Almost There: Melanie Griffith in "Something Wild"

by Cláudio Alves

The 59th Academy Awards showcased a rare variety of genres in its acting honors. Usually, AMPAS restricts itself to prestige dramas, but they were atypically adventurous in 1986. Best Actress alone featured a sci-fi action epic, nostalgic time-travel fantasy, a black comedy on themes of suicide and murder, trashy neo-noir, and, of course, the respectable adaptation of a dramatic play. It's a pity that, amid all this, there wasn't space for some lighthearted romantic comedy. No matter how popular it is, it seems that genre always has some difficulty getting into the awards conversation. As for the 1986 crop of romcoms, none feels more like an "Almost There" case than Jonathan Demme's Something Wild. While arguments could be made for all its principal players, we shall focus on the picture's beguiling leading lady, Melanie Griffith…

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How Had I Never Seen..."Blue Velvet"

We're revisiting 1986 this month leading up to the next Supporting Actress Smackdown. 

by Ben Miller

I’m not a David Lynch person.  My first exposure to anything he made was The Straight Story, the most un-Lynchian thing he ever did.  I wasn’t around the people who cared about Twin Peaks the television show, the film or the subsequent revival series.  I enjoy the levels of surreal like David Cronenberg and Yorgos Lanthimos, but Lynch is a level of bizzare I wasn’t willing to commit myself to caring about.

But, being the Oscar completist that I am, I gave a shot to Mulholland Drive, and I really took to it.  It was during the viewing of Mulholland Drive that I realized what made Lynch different from other filmmakers...

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Vintage '86

The Smackdown of '86 (with special guests) arrives in just 9 days. Before we get to the main event let's talk about what people were talking about that year in film, television, stage, music, and books... 

Great Big Box Office Hits: Movie stars rather than IP still ruled so the top ten made room for Tom Cruise, Eddie Murphy, and Bette Midler vehicles along with just 3 sequels (can you imagine a top ten box office of the year with just 3 sequels nowadays? It's hard to do). Military men and women were also the rage with the marines of Aliens, the airforce bros of Top Gun, and the traumatized foot soldiers of Platoon all extremely popular with moviegoers.

1. Top Gun (military drama)
2. Crocodile Dundee (comedy)
3. Platoon (military drama)
4. Karate Kid Part II (sequel)
5. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (sci-fi sequel)...

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1986: Straight Best Friends

Before each Smackdown, suggestions for alternates to Oscar's roster... 

Tilda Swinton in "Caravaggio"

1986 was, from the digging I've done, a fascinating year for queer cinema. Some of the films originated in '85 but belatedly hit the US  in 1986, disparate efforts such as Desert Hearts, My Beautiful Laundrette, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2, and What Have I Done To Deserve This?!. Meanwhile, Working Girls premiered at that year’s Cannes but didn’t get a US release until February 1987. All of these films showed up in one form or another alongside pure-cut ‘86 releases like Parting Glances and Caravaggio, indicating a shifting tide of indie and mainstream cinema with vested, complex, even sympathetic interests in LGBT themes and characters, often made by queer filmmakers. Not only that, but the films themselves are risky and provocative. Save for the deeply unpleasant Mala Noche, all are worth real engagement, and you couldn’t go wrong checking out any of them.

Still, it must be asked - what about the straight people? What is their contribution here? What about the S.B.F.? Y’know, the Straight Best Friend?

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A Room With a View Pt 2: Sacred puddles and stuffy engagements

Previously in our deep dive retrospective into A Room With a View (1986), Cláudio considered Lucy Honeychurch's Florentine summer and the sharp storytelling instincts of one James Ivory in the director's chair.  Sensual Italy was viewed with both wonder and suspicion as proper English decorum played constant defence against passion. And, as Mr Emerson might add, played offense with its other sworn enemy "common sense". We also met the classic film's remarkable cast of characters (though there are three key introductions left).

A ROOM WITH A VIEW
(a three part miniseries)
part 2 by Nathaniel R

39:13 After Lucy and George's very decorum-breaking makeout sesh in the countryside, the parties involved have all high-tailed it back to their pensione to retire for the night. Their heads are still spinning from the events of the day. Particularly (poor) Charlotte's. "What is to be done? How do you propose to silence him?" is her four alarm question to Lucy. Lucy, for a delicious beat too long in the shot above, doesn't appear to be listening; we know exactly where her head is at.

Please note that this shot of Lucy comes brilliantly on the heels of a pan up from George running, elated, in the rain into stormy clouds. Cut to this beautiful frame of Helena Bonham Carter, her head still in that passionate storm, her glorious mane as wild as nature itself. Charlotte is brushing it so violently it's like she's trying to tame it...

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