Best Supporting Actress in the 80s: An Alternative Oscar History

by Cláudio Alves

Out of Oscar's Best Supporting Actress winners from the 80s, Anjelica Huston is the only one who repeats the feat in my ballot. But not for PRIZZI'S HONOR!

Since the Best Actress post did so well, let's tackle another category in my Alternate Oscar history. We're still keeping with the thespians and the divas, because those are always the most beloved races here at The Film Experience. Once again, I followed Oscar eligibility rules when building these ballots, but also included honorable mentions, ineligible standouts, and some enticing prospects for some future movie-watching adventures. Any and all recommendations are welcome, of course, and you're welcome to tear these lineups to shreds – as if you needed an invitation. From 1980 to 1989, from actresses playing actresses to screen sirens for the videotape age, here are my Best Supporting Actress picks for our "Totally Awesome 80s" month…

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Let's play the Recasting Game! JLaw Edition

by Cláudio Alves

Here, at the Film Experience, we value the readers' input, good or bad, be it the sharing of a divergent opinion or even suggestions for future posts. Consider how Juan Carlos Ojano's latest Hello Gorgeous piece, about the 2012 Best Actress nominees, led many to discuss the contenders' broad careers, way beyond those five specific turns and those same characters' introductions. Longtime reader and commenter Mr Ripley79 even speculated that we could do a whole post on Jennifer Lawrence's three Oscar-nominated David O. Russell films. Specifically, one about her miscasting – mostly due to the actress' age – and who could have played those roles instead. So, here we are. Let's play the recasting game…

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Target Audience: Victor / Victoria (1982)

by Nathaniel R

VICTOR / VICTORIA

Last month I had the pleasure of rewatching Blake Edwards 7-time Oscar-nominated musical comedy Victor/Victoria (1982). The occasion was to prep for a conversation with our friend Ben Miller for his podcast "Target Audience" in which Ben invites a guest to discuss a movie that they feel was made for them for all kinds of differing reasons, beauty being in the eye of the beholder...

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Category Confusion '24: LEAD or SUPPORTING – Part One

by Cláudio Alves

With the first batch of awards season honors coming in hot, questions of category fraud are bound to come up. And this year will be a doozy in that regard, with various leading actors campaigning as supporting for convenience's sake. It's a tried and true strategy that tends to block actual supporting and character actors from getting their flowers, forever living in the shadow of big stars in the wrong category. Well, if you're a regular at The Film Experience, you probably have read all this before, so let's not belabor the point. Instead, let's have some fun with polls like we did last year. This is just part one, of course, since many contenders still haven't been released beyond the festival circuit...

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Mother-Daughter Duos at the Oscars

by Cláudio Alves

Fernanda Montenegro in Walter Salles' I'M STILL HERE.

This past week, Fernanda Montenegro celebrated her 95th birthday. A living legend of Brazilian culture in various mediums, she is our oldest living Best Actress nominee. Montenegro is back on the awards trail with Walter Salles' I'm Still Here. While her late-film cameo won't excite many voters, Brazil's Best International Film submission is raking in Audience Awards at festivals worldwide and sterling reviews to match. Perhaps Sony Pictures Classics can even look away from Saoirse Ronan and Almodóvar's leading ladies for a moment, and mount a Best Actress campaign for Fernanda Torres. Her performance as Eunice Paiva is nothing short of magnificent. 

Though a longshot, Torres' nomination would be amply deserved, making her and Montenegro one of the few mother-daughter duos to score acting Oscar nominations. It's a very exclusive club that includes…

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