Split Decision: “Marty Supreme”

In the Split Decision series, our writers pair up and face off on an Oscar-nominated movie one loves and the other doesn't. Today, ABE FRIEDTANZER and CLÁUDIO ALVES discuss Marty Supreme...

ABE: In 2024, I achieved an exciting milestone: seeing all the major Oscar movies before Thanksgiving. The last one I caught was the late-breaking Timothée Chalamet movie no one had seen yet, A Complete Unknown. Since I'm not into music all that much, I was impressed but not wowed, but happy at least, even if just for prognostication purposes, to have seen a film that was going to factor into the Oscar race.

It's amusing that, one year later, the film that nearly eluded me and turned out to be close to my last one to screen was also a little-seen late-breaking Timothée Chalamet movie. The difference here, however, was that Marty Supreme had its surprise premiere at the New York Film Festival, and then I managed to RSVP for an FYC screening in mid-October in LA that disappeared from listings moments later. I got to the Academy Museum and only found my seat ten minutes after the screening was supposed to start, stunned at how popular this hard-to-see film was. I knew nothing about it other than that it was Josh Safdie's first time directing a movie on his own in many years, and Chalamet was supposed to be incredible. Several hours later, I found myself in solid agreement…

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Queering the Oscars: The Delicious Costumes of "The Talented Mr. Ripley"

Team Experience has been looking at LGBTQ+ related Oscar nominations. Tonight we're serving lewks!

By Christopher James

For a movie with iconic nude scenes, the costumes of The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) are just as memorable and titillating. It’s fitting that the Oscars honored the incredible work of costume designers Ann Roth and Gary Jones for the film, which should’ve shown up in more categories than the five it was nominated for. Though the actual Oscar went to Lindy Hemming’s period-specific and gloriously gaudy work in Topsy-Turvy, we’re still cheering on the sidelines for Ripley.

Let's count down the 10 queerest looks from the movie...

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A Goop-y Top Ten

by Cláudio Alves

Gwyneth Paltrow in "The Politician" | © Netflix

"I wish you well," whispered Gwyneth Paltrow to Terry Sanderson, who had just lost his suit against the star. That passive-aggressive bit of politeness was a masterful coup de grace, the cherry on top of a gossip sundae that set social media atwitter. Though the year isn't half over, Paltrow already seems like one of 2023 defining personalities, at least as far as celebrity fodder is concerned. From bone broth-based scorn to tabloid queen, Paltrow's image couldn't be more malleable, nor the internet more obsessed with her. And yet, all this furor can inspire sadness in those who admire the Oscar-winnning nepo baby as an actress rather than just as a media sensation.

In the past decade, Gwyneth Paltrow has been consciously uncoupling from the movie business, the GOOP empire taking over all other concerns. Regardless of how problematic her company's actions might be, there's a yearning for the days when we could discuss Paltrow's performances rather than the explosive qualities of her vagina-scented candles. With that in mind, and since coming up with that Angela Bassett top ten was so fun, here's a list of favorite Gwyneth Paltrow performances. May it be a reminder of what a smashing thespian she can be…

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1997: Gwyneth Paltrow in "Hard Eight"

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 alternates to Oscar's ballot.

I’m betting that we (the public, spiritual types, film people, you specifically) have some thoughts about Ms. Goop. Some of these thoughts might be compartmentalized to certain aspects of her career, while others bleed over into a general patina of how one perceives her. We (the writer of this article) won’t and frankly don’t have the time to get into the grifter empire, the nepotism, her instrumentality amongst the many journalists and witnesses who helped to bring down Harvey Weinstein, Bosco’s awful 'Snatch Game', the lazy potshots from Knives Out, or her advice to combat the symptoms of Long COVID using a keto diet as she is currently doing, but know that these thoughts are in the back of our mind at all times when the subject of Gwyneth Paltrow is summoned into a conversation. 

There’s plenty of opinions about her that one could have, but for the purposes of this write-up - a tribute of her resourceful, top-flight performance in Hard Eight that’s as worthy of recognition as anyone else in Boogie Nights the same year - let’s keep it simple and state, man, wasn’t she a fantastic actress when she wanted to be?

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Would you rather?

This informal poll is just our silly way of sharing the latest Instagram photos we loved. So, would you rather...

• Grab an ice cream cone with Brie Larson?
• Have a moonlight bath with Gwyneth Paltrow?
• Attend the opera with Molly Ringwald?
• Wander the dunes with Lee Pace?
• Make your mark on the street with Nathan Fillion?
• Get pizza in a limo with Audra McDonald?
• Find your own stunt double so you can hang with Alessandro Nivola and his?
• Feed grapes to supermodel Kristen McMenamy?
• Do the "Buckingham Lean" with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II?
• Take a nap (anywhere) with Michelle Monaghan?
• Sign the Zurich guest book with Sharon Stone?
• Lift weights with Winston Duke?
• ...Or Make it a trio of voices on "Jolene" with Dolly, Lil Nas X and you?

Pictures are after the jump to help you decide...

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