My Oscar Completism Project: A Diane Keaton Double Feature

by Cláudio Alves

Should Diane Keaton have been double-nominated, in 1977, for ANNIE HALL and LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR?

With their new rules, the Academy has upturned quite a number of Oscar traditions and stats. For example, actors can now fill more than one slot in each category, receiving nominations for multiple performances in a race. Looking back, it’s fun to speculate about what performers might have achieved this. Indeed, I might write something on that matter later on. Immediately, though, one case stands out. Part of it is that Be Kind Rewind’s video essay is still fresh in the memory. Part of it is that the loss of such a star still stings. Regardless, upon reading the news, I immediately latched onto the idea that Diane Keaton would have gotten two Best Actress nominations in 1977. She won for Annie Hall, but was just as tremendous and lauded for her work in Looking for Mr. Goodbar. 

This all serves as a preamble for another announcement. My Oscar completism project is back on track, as I try to watch every single Academy Award-nominated performance. And since Keaton’s on the mind, especially Keaton in Mr. Goodbar, let’s explore Tuesday Weld’s Best Supporting Actress nomination for that New York drama. Also, Lovers and Other Strangers, which earned Richard S. Castellano a Best Supporting Actor nomination and got Keaton on Francis Ford Coppola's radar, effectively won her the role of Kay in The Godfather…

Click to read more ...

Almost There: Barbara Hershey in “Black Swan”

by Cláudio Alves

You may have noticed that, for the past couple of weeks, The Film Experience has been overtaken by one persistent question: Who should be the next Amy Madigan? We’ve done a team-wide vote and two readers’ polls, highlighting both men and women. At this point, you might be a tad tired of this business. On the other hand, your picks were a nice clue into what performers the readership might be thinking of and harkening for, write-up-wise. With that in mind, it feels like a good opportunity to revive the long-dormant Almost There series, where I go over performances that garnered some significant precursor support before fizzling out on Oscar nomination morning. They were close, but no cigar.

Case in point: Barbara Hershey, who scored high in both the Team Experience and The Film Experience readers' vote, and might have come close to a second Academy Award nomination for Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan…

Click to read more ...

Pt 3 Reader's Ranking: Who should be the next Amy Madigan?

Pt 1 - Team Experience Votes 
Pt 2 - Team Experience Winners 
Pt 3 - AT LONG LAST THE RESULTS OF THE READERS POLL...

WHO SHOULD BE THE NEXT AMY MADIGAN?

ELISABETH SHUE in Leaving Las Vegas (1995). What would it take to get her a comeback role?

We've spent the last couple of weeks bsessing over a question from a reader (thanks, Brian!) and we got so into discussing it at TFE HQ that we asked all of you to vote on the same question. The Team and Readers were unaware of each others vote totals during voting so nobody was influencing anyone. We've poured over the ballots that came in to suss out your passions and determine rankings.  In honor of this new film year, 2026, we'll share the  twenty-six actresses you're collectively rooting hardest for in terms of an Oscar comeback after just one nomination twenty or more years ago. We've included some quotes from your ballots too and hope you enjoy and continue the discussion. After the list, some fun stats. God, we love actresses!

YOUR TOP TWENTY-SIX

just-missed: Lena Olin & Candice Bergen were on as many or more ballots than Elisabeth Shue but weren't as highly ranked on the ballots they did appear on. They almost made it.

And a reader quote I just love to kick things off...

Click to read more ...

Justice for Jeannie Berlin!

by Cláudio Alves

THE BRIDE!, Maggie Gyllenhaal | © Warner Bros.

The Team Experience had a lot of fun voting on that “Who should be the Next Amy Madigan?” poll, but, lovely as the final results might be, there will always be something to gripe about. For me, the major complaint is that I was the only fellow to pick Jeannie Berlin for their top ten, a grave injustice that warrants a write-up all by itself. If you don’t buy that excuse, then there’s The Bride!’s VOD release, where this erstwhile Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee dons a Sandy Powell-designed maid outfit to play Frankenstein’s Igor as reinvented by Maggie Gyllenhaal at her looniest. As Greta, Berlin makes for a delightful, if small, presence, hinting at a soft-spoken oddness that strikes an even weirder note than the movie’s other, more extravagant, grotesqueries. 

Fans of the actress shouldn’t be too surprised by this gentle scene-stealing, as Berlin has been doing this sort of thing for a good fifty years…

Click to read more ...

PT 1 - Who Should Be The Next Amy Madigan? (Team Experience Votes!)

by Team Experience

Which actress deserves an Aunt Gladys style comeback most? Stone? Perez? Lewis? The possibilities are almost endless!

We received a really fun request from a reader (Thank you, Brian!) a week or two back. Amy Madigan rose from the dead (pop culture figuratively speaking) 40 years after her first Oscar nomination (Twice in a Lifetime discussed here) to not only break the record of the actress with the longest gap between nominations (the previous record holder being Helen Hayes at 39 years) but also went on to win the Oscar! Her comeback is instantaneously the stuff of legend which made Brian's question catnip to us. He challenged Team Experience to sound off on Who do we think should be the next Amy Madigan ? 

TO FIT THE BILL IT HAS TO BE...

• An actress with only one Oscar nomination (she lost)
• Which she received 20 or more years ago
• And she's at least 50 years of age at the moment. 

76 living women met that criteria (we eliminated people with Honorary Oscars). Once we had the eligibility list Team Experience each ranked their 10 favorites so the following communal list is the combined vote - originally we had a couple of ties so we brought in our old friend and podcast pal Nick Davis to break the ties with his own vote (though he wasn't shown our list so he didn't know what ties he might be breaking!). #1 rankings on each ballot were worth ten points, #2 rankings nine points, and so on. Here are the results in ascending order...

Click to read more ...