Gay Best Friend: Malcolm in "Darling" (1965)

A series by Christopher James looking at the 'Gay Best Friend' trope

Not pictured: The waiter that Diana (Julie Christie) and Malcolm (Roland Curran) were checking out.How can one be truly breaking convention if the act of breaking away is itself a convention? This is the plight of Diana Scott, the role that earned Julie Christie an Oscar win for Best Actress. Diana uses her feminine wiles to rise to the top of the English fashion scene, creating scandal everywhere she goes. She breaks all the conventions of how a “good girl” of the 50s would behave. While this makes her exciting, what is behind her social climbing antics? Is her rebellion ushering in a new progressive wave, or is she just rebelling to rebel? If the case is the latter, why is that something people should respect, rather than jeer?

The tagline of Darling (1965) reads: “A powerful and bold motion picture...made by adults...with adults...for adults!” It’s amazing to see what was bold by 1965 standards. An English production, Darling fittingly feels like part French-New-Wave, part mainstream Hollywood. The topics of sex, abortion, homosexuality and the blanket “sin” of adult life hang over every scene, even if very little is explicit. This illustrates that the “gay best friend” trope, among others, was once considered shocking or bold. By the 1990s, as we've witnessed in this series, boldness gave way to the expected, as the trope became overused...

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International Oscar Contenders: "A Hero" and "Bad Luck Banging on Loony Porn" join the fray

by Nathaniel R

A HERO (2021) comes from Iran's Oscar-winning champ Asghar Farhadi

Next week we have scheduled Oscar submission announcements from Denmark (we suspect Flee), Italy (we suspect Hand of God), Norway (we suspect Worst Person in the World) and Portugal (we suspect... no, we have no idea!) and on the latter we'll be hearing from Cláudio, your favourite Portuguese critic. But  let's not get ahead of ourselves. There is a lot to discuss RIGHT NOW in the International Feature Film Oscar Race as we now have seven more titles announced plus another finalist list. Which brings us to 51 movies so we're aware of over 50% of the competitive set now. News from Algeria, Belgium, India, Iran, Latvia, Palestine, Romania, and Sweden is after the jump...

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Best TV of the 21st Century?

by Nathaniel R

Mad Men, my personal vote for Best TV show of the 21st century

Have you seen the latest list that has tongues wagging? BBC polled TV critics to come up with a list of the 100 greatest TV series of the 21st century. Usually 100 greatest lists are silly because the time frame is too long and there are more than 100 things that are great in a century (or more) but given the short time frame (2000-2021) this one is more reasonable to argue about. We only wish they had nixed reality tv (it's silly to have only one show - RuPaul's Drag Race -- representing an entire enormous genre of television; better to just ignore it than have a single token show) and that they would not have allowed series that have not yet wrapped up to qualify; final seasons ALWAYS effect how people judge a show, for better and worse. And they should!

You should read the whole list but here's are three pulled samples to discuss...

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50th Anniversary: "Play Misty for Me"

by Nick Taylor

Happy 50th anniversary to Play Misty for Me! The 1971 directorial debut of notoriously productive actor/director/writer/composer Clint Eastwood received a new wave of attention earlier this year in the wake of lead actress Jessica Walter’s still-unthinkable death at age 80. Nathaniel mentioned the film in his in memoriam piece, but with its anniversary upon us it seemed right to give the film a deeper dive. The story is a tale as old as time - boy meets girl, boy and girl have a liaison, boy realizes girl is dangerously invested in their relationship and that one of them will probably die. Fatal Attraction would take that fable in an iron grip once it hit the screens, imbuing it with its own peculiarities, but Play Misty for Me is very much its own beast. That’s partially the beauty of launching before the film that will eventually define your subgenre...

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1933 Flashback: Kate vs. May vs. Diana

by Cláudio Alves

For the last few years, Kevin Jacobsen's And the Runner-Up Is has been one of my favorite movie podcasts. After examining every Best Picture race, from 2020 to 1927, the podcast will now focus on the Best Actress category, exploring the nominated performances, the actresses' legacy, and how each race turned out. Who were the likely runners-up?

It's with great pleasure that I announce that I guested on the 1932-33 episode - a dream come true. The nominees were Katharine Hepburn's Oscar-winning turn in Morning Glory, May Robson in Frank Capra's beloved Lady for a Day, and Diana Wynyard in the much-maligned Best Picture-champion Cavalcade. While the trio isn't AMPAS' most inspired selection, there's a lot to talk about. In the episode, Kevin and I unravel Hepburn's major Rachel Berry energy and drunk acting mastery. We talk about the short story that inspired Robson's awards bid and her unlikely stardom. There's also much to analyze in Wynyard's misbegotten flick, including bizarre adaptation choices and the art of performing listening. If you're a Wynyard fan, you might want to avoid this. That being said, I did see some of her other movies, so it's not all hate. I'd go so far as to say that she's as good as Ingrid Bergman in the original 1940 Gaslight. Please give it a listen!

Who would you vote for in this lineup? Also, if you have a dream 1933 Best Actress ballot, please share that too.