Best Supporting Actor - First Predictions!

by Nathaniel R

Willem Dafoe in "Poor Things" from Searchlight Pictures

Will Robert Downey Jr's scenery chewing in Oppenheimer, John Magaro's stealth beautiful support in Past Lives, and Ryan Gosling's giddy winking joy be "Kenough" several months from now when the Oscar nominations are announced? That's the pressing question at the moment when it comes to the Best Supporting Actor race. They're surely the top violable contenders from the first seven months of the year, give a pair from Air. But can you choose between the foul mouth charisma of Chris Messina and the hesitant gamber cool of Ben Affleck? 

We frame the Best Supporting Actor race this way because who knows what the rest of year might hold in terms of releases...

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Halfway Mark 3: Fav Performances of 2023 (thus far)

by Nathaniel R 

Teyana Taylor (A Thousand and One), Greta Lee (Past Lives), Nicolas Cage (Renfield), Chris Messina (Air), and Scarlett Johansson (Asteroid City)

We already discussed gay cinema of 2023 and favourite movies (thus far) in general. Now let's talk the magical gift of acting. Herewith a handy cheatsheet of favourite film performances (and why we love them) from the first six months of 2023 so we don't forget them later on in the year-end glut. Although will we have a year-end glut this year? Hollywood has come to a standstill throwing the futures of the year end releases into question as no actors will be available to promote their work. This is a small problem in the grand scheme of things -- fair pay and treatment is more important than the timing of any batch of releases -- but it could make for a strange year in cinema (and tv, too).

The halfway lists are generally our way of taking stock of the year. Consider it "intermission". Some of these performances won't factor into our own Film Bitch Awards at years end but that's no reason not to love on them right now...

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Queering the Oscars: Bruce Davison in "Longtime Companion"

by Cláudio Alves

As nominees, presenters, and other attendees arrived on the red carpet for the 63rd Academy Awards, they were met with righteous commotion. ACT-UP members picketed the ceremony, holding banners decrying universal inaction when over 102,000 people had already died by the modern plague of AIDS. During the festivities proper, activist David Lacaillade, who had found his way to the audience, stood up and shouted invective against the proceedings, demanding action and calling those who do nothing hypocrites. AIDS Action Now! Sadly, there seemed to be very little in the way of open solidarity inside the Shrine Auditorium.

Earlier, protestors offered button pins emblazoned with "SILENCE = DEATH" to the folk walking the red carpet. Most people declined to wear them, but Bruce Davison was one of the few to don the message. He was also the rare example to wear it all ceremony – some people took them down before the opening monologue was through. Davison was present as the sole nominee from Longtime Companion, the first mainstream feature to depict the effects of AIDS in the gay community. Walking into the Oscars, he felt a heavy responsibility pressing down on his shoulders. In his own words, the actor was "carrying the torch for the people represented in this film"... 

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Queering the Oscars: Chris Sarandon in "Dog Day Afternoon"

For Pride Month Team Experience is looking at queer & queer-adjacent moments in Oscar history.

by Nick Taylor

“I wish I had an abusive boyfriend who was willing to rob a bank to pay for my sex change operation.” sighed my friend Jude after we finished watching Dog Day Afternoon (1975). Pride is always an ideal excuse to make all my cool queer friends watch cool queer films (I do this all the time, mind you), and our Queering the Oscars series has created the perfect opportunity to revisit old favorites with good friends.

In the context of queer cinema, Dog Day Afternoon is a fantastic surprise to put in front of a crowd, since it doesn’t announce itself as such from the outset...

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Oscar Completism: Best & Worst of Supporting Actor

by Baby Clyde

Walter Brennan in "The Westerner". The last of his three wins was the most deserving.

After spending most of my life cataloguing all these Oscar winning performances, I feel uniquely qualified to bore you all with my rankings. We’ll cover my favourite winners before handing out some booby prizes to the all-time worst recipients in each acting category. 

Let’s start with the category that nobody cares about, Best Supporting Actor...

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