"The Color Purple" and the Best Supporting Actress Oscar History

by Cláudio Alves

A shadow of uncertainty has loomed over the awards season for a long time. It was the enigma of a major contender yet unwatched until last week when the first screenings of The Color Purple movie musical finally took place. Now, it feels like the race is truly on, with the Blitz Bazawule's picture firmly established in the run for gold. And of the categories it might compete in, Best Supporting Actress is the surest bet. Indeed, some folk are already predicting Danielle Brooks for a sweeping victory thanks to Sofia, the sing-and-dance version of the same role that earned Oprah Winfrey a nomination 38 years ago. On stage, both Brooks and Felicia P. Fields have earned nods for the part, too. But will Taraji P. Henson's Shug Avery follow her into the 96th Academy Awards ballot? 

These matters make one think about the history of the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, its embrace of musicals, and its propensity for nominating multiple people from the same film…

Click to read more ...

1998: The women of "Beloved"

We're revisiting the 1998 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.

Another week, another lone Costume Design nominee that deserved far better attention than it got. Yes, Jonathan Demme’s Beloved is visibly uneven in several passages, to include the entire last hour. Yes, there’s a whole lot of discourse around Oprah as producer/actress/cultural icon at the time that I completely missed. Broadly speaking, it’s so disappointing that Toni Morrison’s works have had so few adaptations for screen, even as the author herself was a constant source of insightful interviews and the focus of several documentaries. But even on its own terms, Beloved is a genuinely risky, textured piece of filmmaking, honoring Morrison’s astounding novel without softening its most difficult themes. It’s also filled to the brim with fiercely etched performances from its supporting actresses. Kimberly Elise, Thandiwe Newton, LisaGay Hamilton, Beah Richards, all approach tremendously difficult roles with ferocity and candor...

Click to read more ...

Review: A Wrinkle in Time

by Chris Feil

With an authentic sense of wonder for the human spirit in its blood stream, A Wrinkle in Time adapts Madeleine L’Engle’s beloved classic with the air of intense responsibility. Directed by Ava DuVernay, this interdimensional tale of adolescent self-affirmation casts its holistic intentions on a massive canvas that remains deeply personal. It’s a CGI space hug resolute in empowering the viewers that find themselves diminished by their environment and maybe even Wrinkle’s cinematic contemporaries.

Newcomer Storm Reid plays Meg, a solemn preteen mourning the disappearance of her astrophysicist father (played by Chris Pine) and coping with the cruelty of pretty-girl bullies. Her despair and the naivete of her younger brother Charles Wallace (an adorable and teensy Deric McCabe) summons three otherworldly mystic Mrs.: Reese Witherspoon as the shady and effervescent Mrs. Whatsit, Mindy Kaling as the quote-happy Mrs. Who, and Oprah Winfrey as the all-knowing Mrs. Which. With her brother and a newfound friend, Meg portals across the universe under the guidances of the Mrs. to rescue her father from the evil forces of the invading It that trap him.

Click to read more ...

Ride on the Link Train

news
• Coming Soon first image Zac Efron as Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked
• TMZ Meryl Streep files for trademark claim on the use of her name. Wonder what prompted this?
• WSJ Is the Star Wars franchise slipping in popularity? (This seems like a lot of panic for nothing since the movies are regularly grossing a billion)  

• Variety Bernadette Peters off to a great sales start taking over for Bette Midler in Hello Dolly! on Broadway
• Tracking Board Juliette Lewis joins the cast of the next Sam Taylor-Johnson movie A Million Little Pieces 
• The Wrap Oprah responds to her action figure from A Wrinkle in Time
• Tribeca Film Matthew Eng, who co-writes our "Months of Meryl" column, interviewed the queen herself! Check out his chat with Streep about her work on The Post.
• AV Club Sam Raimi likely to direct the Kingkiller Chronicles which already has Lin-Manuel Miranda attached for the music

opinion
• Film Mixtape Our own Chris Feil's top 15 films of the year: Lady Bird, Raw, Personal Shopper, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, and more...
• Advocate Sir Ian McKellen on the 30th anniversary of his coming out
• Fandor "What if Pixar made Phantom Thread?" <-- SPOILERS in that article, major ones, so be warned. I'm not sure what to make of this piece. I love the concept and the header image and the cartoon being described but it's basically like 2 separate articles shoved up against each other since they keep leaving the imaginary film for multi-paragraph detours into the real one.
• Cinematic Corner Sati picks her 35 best shots of the year

exit video

Nicole eats "micro-livestock" aka bugs for Vanity Fair's secret talent theater. Jason made me lol with his response to this video:

Nicole Kidman dislodged her jaw and swallowed Lars Von Trier whole one time on the set of Dogville so bugs ain't shit"

Best Golden Globe Tweets

by Nathaniel R

BREAKING: Nicole Kidman has finally used her Instagram account which had been taunting us for years (or at least it felt like that... months?) with "no posts yet". Here is the beauteous moment in full.

For those of you who don't have Twitter and thus missed any of these delicious bites, photos, or observations, here you go. These are culled from the vastness with speed and imprecision but I hope you find a chuckle you might have otherwise missed... 

Click to read more ...