Tuesday
Dec222015
Ask Nathaniel
Tuesday, December 22, 2015 at 10:00PM 
It's time again for another Q&A column. Ask a question -- any film question that's on your mind -- and I'll pick 10 or so to answer for the next Q&A. Please avoid "year in review" and Carol questions since we're busy celebrating those two things any way.
And happy holidays and safe travels to all!
tagged Ask Nathaniel
Ask Nathaniel
Reader Comments (40)
What 2015 release that you were looking forward to watching disappointed you the most?
Would you like to see a new adaptation of "Nicholas and Alexandra" (1971)? If so, cast the two leads and pick a director.
With all the 70's/80's nostalgia reboots going on (Star Wars, Mad Max, Rocky, Vacation, Ghostbusters...) what other property would make your younger self most happy to revisit? I realize original stories are the most desirable but there seems to be no end in sight to Hollywood remakes.
Now that Harvey has spoken from on high about the benefits of category fraud, will we see even more brazenly bold subversions of the lead/supporting categories moving forward? Have they worn everyone down to the point most will just shrug their shoulders and accept it?
TFE recently reminded us that Michelle Williams will return to the big screen next year after a long period of hibernation (at least on film.) Who are you thirsty for? Which actress you just truly can't wait to see again next year and why? And Michelle Pfeiffer is not an option!
Which black actress other the usuals (Gugu, Lupita, etc) would you like to see come out of no were and enter the Best Actress race for next year?
It's a Wonderful Life (and Jimmy Stewart's performance) has been mentioned as a favorite of yours in lists (and comments) at TFE, but you've never written at length (even a paragraph) about it on the blog, as far as I know. How about it? 'Tis the season...
Best year for lead actresses so far this decade?
Given a likely superb Actress winner this year, given the top choices, does this decade have potential to be the best of all time? (The only win I don't love is Lawrence, but given her phdnomenal decade, it's easier to forgive. She may not have been my pick, but I refuse to call Streep's win a bad one, even if it's the least of her three by a good margin.)
Film: What is the underrated holiday/christmas movie that you think everyone should watch? I just read this delightful article in Jezebel about Christmas in Connecticut starring Barbara Stanwyck, and now I need to watch that flick, lol.
TV: It's obvious that we all love Billy on The Street, but do you have the chance to watch his Hulu show, Difficult People, Nat? If you did, what do you think of it? I think that it's brilliantly hilarious.
Who are your favorite cinematographers and what do you think are there best works? Do you have favorite cinematographer/director teams? That's two questions so feel free to just answer one.
@eurocheese: Yes ikr! Portman, Streep, Lawrence, Blanchett, Moore and hopefully Rampling.
Love all of them.
The '70s winners are also incredible. Keaton, Dunaway, Minelli, Burstyn, Fletcher, Sally Field's first win, with double wins from Glenda Jackson and Jane Fonda.
Your top five favorite Drag Race queens?
Who are the quintessential 90s actresses in your opinion?
What's your go-to response when someone asks you what movie they should watch at home? And, part II, what's the one movie you recommend people watch when they're feeling sad? My answers: You Can Count on Me and Private Benjamin, respectively.
Going for a few Broadway themed questions:
What stage musicals would you like to see adapted for film? Go one step further and choose a director and a cast.
What is your favourite or most memorable Broadway experience?
What actors should star in a musical, whether on stage on screen?
@Craver
Bening, Davis, Chastain, Blanchett, Moore. As it stands Blanchett and Moore feel like great course correction. Hopefully Larson joins them this year. I have no faith in a nomination for Rampling since I saw Joy. Which has the best performance Lawrence has given in her three collaborations with Russell. She could miss out but will like have a place with Blanchett, Larson, Ronan, and Mara.
Retroactively give someone an Oscar over someone else (Penn over Cage in 95) and follow it down the chain (Murray in 03, Rourke in 09 get Penn's Oscars). Who do you change and what does it do down the line?
Who are your favorite male and female hookers on screen? Do you worry about the politics of prostitution in movies -- e.g., it's more or less exploitative in film than in real life, prostitution is romanticized, etc.
Rank the Hateful Eight by performance
I'm asking about two Academy Award nomination rules. I think I read about them some years back .Remember, I'm talking about the nominating stage, not the final vote.
(A) If an actor receives votes for more than one film in a single category (let's say Diane Keaton received 100 for "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" and 110 for "Annie Hall". Then all votes would be counted toward the one with the greater number. And her "Annie Hall" performance ,credited with 210, would be the one nominated for Best Actress.
(B) If a performance is cited in both lead and supporting, all votes will be credited to the category in which they were more frequently mentioned. So if Rooney Mara in "Carol" scores 100 in supporting and 110 in lead, then all votes will be directed to the category she scored highest in. And she'll be credited with 210 points as Best Actress.
Is this true ? Is it even compatible with the mathematically complicated calculation system AMPAS uses? Maybe I just dreamed it.
Geena Davis & Susan Sarandon
Bette Davis & Anne Baxter
Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger
Peter Finch & William Holden
F. Murray Abraham & Tom Hulce
If these movies were made today, which actor in each of these pairs would be demoted to fraudulently campaigning as a supporting player?
(Not trying to beat the dead horse here, just genuinely interested in the revisionist history.)
Which Oscar-winning actresses do you think will win another at some point? (And bonus points: what kind of role would you to like it to be for?)
Blanchett, Moore, Winslet, Streep, Lawrence...?
We all know you hate Category Fraud, specifically lead actors sucking the life out of any chance character actors and true supporting characters have...but, are there moments in time when someone has been nominated or won in the Lead category and you felt/feel they fit the Supporting category more?
@Alex
Just for the fun of it: Thelma and Louise are equivalent. Period.
The one who goes supporting: Baxter, Winger, Holden and Hulce.
Amadeus tends to be a little more a story of Salieri even though it has Mozart's name on the title.
@/3rtful:
I believe that they will put Mara in supporting.
I will keep my two questions to a Holiday theme - you don't have to answer both - I'm just trying to give you more choice.
1) Do you remember Jon Favreau's "Dinner for Five" on HBO? He used to pick 4 friends in the film industry and invite them for a dinner, and a 30 min. conversation would result. (see on Youtube) Best episode had Carrie Fisher, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Ullman, & Peter Dinklage.
If you could invite just 4 actresses to dinner who would they be? (they have to be living)
Note: The biggest stars aren't always the best conversationalist - so choose accordingly.
2) There are always think pieces on "Love Actually" at this time of year. So, do you watch this at Xmas time? Do you have a favourite character? (Besides Emma Thompson). Your opinion on this "classic" with the great cast.
Do you think any Buffy alum deserve better acting opportunities now? (Thinking Emma Caulfield specifically...)
Ken, these are the current rules:
4. The leading role and supporting role categories will be tabulated simultaneously. If any performance should receive votes in both categories, the achievement shall be placed only on the ballot in that category in which, during the tabulation process, it first receives the required number of votes to be nominated. In the event that the performance receives the numbers of votes required to be nominated in both categories simultaneously, the achievement shall be placed only on the ballot in that category in which it receives the greater percentage of the total votes.
5. In the event that two achievements by an actor or actress receive sufficient votes to be nominated in the same category, only one shall be nominated using the preferential tabulation process and such other allied procedures as may be necessary to achieve that result.
A lot of friends have come out of The Force Awakens frustrated with the story, and proceed to restructure the plot as an improvement. Is there a particular movie you think would be seriously improved with a single narrative tweak?
Nathaniel, I hereby grant you special powers to go back in time and attend an Academy Awards Ceremony of your choosing. Which year do you choose and why?
@ Paul Outlaw
Thanks so much for the rapid response to my Oscar question. So it really does seem to be something of a disadvantage (when it comes to getting nominated) to have more than one strongly admired performance in the same category (individual scores for neither may quite meet the bar, even though the total of both exceeds that of the eventual nominees).
And if no consensus has been reached about a performance's placement (lead or supporting) , that too can result in votes being divided to the point where it fails to qualify in either.
So I guess the system really does leave Rooney and Vikander, for instance, rather vulnerable this year.
It's jingle bells season again. Why is it so damn hard to make a good Christmas movie? Will we ever get a new good Christmas musical in our lifetime?
Name one performance in each acting category that should have been nominated by the Academy. My choices:
Best Actress: Nicole Kidman, To Die For
Best Actor: Tommy Lee Jones, Coal Miner's Daughter
Best Supporting Actress: Debbi Morgan, Eve's Bayou
Best Supporting Actor: Samuel L. Jackson, Jungle Fever
What do you think of Fernanda Montenegro's performance in Central Station???
Ken, that is exactly why the Academy needs to man up and issue a concrete rule regarding what constitutes supporting versus leading performances. The American Theatre Wing has done it with the Tonys, and no one ever seems upset with their ultimate placements of actors, even if they're occasionally questionable (Daniel Sunjata as featured actor in Take Me Out immediately comes to mind).
Not only The Hateful Eight. Rank the performances in Tarantino's whole body of work.
Question: Nathaniel, you get left behind by family as they rush to the airport to catch a flight and have to spend the holidays alone. Hilary Swank shows up and wants to break into ypur place to steal Monty, the Pundit Cat. What traps do you set up to prevent her?
What? It's not Xmas without Home Alone!
Happy holidays to everybody! :)
One section at work decorated their area with small christmas trees hanging from the ceiling and I couldn't figure out why it was creeping me out and then I remembered: of course, Se7en!
So, are there any non-holiday inspired films that you associate with christmas?
Domhnall Gleeson is in The Force Awakens, Brooklyn, Ex Machina, and The Revenant this year, but nobody's talking about him. What triggers conversation the way it did Vikander?
I know you turned on her, but is there any part of you that misses Renee Zellweger? Gotta say, I'm pretty excited about Bridget Jones's Baby. I miss her!
Now that Streep has failed to earn a nomination from the Golden Globes and Ricki was not the success it could have been( even though all the usual elements were here for her)-are we officially in "Streep fatigue"?- will nominations be harder to pick up moving forward for her?
Merry Christmas, Nathaniel! Not to be a Scrooge, but my question is: Who do you think is the least deserved Oscar winner of this decade? Also, ever? LOL