Almost There: Donald Sutherland in "Ordinary People"

by Cláudio Alves

Donald Sutherland is one of those actors who seem to be Oscar nominees even if they're not. Like Mia Farrow or John Goodman, Sutherland has been in so many awarded productions that he feels like the sort of person who should have the words "Academy Award nominee" appear before his name in trailers. He's almost an institution of American Cinema, his filmography full of historically important titles such as MASH and Klute. To think such a respected actor is still without an Oscar nomination is slightly inconceivable, but the lack of accolades never shocked Donald Sutherland himself.

In 1980, he was the only main actor of Best Picture-winner Ordinary People to be ignored by the Academy. When asked about the snub, he said: "I'm not surprised. I know that community and I didn't expect a nomination." That doesn't mean he didn't deserve one…

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Is Daniel Day-Lewis the best triple Oscar winner?

by Cláudio Alves

In the past 92 years, only a handful of performers have managed to win more than one Oscar. More than two is even rarer and more than three is a feat only ever achieved by Katharine Hepburn. In the relatively exclusive club of three-time Oscar-winning actors, we can find six names, four men and two women. Despite their golden prizes, perusing their winning performances can be a sad affair with most of them having at least one terrible victory in their collection. For Meryl Streep it's The Iron Lady, for Ingrid Bergman Anastasia and Murder on the Orient Express. Jack Nicholso's win for As Good As It Gets isn't very well-regarded and Walter Brennan's first two victories are rather dire.

Only one rises above the others as a perfect case of the Academy honoring an actor for the right performances. It's Daniel Day-Lewis, of course…

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Third Annual 'Ranking the Acting Clips' Post

by Ben Miller

For the third year, Nathaniel has been nice enough to let me rank the Oscar clips.  I was so excited to write this heading into Oscar night, until I saw the first clip package.  The Academy decided to shake things up and present a montage of clips for the group of nominees, so we have to work with what they gave us.  Presenting, the 2019 Oscar clips (sort of), ranked by quality.

That’s…a choice

Don't you EVER talk to your mother like that!

If something were to happen to my boss's car, well then I'd get in trouble."

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Film Bitch Awards - Traditional Categories Complete!

By now you've seen the long delayed top ten list and now the "traditional" (aka Oscar parallel) part of the Film Bitch Awards is complete with the addition of all four acting categories. If you'd like to see my 'alternate ballot' so to speak, that's there though are more "fun" categories to come since we'll try to wrap up the whole film year by NEXT weekend.

But first, THE OSCARS. TONIGHT. Here are the predictions and the nomination index if you're following along. 

The Curious Case of the Double Nominee

by Cláudio Alves

To get an Oscar nomination is a wonderful stroke of luck, to get two is even luckier. To get two in the same year is the equivalent of finding a four-leaf clover in a sprawling field. If you're an actor this is particularly true since the Academy's rules make it impossible for the same performer to get two nominations in the same category simultaneously. That's why, for instance, Margot Robbie could only score a single nomination this season. Both her contending performances were supporting roles so, even if she won enough votes for a double nomination -- which she might have if BAFTA is indication -- the performance with fewer votes would have been locked out. 

For Scarlett Johansson that wasn't a problem. Lead or Marriage Story and Supporting for Jojo Rabbit. She thus became the 12th actor to achieve this rare honor, the 9th woman, and if she wins either award, she'll be the 8th performer to do so. Statistically speaking, there's around 64% probability of victory for a double nominated actor. Let's celebrate the 12 double-nominated actors in the history of the Academy Awards after the jump…

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