Who’s our next three-peat champion?

by Cláudio Alves

And just like that, Sean Penn became the eighth actor to win three Oscars.

With One Battle After Another, Sean Penn became the eighth person in Academy Award history to win a third acting Oscar. He follows Supporting Actor king Walter Brennan, most honored thespian ever Katharine Hepburn, Swedish superstar Ingrid Bergman, New Hollywood enfant terrible Jack Nicholson, nomination queen Meryl Streep, method actor extraordinaire Daniel Day-Lewis, and too-cool-for-school Oscar favorite Frances McDormand. This honor comes after a period when Penn was fairly removed from the awards conversation, regularly panned at Cannes for his directorial work while winning the favor of a few critics for underseen performances like those in Daddio and Asphalt City. Indeed, he seems so uninterested in playing the game that he barely campaigned and didn’t even show up to collect his prize.

Disregarding whether he deserves it or not, Penn’s victory leads me to wonder who’s next? Who is closest to joining this exclusive club? There are currently 19 two-time acting Oscar winners alive, each a different case, with some landing in the “just a matter of time” field, while others are surely “not happening.” Join me as I go over these possibilities…

Click to read more ...

Ranking the two-time Best Actress winners

by Baby Clyde

Hilary Swank accepts her second Best Actress Oscar at the 77th Academy Awards.

To celebrate the 50th birthday of two-time Best Actress winner Hilary Swank, I've decided to rank all of the double champs in everyone's favorite category. It's a list of all-time greats, but the performances range from the sublime to the truly Dangerous. They are being judged solely on the performance, but I may be somewhat swayed if they beat out more deserving nominees or didn't win for their best work. I do not include those overachieving triple and quadruple recipients (Kate, Frances, Meryl, and Ingrid) who don't need any more attention. So, with a hearty Happy Birthday to the birthday girl, let's see how our Million Dollar Baby stacks up against her second-time sisters…

Click to read more ...

Relitigating Best Actress '04

by Cláudio Alves

Are you a fan of And the Runner-Up Is? Kevin Jacobsen's podcast started as a way to look at past Best Picture races, going down Oscar history one lineup at a time. However, when every year was covered, it came time to change strategy. Going beyond the biggest category of them all, he refocused his attention on the Academy Award for Best Actress and revitalized the format along the way. Three years ago, I had the honor of guesting in the 1933 episode where we discussed Katharine Hepburn's first victory, May Robson's sentimental loveliness, and Diane Wynyard's short-lived Hollywood success story. This week, it was time to return to And the Runner-Up Is and relitigate one of the greatest Best Actress races ever. It's Swank vs Bening round two, 2004 electric boogaloo…

Click to read more ...

Linkpool

• Coming Soon Mrs Harris Goes to Paris, starring Lesley Manville will be opening March 2022
• NME the first images of Lily James & Sebastian Stan as Pam & Tommy in a new limited series about the romance of rocker Tommy Lee and actress/model Pamela Anderson
• Vulture an oral history of Madonna's groundbreaking Truth or Dare, thirty years later

More after the jump including The Mitchells vs Machine popularity, new projects for Lewis Tan, Jamie Bell, Hilary Swank, and a book about uber depressing animated classic Grave of the Fireflies...

Click to read more ...

Would you rather?

We haven't done one of these in a month or two. So let's gaze at pretty Celebrity instagram pics.

Would you rather
...meditate with Chris Hemsworth?
...take a hike with Helen Hunt and pup?
...go horseback riding with Hilary Swank?
...relax in Mexico with Tessa Thompson?
...get a face mask with Alan Cumming?
...attend storytime with Sandy Powell and Glenda Jackson?
...hit the waterfall with Luke Evans? 
...admire Stacey Abrams with Kerry Washington?
...get fit with Viola Davis?
... or revive Cruella DeVil with Glenn Close?
...do a press day with Nicole Kidman?

Pictures are after the jump to help you decide. 

Click to read more ...