50th Anniversary: "Play Misty for Me"

by Nick Taylor

Happy 50th anniversary to Play Misty for Me! The 1971 directorial debut of notoriously productive actor/director/writer/composer Clint Eastwood received a new wave of attention earlier this year in the wake of lead actress Jessica Walter’s still-unthinkable death at age 80. Nathaniel mentioned the film in his in memoriam piece, but with its anniversary upon us it seemed right to give the film a deeper dive. The story is a tale as old as time - boy meets girl, boy and girl have a liaison, boy realizes girl is dangerously invested in their relationship and that one of them will probably die. Fatal Attraction would take that fable in an iron grip once it hit the screens, imbuing it with its own peculiarities, but Play Misty for Me is very much its own beast. That’s partially the beauty of launching before the film that will eventually define your subgenre...

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1933 Flashback: Kate vs. May vs. Diana

by Cláudio Alves

For the last few years, Kevin Jacobsen's And the Runner-Up Is has been one of my favorite movie podcasts. After examining every Best Picture race, from 2020 to 1927, the podcast will now focus on the Best Actress category, exploring the nominated performances, the actresses' legacy, and how each race turned out. Who were the likely runners-up?

It's with great pleasure that I announce that I guested on the 1932-33 episode - a dream come true. The nominees were Katharine Hepburn's Oscar-winning turn in Morning Glory, May Robson in Frank Capra's beloved Lady for a Day, and Diana Wynyard in the much-maligned Best Picture-champion Cavalcade. While the trio isn't AMPAS' most inspired selection, there's a lot to talk about. In the episode, Kevin and I unravel Hepburn's major Rachel Berry energy and drunk acting mastery. We talk about the short story that inspired Robson's awards bid and her unlikely stardom. There's also much to analyze in Wynyard's misbegotten flick, including bizarre adaptation choices and the art of performing listening. If you're a Wynyard fan, you might want to avoid this. That being said, I did see some of her other movies, so it's not all hate. I'd go so far as to say that she's as good as Ingrid Bergman in the original 1940 Gaslight. Please give it a listen!

Who would you vote for in this lineup? Also, if you have a dream 1933 Best Actress ballot, please share that too.

Doc Corner: 'A Cop Movie'

By Glenn Dunks

The release of Alonso Ruizpalacios’s A Cop Movie (Una película de policías) via Netflix was timed with a series hosted at New York’s The Paris Theatre. Named ‘New Directions in Documentary’, the series sought to highlight “the innovative films and filmmakers who have created new cinematic languages and forms by combining elements of fiction and documentary” (all Netflix titles, of course). Unsurprisingly, I have loved most of the films they played. Several of them (Strong Island, Shirkers, Bisbee ’17, Kate Plays Christine) made my own personal best of the decade list.

The series also recognised Robert Greene’s new film, Procession, which we will look at in the coming weeks. But Ruizpalacios’s feature—which directly taps into the series’ concept of playing with the concepts of artifice, performance, and the documentary filmmaking process—is an interesting inclusion. It’s the only non-American title for starters, from the director of Museo. It’s nice to see somebody recognise that innovation in doc filmmaking is happening everywhere.

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Middleburg: Crowd-pleasing with "King Richard" and "Belfast"

by Nathaniel R

The family watching "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" in BELFAST

The 9th annual Middleburg Film Festival wrapped up Sunday night but they programmed well so the joy lingers. The two events that always have after parties, Opening Night and Saturday Centerpiece, were King Richard and Belfast respectively. In both cases you could feel the love in the room even before the booze began to flow. Since the Middleburg audience is a reasonably good proxy for the bulk of Oscar voters (mature, well to do, cultured, and with movie tastes that fall somewhere between critics and the general public) it's easy to imagine both films greeted just as warmly on Oscar nomination morning...

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Best International Film: Brazil's "Private Desert", Iceland's "Lamb" and more...

Since I last piped up on the Best International Feature Film race at the upcoming Oscars, Italy released their finalist lists, and the following five countries have also picked their ponies:

BRAZIL
They're sending Aly Muritiba's Private Desert about a suspended policeman who is looking to meet his internet love. She's vanished but he finds a man who offers to connect the would-be lovers. It premiered at Venice...

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