Giulietta Masina @ 100: Cabiria's perfect ending

by Cláudio Alves

Born 100 years ago in San Giorno di Piano, Giulietta Masina is one of the most indelible faces of Italian cinema. She started her career as a theatre and radio actress but, by the time her husband Federico Fellini made the transition from screenwriter to film director, Masina was ready to follow him on the journey to the big screen. Despite having worked for other such notable auteurs as Rossellini and Wertmüller, Masina's legacy is defined by her husband's pictures. He immortalized her in more ways than one, both creating film monuments to her humanity, and using their marital strife to create many a celluloid drama...

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Gay Best Friend: Calla Mackie in "Rachel, Rachel" (1968)

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

Who wouldn't risk it all for Estelle Parsons in those Edna Mode glasses?

We’re continuing our retro streak of the Gay Best Friend series this week, though we’re moving a bit forward in time (and to the subject of a Smackdown). In our Rebel Without a Cause entry, we discussed how director Nicholas Ray, actor Sal Mineo and writer Stewart Stern all coded Plato as gay, even though the Hays Code wouldn’t let homosexuality be openly discussed on film. This week, we’re looking at another Stewart Stern script, Rachel, Rachel. That film premiered thirteen years later (1968) and with the dissolution of the code we see less of a need to rely on coding. Estelle Parsons’ gregarious teacher Calla Mackie is established as a lesbian within the film. However, it reinforces tropes in gay representation that would continue for decades later. Calla may be a burst of energy early on, but her story moves into the “sad lesbian” and “tragic gay” frameworks we’ve become all too familiar with.

Before delving into Calla, we have to set up the object of her affection, the titular Rachel (Joanne Woodward)...

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Lunchtime Poll: When was the last time a movie or show gave you whiplash?

by Nathaniel R

- Tell me who you are!
- I'm the worst mistake you'll ever mistake.

Watching I Don't Care (reviewed by Christopher) was a whiplash experience. I was absolutely loving it until I suddenly wasn't. Thirty-six minutes into the movie Dean (Chris Messina) arrives into Marla's (Rosamund Pike) office, to start what is essentially act two of a three act. Two sharks begin speaking in human voices, their teeth gleaming imagining fleshy bites and blood in the water. It's a superb scene. A few minutes later another violent verbal duet with Dianne Wiest.  All three actors are on absolute fire with impeccably judged reaction shots, expressive body language, and nastily imaginative line-readings. I Care A Lot felt, in that ten minute stretch, like it was taking off into the stratosphere. This is an "A" grade pitch-black comedy! The movie throws everything at you thereafter -- incidents, twists, more verbal duels, violence, and a score so aggressively present you want to remind it that Rosamund Pike has top billing-- but it's a case of either too much or rapidly dimishing returns.  I was actively annoyed and disappointed for the entire third act. 

When was the last time this happened to you? Love and hate in almost equal measure while watching a movie?

Nathaniel's Ballot: Editing, Makeup, Visual Effects, Production Design

by Nathaniel Rogers

Rooting for LOVE AND MONSTERS to get a visual fx Oscar nomination. Such a pleasantly fun surprise as mainstream movies go! It would have been a big sleeper hit in a normal theatrical year

Oscar balloting begins in 11 days so we'd like to finish our own Film Bitch Awards by then. Or at least the Oscar parallel portion. So in an effort to speed that up here are four categories. My take on the best in film editing, makeup & hairstyling, visual effects, and production design. Within these four categories there are surprisingly no repeat nominees. 

Fascinating read --The Root on Ma Rainey's Hair and Makeup20 slots = 20 different films with honors for And Then We Danced, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Emma, The Father, First Cow, Hillbilly Elegy, I Carry You With Me, Love and Monsters, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Mank, The Midnight Sky, Mulan, News of the World, Nomadland, Palm Springs, Personal History of David Copperfield, Possessor, Promising Young Woman, Tenet, and Welcome to Chechnya.

This was not intentional. I didn't notice till after hitting "publish". But it's as good an example of any of how I approach awards each year. Though I do believe in "spreading the wealth" it happens organically, since I genuinely only try to think about that specific category when I "vote". Do you also agonize over your own "best of" choices? It's a niche affliction but I've met many other film fans who do!  

Showbiz History: Shirley & Bill, Julianne & Eddie, Slumdog & Oscars

6 random things that happened on this day, February 22nd in showbiz history...

1921 Fellini's muse Giulietta Masina (Nights of Cabiria, La Strada) is born in San Giorgia di Plano, Italy. But more on her tonight for her Centennial.

1935 The Little Colonel opens in theaters. The movie featured the first interracial dance in an American movie in the famous staircase tap dance scene between tiny Shirley Temple and trailblazing entertainer Bill Robinson. The innocuous scene was somehow controversial (the 1930s, natch) and was reportedly cut out of the movie when it played in the South...

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