Do You Miss StinkyLulu's 'Smackdown'?

You'd better sit down. Here have a grilled cheese sandwich to commemorate the moment.

In the Aughts when film blogging was rapidly progressing from infancy through busy rushed adolescence, quality Oscar-loving actressexuals were tuned in to and turned on by Stinky Lulu's monthly Supporting Actress Smackdown. Each month your host would profile the five Oscar nominees in a given year culminating in a "Smackdown" wherein a handful of fans would chime in on all five nominees and an actress would be crowned as best of that vintage. The restrospective smackdowns ended four years ago with a look back at 1956 (Limbo-dancing Oscar-winning Dorothy Malone prevailed) though one final smackdown was held five months later for the Supporting Actresses of Oscar 2009 and its winner Mo'Nique. Not that the Smackdowners always agreed with Oscar... 

I hadn't spoken to Stinky in years and we recently became reacquainted over lunch and a play. I told him how much I missed the smackdowns and it was only the 5,000th time he's heard this from someone. We got to talking and struck up a deal. We're ready to tell you... 

THE SMACKDOWN WILL RETURN

Gloria Grahame's acceptance speech was four words long "Thank you very much"There will be a couple of minor adjustments for its new home at The Film Experience but StinkyLulu will be back as emcee for the big event. The monthly smackdowns will resume (at least for a short while) at the end of August. The kick off Smackdown will be the ladies of 1952

• Collette Marchand in Moulin Rouge
• Gloria Grahame in The Bad and the Beautiful
• Jean Hagen in Singin' in the Rain
• Terry Moore in Come Back Little Sheba
• Thelma Ritter in With a Song in My Heart

More details, years, and guest list TBA but please do speak aloud your immediate thoughts in the comments. 

The Halfway Mark Pt 2. Actors & Actresses

I assume that the entire time you were reading the Halfway Mark Best Screenplays & Pictures you were thinking "get to the actors already!" because, damn you're predictable and also so am I and I love to pay homage to great performances. So, here they are in six categories for your perusal and debate and "I guess I'd better watch that" list-making pleasure.

Best Actor in a Limited or Cameo Role (THUS FAR): Lior Ashkenazi (of Late Marriage fame) temporarily energizes the unfortunately bland Yossi by temporarily attempting to to rub off on and up against Yossi himself with pushy sleaze; James Badge Dale, who also won a nomination in this category at 2012's Film Bitch Awards for Flight, is in every big movie now (World War Z, The Lone Ranger, Iron Man 3) and pretty much great in all of them though the roles are growing exponentially and he's already too large for this category!; Kyle Chandler memorably flips his 'clear eyes, full hearts' image on its head as an absent father in The Spectacular Now; Cheyenne Jackson is robbed of his signature voice entirely in Behind the Candelabra as a disgruntled employee/protege/lover but it turns out he doesnt need it absolutely nailing every tiny gesture and facial expression; and finally, I liked Jamie Sheridan's conflicted big business father in The East.

Best Actress in a Limited or Cameo Role: Hillary Baack, is moving in a key brief role as The East's hearing impaired member; Zoe Kazan wins best in show for a group acting exercize masquerading as a movie called Some Girl(s) with an agonizing backstory; Debbie Reynolds, is a real hoot and unrecognizable in the Liberace flick Behind the Candelabra; Orly Silbersatz Banai adds wonderful depth and shading to her history of denial in Yossi; And in a fine cast in Stoker, Jacki Weaver, makes the most of her tense few scenes as the deservedly worried unannounced visitor Aunt Ginny; and my apologies to Grace Gummer in Frances Ha who I didn't quite have room for but I liked her prickly Ivy League alumna

4 More Acting Category "Bests" after the jump

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Woody Allen to be Jacki Weaver's (Third Time) Lucky Charm?

Glenn here to discuss one of his favourite topics: the career rejuvination of Jacki Weaver!

When Weaver scored a seemingly improbable Oscar nomination a few years back for Australian crime drama Animal Kingdom (a nomination I predicted an equally improbable year in advance), most expected the diminutive Aussie to crawl off back home with her pride, some glamorous memories and little else. The rest, however, as we all know, went much differently. She hasn't been working anywhere near as much the lady that bested her to the statue - that'd be Melissa Leo who's accepted everything in her path - but she's been afforded the chance to work with some great auteurs and got a second nomination earlier this year to boot. More...

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Juli's Big October

147 days from now Julianne Moore will have not one, not two, but three movies opening in theaters. How exhausted is she going to be 148 days from now!? That's a lot of promo duties and red carpets in the first half of October.

poll by twiigs.com

Random Thoughts on Upcoming "Best Supporting Actress" Race

Being a month late to my usual "April Fool's" predictions has caused me a lot of behind-the-scenes strife. Trying to stare into the open future through a crystal ball when things are actually happening in the present overseas (i.e. Cannes) is incredibly ineffective. Next year I must be more prompt and buy a plane ticket. I have made a few adjustments on the charts mostly in regards to more research on American Hustle and Saving Mr Banks but also in regards to Cannes hits like All is Lost and Philomena (I know, I know -- it didn't show but it still had a great week!).

Carey sings in "Inside Lleywn Davis". The last time she sang onscreen ("Shame") critics fell madly in love but mysteriously zero awards traction happened. 

Cannes buzz
A note of caution to everyone taking each word out of Cannes like its holy scrit. Cannes can be like a magician's misdirect in regards to the Oscar race because for every Jean Dujardin and The Artist there are ten films and performances that get people hot and bothered there under those very special circumstances that don't go anywhere in the real world or, for our purposes, don't excite the mainstream sensibility of Oscar. And quite a few films each decade see their critical fates changed once they leave the festival circuit with its foolishly instant pronouncements of grandeurs and foibles. Take it all with a grain of salt or at least a whiff of the ocean-scented air. Especially if a new Coen Bros' film takes the Palme D'Or. Cannes always loves them so it's like Michael Haneke or the Dardenne Brothers taking a prize. What else did you expect?

But on to this afternoon's topic... 

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