Oscar Prediction Charts: Three questions about Best Supporting Actor

by Nathaniel R

We're not predicting Richard E Grant Oscar buzz for the drag musical Everybody's Talking About Jamie but we're sharing his picture because we're in this kind of cheerful mood and because he was ROBBED in his Oscar year and we've been fans for as long as we can remember. Wasn't he fun on Loki this month? 

The supporting categories at the Oscars are always hard to read this early. Supporting roles are rarely the focus of pre-release buzz. What's more they can have a tough time finding awards love since leading movie stars have a super gross and predictable way of constantly crashing the party for those lower on the call sheet (last year's "supporting" race arguably had just one 100% no debate supporting player). So we threw one lead into the predictions (Jesse Plemons in Power of the Dog) but it's more than likely that some other lead will be pitched here, too. We don't care to guess about who that will be right now. For first attempt at predicting nominations in this category for 2021 we're saying...

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Exciting 30 Year-Old Actors, An Armchair Casting Director's List

A special Top Ten today, derived from an aborted or perhaps delayed larger project -- you just never know. - Editor

Though we usually discuss actresses we like to keep you on your toes with a curveball now and then, so today: actors entering the prime male casting range! The thirtysomething years tend to be where men in showbiz can make their major marks and become respected actors / huge stars. Yes, there are actors that get really famous as young as actresses do (DiCaprio, Chalamet, etc) but they're the exception rather than the rule. These men were all born in 1988 so they just turned 30 (or will in the next handful of weeks). Which of them do you think will have an amazing decade of screen work ahead? And which, if any, do you think we'll still be talking about in 2028? (In an alternate life I was a casting director so I love concocting these survey lists.)

TEN EXCITING 30 YEAR-OLD ACTORS
Okay, eleven. We're bad at math

How talented is the '88 vintage? Time, talent, commitment, luck, and opportunities will tell but these men were selected due to work we've seen or hunches about their potential. But take this with a grain of salt because there are literally thousands of actors all over the world who could rise up quickly if the right opportunity / exposure happens. They're listed in alphabetical order...

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Blueprints: "Black Mirror: U.S.S. Callister"

Jorge continues to look into the Emmy nominees before the show on September 17th.

WARNING! Spoilers below for the Black Mirror episode "U.S.S. Callister"!

Black Mirror has to operate as an individual, stand-alone story in every episode. As an anthology series, there’s no cast of characters to follow through long arcs, no stories to pick up from, no built-in mythology or tone. In a way, this is incredibly freeing, as they can experiment as much as possible since he only thing that ties the episodes together is a theme. But being basically TV movies (which is what they submit themselves as with the Emmys), they also have to to the groundwork for the audience every time.

And it’s not simple groundwork. Black Mirror revolves around the dangers, consequences, benefits and untapped potential of technology. Elaborate worlds, complex gadgets, and characters living in somewhat alternate universes are built into its fabric. It’s always part of the journey to discover what terrifying side of our screen devices they’ll explore...

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Review: "Game Night"

by Chris Feil

An enjoyable, modest studio comedy is a rare breed these days, each entry trying to out-stunt or out-horrify the other for shock laughs. Some miss the mark entirely. Enter Game Night, a formulaic comedy unconcerned with one-upmanship, and quite enjoyable all the same.

Rachel McAdams and Jason Bateman star as Annie and Max, a couple struggling to conceive. They're united by their competitive streaks which get full reign over their weekly get-togethers with friends. When the usual gathering gets overtaken by Max’s more successful and handsome older brother Brooks (played by Kyle Chandler), a harmless mystery role playing game is overtaken by an actual violent kidnapping. The group must save Brooks from his kidnappers, and maybe nurse Max’s bruised jealousy in the process...

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Review: "Other People"

By Chris Feil

You may think you have seen films like this year's Sundance competitor Other People, what with its dark humor and disease-based family melodrama (and maybe more than a few coming from Sundance itself). Jesse Plemons stars as David, a struggling comedy writer returning home from New York to care for his mother Joanne (Molly Shannon, at her most natural) as she fights a losing battle against nerve cancer. David's relationship with his family is stunted by lingering tensions from his coming out, especially with his father (Bradley Whitford).

The parent-child dynamics and cancer plotline are certainly some of the more familiar aspects of the film, but underneath is a more unique study on on suburban stifling of queerness.

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