TIFF: Austria’s Oscar entry ‘Corsage’ starring Vicky Krieps

By Abe Friedtanzer

Actress Vicky Krieps, who was introduced to American audiences in a big way in a performance that should have earned her an Oscar nomination for Phantom Thread, is getting a lot of work lately. She had a prominent role in M. Night Shyamalan’s Old and stars in Mathieu Amalric’s Hold Me Tight, which is now playing in theaters. Most notably, she tied for the best performance prize in the 'Un Certain Regard' section at Cannes this summer for Corsage. It's a movie she both conceived of and executive produced, and now it's become Austria’s official Oscar entry.

Krieps plays Elisabeth, the Empress of Austria in 1878. The popular royal figurehead is turning forty, and she’s also watching her life slip away as her husband, Emperor Franz Joseph (Florian Teichtmeister), relegates her to uninteresting duties that don’t serve any true purpose...

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Almost There: Nancy Kwan in "The World of Suzie Wong"

by Cláudio Alves

Arthur Dong's documentary Hollywood Chinese, about the complicated history of Chinese and Chinese American lives on the big screen, serves as a starting point for one of the Criterion Channel's new collections. Spanning over a century of American filmmaking and 24 films, this curated program highlights issues of representation, racism, erasure, and more. At the same time, it serves as a chance to illuminate the cinematic contributions of marginalized artists who found unlikely success in Hollywood. They were people like the Chinese-American cinematographer James Wong Howe, Taiwanese director Ang Lee, and Hong Kong-born American actress and dancer Nancy Kwan.

In 1960, Kwan made her film debut in Richard Quine's The World of Suzie Wong, became an overnight star, and surely came closer to that elusive Best Actress Oscar nomination than most performers of Asian descent…

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Almost There: Myrna Loy in "The Thin Man"

by Cláudio Alves

A story of revisits and returns. The Criterion Channel's current Myrna Loy Collection provides us with an ideal opportunty to discuss the the Old Hollywood star. This marks her as the first performer to have three episodes in the Almost There series. So it's time to delve into two of my favorite subjects: The Thin Man franchise and the chaotic Best Actress category of 1934. For the latter, you can check out the analysis of Bette Davis' historical snub in Of Human Bondage. For the former, I once reviewed the first Thin Man movie, describing its star power and alluding to the sequels' decreasing merits, all eminently entertaining despite their drop in quality.

After reading those pieces for some added context, come back to explore the specificities of Myrna Loy's rightfully legendary turn as Nora Charles…

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Tennessee Williams @ the Oscars

by Cláudio Alves

Vivien Leigh accepts her second Oscar in 1952.

The Supporting Actress Smackdown of 1951 is coming at the end of the month, bringing with it a revisit to the first Tennessee Williams adaptation to catch the Academy's eye. Elia Kazan's A Streetcar Named Desire marked the start of a period when Hollywood couldn't get enough of the American playwright, bringing most of his celebrated texts to the screen in big studio productions that attracted the cream of the talent crop of filmmakers and actors. These projects were incredibly captivating for the latter, with their guarantee of juicy roles prone to critical acclaim. Over just fourteen years, 19 performances were Oscar-nominated, and five won. 

Let's explore the list of AMPAS-approved Williams adaptations, find out where one can watch them, and share some Oscar trivia along the way... 

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Almost There: Pam Grier in "Jackie Brown"

by Cláudio Alves

Last week, the Almost There series featured the likely sixth-placer in the 1997 Best Supporting Actress Oscar race. However, as much as Sigourney Weaver seemed poised for Academy recognition, hers wasn't the year's biggest snub. That sad honor belongs to Pam Grier, whose star turn in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown earned nearly-unanimous critical praise and sturdy precursor support. Like John Travolta before her, she was a movie icon from two decades prior now fallen from the spotlight, an erstwhile star reintroduced within the context of a verbose acting showcase with modern verve. So if Travolta scored a nod for Pulp Fiction, why didn't Grier do the same with Jackie Brown?

The answers to that question are many and most dispiriting, especially if, like me, you find Jackie Brown to be one of its director's best films. That love extends to Grier, whose lack of an Oscar nomination stands out as one of the Academy's greatest injustices in the 90s…

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