Almost There: Bette Davis in "Of Human Bondage"

by Cláudio Alves

Nowadays, Oscar snubs generate justifiable fire on social media and occassionally even get primetime attention. However, they're not huge stories that threaten the existence and validity of the Academy itself. It wasn't always like this. Back in the early days of the Oscars, some snubs were so outrageous they made fear blossom in the hearts of Academy members, threatening to invalidate the entire (new) institution in the eyes of the general public. So much so, that new rules were put in place to avoid similar outcomes, write-in votes were allowed and apologies were handed out in the shape of what we now call a career Oscar.

Such was the case in the mid-30s when Bette Davis made Of Human Bondage, defied Hollywood's expectations, became a sudden star and still failed to get the Academy Award nomination most thought she deserved…

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Streaming Roulette: Mister Tibbs, Maria Braun, Alfred Kinsey

by Nathaniel R

If you're new to the site this is how we share new streaming offerings for the month. We select a handful (or two) of titles and just randomly hit a place on the scroll bar to see what the film looks like - no cheating. Sadly despite the so-called "streaming wars" there just isn't much out there to suggest that any of the channels (barring the must-have Criterion Channel) want any viewers who are obsessed with anything other than decent to lame movies made between 2002-2019. Even the 1990s are getting fairly uncommon to see on streaming services. Ready? Let's play...

I think we should go very soon... like... RIGHT NOW."

Outbreak (1995) on Netflix
What better time to watch this oldie but right now in the midst of another massive global health scare. (In truth I barely remember this picture other than finding it ridiculous at the time. But then, I was younger and it's a truth that young people dont scare as easily as older people when it comes to their mortality.)

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Cesar Winners: "Les Misérables" is tops... but now we're curious about "La Belle Epoque"

Yes yes, we were supposed to be taking the weekend off. But we forgot about the Césars held yeseterday in France. So...

Cast & Crew of "Les Miserables" at the Cesars

While Roman Polanski's "J'Accuse!" led the César nominations in the end it lost "Best Film" to France's Oscar nominated Les Misérables. Both films won multiple prizes. Curiously considering two prizes for Polanski himself, two films which center on the sexual abuse of kids (By the Grace of God and "M") also won Césars. The dramedy La Belle Epoque, starring longtime gallic icons Daniel Auteuil and Fanny Ardant, also made a strong showing with 3 wins. A complete list of winners, some stats, and the trailer to La Belle Epoque are after the jump...

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Beauty Sleep

After wrapping up the film year and February ending TFE needs some beauty sleep but we'll back on Sunday night or Monday morning, refreshed. Have fun this weekend! See lots of movies. 

COMING IN MARCH
Celebrations of Toshiro Mifune for his centennial and Rachel Weisz for her 50th + the new Smackdown schedule + trips to the movie theater for Wendy, Saint Frances, The Hunt, A Quiet Place Part 2, Emma. And you know how we love anniversaries so we'll look back at The Picture of Dorian Gray, Tristana, and Muriel's Wedding for their 75th, 50th, 25th respectively. All that plus whatever you assign us on streaming since that Voyage experience went well. 

February. It's a Wrap

Here are some highlights you might have missed from the month that was. (Yes, there's one day left but we're taking a weekend) 

Voyage of the Damned (1976) you assigned us this topic. We'll do another reader's choice soon
Carol 2 ??? No, it's just a set photo from Nightmare Alley.
10 Unforgettable Oscar Moments - what were your favourites?
And Then We Danced don't miss this lovely drama about gay dancers in homophobic Georgia
Birds of Prey hasn't been superhero-sized hit but Chris liked it
Sundance Sum Up - Murtada tells us how it was in snowy Park City
The French Dispatch - are you excited for Wes Anderson's latest? 
Interview: Rodrigo Prieto the great cinematographer looks back at his career and why he's an auteur favourite
Nathaniel's top 10 of 2019 Woman at War, Marriage Story, The Farewell etc
2019 Film Coverage is a Wrap a guide to all our coverage of the year that was