Almost There: Don Cheadle in "Devil in a Blue Dress"

by Cláudio Alves

Noirvember can't end without a noir-themed write-up here at The Film Experience. It falls on the Almost There series to consider a style born in shadows, that cinema which came into its own in the aftermath of war and persists in perpetual reinvention. Though it'd be nice to look back on the origins of noir, most of the classics fell outside the Academy's radar. So it's only logical to wander into the depths of neo-noir, searching for a title that embodies the best of it all, combining classical sensibilities with a modern perspective. Thus, one arrives at Carl Franklin's Devil in a Blue Dress, a 1995 adaptation of Walter Mosley's book where a 1940s-set crime drama is reframed through the centering of a Black protagonist. 

However, it wasn't the film's hardboiled anti-hero who caught the attention of awards voters. Instead, those honors befell on a supporting player – Don Cheadle in his breakout role as a dangerous man called Mouse…

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Discussing the 1997 Oscar Race (Again)

Ben & Matt win "Best Original Screenplay" at the Oscars

Remember how much fun the Supporting Actress Smackdown of 1997 was? Well, we had an opportunity to revisit that year much earlier than we were expecting to revisit it via our friends at the Cooler Than Ecto Podcast...

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The Best Costumes of 1997

by Cláudio Alves

Before we say goodbye to 1997 and move on to 1951, let's indulge in what has become a Smackdown tradition. After Nathaniel and his panelist do their Supporting Actress analysis and podcast discussion, it's time for some costume-related musings. Like most of the categories in that year's Oscars, the Best Costume Design race was won by Titanic, which shouldn't be surprising. Not only was the movie a sweeper, but its wardrobe has achieved iconic status in the decades since its original release. Deborah Lynn Scott makes for a just victor, not only because of her work's iconographic power but also because it works within the picture's purview of history and romance…

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Smackdown '97: Joan, Minnie, Gloria, Julianne Moore, and Kim Basinger

Welcome back to the Supporting Actress Smackdown. 

In this monthly series we pick an Oscar vintage to explore through the lens of actressing at the edges. This episode takes us back 25 years to the landmark year of 1997 when Titanic and "Matt & Ben" were all rage.

THE NOMINEES  

Aside from an encore showing for comedic genius Joan Cusack, a surprise nominee in 1988 for Working Girl, the Academy went with all first-timers for 1997's Supporting Actress roster. Not that the actresses were "new" to the scene. There were two "comeback" narratives: Kim Basinger had been a leading lady for over a decade before LA Confidential but she'd taken a three year break from the movies (amidst multiple financial and legal troubles). Meanwhile Gloria Stuart who began in the early days of sound cinema was being celebrated in a way she hadn't been since 1932. The "breakthrough" nominations, were also two-fold. One went to Minnie Driver (who had two films out, In & Out  and Grosse Point Blank). The other went to ubiqutious Julianne Moore who kicked off '97 with a Sundance hit (The Myth of Fingerprints), and continued making news with a blockbuster (Lost World Jurassic Park) before her career-elevating role arrived in the fall in the unlikely package of an epic ensemble drama about the 1970s porn industry from a filmmaker barely anyone had heard of.

THE PANELISTS 

 Here to talk about these five films and performances are (in alpha order) author and entertainment jourmalist Kyle Buchanan (The New York Times, "Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road"), podcaster Chelsea Eichholz (Cinema Gals), and comedian / podcaster Louis Virtel (Keep It!, Jimmy Kimmel Live). The Smackdown is hosted by the founder and editor of The Film Experience, Nathaniel Rogers.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS SMACKDOWN + PODCAST  

LET'S BEGIN...

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Almost There: Pam Grier in "Jackie Brown"

by Cláudio Alves

Last week, the Almost There series featured the likely sixth-placer in the 1997 Best Supporting Actress Oscar race. However, as much as Sigourney Weaver seemed poised for Academy recognition, hers wasn't the year's biggest snub. That sad honor belongs to Pam Grier, whose star turn in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown earned nearly-unanimous critical praise and sturdy precursor support. Like John Travolta before her, she was a movie icon from two decades prior now fallen from the spotlight, an erstwhile star reintroduced within the context of a verbose acting showcase with modern verve. So if Travolta scored a nod for Pulp Fiction, why didn't Grier do the same with Jackie Brown?

The answers to that question are many and most dispiriting, especially if, like me, you find Jackie Brown to be one of its director's best films. That love extends to Grier, whose lack of an Oscar nomination stands out as one of the Academy's greatest injustices in the 90s…

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