Oscar Volley: “Best Actor” will be a nail-biter to the bitter end

The Oscar Volleys continue. Today, CLÁUDIO ALVES and EUROCHEESE discuss the Oscar race for Best Actor.

Timothée Chalamet in MARTY SUPREME | © A24

CLÁUDIO: Last year in movies turned out to be an odd one for me. Mostly because, when I looked at my spreadsheets and lists to make up a ballot, the male acting categories felt markedly richer than their female counterparts. This never happens, not to me, at least. Yet, here we are. And while the supporting acting races don't necessarily show this - the Supporting Actress quintet AMPAS chose is one of the strongest we've had in years, mayhap decades - the leads bear the truth of the matter quite starkly.

In other words, I'm surprisingly happy to be discussing Best Actor rather than Best Actress in this year's volleys. I'm even happier to be doing it with you, Eurocheese! Are you similarly enthused?

EUROCHEESE: Same! I could have easily filled ten Actress slots the prior year, but last year saw a slew of brilliant male leads, making the limit to five a difficult choice. I can't complain about the choices the Academy made here - all five deserve their names in this lineup...

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Interview: "The Singers" Director Sam A. Davis

by Ben Miller

Actor Mike Young and Director Sam A. Davis on the set of "The Singers"Director Sam A. Davis is receiving accolades and a large amount of views of his short film The Singers following the recent Oscar nominations. I was lucky enough to speak with him about male sensitivity, shooting cigarette smoke, and his role as a director and cinematographer.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity...

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Oscar Volley: "Best Original Screenplay" is sewn-up for Ryan Coogler. It's his coronation.

The Oscar Volleys continue. Today, LYNN LEE and BEN MILLER discuss the volatile Oscar race for Best Original Screenplay.

BLUE MOON took the slot many thought/hoped would be filled by SORRY, BABY.

LYNN: Ben, it’s been a long if not especially strange road getting here, and we’re in the homestretch now!  Other than the surprise of Blue Moon being the sleeper nominee, this race seems to be running pretty much as expected.  What do you think of the nominees?  Does Sinners have this in the bag, or could one of the international nominees score an upset?  I don’t think Marty Supreme is winning this one, and I swear it’s not just because it's my least favorite of the nominees.

BEN: As much as I love Blue Moon, I have to pour one out for my beloved, Eva Victor's Sorry, Baby...

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Drag Race RuCap: "Fannie: The Hard Knock Ball Rusical"

"Fannie: The Hard Knock Ball Rusical" as told through wigs.

NICK TAYLOR: It appears a major theme of this season’s post-talent show episodes is the psychological torment of Juicy Love Dion. The diva has gone from being season 18’s first two-time winner to sending home two of her closest friends in the competition, including her own grandmother. She’s been struggling hard, and who knows how long this gauntlet of pain will last. You can tell Ru really wants to push her queens this season, all the better to win that Emmy and make some drama. This push has led to the best Rusical since season 15 and a heartbreaking lip sync battle, in spite of a guest judge and lip sync song with the combined impact of powdered milk. The race is tight, the queens are on fire, and the teaser promises even more shenanigans to come. But let’s not hit the end before the beginning, yes? What’d you think?

CLÁUDIO ALVES: What did powdered milk ever do to you? Anyway, I’m happy that my predictions in our private convos have proven mostly right, while also begrudging the show for being so damn predictable in its storytelling…

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Oscar Volley: “Best Supporting Actor” is one wild ride!

The Oscar Volleys continue. Today, NATHANIEL R and CLÁUDIO ALVES discuss the volatile Oscar race for Best Supporting Actor. 

Andrew Scott in BLUE MOON | © Sony Pictures Classics

NATHANIEL: So Cláudio, it falls to you and me to discuss Best Supporting Actor, and I will try reeaaaaaaaaly hard not to bring up my broken-record pet peeve about this category because I know readers have heard it a million times.  I don't want to talk about it anymore, so for the duration of this conversation, I'm going to pretend that all the actors are in roles perfectly sized for this particular category. And so we're here to discuss everything else... but not that!

Performance quality-wise, I think this is a good quintet - even if I'm still seriously angry that people wouldn't give Andrew Scott the time of day for Blue Moon since his performance is stronger than Hawke's AND he is giving you so much backstory and giving it so economically and with laser minimalist precision. Such a generous actor - he doesn't steal scenes so much as immerse you in them and what's going on between these characters. Anyway, I just love him, and I had to get that off my chest first. It's been a struggle.

So my opening question to you is struggle-themed. I'm curious who you think had the most difficult role to play here and why...

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