I promised a second round of Q&A this week so here we go. Seven more reader questions answered...
Mr W: Do you have any thoughts on Anna Magnani? She's one of my Top 10 Actresses of all time, but I don't think I've ever read anything on her from you.
I do not. Embarrassing to admit but I've only seen her in The Rose Tattoo (1955) which she was wonderful in. Any suggestions as to where to start?
/3rtful: Is there one unsung veteran actress you would like to see get an award season career boost through Ryan Murphy?
There's very few veterans I wouldn't want to see good a career boost. But i'll just name a dozen (and anyone reading should know I could list another 5 dozen with ease -- I shoulda been a casting director). Given that Murphy usually pulls from the 80s and 90s actressing packs (which, one assumes, reflects his formative fandoms) I wish he would throw a bone to Shelley Duvall (though maybe given her rumored mental health this isn't a good idea), Ally Sheedy, Daryl Hannah, Holly Hunter, or Lesley Ann Warren any of whom might be brilliant within his unusually creepy heightened worlds...
Because said universe needs more diversity I'd also suggest Lynn Whitfield or Debbi Morgan (from Eve's Bayou), Grace Jones, Pam Grier, and Jennifer & Meg Tilly (Together! What fun that would be). And this might sound weird but I could see him pulling something unexpectedly interesting from Gwyneth Paltrow who has almost never indulged her evil side onscreen. But if you've seen her amazing turn in Flesh and Bone (1993) you'll know that amorality suits her, even if she never wears it.
Also: Jason has another really good idea...
Do you guys think Sean Young hunts Ryan Murphy around Hollywood? If she doesn't SHE SHOULD pic.twitter.com/gN76RqFenl
— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) July 14, 2016
MARK: What do you consider is the difference between a cameo and a supporting role?
A cameo refers to a brief appearance, as in one scene. Hitchcock made cameos in his films -- Blink and you'll miss him. Sometimes cameo performers get a showcase scene with several lines. Usually it's a celebrity if the cameo is particularly juicy but sometimes, in well cast movies, it's just a hungry young actor making a mark like Annette Bening who is explosively great in her one scene in Postcards From the Edge or Meryl Streep in Julia (technically in two scenes but only really noticeable for one). But any character that reappears in multiple scenes is basically a supporting player. The reason I call one of my acting awards "best actor in a limited role or cameo" is because this all gets very blurry.
Remember William Hurt's Oscar nod for A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE (2005)
There are some cameos that are so long they feel like supporting roles and there are some supporting roles that feel like cameos that actually show up in more than one scene. Some cameos/limited roles completely take over the movie for a long scene or irreplaceable film altering act, usually near the end, so they can feel like full supporting roles. Some examples: Oscar nominated William Hurt in A History of Violence, Vanessa Redgrave in Atonement, Jane Fonda in Youth, or Viola Davis in Antwone Fisher.
PEGGY SUE: I'm kind of obsessed with Tyler Hoechlin in Everybody Wants Some!!! Which are your top five unconsciously homoerotic pictures?
NATHANIEL: Who isn't? Yum. But I don't know how to answer this because of the 'unconsciously' part. I think most homoeroticism is intentional. The only example I can think of is possible the group shower scene in School Ties (1992). The main image that comes up is the volleyball sequence in Top Gun (1986) -- which I don't even love -- and I say "unconsciously" for that one because Tony Scott never seemed like the kind of filmmaker who homoeroticism would have occurred to. His brother, though, Ridley Scott is too much of a visual sensualist to have accidentally included anywhere and he definitely knew what he was doing with the glorious image of the young Brad Pitt in Thelma & Louise. It's possible that I haven't seen enough bro or sports movies that accidentally go there, though, to answer this question.
But from this question and a few others recently I'm sensing y'all are requesting some sort of beefcake top ten list.
KEN: When would you have most liked to engineer a tie in the major Oscar categories?
NATHANIEL: The first thing that always comes to me with "ties" is IF ONLY about 1950 with Gloria Swanson (Sunset Blvd) and Bette Davis (All About Eve) sharing. But for a more accurate response where I actually think it over, I would prefer to answer this in a top ten list at a later date! I'll think it over.
FORSTER: In this Best Actress line-up who receives the award? And let us say that each of the performances is a tour de force.
Annette Bening
Glenn Close
Viola Davis
Laura Dern
Michelle Pfeiffer
NATHANIEL: This is the cruelest question ever! But at least it's pure fantasy since AMPAS would never nominated 5 actresses this perpetually good all-at-once. I have to eliminate Laura Dern, The Face first. She's great-great-great but there isn't a specific year in which I would have handed her the actual Oscar though her nomination count is too low at only 2. The others should have already won. Assuming, as you said, that these are all worthy tour de forces I have to go with Michelle Pfeiffer. Why? Well, she's my all time pfavorite (so you knew this would be the answer) but also for other reasons: she's the second oldest of this group and works the most infrequently and the older and less frequently you work the harder it is to win; she should already have two Oscars (Fabulous Baker Boys - best actress / White Oleander - supporting actress) -- I could be talked into a third for either Batman Returns (1992) or Scarface (1983) but in both years it's kind of a toss up given the other brilliant performances that feel just as deserving -- since 1989 and 2002 should've been standing ovation cakewalks, honestly; and this final point seals the deal - she's never going to be given an Honorary Oscar. She doesn't care enough and to receive those you really have to care... unless you're an old man who other old men idolize like Jean-Luc Godard. Glenn Close and The Bening both feel vaguely plausible as Honorary recipients someday, especially as the Academy adds more women and hopefully their stinginess about giving women honorary Oscars fades. The ratio of men to women who are given those is absolutely absurd.
Viola Davis would be a close second in your torture scenario of sacrificing my loves because we need to move on from #OscarsSoWhite with actual progress (and another Best Actress win for a minority performer would be perfect - especially for a tour de force performance!). In my dream scenario Viola becomes a headliner like Meryl Streep so she can be an Oscar perennial and quits that TV series she's too good for.
HOW ABOUT YOU, DEAR READER? Which of those five do you give it to (assuming the performances are equally brilliant). And which of your beloveds do you hope joins the Ryan Murphy troupe?