What If... Glenn Close had won?

by Cláudio Alves

Glenn Close in THE DELIVERANCE (2024) Lee Daniels | © Netflix

Oscar obsessives everywhere know the dark and winding road of 'what if' like the back of their hand. What if my favorite had won? How would that change things down the line? What's the domino effect in Oscar history? What about film history? It can be a fun exercise, but it's also a shortcut to madness if you're not careful about it. That's especially true when considering one of those Academy Award sad sacks, the unlucky few who've earned multiple nominations yet never get the gold. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride - the Deborah Kerrs and Peter O'Tooles of the world. Or, for a more contemporary example, the Glenn Closes.

Speaking of that Oscar-less titan, her new movie is now in theaters and will soon arrive on Netflix. As we wait for Lee Daniels' The Deliverance to hit streaming, let's celebrate Close with some awards lunacy. Let's reflect on what would have happened if she had been victorious in one of those eight bids for gold…

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Almost There: Eddie Murphy in "Beverly Hills Cop"

by Cláudio Alves

Axel Foley's back! Thirty years after John Landis' Beverly Hills Cops III, the franchise has been revived by Netflix, and the fourth movie is already on streaming. Across its various iterations, the series about a Detroit cop solving crimes in Beverly Hills has varied in its balance between action and comedy. However, Eddie Murphy's presence is a constant, conferring a semblance of consistency in the films. Indeed, his impact is so strong that one can easily classify him as the franchise's defining auteur. No need to be in the director's chair when one's presence in front of the camera transforms the pictures, shaping them around the gravitational pull of a true movie star.

To mark the occasion, let's look back at the flick that started it all. In 1984, Martin Brest's Beverly Hills Cop confirmed Eddie Murphy as an A-lister, and might have even come close to Oscar glory…

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Happy Birthday, Jessica Lange (& Nina Foch)

by Cláudio Alves

Like Mark said in his Veronica Cartwright tribute, this 4/20 is an essential date for actressexuals... among others. After all, we celebrate the horror queen's 75th birthday and that of Jessica Lange as well. Initially, I thought about writing about the star's upcoming adaptation of O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night, but that film seems trapped in some nebulous distribution limbo. By all accounts, production wrapped in late 2022 after a brief halt due to financing issues. Since then, there's been hardly any news, and Lange herself speculated it might not yet be finished in a Vulture interview. Let's hope we don't have another Blue Sky situation in our hands, though that farrago resulted in a Best Actress Oscar.

So, instead of dwelling on that mystery, why not remember The Film Experience's collective love for Jessica Lange? Going through the site, I came up with a selection of write-ups worth revisiting, plus some bonus Nina Foch to mark her centennial…

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Louis Gossett Jr. (1936-2024)

by Cláudio Alves

THE COLOR PURPLE (2023) Blitz Bazawule

Yesterday, in a public statement, the family of Louis Gossett Jr. announced the actor's death. He was 87, and though no cause was revealed, he had been fighting prostate cancer for the past decade. Mourning the loss of such an artist is to celebrate the person and the performer, remembering his work across decades, from stage to screen, big and small. No genre was beneath him, no role beyond his range, be it a lead part or a supporting turn that showed up for just one scene or two. Indeed, earlier this year, Gossett received a SAG ensemble nomination for his work in The Color Purple musical. 

Speaking of awards, this thespian is a history-making figure for Oscar obsessives. After all, he was the first Black man to win the Best Supporting Actor trophy…

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First & Last 019

can you guess the movie from its first and last image?

the answer is after the jump...

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