1997: Debbi Morgan in "Eve's Bayou"

We're revisiting the 1997 film year in the lead up to the next Supporting Actress Smackdown. As always Nick Taylor will suggest a few alternatives to Oscar's ballot.

You’d be forgiven for not immediately lingering on Mozelle Batiste Delacroix. When we first meet her she’s one of several dozen luminous, handsomely dressed and manicured faces floating around a party at the home of the Batiste family in 1960’s Louisiana. Mozelle’s very first scene, giggling with her sister about some poor woman’s teeth before they’re interrupted, is largely dominated by other actors, and she doesn't mind sitting back and enjoying her niece and nephew’s shenanigans.

There’s also a lot of stuff happening around her. Not just the laying-out of key figures and relationships but the very nature of Eve’s Bayou as a memory play...

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The Honoraries: Samuel L. Jackson in "Eve's Bayou"

We're celebrating each of the upcoming Honorary Oscar winners with a few pieces on their careers.

by Cláudio Alves 

Previously in the "Honoraries" miniseries, Ben Miller and Lynn Lee looked at Samuel L. Jackson's work in two provocative indies, exploring the actor's innate intensity. Craig Brewer's Black Snake Moan reveals Jackson as a bluesman inflamed by spiritual purpose, while Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction saw him play a hitman and resulted in the actor's only Oscar nomination. It should have also resulted in a victory, but that's a matter for another day, another article. This time, I shall investigate the complexities of his turn in Kasi Lemmons's Eve's Bayou. The director's debut feature was a passion project for many people involved, including Jackson, who also produced.

Such investment, such devotion, may be at the heart of his achievement. Not only is Eve's Bayou a masterpiece of 1990s American cinema, it also features one of Jackson's best performances…

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