would you love to see them shine in or revive for US cinema goers?
Hey I've asked a question about unintentional homoeroricism before (inspired by chariots of Fire) and it was passed over. Clearly we are all dying to know.
What do you consider is the difference between a cameo and a supporting role.
Expressing a desire to read Nath's answer to BVR's question, despite it leading to a list :
Rank the animated movies from the Disney Renaissance (1989-1999). Extra: which is the most underrated?
Kind of random, but whenever Slumdog Millionaire is mentioned in your posts, I see that you're REALLY not a fan and seem to think it was one of the worst recent Best Picture winners. Just curious what your specific qualms are with the film, and if they've held up over time?
We know we do supporting actress smackdowns because it's the most interesting acting category. And that we don't smack down supporting actors because their category is often the dullest.
But if we did, is there a supporting actor year you would want to examine? Either because it has 5 worthy performances, or because you've no idea where consensus would land?
Of the following British Acting Dames without an Oscar nomination, who should feel most aggrieved?
Eileen Atkins
Joan Collins
Penelope Keith
Sian Phillips
Diana Rigg
Harriet Walter
Penelope Wilton
Barbara Windsor
When would you have most liked to engineer a tie in the major Oscar categories? Here's mine
PICTURE: 1959 Room at the Top/The Nun's Story
ACTOR: 1975: Jack Nicholson 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'/Al Pacino 'Dog Day Afternoon'
ACTRESS: 1944 Ingrid Bergman 'Gaslight'/Barbara Stanwyck 'Double Indemnity'
SUPPORTING ACTOR: 2007: Casey Affleck 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford'/Hal Holbrook 'Into the Wild'
SUPPORTING ACTRESS 1962: Patty Duke 'The Miracle Worker'/Mary Badham 'To Kill a Mockingbird'
DIRECTOR: 1950: Carol Reed 'The Third Man'/Billy Wilder 'Sunset Boulevard'
Too bad ties don't happen more often. Sometimes it's a better result
Thoughts on Marsha Mason? She had a storied run with Oscar in the 70s/80s, but nobody seems to talk about her anymore, despite the fact she's still working.
Which studio system star could you see doing well in our Superhero era? Which Superhero performer could make the leap to studio system stardom?
I had the immense privileged of seing Jessica Lange (I know she's not your favorite but for she's one of the great one) on Broadway last month & I was wondering which screen performances by an actress based on a character from a play are your favorites?
Is there a movie that you have recommended more than any other?
I think I may know the answer to this questions, however I am going to ask it anyway. In this Best Actress line-up who receives the award?
Annette Bening
Glenn Close
Viola Davis
Laura Dern
Michelle Pfeiffer
Please give a brief reason supporting your answer. And let us say that each of the performances is a tour de force.
Because I'm a geek, which musical from the stage that you wish the most to be adapted for the movies? There are so many worthy ones that haven't been adapted at all, though sometimes adapting them would result in a turd, i.e. A Chorus Line (my most favorite musical btw).
I would really like to see Company or City of Angels on the big screen.
Sunday in the Park with George would of course be such a visual fiesta imo.
Are there two specific characters you liked from two different movies you didn't like that you would like to see join forces in a third new film that would hopefully be better than the other two?
I know you don't like the deglam bit for Oscar, but do you have a favorite performance when the actor glammed up? For example Geraldine Page looks SUPER hot in Sweet Bird of Youth but that was not her normal public face
How angry are you at Orange is the New Black's Season 4 like I am (or have you seen it yet)? I'm happy about Danielle Brooks leap into bigger roles (The Color Purple), who else from the cast is destined for future movie/Broadway stardom?
Molly Shannon. She is my favorite underrated actress out there. Why so underrated? Year of the Dog is complicated and brilliant. Enlightened. Wet Hot American Summer. Etc Etc. Can't wait to see her in Other People and Divorce.
(Though....I'd also love to see your response to the Marsha Mason inquiry!)