What if DiCaprio had lost for "The Revenant"?

by Cláudio Alves

Oscar narratives can shape an entire awards season. More radically, they can transform the way we perceive certain films, actors and other artists. Leonardo DiCaprio is an example of the phenomenon. Until he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, the star brought with him a baggage of perceived injustice and honors long deserved but never given. He was due an Oscar, many argued, and the hysteria around his lack of one made every one of his new releases into an event – Would this be the movie to finally earn DiCaprio the Academy Award?

The Revenant (2015) was the production to eventually capitalize on all this hubbub, mounting a mighty campaign to win DiCaprio his prize. It worked and so it was that the poster boy for "Oscar dueness" lost his shine. That meant his following films wouldn't be able to take advantage of his lack of recognition and the reactions to his performances would no longer be inflated by the urgency to award him. But the next big film on DiCaprio's resume after The Revenant has proven to be an even more remarkable showcase for his talents than the production that earned him his overdue honors…

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Almost There: Kate Winslet in "Revolutionary Road"

Here's Cláudio Alves with a new series on performances that got lots of precursor love but no Oscar nomination. Previously we discussed Emma Thompson in Saving Mr Banks...

January 11th, 2009 was Kate Winslet's night. After years of scoring endless nominations and very few victories, her effortful Oscar campaign was finally kicking into high gear. She had not one, but two triumphant victories on the Golden Globes' stage. In Best Supporting Actress, she won for her (leading) role inThe Reader and secured her frontrunner status. In Best Actress - Drama, she won for Revolutionary Road. After such a merry evening, many were expecting a double citation come Oscar morning. One thing was for sure – one way or the other, Kate Winslet would end the Awards Season with a little golden man in her hands.

Still, the campaign manipulations that worked hard to secure her two nominations failed at the last minute, when the Academy showed rare lucidity against the folly of category fraud...

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A Golden Globes Surprise

by Murtada Elfadl

The Golden Globes are always good for a surprise. Aaron Taylor Johnson winning best supporting actor for Nocturnal Animals (2016). Amy Adams winning for Big Eyes (2014) when everyone expected Emily Blunt to win because she was in a musical; Into the Woods (2014). Just last year Glenn Close winning over Lady Gaga changed the best actress race. 

But perhaps the biggest and happiest surprise was Isabelle Huppert winning best actress in a drama for Elle (2016). That year everyone thought the competition was between Emma Stone for La La Land and Natalie Portman in Jackie. And there they were in separate categories at the Globes and were each expected to win...

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Podcast: Once Upon a Time ... in Listener Questions

with Murtada Elfadl & Nathaniel R

 

Index (59 minutes)
00:01 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: stars, tension, pacing, violence
27:00 Skin starring Jamie Bell: Murtada hates it
Listener Questions...
30:00 Feelings about Renee Zellweger playing Judy
35:00 Our favourite Brad Pitt roles
37:00 Alternative history movies
39:00 Best cats in movies?
41:45 Who is the next Nicole Kidman? 
49:00 Smackdown scheduling
50:20 Sharon Tate's legacy 
51:30 What happened with Mask (1985) at the Oscars? 
55:00 Is 2019 a weak film year? 

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you? 

Articles referenced in this recording
• Jason's review of Once Upon a Time...
• Murtada on the Judy trailer
• Nathaniel on Mask 

Once Upon a Time in Listener Questions

Review: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood

This review was originally published in Nathaniel's column at Towleroad...

We want you... to see this movie so we can talk about it.

[Spoiler-free review] Here’s the best way to know that you’re inside an auteur’s movie. It’s impossible to imagine it having been made by anyone else. Quentin Tarantino’s 10th feature film (creatively referred to as his 9th, presumably to give him a retirement out after his various “I’ll quit after 10 films!” proclamations) is a fable about Hollywood. The movie begins in 1968 and ends in the summer of 1969 when the very pregnant actress Sharon Tate, Roman Polanski’s new wife, and her house guests were all brutally murdered by the Manson family. Any number of filmmakers could have made a movie about that infamous year in California, but only Tarantino could have made Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood. 

Historical events, real ones at least, have never been as sacred to Tarantino as the history of the movies. Whenever he’s dipped into “history” -- Django Unchained, Inglourious Basterds-- it’s been as emotionally loaded prefab worlds from which to spin his own idiosyncratic yarns.  In this regard Once Upon a Time is no exception. To this viewer, though, his latest movie feels closer in spirit to Pulp Fiction...

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