Smackdown '85: Anjelica, Amy, Meg, Margaret and Oprah

Presenting the Supporting Actresses of '85. It was all scandal all the time at this colorful party. There were three much gossiped about women (a mafia princess, a drunk promiscuous entertainer, and a delusional pregnant nun) and two stubborn women who were just NOT having either the gossip or the abusive and cheating men around them. It was the about appreciating the color purple (Oprah & Margaret), seeing red (Amy & Meg), and embracing jet black comedy (Anjelica).

THE NOMINEES 

from left to right: Avery, Huston, Madigan, Tilly, and Winfrey

Oscar celebrated newcomers in 1985 with a shortlist composed entirely of first timers. All five actresses were relatively inexperienced (as Oscar lists go) having made less than ten films each so no overdue conversations were to be had. One of them (Oprah Winfrey) was even making her film debut though the eventual winner (Anjelica Huston) was already Hollywood royalty, being the daughter of the film titan directing her and the girlfriend of the superstar headlining her Best Picture nominated vehicle.

Notable women who Oscar didn't nominate were Globe nominees Kelly McGillis (Witness) and Sonia Braga (Kiss of the Spider Woman), BAFTA nominees Judi Dench (Wetherby) and Tracey Ullman (Plenty), and BAFTA winner Rosanna Arquette (Desperately Seeking Susan)... who was very much a leading lady but you know how awards season is! Other key supporting players that attracted critical attention and/or movie fans in 1985 were Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy (The Breakfast Club), Demi Moore and Mare Winningham (St Elmo's Fire), Isabella Rossellini and Helen Mirren (White Nights), Madonna (Desperately Seeking Susan), Lea Thompson (Back to the Future), Laura Dern (Mask), Ann Wedgeworth (Sweet Dreams), and Mieko Harada (Ran).

THIS MONTH'S PANELISTS

from left to right: Zehetner, Virtel, Nathaniel R, Nazemian, Morgan

Here to talk about these five nominated turns, in reverse alphabetical order: Actress Nora Zehetner (Creative Control, Brick), comedian/writer Louis Virtel  (Billy on the Street, Throwing Shade), your host Nathaniel R (The Film Experience), novelist/producer Abdi Nazemian ("The Authentics" and Call Me By Your Name), and writer/director Michelle Morgan (It Happened in LA). And now it's time for the main event... 

1985
SUPPORTING ACTRESS SMACKDOWN  

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On This Day: The Bling Ring, Bambi, Prizzi's Honor...

Okay, let's get back on track with a robust daily blogging schedule here at TFE. Happy Wednesday y'all. Here are your 5 assignments for the day.

5 Ways to Honor This Day (June 14th) in History

2013 The Bling Ring opens in movie theaters. By and large people fail to recognize its brilliance immediately. This is the same thing that happens to almost every Sofia Coppola movie.

In its honor: Take all early reactions to The Beguiled, good bad or indifferent, with a huge grain of salt. It opens very soon but first impressions are not likely to last. Her movies are sticky.

1985 John Huston's penultimate movie Prizzi's Honor starring Jack Nicholson, Katheen Turner, and eventual Oscar winner Anjelica Huston, opens in theaters. It's not even the earliest release for a Best Picture nominee that year! Get this statistic...

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Tribeca 2017: Thirst Street

Indefatigable Jason Adams with another review from Tribeca!

For anyone who's ever felt like the most pathetic poke in the cabbage patch I give you Thirst Street, a hyper-fevered ode to our most self-destructive urges. Narrated by Anjelica Huston!

You think you're bad, refreshing your oblivious self-assigned amour's Facebook feed ten times a day? Wait til you catch a load of Gina (played by a madly committed Lindsay Burdge), the flight attendant fleeing her barely-cold ex's corpse to stalk a one-night stand with all the force of a category four... 

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Beauty vs Beast: Red & Green & Tangerine

Jason from MNPP here, wishing you and yours a Ha Ha Happy Holidays with a Ho Ho Ho in your heart -- since it's Christmas Week I figured what better way to celebrate the festive mood than with the hilarious and heartfelt brand new Christmas classic, right up there with Batman Returns and Eyes Wide Shut, that is Sean Baker's Tangerine. Like Keiran argued recently my favorite character in the film is also Alexandra (played by a lovely Mya Taylor), but for "Beauty vs Beast" purposes its gotta be Sin-dee (the very funny Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) versus her pimp-snatching rival and "real fish girl" Dinah (Mickey O'Hagan's hilarious performance should be getting more attention too)...

PREVIOUSLY Two weeks ago we looked back at the 25th anniversary of The Grifters and set two of TFE's fave actresses against each other in a con-woman cage-match -- well repeating history it was tough mama Lilly (played by a maybe never better Anjelica Huston) who shoved her way to the front with over 70% of your vote! Said kermit_the_frog:

"I choose Huston here - Tthe Grifters is a far more sinister and unpleasant film than I first thought it was. That Huston makes you actively root for the character is achievement in itself. By the way, I nominate Huston twice in Best Actress 1990 - this and The Witches (I've never understood the annoying 'one nomination per category' rule!"

Beauty vs Beast: Everything's Coming Up Con

Jason from MNPP here with our weekly battle of the good-to-bad guys called "Beauty vs Beast" -- today I'm taking us deep inside all of the shades of gray in between. This past weekend marked the 25th anniversary of Stephen Frears' first US film, the electric noir The Grifters, which came out in limited release on December 5th, 1990. It is a very good movie! If you haven't seen it in awhile, you should. It was nominated for four Oscars -- Frears was nominated for Director, writer Donald Westlake got a Best Adapted nod, and the final two nominations went to the two lovely, too awful ladies making muck out of John Cusack's poor-sap-life...

PREVIOUSLY We're really loving on the year 1990 this month - last week it was Misery's turn, and with a swing of the sledgehammer Annie Wilkes took Paul Sheldon down for the count again, walking off with just over 3/4s of the vote. James Caan had his cheerleaders though (besides myself, even) - here's what brookesboy says:

"Kathy is so entertaining in this, but Annie is torturing some poor dude who does not deserve it one lil bit. And I don't know anyone who isn't fully delighted when Paul cracks her skull with that brass pig. Annie gets the bronze--where it counts; Paul gets the gold."