Almost There: Let's vote again!

by Cláudio Alves

Last month, we asked you to choose what performances should be analyzed in the Almost There series which concerns itself with acting achievements that came close to the Oscar but failed to secure the nomination. You came through with more than 800 votes on each of our polls and the feedback seemed quite positive. Your choices were the against-type star turn of Cameron Diaz in Being John Malkovich and Joan Allen's incandescent fury in 2005's The Upside of Anger. Not only that, but the runners-up of the new to streaming poll, Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler, were also written about.

Because of such good results, we're repeating that experiment. This time, we'll be focusing on movies that are newly available to stream in September as well as flicks from 1938, our sidebar theme thanks to the Supporting Actress Smackdown. 

First up, here are some possibilities from different streaming services:

survey tools

Secondly, here's a selection of 1938 performances. While it's difficult to discern who had awards buzz on those early Oscar races, we believe all of these folks were in the conversation: 

survey services

You can vote on each poll, once a day, until Saturday, September 5th. We can't wait to see who you choose!

Almost There: Reader’s Choice Edition

by Cláudio Alves

Over the past few months, in the Almost There series, we’ve explored many performances that were at the threshold of an Oscar nomination but, for one reason or another, ended up without that golden hosanna. The choice of subject for each episode has been up to me. In an attempt to avoid negativity, I always went with performances I greatly admire. Why not try a more reproachful assessment or, even more difficult, an ambivalent review? So, the next two performances to be dissected in the series won’t be chosen by me. That’s where you come in…

First up, a selection of performances, new to streaming, making for a timely lineup of potential study objects. Which one do you choose? 

bike trails

Secondly, we have another field of possibility, all from the year 2005, our theme this month as we approach another Smackdown. Which will it be?

surveys

You can vote on each poll once a day until Saturday, August 8^th. If you like this initiative, we might repeat it in the future. As always, your feedback is appreciated.

Choose Your Quarantine House

These memes have been ubiqutious on twitter the past few days with everyone getting stir crazy but since you might not be on Twitter and you love movie-madness as much as us, we thought we'd share some of the best and most difficult choices in these movie-centered editions of 'Choose Your Quarantine House'

Starting with the A24 which has always had a tremendously inspired social media department. Witness:

Hee. Every house has something wondrous and something highly objectionable or downright terrifying. But it's your choice. And on to the Oscars...

Click to read more ...

Lunchtime Poll: What are the oddest Best Actress wins?

Claudio recently celebrated Glenda Jackson's Oscar winning performance in Women in Love and we have to ask if you've ever seen Women in Love's trailer? We personally can't recall a time another time when critical pullquotes were wielded to shame people into praising something. Haha. Note that final blurb! 

While most Oscar wins make sense given the context of their own years (for various reasons), they don't always make any sense in the grander scheme of Oscar history and taste. Women in Love stands as one of the strangest Oscars wins in its category given the nature of the role and the acting achievement. I'd argue that Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins is another odd duck, with no correlative elsewhere in Oscar taste. Who would you name as one of the strangest Oscar wins in Best Actress history (besides those two)? And why?

You Chose... Only Angels Have Wings (1939)

Our reader's choice "streaming film club" is going weekly since we're all soon stuck at home in this brave new world of Covid-19. This week you selected the Howard Hawks adventure romance classic Only Angels Have Wings (1939) starring Cary Grant and Jean Arthur so we'll be discussing that on Monday March 23rd so queue it up on the Criterion Channel. In second place was Disney's Pollyanna (1960) so we'll also discuss that on Wednesday March 25th so watch that one on Disney+ if you'd like to play along. Okay? 

Last week's runner up film to Lady in a Cage was the romantic comedy Cactus Flower (1969) and Murtada and I decided to discuss it on the podcast (returning very soon) since it was such a close vote. So see, we're doing double duty to keep you thinking about movies when you're no longer allowed to go see them in theaters! *sniffle*

Stay safe out there and wash your hands.

Previous Readers Choice Posts
Voyage of the Damned (1976)
Lady in a Cage (1964)