Best Supporting Actor in the 80s: An Alternative Oscar History

by Cláudio Alves

As in real life, Jack Nicholson takes a Best Supporting Actor prize during the 1980s. But not for TERMS OF ENDEARMENT, however.

November is coming to an end and so is our 80s throwback celebration. That means I have to wrap-up these alternative Oscars posts. After sharing personal ballots for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, it’s time for the other acting categories, starting with the thespians who enrich their films from the sidelines. As ever, the ballots presented follow Oscar eligibility rules, all its quirks and oddities. There are also honorable mentions, some ineligible gems who weren’t up for the Oscar due to release date shenanigans or a lack of submission on their distributors’ part. Finally, I also added a number of titles on my watchlist and would appreciate all your recommendations to enrich these dream Oscars of mine…

Click to read more ...

Dorothy Dandridge @ 100: "Island In the Sun"

by Cláudio Alves

"Island in the Sun" | © 20th Century Fox

After Carmen Jones proved a financial triumph and earned Dorothy Dandridge a ground-breaking Best Actress nomination, 20th Century Fox signed her for a three-picture deal. As Baby Clyde mentioned in part one of this centennial, Darryl F. Zanuck was invested in Dandridge's success, planning to make her a screen icon unlike any other Black performer in Hollywood history up to that point. Unfortunately, however, nearly every project fell through, including a remake of The Blue Angel that would have seen Dandridge take on Marlene Dietrich's star-making role. Even so, while absent from the big screen, her fame rose.

So high was Dandridge's profile that she became a target for Confidential magazine's libelous articles. The erstwhile Carmen Jones was one of the few stars to testify against the publication in a series of suits that brought along its downfall. In 1957, Dorothy Dandridge's victory in court coincided with her return to the big screen. Island in the Sun was her first film in three years… 

Click to read more ...

Judy Garland @ 100: "A Star Is Born"

Team Experience is revisiting nine Judy Garland movies for her Centennial. Here's Cláudio Alves on the star's first Oscar nomination.

A Star Is Born is Hollywood's favorite legend about itself, a mythic middle point between propaganda and self-critique filmed four different times from the 1930s to the 2010s. Five, if one considers George Cukor's What Price Hollywood? since that was likely the basis for the '37 version. Though flexible, the story remains mostly unchanged throughout its interpretations. Norman Maine, an alcoholic star on the decline, meets Esther Blodgett and immediately falls in love, with the woman and her undeniable talent. Opening doors for her in the entertainment industry, he watches as she's rebaptized Vicki Lester and rises to the top, far surpassing him. After their wedding and an awards night, whereupon Norman ruins Vicki's moment, she considers giving up her career to take care of him. Realizing this, he kills himself, intent on saving his beloved from his downfall. 

Though every A Star Is Born has its merits, the 1954 musical tends to be the consensus pick for the best iteration in no small part due to Judy Garland's performance in the titular role…

Click to read more ...

Blueprints: "Evil Under the Sun"

In anticipation of the release of Murder on the Orient Express this weekend, Jorge Molina takes a look at a lesser known Agatha Christie adaptation to see how a mystery can introduce its suspects before it even begins.

There are few things that give me more comfort in life than murder mysteries. Clues woven cleverly through a narrative, the slow reveal of hidden motivations, the buildup to a clean and logical resolution. Watching one person inevitably emerge a criminal from a large group of eccentric and enigmatic characters. 

Agatha Christie is still the undeniable queen of the genre. In her novels she perfected the character archetypes for these stories: the charismatic millionaire, the begrudging femme fatale, the quiet foreign girl, the ambitious older lad... to name but a few.

And when her work started to inevitably get cinematic adaptations, with them came a pool of dramatic flair for actors to dive into...

Click to read more ...

Team Experience: Great Losers, Actor Edition (Pt 2)

ICYMI we polled all contributors and came up with a list of The Greatest Losing Best Actor Nominees. As ever I must thank Handsome Joe Canada (aka Amir Soltani) for organizing these Team endeavors. If you really wanna dive in (and why wouldn't you?) you should also check out Michael, David and JA's individual lists here, here, and here.

My own list was topped by Dustin Hoffman's Tootsie who came in at #7 in the finals. It was a joy to be asked to think about that star turn again for the write up, though once I was happily ensconced in reminder clips it was hard to pull away; Tootsie is a longtime resident of the Rewatchable Hall of Fame!  A full 70% of my personal choices made the communal top ten, which is the most overlap I've ever had with a Team list. My missing heroes were Paul Newman in Hud (1963, previously discussed), Sean Penn in Dead Man Walking (1995) and Roy Scheider in All That Jazz (1979, previously discussed).

Did these men almost make our group list? Find out who did after the jump...

Click to read more ...