10 Questions about the Oscar race

by Nathaniel R

Every Oscar chart has been updated. Late October is always a strange time in the awards race. It's a time when most of the major players have surfaced (at festivals or screenings) but nobody has yet seen everything and no awards groups (beyond festival juries) have sorted and sifted through the abundance. Which means anything is still possible until the critics groups and awards org begin to narrow the focus of Academy voters in ways that tend to be both interesting and disheartening. They'll boost a couple of unexpected but worthy contenders into the conversation but at the same time their hive mind choices will pour abundant love on too few titles and starve other beauties of sunlight and water.

So as you peruse the charts, answer these ten questions in the comments...

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What If... Glenn Close had won?

by Cláudio Alves

Glenn Close in THE DELIVERANCE (2024) Lee Daniels | © Netflix

Oscar obsessives everywhere know the dark and winding road of 'what if' like the back of their hand. What if my favorite had won? How would that change things down the line? What's the domino effect in Oscar history? What about film history? It can be a fun exercise, but it's also a shortcut to madness if you're not careful about it. That's especially true when considering one of those Academy Award sad sacks, the unlucky few who've earned multiple nominations yet never get the gold. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride - the Deborah Kerrs and Peter O'Tooles of the world. Or, for a more contemporary example, the Glenn Closes.

Speaking of that Oscar-less titan, her new movie is now in theaters and will soon arrive on Netflix. As we wait for Lee Daniels' The Deliverance to hit streaming, let's celebrate Close with some awards lunacy. Let's reflect on what would have happened if she had been victorious in one of those eight bids for gold…

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April Foolish Predictions: Best Supporting Actor

by Nathaniel R

Samuel L Jackson was Tony-nominated for The Piano Lesson on Broadway. Will the transfer result in another Oscar nomination?

It's the last four days of April Foolish Predcitions and, thus, time for the acting categories. A year out nobody knows anything, particularly in regards to the supporting categories since they're less dependent on juicy obvious-from-a-distance leading roles and far more dependent on things you can't really know in advance like who will "steal" the movie, how large their supporting roles will be, and whether they'll film will have enough heat to ignite their campaigns. This is when it's most fun, especially in the supporting categories where you can imagine almost anything happen. By the time the televised awards roll around each year there is zero drama in Best Supporting Actor (though we infrequenely see some in Best Supporting Actress).

Last year's lopsided contest was the Robert vs Ryan showdown with two full blown movie stars competing for the supporting gold, one leaning into a career achievement narrative while the other was content to ride his film's pink zeitgeist wave rather than worry about the gold...

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Almost There: Robert De Niro in "Mean Streets"

by Cláudio Alves

Fifty years ago today, the 46th Academy Awards took place in Los Angeles. It was a starry night, as Oscar nights often are, and The Sting would end the ceremony as its big winner. The Exorcist and The Way We Were also did well for themselves, illustrating a push-and-pull between modernity and tradition as the industry tried to reckon with the nascent Old Hollywood movement within its ranks. Indeed, that same year, an up-and-coming New York-based filmmaker had premiered his third feature to great acclaim. Amid its cast was an actor who'd become one of his most important collaborators, a creative partnership that lasts till today and has shaped a good part of American film history.

Mean Streets was also the first time Robert De Niro entered the Oscar conversation. Critics singled him out for his turn as Scorsese's Johnny Boy…

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Louis Gossett Jr. (1936-2024)

by Cláudio Alves

THE COLOR PURPLE (2023) Blitz Bazawule

Yesterday, in a public statement, the family of Louis Gossett Jr. announced the actor's death. He was 87, and though no cause was revealed, he had been fighting prostate cancer for the past decade. Mourning the loss of such an artist is to celebrate the person and the performer, remembering his work across decades, from stage to screen, big and small. No genre was beneath him, no role beyond his range, be it a lead part or a supporting turn that showed up for just one scene or two. Indeed, earlier this year, Gossett received a SAG ensemble nomination for his work in The Color Purple musical. 

Speaking of awards, this thespian is a history-making figure for Oscar obsessives. After all, he was the first Black man to win the Best Supporting Actor trophy…

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