Almost There: Forest Whitaker in "Bird"

by Cláudio Alves

After two Cannes Best Actress winners who failed to nab an Oscar nomination, the Almost There series arrives at one of the French festival's male acting champions. In 1988, Forest Whitaker starred as legendary bebop innovator and jazz saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker in a Clint Eastwood-helmed. At Cannes, he won the big prize, and, on paper, the movie does seem like an obvious awards contender. It's from an acclaimed auteur, a traditional epically long biopic, and it came just two years after critics and the Academy had embraced the similarly-themed 'Round Midnight. However, Bird was only nominated for -and ended up winning- the Best Sound Oscar, leaving its leading man unheralded…

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Tweetweek Tussauds

In an effort to love Twitter again, despite its toxicity, we must savor Tweets that are enjoyable and share them. After the jump Mandy Patinkin, Liza Minnelli, In the Heights, Mare of Easttown, and more... 

jean smart played her own wax replica in hacks? emmy NOW pic.twitter.com/C6bpg35ca3

— character actress georgie rae (@georgie_rae_) June 15, 2021

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Yes No Maybe So: The Eyes of Tammy Faye

by Nathaniel R

The Eyes of Tammy Faye was once the title of a popular 2000 documentary and now it's the title of a biopic about the rise and fall of televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, with the emphasis being on the more sympathetic Tammy (who is no longer with us, having died of cancer in the Aughts). For you youngsters out there they were VERY famous in the 1980s with their scandal and downfall happening in 1989. The movie is directed by Michael Showalter (The Big Sick, Hello My Name is Doris) and gives plum roles to Oscar nominees Andrew Garfield and Jessica Chastain as the famous fallen couple. Will it be great, terrible, a mix of both simultaneously or (most dangerously) blandly mediocre? Will it be up for all the Oscars or none of them? Let's give this the full Yes No Maybe So™ treatment after the jump...

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The Oscars' real people problem

by Cláudio Alves

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty tired of the biopic domination of the acting Oscar categories. Admittedly, such distaste comes from my general dislike of prestige cinema's biographical genre, but the situation is truly glaring. This year, 45% of the nominated performances are of real people whose lives were dramatized on-screen, exercises in actorly mimicry, and direct emulation. It's not that these achievements aren't impressive or worthy of awards, but that they're over-represented a great deal. Most narrative films aren't dramatizations of actual events or the lives of celebrities no matter how much AMPAS' selection might make us think otherwise. It's a pity that other kinds of character construction tend to be underappreciated while biopic roles become frontrunners before anyone has even seen the movie…

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Both Shira Haas and Helen Mirren to Play Golda Meir

By Abe Friedtanzer

There are now officially two projects in development about former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir. The first, announced a month ago, is a TV series produced by Barbra Streisand called Lioness starring Shira Haas. The second, reported earlier today, is a film from Israeli director Guy Nattiv that will feature Helen Mirren. Golda Meir has been performed for cameras and on stage several times and the role is often an awards magnet. Both Ingrid Bergman and Judy Davis (A Woman Called Golda, 1982) were Emmy nominated playing her, and Tovah Feldshuh received a Tony nomination (Golda's Balcony, 2003). For the new projects let’s consider these two very different casting choices and the famous woman they’ll portray…

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