The legendary Ann Roth does it again!

by Cláudio Alves

89-year-old Ann Roth is a living legend in the world of costume design. With a filmography that has long ago surpassed 100 productions and a curriculum further filled with numerous stage shows, the Oscar and Tony-winning Roth is a figure that demands respect and adoration. The best part is that she shows no signs of retiring and, this year, the designer is back with another showcase of her talents. The Denzel Washington-produced adaptation of August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom features gorgeous 1920s fashion.

Every character in Ma Rainey is trying to say something with their clothes, be it to project self-worth as a shield or visualize their aspirations. No one does it more than the leads, Viola Davis' Ma Rainey and Chadwick Boseman's Levee...

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"And then some!"

Goddess, how fun was that 2002 Smackdown / Podcast? I couldn't even pick a favourite part but some moments of perfection: Joel Kim Booster's anecdote about Family Video, Jazz Tangcay's "peak" Streep obsession, Ben Yahr's nomination strategies, Emily VanDerWerff's tale of weepy double features, and Matt Rogers imitating Nicolas Cage's agent.

If you didn't get a chance to listen to it yet, it's right here at the bottom of the post (again) or at itunes.

64 minutes
00:01 Introductions
03:00 Alexander Payne's About Schmidt and comedy performances as Oscar nominees. Was Kathy Bates the best choice that year?
10:11 Meryl Streep in Adaptation and Nicolas Cage's outre career moves
20:45 Joel's job at Family Video
22:00 Adaptation's Being John Malkovich's moments + Cameron Diaz
25:00 A tribute to Toni Collette, The Hours discussion
35:00 Nomination strategies
36:30 Moulin Rouge! vs Chicago 
37:40 Catherine Zeta-Jones on f***ing fire as Velma Kelly and careers nosediving after Oscar
45:29 Queen Latifah: star or actress? Cameron Diaz and Michelle Pfeiffer had buzz but didn't get nominated
52:00 Chicago has aged really well.
54:00 Recasting the actresses. Our traditional Smackdown game.
59:00 Goodbyes and final 2002 shout-outs: Crossroads, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Signs, About a Boy and more...

Smackdown 2002

Smackdown '02: Meryl, Julianne, CZJ, Queen Latifah "and" Kathy Bates

The Supporting Actress Smackdown series picks an Oscar vintage and explores.

THE NOMINEES Today's topic: 2002 which featured the movies Adaptation, The Hours, About Schmidt, and Best Picture champ Chicago.  This very starry field of much-beloved actresses (all but one are now Oscar winners) deliver a juicy collection of characters: a horny mother-of-the-groom, a suicidal 50s housewife, an opportunistic prison warden, a fictionalized non-fiction writer, and a jazzbaby murderess.

THE PANEL  Here to talk about these 2002 divas and their movies are comedian/writer Joel Kim Booster, comedian/writer Matt Rogers, Variety's Artisan's editor Jazz Tangcay, Vox's critic-at-large Emily VanDerWerff, and lip sync assassin Ben Yahr. And, as ever, your host at The Film Experience, Nathaniel R. Let's begin...

2002
SUPPORTING ACTRESS SMACKDOWN + PODCAST  
The companion podcast can be downloaded at the bottom of this article or by visiting the iTunes page...

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By a nose...

by Cláudio Alves

When presenting the Best Actress Oscar during the 75th Academy Awards, Denzel Washington famously said "by a nose" before announcing Nicole Kidman as that year's winner for her work in The Hours. It was a reference to the way that, throughout that awards season, the actress's prosthetic enhanced transformation into Virginia Woolf had caused much controversy. Some people appreciated how Kidman left vanity at the door and allowed herself to be made unrecognizable, while many others found it to be distracting. In any case, it was a good booster to her Oscar campaign. The quality of a performance notwithstanding, there are few things that the Academy loves more than beautiful celebrities de-glamming.

Unfortunately, as it sometimes happens, while the performer was showered in gold, the team of makeup artists that made the physical transformation possible was left unrecognized. In the case of The Hours, they were even made ineligible…

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Beauty vs Beast: I Ain't Sayin' He's a Gold Digger

Jason Adams of MNPP here with another round of "Beauty vs Beast" silliness, wherein we ask you to lay claim to your loyalties with regards to a pair of typically warring movie characters, naughty and nice or sometimes something a bit grayer -- this week we're wishing a happy 103 years young to the great Olivia de Havilland, turning our eyes to her Oscar-winning role in William Wyler's 1949 film The Heiress. Olivia plays "Catherine," a spinster-type who falls for "Morris"... who is played by Montgomery Clift so it's quite easy to know right off the bat why she falls for him. But is he only in it for the ruby buttons?

online surveys

PREVIOUSLY Pride Month is kaput and with it our fourth and final LGBT-related poll, which had you choosing between gay Meryls -- Clarissa from The Hours managed to both buy the flowers and storm the poll, taking 71% of your vote. Said Biggs:

"Clarissa partnered up with Allison Janney; Jill with Woody Allen. Clarissa wins."