Oscar History
Film Bitch History
Welcome

The Film Experience™ was created by Nathaniel R. All material herein is written by our team. (This site is not for profit but for an expression of love for cinema & adjacent artforms.)

Follow TFE on Substackd

Powered by Squarespace
Keep TFE Strong

We're looking for 500... no 390 SubscribersIf you read us daily, please be one.  

I ♥ The Film Experience

THANKS IN ADVANCE

What'cha Looking For?
Subscribe

Entries in Domnhall Gleeson (17)

Thursday
Jan142016

New Oscar Records. An Evolving List

Refresh your screen for updates as we add to the list. If you suspect you've seen a statistic worth shouting about, put it in the comments.

Records Broken This Year

Jennifer Jones (Duel in the Sun, age 27) vs Jennifer Lawrence (Joy, age 25)Jennifer Lawrence (who is 25 years old) breaks Jennifer Jones's record of quickest actor to 4 nominations. Jones had held that record -- she accomplished 4 nominations by the age of 27 -- since 1947. But no more. And how is this for a freaky detail about this record. As Joe Reid points out both of these Jennifers had a powerful "David O" in their corner, Russell for Lawrence and Selznick for Jones.

John Williams, the Meryl Streep of Original Scores, broke his tie with the long dead composer Alfred E Newman (1900-1970)  to score a 44th nominations for Original Score. He's won 5 times (not a record). This is his 50th nomination in total since he's also been nominated for Original Song.

Sylvester Stallone has broken the obscure record of  longest stretch between acting nods for playing the same character for Rocky (1976) and Creed (2015). The previous record holder was Paul Newman between The Hustler (1961) and The Color of Money (1986). Other actors who've done this double whammy character trick are Cate Blanchett for Elizabeth, Bing Crosby for Father O'Malley, Al Pacino for Michael Corleone and Peter O'Toole for Henry II.

• This is reportedly the only time in history that all 5 Original Song nominees have been their films only nomination. It's also reportedly the most nominations ever amassed by Australians though I don't have confirmation on what the number is.or what the previous record that was broken is. 


Carol becomes the Most Nominated Film in the modern expanded Best Picture field era to not receive an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. The previous record was a three way tie between The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011), Skyfall (2012) and Foxcatcher (2014) which each received 5 nominations but were not included in Best Picture.

[Aside: The all time record holder, from back when there were only 5 Best Picture nominees and more room for this sort of "achievement" in not-quite-making-it, is They Shoot Horses Don't They (1969) -- which is the most amazing movie you MUST see it --  which received 9 nominations but no Best Picture bid. Of these four other pictures, all but Foxcatcher won at least one Oscar. So we'll see on Carol.]

2015 Specific Records

Tom Hardy and Domnhall Gleeson are the most ubiquitous faces from the Best Picture lineup. Each actor appears in two nominees; Hardy headlines Mad Max: Fury Road and is nominated as supporting actor in The Revenant; Gleeson has supporting roles in Brooklyn and The Revenant. TFE crush Billy Magnussen also appears in two Best Picture nominees (Bridge of Spies and The Big Short) albeit in small roles.

Sandy Powell (Costume Design for Carol & Cinderella) and Andy Nelson (Sound Mixing for The Force Awakens and Bridge of Spies) are the only double nominees in a single category this year. Powell and Nelson already have 3 and 2 Oscars respectively.

• Four of the five Best Director nominees are enjoying an additional nomination:  George Miller and Alejandro G Inarittu  are both nominated for producing (Best Picture). Tom McCarthy and Adam McKay are also nominated in Screenplay.

• Most Nominated Person in the running again this year: John Williams on his 50th nomination (he's won five time)

• Most Nominated Person this year who has never won: Thomas Newman (Score) and Roger Deakins (Cinematography). They're both on their unlucky 13th nomination. Newman comes from a big family of musicians and composers. His father Alfred Newman was nominated 45 times (second only to John Williams for composing) and won 9 Oscars. His brother David was nominated once. His cousin Randy Newman was nominated 20 times winning twice (both times in "Original Song" for Pixar movies) His uncle Emil was nominated once and there are more of them still out there... 

Climbing The Ranks

Neither Russell or Inarritu are there yet but they're both quickly climbing the ranks for 'Directors who've had the most Best Picture nominees' and 'Directors who've directed the most nominated performances.' They both have exactly 3 Best Picture nominated films on their resumes now. One more for either of them and they're up there with the likes of Clint Eastwood and Elia Kazan and Alfred Hitchcock (who are all --- with many other men -- tied for 19th place of most Best Picture nominees). It'll be easier for them to climb that chart than it was for others due to the expansion of the Best Picture field. 

Steven Spielberg is currently #2 of all time for 'Directors who've had the most Best Picture nominees' Bridge of Spies gives him his 11th Best Picture nominee. Two more and Spielberg will tie the all time leader William Wyler who directed 13 Best Picture nominees in his career. Spielberg isn't a strong factor in the 'Directors who've guided the most Oscar nominated performances' with 11 such examples in his long career but Russell and Inarritu are skyrocketing up that same chart. This year's nominations give Russell his 11th (tied with Spielberg now despite a much shorter career) and Inarritu his 10th. The only two living directors who are in the top ten in that regard are Martin Scorsese (22 performances, 3rd place of all time after William Wyler and Elia Kazan), Woody Allen (18 performances, 6th place of all time after those three plus George Cukor and Fred Zinneman). 

Oops

• This one comes from Tim. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the first film post Gone with the Wind (1939) to hold record for highest grossing film in the history of the U.S. box office that has not received a Best Picture nomination to go along with its cash haul. The others to hold that status at given points were (though box office statistics pre modern era are always somewhat debatable were) The Ten Commandments, The Sound of Music, Jaws, Star Wars, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Titanic, and Avatar. It's worth noting that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the first sequel in that list which could account for it being the first to not win the nomination.

Saturday
Jan022016

A Happy New (Twitterful) Year

2016 is upon us. So far it's been a wash since a cold has attacked me without warning but while I sleep and stay hydrated (not simultaneously) and procrastinate here are some favorite tweets of the week. But the year started beautifully with two of our favorite film thinkers and Oscar historians Nick Davis and Mark Harris announcing new projects. Nick will be expanding his "Best Actress" section and Mark Harris will be celebrating 1966 movies all year as he preps for the 50th anniversary of those Best Picture nominees he celebrated in his first book "Pictures at a Revolution" which was on the Best Pictures of 1967.

Our first tweet is a perfect message for the "survey the greats" season we're in via filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. Our friend Nick has an interesting solution to this favorites versus perfection equation. He has two top 100s, greatest and favorites. He just wrote a huge batch of new essays which you should really read. Recent pieces include two movies that are accidentallly perfect for New Year's week including Strange Days and When Harry Met Sally (on the "greatest" list)  movies like Movies become "favorites" for so many reasons, whether that's great experiences at the theater where we saw them or, the ease at rewatching them, or just the slow dawning realization that this one you just love whatever its shortcomings (this is me with Burlesque which showed on cable in a loop in 2015 and I couldn't look away.)

 

 MORE AFTER THE JUMP including but not limited to Blanchett, Damon, Gleeson, Isaac ...and Eartha Kitt as 2016's Patron Saint?

Click to read more ...

Wednesday
Dec302015

Q&A: Oscar Ceremonies, Sex Work, and... The Warlocks of Eastwick? 

Soon, we'll be buried in an avalanche of awards news again so tonight a brief respite from the current Oscar race. It's Q&A time. Here are eight reader questions I chose to answer. I skipped anything on Category Fraud because I feel so exhausted by that fight ("though undeterred in my moral superiority!" he says arms akimbo and chin up, like a superhero with cape billowing behind him, sworn to upheld 'the Awards Way') and I might have to freak out all over again on nomination morning so let's ignore it for now.

MDA: What 2015 release that you were looking forward to watching disappointed you the most?

NATHANIEL: It feels stranger to answer with a film I liked, especially one that's already getting a critical rethink by way of surprise top ten placements but maybe Magic Mike XXL? While I admire its super cajzh vibe and its focus on female pleasure, I'm puzzled as to why they went more demure with the sequel when they kept promising it would be more stripperific i.e. what everyone expected from Soderbergh's first brilliant film (which you'll remember was a Bronze medalist for Best Picture right here.)

Another big disappointment was Sisters. It's totally funny don't get me wrong. But that's all it is. It's strange that we know that Tina Fey can write brilliant comic masterworks (30 Rock, Mean Girls) but keeps wasting her star power and comic gift on propping up other people's wildly underwritten cliché-filled scripts. I'm beginning to wonder is she even wants to make another comedy classic? Perhaps she's fine coasting until retirement. But it's hard to not wonder what could be if she'd only apply herself again. 

EZ: I hereby grant you special powers to go back in time and attend an Academy Awards Ceremony of your choosing. Which year do you choose and why?

NATHANIEL: This question sounds nice until you realize the genie has only granted you one wish instead of three.  So stingy!

Retro Oscar Races, Domnhall Gleeson, Bridget Jones's Baby, and more after the jump...

Click to read more ...

Tuesday
Dec292015

Top 15 Most Hardworking Performers in 2015

Manuel here continuing our year end review.

Remember in 2011 when Jessica Chastain went from unknown actress to Oscar nominee in the blink of an eye thanks to the whirlwind of release dates that had her starring in over six films in that calendar year? It was as great a calling card as you could ask for and while Chastain had a relatively subdued year (Crimson Peak, The Martian), other actors gave her a run for her money in the “how many projects can I appear on in one year” race. Not that it’s a contest, but we’re fan of lists here at TFE even as we understand they’re more jumping off discussion points rather than monolithic assertions of quality or taste. And so find below a list of 15 actors who were extra hardworking and who you couldn’t have missed seeing as they were everywhere from superhero franchise films and prestige flicks to Netflix series and festival sensations.

The Martian cast had a busy 2015, but 2016 looks busier still for Damon, Chastain, Mara and Marvel boy Stan.

Rankings and inclusions were both arbitrary and subjective. Thus, they’re neither binding nor absolute (my personal fave and the inspiration for this post in the first place comes at #2). Feel free to tell me who I missed and whether you agree with our undisputed #1 placement who’ll be getting a special Gold Medal from Nat himself for their Body of Work this year.

15. Bill Murray (Aloha, Rock the Kasbah, A Very Murray Christmas)

14. Nicole Kidman (Grace of Monaco, Paddington, Strangerland, Secret in Their Eyes)

13. Chiwetel Ejiofor (Z for Zachariah, The Martian, Secret in their Eyes)

the ubiquitous dozen after the jump

Click to read more ...

Wednesday
Dec092015

"Brooklyn" Beyond Saoirse

Chris here. We're pleased as punch with all of the precursor love that's greeted Saoirse Ronan's timeless star turn in Brooklyn. Today though, in light of SAG's virtually female-free Outstanding Ensemble list, let's give some love to this film's unnominated but vibrant ensemble.

Yes, Saoirse Ronan is getting the majority of the prizes and praises for the film - heck, she could share an ensemble prize for the film with just herself and her multitude of emotions  in the film and you'd have no complaints from me. However, Eilis's journey in the film is more fully realized with the lived-in actors that surround Ronan's protagonist.

THE FAMILIAR FACES

  • Emory Cohen as Tony Fiorello - I'll join those who were happily surprised with his performance, after ghastly work in The Place Beyond the Pines and elsewhere. Not just a pining lothario, he's also believably accepting of Eilis's need to be her own woman. Dreamboat of the Year.
  • Domnhall Gleeson as Jim Farrell - A much more bland love interest to Eilis, but intentionally so. He really sells Jim's uncomplicated ambitions
  • Julie Walters as Mrs. Kehoe - Archly hilarious as the matron of Eilis's boarding house for girls. She'd be a Supporting Actress contender if it weren't for competition with more screen time and *ahem* narrative focus
  • Jim Broadbent as Father Flood - As charming as ever in a tiny role

And here's where it get's really good after the jump...

Click to read more ...