Julie Harris: The woman who dressed 007, Sherlock, and The Beatles

by Cláudio Alves

The word 'iconic' gets thrown around a lot these days. So much so that its essence has become diluted, nearly meaningless. Nonetheless, some people do deserve to be called iconic. Costume designer Julie Harris, who was born 100 years ago, is one of them. If not her, then her work deserves the moniker. From the 1940s until 1991, Harris helped define the look of British cinema and pop culture, dressing a myriad of international stars and idols, working for some of the greatest directors ever.

Her impact was particularly felt in the 1960s when - designing films like Darling, the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night and Help! - she defined mod fashion on the silver screen. Furthermore, Harris dressed such iconic characters as James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, and the Muppets. Her filmography's the stuff dreams are made of…

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Showbiz History: Giant 1956, Best Actor 1972, and Quentin Tarantino's birthday

Today, March 27th, in Oscar history only...

Quinn, Malone, Brynner, and Grant (subbing in for absent Ingrid Bergman) at the 56 Oscars

1957 The 29th Academy Awards are held honoring the best of 1956. Very strange Oscar year in which the brilliant epic Giant loses Best Picture to the disposable travelogue Around the World in 80 Days. The King and I ties 80 days for most Oscars won with 5 that night. This year is also notable for making James Dean the only actor to have ever received two posthumous Oscar nominations. Though he died in 1955 before completing Giant the film was in post-production for a full year. We've discussed this year just for fun before. 

1973 The 45th Academy Awards are held with their very historic face off between Cabaret (10 noms / 8 wins) and The Godfather (10 noms / 3 wins including Best Picture. We've discussed this race countless times as total freaks for Cabaret. But here's one aspect I don't think we've ever touched on: Best Actor of 1972...

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Simone Signoret @ 100: A love letter to a great actress

by Cláudio Alves

This week, we've been celebrating Simone Signoret's centennial, an unlikely sex-symbol of the midcentury and an even more atypical Oscar champion. Previously, Daniel wrote about the French actress' brief appearance in La Ronde, and Eric paid tribute to what's probably her most excellent vehicle, Casque d'Or. Now that it's my turn to wax poetic about Madame Signoret, I find myself in a bit of a conundrum. You see, even before the centennial celebrations, the actress had been on my mind. Though, it wasn't because of a film she starred in or individual performance. Watching the animated film No. 7 Cherry Lane, I can't help but think that no one will ever be able to create a more beautiful homage to this star than director Yonfan…

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Where are the docs in the technical categories?

by Juan Carlos Ojano

Almost two weeks after the Oscar nominations and one snub still stings: Welcome to Chechnya in Visual Effects. After making it in the shortlist, hopes were high that its life-saving use of facial replacements could catapult it to Oscar history as the first documentary to be nominated in this category, one largely dominated by Hollywood blockbusters (which were mostly missing last year) Only a year like 2020 could have brought a documentary film close to this category and it still did not happen. 

This begs the question: why are documentaries routinely ignored in categories outside of Documentary Feature? 

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Showbiz History: Do the Right Thing's snub and American Beauty's big win

On this day, March 26th, in Oscar history only...

1938 Jezebel opens in movie theaters. We discussed it in the Smackdown of '38. The movie will win Bette Davis her second and sadly final Best Actress Oscar. 

1958 The 30th annual Academy Awards are held honoring the Best of 1957...

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