Dead Man Walking @ 25: Susan Sarandon's long road to the Oscar

by Cláudio Alves

25 years ago, Tim Robbins' Dead Man Walking opened in theatres. The film dramatizes the true story of Sister Helen Prejean, the close relationship she forged, as a spiritual adviser, with convicted murderers on death row. Here, they are made into the composite fictional figure of Matthew Poncelet. Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn take on the lead roles, delivering two of the best performances of their respective careers. He received his first Oscar nomination out of it. She was honored with her fifth nod and, presently, her last. And she finally won the Best Actress trophy. 

The actress may be a controversial figure, but I'm not here to litigate her politics or the way she chooses to express them. Instead, I'd like to look at her achievements as a performer, specifically the five works that paved the way to that triumph on the night of the 67th Academy Awards. Join me – won't you? – as we explore Susan Sarandon's long road to the Oscar… 

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Showbiz History: "The Trouble with Tribbles" and "The Wilhelm Scream"

8 random things that happened on this day, December 29th, in showbiz history

1933 Ernst Lubitsch's pre-Code threesome romantic comedy Design for Living starring Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, and Gary Cooper opens for the last weekend of the year as does the musical romantic comedy Flying Down to Rio starring Dolores del Rio. The latter film is best remembered for being the first onscreen pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in (gasp) supporting roles. 

1939 'Hollywood's Greatest Year' concludes with opening weekend for the Jimmy Stewart/Marlene Dietrich western Destry Rides Again, the classic period romantic drama The Hunchback of Notre Dame (2 Oscar nominations), and the musical Swanee River (1 Oscar nomination)...

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"Won and done." The curse of finally winning an Oscar

by Baby Clyde

I recently watched Susan Hayward all but demanding voters hand her the Best Actress Oscar in-movie during 1958's I Want To Live. It got me to thinking about her fellow Academy favourites, whose eventual triumphs were also their Oscar swan song.

If an actor who achieves multiple acting nominations is going to win it’s usually early on. It’s common to bag the statue and then spend the rest of your career chasing another. Bette Davis won on her first 2 attempts and then suffered 8 consecutive losses. Spencer Tracy won on attempts 2 and 3 and then spent the next 30 years and 6 nominations waiting for his name to be called again. Sometimes a veteran actor with multiple nods will finally get the prize and continue on in Oscar good books, like Paul Newman who won on nomination 7 and scored two more in following decades. But a surprisingly high amount of winners who have been made to wait find that their greatest triumph is also their last. 

If you win on your 5th nomination (or later) odds are high that you won't be invited back. Consider...

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Watch at Home: Boy Erased, The Wife, RBG, and First Man

What's newly available for home viewing on DVD or Blu-Ray? Herewith a quick survey of new releases from the past two weeks.

DVD/Blu-Ray
• Boy Erased - It didn't end up with any Oscar nods but it's worth seeing, especially if you or someone you love ever had to put up with the evils of conversion therapy or religious repression of natural sexuality.
• First Man - It shares with Mary Poppins Returns the distinction of being the most-nom'ed movie this season that's not up for Best Picture. But that still feels stingy for a movie this well crafted, technically speaking. How on earth and outerspace did it miss in Best Original Score? The mind boggles. 
• The Wife - Glenn Close's 7th Oscar bid is, contrary to internet belief, a movie that exists and that people saw. The very fact that some corners of the internet bitch about it is blatant ageism...

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The Tweets Are All Right

90s movie reference humor for the win

I've gotten some confusing messages about zombies recently, so let's clear this up: my story is Dead Man Walking, not The Walking Dead!

— Sister Helen Prejean (@helenprejean) August 10, 2017

After the jump Barbra Stanwyck, Christopher Nolan's "perfection," Evita's MPAA rating, two Indiana Jones references and more ...

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