Almost There: Ann Dowd in "Compliance"

by Cláudio Alves

Here, at The Film Experience, there's a lot of love for Ann Dowd. The actress has been celebrated numerous times, interviewed, and she even took over the blog for a day in 2015. With Fran Kranz's Mass in theaters, Dowd may finally be poised to receive her first Oscar nomination after decades doing superb work on stage and on screens of all sizes. For years, despite the consistent quality of her performances, Dowd went unrecognized. In 2012, however, it all changed when Craig Zobel's Compliance generated widespread critical acclaim for the thespian, inspiring her to start a self-funded awards campaign. Making formidable use of this career momentum, Dowd quickly became a recognizable character actress powerhouse and an Emmy winner. Even so, all these years later, Compliance remains one of her greatest achievements…

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Smackdown '37: Bossy Women and Fragile Wrecks

Welcome back to the Supporting Actress Smackdown. Each month we pick an Oscar vintage to explore through the lens of actressing at the edges. This episode takes us back to 1937, which was only the second year of the category. 

THE NOMINEES  It was only the second year of the Supporting Actress category yet the tropes and shortlist makeup were already falling into place. Oscar voters went with a mix of industry veterans (Alice Brady the first consecutive nominee in this category), stage stars transferring to film (Dame May Whitty), fresh faces (Anne Shirley), and rising talent (Andrea Leeds, Claire Trevor) to play an array of familiar types: the martyr mom, the tetchy elder, the sad / confused daughter, the insecure actress, and the complicated hooker...

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Almost There: Jessica Chastain in "A Most Violent Year"

by Cláudio Alves

Everything's coming up Jessica Chastain, it seems. While The Eyes of Tammy Faye didn't scrounge up much box-office success, the actress' performance as the famed televangelist has earned her career-best reviews. The acclaim catapults her to the front of the pack in the current Best Actress race, one that feels fated for biopic domination. Furthermore, Chastain's doing impressive work on TV alongside Oscar Isaac in an English-speaking remake of Ingmar Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage. Taking all this into account, it's fitting to dedicate this week's Almost There write-up to the fabulous actress, recalling her previous collaboration with Isaac in J.C. Chandor's A Most Violent Year. As Anna and Abel Morales, these beautiful thespians deliver some of their best work ever…

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Nathaniel's Venice Wrap-Up: Jury of One Awards

by Nathaniel R

The Venice jury and I agree on a Screenplay prize for THE LOST DAUGHTER

Elisa's already shared the official winners of Venice (and her take on those choices since she saw the whole competition slate). I admire her completism at festivals but my habit is instead to sample a bit from each program. I saw twenty-one films which is a very low number to see over eight days at a major fest — blame Venice’s absurd ticketing system this year which encouraged people to be on their phones securing tickets WHILE watching movies -- i met several people who had set timers for themselves! -- since they sold out in seconds after becoming available every few hours. Since I refused to play on my phone during movies I missed two crucial movies (Spencer and Dune) but here are my favorite achievements from the films I did catch from all programs (Competition, Out of Competitions, Orizzonti, Biennale Collage Cinema, and Critics Week)

RULES: In true festival jury fashion (even though it’s just myself) I’m only allowing one prize per film. And rather than giving out a Best Actress and Best Actor prize (don't make me decide this early!) I’m listing my 15 favorite performances after the jump. What, too much? Acting is magic so I shan't apologize…. 

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Almost There: Hattie McDaniel in "In This Our Life"

by Cláudio Alves

The Criterion Channel is currently featuring an extensive collection of John Huston movies. Considering his directorial debut, The Maltese Falcon, was nominated for three Oscars, including Best Picture, it's fair to say that Huston's films have always been on the Academy's radar. Consequently many of his actors gained Oscar buzz though just as often they were egregiously snubbed. With that said, I'd like to focus on a performer that was already an Oscar winner before she starred in a Huston flick, a Black actress whose career was limited by institutional racism and confined to playing second fiddle to white stars, often in peripheral roles. Nevertheless, Hattie McDaniel always spun gold from straw, injecting complicated humanity, humor, and pathos into the tiniest of parts. Such is the case of In This Our Life…

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