Monday
Jul092018
Ask Nathaniel
Monday, July 9, 2018 at 10:57PM 
Let's get some more Q&A questions up in here to inspire some discussions. Preferrably happy ones to combat the despair. You know what to do in the comments!
tagged Ask Nathaniel
Ask Nathaniel
Reader Comments (39)
You're to cast an original romantic movie musical with the following options as female and male leads:
Anna Kendrick
Anne Hathaway
Amy Adams
Ewan McGregor
James Madsen
Eddie Redmayne
Which pairing would you go to?
What dancer in a non- dancing film has delighted you with their performance?
My pick: Jean Babilee in Jacques Rivette's "Duelle".
What pieces of unsolicited career advice would you give Madonna?
As a fan, what would please you the most?
As a legend, what would reflect best on her?
What needs to happen for Charlize to get an Oscar nomination for Tully? Best Actress is so stacked (yes!) again this year. A win from LAFCA would help. Also CC/GG/ SAG nominations are a must. Oddly, the thing that has hurt her the most -besides Tully's underwhelming box office tally- is the ascension of Toni Collette in Hereditary. Collette has gobbled up all the conversation for first half of the year performances. Thoughts?
What is your favorite sex scene in a movie? (Or steamiest on-screen chemistry you've ever seen between co-stars?) i.e. Basic Instinct, Body Heat, etc.
Do you think that Samantha Morton is the best female actor of her generation? I can't decide between her and Kirsten Dunst.
While I sometimes disagree with who's lead and who's supporting, I LOVE that you champion and call out category fraud. I would love for an article or discussion about the crazy history the Tony Awards have with this issue--where characters like Foriello, The King of Siam, Sally Bowls, all 3 main characters of Bye Bye Birdie, etc. all end up nominated in the Featured races.
I like Sam's idea and I'd like to hear more about that as well.
Any thoughts on The Laundromat filming Fall 2018?
Any thoughts behind the insane flood of female-led films this spring (3 action movies in a room: Annihilation, Red Sparrow and Tomb Raider; 3 comedies in a row: Overboard, Life of the Party and I Feel Pretty), plus Tully, Hereditary, etc? And then the lack of them this summer, besides Ocean's 8?
I have some rather cynical ideas about what happened this spring, but I'm curious to hear your thoughts.
Almodovar insist on making Streep his English language muse. I rather he forego ever making an English language movie and utilize two excellent fluent Spanish speaking black actresses: Phylicia Rashad and Lupita Nyong'o.
What's your favorite foreign language performance from an American actor?
Do you think Daniel Craig will ever be nominated for an Oscar?
Do you think the political times we live in now are reflected back at us in film?
Do you think an animated movie will ever win Best Picture?
Or at least do you have an animated movie as your personal Best Picture winner of the year?
While I loved "Sharp Objects" and I liked the book, I found some of the lighting to be too dark. There is a scene in the kitchen with Patty Clarkson speaking to Amy Adams and the viewer can barely see Patty's face. Did this frustrate you? I am finding movies and television to be too dark on screen lately.
Sonja: Not that I'm speaking for the blog-runner, but I'd say that it'd take AWHILE, if it ever DOES happen. The likeliest time for that to happen in Oscar history (based on the frequent low calibre of winners) would probably have been the 1955-1965 period. Peter Pan dropping in 1955, not 1953? Might well have done it, honestly. What would its competition have been? Marty? Ha!
Sam & Joel, it was simply a rule for Tony Nominations that caused that weird history of leading actors being nominated as featured actors. Back in the "olden days," if an actor had below the title billing, s/he was considered featured, no matter the size of the role.
I've been reading about A STAR IS BORN (the Judy Garland version) and the restoration of that movie in 1983 after the extreme editing it received. What movies are out there that you feel need to be restored to their former glory - something that is lost, either physically or in the public conscience?
Also, do you feel there have been nominations or awards lost due to "bad behavior" such as Judy's? The only one I recall in recent memory was Russell Crowe for A Beautiful Mind.
And thinking about it, are there awards lost that still piss people off after many years? People are still upset about Judy losing and it's been 64 years!
I'm not sure if this has been covered before but what are your top ten favourite female performances directed by female directors?
I'm a fan of World Cup Football, and since England is playing in the semi-finals tomorrow, I'm going to watch "Bend it like Beckham" today. Perfect preparation.
Which brings me to my question, female sports films are rare and yet there are some that are extremely good. As well as Bend it Like Beckham, Whip it, Blue Crush,and Battle of the Sexes come to mind.
Do you have a favourite? and any ideas why they are not more popular?
(are you watching any World Cup games?)
Dave in Hollywood, don't forget Eddie Murphy for Dreamgirls.
Nathaniel, Regina King, Anika Noni Rose, and Gabrielle Union star in a film directed by Steve McQueen with a script written by Jordan Peele. What is this movie about?
It seems to me that I often read in TFE smackdowns about 'underwritten' supporting roles, which for me is like saying that the grass is green. Can you name couple of truly supporting performances that are not underwritten?
Plus, why is it that very talented actresses often seem to stóp challenging themselves and those seemingly less skilled keep pushing themselves and taking risks? IMO Brie Larsson, ScarJo are in the former group, whereas Emma Stone and Keira Knightley in the latter.
What are your five favourite J.Lo performances and songs?
What are your TIFF hopefuls?
Since the Academy has a well-established bias against certain genres (horror, sci-fi, teen), what genre performances do you think should have been nominated in their respective years, and who would you remove from the lineup for it to happen?
For example, I would drop Lauren Bacall from the 96 Supporting Actress lineup and put in Drew Barrymore for Scream.
Is there any particular film or performance from the first half of the year that you feel like hasn’t gotten the attention/praise it deserves?
With Spielberg re-making "West Side Story", are there any classic Broadway musicals you would like to come to the Silver Screen? Or to be remade for the Silver Screen?
Which Oscar category would you get rid of (can't back out and say none)?
Which Oscar category would you add if you think it had a legitimate shot at being added?
TFE's recent post on the english patient reminded me how much i love the film. many people (not TFE commenters obviously) do not, inspired by seinfeld, the film's many oscars, miramax, their love for other films that year, etc. do you have a film that you love, which was popular with the academy, that others don't like? a movie that you always feel the need to defend when others look back on it disdainfully?
Any of these...
-How many Oscar nominations should Kirsten Dunst have?
-What horror films do you think should have received recognition from The Academy?
-Which singer-turned-actress that was never nom'd should've been? Or, at the least, which one should've had a better film career?
Three options:
— How did The Turning Point get 11 flippin’ nominations and the vastly superior The Company couldn’t get even 1?
— Favorite foreign-language acting Oscar nominations?
— On that note, how do you critique foreign-language performances when you don’t know the language or culture?
Do you have any thoughts on Boomerang (1992)?
Saw it at the weekend and -
1) I think it's one of the best romantic comedies of the 90s and very underdiscussed
2) Robin Givens, Halle Berry, Grace Jones and Eartha Kitt (in that order) all make my Top 10 Supporting Actress list for 1992
For what performances do you think Natalie Wood, Kathleen Turner and Kirsten Dunst deserved nominations? Oscar has been so cruel to all 3.
This may not be necessarily a Q&A question exactly, but I was wondering if you were planning on posting your Film Bitch Awards for years prior to 2009? I attempted to find them online, but have been unsuccessful and find them to be super interesting.
Do you think an Asian actress will ever be oscar-nominated for a lead performance? Why/why not?
Forget the Oscars, what are your three most anticipated (and not yet seen by you) performances this year?
Are there any actresses who've been nominated more than once you would have given the win every time?
Who would you cast as a Paddington villian? There're big shoes to fill after Nicole and Hugh
Which auteur will Nicole Kidman work next? Hanake?
Okay, here's one:
What writer-director do you think would most benefit from making something that only utilizes one of their skills, either by directing someone else's screenplay or lending a script to another director?