Joaquin Phoenix @ 50: An Alternative Oscar History

by Cláudio Alves

Joaquin Phoenix's last great performance was in C'MON C'MON.

Do you have your own dream Oscar ballots lying around? I've been doing them for ages, probably since first finding The Film Experience and becoming entranced by Nathaniel's Film Bitch Awards. In recent years, the mountains of notebooks finally came to be formally digitized, starting with the long process of creating Letterboxd lists out of every Oscar eligibility rulebook, going back to 1927. This way, I was able to make a massive Excel spreadsheet with ballots for every year, following AMPAS guidelines. Oh well, much ado about nothing. The only reason I'm bringing this up is to contextualize the bizarre birthday post in store for today, when Joaquin Phoenix celebrates his mid-century mark. 

As the Todd Haynes fiasco and the disappointing Joker diptych have made Joaquin Phoenix something of a sore subject, let's go back to happier times and better movies. Indeed, let me present an alternative Oscar history. The thespian remains a winner but under very different circumstances…

Click to read more ...

"Harry and Tonto" @50: In defense of Art Carney's Oscar Win

by Cláudio Alves

After the dust settles and the rush of euphoria dissipates, an Oscar victory can be cause for woe rather than joy. Sometimes, a win is a loss in the big picture, even something of a curse. The effects may not be immediate or felt in the flesh by the prizewinner. Not in life, at least. It's their legacy that takes the toll. Those considered robbed will always have their defenders, misfortune becoming legend, another kind of validation no less impressive than the little gold man they failed to grasp. But those who the Academy rewarded are a different story. They become villains in recollection, mayhap fools. It's a sad affair because, more often than not, those whom history paints in these unfortunate colors are themselves robbed. The glory of victory isn't theirs to enjoy, merit buried by outrage over injustice. 

Such is the case of Art Carney, who won the Best Actor Oscar at the 47th Academy Awards for the now 50-year-old Harry and Tonto, besting such high-regarded turns as Pacino in The Godfather Part II and Nicholson in Chinatown. Did he deserve the prize? Maybe not. Does he deserve to have his triumph regarded as a mistake, a joke, a robbery? Hell no…

Click to read more ...

"Come to the Stable" and Tennis Nuns

by Nick Taylor

Today is the 75th anniversary of Come to the Stable, which has to rank among the most inoffensive, featherweight films to earn seven nominations from Thee Academy Awards. The story of two nuns, Sister Margaret (Loretta Young) and Sister Scholastica (Celeste Holm), who travel all the way from France to a wintry New England township so they can build a hospital. “Why do they go all the way to New England” you might ask, but who cares!

Specific details about why things happen are not the draw of Come to the Stable. A musician/landlord named Bob does not want the nuns to build their new hospital on a hill he owns for some reason, which doesn’t stop them from securing a plot of land and importing two dozen of their Sisters from France. At one point the nuns sneak into a gangster’s suite and successfully convince him to sell the aforementioned plot of land after they trade stories about serving in World War II. In short, every obstacle to Sister Margaret and Sister Scholastica getting what they want proves powerless in the face of their somewhat savvy, utterly guileless embodiments of faith. However, there is one enemy the women cannot pray away, one barrier they must overcome with strength, vigor, and attention. That barrier’s name, you might ask? She’s called tennis . . . .

Click to read more ...

Ranking Alan Menken's Oscar Nominations

by Cláudio Alves

Alan Menken accepts the Best Original Song Oscar for BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.
Earlier this week, Alan Menken celebrated his 75th birthday. As a stage composer turned motion picture maestro, he's authored a number of original musicals, enchanting generations across the decades. Indeed, many could probably credit Disney's favorite composer with the soundtrack of their childhood – I know I can. For his efforts, Menken amassed 19 Oscar nominations and eight victories, many of which he shared with the writers who put words to his music. To celebrate the man's legacy, I shall give him the same treatment bestowed on John Williams a few months ago and rank all his nods, both in the score and song categories…

Click to read more ...

Happy 100, Eva Marie Saint!

by Cláudio Alves

ON THE WATERFRONT (1954) Elia Kazan

Happy belated birthday, USA! Happy belated birthday, Caesar Salad!! And happy belated birthday, Eva Marie Saint!!!

This past Fourth of July, the Edie to Brando's Terry Malloy celebrated her one-hundredth turn 'round the sun. As a centenary, Saint is the oldest living and earliest surviving Academy Award winner, keeping our connection to Old Hollywood alive at a time when even the 1970s renegades seem to be leaving us. Reflecting on her long career, one can trace the parallel, often juxtaposed, evolution of the American film industry. And yet, Eva Marie Saint rose to stardom on a wave of innovation, revolutionary acting styles and approaches, her presence like a promise of new things to come…

Click to read more ...