Podcast: Smackdown Companion Discussion

Nathaniel welcomes fellow team members Murtada, Chris, and Abstew to discuss this year's Supporting Actress race. It's a verbal companion piece to the "Smackdown" we just held. 

Index (42 minutes)
Longform discussion of this year's supporting actress contenders Nicole Kidman, Viola Davis, Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris, Octavia Spencer, their futures, their films. What, if anything new, did they reveal to us this year and what would we like to see next from them?

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you? 

Smackdown Companion - 2016 Supporting Actress

The Last Oscar Week

In this weekly feature from Murtada we follow Oscar contender appearances and interviews

The Oscars are just 9 days away so this will be our last Oscar Week column of the season. Let’s look at how contenders are hustling in Phase 2. In this phase campaigns pivot their messages to try and secure the win. This gives us more pointed and sometimes bold messaging. Like the exploitative use of the Muslim Travel ban by Lion. Always happy to see Sonny Pawar's expressive face, but this message is a bit of a stretch. Arrival is going for the heartstrings, showing Amy Adams hugging Jeremy Renner and talking to her daughter, rather than talking up the sci-fi elements. This is smart messaging since the mother-daughter relationship is what most leave the theater talking about...

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Introducing... the Supporting Actress Nominees of 2016

The new Smackdown season is upon us. Before we get to the main event, which will be in a day or two depending on when we finalize it, let's look at the ways in which even movie introduces the characters that will then go on to help their supporting actresses win a nomination. We'll take them in the order in which they show up in their movies.

After the jump you can also vote to determine the reader ranking of the contenders. You know you want to do it.  Meet...

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Interview: The Real Saroo and Sue Brierley on Their Favorite Moments in 'Lion'

By Jose Solís.

David Wenham with the real Saroo and Sue Brierley whose story is told in "Lion"

If I didn’t already know Nicole Kidman is a genius, I would’ve been convinced after meeting Sue Brierley, the real life woman who inspired the character she plays in Lion. As I sat down to speak with Mrs. Brierley and her son Saroo (played by Dev Patel in the film), I was first struck by how Nicole perfectly captured her cadence, her soft voice and her piercing look, but then I was completely disarmed by her warmth. Watching her sit next to her son, and look at him with tenderness - she caressed his back, held his hand, and smiled constantly - perfectly encapsulates why the film is so successful. Their story simply needed to be told.

JOSE: Was it surreal to see your story on the big screen?

SAROO BRIERLEY: Yeah definitely, from writing a book, to seeing it turned into a movie, you want to be cautious when it’s a personal story. We’re humbled and touched by the reaction so far.

Read the rest of the interview after the jump...

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Matthias of Linkland

In Contention Lion is using T****'s unconstitutional travel ban its advertisements
Boy Culture 70s star and Battlestar Galactica hunk Richard Hatch has died
Awards Daily Jazz talks to Joel Harlow about the Oscar nominated Hair and Makeup of Star Trek: Beyond
Towleroad a close-up of Glenn Close returning to Sunset Boulevard

Cottages & Gardens the Grey Gardens estate is up for sale  
Variety Stanley Tucci has directed a movie about Alberto Giacometti starring Geoffrey Rush and Armie Hammer
Tracking Board the Coen brothers are polishing the remake script for Scarface (which was made twice already in the 30s and 80s)
Towleroad Finland is the first country to release their own national emojis and one of them is for the gay artist Tom of Finland 
MNPP "Smile like Trevante Rhodes"
New Yorker Oscar Spotlight: The Actresses
World of Reel a synopsis of Nicolas Winding Refn's new Amazon series
AV Club "Johnny Depp close to completing his transformation into mole person"
Interview Jay Baruchel talks Man Seeking Woman and his first time as director on the sequel to Goon
Comics Alliance weirdest Aquaman moments in comics 

MNPP How hot is Matthias Schoenaerts? So hot he's steaming.
빛나는 special Korean posters for Moonlight - Chiron drawn at all ages
Theater Mania Meryl Streep to present Stephen Sondheim with the PEN Award in April in NYC
/Film Mary Poppins Returns has officially startedc production with Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Julie Walters, Colin Firth, Dick Van Dyke, Emily Blunt as "Mary Poppins" and Meryl Streep as Mary's eccentric cousin "Topsy"