Smackdown '38: You can't take the great waltz with you, Jezebel!

In the Supporting Actress Smackdown series we take a particular Oscar vintage and explore it with a panel of artists and journalists. This episode goes way back to 1938. 

THE ACTRESSES & CHARACTERS
In 1938 the Academy was still evolving and the "Best Supporting Actress" category was just three years old. Still, their all time favourite type (the long-suffering wife/mom) was already showing its strength (Beulah Bondi in Of Human Hearts, noticeably that film's only nomination). Other then-popular character types like 'the vamp' (Milja Korjus in The Great Waltz) and ditzy/funny moms (Billie Burke in Merrily We Live! and Spring Byington in You Can't Take It With You) didn't stay in vogue with the Academy for as long. In 1938 we also got an historic first: Fay Bainter was the first actor to be double-nominated, competing in both Lead (White Banners) and Supporting (Jezebel) categories simultaneously, winning the latter. Will our panel agree? 

THE PANELISTS
Here to talk about these performances and movies are the actors Steven Weber and Britney Young, Joanna Robinson from Vanity Fair, and TFE's busiest duo, Cláudio Alves and your host Nathaniel R. Let's begin.

1938
SUPPORTING ACTRESS SMACKDOWN + PODCAST  
The companion podcast can be downloaded at the bottom of this article or by visiting the iTunes page...

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The New Classics: The Wolf of Wall Street

By Michael Cusumano  

Scene: Quaaludes
It’s difficult not to lapse into hagiography when talking about Scorsese so I will simply say this and attempt to reign in the fawning as best I can: As much as anyone in the medium’s history he understands that the power of film isn’t in the text. It’s not in constructing an argument like an essay or a speech. It's in the images. 

Like all of Scorsese’s period pieces, The Wolf of Wall Street covers mountains of information in its headlong dash through the years, but what makes these films great are the moments when they distill all that material into a memorable frame. The technical gambling know-how makes you buy into the world of Casino, but it’s an overhead shot of a reckless Sharon Stone making it rain chips at the craps table that leaves a mark on the audience...

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Emmy Review: Comedy Series

By Abe Friedtanzer

It's Schitt's Creek vs. Mrs Maisel for the gold.

We here at The Film Experience hope you've all enjoyed our category reviews. The Emmys begin in a few days on the 14th with the Creative Arts awards (i.e. below the line categories) before the big final awards night on September 20th.

Comedy series is the category where, by all visible indications, the winner is already set: Schitt’s Creek. While I don’t love the show, I harbor no ill will against it and am already prepared for it to win. Its two biggest hurdles seem surmountable to me. As far as I can tell, only two shows have won this award only for their final seasons: Barney Miller in 1982 and Fleabag last year. For the former, it was a nominee all eight seasons, and the latter wasn’t nominated in any category for the first of its two total seasons. This is only the second nomination for Schitt’s Creek. The other factor is that most of us – and the Internet – aren’t Emmy voters, and could it be possible that the collective enthusiasm around the show won’t materialize on Emmy night? If it doesn’t, what show wins instead?

I’ll try to avoid major plot details in my analysis – but if you’d like more spoiler-filled descriptions, click on the episode titles. Let’s consider each nominee…

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Review: Bill & Ted Face the Music

by Lynn Lee

Until a couple of weeks ago I had never seen any of the Bill & Ted movies, despite being a late Gen-Xer and longstanding fan of Keanu Reeves.  Now, having watched all three in a row, I can confirm most triumphantly that if you enjoyed the first two, you will have a bodacious time watching the third.  If you’re a Bill & Ted-curious newcomer, I recommend giving Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure a whirl first and seeing if you dig its vibe.  If not, the latest installment, Bill & Ted Face the Music, probably won’t do anything for you.

For me, getting a crash course in Bill & Ted three decades after their debut was a pleasantly surreal experience.  Not that they were total strangers to me; any adolescent with any exposure to pop culture in the ’90s had at least some familiarity with the amiably vacuous duo, their iconic SoCal-inflected catchphrases, and their penchant for spontaneous air guitar in response to anything that pleased them.  But seeing them in their original context felt like jumping into their rickety phone booth and traveling back to a more innocent time – for both me and them...

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Emmys Review: Animated Program

by Christopher James

It’s the old guard versus the “new” wave of Netflix animation. I use “new” in quotes because there’s nothing “new” about Bojack Horseman or Big Mouth, except that the Emmys finally noticed them just last year. Can they win on their second try at the Emmys?

All three of their challengers have won before. Rick and Morty won its sole bid for Outstanding Animated Program in 2018. Meanwhile, Bob’s Burgers has consistently earned nominations for every year since its second season, winning in 2014 and 2017. And never count out the most senior show in a lineup. The Simpsons won this category last year, its first win since 2008. In total, the legendary comedy has been nominated twenty-seven times in this category, winning twelve of those competitions.

Since this is a tight race, it may come down to episode submission. Let’s take a look at the field:

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