Amy Madigan and Oscar Horrors Past

by Cláudio Alves

Weapons is the talk of the town and people can't stop obsessing over the movie's villainess supreme, the wicked witch of the suburbs, the pied piper of Pennsylvania – Aunt Gladys. Some have even started dreaming about Amy Madigan's potential as a Best Supporting Actress contender, a Ruth Gordon in Rosemary's Baby for the new millennium. While such speculation seems a bit too hopeful for this horror-loving skeptic, it did remind me that Madigan is already an Oscar nominee. Indeed, she was one of the acting honorees I had yet to see before biting the bullet on Twice in a Lifetime earlier this week.

So, as part of my journey to watch all Oscar-nominated performances, here are my thoughts on Madigan. And, since horror is on the mind, let me mention a couple of the worst films ever graced with an acting Academy Award nomination, too. You better believe that there are things scarier than witches out there…

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Oscar Predix: Which actors will have big years?

by Nathaniel R

Jonathan Bailey in WICKED FOR GOOD

This post's titular prompt question is not quite the same as "Who will be Oscar nominated this coming winter?" but having a big year in your career never hurts in gaining awards traction... or at least momentum for a future year. Will Jonathan Bailey's suddenly A-list career (with two potential giant blockbusters in a span of five months) convince Oscar voters that his SAG nomination last year should be mirrored with an Oscar nod for Best Supporting Actor? Will Sinners cultural dominance this spring help Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo land their first overdue Oscar nods early next year or will the zeitgiest move on?

These are just a couple of the questions I've been asking myself about the upcoming Oscar races for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor but there's more after the jump...

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My Oscar Completism Project: An Introduction

by Cláudio Alves

Sadly, my Best Actress journey may never be complete as THE BARKER, starring Betty Compson, only exists in the UCLA archive.

Are you an Oscar completist? I'm trying to be, having already seen all the winners in the big five categories and making my way through the rest. However, this year, I'll focus more on the acting races and the nominees that didn't get the gold. After talking with some friends, I realized I'm only 133 films away from having watched every performance ever nominated for an acting Academy Award, from 1928 to 2024. So, that shall be my challenge until December 31st, to check those titles and, hopefully, share my journey with you. This won't be a regularly scheduled series but something more erratic, bound to unravel in fits and starts, free-wheeling to the very end. What matters is that deadline and writing about everything I see until then. To start things off, I decided to take a sample of each category…

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Final Best Actor & Best Supporting Actor Thoughts

Dearest Reader, we know you want to move on from 2024 but please allow us our final indulgences for only one more week - promise! 

Jason Schwartzmann (Queer) was one of MANY supporting performances that might have been discussed this past year if Leads weren't usurping the supporting actor oxygen

by Nathaniel R

The film year has ended with Adrien Brody (The Brutalist) and Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain) taking their Oscar categories. So... on account of the timeless procrastinator's slogan 'better late than never' I'm now sharing my own ballot. It was rather shocking / unpleasant (given my predilections) to realize that the men had arguably outdone the women (or at least equalled them) in acting achievements this past cinematic year. Nevertheless, since I far prefer watching / discussing actresses on the silver screen, I’m forcing the men to share one constrained listicle article. Take that, men – you can’t keep a good actressexual down.

Herewith the finalists (i.e. top dozen) for my own ballots in both Supporting Actor and Best Actor at the Film Bitch Awards. The official nominees are also announced... 

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Reader Poll: Which acting nominee will be back again quickly?

by Nathaniel R

One of our recent traditions here at TFE is to guess which of the season's most celebrated actors will be the quickets to be enmeshed in Oscar battles again before you know it? VOTE DAILY (for the next week) on who you think it will be:

online polls

Some history of how well your votes have fared over the last two seasons follow...

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