25th Anniversary: "Reality Bites"

by Mark Brinkerhoff

Sandwiched between (and oft-overshadowed by) the so-called Baby Boomers and Millennials, Generation X, those born between 1965-1980, seems to get little attention from Hollywood — or from anyone, really. In fact, just last month CBS infamously omitted Gen X in an otherwise comprehensive chart, “Generation Guidelines Defined by Birth Year.” For Gen Xers (of which I am one), this was generally considered as simply par for the course. Of course, of course, of course! 

But 25 years ago this week, we got our cinematic Valentine in the form of Reality Bites, the seminal film of a “forgotten” generation...

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4 days until Oscars. More trivia fun.

Four is today's magic number so let's share some Oscar trivia.

Makeup prosthetics for Christian Bale as Dick Cheney (photo from Aida Dombr instagram)

• IS ANYONE UP FOR A POSSIBLE FOURTH COMPETITIVE WIN THIS YEAR? 
Why yes, we're so glad you asked. In addition to the previously discussed costume designer Sandy Powell (The Favourite might make it four for that genius), Makeup artist Greg Cannom, who previously won Oscars for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Mrs Doubtfire and Bram Stoker's Dracula, might well win his fourth for giving Christian Bale that realistic looking Cheney bald cap and thick neck in Vice. If Cannom wins he becomes the second most awarded makeup artist of all time (after category king Rick Baker -- who appears to have retired? -- who took the Oscar an incredible 7 times). Now, technically, Cannom is already the second most awarded makeup artist but he's currently holding that honor in a tie with another three time winner Ve Neill (she won for Beetlejuice and Ed Wood, as well as Mrs Doubtfire alongside Cannom). Interestingly enough both Cannom and Ve Neill each won Makeup Guild awards this past weekend for Vice and A Star is Born respectively. 

• Katharine Hepburn is the only person to ever win 4 acting Oscars... 

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Soundtracking: A "Titanic" melody and Oscar memory

by Chris Feil

Aren’t we all happy now that the Best Original Song nominees are staying on the ceremony? Now that the uproar is settling, perhaps it’s a safe time to reflect on why removing them from the telecast never should have been up for debate. What better example of music’s inextricability from the movies and their intertwined cultural impact than Titanic?

“My Heart Will Go On” was its own inescapable beast in 1997 aside from Titanic itself, the dominance of the film and song fueling each other’s fire in tandem...

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Oscar Presenters and a 'Whoopi Goldberg as surprise host' conspiracy theory!

02/20/19 4:35 PM: THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED WITH NEW NAMES AND NOTES

Remember when Oscar was threatening to dump Frances McDormand, Gary Oldman, Allison Janney and Sam Rockwell as presenters because they weren't "famous" enough even though they've all been popular actors in multiple hit movies and TV shows for at least two decades? Somehow the past two weeks of announcements in regards to who will prsent on Oscar night make that inane earlier compulsion even more ridiculous a significant percentage of the forthcoming presenters are NOT as famous than those four.

Nevertheless, trying to make sense of the current leadership of their Academy and their perpetually boneheaded decisions is obviously a fool's errand. That way lies madness as they simply do NOT know what they're doing. We're beginning to question whether they even understand simple concepts like "entertainment" and "fame" and maybe even "movies" at this point. The complete lists of performers and presenters announced (thus far) plus a wonderful if short-lived conspiracy theory that we wanted to believe in after the jump...

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Podcast: The Smackdown Companion

This month's 'Smackdown' panelists: Murtada Elfadl, Chris Feil, Ginny O'Keefe, Robin Write, and Nathaniel R

 

A new season of the Supporting Actress Smackdown is kicking off, with the first installment being this year's Oscar competition. You've already read our blurbs on the five nominated performances and now a more in-depth conversation about those actresses, their films, and a few random asides to other movies and actors. You've already met the panel and here's our conversation in full!

Index (1 hour)
00:01 Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz in The Favourite, Marina de Tavira in Roma
11:00 Regina King in If Beale Street Could Talk
17:30 Amy Adams in Vice and our traditional thought-game of switching the actors around into each other's roles to see what would happen. Plus who is supporting these supporting women?
29:00 Random chatter: Vice, Bohemian Rhapsody, Never Look Away, Green Book
36:00 Other supporting women of the year: Ann Dowd, Sakura Ando, Claire Foy
45:00 Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman and BP to Black Panther? 
56:00 Where you could read, listen to, and follow the panelists. 

Referenced in the Podcast
• Smackdown blurbs
• This Had Oscar Buzz
• Filmotomy's Marina de Tavira article
• Nathaniel's Rachel Weisz interview

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you? 

Smackdown: Regina, Rachel, Marina, and More...