by Nathaniel R
The next Supporting Actress Smackdown arrives on Sunday June 24th. But before we get to that always pleasurable event, it's time to meet this month's panel. We'll skip my introduction (Nathaniel) as the host because (hopefully) you know me already but if you don't, here I am.
So without further ado, let's get to know the five of them after the jump...
FIRST TIME PANELISTS. PLEASE WELCOME...
ERIK ANDERSON
Erik thanks his mother for his love of all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards together since he was in the single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself at GoldDerby, led by Tom O’Neill and then migrated over to Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), headed up by Sasha Stone before breaking off to create AwardsWatch. He is a member of the International Cinephile Society, GALECA (The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics), the International Press Academy and is the founder/owner of AwardsWatch. [Twitter]
What does the year 1994 mean to you, Erik?
1994 was a landmark Oscar year because the fight between Pulp Fiction and Forrest Gump was the beginning of the indie vs studio film that would follow the Academy Awards up to where it is. Gump won, of course, but it marked the beginning of the end of the studio domination of the Oscars.
ITAMAR MOSES
Itamar Moses is the author of the full-length plays Outrage, Bach at Leipzig, Celebrity Row, The Four of Us, Yellowjackets, Back Back Back, Completeness, and The Whistleblower, the musicals Nobody Loves You (with Gaby Alter), Fortress of Solitude (with Michael Friedman), and The Band's Visit (with David Yazbek, Tony nomination). Awards for his work include the Lucille Lortel, New York Drama Critics Circle, Outer Critics Circle, and Obie award. On television, Itamar has written for Men of a Certain Age, Boardwalk Empire, Outsiders, and The Affair. He holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU and has taught playwriting at Yale and NYU. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild and is a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect. Born in Berkeley, CA, he now lives in Brooklyn, NY. [IMDb / IBDB]
What does 1994 mean to you Itamar?
1994 was when I started my senior year of high school so…it feels like that. And one of my strongest memories from that year is actually walking out into the parking lot of the Emeryville movie theatre with my friend Adam after seeing Pulp Fiction on the big screen for the second time, humming the surf-rock track that plays over the end credits. Other than that I mainly remember listening to “Throwing Copper” by LIVE and “August and Everything After” by Counting Crows. You’d think I’d feel more embarrassed about that than I do.”
ALFRED SOTO
Alfred Soto is an instructor of journalism, a media adviser at Florida International University, and freelance editor for SPIN Magazine. He was features editor of Stylus Magazine. His work has appeared in Billboard, The Village Voice, The Miami Herald, NPR, Rolling Stone, Slate, and Pitchfork. Much of his film, art, and political writing is found at Humanizing the Vacuum. He has been a member of the Florida Film Critics Circle since 2015. He lives in Miami.
[Twitter]
What does 1994 mean to you, Alfred?
1994 was the year when Hollywood and industry wags realized for the 21st time that it had a problem recognizing good work from female professionals in the industry.
RETURNING PANELISTS
SHEILA O'MALLEY
Sheila O'Malley is a regular film critic for Rogerebert.com and other outlets including The Criterion Collection, Film Comment, and The New York Times. Her blog is The Sheila Variations. She’s a member of the NYFCC.
[Twitter]
Sheila previously participated in the 1984 Smackdown
What does 1994 mean to you, Sheila?
I am Gen-X to the bone because the first thing that came to mind is: “Kurt Cobain killed himself. I burst out sobbing when I heard the news.”
NICK DAVIS
Nick Davis is a professor of English, film, and gender studies at Northwestern University and the proprietor of the recently relocated and renamed www.Nick-Davis.com. Pardon our dust.
[Twitter]
Nick has previously participated in multiple Smackdowns. Look it up! He also always provides with a year-appropriate photo and I think you'll agree he's outdone himself this time...
Nick with his '94 PHYSICAL MEDIA. Ohmygod.
What does the year 1994 mean to you, Nick?
The shortest answers are: Borovnia. Chickabay. Tayyy-ina-wee‘yun.
Almost as short: "Live Through This" by Hole—amazing. My mom seems worried, though. Juliette Lewis in Natural Born Killers oh my GOD! Clearly she was the girl with the most cake. Ralph Fiennes in Quiz Show oh my GODDD, welp, I guess I must be gay, omg wait, what??Slightly longer: 1994 marked the start of my senior year of high school and my debut as the film critic for the school paper. Panning Forrest Gump and The Lion King earned me few friends. Bullets over Broadway I totally raved, as I did Little Women. I didn't understand Barcelona at all, so I gave it three stars. Brilliant, beautiful, hilarious Kate Culpepper, more Goth on some days than others, invited me to the Sadie Hawkins dance but we ditched it after 10 minutes to go see Pulp Fiction. We had A LOT of thoughts about Interview with the Vampire and the Academy's failure to nominate Kirsten Dunst OR Sandy Powell. This is important, because back in the 1990s, you couldn't count on having a friend in high school who knew about Sandy Powell, and GOT her. Months later, Kate borrowed her mom's SUV so we could see The Madness of King George in the afternoon, like sophisticates. I fell asleep. I would have taken a midnight train going anywhere to see Tom & Viv before the Oscar ceremony, but I was trapped, checkmated. I screamed to everyone at that trainless station, "I'm dying in this town!!" I didn't catch it till college, on VHS in 1996. For some people, university opens up huge intellectual and interpersonal horizons. It did that for me, too, but it also meant, "Holy shit, I live in a city now! Somebody SOMEWHERE must have Tom & fucking Viv!" This marks the last time I had to watch the Academy Awards with no opinion about a nominated performance, much less two! It's no way to live, though I acknowledge people do it every day in our crap world, and somehow they live through even this. #neverforget"
We'll talk to the five panelists on at the "Supporting Actress Smackdown of 1994". Dear readers, get to watching those movies, and sending in your own ballots by June 21st, and we'll all discuss on Sunday June 24th when the Smackdown and its companion podcast arrive.