Smackdown Summer - Revamp Your Queues!
Friday, May 29, 2015 at 1:03PM We're just 9 days away from the launch of another Smackdown Summer. Rather than announce piecemeal, we'll give you all five lineups in case you'd like more time to catch up with these films (some of them stone cold classics) over the hot months. Remember to cast your own ballots during each month for the reader-polling (your 1979 votes are due by June 4th). Your votes count toward the final Smackdown win so more of you should join in.
These Oscar years were chosen after comment reading, dvd searching, handwringing, and desire-to-watch moods. I wish we had time to squeeze in a dozen Smackdowns each summer! As it is there will be TWO Smackdowns in June, a gift to you since this first episode was delayed.
Sunday June 7th
The Best Supporting Actresses of 1979
Meryl Streep won her first of three Oscars while taking her co-star Jane Alexander along for the Oscar ride in Kramer vs. Kramer. The delightful character actress Barbara Barrie was nominated for her mom role in Breaking Away, Mariel Hemingway as Woody Allen's preternaturally wise teenage lover in Manhattan, and Candice Bergen played a singing divorcee in Starting Over - a role that supposedly helped win her Murphy Brown a decade later.
PANELISTS: Nathaniel R (TFE), Bill Chambers (Film Freak Central), Kristen Sales (Sales on Film), Brian Herrera (StinkyLulu) and novelist K. M. Soehnlein ("The World of Normal Boys," "Robin and Rudy")
Sunday June 28th
The Best Supporting Actresses of 1948
1948's roster has a genuine movie star and one of the most iconic character actresses of all time in Jean Simmons who didn't get to the nunnery in Hamlet and Agnes Moorehead in Johnny Belinda respectively. Also nominated were two women from the immigrant family drama I Remember Mama, Barbara Bel Geddes and Ellen Corby. But taking home the gold was Claire Trevor in the Bogart & Bacall noir Key Largo. Will the panel agree with Oscar's decision?
PANELISTS: TBA
Sunday July 26th
The Best Supporting Actresses of 1995
The Oscar went to one-hit wonder Mira Sorvino (okay, two hit wonder: hi Romy & Michelle!) for her hooker with a heart of gold in Mighty Aphrodite but then no one knew what her future had in store. No one knew that for any of the contenders since they were all first timers. Sorvino was up against two familiar ensemble players Kathleen Quinlan in the popular hit Apollo 13, and critical darling Mare Winningham from Georgia, and two "new" faces who'd continue on to future Oscar glories and Great Actress reputations in Kate Winslet (Sense & Sensibility) and Joan Allen (Nixon).
PANELISTS TBA
Sunday August 30th
The Best Supporting Actresses of 1954
Eva Marie Saint dropped a glove and won an Oscar for On the Waterfront opposite Marlon Brando by any margin the most famous of 1954's Oscar nominated films. But what will the panel make of her competition? There's also the formidable Nina Foch in the all-star corporate drama Executive Suite, Katy Jurado, the first Mexican actress ever nominated, for the western Broken Lance and rounding out the category were two women from John Wayne's airline thriller The High and the Mighty, Jan Sterling and Oscar regular Claire Trevor.
PANELISTS TBA
Sunday September 27th
The Best Supporting Actresses of 1963 (Season Finale!)
Since the 2015 film year really heats up in September with the Toronto Film Festival (10th-20th) and Prestige Season Kick-Off, we're taking it easy for the finale with the one of only two years when only three films were nominated in the Supporting Actress category. Margaret Rutherford won the Oscar for The VIPs, a Liz & Dick show, Lilia Skalia was also popular in nun mode for Lilies of the Field but it was the Best Picture winning sex comedy Tom Jones that was the informal star of this category with three of Albert Finney's co-stars nominated (the all time record in this category): Diane Cilento, Joyce Redman, and '60s Oscar fixture Dame Edith Evans (nominated shortly thereafter for both The Chalk Garden and The Whisperers)
PANELISTS TBA
Queue up those DVDs, readers, and play along at home! Unless you're a semi-famous star or accomplished character actor, oft-employed industry professional, best selling novelists, popular film critic, or AMPAS member in which case, tell me which panel you want to be on! (Shameless Plug). You know you want to join in the movie merriment !!!
Reader Comments (32)
In my Sue from SNL voice, I'm so freakin' excited! The best aspect about the smackdown is that it serves as a time capsule that shows us how perspectives and opinions evolve over time. Who could have predicted that Kate Winslet would become the youngest actress to accumulate six nominations? Or that Candice Bergen would go on to stratospheric TV success? Or that Meryl Streep would become, well, Meryl? How is it that someone like Joan Allen quickly amasses three nominations then virtually disappears from movies save for the Bourne series? I remain fascinated by all of this.
I hope Dolores Claiborne is included in the discussions for Oscar never was that should have been for the '95 smack down. Judy Parfitt still scares me to this day. Just thinking of what she did with Vera Donovan and Sony completely ignoring that movie come award season for almost a sole focus on Sense and Sensibility.
3rtful: She is without a doubt the unsung hero of Dolores Claiborne.
Thanks for the heads up! I've seen most of these though for some it may require a revisit. The one that has always proven the most elusive, at least for me, is Mighty Aphrodite. Netflix doesn't have it and its not streaming on Amazon so hopefully between now and the end of July it will pop up on TV.
Looking forward to them all but '54 is going to be a cakewalk for Eva Marie, all the other nominees are amazing actresses but they're up for weak parts in their respective films.
joel6 -- you think? I haven't seen Waterfront or Suite in many years but remember loving FOCH more than SAINT. haven't seen the other two films ever so i'm excited about that year.
This made my week-this is my favorite feature anywhere on the internet, and I am SO pumped.
I am adoring all of the Claire Trevor love (Key Largo will be on TCM next month in case anyone needs to re-view that one and doesn't have Netflix). Too bad 1937 wasn't also in the cards and you could have gotten all three nods!
Hooray for 1963! (As in: Hooray for Margaret Rutherford!)
Bless, what a marvelous roundup!
So exciting! I can't believe I haven't seen a single nominee from 1995 and yet I don't really have any desire to see some of the films save "Georgia" and "Sense" which I've been meaning to get to for a while.
This list has made me happy. What a great bunch of years, especially with 1948, which for me has the best roster of actresses.
Pedant Alert - There's only 1 L in Bel Geddes!
Can we have Melanie Lynskey again?
I love seeing actors talking about other actors
Love The Trevor, i liked her in her last role as Sally Fields mom in Kiss me goodbye which should have given her another nod.
I can’t get over the wonderful sentimentality of I Remember Mama with both Irene Dunne and Ellen Corby. So torn. Key Largo is a classic movie but I am not sure it was because of Claire Trevor
Dame Rutherford’s win in ‘63 was more Lifetime Achievement. I find the VIP’s a tedious movie made bearable by her presence.
Joan Allen’s Pat Nixon is surely the best performance of her remarkable career,
But Miss Streep’s and Miss Saint’s wins do exemplify what the Academy does right.
Nathaniel-I'm just looking at it more from what the roles offer the actresses. I know it might be sacrilege to say but I much prefer Executive Suite (LOVE that film, its star studded cast and corporate power plays) then On the Waterfront.
Nina Foch does what she can with the devoted secretary role but it really doesn't afford her much in the way of range, hell Barbara Stanwyck and Shelley Winters have parts with more depth in the same picture, and Eva Marie's does. Same with Katy Jurado in Broken Lance whose nomination was a makeup one when the academy blundered and didn't acknowledge her brilliant contribution to High Noon a couple of years before.
SO excited for 1995!
Cannot tell you how pumped I am about 1995 smackdown, as well!
This is a fantastic lineup. Be kind to Mira, that's all I ask. I know I shouldn't love Mighty Aphrodite as much as I do, but oh well. It's always fascinating to spotlight older years where I haven't seen all the films. It forces me to rewatch great films with powerhouse ladies!
Please please tell me there will also be a corresponding podcast for each Smackdown. That's always one of my favorite features.
I've never seen "Executive Suite" and, irony alert!, it's showing on TCM 1 day after the Smackdown, on August 31 at 1230 PM (Eastern Time I assume).
Actually there are a lot of these I need to see.
I love the Smackdown So MUCH!!!!
I just rewatched Romy and Michele for about the 10th time, and dayum, that one holds up!
YAY, da Smackdown is comin!
1948!
Great choices overall, and I'm looking froward to (re)watching The High and Mighty, Breaking Away and The VIPs.
Chris -- yes. the podcast is now a permanent companion... although today i was turned down by someone because they "dont do podcasts" which surprised me. I mean it's only talking. Writing is much more labor intensive.
Awesome selections, including several films I've been meaning to see (Johnny Belinda, The VIPs, Executive Suite, Georgia). By the way, Key Largo is on TCM next Tuesday afternoon.
Point of order- Dame Edith Evans was nominated shortly thereafter as Best Supporting Actress for The Chalk Garden and Best Actress for The Whisperers.
Oh wow, a Smackdown on my birthday! ^_^
I knew 1948 was coming! and I have seen all of those movies!
Cannot wait for the 1995 line-up. Fascinating to look at Winslet in that context, but also perhaps some reappreciation for Allen in the film Nixon, which from my eyes, in retrospect, the film seemed somewhat hampered by a post-Stone JFK air where people had ambivalence about honoring his films with anything. Anyway, Allen and Hopkins are fantastic in it.
I really like Claire Trevor in Stagecoach (ostensible lead, never forget) and was surprised at her Oscar legacy.
Excited for this! I somehow missed the 79 announcement so can't play along for that round, and 1948 is... not my favorite lineup. (I have started "Key Largo" a minimum of three times and never finish it.) But I will try to get on board when I can, and look forward to reading anyway.
Not to be one of those people, but 1949 ties with fewest film nominees in this category(only Pinky, Come to the Stable, and All The King's Men had supporting actress nominees).
biffboff - thanks!
Key Largo is on tcm Tues is anyone needs to watch for free.
Nathaniel - Any ideas on how to watch Mighty Aphrodite since it's not streaming and not on Netflix DVD's? Have you found it anywhere else?
Is there a reason why you guys only do Supporting Actress smackdowns? The 1979 smackdown was really good, but I didn't realize that you were doing them all summer. What happens when you run out? Is that when you move on to the other 3 acting categories?