Best Actress 2020/21
A history of an extraordinary Best Actress awards season!
With theatres shuttered, release schedules disrupted, and festivals held online, 2020 was a year for the movies like none before. It was harrowing. It was transformative. And for women in leading roles, it was one of the greatest of all time. In biopics, horror movies, period dramas and existential comedies, legends and newcomers alike astonished with powerful and entertaining performances that made the annual Best Actress race unusually competitive and completely unpredictable.
Drawing on interviews and hundreds of published articles and reviews, Best Actress 2020/21: The Thirty Performances in Contention for the Best Actress Awards celebrates the craft behind the acclaimed performances in contention for the season’s Best Actress accolades and recounts the history of an unforgettable awards season.
Available now as paperback and kindle from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.com.au, amazon.de, amazon.fr, amazon.es and amazon.jp.
Category Fraud
Studios have been gaming the Oscar nominations for years – it’s time the Academy took action!
“Category fraud”, Guy Lodge wrote in 'Variety', is “the practice of campaigning a leading performance in a supporting category (or, more rarely, vice versa) to increase an actor’s chances of a nomination or win – and, in some cases, to avoid competition.”
There have been instances of category fraud ever since the Academy introduced the Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress categories in 1936 to honour the work of character actors and featured players without them having to compete at the Oscars with famous movie stars.
In recent years, however, as awards season campaigns have become a ruthless and expensive business, category fraud has become more common and egregious. With publicists taking any opportunity to secure nominations for their famous clients, many lesser-known performers are missing out on well-deserved recognition at the Oscars. Supporting performers are being pushed aside by famous stars in co-lead roles, backed by powerful studios and well-funded ‘for your consideration’ campaigns.
When studios first began promoting established stars in co-lead roles for the supporting categories in the 1950s, influential figures in the Screen Actors Guild protested and the Academy was forced to change its rules.
Once the controversy subsided, however, the reform was repealed. Half a century later the practice is back: bigger and uglier than ever. Category Fraud charts the controversial history of this betrayal of the original reason for the introduction of the supporting categories and argues that it’s once again time the Academy took action.
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Film Awards: Volume One 1927/8-1959
A fresh and long overdue approach to the annual awards season!
Film Awards: A Reference Guide to US & UK Film Awards is the first reference book to approach the annual awards season category by category. Unlike other books and websites, Film Awards places each Oscar winner in the context of all the winners and nominees in that particular category at the major awards ceremonies – the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs and the major critics’ groups. See which groups nominated Bette Davis for her legendary performance in 'All About Eve', who she was up against, which accolades she won, and to whom she lost – all at a glance, from a quick-reference table on a single page.
And to better understand why each awards season race unfolded as it did, Film Awards quotes from leading film critics in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. Alfred Hitchcock’s 'Vertigo' is now considered a masterpiece, but was overlooked for a Best Picture Oscar nomination in 1958 because at the time is was considered “clever [but] devilishly far-fetched”, “too long and too slow” and merely “a psychological murder mystery”. Only Film Awards so thoroughly reveals the critical opinion of the day about the major awards contenders.
Covering Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress, if you are a movie fan and love the annual film awards season, Film Awards is the book to have beside you when exploring the history of the Academy Awards.
Available now as paperback from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.com.au, amazon.de, amazon.fr and amazon.es.
Film Awards: Volume Two 1960-1979
A fresh and long overdue approach to the annual awards season!
Film Awards: A Reference Guide to US & UK Film Awards is the first reference book to approach the annual awards season category by category. Unlike other books and websites, Film Awards places each Oscar winner in the context of all the winners and nominees in that particular category at the major awards ceremonies – the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs and the major critics’ groups. See which groups nominated Marlon Brando and Al Pacino for their legendary performances in 'The Godfather', who they were up against, which accolades they won, and to whom they lost – all at a glance, from a quick-reference table on a single page.
And to better understand why each awards season race unfolded as it did, Film Awards quotes from leading film critics in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. Stanley Kubrick’s '2001: A Space Odyssey' is now considered a masterpiece, but was overlooked for a Best Picture Oscar nomination in 1968 because at the time is was considered “somewhere between hypnotic and immensely boring” and “a major achievement [but] not a cinematic landmark”. Only Film Awards so thoroughly reveals the critical opinion of the day about the major awards contenders.
Covering Best Picture, Director, Actress, Actor, Supporting Actress and Supporting Actor, if you are a movie fan and love the annual film awards season, Film Awards is the book to have beside you when exploring the history of the Academy Awards.
Available now as paperback from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.com.au, amazon.de, amazon.fr and amazon.es.
Film Awards: Volume Three 1980-1999
A fresh and long overdue approach to the annual awards season!
Film Awards: A Reference Guide to US & UK Film Awards is the first reference book to approach the annual awards season category by category. Unlike other books and websites, Film Awards places each Oscar winner in the context of all the winners and nominees in that particular category at the major awards ceremonies – the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs and the major critics’ groups. See which groups nominated Quentin Tarantino for his influential direction of 'Pulp Fiction', who he was up against, which accolades he won, and to whom he lost – all at a glance, from a quick-reference table on a single page.
And to better understand why each awards season race unfolded as it did, Film Awards quotes from leading film critics in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. David Lynch’s ‘Blue Velvet’ is now considered a classic, but was overlooked for a Best Picture Oscar nomination in 1986 because at the time it was considered “startling [and] powerfully imaginative” but also “one of the sickest films ever made”. Only Film Awards so thoroughly reveals the critical opinion of the day about the major awards contenders.
Covering Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress, if you are a movie fan and love the annual film awards season, Film Awards is the book to have beside you when exploring the history of the Academy Awards.
Available now as paperback from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.com.au, amazon.de, amazon.fr and amazon.es.
Film Awards: Volume Four 2000-2019
A fresh and long overdue approach to the annual awards season!
Film Awards: A Reference Guide to US & UK Film Awards is the first reference book to approach the annual awards season category by category. Unlike other books and websites, Film Awards places each Oscar winner in the context of all the winners and nominees in that particular category at the major awards ceremonies – the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs and the major critics’ groups. See which groups nominated Leonardo DiCaprio for his performance in 'The Revenant', who he was up against, which accolades he won, and to whom he lost – all at a glance, from a quick-reference table on a single page.
And to better understand why each awards season race unfolded as it did, Film Awards quotes from leading film critics in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. David Lynch’s ‘Mulholland Dr.’ is now considered a classic, but was overlooked for a Best Picture Oscar nomination in 2001 because at the time it was considered “extraordinary” and "fascinating" but also “a load of moronic and incoherent garbage.” Only Film Awards so thoroughly reveals the critical opinion of the day about the major awards contenders.
Covering Best Picture, Director, Actress, Actor, Supporting Actress and Supporting Actor, if you are a movie fan and love the annual film awards season, Film Awards is the book to have beside you when exploring the history of the Academy Awards.
Available now as paperback from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.com.au, amazon.de, amazon.fr and amazon.es.