4 Days til the Smackdown - Meet the Panelists!
Saturday, August 27, 2016 at 1:38PM The Supporting Actress Smackdown of 1984 is coming your way on Wednesday August 31st with Dame Peggy Ashcroft defending her Oscar from the other side. Will the panel co-sign that Oscar win or throw their votes to Christine Lahti, Lindsay Crouse, or legendary Oscar regulars in the form or either Glenn Close or Geraldine Page. Please remember that readers are the collective sixth panelist so I expect your answers to these questions in the comments (as well as your ballots - details on what to send me here).
MEET THE PANELISTS
Please give a hearty welcome to two first time Smackdowners
NOAH TSIKA
Noah Tsika is the Assistant Professor of Media Studies at Queens College, CUNY. He has also written two books on cinema: Nollywood Stars: Media and Migration in West Africa and the Diaspora and Pink 2.0: Encoding Queer Cinema on the Internet.
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SHEILA O'MALLEY
Sheila O'Malley is a regular film critic for Rogerebert.com and other outlets including The Criterion Collection. She wrote the narration (read by Angelina Jolie) for the Gena Rowlands tribute reel played at the 2016 Governors Awards. Her blog is The Sheila Variations.
Follow Sheila on Twitter.
...welcome back two regular Smackdowners
JOE REID
Joe Reid never went to film school, unless you count the film school of hard knocks, which he also didn't go to. That hasn't stopped him from writing about movies. He is currently Senior Writer at Decider.com. One day, he'll have written about his love for The Hours, Go, and Mermaids enough that he can finally close his laptop, satisfied that his work is done.
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NICK DAVIS
Nick Davis writes the reviews and features at the website Nick's Flick Picks. The site's unpredictable cycles of frenzied activity and long dormancy have to do with his also being an Associate Professor of English and Gender & Sexuality Studies at Northwestern, where his research and teaching mostly concern narrative film in different eras, genres, and countries.
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And, of course, your host with all his needy questions about your favorites this and that...
NATHANIEL R
The creator and owner of The Film Experience, and a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association. He is the film columnist for Towleroad, a longtime Oscar pundit (Gurus of Gold) and occassional Oscar talking head guest on podcasts and TV news programs.
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Okay, Question time.
Who is your favorite farm wife of 1984?
Joe: My sympathies lie decidedly with Sissy Spacek's character from The River. Not only did she have to put up with constant flooding, but she also had to deal with Mel Gibson throughout.
Noah: Sissy. I don’t do Sally (except in Sybil), and, while I worship Jessica Lange, her performance in Country is far from her best. I love Sissy’s wet-hair look, and the way she wears those raincoats.
Sheila: Sissy Spacek in The River
Nathaniel: Sally Field. I like her. I really really like her... Which, incidentally, was never a joke to me but the god's honest truth from Gidget through Hello, My Name is Doris.
Nick: Stop tripping. There is only one answer to this question: Jessica Lange in Country. I like Sissy in The River, and Sissy in general, and Sally tries in Places, but Jessica's reaction shot when Sally won the Oscar says a lot. All the right things, in fact. God tries to send a tornado Jessica's way in Country. He forgot she's a tornado all by her damn self. And the political quality of her anger is so exciting. People really need to rent this movie.
What does Love Have to Do With It?
Noah: Well, if “it” is my left forearm, then love is what broke it—love for Tina Turner, that is. It was the late 80s, Tina was on MTV, and I was about 5, dancing along, hopping from floor to couch to coffee table, and finally falling and cracking a bone. I don’t remember crying, or even being in pain. I just remember the music—the euphoria of Tina fandom.
Joe: I believe in love. Love is like oxygen. Love is a many splendored thing, love lifts us up where we belong, all you need is love!
Nathaniel: It has nothing to do with private dancing except for my love for members of the oldest profession (onscreen). In related news: Michelle Pfeiffer's "10 cents a dance" from The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989) and Tina Turner's mega-hit both make me think of each other.
Sheila: A quote from an Indigo Girls song comes to mind...
"And I wish her insight to battle love's blindness
Strength from the milk of human kindness
A safe place for all the pieces that scatter.
Learn to pretend there's more than love that matters."
Nick: Who needs five hearts when five hearts can be broken?
Name Your Three Favorite Things About 1984
Sheila: Purple Rain movie. Purple Rain soundtrack. The Karate Kid
Joe: Patty Smyth's "The Warrior," a perfect pop song from a year full of them. Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas's scorching chemistry in Romancing the Stone. Watching 'The A-Team' with my dad.
Noah: Vanessa Redgrave in The Bostonians. Rob Lowe’s cowboy boots in Oxford Blues. The NeverEnding Story.
Nick: Three? I'll divide into three categories. Movie-wise, I'm most loyal to This Is Spinal Tap, The Times of Harvey Milk, What Have I Done to Deserve This? (the rare Almodóvar I unreservedly enjoy, especially among his comedies), and my most recent zealous passion, Purple Rain, which I saw for the first time in theaters this spring and have watched three more times since. Music-wise, I was consumed the whole year by two albums: Cyndi Lauper's She's So Unusual (especially "She Bop," "Money Changes Everything," and "I'll Kiss You") and Madonna's Like a Virgin (especially "Angel" and "Dress You Up"). Later, the Eurythmics' original song score from the Michael Radford film of 1984 became a personal staple (especially "Greetings from a Dead Man" and "Julia"). And now, of course, the Purple Rain soundtrack has joined them. Personally, this was the year I moved to Quantico, VA, bringing me that much closer to a personal goal of being just like Clarice Starling and Ardelia Mapp, and I remain very proud of being, as a second-grader, the only student in Burrows Elementary School who voted for Mondale-Ferraro in our mock presidential election.
Nathaniel: I'll cheat like Nick. Movie-three (then): Daryl Hannah's crimped hair in Splash, Kathleen Turner's everything, Miss Piggy & Joan River's doing each other's makeup in The Muppets Take Manhattan; Movie-three (now): same give or take The Times of Harvey Milk and the entirety of The Terminator which I have memorized from Michael Biehn's nude time travel straight on to Linda Hamilton's polaroid; Music-three: "She's So Unusual," "Purple Rain" and Madonna's life-changing VMA performance of "Like a Virgin" (yes, yes, it probably changed her life but I was talking about mine). Other-three: Watching Dynasty every Wednesday night, "The Judas Contract" story in the DC comic book The New Teen Titans, and gymnasts Mitch Gaylord and Mary Lou Retton at the Summer Olympics (the first time I remember obsessively watching the Olympics)
YOUR TURN. STOP LURKING AND GET TO ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS.
Reader Comments (13)
This is fun!
Favourite farm wife: I've only seen Sissy, so I'd better abstain! (Though she was very good.)
What does Love Have to Do With It?: I just called to say I love "love".
Three favourite things about 1984:
Movie three: Woody Allen's razor-sharp direction of Broadway Danny Rose, David Byrne's energy in Stop Making Sense, and the crazy, controversial, heart-stopping rush of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Music three: The albums Born in the USA and Like a Virgin and the Band Aid song "Do They Know It's Christmas?".
Other three: Dallas, Dynasty, and celebrating my tenth birthday (double figures at last!).
I was born in '85, so my 1984 picks are a mix of nostalgic ones ("Gremlins", Lauper) and late discoveries ("Blood Simple", Prince).
But if I'm being very honest about what I love from 1984: "Murder she Wrote". I didn't really discover it until 2011 or so but it's a perfect storm for me - something I was too young to watch initially but now reminds me of TV's past, with the comforting/nostalgic presence of Lansbury and a million guest stars, and so many seasons it might as well be an endless supply. Never less than watchable.
Jessica always gives good face on Oscar night.
"...but she also had to deal with Mel Gibson throughout. "
I haven't seen any of the farm wives (nor any of the Smackdown nominees--the '80s are a near-void in my Hollywood experience), but from every still of The River I've seen, Mel Gibson looks very deal-with-able.
"What does Love Have to Do With It?"
I never wanted to be your weekend lover/I only wanted to be some kind of friend/Baby, I could never steal you from another/It's such a shame our friendship had to end
"Name Your Three Favorite Things About 1984"
1. Purple Rain: album > song >>>>> film (mostly embarrassing except for the concert scenes)
2. The Cotton Club
3. The Treadaway twins, Harry and Luke, born September 10, 1984
Three fav films from 1984: Nightmare on Elm Street, Heimat, Spinal Tap.
1. Zen Arcade by Husker Du came out in July of 1984 as it's the best album of that year.
2. Jena Malone and Scarlett Johansson were both born respectively in November 21 and 22, 1984.
3. Stop Making Sense
Welcome Noah and Sheila!
I enjoyed the answers from y'all!
In 1984 I was probably about to exit my previous life (was born in 1985) so maybe I didn't enjoy that year as much as Prince did.
Favorite farm wife-Sally by far. I love Sissy but thought The River was one long slog to get through.
What's Love Got To Do With It?-Well unless your the Owner of a Lonely Heart with no Self-Control and you're Dancing In The Dark than I say Let's Hear It For the Boy!
Favorite movie three-the Baroque excess of Amadeus, the bizarre what-the-hell-was-that-ness of Repo Man, Kathleen Turner blossoming into a comic action heroine in Romancing the Stone.
Favorite music-The entire Born in the U.S.A. album, Hold Me Now by The Thompson Twins, The Pointer Sisters series of hits.
Random three-Trivial Pursuit, Dynasty, Clara Peller asking "Where's the Beef?"
Farm wife - toss up between Sally & Sissy. I like Sally Field too - and those who disagree must watch "Soapdish".
Tina Turner - I wore that tape out. yes tape I had a walkman. Also Springsteen.
Favourite things from 84, Kathleen Turner Broadway Danny Rose, Amadeus.
Wow, a lot of bias going on. Attachment to actress should not influence honest opinion. I look forward to the 80's best performance list.
Favorite Movie: Footloose
Favorite Music: Footloose soundtrack
Favorite Other: Footloose dance
One of the best teen movie confections ever. I saw again it in the theaters a few weeks ago, and I could not wipe the smile off my face the entire time.
Me looking at Joe's pic....Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey!!!!!!!!
Fave Farm Wife of 1984: Sissy
Hat tip and bow, Tina. The greatest comeback in music history, thanks to one of pop's most infectious tunes. And to think she hated it and didn't want to record it!
3 Fave Things About 1984:
- Michael Jackson's Grammy sweep for "Thriller"
- A Soldier's Story: I was lucky enough to catch Denzel Washington and Adolph Caesar in the original Off-Broadway production, so I was thrilled when they were both tapped for the film version. It's the only one of that year's Best Picture nominees that didn't put me to sleep. Would love to finally see the show on Broadway with Denzel in the Howard E. Rollins role
- The debut of The Cosby Show. "I am your father: I brought you in this world, and I'll take you out!"