CinemaInternational

Looks like Laura Dern and Joaquin Phoenix can be crossed off the list of never-winners too. It's nice for a change (even though the last time was only 2 years ago) that all the prospective winners have been in movies for at least 25 years.

Next on the remake wheel? Bambi! [I feel sick about that] https://variety.com/2020/film/news/bambi-disney-remake-1203479063/?fbclid=IwAR3z4zcnN3c6KZPV6HBPLxP9uekUrChHPSNR-3G5psyOhwkw6dbxtuUYOPU

Whenever I think of dinner theatre performances of Arthur Miller, I think of this scene from Soapdish....

My own personal feeling is that the films of this decade need more time to age. I'm definitely fond of films like Brooklyn, 45 Years, Once upon a time in Hollywood, Little Women, About Time, True Grit, Les Miserables, Never Let Me Go, Anna Karenina, Inside Out, 20th Century Women, Phantom Thread, their Finest, and La La land, and I think time will be kind to them as long as they are remembered, but at the same time, hindsight is the best judge, and its too soon to tell. I know that i am not slavishly devoted to the 2010s (I cringe when i hear people saying it was the best ever time for movies), and frankly i am still finding films in the 2000s I hadn't seen before that have merit. So I think that we need to come back to this a while from now.

Karen Black was nominated for Five Easy Pieces, but I thought she was particularly good in The Day of the Locust. Jeff bridges wasn't up for his best two: The Fisher King and Fearless. Charles Durning had the rare feat of being better in a different film in the very year he was nominated (Tootsie over Best Little... well you know the rest)

Criterion Channel in February arrivals.... including the film once referred to as "Warmed Over Puke"-- A Warm December https://letterboxd.com/chrissweet1967/list/all-the-films-coming-to-the-criterion-channel-1/detail/

I elaborated a bit more on it today elsewhere, and I'll share it.

I actually found it while scanning my feed on Facebook. Could not resist sharing it.

Lillian Gish was Oscar nominated for Duel in the Sun, and she was very good in that. But her performances in Orphans of the Storm and The Scarlet Letter predated the Academy and her lovely swan song The Whales of August was overlooked (although luckily Ann Sothern was nominated)

Thought this might make an interesting twist on Oscar month. While it is clear that some people were nominated for their best work, some others simply were not because either they were only up a time or two, or because their best work was undervalued at the time. Name some nominees who you felt deserved credit for another film or performance. List of nominees over the years by the way: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_actors_with_Academy_Award_nominations I'll start with one big one: Robert Mitchum, nominated for The Story of GI Joe, was at his best in unnominated parts such as The night of the Hunter, Heaven Knows Mr Allison, and The Friends of Eddie Coyle.

Joker (2019) is a tepid rehash of Taxi Driver mixed with The King of Comedy. Phoenix is good, but any suspense is gone because it follows Taxi Driver's descent into madness almost step for step. Going down around a 6.5/10

Not mommie Dearest related but other types of photos that appear on the internet sometimes really put a spin on the lyrics of the Carpenters hit "Close to You"

I still think that the standout performance in the film was from Madeleine Stowe.....

Just in time for 31 Days of Oscar, the 1969 drama The Happy Ending is on Amazon Prime for free. Has not been on TCM since 2015. Features an Oscar nominated performance from Jean Simmons.

She's a national treasure.

i gave the edge to Star Trek because more of the films were to my liking.

Every time that Mothers Day rolls around, photos like this make rounds on the internet.

Interesting card to sell

In fact, if I had to rank, I'd have her as my runner-up for Best Actress in 1981. If I had to make a lineup, it would look like this. Bernadette Peters/Pennies from Heaven Faye Dunaway/Mommie Dearest Kathleen Turner/Body Heat Marsha Mason/Only When I Laugh Meryl Streep/The French Lieutenant's Woman

I personally feel that Faye Dunaway should have been up for an Oscar, because she did an excellent job, much more nuanced than reputation might suggest.

Incidently, Wikipedia has this list of films considered to be the worst. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_considered_the_worst. Seemingly it really begins to swell when you hit the 70s. But I really think that Mommie Dearest has enough fans, and Heaven's Gate and Ishtar have gone through such a reappraisal that they could all be eliminated from the list.

Marci X is currently on HBO on Demand. So thank you for the warning. I'll stay far away from that.

Feel free. I like threads to include a little bit of anything and everything.

The show always did have memorable guest stars. There were also appearances by Laurence Fishburne, Chris Cooper, Julia Roberts, Stanley Tucci, Bill Paxton, Haing S Ngor, Elizabeth Ashley, jeroen Krabbe, Sheena Easton, Ben Stiller, Brian Dennehy, Kelly Lynch, Penelope Ann Miller, Alfred Molina, Issac Hayes, Chris Rock, R Lee Ermey, Iman, Lori Petty, Oliver Platt, Meg Foster, Melissa Leo, Richard Jenkins, Amanda Plummer, Rita Moreno, Karen Black, William Hickey, Ian McShane, Dennis Farina, Laura San Giacomo, Pam Grier, CCH Pounder even a walkon by Barbra Streisand.