May Retrospective: “Ishtar” (1987)

by Cláudio Alves

As we've seen in our analysis of Elaine May's first three pictures as a director, she was a consummate auteur. It's true that a farce about marital homicide followed by a cruel comedy of adultery which, in turn, is followed by a New York-set character study may suggest a somewhat chaotic filmography. However, her themes were consistent, her work with actors always inspired, and her cinematic language showed a through-line of bizarre human behavior anchored by material realism.

This is never more evident than when autopsying the carcass of May's final picture, Ishtar, where all these threads coalesce and reach their apotheosis in the form of a mainstream flop of epic proportions. Tales of a troubled production had made headlines long before the movie reached theaters and, when its box-office results proved catastrophic, Elaine May's career as a director went down the drain…

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And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson

by Cláudio Alves

Some days ago, as part of our 1981 coverage, we talked about Katharine Hepburn's famous Oscar record. She's the only actor to ever have won four statuettes, all of them in the Best Actress category. In that piece, the idea was put forward that, despite her amazing career, the actress wasn't deserving of most of those victories. She might have merited four Academy Awards, but not for those particular works. We didn't explore who should have won in the years Hepburn triumphed, mainly because there isn't a lot of consensus about the matter. Still, while that's true regarding the 1933, 1968 (a tie!) and 1981 Oscars, the same can't be said about the 1967 awards. In that Best Actress race, one performance has shined brighter than all others, gaining a legendary status that goes way beyond the Oscars. 

Since her movie is newly available to stream on Hulu, it seems like a good time to talk about Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate…

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50th Anniversary: "Midnight Cowboy"

by Mark Brinkerhoff

Gay pride month is nearly upon us, so what better time to revisit Midnight Cowboy, the first LGBT-related Best Picture Oscar winner, which arrived in theaters 50 years ago this week. It remains, incidentally, the only X-rated film (for “homosexual frame of reference" and its "possible influence upon youngsters”) ever to win the Academy’s top award. 

Centering on Joe Buck, a wannabe hustler from Texas who finds himself entirely out of his depth in the big city (New York, that is), Midnight Cowboy succeeds poignantly, in the words of its director, as an “exploration of loneliness.” It also doubles as — and doubles down on — disastrous toxic masculinity: how men often are conditioned to (mis)treat others, not to mention themselves, as disposable, degradable objects of disaffection. 

In this ambling story, callousness reigns supreme, with humanity increasingly lost in the constant shuffle, on the streets of Manhattan...

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Great Acceptance Speeches: Dustin Hoffman, "Kramer vs. Kramer"

We asked Team Experience to share their favourite Oscar acceptance speeches as we countdown to Hollywood's High Holy Night. Here's Ben Miller...

Dustin Hoffman had an incredible run of films at the start of his career.  After breaking through with The Graduate in 1967, he followed that with the legendary Midnight Cowboy, and steadily continued on with Little Big Man, Straw Dogs, Papillion, Lenny, All the President’s Men and Marathon Man.  When 1979 rolled around, he was 42 years old and already had three Best Actor nominations under his belt.

Hoffman was no fan of the Academy at the time.  In the midst of his 70’s run, Hoffman called the Oscars a garish and embarrassing evening.  He even drew the ire of Frank Sinatra during the 1975 ceremony.  Despite that, the Academy didn’t mind all that much as they nominated him again in 79 for Kramer vs. Kramer, and this time they gave him the award...

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Top 10: Oscar's All Time Favorite Leading Men

by Nathaniel R

I was shocked to realize that De Niro, Hanks, Penn, and Pacino -- none of them made the top ten!

Okay okay. Since we did Supporting Men and Supporting Women during the summer, I figured we should complete the set. Who are Oscar's 10 favorite leading men? We'll work the ranking like so: Nominations count most, with wins acting like half a nomination to help determine rank. The tiebreaker is the spread of time of nominations which can denote either long term fandom on the Academy's part or shortlived enthusiasms. If there's still a tie at that point, other Oscar statistics (like if they were nominated for producing or supporting or whatnot) break the tie.

Only 20 men throughout film history have scored 5 or more nominations for Best Lead Actor and though this year's currently pulsing competition for Best Actor is chalk full of previous nominees, none of them are regulars to that degree. Here are the ten runners up followed by the all-time top ten list... 

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