Almost There: Lady Gaga in "House of Gucci"

by Cláudio Alves

Last time, in the Almost There series, I asked you to vote on what performance should be explored next. Mike Faist in West Side Story was the resounding victor. However, since Spielberg's musical is still not available to stream or rent, we'll first look at the runner-up choice from that poll. She's none other than Lady Gaga in House of Gucci. After scoring nominations with all major precursors, she seemed set for her second acting Oscar nod. However, as luck would have it, her outrageous awards campaign ended in a snub from the Academy. She might still win some trophies before the season is over, but that coveted little golden man is out of reach.

While it's easy to lose oneself in the glamour of the role and those ridiculous interviews, there's plenty to admire in Gaga's star turn as Patrizia Reggiani, ex-wife to Maurizio Gucci, who she had killed after an acrimonious separation…

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Why can't the Oscars love themselves as much as we love the Oscars?

by Nathaniel R

"If you can't love yourself, how the hell you gonna love anybody else?" RuPaul's famous episode ending quote on RuPaul's Drag Race is profundity in silly soundbite form. "Amen!" How different might our current but lifelong Oscars obsession be if the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences took this fact to heart. How much more fun would the annual Oscar circus be if they just learned to love themselves again. For you see, the more they think poorly of themselves, the more we begin to question our own lifelong love for the event. Have we wasted decades of our lives obsessing over this annual holiday/event/ritual? If they no longer feel any love, perhaps we should consider a divorce?

As you may have heard the Oscars will not be airing 8 of their 23 categories LIVE this year, but instead do them an hour before the broadcast and then edit them into the evening...

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The Case for Kristen Stewart Winning the Oscar

By Ben Miller

Kristen Stewart for the Vanity Fair "Hollywood" Issue.

We still have over four weeks to go until the 2021 Oscars ceremony takes place, but the intrigue is beginning to ramp up. When Kristen Stewart’s portrayal of Princess Diana in Spencer was among the nominees, I immediately thought to myself…she could still win the Oscar because....

The Race is Wide-Open

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Best Actor - trivia, polls, and "how'd he get nominated?" thoughts

by Nathaniel R

Will Will Smith hear his name called on March 27th?

You know the drill by now. As we're working on trivia and "how'd they get nominated?" theorizing, we love to imagine an avatar for each category melding all the nominees together. In the case of this year's Best Actor race that's a 51 year old bi-racial American movie star, who is married with multiple kids and who spends a lot of time in action franchises. Wait a minute this sounds suspiciously like The Rock! Oh, wait. Never mind. This fictional amalgam of our Leading Men is also an Oscar favourite with four nominations under his belt, usually for playing real life people. In all seriousness though...

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Regina Hall, Amy Schumer, and Wanda Sykes are hosting the Oscars

by Nathaniel R

We'd already heard that the Academy was eyeing a "three-act" structure for the March 27th ceremony and now we know who is starring in those "acts". Fine actress Regina Hall, and two hilarious TV comediennes Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes. We'd hoped for Maya Rudolph or Kristen Wiig since they're always deeply hilarious when presenting Oscars but we like this trio. The past couple of years have proven that we really do need hosts for some kind of party throughline and the Academy could have chosen (and have chosen) much worse! 

What'cha think?