Missing Cameron Diaz on her 50th Birthday

by Nathaniel R

image from Cameron's instagram. We added the birthday wish ;)

Do you remember the first time you saw Cameron Diaz onscreen? Her debut The Mask (1994) was a smash hit but believe it or not I missed that one in theaters despite being a weekly moviegoer by then. I first saw her in My Best Friend's Wedding (1997) a quickly-beloved movie though I can't say she was my focal point. It was only years later when I realized how deftly she was navigating a tricky part...

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New "Supporting Actress Smackdown" Schedule

Apologies to do this but we have scheduling changes (a lot going on chez Nathaniel) 

SMACKDOWN "1951" -NEW DATE: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19th, 2022
1951 will be our "year of the month" for another few weeks. Email us your votes on the Smackdown (anytime before September 17th) with "1951" in the subject line. You should rate each performance you've seen on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (perfection) hearts. Feel free to include blurbs which we might quote but they aren't necessary.

• Joan Blondell, The Blue Veil    - good luck finding!
• Mildred Dunnock, Death of a Salesman    - available on YouTube
• Lee Grant, Detective Story.   - rentable from multiple sources
• Kim Hunter, A Streetcar Named Desire - streaming on HBOMax / rentable elsewhere
• Thelma Ritter, The Mating Season - available on YouTube

SMACKDOWN "2004" -NEW DATE: MONDAY, OCTOBER 24th, 2022
Email us your votes on the Smackdown (anytime before October 20th) with "2004" in the subject line of your email. You should rate each performance you've seen on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (perfection) hearts. Feel free to include blurbs which we might quote but they aren't necessary.

• Cate Blanchett, The Aviator -  streaming on HBOMax / rentable elsewhere
• Laura Linney, Kinsey -  - rentable from multiple sources
• Virginia Madsen, Sideways -  streaming on HBOMax / rentable elsewhere
• Sophie Okonedo, Hotel Rwanda -  streaming on HBOMax / rentable elsewhere
• Natalie Portman, Closer -  - rentable from multiple sources

Since this will bring us up to date on film years, we might try little experiments thereafter for fun. 

A Weak Weekend at the Box Office

by Nathaniel R

A deflating weekend for Hollywood, proving once again that if you don't put enough new glitzy stuff in theaters (and don't promote them well) people don't show up! But for what it's worth, here's what the weekend was like...

Weekend Box Office  August 26th-28th 🔺 = new or expanding /  ★ = Recommended links if we've written about it
WIDE (OVER 800 SCREENS)	LIMITED / PLATFORM
THE INVITATION	ORPHAN: FIRST KILL

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Emmy Category Analysis: Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

By Abe Friedtanzer

Lily James in Pam and Tommy

This is quite a lineup, though just one of its six nominees is from an anthology series and none are from TV movies (Jenna Ortega would have made a phenomenal choice for HBO Max’s The Fallout). Every character portrayed is based on a real person, with only Margaret Qualley’s Alex Russell adapted from author Stephanie Land into someone slightly fictionalized. Exactly half of these women star in projects nominated for Best Limited or Anthology Series, but there’s still support for the other three even if their projects underperformed. Only Lily James and Amanda Seyfried are brand-new to the Emmys, and, of the rest, all but Qualley have actually won before. I think it’s likely a race between the newbies, but let’s examine the lineup...

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Some thoughts on David Fincher's 60th birthday

Today, The Academy tweeted this image of David Fincher's filmography and asked which three you'd choose to watch in a marathon.

But even before they did we were thinking about David Fincher...

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