It's Her Time, Glenn Close Will Not Be Ignored

by Murtada Elfadl

Glenn Close won Best Actress - Drama at the Golden Globes for her performance in The Wife. And she gave a performance in delivering her acceptance speech that is almost as great as the performance she won for. While we have no doubt that Close was genuine, it was also fantastic television. It started with her shocked reaction - did her publicist’s keep telling her that the Globes wouldn't miss a chance to reward Lady Gaga like all the pundits did? She continued by kissing Michael “Fatal Attraction Dan” Douglas and Lady Gaga on the way to the stage. Once she got there she she gave an eloquent, emotional, yet composed and smart speech.

She didn’t forget her “category sisters"...

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Glenn Close 'very gratified' by career honors

by Nathaniel R

Glenn Close, a moment before we spoke on Monday nightThe Film Experience was honored to be invited to attend the Museum of the Moving Image's tribute to the career of Glenn Close this week at the elegant 583 Park Avenue venue, just days before her Golden Globe nomination. Attending the festivities were politicians, actors, industry vets, and museum officials and honorees including a whole excited table nearby mine of teenagers from Queens, where the museum is located, who collectively gave one of the night's most amusing speeches about MoMI's community outreach programs and youth engagement.

We spoke briefly to the woman of the hour, Glenn Close upon her arrival at the gala. The story of The Wife, an arthouse success this summer, is about a woman whose genius goes unrecognized...

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Fatal Distraction

This exquisite screengrab posted by Peter Knegt here.

All I see when I look at this picture is Glenn thinking of boiled bunny rabbits. She's not going to be ignored, Dan. 

Honors Keep Piling up for Glenn Close

by Nathaniel R

One of the sneakily quiet Oscar campaigns that's really been working for maximum January presence is Glenn Close's for The Wife. Close has distracted herself from all the hoopla with an acclaimed performance Off Broadway in Mother of the Maid, but future honors keep lining up so she'll be busy once that plays shutters just before Christmas.

In January she'll be honored at both the Palm Springs and the Santa Barbara film festivals (which are basically elaborate Oscar-courting events because the A-listers and the Academy members come out in droves) and now comes word that the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens New York will have a screening program called "Getting Close: Ten Great Performances by Glenn Close" which runs November 23rd through December 2nd. All six of her Oscar-nominated performances will be screened plus Reversal of Fortune, 101 Dalmatians, Cookie's Fortune (interesting choice) and, of course, The Wife. (If Close is nominated for The Wife, which we fully expect her to be, she'll be tough to beat. Only two performers in Oscar history have ever remained "losers" with a record of 7 or more nominations: Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole.)

The movies are affordable but the celebration ends with a "Salute" dinner with cocktails, film clips and speeches from Close's friends and colleagues. You can also attend the glitzy dinner provided you have $1500 to burn on a ticket. It's for a good cause, though, as the proceeds benefit this worthwhile museum's many exhibits, screenings, and community engagement programs.

Does Box Office Matter to Best Actress Hopefuls?

by Nathaniel R

Helen Mirren's The Queen was in many ways a completely standard win... a solid success before the nomination and an even bigger hit afterwardsDoes Box Office matter to Oscars? It does and it doesn't. And how much it matters varies from year to year and from category to category. It obviously matters, regardless, if you're either a flop or a big hit but anything inbetween (where most movies fall) is up for speculative debate.

For instance, just this year people have debated whether The Wife's box office take is strong enough for a Best Actress nomination for Glenn Glose (hint: it totally is... though winning will be harder) and whether it will matter that Roma won't really have that much of a theatrical presence (it might. it might not. The streaming only/mostly thing is relatively uncharted territory) or if the major success of A Star is Born will make a win possible for Lady Gaga (it won't hurt!)

For fun let's look at how much the Best Actress nominees films made before they were nominated for the past fifteen years and see what patterns emerge. The films in red won Best Actress Oscars.

BOX OFFICE RANK OF BEST ACTRESS FILMS
BEFORE THE NOMINATIONS (2003-2017)
AND WHERE THIS YEAR'S LEADING ACTRESSES CURRENTLY FIT...

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