In Defense of Streep's first Best Actress nomination

Before we close the book on our big 1981 event we thought we'd discuss a few of the leading ladies of the year. Please welcome guest contributor Gabriel Mayora !

In 1981, Meryl Streep was a breakout star, a buzzy and reputable theater actress who in only four years since making the transition from Broadway to Hollywood had garnered an Emmy for a hit miniseries and two back-to-back Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominations in ’78 and ’79 (both for Best Picture winners), winning the second time. It was time for her to turn into a full-fledged leading lady. Enter Karel Reisz’s The French Lieutenant’s Woman, the film that marks Streep’s first Best Actress nomination. Over the decades, this performance has gained a reputation for belonging in the “overrated” category. Was this nomination more of a symbolic gesture to solidify her status as Hollywood’s new leading star or appreciation of the performance itself?

A key scene in the last 10 minutes of the movie makes a convincing argument for why voters would have felt genuinely compelled to single out Streep’s dual turn among the top five lead performances of 1981...

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Smackdown '81: Elizabeth, Joan, Melinda, Maureen, and Jane Fonda

Welcome back to the Supporting Actress Smackdown, a summer festival in which we investigate Oscar vintages from years past. This time around it's 1981 in which an estranged daughter, an unhappy socialite, a guilt-ridden Catholic, a political radical, and a scandalous young beauty gather for our viewing pleasure.

1981's Supporting Actress nominations made room for a two-time winner (Jane Fonda, On Golden Pond) with a very personal project, an actor's actor in a star-driven historical epic (Maureen Stapleton, Reds),  two sturdy characters in 'issues' pictures of very different kinds (Melinda Dillon, Absence of Malice  and Joan Hackett in Only When I Laugh) and a rapidly rising starlet (Elizabeth McGovern, Ragtime) who had made a big film debut the year prior in 1980's Best Picture winner Ordinary People. 

THIS MONTH'S PANELISTS    

Here to talk about these five nominated turns and the movies and Oscars of 1981 are, in alphabetical order: writer/director Eric Blume, actor Donna Lynne Champlin (Crazy Ex Girlfriend), actor Sean Maguire (Once Upon a Time, The Magicians), festival programmer Amir Soltani, and critic Boyd Van Hoeij (The Hollywood Reporter). And, as ever, your host at The Film Experience, Nathaniel R. 

Let's begin...

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1981: Modern Romance

Please welcome new contributor Nick Taylor who is providing us with extra Supporting Actress supplemental pleasure inbetween the Smackdown events...

Modern Romance (1981) begins with its main couple breaking up in a diner. Or rather, Robert Cole (actor/writer/director Albert Brooks) has decided to break up with his girlfriend Mary Harvard (Kathryn Harrold), because something in his life has felt off lately. He thinks it’s their relationship. She’s justifiably annoyed with this, particularly since they spend a lot of time breaking up and getting back together, and barely believes him when he says they’re not coming back from this. The only time Robert seems hesitant about ending it (this time) is when she says something that reignites his paranoia, making him think she won’t mind them splitting and is already having an affair. Mary leaves the building so quickly she doesn’t even have the chance to ask to get her order to go, then tells Robert to drop dead and gets in her car. 

This scene lays out their relationship pretty concisely, though it’s not immediately obvious how Kathryn Harrold’s performance is responsible for its effectiveness. Modern Romance never feels clearer or more insightful than when Mary and Robert are together, in no small part because it has more to say about toxic relationships than it does about shitty men...

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When Oscar met Razzie

by Cláudio Alves

Founded by Mo Murphy and John J. B. Wilson, the Golden Raspberry Awards, more commonly known as Razzies, are the evil twin to the Academy Awards. Instead of celebrating the best achievements in world cinema, they award the worst, ridiculing them in the process and daring anyone to go accept their gold sprayed statuette in good humor. They've been handed out since 1981 when Xanadu and Can't Stop the Music battled out for the title of Worst Picture. Since then, the Razzies have made many controversial choices, showing an especially troubling fondness for lampooning female-centric stories or examples of campy entertainment.

Today we'll be talking about two instances when the Oscars and the Razzies tastes diverged so much they ended up nominating the same performances…

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Curio: The Adventures of Indiana Jones

Curated by Nathaniel R

Illustration by J Scott CampbellSince we're celebrating the 1981 Oscars this coming weekend with the season premiere of Supporting Actress Smackdown it's appropriate to look at the movie from '81 that's inspired the most fan art over the years: Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Steven Spielberg's best film (what? Fight me) introduced one of cinema's greatest heroes, the stuffy professor / snake-phobic but otherwise fearless adventurer Indiana Jones. Jones has gone on to multiple sequels and will surely be rebooted at some point (sigh) with a lesser being than Harrison Ford in the leading role.

Some incredible artwork inspired by the original film and resulting franchise are after the jump...

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