Film Bitch Awards ~ Oscar Parallel Categories Complete!

by Nathaniel R

The Oscar-adjacent portion of our annual Film Bitch Awards is complete (i.e. if Nathaniel had a ballot)... 

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Doc Corner: 'Janet Jackson.' and 'Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché'

By Glenn Dunks

British X-Ray Spex frontwoman Poly Styrene and American pop superstar Janet Jackson are two very different musicians. It stands to reason that any biographic documentary about either would be wildly unalike. Although both artists are boundary-pushing women of colour in music, on very basic metrics, Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché and Janet Jackson. are indeed very different. One is a exploration of a punk icon’s chaotic life and early death in all of its subject’s messy, unglamorous glory. The other is a sprawling, four-part work of popumentary that venerates and celebrates with high-gloss entertainment. However, it is in the areas where these projects intersect where one project finds its strengths and the other, unfortunately, falters...

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Oscar Volley: It's a Best Supporting Actress lovefest!

Our Oscar Volley series continues with Cláudio Alves and Nick Taylor doing a deep dive on a category near and dear to their hearts...

NICK: First, quick introductions! What drew us to this category, you ask? The Supporting Actress category was one of my favorite fields to rummage through when I was initially exploring the Oscars. Tilda Swinton, Lupita Nyong’o, Sandy Dennis, Thelma Ritter, Mo’Nique, Dianne Wiest, Agnes Moorehead - all led me to new ideas about film and performance I hadn’t dreamed of before then. Watching talented actresses carve out whole worlds from the corners of their films became one of my favorite things to search for in movies.

I have a very specific memory of discovering the Supporting Actress Smackdown after watching Kramer vs Kramer for the first time only a few weeks after the podcast on 1979 dropped and listening to the discussion with rapt attention. And then the 1948 episode came out like, the next day! Gave me wild misconceptions on how fast things updated, lemme tell you...

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Oscar Chart Updates: Supporting Categories

by Nathaniel R

While both Best Actress and Best Actor (recently discussed here and here) appear to have furious volatile competitions for the anxiety-provoking fifth slots, is the same true in the Supporting categories? 

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FYC: Ruth Negga in "Passing"

by Cláudio Alves

Earlier in the awards season, I became discouraged at the thought that the year's best performance was doomed. Critics didn't rally behind Ruth Negga as I had hoped, and her film, no matter how spellbinding, looked likely to be ignored. Despite such worries the arrival of prominent Oscar precursors and industry awards has revitalized hope. After Globe and SAG nominations, Negga is poised to earn a second Academy Award nomination for her supporting turn as Clare Bellew in Rebecca Hall's cinematic adaptation of Nella Larsen's novel Passing. But of course, even when a nod feels secure, it's never a bad idea to gild the lily and remind folks of an actress's genius…

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