Showbiz History: France loves KStew, and infamous 'Chicago' trials, real and fictional
Saturday, February 20, 2021 at 10:00AM 5 random things that happened on this day, February 20th, in showbiz history...
two Oscar-winning Roxies, Ginger Rogers & Renée Zellweger
1939 A shameful moment in US history: an American Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden. Footage from this event became the basis of the recently Oscar nominated doc short "A Night at the Garden".
1942 The film Roxie Hart adapted from the play "Roxie" opens with Ginger Rogers playing the murderous showgirl. Roxie would go on to pop culture immortality with the long running musical adaptation of the play and its Oscar winning counterpart, called simply Chicago...
1946 Tomorrow is Forever "The Great Drama Of Our Time" (as the tagline claims) starring Claudette Colbert, Orson Welles, and tiny Natalie Wood opens in movie theaters.
1970 Judge Hoffman sentences "The Chicago 7" to five years in prison each and the defendants make statements about the sham political trial. The very sensational court happenings are dramatized / condemned in the current Best Picture hopeful The Trial of the Chicago 7. Are you rooting for it in any Oscar categories?
1988 The classic Dusty Springfield / Pet Shop Boys duet "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" peaks at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the biggest hit of Dusty Springfield's career (in the US) long after her '60s heyday. While there have been attempts before it looks like we're finally getting a Dusty Springfield biopic. The current iteration of the proposed biopic was first announced back in 2018 as the directorial debut of Carol's genius screenwriter Phyllis Nagy with Gemma Arterton starring as Dusty. That version is still on apparently as Arterton discussed vocal training and being nervous about stepping into those shoes as recently as a month and a half ago.
2015 Kristen Stewart becomes the first American actress to win a competitive César Award in France, Best Supporting Actress for Clouds of Sils Maria. The top prize goes to Mauritania's Oscar nominee Timbuktu. Adele Haenel manages to beat both Marion Cotillard in Two Days One Night and Juliette Binoche in Clouds of Sils Maria to take the lead actress prize for Love At First Fight.
Today's Birthday Suit
Happy 50th birthday today to trans activist, actress, and author Calpernia Addams.
The trans activist, who was born in Nashville, first came to widespread fame due to the trial surrounding her military boyfriend's abuse and murder by homophobic / transphobic fellow soldiers. The resulting film version of that story, Soldier's Girl (2003) was the breakthrough and film debut of the actor Lee Pace playing her. He received a Golden Globe nomination. Addams also coached Felicity Huffman for her Oscar-nominated role in TransAmerica. Things have changed a lot since then for trans actors of course and now Hollywood is starting to cast them rather than having cisgender actors play them.
Other birthdays today: Iconic directors Robert Altman (Nashville, Gosford Park) and Mike Leigh (Secrets & Lies, Happy-Go-Lucky), Legendary trailblazer and Oscar winner Sidney Poitier (Lilies of the Field, The Defiant Ones), Oscar nominee Brenda Blethyn (Secrets & Lies, Pride & Prejudice), Miles Teller (Whiplash, Rabbit Hole), Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under, Psycho Beach Party), Richard Beymer (West Side Story, Twin Peaks), Anthony Head (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Imagine Me and You), Germany's Julia Jentsch (Sophie Scholl, The Edukators), Lili Taylor (Dogfight, ), Bosnian director Danis Tanovic (No Man's Land, Death in Sarajevo), Danielle Pineda (The Vampire Diaries, Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom), Willie Garson (White Collar, Sex and the City), Jack Falahee (How to Get Away with Murder, Mercy Street), Sandy Duncan (The Cat From Outer Space, The Hogan Family), Imogen Stubbs (Sense & Sensibility, Erik the Viking), Andrew Shue (Melrose Place, The Rainmaker), Michael Zegen (Marvelous Mrs Maisel, Frances Ha), Oscar nominated cinematographer Jordan Cronenwerth (Peggy Sue Got Married, Blade Runner), James Wilby (Maurice, Gosford Park), Tony winner Jessie Mueller, supermodel Cindy Crawford, comedian Trevor Noah, singers Rihanna and Nancy Wilson, and the late great Kurt Cobain of Nirvana fame.
Reader Comments (22)
I should watch Soldier's Girl again. Lee Pace is great in it.
I wouldn't mind if Rylance sneaked into the supporting actor as I thought he was fantastic but none of the others please and no directing or music nods either.
No Oscars for Chicago 7 please. Watching Small Axe’sMangrove, in comparison, makes you realize the impact of great direction for “trials of injustice” movies.
No nominations for Chicago 7, ugh. Especially not Director or Score. 🤮
markgordonuk: I completely agree but NOT at the expense of Paul Raci. A lineup consisting of Kaluuya, Rylance, Raci, Baron Cohen, and Odom Jr. would make me very happy.
Having now seen Chicago 7 and Nomadland, I can definitely say I'm team Nomadland.
I can't quite come up with the perfect analogy, but I think Kristen Stewart is the current American equivalent of some of the great actresses who came along in the 50s and 60s: She can't pull of an accent, really, can't cover the gamut of emotions, but nonetheless really brings something valuable to the screen in a quiet way. People say she can't act or is an "ice princess," but people said the same things about Jeanne Moreau, Kim Novak, and Monica Vitti. Some of my best friends are Stewart haters, but I'm Team Stewart all the way.
I meant Rylance should be in a line up that inc Raci plus Murray,Odom Jr, and Kaluuya.
Is Kaluuya really a supporting actor in Judas and the Black Messiah? I haven't seen it but it looks like a two-lead film to me.
Dan Humphrey: agree re: Kristen Stewart. I don't see why people would think her cold; I find her a warm sympathetic presence by default.
@Edward L You could argue till the cows come home about his placement,Personally I thought he was more co lead and the story is told more from Stanfield's point of view but Kaluuya's name comes first in the credits so what do I know,it's like a Christoph Waltz Django situation.
The only nomination from Chicago 7 I want to see happening is Yahya or Langella surprisingly taking the spot from Sacha Baron Cohen. No hate for Sacha, but he is not the standout among his peers.
Dan -- i like the analogy, however imperfect. i see it.
Edward - & Mark - no Kaluuya is 100% leading. It's a two lead film. It's like calling Gatsby supporting in The Great Gatsby. Yes, mostly from someone else's POV but entirely about him.
"The Trial of the Chicago 7" was riveting, may get nods for Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Support: Mark Rylance is terrific and Frank Langella, age 83 at present and remarkable as the Judge, also agree that Paul Raci should absolutely be in.
Amazing that Brenda BIethyn shares a birthday with Mike Leigh; she should have won Oscar for her heartbreaking role in the magnificent "Secrets and Lies".
Many write-ups on the Web today for Sidney Poitier's 94th birthday, a legend. My favorite films of his are from the period 1950 ("No Way Out" where he played a doctor - 1967 fittingly as a doctor for "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner").
Aaron Sorkin basically made a Spielberg film with The Trial of the Chicago 7, which makes sense, since he wrote the screenplay when Spielberg was still attached to direct (I admire that about Sorkin, the way he can adapt his very distinct voice to whichever filmmaker he's working with, many of whom have been auteurs in their own right). While the film ultimately does come off as a bit of a Spielberg knockoff, I think Sorkin does a good job of it. Not enough for me to want him nominated for Best Director over obviously stronger competition, but I wanted to point out why I like The Trial of the Chicago 7 (that and I really like the cast). I know the film doesn't have a lot of fans here, but I think we'll just have to accept that it will be getting plenty of nominations on March 15. It's an Oscar type of film, it introduced several people to a piece of History they didn't know about (as hard as it may be to believe, the 1960's are still not as widely taught in schools as they should be) and for what it is, it's done well enough.
It really seems like Baron Cohen is winning Supporting Actor though.
I've got a feeling Kaluuya might be our Supporting Actor winner in the end, with the film picking up steam at exactly the right time. Him or Odom Jr.
Anything to keep Eddie Redmayne from getting another Oscar is fine with me. He's a fucking twat. My dad had even worse things to say about him.
The beautiful Sidney Poitier: Happy Birthday To Sir, With Love.
I agree that Mangrove is awesome and I’m ready to watch Small Axes bring a lot of Emmys
Like many I'm not a fan of Chicago 7 and would much rather it stay completely out the conversation which unfortunately is not likely to happen. The film is deserving of none of its praise and honestly is relying on it's audience to feel sorry for these men.
I adore Kristen Stewart and thankfully I never watched a Twilight film in my life so I don't have the baggage of seeing her work in those films and just choose to see them as her money making films so she could make whatever she wants. Her collab's with Ossayas are incredible and should've guaranteed her an oscar nomination for both (my personal winner for Personal Shopper.) She has a charisma that appeals to me and in recent years she's excelled in comedy with Charlie's Angels and Happiest Season. I'll look forward to everything she does and just cause she's limited isn't a bad thing in my eye.
Even mentioning Monica Vitti and especially Jeanne Moreau in the same breath as Stewart is sacrilege. Also Moreau's talent was never doubted.
I think Odom Jr is this year's Gaga : will be double nominated and win the less prestigious Best Song Oscar.