Vintage '87 (and what would have been nominated in an expanded Best Picture list?)

The Supporting Actress Smackdown of 1987 is two weeks away so get your votes in! We've already had a lot of fun revisiting 1987 films but before we get to the main event let's get some general context of that year in showbiz history. Ready? 

Great Big Box Office Hits:
The comedy Three Men and a Baby, the erotic thriller Fatal Attraction, and the Eddie Murphy action comedy sequel Beverly Hills Cop II, and the Robin Williams vehicle Good Morning Vietnam were easily the four biggest hits of the year, box-office wise. The enduringly popular Moonstruck wasn't quite in their league in tickets sold back then but still very popular, rounding out the top five. The other top ten hits of that year were the acclaimed mobs vs feds costume drama The Untouchables, the now arguably forgotten comedies The Secret of My Success and Stakeout, and the buddy action movie Lethal Weapon (which spawned a franchise). 

The competition for #10 was down to just a $320,000 dollar difference with best-seller all-star adaptation The Witches of Eastwick just barely beating out teen favourite Dirty Dancing. But back in the 1980s adults actually went to the movies a lot rather than only obsessing over "peak TV"...

Oscar's Best Picture Nominees: Of those 11 box office smashes of '87, Oscar cherry picked Moonstruck (6 nominations) and Fatal Attraction (6 nominations) as the cream of the crop and included them in the Best Picture race (correct choices).The beloved Broadcast News (7 nominations) and the costume drama historical epic The Last Emperor (9 nominations) were also popular with Oscar voters (and ticket buyers, too, it should be noted)...

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Pt 2 - Looking at Netflix's contenders in all Oscar categories

by Juan Carlos Ojano

As explained in Part One we're looking at Netflix's deep slate this year and pinpointing how they might be competitive in each of the 23 Oscar categories (it used to be 24 categories but Sound Editing and Sound Mixing have now become one category). In part two, which follows after the jump, we're discussing the "big eight" marquee categories, plus animated feature...

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Middleburg Highlights: "Minari" and 'Coffee & Contenders'

by Nathaniel R

I had the pleasure of serving once again on Middleburg Film Festival's Oscar-discussion panel this past Friday. Jazz Tangcay, Clayton Davis, and I chose the name "Coffee & Contenders" because when we launched  the event last year it was first thing in the morning in a cozy room designed specifically for group gatherings at the Salamander Resort and Spa in Middleburg Virginia. You grabbed your complimentary coffee and pastries on the way in. This year we were completely virtual and on Zoom but the title was still literal. Coffees in hand we discussed the race.

The race is a mess of possibility without much clarity. It's not that there aren't contenders or reason to celebrate film (see Juan Carlos' recent rant). It's that we're in uncharted territory given the pandemic and suddenly virtual nature of movies and campaigning; Publicists and awards strategists have their work cut out for them! 

But let's talk about the winning film...

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A Different Take on "The Trial of the Chicago 7"

by Eric Blume

We embrace respectful differences of opinion here at TFE, so with all due respect to my fellow staff writer Tony, who just gave Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 a rave review, I offer a dissenting opinion.  Fortunately thanks to Tony’s great synopsis, I can cut right to the chase.  I love Aaron Sorkin as much as the next guy, thinking his scripts for both The Social Network and Steve Jobs are essentially masterpieces, and even thinking more favorably upon Molly’s Game than most:  it had its own mini-sweep of energy and he tapped into all the things that make Jessica Chastain special. 

But there’s not a frame of Sorkin’s new movie that felt authentic or assured to me...

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Monty @ 100: Oscar nominated again for "Judgment at Nuremberg"

by Baby Clyde

1961 Monty was a shadow of his former self. Long gone were days of matinee idol status and teeny boppers swooning over his dreamboat looks. As has already been expertly detailed by my colleagues Montgomery Clift’s career is one of two halves. By this point he was deep into the second half and the eventual outcome seemed inevitable, but that didn’t mean he was unable to still produce the goods...

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