25th Anniversary: Prince of Tides (1991)

by Eric Blume

Twenty five years ago, director Barbra Streisand delivered her big-screen adaptation of the Pat Conroy novel The Prince of Tides for Christmas.  The film went on to win the Best Actor Golden Globe for Nick Nolte, as well as seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture (but famously not a Best Director nod for Streisand).  

Looking at the film now, The Prince of Tides feels like a remnant from a lost Hollywood genre:  the mainstream, gimmick-free adult drama.  Streisand’s instincts lean to the commercial, and she’s fully devoted to the film’s rather banal psychobabble that purports how one good solid cry can heal a childhood rape.  The script may be as deep as a raindrop, but it has its strengths as well, and they’re strengths that align with Streisand’s own...

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Links: Rogue One, Hidden Figures, The OA

Gurus of Gold the latest Best Picture chart along with Globe predictions. I went out on a limb or two for fun because the Globes usually do at least one weird thing with winners.
Variety Guy Lodge on the foreign film finalist list 
Variety on the Peter Cushing visual fx in Rogue One and performers rights to their image after death (I suppose we should talk about this eventually but I am still really weirded out and uncomfortable about it)
Jezebel in case you missed the brouhaha about Tilda Swinton's conversation with Margaret Cho about whitewash casting in Doctor Strange 

Tracking Board Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig to headline a new musical comedy Everything's Coming Up Profits: The Golden Age of Industrial Musicals
The Gothamist loves Netflix's mystery series The OA [SPOILERS] from the pair that brought us that eco-terrorist thriller The East (Brit Marling & Zal Batmanglij), remember that one? I have only watched two episodes. Not sure that I get it. Feels padded and expository to me. I'll give it one more episode
Guardian talks to Sigourney Weaver, still going strong 37+ years into her big screen stardom
Coming Soon Ewan McGregor behind the scenes on T2 Trainspotting
Variety profiles great new director Garth Davis (Lion, Top of the Lake)
In Contention tries to figure out what the Makeup Oscar people might like in next week's bakeoff
Playbill First look at Philippa Soo in Broadway's adaptation of Amélie
Awards Daily Hidden Figures plays the White House. Headed for a Best Picture nod? 
/Film Josh Boone's initial plans for the movie franchise version of The New Mutants 

List-Mania
THR 25 best performances of the year - usual Oscar buzzing people plus a few interesting off-consensus choices like Kathryn Hahn in Bad Moms
Guardian 50 best comedies of all time - as chosen by comedians. 
Pajiba best lines of the year on TV 
Film School Rejects 50 most beautiful shots in Star Wars universe 

Podcast: Manchester by the Sea & Reader Questions

Katey, Nick, Joe and Nathaniel answer reader questions and discuss the new Kenneth Lonergan weepie

Index (43 minutes)
00:01 Manchester by the Sea
12:30 Separating art from artists
24:00 Director nominations and Ruth Negga in Loving
26:28 Things you should see that won't be nominated
31:00 Almodóvar's Julieta which we'll discuss later
34:30 Nomination Announcement Memories
37:20 Did we see these movies or not? 
39:00 How did Nick, Nathaniel, Joe, and Katey meet?

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments. Next podcast: La La Land and Lion

Manchester by the Sea

Guest Column: What if the US Voted like the Academy?

Dear Readers, We've nearly climbed out of our depressive hole that we fell into with last week's General Election, so while we struggle with those last few panting breaths to do so, I thought I'd turn the time over to a faithful reader Evan Stewart who has a "what if" scenario for us to contemplate. Hey, anything to distract us from the reality of the situation, right !? Consider this an exorcism of the election and also a perfect way to turn back to the Oscar race! Here's Evan!  -Editor

Like most Americans, I’ve spent the past week or so processing the results of Tuesday’s election, which has produced one of the biggest upsets in the history of American politics. My Facebook feed has been littered with posts urging for the repeal of the Electoral College, usually written by liberals upset that for the second time in sixteen years the candidate that earned a plurality of votes will not occupy the Oval Office. In going through the arguments for and against the Electoral College, I was pointed to a series of videos highlighting the problems with the “First Past the First”  (also known as the "Majority Rules" voting system). And in doing so, I’ve come to the conclusion that a better solution than a straight national popular vote might be for the U.S. to adopt a ballot that is similar to that of an institution very close to our hearts: the voting system that the Academy Awards has used to select its Best Picture since 2009.

What if the U.S. voted like the Academy?... 

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The Furniture: Designing Dignity in "How Green Was My Valley"

"The Furniture" our weekly series on Production Design. Here's Daniel Walber

Filmmaking is often an art borne of flexibility. Tim Burton built Sleepy Hollow from scratch when he couldn’t find just the right town in the real world. Vincente Minnelli was forced to make Brigadoon indoors in Hollywood, because the studio wouldn’t pay for an expensive production in Scotland. Both films are likely better for it, too.

The same is perhaps true for How Green Was My Valley, which premiered 75 years ago this week. John Ford wanted to make shoot it on location in Wales, but World War II intervened. Instead, the production team built an entire mining town in the Santa Monica Mountains. This condensed and idealized version of the setting of Richard Llewellyn’s 1939 novel is among the most emotionally resonant sets of its era.

The film won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Art Direction.

The design team consisted of Richard Day, Nathan H. Juran and Thomas Little, no stranger to Oscar success. They based their village on Gilfach Goch, a quintessential Welsh mining town, but they dramatically reduced the size and jammed the houses much closer to the colliery...

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