27 days until Oscar
Monday, January 30, 2017 at 9:31AM Here are 27 ways you can celebrate today...
Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill01 Ponder Winston Churchill's awards pull after John Lithgow's SAG win last night for the crown and Gary Oldman's upcoming portrayal in Darkest Hours... will we be talking about that next year at this time? The beloved Prime Minister's very big deal state funeral was held on this day in 1965
02 Go see Fences which won two SAG awards last night
03 Then read some more August Wilson and decide which upcoming adaptation you're most excited to see
04 Send out those invites to your Oscar party - time's a wastin'. Or
05 ...RSVP to that Oscar party if you're not hosting one.
06 Go see Hidden Figures which took the "outstanding cast" prize
07 Wish two time Oscar winner Gene Hackman a happy 87th birthday and beg him to come out of retirement
08 Watch Vanessa Redgrave's Oscar winning turn in Julia (1977) on her 80th birthday today because it's streaming on Netflix
19 more ways to celebrate today after the jump...
A lobster is an excellent choice."
09 When a loved one makes a decision today, say "_____ is an excellent choice" in your best Olivia Colman voice to honor her birthday and The Lobster's screenplay nomination
10 Watch the Oscar nominees - Hell or High Water, Loving, Florence Foster Jenkins that are available now on DVD or Blu-Ray
11 Do the mambo in honor of Supporting Actress Dorothy Malone's 92nd birthday
12 Lose 3 lbs today to honor birthday boy Christian Bale's unhealthy weight fluctuations and his Oscar win for The Fighter
13 Sing birthday boy Phil Collins' earworm Oscar winner "You'll Be In My Heart" from Tarzan (1999)
14 Watch 13th and Zootopia which are streaming!
15 Brainstorm about foods to serve at your Oscar party... I need help with mine. What were those bite sized things called in Lion that little Saroo thought were so delicious?
16 ...and find out how much it would cost me to have that T-Bone waitress from Hell or High Water serve at my party
17 Consider Around the World in 80 Days which was published on this day in 1873 before becoming the "Best Picture" of 1956, quotes intended
18 If you've missed Iron Lady or August Osage County in your attempt to see all 20 Meryl Streep nominated performances, they're both only 99¢ on iTunes
19 Read some John Keats poetry composed his sonnet "When I Have Fears" on this day in 1818.
20...then daydream about Ben Whishaw in Bright Star (2009)
21...then if you need a a cold shower, just remember that the movie was not nominated for Best Cinematography. (Thankfully Greig Fraser is finally nominated this year for Lion)
22 Watch Edward Norton's shockingly impressive star turn in American History X (robbed of the Oscar...but then everyone was in 1998!) which is streaming on Amazon Prime
23 Listen to La La Land score on Spotify and realize that the music is much more impressive than the detractors are willing to admit
24 Wear jewel tones today in honor of Emma Stone's frontrunning star turn in that musical
25 Remember Mahatma Gandhi (and Gandhi, 1982) who was assassinated on this day in 1948
26 Sigh at the beautiful thought of You Can Count on Me, which won Sundance on this day. Seventeen years later Kenneth Lonergan has an even bigger Oscar hit with Manchester by the Sea
27 Watch this opening numbers from the Golden Globes on this very day in 1982. Debbie Allen during her Fame heyday! Winners included Bernadette Peters (Pennies From Heaven), Meryl Streep (French Lieutenant's Woman), Warren Beatty (for directing Reds) with On Golden Pond and Arthur as the Best Picture winners
...although isn't it weird that they didn't use to eat and drink at tables, but sit dutifully as an audience like they they do at the Oscars?
Reader Comments (20)
As marvelous as Vanessa Redgrave is in Julia I'd urge people to dig deeper into her filmography since she is a performer of such amazing scope. I'd recommend Isadora, a messy movie but a terrific rangy performance, Mary, Queen of Scots, her sprightly work in Murder on the Orient Express, the haunting Playing for Time, Wetherby, her lovely Ruth Wilcox in Howards End or the terrific The Gathering Storm where she plays Clementine Churchill. Happily she's still working!
After doing the required Mambo I'm going to watch Miss Malone in one of her best roles, though nothing beats Marylee Hadley, in The Tarnished Angels.
LOL @ #12 'I wanna lose 3 lbs' - Regina George
Happy Birthday to my beloved Olivia Colman, even if she barely missed my own 2016 Supporting Actress Ballot!
Yeah, I should finally see Julia. I've had it in my Netflix queue for ages. Perfect timing although I hear it's boring and the two winning performances were totally questionable.
Last month, I tried my best to catch up on the last of Meryl's then-19 Oscar nominated performances that I hadn't seen in anticipation of her 20th and, except for The Deer Hunter, I got all of them. Had never seen Ironweed, Postcards, Bridges of Madison County, or One True Thing.
Long story short: I hated everything except Postcards, which was fab and she and Shirley MacLaine are marvelous in it. As for Meryl's tally, I'd axe about half of her nods tbh. If I can see the wheels spinning then I'm just not buying it.
Also, I found out the studio and author of the novel originally envisioned the combo of Isabella Rossellini and Robert Redford for Bridges of Madison County and that nearly slayed me. Maybe then I would've believed it.
Mark -- NO. Vanessa Redgrave is A-MA-ZING in that. I think one of the top ten winners of all time in Supporting Actress... though i'll never understand Robards win.
Joel - i keep meaning to watch Tarnished Angels. have never seen it
Wish two time Oscar winner Gene Hackman a happy 87th birthday and beg him to come out of retirement
No he'll punish those who denied him recognition for playing Royal in Anderson's movie. Incomprehensible why his films never earn his actors traction.
Thanks for putting "Best "Picture" in quotes. I recently saw Giant, and how it lost to Around the World in 80 Days is mind-boggling!
NATHANIEL -- Oh, that's interesting! I've totally heard Redgrave's performance described as a completely underwhelming glorified cameo in some corners so I'll definitely have to check it out to see how divisive it might be.
I only recently watched All The President's Men and Robards was great in that so it's a shame to hear from many people his consecutive follow-up win doesn't hold a candle.
1. John Lithgow and Claire Foy are both truly excellent in The Crown. And Foy's win again will probably mean that she'll beat out my favorite, Sarah Lancashire (in Happy Valley), for the BAFTA TV drama performance in the spring.
9. Yes to all things Olivia Colman.
14. Yes!
23. Thank you. I've been saying this for a while.
Mark the First: Robards isn't bad, but how Hal Holbrook wasn't chosen as the nominee for All the President's Men escapes me completely. See also: Donald Sutherland, JFK. "That guy" in a political conspiracy thriller is, pretty much always, THE JUICE.
Holding my thumbs for Gary Oldman. Hope he's still got it and delivers something brilliantly Churchillesque that isn't redundant or a caricature.
Pam - Sarah already has 3 nominations (one of which was a win) at the BAFTAs over the past 5 years, so I'd guess that she isn't too bothered about winning. That said, her's is the best performance on UK TV of the past year BY FAR so I still expect she'll clinch it.
Am unsure whether The Crown qualifies for BAFTA or not (it will all depend how Netflix present its funding in the submission documents I guess)
Anyway, Best Actress will be a real fight to a nomination (only 4 available) with Julie Walters, Samantha Morton, Kiran Sonia Sawar, Sophie Okonedo and Jodie Comer all turning in pretty towering performances.
I suspect that Walters and Morton will go Supporting to try and clinch an easy nomination and easier win (though Henderson, Finneran and Lynch from Happy Valley all seem very strong contenders there).
In short - actressing at BAFTA will likely beat actressing at Emmy this year (even if I want a rule-break so that Thandie Newton can compete on home turf instead...)
I've tried 23 and while I do like the songs, the sound mix drives me crazy (why are the vocals so buried in the opening number? It's so great otherwise) and yes, I'm one of those that is bothered by the lack of vocal ability in the leads. But the songs themselves? Pretty great.
@ Mark the First
You are clearly dead inside (re: The Bridges of Madison County).
#justkidding #notkidding
I refuse to believe that the above picture is one of Gary Oldman.
@ MDA
When Lithgow thanked his make-up team, I was thinking, "For what?" having already seen photos of Oldman as Churchill.
Paul Outlaw: Yeah, Oldman to Churchill? Kind of incredible. Lithgow to Churchill? The performance is impressive, but his face is 80-90% of the way there already.
Sarah Lancashire is in a league of her own. Outstanding performance she gives in "Happy Valley", for sure. Remarkable.
10. LOVING isn't in Australian cinemas until 16 March and it's already on DVD in the US! I hate the way local distributors make us wait.
Kermit and MetheOscar - re Lancashire, right? Surprised she doesn't have a Blanchett/Streep-like career. Though she's been around for a while, her list of performances is rather short, but she's elevated even the most ridiculous material. Could this be the start of a second act so she'll move along like Dench, Mirren, and Smith? Some of the UK's major TV actresses (Colman, Nicola Walker, Keeley Hawes, Julie Walters and Helen McCrory) are doing amazing things on stage and screen.