The Golden Rise of Lupita Nyong'o

Sure, she lost the Golden Globe last night to JLaw's razzle dazzle in American Hustle, but is there anyone conscious of social media / the internet / the movies who doesn't think Lupita Nyong'o has emerged as a winner* last night? She'll win numerous Best Dressed lists for the Ralph Lauren cape look even if she doesn't have a statue to go with it.

This is Lupita, overachieving, in the last 9 days alone! We'll leave it to this Best Supporting Actress to figure out how to top these looks come SAG weekend and Oscar night.

 Palm Springs, W, AFI, LAFCA, Golden Globes

poll by twiigs.com

The Darling of the Red Carpet is certainly a more flattering title than "Queen of the Fields" as Master Epps horrifically dubs his abused Patsey in 12 Years a Slave. 

Aren't you dying to know what else Lupita has in her to show us onscreen? Here's to Hollywood and its most powerful directors shaking off their perpetual issue with black actresses (rarely giving them multiple chances to shine) and allowing her the run of the place. Let's give Viola and Lupita their pick of roles for the next couple of years -- we'd all surely reap the rewards. 

*anyone other than Julia Louis-Dreyfus that is, who tweeted this cuteness last night in the Globe aftermath

2 losers. @Lupita_Nyongo pic.twitter.com/yFPxueMhPu

— Julia Louis-Dreyfus (@OfficialJLD) January 13, 2014

American Hustle's Jennifer Lawrence Problem

[I am proud to announce that Matthew Eng, who we've heard from twice as a guest columnist, is now an official member of Team Experience. Here he is on a soon-to-be three-time Oscar nominee! -Editor]

By now, Jennifer Lawrence is well on her way to scoring another Oscar nomination for her supporting performance as the unstable, self-dramatizing Reel Housewife of Long Island Rosalyn Rosenfeld in David O. Russell's American Hustle. Despite initially wary expectations regarding role size, divisive reactions towards both film and performance, and a slowly-surging sense of fatigue regarding America's Sarcastic Sweetheart, Lawrence has already been embraced by two major critics groups (NYFCC and NSFC), was the only actor in her prized ensemble to gain individual recognition from SAG, and, depending on how AMPAS feels about Oprah, June Squibb, and Lupita Nyong'o, might very well be on her way to copping yet another golden boy.

I like Lawrence a great deal, have absolutely no qualms about the Silver Linings victory, and think she's often quite good in Hustle. I laughed heartily watching her blame game her way out of that “science oven” debacle and friskily shove her “sweet and sour” nails in Jeremy Renner’s face. She's lovely in that warm, teary-eyed bayside confessional during her lunch date with Jack Huston. And I contemplated dropping out of college and devoting the rest of my life (or, you know, at least a semester or two) to watching her stick it to Amy Adams in that ferocious bathroom kiss-off/actress throwdown.

And yet, if there is any one viewer who can honestly say that they believed -  even for a second - that Jennifer Lawrence was ever really that woman, unhappily married for years to that man, counting the days in that house, and nearly burning down that kitchen, can he/she please stand up? [more...]

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Interview: Sarah Paulson's 12 Years of Breakthroughs

There are few things in cinema more satisfying than watching those with true gifts prosper and develop. Overnight sensations are exciting but watching careers that build slowly, continually showing new facets and amassing fans piecemeal is a richer experience. Such is the case with the actress Sarah Paulson. With her key role as Mistress Epps in the likely Best Picture contender 12 Years a Slave and her starring role on the anthology series American Horror Story (returning to TV tomorrow night), it's time to get our appreciation on.

I first noticed her in that undersung fanciful homage to 1960s romcoms Down With Love (2003) though her carer stretches back into short-lived television gigs in the mid 90s. When we sat down to talk recently, I confessed to Paulson that I had been completely intimidated by her when I met her at a party for Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011). I had no explanation for this - at the time she hadn't played anything as scary as her plantation wife. "You had an inkling," she mused suggesting I had seen Mistress Epps coming.

But who could have? Who knew she had that in her?

Herewith our conversation...

NATHANIEL:  12 Years a Slave is a big moment in your career but it's not your first "breakthrough" really. I'm wondering about how you experience these things internally. When did things change for you, personally, as an artist? 

Sarah Paulson & Jessica Lange. They've got history

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Oscar's One Hit Wonders or When Bad Nominations Happen to Good Actors

[Here's abstew to talk about a semi-annual Oscar tradition. Even if you disagree with the picks you surely recognize the curious problem. Will any of 2013's future nominees qualify for this list? -Editor]

When it comes to acting nominations, let's face it, not everyone can be Meryl Streep (17 nominations and counting). And with only 20 acting nominations to hand out each year, there's always going to be people left out. So many factors affect nominations: how well the actor is liked in the industry, whether they've been nominated (or won) before, how visible they've been promoting the movie, whether or not it's their "time". Sometimes the actual performance doesn't weigh in as heavily as it should.

Which is why the Academy gives something I like to call the "Oh, sorry we didn't nominate you for that great movie you were in a couple years ago, but let's call it even by nominating you for this instead" nomination. For many actors their body of work greatly out-weighs the single nomination. (For purposes of this list, I'm focusing only on actors who've received their nomination in the past 25 years or so but this has been happening since the beginning of (Oscar's) time.)

With so many greats yet to receive a nomination, perhaps we should be grateful that the following actors can precede their name with "Academy Award Nominee", but knowing how much better they are than this single nomination implies... 

Single Nomination: Best Actress, Catherine Deneuve Indochine (1992)

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Oscar Symposium: The Fifth Spot (Part One)

In which a new Film Experience tradition begins. A pre-nomination mini-symposium about fifth spot battles...

NATHANIEL R: Things that are awesome that come in sets of five: fingers, boy bands, the filmography of John Cazale, golden rings to be used for Olympics or in song, toes, Oscar nominees... It always comes back to the Oscars here at The Film Experience, don't you know?

I never thought of myself as any more averse to change than the average person but when the Academy changed the Best Picture system in 2009 and 2010 to a top ten and then to anything between 5 and 10, the magic number suddenly becoming 9 in both 2011 and 2012, it felt like a direct attack on my sanity. But Oscar categories come in fives!!! I've never stopped internally protesting and whenever anyone suggests that the acting categories should widen as well, a little part of me dies inside or reaches for smelling salts. I've taken solace in recent rule changes that bring Original Song and Visual Effects to a clean five-wide system as well and I pray that Hair and Makeup eventually goes there, too. I need the clarity of that organizing number.

This year we're starting a new mini-symposium tradition at the Film Experience in which we gather to discuss the fifth spot. There's no point in debating the locks but usually at least one spot is up for grabs. Please welcome our panel of five: Kurt Osenlund (The House Next Door), Nathaniel R (The Film Experience, c'est moi), Christopher Rosen (Huffington Post), Sasha Stone (Awards Daily) and You (in the comments). These "what ifs" we're discussing become moot on January 16th when the nominations are announced but they're fun while they last (10 more days!). Eventually each year's acting shortlists take on a feeling of inevitability in retrospect... even the "surprise" nominees that didn't have much support in the precursors.

Are any of you feeling bullish about a surprise nominee that you think will seem inevitable once their name is read on Nomination Morning? [Supporting Categories after the jump...]

Chris, Kurt, Nathaniel, Sasha and You

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