Gene Tierney @ 100: Leave Her To Heaven

by Jason Adams

The surface of the lake is calm -- almost, but not quite, like a mirror. It's a clinical aquamarine color, not much different from Gene Tierney's own eyes. Not that we can see her eyes -- she's just put on her sunglasses. They too act as mirrors -- dark mirrors, reflecting darkness. Ellen Berent Harland (Tierney) watches as the annoying little "cripple" Danny (Darryl Hickman) breaks the sheen of the lake's surface, as if slipping through into some unseen Wonderland -- they say repeatedly the water is warm, so warm, so very warm, but it looks to us cold, ice cold, and indeed the actor Hickman got pneumonia from the filming of this, Leave Her to Heaven's most infamous scene.

But then that's a sense that suffuses all of John M. Stahl's 1945 technicolor Noir masterpiece -- the feeling that something that sounds warm and inviting on its surface might actually be hiding an icy purgatory of horrors just beneath...

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The Best Costumes of 1987

by Cláudio Alves

Before we say goodbye to 1987, our final "year of the month" to coincide with the Smackdown events, we must look at one final Oscar category: the Best Costume Design race. It was a stellar line-up, dominated by films set during the first half of the 20th century, whose designs spanned from epic opulence to modest realism. The nominees were…

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International Oscar: new submissions and the "english language" problem again

We now have a total of 66 submissions for Oscar's Best International Feature competition. Here are the new submissions since our last overview roundup.

• Brazil -Babenco: Tell Me When I Die (Brazil & Oscar)
• Chile -The Mole Agent - now streaming on Hulu
• Colombia -Forgotten We'll Be
• Denmark -Another Round (EFA Nominee | Denmark & Oscar)
• Dominican Republic - A State of Madness
• Finland -Tove
• France -Two of Us (France & Oscar)
• Jordan -200 Meters
• Kyrgyzstan -Running to the Sky 
• Latvia -Blizzard of Souls
• Suriname -Wiren (FIRST SUBMISSION!) 
• Tunisia - The Man Who Sold His Skin
• Uzbekistan - 2000 Songs of Farida

In addition to the 66 titles already announced we have finalist lists for Italy, Nepal, and Serbia on the respective Oscar charts.

ELSEWHERE 
We have begun to hear rumors that Canada's Funny Boy which hits Netflix on December 10th is mostly in the English language so if that's true it might be disqualified from the category (this has happened to several films in the past). Films have to be less than 50% English language in their dialogue to be eligible. The only exception the Academy has made is that they've now approved "Pidgin English" ostensibly to make it easier for certain African countries to submit after Nigeria and Austria's entries, both featuring Nigerians were disqualified last year. But Pidgin English is a broad term so we don't know how lenient they'll start being given this new ruling.Trailers rarely paint the whole truth about a movie but the trailer to Funny Boy is ENTIRELY in what sounds like traditional English.

WHERE TO SEE THE MOVIES?
If you want to get a jump on some of the submissions 12 of the 65 titles are streaming or will be soon.  Netflix has six of them: Austria's What We Wanted, Mexico's I'm No Longer Here, Spain's The Endless Trench, Taiwan's A Sun, Turkey's Miracle in Cell No 7, and on December 10th, Canada's Funny Boy.  You can also stream Chile's The Mole Agent on Hulu, Guatemala's La Llorona on Amazon, Indonesia's Impetigore is on Shudder or Roku, Lithuania's Nova Lituania on MUBI, and South Korea's Man Standing Next on Amazon, YouTube, or iTunes. Denmark's Another Round, which feels like a likely nominee or at least finalist arrives in December in both theaters and on VOD. You can follow the list as it grows at our Oscar charts or on our Letterboxd list. 

Review: The Last Vermeer

By Abe Friedtanzer

I know that 2020 has felt like an eternity for a number of reasons, but how is it possible that this never-ending year has given us not one but two lackluster movies about art starring Claes Bang?

The Burnt Orange Heresy, about an art critic and a reclusive painter, was released in theaters by Sony Pictures Classics right before the pandemic hit and then rereleased in August since it barely had any time to make an impression (not that the experience of seeing it does that either). Now, Bang is back as a Dutch Jew investigating the actions of an eccentric artist accused of collaborating with the Nazis in the immediate aftermath of World War II in The Last Vermeer…

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Gene Tierney @ 100: "Laura"

by Nathaniel R

Dear reader, we had such fun doing the Montgomery Clift Centennial that we want to do more of them. Of course not every movie star inspires the same passion in cinephiles, nor has a cooperatively small enough filmography to be completist about. For instance I put out the feelers on Gene Tierney, who made 37 films in her career, and received only 2 volunteers. And herewith a confession: I, myself, despite my love of Old Hollywood, was unfamiliar. I had seen only two of her movies and so long ago that I had next to no recollection. So I queued up her most famous picture, Laura (1944), which I'd somehow never seen even when I was a uncool kid in the horrific "colorizing" days of pop culture who relished seeing old black and white movies... 

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