List-Mania: Who are your all time favorite character actresses?

by Nathaniel R

With the announcement of the latest panel for the next celebration of actressing at the edges, how about a related list discussion? Who are you favorite character actresses ever? I've listed 21 of my favorites after the jump from throughout film history. This list was off the top of our heads so there's surely some glaring "how did you forget about ________ ???" examples of missing geniuses...

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Michelle Williams in "I Feel Pretty" (and Your Favorite Scene Stealers)

By Spencer Coile 

While it was not on the list of 2018 films I was dying to see, I found myself in an empty theater to see I Feel Pretty Tuesday. It wasn't perfect, but charming and breezy. Through it all, there was one clear standout: Michelle Williams as Avery LeClaire, the squeaky voiced, quirky, neurotic CEO of LeClaire Cosmetics.

With limited screentime, Williams manages to craft a complete, sympathetic, and hilarious character. It could have been so easy to turn Avery into a caricature, but while I was cackling at every single line reading and mannerism in Williams' performance, I was still as drawn to her here as in her darker, more dramatic roles. 

So let's take a moment to talk about 2018 scene-stealing performances. Williams aside, who are some of your favorites from this year so far? 

"Is there a TV in the house?"

RAYETTE [interrupting a conversation that's boring everyone in the room]: Is there a TV in the house?

[...dead silence]

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Smackdown '70: Maureen, Helen, Lee, Sally, and Karen Black

Presenting Oscar's Chosen Supporting Actresses of the Films of 1970. The Academy welcomed back one enduring icon (Helen Hayes), two of the eventual giants of this particular category (Maureen Stapleton and Lee Grant), and two new stars of the moment (Sally Kellerman and Karen Black).

THE NOMINEES  

Their characters were a devastated soon-to-be widow, a sneaky old lady flying the friendly skies, a pregnant waitress confused by her man, a wealthy "liberal" snob who is more conservative than she thinks, and a disciplined but highly excitable military nurse. 1970's supporting shortlist was more "pure" than the category often is now (only Karen Black could be argued as a lead... but she's on the borderline so it's fine) but how strong were the roles and how good the work?

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Retro Randomness: Come to the Stable (1949)

by Nathaniel R

Have you ever queued up an old movie no one talks about anymore hoping to discover a gem?

You imagine that it's only been forgotten or is underdiscussed due to the vagaries of when and where movies are available in the ever changing landcape of viewing technologies, Such was my fantasy when I sat down to watch Come to the Stable (1949). This French nuns in New England comedy was my biggest viewing gap in 1949 Oscar history. In fact, I didn't even know it was a comedy.

Alas the fantasy of stumbling upon a forgotten gem didn't last long. Still, Come to the Stable's tagline must have been true in 1949. It read...

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