One For Them, One For Me - Emma Thompson's 1994-95

A series by Christopher James

Emma Thompson's output between 1994 and 1995 couldn't be more different.

Do one for them; do one for you. If you can still do projects for yourself, you can keep your soul.

— Martin Scorsese: A Journey

Emma Thompson was on a pretty incredible run in the early 90s. Following her Best Actress win in 1992 for Howard’s End, Thompson had a consistent streak of great films. In 1993, she received two acting nominations for her work in The Remains of the Day and In the Name of the Father. On top of that, she was delightful in the critically lauded Peter’s Friends and Much Ado About Nothing (the latter perhaps the hottest film of the 90s). By 1995, she would win her second Oscar for Sense and Sensibility in the Adapted Screenplay category. Every track record is bound to have a blemish. Sandwiched in between Merchant & Ivory and Ang Lee is Ivan Reitman’s infamous Junior, better known as the movie where Arnold Schwarzenegger gets pregnant.

Was starring in an Arnold Schwarzenegger comedy the means to the end of getting her passion project made?

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One For Them, One For Me - Natalie Portman's 2011

A new series by Christopher James

Do one for them; do one for you. If you can still do projects for yourself, you can keep your soul.
— Martin Scorsese: A Journey

An actor’s choices immediately after winning an Oscar says a lot about their aspirations. Winning the prize presents an actor with plenty of newfound opportunities. Some will take the opportunity to get a passion project made, while others will parlay the prize into high profile franchise roles. Since her Oscar win for Black Swan (2010), Natalie Portman has flexed her chops as a writer and director while also taking roles in auteur films, such as Pablo Larraín’s Jackie. However, immediately following Black Swan, Portman had perhaps the busiest year of her career, and the most populist. Her next three films all opened within five months of each other and represented three different genres - swoony romantic comedy, raunchy bro comedy and Marvel franchise. The one commonality: They all tested Natalie Portman’s ability to make us laugh.

How did she fare?

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One For Them, One For Me - Ridley Scott's 2021 - "The Last Duel" vs. "House of Gucci"

A series by Christopher James.

Do one for them; do one for you. If you can still do projects for yourself, you can keep your soul.

— Martin Scorsese: A Journey

yHow great would it have been if "The Last Duel" was between Margurite and Patrizia Reggiani?

Though Ridley Scott was not nominated for either of his movies in 2021, they still cast some shadows on Oscar night. House of Gucci star Lady Gaga rounded out the night presenting Best Picture alongside living legend Liza Minnelli, a nod to the 50th anniversary of Cabaret. His other film, The Last Duel, was the subject of a joke by host Regina Hall, saying: “Now, I’ve got the screener for a never-before-seen film, not even by the director. It’s called, The Last Duel.” 

A year ago, both movies were expected to factor heavily in the Oscar race...

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One For Them, One For Me: Nicole Kidman - 'The Stepford Wives' and 'Birth'

A new series by Christopher James

Nicole Kidman at the Globes for Birth. They were the only group to embrace the film

Do one for them; do one for you. If you can still do projects for yourself, you can keep your soul.
— Martin Scorsese: A Journey

This week, Nicole Kidman earned her fifth Oscar nomination for Being the Ricardos, where she plays legendary star Lucille Ball. One can’t spend over thirty years in the industry without a couple of reinventions. The Australian star rose to prominence in America when she became Mrs. Tom Cruise after Days of Thunder. The entire 90s was spent breaking out of that reductive box. It wasn’t until the summer of 2001, when Kidman divorced Cruise, that she stepped into her own as a true A-list star. The one-two-three punch of The Others, Moulin Rouge and The Hours cemented her as both a real actress and a true movie star, culminating in a win for Best Actress for The Hours. At the top of the heap, Kidman decided to take many 'One For Them, One For Me' swings. They didn't always pan out but this post-Oscar period contains some of her best work.

Before her Oscar win she's already filmed The Human Stain, Dogville and Cold Mountain. So 2004 was the year where she really used her cache to gain both cultural clout and big box office...

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One For Them, One For Me: Mike White (x 2) in 2017

A new series by Christopher James

Mike White (left) makes himself one of the images of excess and wealth in "Brad's Status," one of four movies he wrote in 2017 (and the only one he also directed).

Do one for them; do one for you. If you can still do projects for yourself, you can keep your soul.
— Martin Scorsese: A Journey

Why not make a lot of movies and make a lot of money?

Mike White’s 2017 was full of many ups and downs. Few people would be able to make four movies in a year and have them all be good. Mike White decided to split the difference, making two personal projects alongside two painfully obvious cash grabs.  White is among the credited writers on The Emoji Movie and Pitch Perfect 3. But that wasn't all. He also wrote and directed the comedy Brad’s Status, a passion project. Finally, he wrote the screenplay for Beatriz at Dinner, directed by Miguel Artera, which serves as a great precursor to his HBO smash hit The White Lotus. Let's look for any common themes or threads for these four scripts that all came out in the same year...

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