Almost There: Paul Newman & Robert Redford in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"

by Cláudio Alves

From 1944 to 2008, we had a five-wide Best Picture race in the Oscars, as well as four acting categories. During those years, it became rare for a movie to score a Picture nomination without also nabbing some sort of acting nod. It was especially unusual for the majority of a given line-up to be devoid of acting nods, happening only three times during those 65 years. One of those times was the 1969 Academy Awards, when Z, Hello, Dolly! and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid didn't get any love from the acting branch. Considering the general bias against "foreign language" performances and the horrible reviews of a certain musical, it's easy to understand why the actors of Z and Hello, Dolly! went unrecognized. But what about the revisionist western in the bunch?…

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Horror Actressing: Jessica Lange in "Cape Fear"

by Jason Adams

It was said that the director Ken Russell helped the actor Oliver Reed modulate his performances with a scale ranging from "Moody One" to "Moody Two." And while I am in no way insinuating that the actress Jessica Lange has in any way that sort of limited range -- step off, Lange-anistas, I love her too! -- it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility to gauge her work on a sliding scale of how much hand fluttering each role involves. And using that system Cape Fear comes out, blissfully, near the top.

Normally if I was feeling inclined to talk about the terrific actressing going on in Martin Scorsese's hot-brained 1991 remake I'd make a bee-line straight for the (rightfully) Oscar-nominated Juliette Lewis, who's the best in show over every single one of her far older and more experienced co-stars...

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April Foolish Predix Pt 3: Directors and Screenplays

The even more foolish (in light of the current pandemic) annual tradition of "April Foolish Predictions" continues. As ever we're trying to suss out the Oscar race a year in advance. Well, 10 months in advance if you're getting nitpicky. We've previously covered Animated Features, Visual Categories, Music and Sound. Here's the index of predictions.

SCREENPLAYS
Depending on what happens with the calendar in terms of movie theaters reopening and distributor confidence Original Screenplay will be slimmer than usual. But how slim...?

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Under the Sun of Satan: Did it deserve the boos?

by Cláudio Alves

Films being booed at Cannes has stopped being newsworthy. Over the years, countless pictures were received by a chorus of boos when they bowed at the Croisette, either because of their daring qualities or the transgressive nature of their subject matters. Rare is the true mediocrity that earns boos. For those unhappy films, indifference is a more common laurel than a crown of controversy. One of the most famous examples of a film being publicly reviled at Canne was in the 1987 edition when Maurice Pialat's Under the Sun of Satan was unanimously voted as the Palme d'Or winner only to be lambasted on the spot by a furious audience.

Accepting his award amid the vitriolic chaos, the first French director to win that honor since 1966, spoke with his usual combativeness...

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Dinner with... Mrs Peacock

First course: Red wine. Shark's fin soup. Slurping and silence...

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