It's almost time for another Smackdown. As is the brief tradition, we'll be looking at this year's nominees for Supporting Actress in our February edition (just as we did last year). We'll be talking Octavia Spencer, Laurie Metcalf, Lesley Manville, Mary J Blige, and Allison Janney. The Smackdown and its companion podcast will arrive this coming Monday, February 26th.
It's time to meet the panelists. Please welcome...
FIRST TIME PANELISTS
Andrew Carden
Andrew Carden is a contributing writer at GoldDerby and writes about all things Oscar on his blog, The Awards Connection. When he's not on Twitter, lamenting Thelma Ritter's 0-for-6 record in Best Supporting Actress, Andrew works in Massachusetts politics.
His #1 of 2017: Mudbound
[Andrew on Twitter]
Candice Frederick
Candice Frederick is a freelance TV/film critic living in New York City. She has written for Vice, The Daily Beast, The Mary Sue, /Film and others. You can find more of her work here.
Her #1 of 2017: Wonder Woman
[Candice on Twitter]
Erica Mann
Erica is a writer and film critic based in New York. Creator of The NYC Film Chick blog in 2012, she has covered film festivals such as Tribeca, New York Film Festival, and TIFF. When she is not working, tweeting, or fighting the patriarchy, she freelances as a film coordinator and producer.
Her #1 of 2017: Mudbound
[Erica on Twitter]
RETURNING PANELISTS
Though we never repeat an exact panel, we do like to welcome voices back. The following two men have done smackdowns before (the 2016 fivesome and the 1995 brilliance, respectively) so we're welcoming them back.
Chris Feil
Chris Feil lives in Columbus, Ohio and is a contributor to The Film Experience. You can easily beetlejuice him into your conversations by talking about soundtracks (shameless plug for his weekly column Soundtracking), RuPaul's Drag Race (further shameless plug for his recaps), and WALL•E. He is remembering to notice the collateral beauty around him. Chris has also written for Paste and Decider.
His #1 of 2017: Lady Bird
[Chris on Twitter]
Kevin O'Keeffe
Kevin O'Keeffe is a writer, editor, and RuPaul's Drag Race herstorian. Currently, he writes about that show, as well as other film and TV, for the LGBTQ+ magazine INTO. He's still mad Tiffany Haddish wasn't nominated this year.
His #1 of 2017: Call Me By Your Name
[Kevin on Twitter]
... and your host
Nathaniel R ... but you know me already.
The Smackdown will be up on Monday. And if you'd like to get started early on your viewing for future smackdowns we're doing 1970 and 1994 sometime in the spring after a wee Post-Oscar break. Stay tuned!
Tuesday, February 27, 2018 at 11:21PM 
For this week's podcast Nathaniel R presents a companion conversation to our Supporting Actress Smackdown (which we'll presume you've read already!). Joining him to discuss the Best Picture race and more generalized discussion about supporting actressing in 2017 are: Andrew Carden (Awards Connection / Gold Derby) Chris Feil (The Film Experience), Candice Frederick (Reel Talker), Erica Mann (NYC Film Chick), and Kevin P O'Keeffe (Into). 
