Oscar Trivia: Who has had the most consecutive acting nominations?

by Nathaniel R

Given that this year brought us only one repeat acting nominee from last season (Olivia Colman, from The Father to The Lost Daughter)  we thought it would be a fun detour to look back at thespians that Oscar was obsessed with for a relatively intense stretch of time. Which of the 20 actors nominated this year will be back again next year and start a run towards this rarefied list?Care to make a guess? Maybe it'll be Olivia Colman a third consecutive time. We could see it if Empire of Light opens in time.

Now, it's pretty easy to return again and again at The Emmys given that one series can last for several years (and the TV Academy falls out of love slowly), but for the Oscars, where it's new projects and characters every year, it's very dificult to hold interest for years on end...

Click to read more ...

"Introducing" The film debuts of your Best Actress nominees

by Nathaniel R

Nicole Kidman's first dramatic closeup in a movie. Her mother has just told her no in Bush Christmas (1983)This season's best actress race is a quintet of considerable fame. We have three previous Oscar winners (Nicole Kidman, Olivia Colman, Penélope Cruz), a multiple nominee (Jessica Chastain) and a first timer though she's been globally famous for over a decade (Kristen Stewart). All five are in demand and oft-celebrated. We thought it would be fun to look at their very first movies long before superstardom happened which was the impetus for this four part "introducing" series (you've already witnessed Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress).

How were these now acclaimed actresses introduced to audiences? Let's take them in chronological order of their official debuts after the jump...

Click to read more ...

The Honoraries: Liv Ullmann in "Face to Face"

We're celebrating each of the upcoming Honorary Oscar winners with a few pieces on their career.

by Juan Carlos Ojano

Liv Ullmann garnered her second and final (to date) nomination for her role as Dr. Jenny Isaksson in Face to Face, her seventh collaboration with Ingmar Bergman. Last included in the Oscar conversation in 1974 but was hampered by the eligibility issues of Scenes from a Marriage, Ullmann came back in the awards race roaring, with Best Actress wins from NYFCC, LAFCA, and NBR while getting nominations from the BAFTA and the Globes. While Faye Dunaway was the expected winner for Network, Ullmann undoubtedly gave one of her best performances (in a career filled with them) in this film.

TW: Sexual violence/rape...

Click to read more ...

The Honoraries: Liv Ullmann in "Shame"

We're celebrating each of the upcoming Honorary Oscar winners with a few pieces on their career. 

by Eric Blume

Ingmar Bergman’s 1968 film Shame features one of Liv Ullmann’s greatest performances.  This was the third collaboration between the two artists, and the film is the middle portion of Bergman’s unofficial “Island Trilogy” that started with The Hour of the Wolf and concluded with The Passion of Anna.  Ullmann’s face is like the face of the film: beauty going blankly sour…

Click to read more ...

Fantasy Cast: Which Former Acting Winners Should Present For Each Oscar Nominee?

By: Christopher James

Screw the MCU, this is the greatest crossover event in history.

In a quest to get to three hours, the Academy has attempted to shave off so many things that make the Oscars great, including eight categories. As Nathaniel eloquently noted, the Oscars are best when they embrace the excess, full of clips, montages and moments to celebrate the nominees and the art of moviemaking in general. One of the best examples of this came during the 2008 Oscars, hosted by Hugh Jackman. Yes, Jackman was a great host with multiple fantastic dance numbers, including a bit about how “he didn’t see The Reader” and declaring the musical is back. There was one other major thing that was incredible about that particular Oscar ceremony: the presentation of the acting awards. Murtada also looked back on this wonderful moment a couple years back as well. These Oscars were not afraid of taking their time. In addition to clips, a different winner from a previous year introduced each acting nominee. The producers for that year didn’t just pick former winner names out of a hat, they found some thematic connection between the nominee and the former winner, as if to say that everyone has a chance. It was an exciting way to accentuate the legacy of the Oscars, honor each nominee and make the event even more star studded than normal. 

Let's fantasize about that happening again...

Click to read more ...