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Entries in Best Actress (860)

Sunday
Jul102022

Revisiting "The Wings of the Dove"

by Cláudio Alves

In 1997, Eduardo Serra became the first Portuguese person to be nominated for an Academy Award. This honor came thanks to his work in The Wings of the Dove, a Henry James adaptation directed by Iain Softley. This piece of trivia was one of the reasons I was so eager to watch the film as I first started to fall in love with movie awards. The other point of interest was Helena Bonham Carter, for whom I had a raging fandom in my early teens. After all, this was also the picture that had earned the actress her first nomination. It should have also won her the statuette. This was the first film I remember looking for with such avidness, going into international sites so I could order a DVD from abroad. 

I fell in love with The Wings of the Dove when I was thirteen, and that passion has only strengthened in the years since. Indeed, every time I revisit it, I find new details worthy of admiration…

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Thursday
Jul072022

Almost There: Jamie Lee Curtis in "True Lies"

by Cláudio Alves

When announcing his honors for the year's first half, Nathaniel cited Jamie Lee Curtis among his Supporting Actress favorites. If Everything Everywhere All At Once keeps its buzz going into the awards season properly, we might see Curtis among this year's Oscar contenders. This Hollywood princess turned erstwhile scream queen has had a storied career full of outstanding performances, and it's about time the Academy pays her respect. Maybe the reason for her nomination-less state is that Curtis' best work tends to happen when she's playing in genre pictures – comedy, action, and horror. Such is the case of 1994's True Lies, a James Cameron-helmed action-comedy for which the actress got some buzz.

As we wait to see how Curtis' new Oscar hopes pan out, let's look back to the 90s and re-examine the actress' take on the character of Helen Tasker…

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Tuesday
Jun282022

Almost There: Sally Field in "Steel Magnolias"

by Cláudio Alves

As Pride Month 2022 draws to a close, the appetite for frothy camp classic entertainment remains unchanged and unlikely ever to die. Some, if not most, of the films to achieve such status aren't even tangentially queer-themed, gaining their iconic status through other means. Such is the case of Herbert Ross' film adaptation of Steel Magnolias. Written for the stage by Robert Harling, this southern dramedy is a blush and bashful delight, originally sold as the funniest movie to make you cry. Despite a famous locker room scene with plenty of hunks on display, the flick's queer fandom can be attributed to its cavalcade of divas, from fresh-faced Julia Roberts to the cantankerous marvel of Shirley MacLaine's Ouiser.

Though Roberts was the only performer to get any Academy love, she's far from the picture's acting MVP. That honor falls on Sally Field, who might have come close to a third Oscar nod for her work as M'Lynn…

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Monday
Jun272022

Klute, pt 3: Fresh Produce, Real Tears, and a Sick Confession

In the first third of Klute (1971) we met the two fascinating central characters, a smart angry prostitute/actress Bree Daniels (Jane Fonda) and a hard-to-read detective John Klute (Donald Sutherland) investigating the disappearance of a man who might have been her client. In the middle of the picture, a volatile romance between the two blossoms just as the speculative danger becomes real. 

part 3 by Mark Brinkerhoff

01:17:20 As we left part two of this retrospective, the body of another of Bree's friends was found. Klute is putting the pieces together and it doesn't look great for Bree, the only one of the three prostitutes involved with the mystery man who is still alive. Boy does the suspense really ratchet up towards the end! So we'll keep this final installment briefer in appreciation of quickening heartbeats...

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Thursday
Jun232022

Klute, pt 1: Auditions, Tricks, and Transformations

Occasionally we'll take a movie and baton pass it around the team and really dive in. If you missed past installments we've gone long and deep on Rebecca (1940), West Side Story (1961),  Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966), Rosemary's Baby (1968), Cabaret (1972), Silence of the Lambs (1991), Thelma & Louise (1991), Aladdin (1992) and A League of Their Own (1992).  

KLUTE
A Mini-Series Retrospective with "Best Shot" Choice
Part 1 by Nathaniel R


The Oscar winning thriller Klute (1971) is now just over a half-century old. Since it's a personal favourite of mine, and features the iconic Jane Fonda in her first Best Actress winning performance, it's high time we really gave it its due here at The Film Experience. So let's start from the beginning and dive into what makes it great. Along the way we'll pick a "Best Shot" from each section, too, to coincide with that series...

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